Capital AudioFest feedback

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Triode Pete

Capital AudioFest feedback
« on: 3 Sep 2015, 10:42 pm »
A big thanks to Jonathan Janusz for his time & insightful AC reviews on TWL's Rooms at CAF...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=136944.msg1456904#msg1456904

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=136944.msg1456908#msg1456908




Also, Stereophile (Art Dudley & Herb Reichert) has some blog entries...


Herb Reichert - Stereophile
As many of you know, I used to love horns. I loved them because when the stars lined up just right, the world's best horns could play waaaaaay closer to real life-both dynamically and scale-wise-than any audiophile speaker at any price. Jump factor pinned the needles. Unfortunately, I gave up on them years ago. Why? Because full-range horns were never truly coherent and they made solo singers and musicians appear too big. (On the good side, because they played big, horns could do opera better any little boxes.) And then, a few weeks ago I heard a giant horn system designed by Jeffrey Jackson of EMIA and (incredulously) it seemed perfect in every way-but it cost $350,000! Today at CAF I played a couple of my own CDs through the Volti Audio Vittora horns and they seemed perfect too-and a pair of Volti Vittoras costs only $25,000! The Voltis (reviewed by Art Dudley in September 2013) played my Bach Goldberg Variations (with Ito Ema at the keyboard) with a gentle liquid smoothness that exceeded any liquid smoothness I have heard before. Piano sound was among the most realistic I have ever experienced from a loudspeaker. I wrote in my listening notes that I think I could live with these for the rest of my life! Bravo Volti! (and Triode Wire Labs!)


Art Dudley - Stereophile
The gorgeous tone of Johnny Hodges' alto saxophone handily survived the trip through a pair of Living Voice Avatar OBX-RW loudspeakers ($11,850/pair), driven by a BorderPatrol P21 amplifier and USB NOS DAC ($9750 and $1250, respectively, with all cables and AC cords from Triode Wire Labs.

Cheers,
Pete

arthurs

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #1 on: 3 Sep 2015, 11:35 pm »
Pete,

1 - it was great to see you again and hang out a bit
2 - every room your cables were in sounded terrific
3 - everyone could learn from you about hospitality and making people feel welcome and cared for, if I had an audio show I would comp your room just to have you there.

Good seeing you bud, until next time!
Art

S Clark

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Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #2 on: 4 Sep 2015, 01:25 am »

3 - everyone could learn from you about hospitality and making people feel welcome and cared for, if I had an audio show I would comp your room just to have you there.

Art

Go ahead, Art.  You can call it the Cowtown Audio Fest! It'd be an easy drive for us folks in Abilene.

arthurs

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #3 on: 4 Sep 2015, 01:43 am »
Go ahead, Art.  You can call it the Cowtown Audio Fest! It'd be an easy drive for us folks in Abilene.

Ha!  Even if I had time to do it, I think one more show would be one too many...

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #4 on: 4 Sep 2015, 01:51 pm »
Pete,

1 - it was great to see you again and hang out a bit
2 - every room your cables were in sounded terrific
3 - everyone could learn from you about hospitality and making people feel welcome and cared for, if I had an audio show I would comp your room just to have you there.

Good seeing you bud, until next time!
Art

Thank you, Art! I appreciate your kind accolades!

... until next time... stay thirsty, my friend!  :beer:  :thumb:

Cheers,
Pete

etcarroll

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Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #5 on: 4 Sep 2015, 02:33 pm »
Congrats Pete. I was impressed by JJ's write-up.

Gene

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #6 on: 8 Sep 2015, 01:37 pm »
Some additional feedback from EnjoyTheMusic.com...

