Nice. How’s the imaging on this system?
Wow. Very cool. Love the use of rear wall diffusers.
Imaging is decent. I mostly listens to female vocal and I think the system images best after the upgrade to snowmass, using bridge II. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good reference on what good imaging sounds like. I am basically exploring high end audio without a specific goal in mind. With my system, imaging and sense of openess is what I like to improve upon.
I have been away from the forum here for a while, but upon returning have thoroughly enjoyed the images of people’s systems and the discussion. I have always liked looking as much as listening because the right kind of room can generate similar kinds of emotions to good music - warm, enveloping… cozy.
Here’s where I spend my audio time… enjoy!!
22 Likes
Holy cow that sub! Love the system.
Who made the speakers? At first glance they look like the work of Mr. Salk, though I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that out of him.
Hi Schroedster, thank you for the comments!
The speakers are Vapor Audio Joule Whites. Small company who has fallen on hard times and has had some bad luck - don’t know if they are really still in business. What was fun was the ability to customize virtually everything from the veneer to the capacitors in the crossover. They are clearly the jewel of the system, although I have had no real opportunity for any direct comparisons.
The sub (Funk Audio) would also be up there with one of my favorite parts, and I have nothing but extremely positive sentiment for the company and the man behind it - great product, and great customer service. It evened out the bass response in the room as well as extended coverage well below 20Hz.
3 Likes
What areas do your Vapor Audios excel at? From looking at them I feel like they image like nobody’s business.
And did you have any issues integrating a sub that big with your speakers?
So, the speakers were designed and built on the principle of taking some of the best drivers around (Raal ribbon tweeter, Accuton ceramic midrange, and Audio Technology sandwich cone woofer) and placing them into a well designed and built cabinet. The top section is physically separate from the bass section, resting on Herbie’s fat dots, and it has somewhat of a teardrop shape that was designed to minimize internal reflections. The bottom section is a transmission line - both units made from CNC’d baltic birch plywood. I mention all that, because some users experiences with these drivers may allow for an estimation of the speakers sound. They replaced a pair of Thiel CS2.4’s, and did virtually everything better. I would say their particular strengths are bass response and palpability and most things related to imaging and soundstaging.
As for the sub, it has fairly extensive on-board DSP functions, and once getting it time aligned (I use XTZ analyzer pro), it was a fairly simple affair to tune it to the main speakers. With that sub and the right recording, bass is truly a wonderous thing in that room.
2 Likes
No idea what the main speakers excel at, but I got a pretty good idea about the sub. (Funk!)
1 Like
There should be a tour operator that offers guided listening trips through audio(phile) rooms worldwide. Man, I’d love to listen to all of the systems shown here.
This last sub just killed it…
Where is that catalog? I’m in!
3 Likes
Thanks for the details, I really appreciate it! It can be difficult to listen to a lot of the more interesting and exotic speakers out there, so hearing about your experiences is great.
I didn’t realize all the love the sub would get… here is another image of it. That’s a 21 inch driver there, and it sounds as bad$ss as it looks!
12 Likes
What amplification are you using? Your mono blocks look bad-ass!
Those are Hypex nCores - they were my third pair. I was wowed by a pair I had build for me close to when they were new and all the rage. I built these basically pulling out all the stops I could think of - aluminum and mu-metal shielding between the power supply and the amplifier module, Synergystic Research fuses, NeoTech power leads and output wire, and Furutech binding posts. Was fun, and improved the sound over the standard NC400 build. One of the more inexpensive parts of the system, but I love them.
3 Likes
Wow this insane sub is even bigger than the one I reported from the last high end show, great!
And for those of you who love strange setups, here the mother of all audio sites, unfortunately discontinued and just available in the way back machine now:
http://web.archive.org/web/20051226083923/http://www.exoticaudio.org/
Klick several links and you’ll have fun!
That room looks very inviting… and the Bryston and Thiel combo is what got me into high end audio way back in the day. Great combination.
Love it!!!
thanks guys! it sounds friggin awesome. even better since i inserted the Perfect Wave DAC last month.
I’ve got a pair of REL328 subs in the background, keeping time.
lately tho, i’ve been using the Maggie’s you can see in the background…
Can’t wait to upgrade to the Direct Stream Sr .!
1 Like
I upgraded from the Perfect Wave to the DS, and let me just say you will be very pleased when you do the same. The Perfect Wave was a great DAC, but the DS is way better.
2 Likes