Pacific AudioFest 2023

[D&D NA]

We had a fantastic PAF. While we had almost no time to walk the show, we got to meet a ton of great folks and received lots of positive feedback on our humble room.

JVS's Best of PAF 2023: Dutch & Dutch 8c all-in-ones

"Have you heard Dutch & Dutch? If you haven't, you must." Time and again, variations on that theme were voiced either by me or many of the attendees I chatted with at the show. As far as I can recall, my encounter with the Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) is the first time I...

www.stereophile.com

 

[Bruce B]

We had a fantastic PAF. While we had almost no time to walk the show, we got to meet a ton of great folks and received lots of positive feedback on our humble room.

JVS's Best of PAF 2023: Dutch & Dutch 8c all-in-ones

"Have you heard Dutch & Dutch? If you haven't, you must." Time and again, variations on that theme were voiced either by me or many of the attendees I chatted with at the show. As far as I can recall, my encounter with the Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) is the first time I...

www.stereophile.com

I was quite impressed with the sound in the room.... and the convenience of the system!

 

[thomask]

I had been impressed with system that I had never listened before.

As I am busy with other things weekdays, I will summarize my impression this coming weekend.

 

[D&D NA]

I was quite impressed with the sound in the room.... and the convenience of the system!

Thank you! We're glad that you came by to visit!

 

[gleeds]

Bruce as a recording engineer clearly sees a benefit to the D&D design as do I. These are simply consistently excellent high-end loudspeakers at an attractive price.

I have written elsewhere on the forum concerning the validity of active loudspeakers, particularly ones like the Dutch and Dutch. This from an industry professional making his living from purist two-channel audio who just added a dipole/field coil hybrid speaker and a parallel single-ended 300B integrated amplifier to our stable! One day soon I'm going to add an active solution to our line-up and did find several interesting solutions to consider while in Munich.

What in the world is purist 2-channel audio coming too

 

[audioarcher]

I was also impressed with the sound in the Dutch & Dutch room. Sure is an easy way to get excellent sound all in one package.

Another speaker that I was very impressed with was the Cabasse Rialto. I walked in this room and almost just walked right back out. I saw some small bookshelf speakers and thought this can't be worth hearing. Boy was I wrong! I could not believe the sound coming out of these small speakers. I sat down and listened for awhile. The bass was excellent and deep for something so small. The sound as a whole was detailed and clean. They played louder and cleaner than I expected speakers that small capable of. After asking some questions I learned that these were tri amped active speakers with streaming built in, and room correction. Wifi capable as well. 5" coaxial in front, and 7" powered woofer in back. Not a passive radiator like some other speakers that are similar in design. All you need is to plug them into the wall and go. Price is $3995 but there was a show show special of 15% off. I was not really in the market for speakers, but I was so impressed I bought a pair for a third system.

Been a long time since I had heard Cabasse speakers, and in the past I did not have a favorable impression of them. Not sure what has changed if anything, but I would like to hear their new bigger offerings in the future.

Other rooms I enjoyed were the Joseph Audio, Bella Sound with Analysis Audio Speakers, and Stenheim/ Infigo.

Listened to some Audeze LCD 5's. These sounded very good. I'm not much of a headphone guy though.

 

[Solypsa]

+1 for the Dutch+Dutch room sound !

 

[Audiohertz2]

Did anyone get to hear these ESL’s ..?

 

[Gregadd]

i get the feeling something lost in the translation. definitely a promising design.

 

[audioarcher]

Did anyone get to hear these ESL’s ..?

Yes I listened to these. They were quite good.

I own Innersound Kaya electrostats so I was curious how they compared. They play pretty low for a full range panel design. They are supposed to be much more efficient than my speakers. I think they were playing them with 80 wpc tube amps, if I recall correctly. I tried that with my Innersounds once, and I it did not go well. The price tag, and the fact that they are a new company from another country is a drawback though.

 

[audioarcher]

i get the feeling something lost in the translation. definitely a promising design.

I don't think so. I just think most of the people that listened to these are not posters on this forum.

 

[gleeds]

I don't think so. I just think most of the people that listened to these are not posters on this forum.

Audiohertz2, I know a bit about the development of the Popori, although sadly I was unable to attend PAF to hear them. Roger Sanders and I introduced the Innersound Kaya's together in the early 2000s. The panel was actually quite efficient but required a lot of voltage to drive effectively, hence 60 volts on the rails of the venerable ESL amplifier still offered today by Roger at Sanders Sound Systems and highly recommended.

Before being picked up by Notable Audio in VA (a solid firm that also distributes J. Sikora turntables), I was considering bringing them into the US myself, however the timing was not right for us. In speaking with Otto Popori at the time, it appears he has resolved many of the problems associated with stats, most notably presently a difficult load. The construction of the panel offering exceptionally uniform stator spacing front to back is another Popori innovation that impressed me. The rigidity of the frame made of a synthetic stone, aka Corion is also a first. My main question is how beamy are the high frequencies resulting from the flat panel. Overall, it's great to see a new company bringing innovation to the market, and there is that electrostatic magic to consider........

If Popori's distribution network continues to grow that should allay some concern buying from a new company. Not long ago Alysvox burst on the scene and just recently Clarisus with terrific products and audiophiles seem to be embracing them. I for one am thrilled to see full-range panels making a comeback, especially one like Popori with an electrostatic heart!

 

[audioarcher]

Audiohertz2, I know a bit about the development of the Popori, although sadly I was unable to attend PAF to hear them. Roger Sanders and I introduced the Innersound Kaya's together in the early 2000s. The panel was actually quite efficient but required a lot of voltage to drive effectively, hence 60 volts on the rails of the venerable ESL amplifier still offered today by Roger at Sanders Sound Systems and highly recommended.

