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Favorite Speakers at RMAF

Ridge Street Audio Sason LTD/SI:

Wow! What can I say about these beautifully crafted speakers? They completely disappear with wall to wall soundstaging and naturally precise imaging. They are oh so smooth, detailed, and utterly nonfatiguing. They were about the only speaker at the show that I could just relax and listen to hours on end. You just emotionally connect with the music through these transducers. I had Robert of RSA play Somewhere Over The Rainbow/It's A Wonderful World by "IZ" a Hawaiian singer who lost his battle with obesity at a young age. It almost brought me to tears.

They were being riven by all Fi gear including their 20 watt(?) SET amps, DAC, and transformer volume control. All RSA wiring too. I would have loved to hear the Sasons with more power, like the 100 watt Atmasphere MA-1 amps. I had the pleasure of meeting Rhythmace4218 who already owns a pair driven by MA-1. He confided the MA-1 will give the Sasons real bass impact which surpasses a highly respected 300 watt solid state amp.

The upgraded SI version is 5 inches shorter than the standard version because they moved the Xover into the base stands. The stands are now necessarily taller to keep the same overall height. IMHO, the SI version looks much better because they look more proportioned. The older version looked a little pot bellied with the wider base and shorter stands. Just awesome aesthetics.

Let me just add that Robert and Steve are first class acts. They are genuine music guys who are down to earth and easy to talk to. Kudos to both of you.

Podium 0.5 Speakers:

I must admit I was sadly disappointed with the sound of the their flagship P1 speakers at the '97 RMAF. It's treble was very grainy and irritating, and the presentation just didn't seemed right. This year their smallest speaker produced some of the best sound at the show. It was hooked up to some very expensive electronics (Art Audio Jota 22 watts? at $18k, Esoteric digital, Memory player, etc). But the synergy was there in spades. The presentation was similar to the Sason's, but slighty cooler sound with wonderful imaging and staging. Because they are crossoverless, the have a very coherent sound - as coherent as the Sasons. Piano and vocals sounded natural as one can hope for. Bass was very tuneful - stand up bass was in your room real, but lacked the deep extension of cones. But what do you expect from a panel speaker? But there was one quality that bothered me. The treble was still ever so slightly grainy and irritating. I'm not sure if I could listen to these for hours on end if the music contained a lot of treble energy. These speakers can still draw you into the music like the Sasons. Overall, these were my second favorite. And the price is still reasonable at $6k (but going up to $8k in couple of months) in terms of performance, but not really in terms of aesthetics and build quality. The Sasons take top honor for that IMO. Peter, the dealer/distributor for these speakers, was a real gent.

Sorry, these were the only two speakers that really stood out in the end for me. I heard the mega expensive speakers from Acapella and Lansche (both using ion tweeters), YG acoustics, Hansen, etc. None of them could emotionally draw me into the music like the Sason and Podium.
dracule1

Showing 3 responses by trelja

trelja
3,215 posts
 
Maybe it's just me, but while I found the RSAD speakers nice enough at RMAF2008, they didn't come anywhere close to justifying their asking price to me.

Whenever you commit to a speaker of that size, regardless of what the package offers otherwise, you are giving up the foundation of the music. It seemed you're first and foremost paying for a cabinet that requires a lot more work than most other products. On my own cost/benefit scale, that money is better spent in other areas, but hey, that's obviously their raison d'etre. They were far from being the only manufacturer I failed to see the value in.

The other thing I want to say is that they, along with "the best loudspeaker on earth, period" folks employ those velvet ropes to cordon off their loudspeakers. There were some really competent and/or exotic loudspeakers from the likes of Krell, Maxxhorn, Acapella (horrible sound, but $200K), etc. that you could go right up and put your fingers all over - and I did. Did YG and RSAD really feel it so important to keep the great unwashed away? Again, maybe it's me, but it comes off as the height of arrogance.

All that being said, I spoke to the speaker designer in the room, and he was truly a gentleman.
trelja
3,215 posts
 
I was there, and was really hoping to meet you, Macrojack.

The Oswalds Mill speakers were one of my favorites as well. Thankfully, I'm only an hour from Jonathan Weiss, and have been fortunate enough to attend his annual Tube Tasting. He's a great guy, and it's a really great time.
trelja
3,215 posts
 
Macrojack, I really, really liked the Oswalds Mill horn loudspeakers at RMAF. In fact, it was easily one of my favorite rooms. My only problems with the design were the extreme looks/low WAF and what must be an absolutely stratospheric pricetag, though Jonathan assured me I could afford it.

As far as sonics go, the Oswalds Mill horns were the most natural sounding loudspeaker of this type I have ever been around. They combined the immediacy/suddenness along with large variance between quiet and loud that a horn should provide, with the lack of irritating or unnaturalness. I felt it truly to be a coup of not small measure. Given their extreme looks and the poor quality of the rooms at RMAF, that surprises me. I have no idea how much they cost, but if I had the money, I would most definitely make the drive up to give them another listen.

The Avant Gardes seemed to have an "amplified" nature about them, where even acoustic music took on the feel of being played through electronics, along with that feel you get when you listen to a Victrola. It wasn't necessarily a bad sound, and oftentimes, it worked. Just that when you are listening to some music, because of it, it leant kind of an unnatural quality to the sound.

Personally, I thought the Acapella room was the worst sound at the show by leaps and bounds. Other than their ability to completely dominate a room and make a visual statement or play at jet engine volumes, I have no idea what anyone could see in such a product.

I don't have any experience with the Oris or Haigner, so anything I would say in relation to them would be a lie.
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