This time from Room 405, The Triode Wire Labs - Sound Insight Room

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2015/Part1b.htm






Sound Insight And Triode Wire Labs
Hosted by Steven Rabitz of Sound Insight, Charlie Rollo, SI Ditributor and Pete Grzybowski (a.k.a. Triode Pete) of Triode Wire Labs hailed the debut of the SI-300 Open Baffle Servo Subwoofers $7900/pr. Modeled after a GR Research design, the SI-300s have 3 12" drivers designed for open baffle loading, a spec built Rythmik servo plate amp, and a heavy duty, lined with NoRez double thick cabinet. All you planar owners (Magnepan, Quad, ET, and ESL) who can't get a sub to integrate with your panels, here is your solution. The servo action quickens the return of the cone after a transient and prevents boom and overhang, thus allowing the bass character to match the planar. The radiating pattern of these OB subs also matches the planar lending to less room irregularities and seamless integration, you're welcome. There was a lot of supporting equipment from various brands, Esoteric K-01X SACD $21,000, Coincident RC preamp $5999, a pair of Pass Labs XA60.8 monos $12,800/pr driving BG Radia FS 880 planar magnetic speakers $35,000/pr. The entire rig was wired with TWL, HP Digital American power cord $699, Seven Plus PC $549, Spirit XLR Interconnects $449 ($349 for RCA), American Speaker Cable $699. Triode Pete's cables greatly contributed to the overall cohesiveness of the system, they are true bargains. Nothing at the show had more bass impact, and power down low than the SI-300s, while integrating invisibly with the panels. A couple of people not familiar with the Kodo drum track were startled and a little frightened when the first huge whack exploded into the room, the Sheffield Drum Record was so fun we listened to both Ron Tutt and Jim Keltner, the system put the drum kit in the room, very realistic. On one of my many trips to this room, Lyn Stanley came in and sang live in the room to her newest release "Interludes", available soon in SACD and CD formats, giving us a live versus Memorex moment to Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love". Sensational!

JM21

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Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #7 on: 8 Sep 2015, 02:44 pm »
Congrats on the reviews Pete! 

Wish I could have been there but it was great seeing you at AXP Chicago in April.

Your full TWL loom (along w UberBuss) has certainly improved my system!

BTW Gents - I like that Cowtown Audio Fest idea... 

Best,
Jay M.

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #8 on: 8 Sep 2015, 10:56 pm »
Some additional feedback posted by The Part-Time Audiophile, Scot Hull...

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/09/08/caf-2015-volti-audio-and-triode-wire-labs/



CAF 2015: VOLTI AUDIO AND TRIODE WIRE LABS

"Some last-minute wrangling saw Greg Roberts of Volti Audio decide to make the trek to this year’s Capital Audiofest down from Benton, Maine — and this year, he brought some tube-gear from McIntosh Labs to the party.

Overall, I think this room was one-of-the-better presentations I’ve heard from Volti. The focus was a little soft, and the detail-retrieval a little light, but the forgiving sound that I heard was big, strong and muscular. I’m a big fan of the blue-dials/exposed chrome+tubes of the McIntosh gear, and this experience lines up with what I’ve come to expect from that brand.

Aligned along the long-wall, Mac gear drove the three-unit speaker Vittora system (two “mains” + sub) to generate fulsome, lush music “at” those of us lined up opposite, with a now-common and completely spectacular coherence and panic-inducing jump-factor.

I’ve written about these speakers so many times that I feel like I’m repeating myself here — so I’ll save you some time and just confess that I love ’em. They’re $25k for the set, and as Art Dudley of Stereophile has mentioned every time these speakers have come up: they’re heirloom pieces. Big, bold, and incredible space hogs, to be sure. But if you have the space, your grand-kids are going to come to blows over who gets ’em. If I had a different listening room (and a bag full o’ cash), or more control over my living room (and a bag full o’ cash), I’d have bought a set of these several years ago. Oh boy howdy, do I want my very own set. I’m getting all Gollum, just thinking about them. Preciousss!

Greg teamed up with Triode Pete of Triode Wire Labs to wire the kit up. I’ll come back to TWL shortly, but I will offer that Pete has had several opportunities to dramatically raise his prices and has refused. I love that. I also love the fact that his wiring loom is really quite remarkable — and those power cords are the best value in cabling today. No, $550 isn’t cheap, but I’d take a fistful of Seven+ over just about every other vendor out there, regardless of price, and yes, I’m looking squarely at the $5k-and-up segment as I type that. I call that value."


Cheers,
Pete

dflee

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #9 on: 9 Sep 2015, 12:16 am »
Hey Pete:
Ya gettin tired of the accolades yet. Must be getting boring hearing the
same thing from so many reviewers.

Nit

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #10 on: 9 Sep 2015, 12:33 pm »
Hey Pete:
Ya gettin tired of the accolades yet. Must be getting boring hearing the
same thing from so many reviewers.

Nit

Hey Nit,
Thanks! What's most important to me is to hear guys like you being really happy with their hi-fi systems sound with my cables in 'em!

