NY Audio Show 2013

So how was the show? Last year's show was pretty awful. This year's show was very good for many reasons. Just look at the smile on the face of Acoustic Sounds' Chad Kassem. He'd brought a lot of vinyl to the show and was leaving with not that much. The other vinyl vendors such as SoundStageDirect told me the same thing. Chad has whined to me about many shows he's attended. Not this one.

Yes, it was a fairly small show in terms of industry participation and the Palace Hotel can be one confusing place even were it not in the midst of renovations—as anyone who did attend can attest.

That said, it was a reasonably well-attended show. I don't have the precise attendance figures but it was crowded all three days and just about until the very end on Sunday. For instance, Colleen Murphy's final "Classic Album Sundays" event was playback of Rhino's sonically spectacular reissue of Love's essential Forever Changes album cut from the analog master tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman's.

The place was packed from 3:15 until the last note faded out around 4:15 and even then people lingered to talk about the album and about the show. When I left the room I found the halls and other listening rooms still crowded with people who really didn't want to leave.

But more important than quantity was the quality of the people attending. First of all, the demographic skewed young. Yes at this point nearly everyone is young compared to me but this crowd was "young" young not predominantly gray haired guys. What's more, there were a lot of "new" people—not the usual audiophile suspects. They were there shopping not whining about prices and saying stuff you hear at RMAF like "I did a parts cost analysis and I could build that for blah blah blah". Really? Well then go do it and let's hear it and stop complaining. There was none of that.

Instead there were young married, music loving couples, no doubt some of them inspired to be there by their new found enthusiasm for vinyl. I know so because I spoke to many of them.

It's a shame that so few New York dealers chose to participate. Yes doing so is expensive but I think this show will lead to store visits and sales. These attendees were buyers, not lookers.

So kudos to the retailers that did participate: Innovative Audio, Sound by Singer, Audio Arts, Wes Bender Studio/NYC, GTT Audio and Video and if I missed any I apologize in advance. MIA were Lyric Hi-Fi, Stereo Exchange and Ears Nova. Most held "off-site" events but really, their participation would really help solidify what this show demonstrated: New York City is a great place for an annual audio show.

I hope to see you there next year!