[Kenneth Patchen]

One thing that surprises me about Vapor's Stiff Breeze is that as good as they are that there hasn't been more discussion about them and so after a year long listening session, I thought I'd share some thoughts. And this will be an informal, subjective review written in layman's language in an attempt to best describe what I hear relying on my 63 yo ears to help me say yea or nay ... and with the Stiff Breeze it's a definite yea. Those with an appreciation for objective reviews supported by measurements and graphs and written in exacting Audiophilease will probably be disappointed.  

With nine pairs of other speakers in the house, I've had the pleasure of A/B-ing the Breeze against a nice selection of monitors and floor standers both vintage and modern and the Breeze have remained in active play since their arrival in early 2014. Room placement for the Breeze has been extremely easy and they quickly fit into different listening rooms and  different systems. Depending on the room, amplification has been provided by Odyssey Kismet mono blocks/Rogue Perseus preamplifier or a Cary V12 CAD-280SA Tube Amplifier or a Cary SLA 70 with a Cary SLP 98 F1 tube pre or a NAD C372 or a NAD D 3020 digital amp. The analog source is the venerable Denon DP80 and the digital source is the Oppo BDP-103.The Breeze played comfortably with all of the above with perhaps the best amp pairing being the Breeze with the Kismets. Of all the speakets here, my wife is most attracted to, and has frequently commented on, the look of the Breeze cabinets, the custom baffle and the smartly designed custom stands ... 'scandanavian styling' says she. My wife is a long way smarter than I am.

My Breeze are the first version and have a mahogany veneer with a reddish brown stain. The cabinets are solidly constructed and have weight to them and are extremely quiet, dampened with Vapor's proprietary Acoustic Inversion Layer dampening treatment. My pair came with the upgraded Amorphous Core RAAL tweeters, which I believe are now standard for the Breeze. Even with the added cost of the mahogany veneer, the purchasing price for the Stiff Breeze and custom stands seemed ridiculously low; the new modified Breeze 2s sell for only slightly higher and are still a serious steal, imo.

The Breeze present a tonal balance and a precision that are perhaps its most attractive features along with a focused soundstage that is neither too forward nor too laid-back. They are very open and dynamic with a clarity in the low end that will have you smiling and sitting straighter in your listening chair. Whenever a newly introduced system component reveals 'new' sounds in a frequently played favorite recording - something unheard previously - that component grabs your attention, and the Breeze continue to do exactly that. There's an often used Gertrude Stein quote about Oakland , "There's no there there", and when audio gear hyped to promise the moon falls short of expectations it's often because there's not enough 'there there'. Well, there's plenty of there in the Breeze. The lower octaves are there, weighty and detailed, the mid-range is there sounding very natural (though there were times I thought it could benefit from a slight boost ) and the high end is there, comfortably revealing and detailed without a 'glass' or brittle quality. Imaging is there in spades and the Breeze do the disappearing act very well. All in all, a very engaging, relaxed and musical listening experience that is definitely not fatiguing, I can listen to them for hours. The Vapor team have engineered a speaker that stays true to the music, i.e., trumpets sound like trumpets, cellos sound like cellos, pianos sound like pianos without harshness or blurring, vocalists float disembodied in front of you, etc. There is no voicing trickery here to interfere with a natural, lifelike soundstage and a balanced presentation of precision, weight, warmth and above all, musicality.

Right now the Breeze are playing in a 12 x 13 rectangular listening room with amplification from the Odyssey Kismets/Rogue Perseus and without the assistance of a sub or room treatments other than a floor rug, curtains and listening chair. The Breeze have the ability to hold the music together at low volumes, something very attractive and important to me since having gotten the Led out many years ago, there hasn't been much Bron-Y-Aur Stomp-ing of late with Beethoven and Bach and it is no longer my tempermaent to turn things up to 11. But for purposes of this review, and purely as a selfless service to the AC community, I have cranked the Breeze a bit, particularly with "We Want Miles!" and Mike Stern's "Big Neighborhood". The Breeze handles the increased volume without strain or distortion. Yo, Miles. And when I'm standing outside the room at the opposte end of the adjoining hallway the Breeze present the illusion of live music be played. John Scofield is throwing a party down the hall and I best get back to it.