Cheers,
Pete

rollo

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Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #11 on: 10 Sep 2015, 07:40 pm »
What a thrill with Lyn Stanley singing along with our system. Lyn is a class act and a hell of a singer. Her performance Saturday evening was marred by poor acoustics however a great show and good time for all.
   When Lyn graced our room [405 ]and sang along to her CD we were well amazed at how lyn's voice sounded just like her singing along. In fact Lyn stated " This is the only system at the show that sounds like me live"
    We could not get a better comment. We thrived for a neutral to the source presentation in this room and our mission was fully accomplished as Lyn stated.
    Each system utilized TWL power cords and Uberbuss power correction and conditioning. The foundation for great sound no matter what system.
    Thanks Lyn for coming by and showing us how far we have come in sound reproduction, priceless.


charles

















Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #12 on: 11 Sep 2015, 04:04 pm »
Wow, we received a Best Sound at Show award, a Gold Award, from AVShow Reports! Thanks Peter Breuninger!

See the video award here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsxHTlY9-M4

Cheers,
Pete

Jonathon Janusz

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Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #13 on: 16 Sep 2015, 02:18 am »
Hey, Pete!

I know I'm a bit late finally wrapping up. . . folks are already gearing up for Denver!

I just wanted to say thanks for the warm welcome in DC, introducing me to some new friends, and congratulations on the great show.  For you and what you do in particular, having the overall bar set pretty high among the demo rooms as a whole was a big plus.  It really allowed your cables - what is often times the finishing touch to and last bit of voicing for a system - to be heard as a difference bringing a good collection of gear up to a great system as a whole, or taking a great system over the top. 

You do a great job with your cables treading a very fine line getting "just enough" of a lot of little things without trying to go too far emphasizing one particular aspect of the sound.  Given that cabling is a matter of getting a good match/synergy with the gear around it, I think a real value in what you offer is in the idea that even if you don't get it 100% right/perfect with a specific piece of gear, your cables sound very good with a wide range of stuff, so even for folks who like swapping out things a lot, they can always plug in a TWL cable and know they will get good sound out the other end.

Again, thanks, I'll see you soon, and have a great show in Denver!

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #14 on: 16 Sep 2015, 03:46 pm »
Hey, Pete!

I know I'm a bit late finally wrapping up. . . folks are already gearing up for Denver!

I just wanted to say thanks for the warm welcome in DC, introducing me to some new friends, and congratulations on the great show.  For you and what you do in particular, having the overall bar set pretty high among the demo rooms as a whole was a big plus.  It really allowed your cables - what is often times the finishing touch to and last bit of voicing for a system - to be heard as a difference bringing a good collection of gear up to a great system as a whole, or taking a great system over the top. 

You do a great job with your cables treading a very fine line getting "just enough" of a lot of little things without trying to go too far emphasizing one particular aspect of the sound.  Given that cabling is a matter of getting a good match/synergy with the gear around it, I think a real value in what you offer is in the idea that even if you don't get it 100% right/perfect with a specific piece of gear, your cables sound very good with a wide range of stuff, so even for folks who like swapping out things a lot, they can always plug in a TWL cable and know they will get good sound out the other end.

Again, thanks, I'll see you soon, and have a great show in Denver!

Hey Jonathon,
Thank you for your kind accolades! I appreciate your insightful thoughts!

A "raincheck" for RMAF for me this year... My cables will be there in two rooms (1013 & 1102) with Morten (Tortuga), Greg (Volti) & Gary (BorderPatrol) representing me there... I'll be at family wedding in Atlanta... Family always comes first...

Cheers,
Pete

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #15 on: 16 Sep 2015, 11:12 pm »
It keeps coming...  :thumb: A bit more Press Feedback today from EnjoyTheMusic.com...

Thanks, Kemper!




