The vinyl-centric Ayre Acoustics room was one of day one's analog highlights for this correspondent. The room was filled with inexpensive used vinyl from local vinyl vendor Absolute Vinyl and everyone was in a festive mood.
Atomic Audio Labs gets the RMAF "Extravagant Performance Enhancement Claims" award for the startling number of benefits said to derive from resting a Mac Mini on one of the company's' Mac Mini Platforms.
Please forgive the blurry photo—not that the Piccola is a visual stunner— but this little box is packed with tech and is particularly useful for those using Channel D's Pure Vinyl™ digital RIAA compensation for vinyl ripping to high resolution digital.
Funk Firm's Flamenca is a $1500 filament-drive, precision machined glass platter turntable/tone arm combo that includes the company's 'co-polymer "string" bearing F6 tone arm.
The $9500 Jakutis belt-driven Black Stork from Lithuania includes aluminum and acrylic sandwich platter and integral stand. The wooden-tubed unipivot tone arm costs $1755. Save 20% when bought with the 'table.
Keith Monks Audio Works debuted at RMAF 2013 the Discovery One record cleaning machine, based upon a Chinese-made "replica" of a Technics SL-1200 turntable.
Music Hall's new, striking- looking Ikura turntable is going into production. The Ikura is a split-plinth design, with the motor located on a lower platform (not shown in photo) isolated via points from the main plinth. It includes a Pro-Ject sourced alloy tone arm, the sound of which Music Hall preferred to the carbon fiber arm.
San Francisco based Pelotone has been named the new American Koetsu cartridge distributor. The company will also handle all Koetsu re-tipping. Shown is the $10,950 Koetsu Azul. Mounted on a top of the Pro-Ject line Signature turntable, driving Doshi electronics and a pair of Wilson Alexia speakers, the Azul produced some of the sweetest, yet most detailed sound heard at RMAF 2013.
PS Audio's recently announced $1895 NuWave Phono Converter, combining a DSD capable A/D converter and MM/MC phono preamp was demoed at RMAF and is now in production.