I am back. Day 2 Part 2 & the Marriot is the scene. So many rooms & no time. How do you really get to listen to it all. How do you prioritize. I basically ask others what did they hear that they like. I ended up getting stuck downstairs by a bunch of rooms that were all fairly expensive and a few were surprising in both good & bad ways.
In a theater size room a very large pair of Classic Audio Reproductions Speakers w. TAD drivers that are very expensive, and Atmasphere electronics I was able to listen almost totaly alone in the room. The sound was good. I didn't love it. Found it a little bright. This is my impression of TAD tweeters. Not very mind you, but a touch. Still I wouldn't buy these speakers but some would.
Verity Audio w. Artemis Labs electronics. Not bad but I didn't really stop to sit.
I then heard Analysis Audio ribbon full range speakers and VTL MB450s with VTL phono preamp, VPI TT, and VTL preamp. The sound was excellent. I happen to like these speakers a lot. But I like Apogees of the past. Not huge bass, but good enough. It is very hard to get bass from Ribbon panels. Definitely worth consideration, but getting a bass tower/subwoofer would be amazing. Hard to explain the sound, but full size images that are well defined and with detail but not in your face. The images had nice height and speed and decay of notes was very realistic. Coherence in spades. But to integrate bass and you need a balanced room to make them work. EMM was the other source. I am familiar w. VTL & EMM so I know what I heard as a reference to the speakers.
I should mention VTL's new phono stage. Something very unique in terms of convenience. Full remote control, uses 8 tubes, and has adjustable on load, phase for each channel, gain, RIAA, mono & mute. Quite a nice trick. Has both an MM & MC input.
I got to hear the Big Acapellas w. the Ion tweeter. The electronics were Einstein. A very expensive system. It sounds good but I didn't love the detailed nature of the Ion tweeter. I prefer something more natural sounding, like a well executed ribbon. They are good & I can see why people like it, but there is a certain lack of coherence. Not as seemless as the Ribbons, but definitely more power & effortlessness from the Acapellas. Would love to hear them in a 2nd setup, as the feedback from others was not very good.
I then heard the YG Acoustics, the "best" speaker in the world in its most expensive form driven by FM Acoustics. Not sure what the source is but these are the fastest dynamic speakers I have ever heard. The have a scan speak tweeter which I usually like, but here it sounded a little etchy & hard. It could be anything but I listened to the next size down YG speakers in a different system and the sound was similar.
I bumped into Frank Schroder and asked him a ton of questions. Extremely informative. He really understands all the details of his design and more. It was a great conversation. He & Thomas Woshnick are great designers that are the most approachable. I also met w. Luke & Bea of VTL. Once you get to know them, you understand what it is when you purchase a VTL product. You get a company with dedication for the long haul. They are in it for keeps. I am sure there are more people like this in Audio. RMAF lets you meet with them and know if you want to buy from these people. It is great. I also met Alan Perkins, Peter Lederman, and Reinhardt Thoress (he is a teddy bear personality who loves to keep circuits simple).
I got to listen to the new Exemplar Modified Usher Be 10. Driven by Belles Amplification and w. a Exemplar CD player for source or what appears to be a Feikert Turntable. We listened to both the modified and unmodified Usher Be 10. These speakers are a great value for the money. They just did it all & sounded like music. Something special. Bass, clean open mids, and a Beryllium tweeter that sounds sweet. All this with solid state amplification. A great value for the entire system. These speakers can rock, give detail and just do it all. This is a super system on a budget. The only competition they have is the Horning Speakers which also can do dynamics with detail without excluding bass. I listened to them a 2nd time on Sunday Morning w. the new Berning High Power tube amplifiers. I think they are called Quadrature Z. These can push and sound dynamic. The power on tap was excellent. A great amplifier w. a touch of tube like warmth. Mind you the Belles isn't far off, but there is a magic w.the Berning that was missing. The Berning has a purity that is different than most high power tube amps or solid state designs. I need to listen to it again and I do recommend a listen if you need the power. 220 Watts.
I then listened breifly to the Playback Designs Room w. the Wilson Benesch speakers hooked up to DeHavilland. I like Wilson Benesch speakers but this system wasn't anything special to me. It was a quick listen, but something was missing compared to the Usher Suite just before it. I moved on. I took a close up look of the Playback Designs CDP. It looks nice enough, but definitely not my taste. I like the looks of the Esoteric & even the EMM more.
I started to head up. I spoke w. Allen Perkins about the 3 patents on his new tonearm. It really is amazing. There is an amount of brilliance in the design that gives it potential to be one of the great tonearms of all time. I hope it comes out soon. His analogue setup always sounds great. Something to do with his rooms as well.
I then stopped in to relax in the Horning, Tron Room. Today it settled in and sounded great. I went to the Highwater Sound just to hang out. You can't help but listen to music. Jeff always puts on non audiophile pressings that are way cool. I think everyone who goes there experiences the same thing. The room has the perfect balance between a hifi sound & musicality. You can't believe the bass but each speaker has 4 woofers in a push pull configuration. An amazing design that can rock. Of course the new Tron Phono stage is a must listen. Adjustable RIAA and more features. I don't know the model of Hornings by name, but they are $9000 and worth every penny. They do all the tricks but in a most musical way. Nothing in your face, but in no way closed in. This is a sound I love and I doubt there is much comparable in its price range.