Vapor has made quite a bold statement with the Breeze. The low end, warmth, balance and transparency make the Breeze so special that it begs the question: if the Stiff Breeze monitors are this good, and they are, what has the Vapor team accomplished with the larger Tuonare floorstanders? Well, I'll soon find out, I have the Tuonares on order. And as I am nearly over-the-moon about the Breeze, if the Tuonare, with its larger enclosure and additional mid driver can accomplish what the Breeze monitors have done, I expect I'll be Buzz Aldrin orbital. Beauty, as they say, is in the ear of the behearer and the Breeze give me a much appreciated earful.

Specifications from the Vapor website:
Drivers Used    RAAL 70-10D Tweeter
2x Wavecor Glass-Fiber cone, Symmetric Motor Drive 6″ Woofer
Cabinet Tuning    Rear Ported, 43hz tuning frequency
Freq Response    42 – 39,000hz +/-3db, 46 – 36,000 hz +/- 1.5db
Nominal Impedance    4 ohms
Sensitivity    91 db
Recommended Power    25 – 200 watts via Tube Amp
50 – 200 watts via Solid State Amp
Weight and Dimensions    47 Pounds
20″ Height x 14″ Deep x 8″ Max Width
Crossover Details    Time aligned, shallow slope network

[dpatters]

Kenneth,

You don't give yourself enough credit.  I think that was a very well thought out and insightful review especially since you used a
variety of speakers and amplification which most people don't have available.

I haven't heard any other Vapor speakers other than the ones that I own,  but as Ryan always says all of the speakers are voiced similarly. I know if I were
looking for a monitor for another system or making a recommendation to a friend I would have complete confidence in choosing Vapor again.

Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions.  I'm just a youngster at 59

Don P.

[R_burke]

Thanks, but for completeness would you list the speakers you compared these to.

[zeke]

+1 on the Stiff Breezes .......... great spkrs.

[mav52]

I wonder how a Stiff Breeze will work in a small 11x10x10 office

[Kenneth Patchen]

I wonder how a Stiff Breeze will work in a small 11x10x10 office

Does your office do double-duty as an office/listening room and are you able to sit back from them? I'm comfortably seated 9 feet from mine. So if you have the space to sit back from them, they'd probably work nicely. You don't have to crank them to get a full-bodied response. But if you're  asking if they're suitable for desk top use flanking your pc as you work away, then I'd say no, you'd be better served by a smaller speaker. The Stiff Breeze are not desk top speakers, they're monitors, very, very good monitors. Hope this helps.
KP

[mav52]

Does your office do double-duty as an office/listening room and are you able to sit back from them? I'm comfortably seated 9 feet from mine. So if you have the space to sit back from them, they'd probably work nicely. You don't have to crank them to get a full-bodied response. But if you're  asking if they're suitable for desk top use flanking your pc as you work away, then I'd say no, you'd be better served by a smaller speaker. The Stiff Breeze are not desk top speakers, they're monitors, very, very good monitors. Hope this helps.
KP

Oh yes, I can set about 7 to 8 1/2  feet back from my current speakers but I guess it would depend on how far off the rear wall the Stiff Breeze require ?

And I was wondering maybe the plain old Breeze would be better

[Kenneth Patchen]

Oh yes, I can set about 7 to 8 1/2  feet back from my current speakers but I guess it would depend on how far off the rear wall the Stiff Breeze require ?

And I was wondering maybe the plain old Breeze would be better

Don't know about the Breeze so can't comment on that but I have the Stiff Breeze 14 inches from the wall to the back of te cabinet. Pete and Ryan can comment further once they get back from living it up in Chicago - where we all should be.

R-Burke, yup, I'll answer your question tomorrow when I'm back home.

Cheers,
KP

[Kenneth Patchen]

Thanks, but for completeness would you list the speakers you compared these to.

Here's a list of them because you asked but keep in mind, I'm not saying that the Stiff Breeze are the best on the list, they're not. But of the 4 pairs that I'll keep (the first 4 on the list) the Stiff Breeze are among them. After I'he had a chance to listen to the Tuonares, those included in the gang of 4 might change. The rest I'll sell, some here on AC, some on the 'Gon, some on the Bay.

