Hobbyist show reports especially on a consumer show like RMAF have proliferated such that us press folk seem - um, hard-pressed to twist the show coverage format into something you won't find duplicated everywhere. If it's all the same, why bother with more of it? Being of a decidedly non-conformist bent, Stephæn had just the solution: People and music. What kind of music are the people listening to who make and design audio components or bother attending a hifi show? Isn't that a telling bit of info on the state of affairs? Under hectic show conditions of course, such a question needs to be less open-ended to solicit a quick answer. So Stephæn decided on asking for two albums. The first-ever bought (think "the morning after" once your music-lover's cherry had been popped); and the most recent album purchased (the latter quite possibly at the show proper). The first album's approximate purchase year also speaks volumes about how long these people have been into this thing. If they can even remember. Those are two data points that should, even in the most scrambled, disoriented, assaultively overstimulated and fried show brain, pop up readily. The first time you got high. The last time. If, mind you, the mensch connected to the brain actually gets high on music rather than pay mere lip service to the entire notion. Listening? To music? Hell, we just design electronics. We be more advanced. Test tones, my man - iPhone ring tones!


If the latter, wouldn't you want to know? With the show expanded greatly once again this year, it was well beyond a single reporter on the beat to cover it all. Thus insert the usual boiler plate apologies for those missed, overlooked and otherwise slighted. Here are those folks Stephæn met and who filled out his miniature questionnaire. If his selections of gear, makers and personalities reflect his personal interests - well, you can't sue a guy for following his nose on an unpaid mission. The man was supposed to have fun! As in years past, he also penned this piece for the Audio Asylum whose fearless leader Rod Morris granted us once again kind permission to syndicate the writeup for double the trouble. Thanks a mill, Rod! And now onward ho with Stephæn's Take On The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2007 - Ed.


Name: Ray Kimber
Affiliation: Kimber Kable
First Album Purchased: The Who -Tommy
Year Purchased: 1969
Most Recent Album Purchased: Queen - Crown Jewels



Name: Steve Schell
Affiliation: Cogent True-to-Life Loudspeakers, Inc.
First Album Purchased: Beatles - Something New (mono)
Year Purchased: 1965 (?)
Most Recent Album Purchased: Skip James—Complete 1931 Recordings



Name: Rich Drysdale
Affiliation: Cogent True-to-Life Loudspeakers, Inc.
First Album Purchased: Soundtrack to The Alamo
Year Purchased: Dark ages - late 50s or early 60s
Most Recent Album Purchased: Roy Orbison (on Classic Records)



Name: Bill Woods
Affiliation: Acoustic Horn Company
First Album Purchased: Rite of Spring
Year Purchased: 1962
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ravel - Piano for the Left Hand

______________________

Name: Jonathan Weiss
Affiliation: Cogent True-to-Life Speakers
First Album Purchased:
Year Purchased:
Most Recent Album Purchased: Takemitsu -Cassiopeia, for percussion & orchestra (conductor: Ozawa)



Name: Chris Brady
Affiliation: Teres Audio
First Album Purchased: Iron Butterfly
Year Purchased: 1968
Most Recent Album Purchased: Lightnin' Hopkins



Name: Kara E. Chaffee
Affiliation: deHavilland Electric Amp. Co.
First Album Purchased: CSNY #1 or Sgt. Pepper
Year Purchased: 1969
Most Recent Album Purchased: Tex Beneke & The Modernaires - Live at the Hollywood Bowl



Name: Jim Riddell
Affiliation: Sounds Real Audio
First Album Purchased: Steve Miller
Year Purchased: 1964
Most Recent Album Purchased: David Bowie



Name: Pete Riggle (aka Mr. VTAF®)
Affiliation: Pete Riggle Engineering and Audio
First Album Purchased: Ken Nordine - Word Jazz
Year Purchased: 1957
Most Recent Album Purchased: Together at the Bluebird Café (Steve Earl, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt)



Name: Henk Boot
Affiliation: 6moons.com
First Album Purchased: The Outsiders
Year Purchased: 1963
Most Recent Album Purchased: Musica Nuda



Name: Marja Vanderloo
Affiliation: 6moons.com
First Album Purchased: Demis Roussous
Year Purchased: 1970
Most Recent Album Purchased: Roberto Fonseca

______________________

Name: Michael Kalellis
Affiliation: Analysis Audio
First Album Purchased: First Beatles album
Year Purchased: 1964
Most Recent Album Purchased: "A pile of old records..."