It was getting late, so I ran to the Audiogon meet & greet across the street. I met Cello, PCosta, Danselm and a few others. What great guys. Not enough time in the day or the night for that matter. I wish there was more time. Everyone was tired after dinner and wanted to wake early to get a head start.
In a theater size room a very large pair of Classic Audio Reproductions Speakers w. TAD drivers that are very expensive, and Atmasphere electronics I was able to listen almost totaly alone in the room. The sound was good. I didn't love it. Found it a little bright. This is my impression of TAD tweeters. Not very mind you, but a touch. Still I wouldn't buy these speakers but some would.
Verity Audio w. Artemis Labs electronics. Not bad but I didn't really stop to sit.
I then heard Analysis Audio ribbon full range speakers and VTL MB450s with VTL phono preamp, VPI TT, and VTL preamp. The sound was excellent. I happen to like these speakers a lot. But I like Apogees of the past. Not huge bass, but good enough. It is very hard to get bass from Ribbon panels. Definitely worth consideration, but getting a bass tower/subwoofer would be amazing. Hard to explain the sound, but full size images that are well defined and with detail but not in your face. The images had nice height and speed and decay of notes was very realistic. Coherence in spades. But to integrate bass and you need a balanced room to make them work. EMM was the other source. I am familiar w. VTL & EMM so I know what I heard as a reference to the speakers.
I should mention VTL's new phono stage. Something very unique in terms of convenience. Full remote control, uses 8 tubes, and has adjustable on load, phase for each channel, gain, RIAA, mono & mute. Quite a nice trick. Has both an MM & MC input.
I got to hear the Big Acapellas w. the Ion tweeter. The electronics were Einstein. A very expensive system. It sounds good but I didn't love the detailed nature of the Ion tweeter. I prefer something more natural sounding, like a well executed ribbon. They are good & I can see why people like it, but there is a certain lack of coherence. Not as seemless as the Ribbons, but definitely more power & effortlessness from the Acapellas. Would love to hear them in a 2nd setup, as the feedback from others was not very good.
I then heard the YG Acoustics, the "best" speaker in the world in its most expensive form driven by FM Acoustics. Not sure what the source is but these are the fastest dynamic speakers I have ever heard. The have a scan speak tweeter which I usually like, but here it sounded a little etchy & hard. It could be anything but I listened to the next size down YG speakers in a different system and the sound was similar.
I bumped into Frank Schroder and asked him a ton of questions. Extremely informative. He really understands all the details of his design and more. It was a great conversation. He & Thomas Woshnick are great designers that are the most approachable. I also met w. Luke & Bea of VTL. Once you get to know them, you understand what it is when you purchase a VTL product. You get a company with dedication for the long haul. They are in it for keeps. I am sure there are more people like this in Audio. RMAF lets you meet with them and know if you want to buy from these people. It is great. I also met Alan Perkins, Peter Lederman, and Reinhardt Thoress (he is a teddy bear personality who loves to keep circuits simple).
I got to listen to the new Exemplar Modified Usher Be 10. Driven by Belles Amplification and w. a Exemplar CD player for source or what appears to be a Feikert Turntable. We listened to both the modified and unmodified Usher Be 10. These speakers are a great value for the money. They just did it all & sounded like music. Something special. Bass, clean open mids, and a Beryllium tweeter that sounds sweet. All this with solid state amplification. A great value for the entire system. These speakers can rock, give detail and just do it all. This is a super system on a budget. The only competition they have is the Horning Speakers which also can do dynamics with detail without excluding bass. I listened to them a 2nd time on Sunday Morning w. the new Berning High Power tube amplifiers. I think they are called Quadrature Z. These can push and sound dynamic. The power on tap was excellent. A great amplifier w. a touch of tube like warmth. Mind you the Belles isn't far off, but there is a magic w.the Berning that was missing. The Berning has a purity that is different than most high power tube amps or solid state designs. I need to listen to it again and I do recommend a listen if you need the power. 220 Watts.
I then listened breifly to the Playback Designs Room w. the Wilson Benesch speakers hooked up to DeHavilland. I like Wilson Benesch speakers but this system wasn't anything special to me. It was a quick listen, but something was missing compared to the Usher Suite just before it. I moved on. I took a close up look of the Playback Designs CDP. It looks nice enough, but definitely not my taste. I like the looks of the Esoteric & even the EMM more.
I started to head up. I spoke w. Allen Perkins about the 3 patents on his new tonearm. It really is amazing. There is an amount of brilliance in the design that gives it potential to be one of the great tonearms of all time. I hope it comes out soon. His analogue setup always sounds great. Something to do with his rooms as well.
I then stopped in to relax in the Horning, Tron Room. Today it settled in and sounded great. I went to the Highwater Sound just to hang out. You can't help but listen to music. Jeff always puts on non audiophile pressings that are way cool. I think everyone who goes there experiences the same thing. The room has the perfect balance between a hifi sound & musicality. You can't believe the bass but each speaker has 4 woofers in a push pull configuration. An amazing design that can rock. Of course the new Tron Phono stage is a must listen. Adjustable RIAA and more features. I don't know the model of Hornings by name, but they are $9000 and worth every penny. They do all the tricks but in a most musical way. Nothing in your face, but in no way closed in. This is a sound I love and I doubt there is much comparable in its price range.
It was getting late, so I ran to the Audiogon meet & greet across the street. I met Cello, PCosta, Danselm and a few others. What great guys. Not enough time in the day or the night for that matter. I wish there was more time. Everyone was tired after dinner and wanted to wake early to get a head start.