Von Schweikert Show Performance & AXPONA 2022 Wrap-up

Damon Von Schweikert

WBF Technical Expert
Sep 15, 2016
113
234
175
California
www.vonschweikert.com
To say Leif and I are competitive is an understatement. Since we took the helm at my family's business, we sensed the need to demonstrate to the majority of audiophiles the performance our speakers were capable of.

You see, before this it was quite common for show goers to tell us how they've heard of the Von Schweikert company before but never heard the speakers for themselves. That's an awkward achievement considering we've been making loudspeakers for over 40 years. I propose the fact that we're still making speakers demonstrates we've really connected with at least some audiophiles.

When Leif and I released our new flagship the ULTRA 11, we decided to do something our competitors would not do... take them into the most trying of sonic environments, have only hours to set them up and present them to the world for critical analysis.

You see, the smart money has always been to setup flagships in a dedicated room, spend months tweaking the performance, then fly a few "influencers" into town, wine and dine them while presenting the speakers so they in turn can share with the world how amazing they are. Then let the sales orders flow in until it's time to do it again, rinse & repeat.

Instead of doing the smart thing and "bring Mohammed to the Mountain," we decided to bring the system to the masses in the worst listening environments with very little setup time so people could hear what our speakers actually did.

And I would say it's been very successful. We've carved out the show space for flagship loudspeakers. Frankly, the response has been unprecedented. Since Leif and I introduced the first ULTRA loudspeaker (the ULTRA 11) in Singapore at the end of 2017, we've won sixty-six "Best of Show" awards, from more than a dozen sources, and over one hundred ten other awarded accolades. If there is another high-end audio loudspeaker manufacturer that has come anywhere close to this achievement in the last five years, I'm not aware of them.

Am I bragging? Hell yes and why wouldn't I? We took the risks and as such, we EARNED the rewards. And we will continue to demonstrate our technology, our performance, our life's work for as long as it makes sense. We've done the heavy lifting (literally, these speakers aren't light) so more audiophiles and members of the press (who might not be selected for the get-away weekend to hear the competition) could experience first-hand what our products do.

Now they aren't for everybody, as demonstrated by a few posts in this very forum. But I would encourage you to take all that with a grain of salt. Clearly the appreciation of audio gear is subjective as demonstrated by all the products that are so different and yet successful year after year. And I don't care how great someone writes, forum poster or audio critic. Until you hear their system, you have no idea what their reference is, what their subjective taste are, and if they align with yours. Frankly, I know a few reviewers who are highly regarded but if the majority of you ever heard their reference system, you would stop reading their reviews immediately.

So as I always say, take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt (including the awards we've won). Hear the product for yourself, form your own opinions. And we'll do our part to make our products as accessible as possible for your audition.

That said, here's the awards we've won thus far from AXPONA 2022. I've included links to the publications. If you missed the show, there are some great reads there. Enjoy!

BEST OF SHOW (COST NO OBECT) at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Andrew Quint - The Absolute Sound

BEST OF SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Greg Weaver - The Audio Analyst

BEST OF SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Marc Phillips - Part-Time Audiophile

FINEST SOUND OF THE SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Dr. Michael Bump - Enjoy the Music

BEST OF SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Greg Weaver - Enjoy the Music

BEST OF SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Greg Neville - The Occasional Podcast

BEST OF SHOW at AXPONA 2022
ULTRA 7 by Marc Phillips - Audio Head
 
Last edited:

treitz3

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 25, 2011
5,459
961
1,290
The tube lair in beautiful Rock Hill, SC
Hello and good evening to you sir. TBT, I model my system around real sound (live music and true, real sound), knowing what the human race is capable of in terms of the reproductive effort and the best of the approximate reproductive effort thereof. This, honestly (to me) includes your speakers as a point of reference as to what something is realistically capable of.

You had mentioned,

”Damon Von Schweikert” said:
<snip> And I don't care how great someone writes, forum poster or audio critic. Until you hear their system, you have no idea what their reference is, what their subjective taste are, and if they align with yours. Frankly, I know a few reviewers who are highly regarded but if the majority of you ever heard their reference system, you would stop reading their reviews immediately. <snip>

I completely agree and my hat is off to you for saying so. My dig is not at audio reviewers but that you are correct in that you have no idea what their reference is, what their subjective taste are, and if they align with yours. I have heard $1M systems that would sound good with only one genre of music. Other systems in the 650K mark that you could not pay me to listen too. Some systems/speakers, I just have to keep my mouth shut and privately/secretly laugh to myself....TBT.

