Anyways, I thought these guys were making very good sound together. It is always hard to tell with just one system and variables to move in and out of, but I really got the sense that their was some good synergy in the way the Facet Audio Labs Banshee speakers ($4600/pr) were designed/voiced and the way the Audio Crafters Guild amps were voiced (of course, they may not appreciate the term "voiced", but lets just say everything has a personality, intended or not...). The former were all focal drivers (tweet and dual 6.5 midbass in a straight 2-way config) and a large 4" flared reflex port, the latter included an additional chassis that was the "energy pack" that adds, among other things perhaps, a bank of capacitors to improve the reserve energy potential of the amplification system, supposedly to improve dynamic range and other things... I say supposedly not because I have any doubts about the technology/application but only because I am no electronics expert. I am confident in my ears however, and I would put their room in my top ten list. The overall sound first struck me as very articulate and perhaps a bit on the lean side, but things were very smooth and very clean sounding, and even though the tonal balance seemed a bit lean to me, there was still some richness to be found in the lower octaves and the system threw a very nice soundstage.

I can't remember the guys name from Audio Crafters Guild, but both he and the gentlement from Facet Audio Labs struck me as decent guys and displayed a bit of modesty while still providing what seemed to me like very straight talk about why they designed their products and what they thought their strengths were. The Stereo amp I heard, and I believe all other power amps in the 1000 series line, are based on the ICE power modules, with re-worked power supplies and some other unique mods. I would certainly like to hear more about there design and have another chance to listen to them again some day soon.

Hard to say which components of this system were doing things in a way that really appealed to me, but I think it is safe to say that everything had to be at least very competent or better for the overall system to have such a musical voice. I like the build quality on the Audio Crafters Guild stuff very much, and liked the styling as much of the sound. Everything seemed to range from 995 to 1995 and I thought that, especially in that price range, that these electronics deserve thorough consideration by any serious shopper. Nothing really jumped out at me in this room, and the speakers were spread out much further than other rooms, across a vertical plane that couldn't have been much more than 6 feet back from the vertical plane formed by the single row of listening chairs. I would guess that the speakers were about 12 feet appart. Very much reminded me of the way many AudioPhysic dealers like to demo their speakers (I own AudioPhysic Tempo IIs that I bought back in 1999 and drive with class A solid state). I thought the system bested my own on most points and would gladly take the whole package if I was ready to upgrade. Of course, there were a handfull of other contenders at those price points that I would investigate further before pulling the trigger, but I would definitely call both the amps and the speakers solid contenders.

Regards,

Greg Jensen

Sermonized, Joe Sample
Time and Tide, Basia
Feel For You, Chaka Kahn

I have been using all three on demo sessions for around 10 years now. None of them audiophile certified, but all three taken together tell me just about everything I need to know about the system at hand. I have heard them on at least 200 different hi end systems at this point in my life. This may sound a bit odd, but if the system makes these sound bad, it is either too good for me, or not good enough, meaning if your set up is so articulate and revealing of the source that these discs just aren't fun anymore, then even if it truly is a superior set up in every way, it is not practical enough for me and the wide range of music I like to listen to with my family (yes, they dig this stuff as well, I am very lucky...) I normally play Chaka Kahn last, as many systems will make the first two songs sound great, but fail to have the presence and power to cleanly rock the house with Chaka. Sometimes I think audiophiles get too caught up in the pure and polite stuff, and forget that sometime you just gotta get up and dance, and feel it from head to toe.

Regards,

Greg Jensen

• Audio Crafter's Guild & Facet Audio room

Hi Folks,

I’m that guy from Audio Crafters Guild who Greg could not remember the name of ( ). So let me begin by saying “thank you so much” to Greg for the kind words on the Facet Audio Labs/Audio Crafters Guild room at RMAF 2006. We had a great time demo’ing the system and listening to our visitor’s music during the show, it is rewarding to know notice was taken. Mike Henry & I had a goal of demonstrating a system which provided 95% of the performance of the cost-no-object systems thick on the ground at RMAF for 20% of their cost. Greg’s awarding us a Top Ten among systems he auditioned at RMAF 2006 tends to confirm we succeeded in our goal.

I finally have further details on the Audio Crafters Guild 1000 series amplifier line up at www.audiocraftersguild.com including a PDF format spec sheet. Of course I would have preferred to have this up before introducing the line at the show but the clock and the calendar have no pity so it was not to be. This was my first out of town show and I would say we underestimated the amount of work involved by at least 1/3. As an example of why you might find it more fun to visit an audio show as an attendee rather than an exhibitor after the RMAF ended circa 5PM on Sunday we took a dinner break then packing and loading the cargo van took until 2AM Monday, grabbed 7-8 hours of sleep then a 12 hour drive home. At least Denver to Tulsa does not involve crossing the Rocky Mountains, I heard of some way-too-close calls from West coast exhibitors who were driving cargo trucks over the mountains in the snow. Of course the big guns use freight forwarding services and just fly their people in/out.

The wide speaker setup Greg noted was our solution to the hotel acoustics problem. With a more conventional positioning we had the big booming bass hump plaguing so many rooms. It was rather tense until Mike Henry (designer of the Banshee speakers and president of Facet Audio Labs) suggested we try moving his speakers further apart. That solved the bass issue with the added bonus of a wide cinema scope imaging treat for the listener in the center seat. The acoustic treatment panels Mike designed and built then became icing on the proverbial cake as we fine tuned in the imaging focus. Having now experienced the notorious hotel room acoustic first hand I believe the big issue is the steel and cement hotel construction has much stiffer walls and especially floor and ceiling compared to our typical homes. More energy stays in the room and it’s extra bass city. This characteristic should make for quite the home court advantage for those displaying the ever popular 2-way with 5” mid/woofer, bit of a headache for full range systems. I noticed several exhibitors chose to just live with the booming bass often so they could fit extra seating. It’s interesting to note the variations in the web reports as to if this is mentioned or not. Of course one persons ‘boom’ is another’s ‘impressive bass for the size of the speaker’.

Well, I’ll cut this off lest it becomes some kind of show report. Again thanks to Greg and all the others who stopped by our room at RMAF 2006 to sample our wares.

Happy listening

Norman Tracy