Looking To Meet Some Arizona Audiophiles April 24th

[andromedaaudio]

Interesting trip and sounds like a lot of fun.
I find it interesting if you can figure out what those backfiring mid / tweeters bring to the SF table , its kind of new to them as far as i know ,I know the xlf has probably also a rearfiring tweeter but not 100 % directed to the back as far as i know .
What springs to mind is maybe more energy into the image between/behind the speakers

 

[AMP]

There's also a demo pair of Rockport Arrakis driven by VTL in the area in case you wanted to make it a quest for the ultimate super-speaker.

 

[jtinn]

Have fun! Just had back surgery or I'd make the drive out to join you guys.

How did it go Keith?

 

[jtinn]

There's also a demo pair of Rockport Arrakis driven by VTL in the area in case you wanted to make it a quest for the ultimate super-speaker.

Hmmm.

 

[LL21]

There's also a demo pair of Rockport Arrakis driven by VTL in the area in case you wanted to make it a quest for the ultimate super-speaker.

Now that's something!

 

[andromedaaudio]

Agreed

Now that's something!

 

[LL21]

Hi Steve - Look forward to the 'reviews'!

 

[Steve williams]

I fly out tomorrow morning and will be home around 9:30 tomorrow night

 

[ALF]

I fly out tomorrow morning and will be home around 9:30 tomorrow night

Silk, Silk, Silk...;-)

Bring em home...have fun!

Cheers!
ALF

 

[MylesBAstor]

Hi Steve - Look forward to the 'reviews'!

+1

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

My friend Lon and I stopped by and met Oneobgyn/Steve W and his friend Marty for the first time. A real pleasure. Most of our listening with them was with the Sonus Faber $120K speakers. They sat in the money seats and their money, so we'll let them tell us about it. It was a real pleasure meeting Steve and Marty. We were able to watch two "audio geniuses" at work!

 

[microstrip]

We are all waiting for their reports. But it seems they needed a good and deserved night sleep after such a lightening trip!

 

[Steve williams]

Well it was indeed a pleasure to finally meet Steve and Lonnie.

It was a hectic day yesterday and on top of that my flight home was delayed 2 hours so I need to clear the cobwebs but suffice it to say it was a terrific comparison between the two speakers and on top of that we also listened to the TOL $250K pair of MBL speakers.

It was a pleasure to have been hosted by the owner of LMCHE (Mike Ware) in Scottsdale who not only picked us up and dropped us off at the Phoenix airport but also made his entire store available to us and allowing us to hear everything we wanted as well as allowing us to move the speaker configuration around with the hope of improving the sound. Mike is a solid shooter who has a wonderful business model and from what I saw yesterday would have to put him up in the top 3-5 stores in the country. (I haven't even discussed his theater rooms which were eye candy)

We also used the Stereophile Test Disk to play some pink noise and used a Phonik to get frequency responses for each speaker. I will try to post those later today

One important thing to mention is that the Scottsdale store has not been completely finished with respect to room treatments. These are on order and will be installed in the next few weeks. This was somewhat problematic in the Aida room where we discovered a huge suck out at 40Hz. Moving the speaker placement around slight really smoothed the frequency response but the 40Hz dropout couldn't be resolved.

I can say this however that the audition of the Aida and the XLF made me a believer in the silk dome tweeter. Most know that I have owned most every Wilson speaker since 1995 and as a result I am quite familiar with the sound of the inverted titanium dome tweeter. What I can say is the difference between the two tweeters for my ears was a sense of ease and relaxation in the upper end which was detailed beyond belief but without any hint of fatigue.

I am betting that Wilson Audio has hit a homerun with this tweeter and as a result will show up in next generation speaker models of Wilson Audio.

BTW, we also played the XLF rear ported (which sounded better re bass response in the room) and then front ported (this caused roll off in the bottom end and we went back to rear porting where it sounded better)

More to come

 

[treitz3]

What I can say is the difference between the two tweeters for my ears was a sense of ease and relaxation in the upper end which was detailed beyond belief but without any hint of fatigue.

I'd call that a good review.

Steve, what volumes were you listening at if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Steve williams]

I'd call that a good review.

Steve, what volumes were you listening at if you don't mind me asking?

We were using all McIntosh gear with different preamps in both rooms. Each room had the same amps

Foe SS we used the McIntosh MC1.2KW and for tubes we used the McIntosh MC2301. FWIW the XLF sounded better on the bottom end with SS whereas the Aida for my ears sounded wonderful with the tube amp

Listening levels did not go aboe "55" on the preamps

As for the model preamp used in each room, as stated they were McIntosh with MSRP of the one in the Aida room being $6500 and the one in the Wilson/MBL room being $12,500

BTW, Mike Ware told us that he is not only the top McIntosh dealer but he is the only dealer who carries in stock every piece made by McIntosh

 

[microstrip]

Steve,
What was the source and the cables that were used in these systems? You know I am system believer!

 

[Steve williams]

Steve,
What was the source and the cables that were used in these systems? You know I am system believer!

Cables used in the Wilson/MBL room IIRC were made by McIntosh whereas in the Sonus room were Italian in origin. Neither I was familiar with

 

[andromedaaudio]

Great review steve , .....apart from the bassproblems of the aida and the different configuration was there a winner ???

 

[Steve williams]

yes......

 

[Steve williams]

Please bear in mind that the Aida room restriction re a 40 hz suckout did (for me at least) make the bottom end difficult to evaluate however I must say that having heard it as CES the bottom end was fine but IMO no as articulate or detailed as the XLF which I also found to be far more dynamic. I would have loved to hear some different amps for both speakers but all in all it was just a great day and again thanks to Mike Ware who gave us control of his store