Triode Wire Labs at the 2024 Capital AudioFest!

[Triode Pete]

Getting ready for next month's Capital AudioFest, https://www.capitalaudiofest.com, November 8th - 10th, 2024 at the Twinbrook Hilton, Rockville Maryland.

Triode Wire Labs and BorderPatrol Audio will be together again in Room 316 again with some phenomenal components to be heard & seen!

Triode Wire Labs will also have their full cable loom in Room 741 with Volti Audio and Cary Audio. Greg Roberts will be debuting his new Lucera loudspeaker... https://voltiaudio.com/lucera/

BorderPatrol, who's also the Importer of Living Voice loudspeakers (UK), will be featuring the Living Voice R80 loudspeaker, https://www.livingvoice.co.uk/r80-series-loudspeakers.html.

BorderPatrol will also be featuring their Parallel Single-Ended Triode (SET) 300B amp, with Western Electric 300B tubes, the S20 EXD, and their award-winning, "human-sounding" BorderPatrol DAC!

Triode Wire Labs will be bringing their Innuos Statement Music Server with upgraded NextGen Power Supply as well as a full loom of cables, including Bi-Wired American speaker cables, Obsession NCF power cords, Passion USB cable and Spirit II RCA interconnects.


Come join us for a libation of your choosing, either cold or at room temperature!

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Cutlr7]

Gonna be a great show, see you there!

 

[Triode Pete]

Triode Wire Labs will be at the Capital AudioFest next week and will providing an Audio Show Discount of 10% off with FREE USPS Priority shipping.

If anyone is interested, please let me know and I can send you a detailed, discounted PayPal invoice. Payment accepted with PayPal funds, credit card, check (personal is fine) or by bank wire transfer. The latter two payment methods preferred to avoid the high transaction fees.

This offer is valid NOW through November 11.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[robyatt]

Room 719 Quad Java HiFi Tzar VPI Bird of Prey Sonore Finley Audio Wax Racks Robyatt Audio​

 

[Triode Pete]

Some feedback from CAF as follows...

First from Michael Lavorgna's Twittering Machines... https://twitteringmachines.com/caf-2024-old-friends/

CAF 2024: Old Friends

Gary Dews from Border Patrol and “Triode” Pete from Triode Wire Labs had a room full of gear I’ve reviewed from source to speakers.

The gear:

Living Voice R80 OB-X (from $46,875/pair) (review)
Border Patrol S20EXD Parallel Single-Ended Amplifier (starts at $22,500 without 300B tubes) (review)
Cables from Triode Wire Labs
Border Patrol DAC SE-i (starts at $1400) (review)
Innuos Statement Music Server with Next-Gen Power Supply ($26,200 w/4TB SSD storage)

I admit I didn’t spend a lot of time listening because I already have in the Barn which is a much friendlier place for gear (and people) so if you want to know how these things sound, a review beats a show report by a country mile. And while we’re here, a show report is never, ever, a review no matter who writes it. Think of the difference between a show report and a review as being like the difference between having a a sip of coffee with a stranger as opposed to dinner with a friend. Yet I know some people who walk away from coffee with a stranger thinking they know everything there is to know about them and other people who leave a room at a hifi show after a few minutes of listening thinking they know exactly what all the gear sounds like. And they’re always inevitably wrong due to the complicated nature of people and hifi.



Thanks for the coverage, Michael!

 

[Triode Pete]

A nice video from "The Listening Chair from Howard Kneller"... Greg from Volti Audio tells us about his new Lucera speaker (with Triode Wire Labs internal & external wiring!) at the Capital AudioFest...

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Triode Pete]

Some feedback from Part Time Audiophile on the Volti & Triode Wire Labs Room... https://pt.audio/2024/11/22/volti-and-cary-and-triode-wire-labs-caf-2024/

Volti and Cary and Triode Wire Labs | CAF 2024

Wait, did I say the Volti and Cary room? I know, I was surprised to walk into this room and not see the usual Volti Audio-BorderPatrol-Triode Wire Labs “Three Amigos” set-up. (BorderPatrol and Triode Wire Labs were featured in another room.) Instead, Volti’s Greg Roberts placed the Luceras in a more affordable system that included the classic Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated amplifier ($4,995), a Mojo Audio Mystique SE DAC ($8,499) and the Innuos ZENith music server ($6,699 with 2TB storage). Cabling was still supplied by Triode Wire Labs.

The Volti Audio Lucera, finished in a lovely padauk finish for $11,750/pr, captured all the attention in the room. There are so many things to celebrate here–the 99 db sensitivity, the high-quality components inside, and that commanding 15″ woofer. As I mentioned the first time I heard the Luceras, there’s an additional measure of refinement to the Luceras that goes beyond the usual “Have Fun!” attitude that permeates the rest of the line-up. Instead of a big powerful speaker that is dynamic as all get-out, the Lucera is all that and more. The Volti and Cary room might have been a surprise at first, with its unexpected line-up, but I felt the room knowing that Matthew Partrick was absolutely right about the Luceras.

Thanks Marc!