I believe that you have done very well and I definitely congratulate you on all of the awards that you have received! That's not an easy task, nor is it cheap for you to do (trust me, I know). I also understand the challenge of getting a system setup with no "real" warm up time, time to adjust everything perfectly for the best playback situation possible.....well, basically as you said, bring the system to the masses, instead of "bringing Mohammed to the Mountain" in the worst listening environments. It's not as easy as one thinks. Fun, but not easy.

You should be very proud. Both of you. With that said, I offer you a genuine "Congratulations" on your accomplishments. Well done gentlemen. Keep up the good (and hard) work. Perhaps one day, instead of talking online, we shall meet in person. I look forward to that day. Have a great evening.

Tom
 

cjfrbw

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
3,323
1,313
1,730
Pleasanton, CA
I do remember on Audio Asylum there were contributors in the day who claimed to hear prominent critics systems in situ and they weren't impressed. One said the high frequencies/upper mids on one were so intense he had to leave.
 

treitz3

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 25, 2011
5,459
961
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The tube lair in beautiful Rock Hill, SC
From another post within this forum said:
Its quite an achievement to get it to sound anything like good in those show environments, with feeble, noisy mains, poor earths, EMI soup, high ambient noise, lots of seismic vibration, ever changing room acoustics and speaker positioning designed to sound good for a larger audience. Challenging, to the point its not really possible to overcome all the problems effectively.

Yet, the awards, doing it the way you are....effectively? Show otherwise.

Tom
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
Congratulations to Damon and Leif for all of these awards!
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Damon...all good things come to he who waits. Well deserved accolades for VSA. You and Leif are killing it. It's great to read all of the awards you have received, and well deserved IMHO
 

Holli82

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
318
329
1,620
I do remember on Audio Asylum there were contributors in the day who claimed to hear prominent critics systems in situ and they weren't impressed. One said the high frequencies/upper mids on one were so intense he had to leave.
I think reviewers and critics are entitled to their opinion of what is best. The nice thing is VSA is present at the most shows and people can evaluate and judge for themselves. One person's best in show is another one's worst.
 

Holli82

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
318
329
1,620
Great work Leif and Damon. Keep raising the bar!
 

Damon Von Schweikert

WBF Technical Expert
Sep 15, 2016
113
234
175
California
www.vonschweikert.com
Hello and good evening to you sir. TBT, I model my system around real sound (live music and true, real sound), knowing what the human race is capable of in terms of the reproductive effort and the best of the approximate reproductive effort thereof. This, honestly (to me) includes your speakers as a point of reference as to what something is realistically capable of.

You had mentioned,



I completely agree and my hat is off to you for saying so. My dig is not at audio reviewers but that you are correct in that you have no idea what their reference is, what their subjective taste are, and if they align with yours. I have heard $1M systems that would sound good with only one genre of music. Other systems in the 650K mark that you could not pay me to listen too. Some systems/speakers, I just have to keep my mouth shut and privately/secretly laugh to myself....TBT.

I believe that you have done very well and I definitely congratulate you on all of the awards that you have received! That's not an easy task, nor is it cheap for you to do (trust me, I know). I also understand the challenge of getting a system setup with no "real" warm up time, time to adjust everything perfectly for the best playback situation possible.....well, basically as you said, bring the system to the masses, instead of "bringing Mohammed to the Mountain" in the worst listening environments. It's not as easy as one thinks. Fun, but not easy.

You should be very proud. Both of you. With that said, I offer you a genuine "Congratulations" on your accomplishments. Well done gentlemen. Keep up the good (and hard) work. Perhaps one day, instead of talking online, we shall meet in person. I look forward to that day. Have a great evening.

Tom
Thank you Tom, you're very kind!
 
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Reactions: Leif S and treitz3

Damon Von Schweikert

WBF Technical Expert
Sep 15, 2016
113
234
175
California
www.vonschweikert.com
I do remember on Audio Asylum there were contributors in the day who claimed to hear prominent critics systems in situ and they weren't impressed. One said the high frequencies/upper mids on one were so intense he had to leave.
I won't "kiss and tell" but one prominent reviewer had interconnect cable made by different manufacturers on the left and right channel of their system and claimed it sounded better that way. I was horrified and will never have my products reviewed by them after discovering that.
 

treitz3

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 25, 2011
5,459
961
1,290
The tube lair in beautiful Rock Hill, SC
I think we all know what that means.....and that is sad.

Tom
 

Leif S

Industry Expert
Feb 13, 2015
770
166
180
California
www.vonschweikert.com
I won't "kiss and tell" but one prominent reviewer had interconnect cable made by different manufacturers on the left and right channel of their system and claimed it sounded better that way. I was horrified and will never have my products reviewed by them after discovering that.
Oh I know who they are........can I tell them lol. I'm tired of having to bite my lip all the time. But it really sucks knowing that some of these guys are considered experts are not quali............and I bite my lip again. Maybe it's time.
 

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