Name: Robert Spence
Affiliation: MaxxHorn
First Album Purchased: Vogues - Turn Around and Look at Me
Year Purchased: 1965
Most Recent Album Purchased: Alison Krauss -Live (33 1/3)



Name: Adam Decaria
Affiliation: Zu Audio
First Album Purchased: Suicidal Tendencies
Year Purchased: 1990
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger



Name: Sean Casey [above right, Zu's denuded, rebodied Denon 103 below]
Affiliation: Zu Audio
First Album Purchased: Rush - Fly By Night
Year Purchased: 1979
Most Recent Album Purchased: Pink Lightnin'



Name: Jay Fisher
Affiliation: 6moons.com & Robb Report
First Album Purchased: The Beatles - Meet the Beatles
Year Purchased: 196?
Most Recent Album Purchased: Kurt Elling - Night Moves



Name: Duke LeJeune
Affiliation: AudioKinesis
First Album Purchased: Led Zeppelin III
Year Purchased: 1975
Most Recent Album Purchased: Rush - Snakes and Arrows



Name: Brian Walsh
Affiliation: Essential Audio/AA Inmate: Central Funnies Guy
First Album Purchased: Meet the Beatles
Year Purchased: 1964
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ella and Louis



Name: Samuel Laufer
Affiliation: Laufer Technik
First Album Purchased: Jackson Five - ABC
Year Purchased: 1970
Most Recent Album Purchased: Kristen Hoffman



Name: Dr. Shelley Katz
Affiliation: Podium Sound Ltd.
First Album Purchased: Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio
Year Purchased: 1964
Most Recent Album Purchased: Sandy Thom



Name: Jeffrey Catalano
Affiliation: Highwater Sound LLC
First Album Purchased: Rods & Ratfinks (Capitol, mono)
Year Purchased: 1963
Most Recent Album Purchased: Bettye LaVette



Name: Thomas Waschnick
Affiliation: TW-Acoustic
First Album Purchased: Uriah Heap - Innocent Victim
Year Purchased: 1974
Most Recent Album Purchased: Hans Theessink - Slow Train



Name: Nelson Pass
Affiliation: Pass Labs
First Album Purchased: Zappa - Absolutely Free
Year Purchased: 1967
Most Recent Album Purchased: 200g Miles Davis - Kind of Blue



Name: Jon Ver Halen
Affiliation: Lowther America
First Album Purchased: Jethro Tull - Benefit
Year Purchased: 1969
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ella Fitzgerald - Plays the Gerswin Songbook



Name: Bill O'Connell
Affiliation: Morningstar Audio/Eastern Electric
First Album Purchased: Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack on 45
Year Purchased: 1967
Most Recent Album Purchased: Naim Recordings - Record Collection Volume I



Name: Wayne Waananen
Affiliation: The Bolder Cable Company
First Album Purchased: Beach Boys - 409
Year Purchased: 1967
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ray Brown - Soular Energy



Name: Bob A. Palkovich
Affiliation: Merlin Music Sys. Inc.
First Album Purchased: "Some jazz or blues..."
Year Purchased: 1960s
Most Recent Album Purchased: Latest Joni Mitchell



Name: Jeff Joseph
Affiliation: Joseph Audio (a division of Merlin)
First Album Purchased: Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
Year Purchased: 1971?
Most Recent Album Purchased: Bill Berry - For Duke



Name: Haruhiko 'Hal' Teramoto
Affiliation: Feastrex
First Album Purchased: Beatles - Help
Year Purchased: January 1966
Most Recent Album Purchased: Beatles / Nat King Cole



Name: Joe Cohen [above right, Feastrex drivers below]
Affiliation: The Lotus Group/Prana Wire
First Album Purchased: Tennesee Ernie - 16 Tons
Year Purchased: 1956
Most Recent Album Purchased: Springsteen - Legend of Tom Joad



Name: Harry Zweben
Affiliation: Two Bald Guys Audio
First Album Purchased: Mozart Horn Concertos w/Barry Tuckwell
Year Purchased: 1979
Most Recent Album Purchased: Nielsen Symphonies w/Herbert Blumstedt



Name: Pat Jewell
Affiliation: Bad Boys Benevolent Association of Eastern Washington
First Album Purchased: Johnny Rivers at Whiskey a Go-Go
Year Purchased: 1966
Most Recent Album Purchased: Mercury Recordings at Moscow



Name: Keely Chen
Affiliation: Audio Horizons
First Album Purchased: Chinese School 'Mong' (Folk) Songs
Year Purchased: 1969
Most Recent Album Purchased: Tzu Chi Sign Language Song



Name: Joseph Chow
Affiliation: Audio Horizons
First Album Purchased: Arthur Rubenstein
Year Purchased: 1950
Most Recent Album Purchased: not legible

Name: Victor Comerchero
Affiliation: Audio Horizons
First Album Purchased: Borodin - Palovetsian Dances
Year Purchased: 1949
Most Recent Album Purchased: Clara Haskil - Mozart Sonatas