Border Patrol, Triode Wire Labs, And Living Voice

Local manufacturer Border Patrol, had a very quiet room, I mean a black background from which small details sprung forth revealing musical info missed by other systems. Gary Dews, designer for BP should be nick named power supply Czar. Gary's amps and preamps have giant outboard power units relaying his opinion on just how important a p/s is to the sonics of a design. For 2015 CAF Gary dispensed with a preamp and ran a MacMini into a Border Patrol USB NOS DAC $1,250 with tube rectified power supply as used here, add $750. Speaking of power supplies, the BP S20 amp from $13,750, (the silver knob on the amp is a volume control), has 2 mono p/s units to let this 18 watt parallel single-ended 300B based amp sound much bigger than the ratings suggest, and I don't think any other 300B amp has the frequency extension at both ends of the spectrum as the S20 does. We all gush over the SET mids, but this amp is wide band and has good bass slam and clear highs. A pair of Living Voice Avatar OBX-RW speakers $11,850 were connected with Triode Wire Labs American Speaker Cables Bi-Wire version $1,099/pr, with TWL Spirit ICs $349/pr and a TWL Silver Statement power cord $1,199 , and a few Digital American cords $499 ( $699 for HP version) were used throughout the system. The system had a very interesting ability to draw you in to the music, nothing jumping out, but instruments and voices sounding just right. Surprising to me was the drum kit impact, and the slew of small details flowing easily into the room. Only the soundstage seemed a bit small, but the room contributed to that aspect. Everything else was superb, violin and guitar tones were spot on, voices tightly focused and clear, sax sounded raw and powerfully dynamic, and Michael Hedges' "Rickover's Dream" had the immediacy and explosiveness to be exciting and live. Another room using TWL cables that was neutral balanced, low noise floor, and just a wee bit sweet on top, in a marketplace that can be wildly priced, Pete's cables are a real value.




Volti, Triode Wire Labs, And McIntosh Labs

Every time I see these horns, the exquisite craftsmanship and woodworking skills to make these blows me away, and then I wonder how great they'd look in my family room. Greg Roberts drove down from Benton, Maine bringing with him the Volti Audio Vittora System $25,000 for the three-piece set that includes the two main Vittora speakers and an Extended Low Frequency cabinet. McIntosh supplied a C22 Preamplifier $6,000 and a pair of MC75 Mono amps $7,500/pr. displayed on canted Volti stands. Triode Pete seems to be everywhere this show, especially in great sounding rooms. TWL cables were on the amps, Seven Plus P/C $499, Ten Plus $349 on the preamp, Digital American P/C $499 on the CD/SACD player, and TWL ICs and Speaker cables connected everything else. I have heard enough systems with TWL cables to appreciate their neutrality and lack of a sonic signature; they just get out of the way of the music and allow it to spring from a black low noise background. I had Greg play "New York City Serenade" from Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle, and the piano intro was stunning in it's realism and not bettered in any room at the show. Details of the beginning of percussion instruments strikes was lightening quick, and the dynamics were very wide. My cut from Michael Hedges' "Rickover's Dream" was explosive and live sounding, great string detail and the sense of the wooden bodied guitar was evident. Saturday night Vinnie Rossi brought down his LIO integrated amp and hooked it up to the Vittoras, what a synergistic combination. The lower noise floor helped maximize the Vittora's strengths, especially revealing low level information clearly while other instruments are playing much louder.


Cheers,
Pete

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #16 on: 18 Sep 2015, 05:07 pm »
This probably the last of the Capital AudioFest feedback, published by Part Time Audiophile. Thanks, Scot!!!  :thumb:
http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/09/18/caf-2015-borderpatrol-triode-wire-labs-and-living-voice/

CAF 2015: BORDERPATROL, TRIODE WIRE LABS AND LIVING VOICE RECREATE HOME



There is always a risk, covering an audio show. A risk that someone will say something. Not mean, nasty or cutting — just something interesting. Or they’ll do something likewise interesting. Doesn’t sound so horrible, unless you’re an easily distractible fellow and you completely forget what you’re about and assume somewhere along the way that you’ve already accomplished your task. Like take photos of a given room, say. Whoops. Thankfully, Paul Elliott was able to pick up my slack.

The problem with the BorderPatrol room? I have this room at home. Well, near enough. I do own a pair of Living Voice Avatar OBX-RW loudspeakers ($11850/pair — special wood finish may be extra). There’s something very special about these speakers, something that caught my ear way back at the very first Capital Audiofest; it’s something that’s haunted me ever since. I can’t even really put my finger on exactly what “it” is — they just do something very right. Way back at that first CAF, I remember being extremely annoyed at how good that BorderPatrol room sounded — annoyed, because I’d just spent my entire budget on other gear. Well, time flies like a banana and all that, and now, I’ve corrected that error. Finally.

