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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
In the movie This Is Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel brags to mockumentarian Rob Reiner that his amplifiers "go to 11." Just imagine how loud that would be if Nigel lived in a digital world.
Thankfully we do, and feel free to crank up the volume all the way to "11" on Oct. 10-12 at the Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, where nearly 200 vendors will peddle the newest in audio technology to music buffs across Colorado and beyond. The three-day weekend event will take place at the Marriot and Hyatt Regency hotels, both located in the Denver Tech Center.
"This is really a big deal, it's the largest home entertainment consumer electronic show in the United States," said Al Steifel, one of the festival's coordinators and a member of the Colorado Audio Society. "There's a lot of hardware to see and listen to."
The festival has blossomed into an international affair, drawing guests from 46 states and 12 countries, including Vietnam, Taiwan, France, Germany and England.
Due to its growing popularity, the RMAF, which was previously held at just the Marriot, has outgrown the single hotel and been forced to expand to the Hyatt Regency as well. Both hotels will close off more than 160 sleeping rooms, transforming each area into full-fledged, state-of-the-art listening studios where attendees can take a load off and, well, listen. While music will most certainly be provided, guests are encouraged to bring their own CDs, vinyl or iPods.
"This event gives people a chance to see what their music can really sound like," Steifel said. "You'll be amazed."
The festival offers demonstrations of thousands of new audio technologies, including everything from new iPod ports, to high-end speaker systems, to conversion devices that take digital signals, not analog, and render them for home stereo systems.
"You're going to see everything from the affordable to the ultra-expensive," Steifel said. "I tell people it's like going to see the Parade of Homes or a car show. You're not necessarily going to buy it, but it's stuff that's really cool to see. And to listen to."
To give some magnitude to the hardware that's being shipped in for the festival, Steifel said that seven 55-foot tractor-trailers deliver the massive cargo of stereo equipment from Aurora.
And in case you think you might not be familiar with any of the technological aspects of the festival, don't be so sure. Steifel pointed out that exhibitors offer a wide variety of technology, not just geared toward today's modern era, but also toward listening pleasures of the past.
"People are going to see how much vinyl has not just stuck around, but actually grown over the past few years," Steifel said. "With all of the new technology that's coming out, it seems that artists really like to have their stuff printed on vinyl, too. We're not talking about huge numbers, but vinyl is holding its own."
As for those interested in the future of musical downloading and storage in the wake of the world's hard copy demise, the RMAF will also feature a half dozen seminars, mostly aimed toward tackling new digital technologies.
"Digital's still around, obviously, but digital media, such as CDs, are having a lot of problems of their own," Steifel said. "They're just not selling very well because people now prefer to download."
To register for the RMAF, visit the website at www.audiofest.net, or at the Marriot Tech Center Hotel. Tickets are $10 per day or $25 for the three-day pass. Students receive 50 percent off registration costs.
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