______________________

Name: Annie Francis
Affiliation: Fry Street Quartet/Kimber Kable
First Album Purchased: Blondie - Heart of Glass
Year Purchased: 1979
Most Recent Album Purchased: Feist - The Reminder



Name: Russell Fallstad
Affiliation: Fry Street Quartet/Kimber Kable
First Album Purchased: Billy Joel - Glass Houses
Year Purchased: 1980?
Most Recent Album Purchased: Amadeus Quartet - Haydn Quartets Op 76, 77 and 103


Name: Rebecca McFaul
Affiliation: Fry Street Quartet/Kimber Kable
First Album Purchased: Heifetz Encores
Year Purchased: 1970s
Most Recent Album Purchased: Rachel Podger - Bach Sonatas and Partitas

______________________

Name: Chad Kassem
Affiliation: Acoustic Sounds
First Album Purchased: Moonaticks
Year Purchased: 1968
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ry Cooder - Meeting By the River



Name: Ron Sutherland
Affiliation: Sutherland Engineering
First Album Purchased: Girl from Ipanema
Year Purchased: 1961
Most Recent Album Purchased: Jack Johnson - On and On



Name: Richard Bird
Affiliation: Rives Audio
First Album Purchased: Fleetwood Mac
Year Purchased: 1979
Most Recent Album Purchased: Bud Powell



Name: Dennis Fraker
Affiliation: Serious Stereo
First Album Purchased: Ian Tyson - Cowboyography
Year Purchased: 1980s
Most Recent Album Purchased: Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - All the Roadrunning



Name: David Gill
Affiliation: Gill Audio Design
First Album Purchased: Kiss - Rock and Roll Over
Year Purchased: 1978
Most Recent Album Purchased: Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight



Name: Joe Fratus [upper right]
Affiliation: Art Audio
First Album Purchased: Jr. Walker and the All Stars - Shotgun
Year Purchased: 1965
Most Recent Album Purchased: Steely Dan, all of the recent reissues

______________________

Name: John McDonald
Affiliation: Audience
First Album Purchased:
Year Purchased: "I'm too old for this"
Most Recent Album Purchased: Beatles - Love



Name: Steve McCormack
Affiliation: SMC Audio
First Album Purchased: Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari
Year Purchased: early 1960s
Most Recent Album Purchased: Tito Puente - Dance Fever



Name: David Cope
Affiliation: Audio Note UK
First Album Purchased: Meet the Beatles
Year Purchased: 65-66
Most Recent Album Purchased: Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain (no reissue, on Ebay)



Name: Paul Blizel
Affiliation: Rhonda's husband
First Album Purchased: The Beatles - Please Please Me
Year Purchased: 1966
Most Recent Album Purchased: Please Please Me (mono Parlaphone)



Name: Rhonda Blizel
Affiliation: Paul's wife
First Album Purchased: Cheap Trick
Year Purchased: 1980
Most Recent Album Purchased: Best of The Bee Gees

Name: Matt Blizel
Affiliation: Audio Society of Minnesota
First Album Purchased: Chuck Berry - Greatest
Year Purchased: 2004
Most Recent Album Purchased: Beck - Sea Change (lp)

______________________

Name: Thomas Poon
Affiliation: GINI Systems
First Album Purchased: Eagles
Year Purchased: 1985
Most Recent Album Purchased: TAS Collection



Name: Neng Kue [upper right]
Affiliation: Kuetech Audio Cables
First Album Purchased: Eagles Greatest Hits
Year Purchased: 1980
Most Recent Album Purchased: Obsession (Narada Flamenco Collection)

______________________

Name: Vinh Vu
Affiliation: Norvinz/Gingko Audio
First Album Purchased: Chet Atkins - Mr. Guitar
Year Purchased: 1973
Most Recent Album Purchased: Hot Club of SF



Name: Roger Sanders [upper right]
Affiliation: Sanders Sound Systems
First Album Purchased: Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony
Year Purchased: 1959
Most Recent Album Purchased: none

______________________

Name: Ralph Henson
Affiliation:
First Album Purchased: "Who remembers that?!"
Year Purchased: ??
Most Recent Album Purchased: Shostakovitch #5, Leonard Bernstein, NY Philharmonic



Name: Brian Johnson
Affiliation: Audiomagus
First Album Purchased: Witchy Woman
Year Purchased: 1972
Most Recent Album Purchased: Leonard Cohen compilation



Name: Cornelia Davis
Affiliation: Audio Federation
First Album Purchased: Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
Year Purchased: 1974?
Most Recent Album Purchased: Steely Dan - Aja (Cisco rerelease)



Name: Bill Woods
Affiliation: Acoustic Horn Company
First Album Purchased: Rite of Spring
Year Purchased: 1962
Most Recent Album Purchased: Ravel - Piano for the Left Hand