Wolf von Langa (WVL) Chicago Speakers - Dream Speakers

[gleeds]

We use the Trafomatic Rhapsody integrated on our WVL Sons and expect it will do very well with their larger models. The Rhapsody delivers 20 watts per channel of Class A power using parallel paired 300Bs.

 

[Joe Cohen]

A bit late commenting here, having just been told about this discussion.
I guess there’s little WVL user input since all will be too distracted by music to be here in front of a screen!

I’m a dealer in New Zealand & first landed Wolf von Langa’s SON in 2020 with the idea of stocking a higher efficiency speaker design in compact enclosure. You could doubt how a tweeter integrates so well with a 12" driver on first seeing the SON - Wolf certainly succeeded, no doubt due to constructing purpose-built drivers in house. SON greatly exceeded my expectations, proving flexible in placement and giving me the confidence to stock and use a demo pair myself until ordering a pair of Chicago in 2022. Those are not much bigger in footprint and in no way imposing for a dual 15” open baffle.

Speaker location isn’t betrayed in the spread of soundstage - being very wide and deep. Chicago energises air between speaker and listener, presenting realistic midrange with greater body and nuance over the SON. Combined with room voids, glass, flexing wooden floors I get no boom, but little room-bass gain in this space. Speaker placement is critical along with alignment to reduce room resonances at the listening position without excessive use of room treatments (apart from records which are of course essential). Placing the Chicago in this difficult room was a greater challenge but I worked out solutions over time. I’d ordered the top mounted AMT but just couldn’t get that to work with a low ceiling and closer listening distance for this space. The room & high tweeter position presented a phase issue only solved by installing the AMT into the mid baffle as on previous versions and adjusting the angle.

I’ve found Chicago more tolerant of lower-watt amps & despite similar looking efficiency have more drive/ higher volume capability than the SON. Individually adjustable upper and lower 15” bass on U-baffle provide delicacy and impact when needed. Audio Frame design and crossover jumpers offer a number of possibilities for mid and tweeter adjustment. My office desk is behind the speakers, where I can also enjoy music - another benefit to open baffle. To tame resonance in that alcove a small amount of Mundorf Angel Hair is placed behind the midrange frame and some other damping on bass frame walls. From delivered setting, there’s a narrow range of adjustment in field coil current for correct bass/ mid damping: useful for amplifier matching.

It may seem a stretch to call the Audio Frame series a bargain but I’d go further and call it a gift from the designer. Wolf has dedicated decades to designing field-coil motors and paper-silk drivers from a deep appreciation of vintage audio and a commitment to overcome past compromises. I can relate having been a collector and user of a wide variety of speakers from high efficiency Altec & JBL, vintage Tannoy, wideband drivers from Klangfilm to Lowther (Accustats, Quads, also many more recent speaker types both owned and traded-in). I've no interest in headphones, vintage speakers or others since using Audio Frame Chicago in my personal system.

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Thank you very much for your description. We exhibited with the London at the California Audio Show in September (www.lotusgroupusa.com) using SW1X Audio Designs tube equipment and PranaWire cabling. I found the London in to be spectacular loudspeaker. A friend of mine walked in the room and after a minute said, “The bass…it’s like velvet with a punch.” That punch I would add was always in the service of and appropriate to the music being played. We used no room treatments, even though they were offered to us. They just weren’t necessary.

 

[ilkeresmer]

I am also listing a parallel single ended 2x25W a class new audio frontiers 845 signature edition amp. That amp. plays really amazing with WWL Son... They call this amp. as baby ongaku

 

[davidavdavid]

My Wolf Von Langa SONs shall be arriving this coming Monday (fingers crossed, making it harder to type) and I will be pairing the speakers with my English Acoustics 41C (h/t Pete Farrow. The amp just received a wonderful write-up and front cover love from Hi-FI + Magazine). The preamplifier in the mix will be ampsandsound's Stereo Preamplifier (h/t Justin Weber).

This is going to be fun

 

[WLP3]

Just upgraded my SONS to the new WVL ULTIMA! They are SONS on steroids! Much more articulate nuanced.

The ULTIMA uses an upgraded cabinet with the same dimensions as the SON with upgraded crossover components including Dueland capacitors and a much upgraded PSU. The field coil utilizes a new winding technique and chassis.

One happy chappy. Thanks, Colin!

 

[Zeotrope]

Just upgraded my SONS to the new WVL ULTIMA! They are SONS on steroids! Much more articulate nuanced.

The ULTIMA uses an upgraded cabinet with the same dimensions as the SON with upgraded crossover components including Dueland capacitors and a much upgraded PSU. The field coil utilizes a new winding technique and chassis.

One happy chappy. Thanks, Colin!

Congrats! I’m a happy WVL customer (custom field coil power supply) and use Dueland caps in my own horns, so I “get it”!
Is there a link with more information on the ULTIMA? I don’t see them on the WVL site…

 

[WLP3]

Congrats! I’m a happy WVL customer (custom field coil power supply) and use Dueland caps in my own horns, so I “get it”!
Is there a link with more information on the ULTIMA? I don’t see them on the WVL site…

There really isn’t. Only a spec sheet. It is known as the WVL 12739 ULTIMA

 

[infinitely baffled]

The website is a bit random. If you specify English as the language the Wagyu subwoofers disappear altogether.
Perhaps they only sing in German?

 

[gestalt]

One happy chappy. Thanks, Colin!

Thrilled you're loving the ULTIMAs. They're such amazing loudspeakers.

