My Humble CAS 2017 Experience

cjfrbw

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Managed to get to CAS 2017 yesterday Friday. I really like this show. It is LOCAL, I managed to get there about 9:40AM and stayed to about 3PM and left before traffic got horrible.

The show is “bite size” and intimate. The heavy, swinging testicles of Wilson, Magico, YG Acoustics, Ypsilon, MBL and the usual critics' hi end darlings were mostly missing, which may have actually improved enjoyability factor. There was one “edifice” system by Von Shweikert/VAC tastefully presented in a large room. I like going to an audio show once in a while because there is always something there that totally surprises and completely defeats my stale prejudices/expectations, and this show was no exception.

I will get to more later as I get some energy, but for now CJFRBW’s “Best Sound” to get that out of the way: IMG_0039.jpg IMG_0040.jpg IMG_0041.jpg IMG_0043.jpg

Yup, a 4 watt 2A3 amplifier called a "Whammerdyne" of all things and IKEA like open baffle speaker system, where you order the parts and assemble it at home.

I am not averse to giving the big systems their due with sound quality, either pro or con, and my previous best sounds have been variously Wilson Maxx/Spectral, Ypsilon/YG Acoustics.

However, this "little" system played loud, huge, and limpidly transparent/gorgeous in an about 18' by 25' room with the full array of directly heated triode beauty. It completely disposed of any expectations I may have had from actually looking at the system. Dipole, check, good stuff. 2A3, check, good stuff, maybe it would play some pretty, small music, but NO, the thing was as wonderful sounding as anything I have ever heard with everything you wanted to hear in the signal and nothing you didn't, see around the corners transparency, no bloat or vestiges, and loud, with deep tonality revelation in a very large sound stage.

The only caveat as usual is that I didn't hear it with heavy rock, complex big band, or full orchestra, which may have stretched it beyond it's limits, but up to moderate size ensembles and pop, it performed flawlessly.

I think the speakers are about 94db efficiency, and the speaker/amp combo check in at about 18k full retail. Wow!

I came back later and they had a larger speaker version with a horn midrange playing with some kind of cube class D amp on the opposite side of the room, and the magic wasn't there like with the Whammerdyne at the other side of the room with the smaller speaker.

It was funny, because while listening to the Whammerdyne, the speaker vendor came up and spoke about his speakers. While he was talking, he picked up one of the speakers and even twirled it around on a corner. It came as kind of a disconnect, and makes one wonder why anybody even bothers with cabinets. You could set this up with your main system, and just carry the speakers over when you wanted to listen to them as a "second system" with the Whammerdyne.
 
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cjfrbw

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This was the speaker and amp on the other side of the room. Nope, magic gone, sounded more like Class D with the slightly musty Class D malaise. IMG_0088.jpg IMG_0091.jpg
 

LL21

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cjfrbw

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Next object of curiosity was the Von Schweikert edifice system.

I went back a couple of times, and the system was never played very loud and was always a ‘controlled’ presentation i.e. nobody was waltzing up with their own music. Analog was on the menu.

One of the times I went the female singing artist Evlyn Stanley was there giving a presentation and commenting on how well the speakers did with her oeuvres. She was energetic and quite knowledgeable about not only her own artistic visions, but also the recording chain from microphones to vinyl pressing. She said she stayed involved with the entire production process, and her singing was lovely. It was cool to hear a female artist who could also give experienced audiophiles a run for their money on the mastering and equipment end.

The speakers were gorgeous and much more imposing than the photo suggests. I wish they would have cranked it a bit, but what I heard was very good.

It appears that the large Von Shweikert's mission specific goal is well in hand i.e. moving large volumes of air in a large space with ease from pianissimo to fortissimo with full cone dynamics. Looks like a short list speaker for those marble palaces and large listening rooms.
I liked that they looked like they had controls for the speaker volume equalization levels for tuning.
 
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cjfrbw

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The Audio Federation room was pretty cool, too. I always enjoyed Neli and her partner’s blog because they were rather funny and brutal in their assessments of equipment at shows.

