Capital AudioFest 2024

[MarkusBarkus]

 

[respected_ent]

@MarkusBarkus Thanks! Hope I can get a pair of these in the future.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I also spent time in-room and at dinner talking with Steve Norber, the designer. A lot of good stuff going on in the VR30s. The adjustable bass of the active model would be huge in my room.

And as good as that show room sounded, it was, dimensionally, a wicked room to work. I know those 30s would be waaaay nicer at my place. I hope you get a chance to audition them, @respected_ent

 

[Audiohertz2]

View attachment 139591

The paint finish is fantastic .....

 

[respected_ent]

I currently have the Von Schweikert Endeavor SE, so I would be interested to upgrade to the VR-30.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...the finish is really old-world good. Even ogling it close-up, which I have been known to do. There was a green pair for display on the first floor, equally as luscious.

 

[Porsche]

how many attendees???

 

[tony22]

I’m curious about this, too. Frankly I was surprised by how few people there seemed to be all Saturday afternoon. In years past, on a Saturday at CAF, walking the hallways was a much tighter affair.

 

[Salectric]

I’m curious about this, too. Frankly I was surprised by how few people there seemed to be all Saturday afternoon. In years past, on a Saturday at CAF, walking the hallways was a much tighter affair.

I noticed that too. Saturday seemed less crowded than last year; however, Friday attendance seemed to be up compared to last year. I wasn’t able to attend on Sunday so I don’t know how that compares.

 

[tony22]

I noticed that too. Saturday seemed less crowded than last year; however, Friday attendance seemed to be up compared to last year. I wasn’t able to attend on Sunday so I don’t know that compares.

Maybe we’re all just getting thinner.

 

[AudioLibertarian]

Noticeably less people on Saturday than in previous years, even compared to the first show after Covid-19 epidemic. Lot of times rooms were just empty on upper floors, and manufacturers were VERY eager to sell the demo gear at serious discounts.

 

[Porsche]

well that's a bummer if attendance was down, I heard it was crowded on Friday an figured id ask about the whole show

 

[Elliot G.]

As an exhibitor my feeling is the attendance was definitely down . The reasons are for me only speculation however I would guess the dates had something to do with it

 

[respected_ent]

New Von Schweikert VR 30 Loudspeaker With Horizon 360 DAC & WestminsterLab Amplifiers

 

[respected_ent]

Those Westminsterlab Rei amps are quite interesting too. Class A, but don't get hot like the traditional ones.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...the Lampizator Horizon dac sounded great. Very organic. They swapped between a CD transport (the name of which escapes me) and a Small Green Computer streamer. Sonic Orbiter, I think. WestminsterLab amps and pre. And holy-mackerel level Masterbuilt cables.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

but don't get hot like the traditional ones.

...I have four of them, bridged, at home. Remarkably cool. And Quest pre. I went to this show to hear this room, as it featured gear I have, on speakers I am considering. Room was very musical, regardless of source.

 

[respected_ent]

No doubt the Lampi Horizon sounding good. I have had several Lampi DAC's (including the Pacific) in the past and will consider getting either a Poseidon or Horizon in the future.

 

[Atmasphere]

Since I own the SL model exhibited at the show, I can fully relate to Ron’s reaction and find it quite understandable. Electrostatic loudspeakers, even the ones of this gargantuan size, will not deliver visceral impact of the type that multi-driver cone loudspeaker lovers crave. The reasons are complex. Some is undoubtedly due to the heavy and slow reaction time of large woofer cones. When you hear large subwoofers, their bass seems impressive, but in my experience that always comes at a cost of sluggishness. Large dynamic speakers sound exactly like that to my ears in the bass. They sound ponderous. Some of it is due to highly nonlinear phase response of large cone loudspeakers.

Large electrostatics like SL have very uniform bass thanks to Roger West’s innovative distributed resonance. They will never sound visceral in this sense. Also electrostatic loudspeakers load a room very differently. There’s almost no sound in the lateral plane. That eliminates bass anomalies that plague large multi-driver dynamic designs.

I find Sound Labs to make excellent bass. Lots of impact and very neutral. You really need the right amp to show them off. In the past, tubes have been King on that amp. The issue is that the speaker needs power in the bass even though its high impedance in the bass, and for the same sound pressure, needs the same power in the mids and highs as well. Most amps don't do that (constant power as opposed to constant Voltage). Tubes do it better; in particular those without feedback or else combine Voltage and current feedback (which gives constant power also).

Fortunately the speaker is adjustable to a certain degree which is why you can have some success with amps that do behave as a Voltage source (any amp that can double power with 1/2 the impedance is a Voltage source). Tube amps need feedback to do that properly. The problem you run into doing that is the bass region causes a Voltage source to not make much power. So you'll need a lot more powerful amp to do the same job as a zero feedback tube amp.

For example if the zero feedback tube amp makes 200 Watts the amp that behaves as a Voltage source will need about 800 Watts to be able to make the same sound pressure in the bass.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Errr ,,Not really ..!

One just needs an SS amp which can drive a big capacitor , there is no way your OTL is gonna drive the 2-1 ohm load in the highs like it does the bass at 25+ ohms...

This impedance tilt means the OTL drops to squat for power in the highs but not so in the bass regions boosting the bass Drive.

A perfect impedance storm for an OTL and opposite to what a constant voltage source SS amp would do driving the speaker with power across the full bandwidth ..!