 

[gestalt]

Is there a link with more information on the ULTIMA?

ULTIMA is a new model that completes the evolution of the STAGE and SON family. We're finalizing all the website content and informational material; I'll have more soon.

I can say that it takes an already remarkable loudspeaker in the SON to a significantly higher performance level while retaining the same lovely form factor. I'm very excited about it.

 

[thomask]

ULTIMA is a new model that completes the evolution of the STAGE and SON family. We're finalizing all the website content and informational material; I'll have more soon.

I can say that it takes an already remarkable loudspeaker in the SON to a significantly higher performance level while retaining the same lovely form factor. I'm very excited about it.

Will you display Ultima at Axpona 2024?

 

[gleeds]

I can't wait to hear them Colin. I'll bet they will sound amazing with the Trafomatic Rhapsody parallel single-ended integrated (20 SE watts per side) you will have in house soon. I'll be headed to Florida this month and will do my best to visit Nashville to hear the pairing for myself. In the meantime, I'm absolutely loving my Son's but realize the Ultima will add a whole other set of gears!

Sorry for the car talk boys - been shopping for a car the past month and that's cluttering my brain

 

[tima]

The website is a bit random. If you specify English as the language the Wagyu subwoofers disappear altogether.
Perhaps they only sing in German?

I like the SON and said so in print, but their Web site has needed work for some time now, especially with growing interest from the US.

 

[WLP3]

The website is a bit random. If you specify English as the language the Wagyu subwoofers disappear altogether.
Perhaps they only sing in German?

They do have a bit of a translation issue as well...not the most intelligible descriptions.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Any person has experience with the new WVL WAGYU subwoofer? Especially in tandem (or used together with) any other WVL speakers?

+1
I'd also love to read any impressions of the Wagyu subs, if anyone is familiar with them?

 

[infinitely baffled]

​

I'm grappling with contradictory urges:
i definitely prefer open baffle speakers to horns,
and i definitely want the most dynamic variant.

The obvious solution would be to have the Berlin bass configuration, but with open baffle mid / tops. However WVL say they don't offer that type, they feel the mid / tops need horn loading to match the extra bass output of the Berlin configuration.


I'd love to hear any more impressions of Berlin v Chicago?

 

[WLP3]

I can't wait to hear them Colin. I'll bet they will sound amazing with the Trafomatic Rhapsody parallel single-ended integrated (20 SE watts per side) you will have in house soon. I'll be headed to Florida this month and will do my best to visit Nashville to hear the pairing for myself. In the meantime, I'm absolutely loving my Son's but realize the Ultima will add a whole other set of gears!

Sorry for the car talk boys - been shopping for a car the past month and that's cluttering my brain

Didn’t last long in Colin’s house…in mine now!

 

[Willgolf]

Didn’t last long in Colin’s house…in mine now!

Congrats on your purchase! Enjoy!

 

[gleeds]

Didn’t last long in Colin’s house…in mine now!

 

[Jean-Berlin]

Hello

I’m jean from Berlin, i have the opportunity to get a pair of Chicago and after a long listening session in tricky room (high celling , with some echo )

I have questions for those who own those speaker - as it was for me the first time to listen those rare speaker and something remains strange for me as feeling after having done this listening session (esoteric class A 2x20 watt source digital only)

I have the strange feeling that something is not correctly set on the crossover meaning that the lower part of the frequency response seems to be without any blood or energy, ultra flat, like if the woofer was not obtaining the right signal.

From mid to high range every detail is sublime. But the bass looks like totally absent.

Carmina burana, arykah badu , Michel Godard, parmigiani, Brian Eno, joy devision live, jazz live (bass percussion ) even modern low kick from techno track nothing bring the lower woofer in life.

I can’t believe this low driver is set like that so flat.

My questions are the following regarding what I tried with crossover

I change the position from 3 to 1 to avoid to cut lower bass, but nothing really change drastically (slightly more deep)

I connect the speaker cables on the right side of the électrique cable (seems that the signal enter via the low driver before going the tw and medium)

The position of the tw/mid on 3 (1,2,3,4)

The position of B1 seems correct (connected for single amp mode)

Question 1/

Did you have any comment like mine which can result from a poor signal on bass woofer resulting from a wrong cable installation?

Question 2/

Is the speaker optimized for tube amp rather than transistor class A?

Or is the speaker optimized for bi amp to provide a dedicated signal for the low frequency in order to obtain something more deep and warm (loud)

Question 3/

Should we consider a full analogue set up with the Chicago to obtain a more warm live stereo scene with the overwarmsound coming from phono signal?

Question 4/

Position and room : the Chicago seems to have a significant interaction with the position of the speaker and the mid absorber/ difusor which should be place behind the speaker or not - Has there is no closed box / bass reflex for this bass driver do you have a tips to create this loud bass sensation I’m triing to get?

Question 5/

I’m planning to use the speaker bi amp mode on luxman L595 class A , do you have any scheme to help me with to understand the full setting of crossover In order to make sure I find the best set up in bi amp mode ?

Would you recommend only tube to drive the low frequency in bi amp mode


To conclude :

I’m really impressed by the speaker , the esthetics is absolutely insane, I’m in love of the stereo scene and the detail of reproduction of the mid/high, but I’m really confuse with the no capacity to feel loud bass align with the low frequency driver. I want to purshase those speaker I love but as you can imagine I have a little stress about the final reproduction of the bass sound in my listening room

Many thx for any comment to my question