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Triode Pete]

A great review from Stereophile's Ken Micallef!!! ... https://www.stereophile.com/content/border-patrol-triode-wire-labs-living-voice

Border Patrol, Living Voice, Triode Wire Labs

Gary Dewes and Pete Grzybowski, the minds behind Border Patrol Audio and Triode Wire Labs, respectively, conjured a sonic space that wasn't merely heard, but felt. A room where sound didn't just exist, but seized the listener, demanding attention.
Said setup included an Innuos Statement Music Server with Next-Gen Power Supply (4TB SSD–$26,200), Gary’s BorderPatrol S20EXD power amplifier (from $22,500) and BorderPatrol DAC SE-i (USB, from $1650). These drove the Living Voice R80 IBX Oak loudspeakers ($42,750–$54,250/pair, depending on finish), a two-way, ported, MTM loudspeaker with 92dB/W sensitivity at 6 ohms and a prodigious bandwidth of 25Hz–20kHz. Soft-toned, super refined, the LVs glowed. Various Triode Wire Labs cables connected it all.

Streaming files ripped from CD, the system brought to life a luminescent Buddy Holly, his voice singing True Love Ways. Gene Ammons’s tenor sax, resonant and rich, wove My Romance. And then, a crisp, early morning wake-up call: Junior Wells, his voice grabbing me by the collar. Shelly Manne and John Marshall’s Poinciana was visceral, natural-sounding. Percussion, drums, and tabla darted across the room like playful puppies. This was a sweet-sounding, naturally toned, fully robust system.

Thanks Ken!!!

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Triode Pete]

Some nice feedback from Part Time Audiophile's Graig Neville... https://pt.audio/2024/11/27/living-voice-r80-obx-borderpatrol-and-triode-wire-labs-caf-2024/

Living Voice R80 OBX, BorderPatrol and Triode Wire Labs | CAF 2024

Running from room to room nearly non-stop, looking for serious audio sounds, makes a reviewer dehydrated and thirsty. Stopping in room 316 with Triode Wire Labs and BorderPatrol was a thirst quencher. Besides being offered a cool bubbly beverage, I had several minutes to take photos and listen to the Living Voice R80 OBX loudspeakers in Glossy Ebony ($54,250/pr) that debuted at CAF in 2023.

Triode Wire Labs and BorderPatrol had posted a very heartfelt salute to our veterans on the door. As the show overlapped Veteran?s Day, it seemed appropriate and patriotic. I know post-election fervor was present in spades at the event, with it being so close to the District of Columbia, and I did my best to dodge politics and focus on the hi-fi, but this resonated with me in a positive way.

The Living Voice R80 OBX speakers were driven by a BorderPatrol S20 EXD amplifier (from $22,500 depending on tubes) and a BorderPatrol DAC SE-i (from $1650 depending on options). There was no vinyl present. The SE-i DAC was so cute! It?s a little box with a tube rectifier and was sitting between the S20 and the Innuos Statement Nex-Gen Music Server w/ 4Tb SSD ($26,200).

Triode Wire Labs brought several accoutrement including Obsession NCF power cords ($1499), High Power Digital American II power cords for the power supplies ($749), Bi-Wired American speaker cables (starting at $1099/pr) with TWL jumpers ($299/pr), Spirit II RCA interconnects (starting at $399/pr), and a Passion USB cable ($329).

The sound was truly enjoyable. The hotel rooms at Capital Audiofest can be tricky and getting an appropriate sized speaker for the room is often a challenge. The Living Voice R80 OBX speaker looked physically a bit too large for the space, but I felt the bass was a bit softer than I expected from a speaker with this large of a driver compliment. The music wasn?t playing ear-blastingly loud, which was a welcome respite for a reviewer trying to save their ears for the entire weekend, which perhaps contributed to the softish bass. The treble and midrange of the Living Voice R80 OBX were warm and inviting, so I stayed and listened for longer than I had in many other rooms enjoying the gear and music.

Thanks, Graig!

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Triode Pete]

Some very nice feedback from EnjoyThe Music's Rick Becker... https://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2024/Becker/Part4/

Room 741 Volti Audio - Triode Wire Labs
Walking into the Volti Audio room you are hit with unrestrained music. Greg Roberts presented his finished version of the Lucera model ($11,750), the middle speaker in his 3-model lineup. It was shown without the standard cloth grills to display the three-driver design that included an impressive 15" woofer, a modification from the 12" that was originally spec'ed. The 2" midrange compression driver has a wide-dispersion horn and the tweeter is a neodymium horn driver. With 99dB/W/m sensitivity, this 40" tall conventionally shaped speaker answers the question, "What would a modern-day 'Voice of the Theater' speaker look and sound like today?" The answer I took away was "higher resolution, deeper bass, and a more room-friendly design." (Yes, I've owned two pairs of VoTT in the past.)

And, unlike those massive Altecs, you can get the Lucera in a variety of real wood veneers and grill cloth covers to suit your décor. The pair shown here were in Padauk veneer with a reddish stain and clear satin lacquer finish. Sold factory direct, you can hear them where he builds them in Baxter, TN between Knoxville and Nashville, just off I-80.

The rig included an Innuos ZENith music server with 2TB of storage ($6,700) and a Mojo Audio Mystique Y model that was very similar to their acclaimed X model but simplified with only a USB input for streaming. The Y starts at $4k and there is an upgrade version at $7k. The Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated has been around for decades and now sells for $5k. The cabling was from Triode Wire Labs. And who could not notice the audio rack Volti has used for years, cut from 16-layer plywood and topped with a gorgeous veneer?

Thanks, Rick!