This is my second CAS where I thought that everything I heard was at least decent. Maybe the vendors have evolved, because when the shows started proliferating, in the early days, there were some truly execrable sounding systems. Maybe digital is just that much better so that the turntables aren’t an essential ameliorating factor.

This is about as good as I have ever heard these Acapella speakers at a show, and I flattered myself that I could even hear the subtlety of the ionic tweeter’s contribution.

The sound was quite “different” but valid different, since I don’t know how else to put it. Horn jump factor, but pretty smooth. The center image was "even" without the customary R and L lobing that you can hear with some horn systems.

I kind of screwed the pooch in their room. They had a sign inviting CDs, so I asked them to spin a couple of my vinyl rips. The first one was Don Cherry’s “Brown Rice”.

https://youtu.be/WS8PK53DYGA

I had forgotten that the rip came out kind of lean, and it just absolutely scorched on these speakers. One grey haired “girl with guitar” type audiophile looked like he left clutching his pacemaker.

To Neli and Mike's credit, they actually seemed to find the music interesting. I made amends with my vinyl rip of “St. James Infirmary”, which was recorded from Steve Williams 45, which was in turn gifted to him by Mike Lavigne in anticipation that Steve could be ever convinced to buy a turntable, which he finally did after he moved to SoCal.

That returned the audiophiles to their peaceful grazing behavior, and Neli didn’t flay me with my CD and kick me out of the room.

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cjfrbw

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The Zu audio demonstrations are always fun. They are kind of beatnik/hipster with the guy who presents, but he sometimes comes up with some good high end stuff at the demos, like Allnic directly heated triode preamps and First Watt SIT amps.

In this one, he had the Nelson Pass XA30.8 model, one of the two smallest ones, and it sounded good. I think it is the best sounding production PASS model I have heard.

The Pass amps are pretty ubiquitous at the audio shows, and to tell the truth, I have never bonded with the larger ones. It seems that the transistor steel comes out at points. You just hear the hardening where directly heated triodes go deeper and sweeter.

The cooling system must be exemplary, because I put my hand on several of the PASS amps up to the 600 model, and they were all warm but not the expected class A hot. Nice work on the cooling design, Mr. Pass.

The Pass 30.8 model seems to be an exception and manages to be defined, dynamic and smooth. I also liked the meter less XA25 Pass model at another demo, also a “small Pass” that sounded better to me than the bigger models. The XA25 seems to be a First Watt model in production Pass clothing.

I own the First Watt M2, which I also like better than the "big guns". I also own the Thai knock off small VFET Pass design amp, that looks exactly like a First Watt product fascia. I like the 20 watt class A VFET Pass knock off even more than the First Watt M2.

I think the only “BIG” Pass amp I liked was the unobtanium tribute VFET model using Sony VFETs at a previous CAS a couple of years ago.

In order, I like the First Watt SIT amps best, then the big 250 watt SONY VFET tribute amp, then the 20 watt VFET Pass knock off. After those, then the XA30.8, the M2 and the XA25 about the same, maybe the 30.8 is the best of the three.

So, I thought the Zu/Pass XA30.8 combo worked quite well. The Pass XA30.8 amp is push pull, so when it leaves the class A envelope, it probably has transient power in class AB up to 100 watts, so it is still a powerful amp.
 
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cjfrbw

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I dropped by the Genesis/Viva room early around 9:50 AM, and it looked like Gary was a bit fraught talking with people and trying to get the system voiced, so I decided to come back later. When I came back later after 2:30PM, the room was Gary-less and his other host was there.

The speakers playing vinyl sounded excellent. As usual, the Genesis fit and finish looked flawless and very pretty. The amp looked like the VIVA Aurora, which I guess is a 211 tube driving three parallel single ended 845. I would guess that would make the power about 70 watts or so of transmitting tube goodness, and they sure sounded good.

