Rhapsody.Audio Listening Rooms

Rhapsody.Audio- Listening Rooms (RLRs)

Rhapsody.Audio would like to announce that within the next 3-4 months there will be multiple new locations where several of the product lines that Rhapsody.Audio represents will be available to audition via Rhapsody.Audio Listening Rooms (RLRs).

Initially, the RLR’s will have the products available for demonstration mentioned below. Upon opening, the DFW RLR will have a very similar product offering as that available at Rhapsody.Audio in Manhattan.

Over time, all locations will be expanding their portfolio to a comparable scale as that of NYC/DFW.

The RLRs will be available to host auditions by appointment. All product ordering and delivery logistics will be processed and supported from the Rhapsody.Audio NYC location.

Product assistance and installation will be supported by Rhapsody.Audio NYC along with the RLRs depending on customer location.

The RLR locations are:


Portland - Rhapsody.Audio RLR

Products available to audition (coming soon)

-Pilium

-Alsyvox

-Diesis

-Bayz Audio

Dallas/Fort Worth Rhapsody.Audio DFW

Products available to audition:

-Alsyvox

-Diesis

-Bayz Audio

-Pilium

-VYGER

-Kondo

-Taiko Audio

-VYDA

West Palm Beach & Miami (2 Florida locations) Rhapsody.Audio WPB/Miami

West Palm Beach will open initially. Miami will follow when the RLR is ready to host customers.

Products available to audition (initially):

-Alsyvox

-Pilium

-Aurender

-TelluriumQ

Chicago, IL Rhapsody.Audio Chicago

Products available to audition (initially):

-Alsyvox

-Pilium

-Aurender

-TelluriumQ

Long Island, NY Rhapsody.Audio Long Island

-Kondo

-Alsyvox

 

Lee, Al wrote a report after visiting Ron Resnick, not Mike Lavigne. It is in Ron’s current system thread. I think it was posted in June.

Oh okay, thanks. Sorry it was a long day and somehow completely misread the sentence.

 

Carlos, I have noticed in the last six months or a year or so, people are talking less and less about what they actually hear. We see this in the video threads and in the system threads. People post videos and they talk about recording equipment, but not many are discussing the sound of the videos themselves.

It is the same with system threads. People love to share their new gear and show the unboxing and delivery, but we do not read much about listening impressions. I recently wrote quite an extensive post about my listening impressions with my new phonostage, but these types of posts are increasingly rare.

There was a time when I had local friends come over and listen to my system and then they would write a post shortly thereafter describing what they heard and often describing recent changes. I used to do the same when I visited them and heard their systems. It was fun and reciprocal. That is not happening much anymore. I do not know the reasons. Perhaps you have noticed the same.

Jazzdoc used to write some thing almost every time he came back from visiting Mike Lavigne. So did others when Mike hosted large gatherings. Bonzo wrote a little bit after his recent trip to Seattle and California, but not very much. @Al M. did write a very nice report after visiting Ron.

Hi PeterA,
My close friends, acquaintances And people whose opinion I value, who are close to the field, and who have been with me for years, and know every nuance in my setup, are NOT members on this site, I myself "discovered" this great site about a year ago, and I signed up for it and started writing, sharing and participating in it only about half a year ago,

on this occasion, I invite anyone who's in my area, and is interested in hearing and experiencing my setup, welcome with pleasure.
(talk to me in private, and we can coordinate )

By the way, in the videos I post, I don't have any "recording equipment" and no production,
spontaneous as possible with the video through an old cell phone until it gives its life ),( I'm not a cell phone person.)
So, of course, what hearing in the videos obviously is far from reality, but it gives a certain line that the setup and outcome follows.

My setup and all its "transfiguration" are noted and published along with responses from dozens of people who were and listen, on local forums on my country.

 

Bonzo wrote a little bit after his recent trip to Seattle and California, but not very much. @Al M. did write a very nice report after visiting Ron.

I write a detailed report on analog compares in Mike’s system, which was my focus, and ordered Dava on the back of that, and it today drives a significant part of my analog strategy or recommendation. Would investigate the FCL further as and when I get the opportunity The other systems like Keith’s and Jeff’s at that time were not in a completed state to write about as they were in progress at that time.

Had a trip last week, drafting detailed reports with videos.

 

Can you comment on the sound? How do the two systems at Rhapsody Dallas compare to each other? How do they compare to the sound of your system at home? To the best that you have ever heard? It sounds like a pretty impressive presentation. Does the sound of the systems match the F1 optics?

Would be interesting to hear if there was a consensus of opinions among club members. How many club members took out their checkbook?

I hope that these are questions that can be answered honestly. As WBF transitions from an open members forum to one tied to the commercial interests of it advertisers this line of questioning might not be appropriate here on this thread. There is also being respectful to the hosts; so if you don’t feel like replying publicly send me a Private Message. Curious to hear what an experienced group of listeners, without financial interest, thought of the sound.