Vapor Stiff Breeze

Harbeth 7es3

Salk Veracity HT2-TL

Selah Tempestas

- Salk songBirds

Castle Howard S2
Castle Harlech S2

Von Schweikert VR-1

Proac 1.5
Proac D 2

Totem Sttaf

KEF 104.2
KEF 103.3 w/Kube

Vandersteen 1c

Rogers  LS6A

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR mods Dennis Murphy

[mresseguie]

Howdy, 'KP'.

Now this is impressive! Of the top four, are they listed by preference, or randomly?

Do you have any thoughts or observations if one were to ask about Stiff Breezes vs Tempestas? Okay....so I'm asking. 

Michael

[Tomy2Tone]

Do you have any thoughts or observations if one were to ask about Stiff Breezes vs Tempestas? Okay....so I'm asking. 

Michael

Yeah, what he said...

I have a Rogue Perseus with a pair of Odyssey Kismet Monos on the way so it's nice to hear they make a good combo!

[Kenneth Patchen]

Howdy, 'KP'.

Now this is impressive! Of the top four, are they listed by preference, or randomly?

Do you have any thoughts or observations if one were to ask about Stiff Breezes vs Tempestas? Okay....so I'm asking. 

Michael

Hi Michael, nice to hear from you and you too Tommy,

The Gang of Four are listed in no particular order, and deliberately so since I purposely wanted the post to be about the Stiff Breeze because imo they haven't gotten the press they deserve, and they are special. But I could have written equally warm remarks about the Ht2-TLs or the Tempestas, both very special speakers but they do things differently than the SBs, and I've related my appreciation to Mr. Salk and Mr. Craig. I'm looking forward to adding the Tuonares to the mix to see which ones rise to the top, again, in my listening rooms and to my ears. Ymmv.

Right now I have the Tempestas with the HT2-TLs in the irregularly shaped first floor ROOM FROM HELL!! Both play with a Selah TC12 sub w/500w bash amp. Tomorrow I'll move the Tempestas to the upstairs 12x13 listening room and listen to them for a week opposite the Stiff Breeze (both without the sub) and then get back to you by next weekend. When both were downstairs in the ROOM FROM HELL!!, I thought the Ts did a slightly better job filling the room but not as well as the Salks. It will be interesting to see how the Ts fare against the SBs in the smaller room.

I'll talk with you again soon.
KP

[Tyson]

Just an FYI, OB speakers do really well with irregularly shaped rooms.  I tried a LOT of box speakers in my old condo with an L shaped Living/Dining area, and only going to OB gave me an even reasonable semblance of balanced sound. 

[mresseguie]

Hi Michael, nice to hear from you and you too Tommy,

The Gang of Four are listed in no particular order, and deliberately so since I purposely wanted the post to be about the Stiff Breeze because imo they haven't gotten the press they deserve, and they are special. But I could have written equally warm remarks about the Ht2-TLs or the Tempestas, both very special speakers but they do things differently than the SBs, and I've related my appreciation to Mr. Salk and Mr. Craig. I'm looking forward to adding the Tuonares to the mix to see which ones rise to the top, again, in my listening rooms and to my ears. Ymmv.

Right now I have the Tempestas with the HT2-TLs in the irregularly shaped first floor ROOM FROM HELL!! Both play with a Selah TC12 sub w/500w bash amp. Tomorrow I'll move the Tempestas to the upstairs 12x13 listening room and listen to them for a week opposite the Stiff Breeze (both without the sub) and then get back to you by next weekend. When both were downstairs in the ROOM FROM HELL!!, I thought the Ts did a slightly better job filling the room but not as well as the Salks. It will be interesting to see how the Ts fare against the SBs in the smaller room.

I'll talk with you again soon.
KP

  Beware the ROOM FROM HELL.

Man, I feel for you. I wonder how many of us have a room from hell. I know my family room is one. It's where I placed my HT. If I weren't setting off to British Columbia tomorrow, I'd be mighty tempted to start a new thread entitled "ROOM FROM HELL". Perhaps an enthusiastic reader of this thread could do it....it could be lots of fun.

