Lone Star Audio Fest 2007

Here are a few pictures and musings about the Lone Star Audio Fest, held May 4-6, 2007 in Dallas, Texas.

Due to personal family circumstances (and our impending cross country move), we were unable to exhibit at this show. However, we were able to "sneak away" for about 45 minutes on Friday and about an hour on Sunday (when the below pics were taken) to visit old friends, and make some new acquaintances.

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit every room as time dictated otherwise (and a bunch of exhibitors had already packed up and left by noon on Sunday when we snapped the below pics), so we apologize to those who we missed. Also, with one exception, as noted below, no comments on perceived sound quality will be offered. We'll leave that to the reviewers and other non-industry affiliated attendees to opine about.

FYI, I have no affiliations with the makers of any of the gear pictured. I do not offer for sale any of the below products, so if you are interested in any of the items, please contact the manufacturers directly.

Duke from AudioKinesis. A true gentleman. Down to earth, self effacing, and one heck of a speaker designer! Duke's AudioKinesis loudspeakers have been impressing us for quite some time now. These ~$4500/pr unassuming looking boxes play WAY above their price range. If you are in the market for a very good sounding, easy to drive, no BS product, look no further. You owe it to yourself to audition a pair of these before you spend long green on anything else. If I couldn't have Sonicweld's, I would own these!

Visit Duke here: AudioKinesis

Duke's speak's were being driven by a very trick pair of Richard Gray amplifiers and a 1970's vintage Infinity preamp! Cool!

Another view of the floorstander's as well as a smaller speaker that I didn't catch the name of (or get to listen to).

Abraxas Audio tube amplifier. I spoke with Jeff and his wonderful wife for a bit about their products. These are two very fun people, who both have a real passion for good audio and good music. They turned me on to a really cool new flamenco CD (here I come Amazon...) and both impressed me with their passion for this industry.

I am soon going to commission a reference quality headphone amp (of course chock full of cryo'd goodness!) from Jeff, so stay tuned for updates.

As I understand their business model, Abraxas will build you the one-off project of your dreams. Visit their site for more info: Abraxas Audio

Another Abraxas amplifier. This time in the "Skip Pack" room. Check out the Squeezebox playing the FLAC/EAC files. A man after my own heart!

Another shot of the Abraxas amp.

Audio Note Kit loveliness. This room was a DIY paradise!

Now, that's a tranformer.

More Audio Note Kit goodness.

Enough lovely parts here to make a grown man shed a tear.

Ready for purchase Audio Note loudspeakers.

And, fully finished, ready for purchase Audio Note gear.

Maxxhorn room. Sorry, didn't catch the brands of the gear... The front piece looks an awful lot like a Berning. If anyone knows what the pieces are, shoot me an e-mail and I'll update the page.

Another shot of the Maxxhorn room.

Jumping Cactus loudspeakers. From my "soon to be new" home, Tucson, Arizona.

Marten loudspeakers in the Custom Isolation Products room.