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How to Demo Audio to Audiophiles
Vince Bruzzese demonstrates Totem Acoustic Element series at Audiofest (RMAF) 2011.
More than 3,000 audio lovers flooded the consumer event Rocky Mountain Audiofest (RMAF) in Denver last month. It was a different kind of sale: attendees (prospective clients) actually knew the difference between a woofer and a tweeter and wanted to know the specs of each.
But it’s tough to tell who had more fun at Audiofest: the geeks who got to listen or the geeks who got to demonstrate.
Vince Bruzzese, founder of Totem Acoustic, had the time of his life at Audiofest. He got to gush about crossovers in front of people who cared. And the attendees nodded enthusiastically as Bruzzese talked about Totem speakers (video below):
It utilizes no crossover parts. Now, not utilizing any crossover parts, it does not beam at you.
Usually speakers, as soon as you put parts … in a box, they start beaming at you [holds hands to mouth like a megaphone]. Our speakers operate like a voice and they talk to you as if you were just in front of them. And this no-phase irregularities allow us to produce a product that is more effective, more dynamic, in a smaller footprint.
“Everyone here is knowledgeable,” Bruzzese told CE Pro during Audiofest. “You have to hit them with a different angle.”
One of those angles was this proclamation: “It takes 7 ½ hours to produce one driver,” Bruzzese told the small crowd gathered in Totem’s hotel room. “It fits in one compact package with the highest standards in the world.”
At Audiofest, Totem demonstrated its Element Series Fire ($6,000/pair) and Earth ($9,000/pair). Bruzzese played Ray Montford “Shed Your Skin” and Mistress Barbara, mostly because the artist is a friend of Bruzzese’s.
One consumer commented during the demo, “It hits the whole range of what I need. There’s no booming lows; the highs are pristine and it doesn’t sound like a speaker you really have to crank.”
VIDEO: Vince Bruzzese Demonstrates Totem Acoustic speakers during RMAF 2011
Totem Element Fire (smaller speakers) and Earth (white) at RMAF
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5 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
This is the problem I have with peoples conceptions of audio shows and audiophiles. A very select group of people actually care about what makes the speaker (such as crossovers, phase plug designs, etc). Most people care about what the speaker and the system as a whole sounds like. I can describe a speaker in detail about how it was miticulously made by an irish leprechan but the proof is in the results. These shows should show provide an avenue for two things, manufacturers getting to woo and wow industry reviewers, and an avenue to either sell or introduce people to your product (so they can buy it).
I think most people who are labeled audiophiles are actually music lovers, they strive to achieve the perfect system (in their opinion) to reproduce music The other people who are in fact audiophiles are better described as audio geeks Those people think they can design a system purely based off of specifications.
Anyways, Totem can choose which way to present its’ products but from my experience at these shows, people really want to be treated like a normal customer.
Poppsie,
Part of the panache of buying premium products is having some connection with a story of craftsmanship and quality.
The Rolex perpetual motion movement, Mercedes using fully forged crankshafts, pistons and connecting rods in their engines to increase reliability and longevity, a Meile dishwasher with isolation on the pump and motor and extra sound deadening so that it’s no louder than a pot of boiling water in use, a Traulsen refrigerator’s cooling system being over-designed to return the unit to temp within 30 seconds of the door being closed.
These are exceptional stories for these premium products that convey their quality, and ultimately help to sell these units over items in their categories that are more aggressively priced.
Really great comment, Rick. And people that will most appreciate such details are the ones that already love cars or dishwashers or refrigerators ... like the audiophiles/music lovers at RMAF.
Try a double blind test and you will see what audiophiles hear and don’t hear lol. Sorry CE pro, you guys have no idea on what goes on in the audio or video world.
Uhm, so that’s it???