The speakers I gather were the Genesis Maestros. As wonderful as the Dragon Jr.s were at a previous show, I think this is the speaker that will be the fit for the majority of standard medium to large audiophile spaces.

The speaker/amp combo was delightful, especially with the vinyl playing. I didn’t catch the turntable brand, but looks like more VIVA preamp stuff underneath.

If you want an education in vinyl, it is worth chatting with Gary for a while.
 

Bobvin

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Interesting about the Whammerdine... we were having a gathering of the Portland Audiophile club a week back somebody brought pictures of that amp and evidently the mfg is somewhat local... I will have to drill down a little next meeting to learn more.
 

cjfrbw

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Audio Note Suite was done well, too, and sounded good with proper corner loading of the speakers.

However, whenever I hear an Audio Note system, I feel like I just had a really, really good hot dog but got a bill for Kobe steak. IMG_0062.jpg IMG_0063.jpg IMG_0064.jpg IMG_0066.jpg
 

cjfrbw

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Martin Logan stats with the omnipresent PASS LABS, this time the monster 600 series.

All solid state, a bit reedy and bit steely with the big SS amps, but still sounding very good generally.

Ear brain accommodation eliminates the reediness after a minute or so, like box speaker resonances.

If you don’t think stats can do dynamics, than this Martin Logan will change your mind.

One of the audiophile pets is Von Karajan Berliner “Planets”, for what reason I don’t know since i prefer almost any other version, but they played the Jupiter cut at full orchestral volume and it was amazing.

Maybe some nice tubes somewhere in the chain and this ML Neolith is great. The integration was also seamless to my jaded ears. IMG_0055.jpg
 

cjfrbw

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I have always had a soft spot for Soundlab speakers, and these were no disappointment.

I spent a good amount of time bathing in these, and the moderator got kind of used to me being there.

Again, the world conquering PASS amps in the 350 form.

Also, a tad reedy at first, but less steely than the Martin Logan demo, perhaps due to the analog TT and wonderful AirTight phono preamp with tubes.

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cjfrbw

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IMG_0075.jpg IMG_0076.jpg IMG_0077.jpg The Volti/Border Patrol combo are some of my show favorites, which I have heard at a couple of shows now. The room was full when I was there, but I also enjoy the dedication to SOUND rather than grandiosity with this wonderful sounding system. The vendor has a kind of “Aw, Shucks” demeanor which belies the beautiful sound integration of his subwoofer (absent in this demo), Border Patrol 300bx4 DHT amps, and horn speakers.

I always thought that if I went to a show to buy a system that would do jump, dynamics, scale and have great tube sound, without the pretense but with a relatively fair high end market value, this would be it.

I think I would also throw in the Whammerdyne 2A3 amp from the other demo. I would use the Whammerdyne for 60 percent of my listening, and toss in the Border Patrols for big band, power rock, and massed orchestral.
 
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garylkoh

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I dropped by the Genesis/Viva room early around 9:50 AM, and it looked like Gary was a bit fraught talking with people and trying to get the system voiced, so I decided to come back later. When I came back later after 2:30PM, the room was Gary-less and his other host was there.

The speakers playing vinyl sounded excellent. As usual, the Genesis fit and finish looked flawless and very pretty. The amp looked like the VIVA Aurora, which I guess is a 211 tube driving three parallel single ended 845. I would guess that would make the power about 70 watts or so of transmitting tube goodness, and they sure sounded good.

The speakers I gather were the Genesis Maestros. As wonderful as the Dragon Jr.s were at a previous show, I think this is the speaker that will be the fit for the majority of standard medium to large audiophile spaces.

The speaker/amp combo was delightful, especially with the vinyl playing. I didn’t catch the turntable brand, but looks like more VIVA preamp stuff underneath.

If you want an education in vinyl, it is worth chatting with Gary for a while.

Sorry I missed you. I had 10am seminars to run, and was a bit stressed out as we didn't have as much set-up time as I would have liked.

