Hello Fellow Audiophiles,
As you might have seen in the RMAF coverage last month, two of Audio Circle's most astute listeners, Tyson and Pez (aka Jason), went around RMAF taking notes and writing reviews. Most of their comments are based around whether or not the manufacturers had used room treatment, as every hotel room had far more bass boom and treble echo than a standard living room. In addition, quite a few manufacturers were guilty of bringing equipment that wasn't quite broken in, and sad to say, we were guilty of that ourselves. However, in room #2000, where we demo'ed our VR-22 for the World Premier of this new model, Tyson and Jason gave us a great review. I am copying and pasting their comments below:
VR-22: this is already shaping up to be a positive experience. Bach is sounding very melodic and sweet great imaging and spectacular emotion. Refinement well beyond the other two rooms we were in. Mahler is deft and the dynamic shading lets every detail shine. So much dimensionally it's crazy. HUGE bass into the dynamic upswing! Ani (Di Franco) is pretty damn 3D. Soooo nice. Nothing like the other two rooms. There is a certain degree of coloration that is obvious. Yorke has the same. Most likely due to lack of room treatment. Still better than the other two Von rooms!
Tyson Notes:
Mahler - The crazy thing is that the soundstage is DEEP even with the speakers right against the freaking wall. That is a pretty cool effect. Major kudos on that. Really good center fill, especially considering there is a giant @ss rack right between them.
Bach - Nice to be able to relax into the Bach and no icepick in the ear even when she really digs into those notes.
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Ani DiFranco - Less twang and more wood in the guitar sound. Even though it's more laid back, you can hear the nuance in the playing. Ani sounds less angry and more sorrowful, which is pretty dang cool. A different type of presentation, but a good one.
Thom Yorke - OK, I'm relegated to the back of the room now (gee thanks, Jason). Room boundary is increasing bass boom. But from the sweet spot they are not boomy at all. I tell you, these vendors have a difficult issue - when you put up several rows of seats, the fact is that most seats are going to sound bad in some way, with usually only the sweet spot sounding good. Luckily we've been able to get a good amount of time in the sweet spot at this show.
General Room Notes - Hey, this room has the VR22 speakers we liked so much last year! Don't hold the fact that they look like plant holders against them, they are excellent sounding speakers. Liked them last year and liked them even a bit more this year. Yay VS!
Note that we didn't show the VR-22 last year, we demo'ed the larger and more expensive VR-33's. This proves that the VR-22 is a very respectable performer, even when compared to our larger and more expensive speaker. By the way, no one has ever called the VR-33 a "plant holder," that's cool, since many wives don't like the looks of large foreboding black speaker cabinets!
As always,
Happy Listening!