I'm going to visit a few AC members on this trip. First I'll visit Captainhemo who has generously offered up his GR Research OB speakers (forgot the model) and his XLS-Encores. Then, as I drive south toward the US border, I'll stop by Wind Chaser's home for a short visit. He's got some neat equipment that I'd probably never get another opportunity to see/hear. Finally, I'm going to visit CanadaRob's showroom to audition Omega speakers. Im sure my wife will be thrilled.

Oh, and I get to witness the beautiful scenery of coastal and inland B.C. as well.

We return you now to your own personal ROOM FROM HELL. Pleasant dreams.

Michael

[bladesmith]

Just an FYI, OB speakers do really well with irregularly shaped rooms.  I tried a LOT of box speakers in my old condo with an L shaped Living/Dining area, and only going to OB gave me an even reasonable semblance of balanced sound.

Yes.....

[Kenneth Patchen]

Yes.....

Yup, I liked the OBs that I've heard but the WAV factor got in the way of bringing them home. Same with planars and electrostats but otherwise she has been very supportive, as you can see.  I had thought about the Proac Future 1.5, which is partly OB and mostly box, but the shipping didn't work out. Anyway, the Salks are now pretty amazing in that room, after weeks of trying different placement schemes, and now they've finally settled. Again, I look forward playing the Tuonares against the HT2-TLs and the Tempestas. One of the three will have to go.

Cheers,
KP

[Kenneth Patchen]

  Beware the ROOM FROM HELL.

Man, I feel for you. I wonder how many of us have a room from hell. I know my family room is one. It's where I placed my HT. If I weren't setting off to British Columbia tomorrow, I'd be mighty tempted to start a new thread entitled "ROOM FROM HELL". Perhaps an enthusiastic reader of this thread could do it....it could be lots of fun.

I'm going to visit a few AC members on this trip. First I'll visit Captainhemo who has generously offered up his GR Research OB speakers (forgot the model) and his XLS-Encores. Then, as I drive south toward the US border, I'll stop by Wind Chaser's home for a short visit. He's got some neat equipment that I'd probably never get another opportunity to see/hear. Finally, I'm going to visit CanadaRob's showroom to audition Omega speakers. Im sure my wife will be thrilled.

Hey Michael,
Ya know, I think I might start that thread. I told Pete I'd send a floor diagram for Tuonare placement and I think I'll post it separately. Honestly, I've never been in a more difficult room - the house is a modest 1900 sqr ft arts and crafts bungalow, 1913, with a first floor railroad style layout, open on both ends, partial walls separating living room from dining room, bay windows in both rooms and a fireplace. The architect studied with both Wright and Sullivan and designed but never built early geodesic dome structures - in 1915.

That sounds like a great trip. I think Vinyl Lady is near you and she has Daedalus (ain't got the scratch for Daedalus and besides, I'm done now). No, really, I'm done. Really.

Cheers,
KP

[bladesmith]

Yup, I liked the OBs that I've heard but the WAV factor got in the way of bringing them home. Same with planars and electrostats but otherwise she has been very supportive, as you can see.  I had thought about the Proac 1.5, which is partly OB and mostly box, but the shipping didn't work out. Anyway, the Salks are now pretty amazing in that room, after weeks of trying different placement schemes, and now they've finally settled. Again, I look forward playing the Tuonares against the HT2-TLs and the Tempestas. One of the three will have to go.

Cheers,
KP

I think 30 years ago, when I first started listening to 2 channel home stereo, things were much simpler. Can I say the word "simpler"...   Fewer speaker designs, fewer choices and it made it easier to make a final decision.

I haven't heard any Vapor Audio Speakers, but they are getting great reviews. I would like to hear a set of them. 
I like the overall look/design and Ryan seems to be very passionate about what he is doing. I hope he does well. 

V....

[LateApex]

Great review Kenneth.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the additional equipment context.

I too am a very happy Stiff Breeze customer.  They are superb speakers, which lean-in on the diminishing returns curve quite aggressively. 

[Vapor Audio]

Thank you for taking the time to organize and post your thoughts!  You're not only helping us, but helping others who might be considering what we offer.  I know it's not a small thing, and appreciate it very much. 

But now, how about some pics of Stiff Breeze in the wild 

Your Tuonare's are back home now.  They'll get a strip down and complete refinish before being shipped off.  Pete probably didn't mention that I was planning to do that, I just want them to pop when they come out of the box.