@Carlos269

Good Morning Carlos,
I apologize that I was not able to address some of your questions yesterday.
It was a busy day for me, running around with the toddlers and making my way to another member's house to help diagnose and listen to the system.

I can definitely comment on the sound.

But first, let me address some of the other topics that you touched on.

WBF transitioning from an open forum to a commercial... I cannot comment on that as I am not a founder of this site, merely, I participate in a peripheral manner. I enjoy this site for looking and perusing for reviews and personal experience with high end gear - something amiss from other forums, sites... so I'm thankful we have WBF for this. Given this, we must support our brick and mortar stores. If we vilify them or subject them with our own conspiracy theories to their involvement in our journeys, we stand to lose the ability to be exposed to new gear, hear new components, be familiarized with up and coming technologies, and we lose another person's input on the journey.

In addition, I also noted you alluded to an NDA that Rhapsody might have had an NDA on listeners, to keep from commenting on forums - I assure you there was no NDA discussed, signed, or distributed.

Regarding the sound, we probably had about 34 members come through if I recall correctly. The experiences are varied, but typically the group sits towards the above average end of equipment and experience. An average system cost is 6 digits.

Let me include some of the feedback I received from the group:

 

 

Ked's Rhapsody- Dallas trip report should also be posted on this thread for those that what opinions of the sound.

https://zero-distortion.org/rhapsody-dallas-the-hamleys-for-audiophiles/

 

@Carlos269

Good Morning Carlos,
I apologize that I was not able to address some of your questions yesterday.
It was a busy day for me, running around with the toddlers and making my way to another member's house to help diagnose and listen to the system.

I can definitely comment on the sound.

But first, let me address some of the other topics that you touched on.

WBF transitioning from an open forum to a commercial... I cannot comment on that as I am not a founder of this site, merely, I participate in a peripheral manner. I enjoy this site for looking and perusing for reviews and personal experience with high end gear - something amiss from other forums, sites... so I'm thankful we have WBF for this. Given this, we must support our brick and mortar stores. If we vilify them or subject them with our own conspiracy theories to their involvement in our journeys, we stand to lose the ability to be exposed to new gear, hear new components, be familiarized with up and coming technologies, and we lose another person's input on the journey.

In addition, I also noted you alluded to an NDA that Rhapsody might have had an NDA on listeners, to keep from commenting on forums - I assure you there was no NDA discussed, signed, or distributed.

Regarding the sound, we probably had about 34 members come through if I recall correctly. The experiences are varied, but typically the group sits towards the above average end of equipment and experience. An average system cost is 6 digits.

Let me include some of the feedback I received from the group:

Joey, thank you for the clarification on the NDA and candid comments from club members. There is no intention of vilifying anything. As Bob posted, Bonzo has also provided his report and some accompanying videos of the Deisis/Kondo system. It appears that there was a very positive impression of the system with the Alsybox speakers and this appears to be consistent with the other reports. What I requested was for some detailed sound impressions and insight on how these systems distinguish themselves. I have no doubt that they sound good but I’m more interested in is if they sound spectacular and why? Systems have been sounding good for decades. Are these systems that are revolutionary, extraordinary, and breakthrough a different realm to justify their costs? I have a very high bar set here at home and wonder if there is anything special to hear here? Can you elaborate on how the sound of these systems compares against the sound of your system at home and specify what your reference system at home is composed of. I know that no videos were allowed but perhaps you can post a couple of videos of your home system playing the standout tracks from the visit to Rhapsody so that we can use them as a datum for your comments.

 

This coming Thursday the 24th of August we have about 30 visitors from the San Francisco Audio club which be visiting David Hyman's new San Fran/Sausalito showroom.

David has the Alsyvox Caravaggios all tuned and ready for the event. We will be using a Pilium Odysseus integrated which is in place until David's Pilium Alexander and Hercules arrive in the Sept/Oct timeframe.

David just received the new Taiko switch and Extreme server on Friday. He is installing them today, so they should have about 100 hours on them by Thursday.

Daniele Cohen, and his lovely wife Paola will be in attendance, as will I. Looking forward to meeting many new San Fran audio club members!

 

This will be another amazing event, Bob!

 

@Carlos269 ,

I understand. The function of these threads are to explore others' experiences with gear that we may or may not have access to.

Either as a way to confirm and reinforce our beliefs and hearings with gear we have already heard - or as a way to potentially add or minus to our list of potential targets for acquisition or exploration.

@PeterA,
I contribute to part of this lack of component reviews. I should really start posting more of my thoughts on components, upgrades, and system shifts. I think you are right, the more people post their subjective opinions, the more likely it will help someone else down stream.