Before being picked up by Notable Audio in VA (a solid firm that also distributes J. Sikora turntables), I was considering bringing them into the US myself, however the timing was not right for us. In speaking with Otto Popori at the time, it appears he has resolved many of the problems associated with stats, most notably presently a difficult load. The construction of the panel offering exceptionally uniform stator spacing front to back is another Popori innovation that impressed me. The rigidity of the frame made of a synthetic stone, aka Corion is also a first. My main question is how beamy are the high frequencies resulting from the flat panel. Overall, it's great to see a new company bringing innovation to the market, and there is that electrostatic magic to consider........

If Popori's distribution network continues to grow that should allay some concern buying from a new company. Not long ago Alysvox burst on the scene and just recently Clarisus with terrific products and audiophiles seem to be embracing them. I for one am thrilled to see full-range panels making a comeback, especially one like Popori with an electrostatic heart!

Hi Gleeds,
I unfortunately did not really determine how beamy the Popori are. They are flat, so I do not think they would be much different than the Innersounds in that regard. I could be wrong. One other thing I wonder is how long the panels will last? I know the Martin Logans, and Soundlabs need refreshing after a while. Roger Sanders says his esl panels should never need that, assuming they are not his older designs. I believe the Kayas have the panels that he says will never need rebuilding. I have had mine for about 18 years, and the panels still have no issues. I did have to replace the woofers a few years ago though. My guess is that Roger found a coating for the stators that he thinks will last a very long time. Not sure how long the Mylar will hold up though. Only time will tell.

 

[gleeds]

Sean, the key to the Kaya panels long service life.is that the "UltraStat" panel is arc-proof and hence cannot develop a hole in the mylar which is often the case. Popori claims to also be resistant to humidity issues while I'll be keen to know more about. The Kaya's and Roger's S-S-S version are really something though, so keep on enjoying them as I expect they will last you another 18 years now that the woofers were replaced!

 

[Audiohertz2]

Audiohertz2, I know a bit about the development of the Popori, although sadly I was unable to attend PAF to hear them. Roger Sanders and I introduced the Innersound Kaya's together in the early 2000s. The panel was actually quite efficient but required a lot of voltage to drive effectively, hence 60 volts on the rails of the venerable ESL amplifier still offered today by Roger at Sanders Sound Systems and highly recommended.

Before being picked up by Notable Audio in VA (a solid firm that also distributes J. Sikora turntables), I was considering bringing them into the US myself, however the timing was not right for us. In speaking with Otto Popori at the time, it appears he has resolved many of the problems associated with stats, most notably presently a difficult load. The construction of the panel offering exceptionally uniform stator spacing front to back is another Popori innovation that impressed me. The rigidity of the frame made of a synthetic stone, aka Corion is also a first. My main question is how beamy are the high frequencies resulting from the flat panel. Overall, it's great to see a new company bringing innovation to the market, and there is that electrostatic magic to consider........

If Popori's distribution network continues to grow that should allay some concern buying from a new company. Not long ago Alysvox burst on the scene and just recently Clarisus with terrific products and audiophiles seem to be embracing them. I for one am thrilled to see full-range panels making a comeback, especially one like Popori with an electrostatic heart!

Thanks for the response , i think they have tweeters on the side which should help very much with the beaming issues ..



Regards

 

[Audiohertz2]

Sean, the key to the Kaya panels long service life.is that the "UltraStat" panel is arc-proof and hence cannot develop a hole in the mylar which is often the case. Popori claims to also be resistant to humidity issues while I'll be keen to know more about. The Kaya's and Roger's S-S-S version are really something though, so keep on enjoying them as I expect they will last you another 18 years now that the woofers were replaced!

How are these vs wired stators ..?

 

[Rexp]

+1 for the Dutch+Dutch room sound !

Did they update these speakers? I thought they sounded a tad 'digital' in the past.

 

[Solypsa]

Not sure. And to be honest maybe I agree. But the overall package was quite good and quite affordable ( within the bigger picture )

 

[gleeds]

How are these vs wired stators ..?

If you mean Sander's UltraStat panel, that is an easy one. The UltraStat panel comprises a stator made from a large CNC milled glass circuit board with the copper high voltage trace embedded in the glass. As such the high driving voltages cannot jump between the stators panel, hence no arcing and no tiny sparks burning a hole in the mylar. The trick is not in the mylar or the coating itself it is in the panel. Roger and the former Raytheon engineer he co-developed holds a patent on this and, of course is the man to go to for a better explanation.

On the Popori, I revisited their website and the WR-1 (second from the top model) indicates it's a two-way and uses a ribbon planar high-frequency driver. Interesting......

WR1.24 W

WR1 W Wide range two-way electrostatic speaker with ribbon high frequency planar transducer. Wing Installation and user manual WR1 2023 Measurements: Frequency response: …

poporiacoustics.com

The top Popori models have changed somewhat since I looked into them and the website certainly could add some more details on the speakers technical aspects. Still they look very promising and Noble Distribution knows good sound. I'm very much looking forward to hearing them at the Capital Audio show in November.

 

[Cybermaggies]

We had a fantastic PAF. While we had almost no time to walk the show, we got to meet a ton of great folks and received lots of positive feedback on our humble room.

JVS's Best of PAF 2023: Dutch & Dutch 8c all-in-ones

"Have you heard Dutch & Dutch? If you haven't, you must." Time and again, variations on that theme were voiced either by me or many of the attendees I chatted with at the show. As far as I can recall, my encounter with the Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) is the first time I...

www.stereophile.com

What was the Deadmau5 song you played on Saturday around noon that had the heavy bass come in after about 30 seconds? Was Awesome!