The amp was the Viva Aurora - it uses a single 845 as the power tube, and a 211 driver. The other two 845's are used as very high voltage rectifiers in the power supply. Makes a wonderful 35 watts. The preamp was the Viva Linea and the phonostage the Genesis Platinum. Turntable VPI Vanquish with Transfiguration Proteus D cartridge.

I had a nice session on Saturday where I demo'ed the difference between three different vinyl chemistry formulations (test pressings with the same stamper) and also the direct-to-disc lacquer. It was quite the ear-opener to audiophiles.
 

microstrip

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(...) The other two 845's are used as very high voltage rectifiers in the power supply.(...)

As in the famous Marantz T1 - a push pull using 2x845's and 2x845's as rectifiers.
 

cjfrbw

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Thanks, Gary, for the correction on the VIVA amplifier. I could only guess the topology by looking at it. With so much stuff to look at, it is sometimes hard to get the details down pat, or it is more research than my lazy butt is willing to endeavor.

The LX Speaker Factory room was interesting as another atypical presentation that worked very well.

Some people still don’t believe that my Apogee Stage speakers are actually speakers, since most people are caught up in the “box paradigm” for speakers.

These speakers look like they are production version of a DIY type that was proposed by the Linkwiz crossover and speaker building site.

I have always been curious to hear this type, and in the standard size hotel room, they operated as advertised with a large soundstage and robust sound that bely the size and really different mounting and configuration of the drivers. It appears the upward firing midrange creates a kind of radialstrahler sound distribution, horn loaded a bit with the pipe stand.

It works and sounds good. Nice WAFers because they can be easily tucked away if desired. IMG_0080.jpg IMG_0081.jpg IMG_0082.jpg IMG_0083.jpg
 

cjfrbw

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Vienna Acoustics and Pass (again)

This simple display used the "baby" Pass A25 model, which has no meter and looks like a First Watt in Pass production fascia.

I liked it in the small demo. As a push pull class A, I would bet it pushes out up to 70-80 watts transient peaks into class AB.

My First Watt M2 is also rated at 25 watts @ 8 ohms Class A with a single push pull pair per channel. Using it to drive the bass panels of the Analysis Epsilon as full range drivers without crossover (maybe 89db efficiency used that way) in my 19'x13.5' room, I could not get the M2 to clip or show any sign of distress playing loud with orchestral music.

Again, I think that I would prefer using the smaller Pass amps and making them work rather than risking the steely muscle of the bigger ones.



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garylkoh

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As in the famous Marantz T1 - a push pull using 2x845's and 2x845's as rectifiers.

Good catch! The Viva Aurora also use interstage transformers just like the T1. Difference is that the Aurora uses a single 845 as SET.
 

cjfrbw

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Burwell horn speakers.

These are at a lot of the shows, too, and are also excellent sounding horn speakers.These guys just seem to typify a kind of full blooded Americana auidiophilia that I find engaging.

The musty old one in the photos was a Voice of the Theater antique pulled out of an actual old movie theater, and is the ostensible inspiration for the horn speaker line.

The demo material was Chet Baker vinyl in perpetual replay when I was there, so I didn’t hear a variety of stuff.

The upstairs Burwell in a different room was an experiment in WAF, using class D amps built into the cabinet and DSP crossovers. The young man told me it was a work in progress, but it was already voiced reasonably well.

I actually brought a USB chip with some hi-rez and lo-rez cuts. How modern of me.

I could plug it into the upstairs Burwell playback device. However, the hi-rez cuts didn’t show up on the guy’s computer pad. I guess I forgot that you have to put everything into a folder named MUSIC.

I selected Bill Laswell’s “Interwoven” in 128kbs, and it actually sounded quite good.

The young vendor liked it and wanted to get it, but couldn’t find it on his internet database device.

I got some sadistic schadenfreude seeing a young person who was raised with the internet schiz out a bit when going unplugged.
(In fairness to him, the artist was Shin Terai/Buckethead ShinE with Bill Laswell on bass guitar, so my title was a bit of a misdirect).

https://youtu.be/kmRXslYy_tM

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