For example, Peter, your review on the Magico Mini 2 and Q3 and the Natural sound were very helpful to me and my journey. Even your post comparing the MSL Gold versus the Airtight Supreme (non Opus) was also very helpful in my journey for my cartridge choice. So I don't want you to think that your posts have not benefitted anyone else... they have!

I think part of the reason I have not posted about my gear is that I have become less and less involved in forums for day to day participation but I use it as a research tool. I will try to post more and more about the gear I have in an effort to help others.

I believe the reason I post less is because I am used to seeing more and more audiophiles in person because of my club in Dallas... so most of my data and reviews are internally shared in person, via text, or whatsapp. It no longer makes it to the forums.

 

Ked's Rhapsody- Dallas trip report should also be posted on this thread for those that what opinions of the sound.

https://zero-distortion.org/rhapsody-dallas-the-hamleys-for-audiophiles/

An interesting report. @bonzo75 how does your preferred system at Rhapsody compare with what you hear at home?

 

An interesting report. @bonzo75 how does your preferred system at Rhapsody compare with what you hear at home?

i don’t have anything at home. Welcome to WBF.

 

An interesting report. @bonzo75 how does your preferred system at Rhapsody compare with what you hear at home?

I’ll get you a review from my end, I can compare it to my set up

 

i don’t have anything at home. Welcome to WBF.

not sure if you are kidding given the long list of equipment in your signature line.

at any rate, do you check out the local music scene when you visit systems in other countries?

 

I think Bonzo is some kind of classical musician , the way he describes how a symphony sounds or the way a violin resonates tells me he is some kind of musician or the other , so not surprised he has no system at home most musicians like Bonzo are Hifi tone deaf as they hear the performances much different from the rest of us and worse use peripheral memory to piece the music together ..!

They very rarely enjoy hifi systems ..!!!!

 

I think Bonzo is some kind of classical musician , the way he describes how a symphony sounds or the way a violin resonates tells me he is some kind of musician or the other , so not surprised he has no system at home most musicians like Bonzo are Hifi tone deaf as they hear the performances much different from the rest of us and worse use peripheral memory to piece the music together ..!

They very rarely enjoy hifi systems ..!!!!

It all makes sense now !

 

I think Bonzo is some kind of classical musician , the way he describes how a symphony sounds or the way a violin resonates tells me he is some kind of musician or the other , so not surprised he has no system at home most musicians like Bonzo are Hifi tone deaf as they hear the performances much different from the rest of us and worse use peripheral memory to piece the music together ..!

They very rarely enjoy hifi systems ..!!!!

"By profession I work in Investment Banking, not in the audio industry. Luckily I live in central London, and on the way home from work in Canary Wharf can route myself in time to concerts at Barbican, Wigmore Hall, St. Martins, Kings Place at King’s Cross, Southbank (Royal Festival Hall). I watch 40 – 50 classical concerts a year, "

 

I think Bonzo is some kind of classical musician , the way he describes how a symphony sounds or the way a violin resonates tells me he is some kind of musician or the other , so not surprised he has no system at home most musicians like Bonzo are Hifi tone deaf as they hear the performances much different from the rest of us and worse use peripheral memory to piece the music together ..!

They very rarely enjoy hifi systems ..!!!!

hey, everyone does their own thing. I get that. And agree that live concerts cannot be replicated by any hifi setup.

I keep thinking of how he carries his precious records on the plane. Might result in this conversation:

Sir, do you want to put that carry-on in the overhead bin?

What, are you crazy? These are Decca ED1 bluebacks! And do you know what great horns sound like with a low power set amp? [I've been out of the dating market for a very long time, but this doesn't sound like a winner pick-up line. But who knows?]

hope he doesn't mind a little ribbing...

 

hey, everyone does their own thing. I get that. And agree that live concerts cannot be replicated by any hifi setup.

I keep thinking of how he carries his precious records on the plane. Might result in this conversation:

Sir, do you want to put that carry-on in the overhead bin?

What, are you crazy? These are Decca ED1 bluebacks! And do you know what great horns sound like with a low power set amp? [I've been out of the dating market for a very long time, but this doesn't sound like a winner pick-up line. But who knows?]

hope he doesn't mind a little ribbing...

i do take my LPs on the overhead boom and don’t check them in. I wrap them in the bag.

I once asked on the forum if there was a single audiophile in the dating market. No one replied in the affirmative . Seems most had started on their audio upgrade path after finding their soulmate, getting married, etc. kind of like one childhood fantasy is checked, let’s start on the other one.

 

hey, everyone does their own thing. I get that. And agree that live concerts cannot be replicated by any hifi setup.

Agree that everyone does their own weird thing. Next time I do an audio visit I will make my host an existential threat: hand over your money else I will explain the absurdity of audiophile activity