The amplifier anchoring this system was a scaled-down version of my reference; this one was an integrated BorderPatrol P21 ($9,750), a push-pull stereo job leveraging a pair of 300b tubes per channel to create a whopping 20 watt/channel. I joke, because that amp has brassy ones big enough to clank together like a pair of Big Bens. There was zero issues with level, dynamics or punch. The P21 is the single PSU version of the push-pull design — the P20 ($13,750 — and one of my reference power amps) uses two. There are a small set of upgrades they make available, including a massive pair of super-duper external power supplies which throws the prices well past $20k for a new amp. The upshot here is that this is a 300b-based tube amp that does things no 300b-based tube amp should be able to do (according to Conventional Wisdom). Specifically? Real, solid, hammering bass. Extended, shimmering, delicate and sweet treble. If you’re not familiar with the 300b, and how it usually gets implemented, that’s really weird. Add to that the “traditional” immersiveness that a 300b “typically” throws at you, and you’ve got yourself a cobra, hypnotic and lethal.

The sneaky bit, and worth calling out again, was the new BorderPatrol USB NOS DAC ($2,000 w/ external tube power supply), here tucked surreptitiously into a pair of bamboo boxes. That DAC, which “only” handles Redbook files, is the best-sounding DAC I’ve heard under (to pick a completely arbitrary number out of the air) $5k, and is one of the very best-sounding DACs I’ve ever heard, regardless of price. Sound like a bit of hyperbole? Fine. I was a doubter too. Once. But while there are DACs that are smoother, more rounded and more silken, this DAC is openopenopen with nothing between you and the music. Maybe I should just save the rest for the coming review ….

Nah.

See, I’m not precisely sure why the DAC sounds this good. I seem to recall some DAC designer claiming that “the chip matters”, but that its contribution to the overall sound was lower than you’d think, maybe something like 15%. I have no idea if that’s true or accurate, but the chip here is used in a decidedly minimalist way, without upsampling or oversampling or buffering. Arguably more important to that other designer was the USB input/transceiver chipset and the power supply. Again, no idea about that weighting, but that latter bit is where BorderPatrol just happens to shine. The power supply here is a choke-input filter design, an oddity for digital gear, but one designer Gary Dews is rather notorious for — and its the same design he uses in those massive silver-box power supplies that he wires up to his amps (with variations-on-a-theme for everything else, for that matter). This DAC offers an off-box tube rectified supply, too (like the amps), and it’s not an option. Well, it is but not really — just get it and say “thanks!”

Triode Pete was showing off his excellent and affordable cable loom as well — including his new balls-out “Silver Statement” power cord (starting at $1,199), using solid silver (not plated) connectors with carbon-fiber connector shells coupled to his proprietary blend in those big 7awg conductors. I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again, but I think that Triode Wire Labs is offering some of the best bang-for-the-buck currently available in today’s audio market. Obviously, you’re free to use zip cord if you’d rather bang your head on a wall, but the TWL power cords especially are some of my personal favorites — I have a half-dozen or so that I use almost constantly. Pete also offers a full loom of RCA interconnects and speaker cables that are on my to-do list. More on those anon.

I’m over budget on sheer wordiness (typical), so let me summarize. For less than $25k, this was one of the best-sounding rooms at Capital Audiofest this year — just as it was at that very first CAF, six years ago. I’m just as impressed now as then, which is probably why I now have this stuff at home.

Dews is a wizard. Full stop.










Cheers,
Pete
« Last Edit: 18 Sep 2015, 07:42 pm by Triode Pete »

Triode Pete

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #17 on: 29 Sep 2015, 01:10 pm »
Some very recent video feedback from AVshowreports, on Dave Slagle's Emia Room... Great Sound again... TWL provided the power cabling!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGj8z52tUkI

Cheers,
Pete

thirdeye

Re: Capital AudioFest feedback
« Reply #18 on: 29 Sep 2015, 01:57 pm »
Years ago I heard the Volti Vittora sometime around 2011 I want to say... Pricing was only like 7900.00 per pair which seemed fairly competitive at the time. I know they came from the background of refined Klipsch designs which seems was the original goal of the company doing upgrades to old Klipsch Heritage models after looking at their website they still do.

I heard them again around 2014, but the price jumped to nearly 3 times the price! They still sound very good with low power tubes, but now seems for some reason the price went way out of whack... What happened?

I realize they maybe upgraded the woofer, and went from like an aluminum diaphragm in the horns to beryllium or something of that nature, but we are talking very incremental part costs for the upgrades considering the fit, and finish is identical to the first time I saw and heard them?

Maybe somebody has an answer I don't know.