A Look Back at AKFest '08

I couldn't make it to last year's AKFest but I'm looking forward to the 2010 iteration that is just around the corner (May 1-2, Novi, MI, akfest.com).  Put on by audiokarma.org, below is my coverage of the 2008 show which originally appeared in the webzine Affordable$$Audio (affordableaudio.org).  I've got a bunch more photos at photobucket.

Spring in Michigan. You can’t always count on the weather, but rest assured that AudioKarma Fest will draw the hibernating audiophiles out of their listening rooms for a weekend of great sounds. Now in its fifth iteration, this annual event brings together manufacturers, retailers and AudioKarma.org members side-by-side and cross-pollinated in rooms at a hotel just outside of Detroit.

The White Stripes "Under Great White Northern Nights"

Just watched The White Stripes’ latest DVD release last night – “Under Great White Northern Lights.”  It follows them as they traipse through some of the more remote cities of Canada during the summer of 2007, playing free shows in unusual and sometimes incredibly intimate locales during the daytime hours, and putting on regular shows at night (though it’s always still light out when they finish given the northern summer latitudes).  There are also several interviews, backstage glimpses and visits with locals captured on film, all of it culminating with their 10th anniversary performance in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

Good Vibes at AKFest '07

Looking forward to AudioKarma Fest (AKFest.com) coming up next month in Novi, MI. Here’s a retrospective of my first visit in 2007 to this combination audio aficionado get together, manufacturer/retailer exhibition and all around celebration of musical enjoyment. Make sure to check out audiokarma.org as well. Photos are at Flickr

At this event, you’ll find the big boys like McIntosh and Marantz set up in hotel rooms adjacent to AK Members showing off their personal systems, many of which consist of DIY and vintage equipment. In one room you might listen to a $20,000 pair of line arrays and then walk across the hall to “DocBrown’s” room with his thrift-shop $25 Electrovoice speakers on Red Rose monoblocks.