[rebbi]

 

Well, if all goes well and the Tour stays on schedule, I'll get to hear them next winter! 

[Vapor Audio]

Well, if all goes well and the Tour stays on schedule, I'll get to hear them next winter! 

I do see the possibility of building a 2nd pair and splitting the tour up ... so maybe sooner. 

[medium jim]

Well, if all goes well and the Tour stays on schedule, I'll get to hear them next winter! 

I personally think it is amazing that someone is willing to send a pair of great sounding (from the listener impressions) to all who asked, including the newbies on the AC.  If it takes 2 years even, so be it.  It is great that Vapor Audio is allowing each enough time to really audition them instead of here they are, okay pass them on to the next person on the list.

Jim

[Vapor Audio]

I personally think it is amazing that someone is willing to send a pair of great sounding (from the listener impressions) to all who asked, including the newbies on the AC.  If it takes 2 years even, so be it.  It is great that Vapor Audio is allowing each enough time to really audition them instead of here they are, okay pass them on to the next person on the list.

Jim

We know that the biggest hurdle to overcome for an internet direct manufacturer is the trepidation of buying a speaker without listening first.  Tours like this help bridge that gap, even though we know some on the tour are only on it out of curiosity, but their feedback will certainly help others down the road.  And I love that some newbies are on the list, hopefully being part of the tour will help bring them into the fold. 

Those on the list, make sure and thank Pete for handling all the logistics!  It's a big job on top of everything else we're doing, which is why I dumped it in his lap 

[medium jim]

We know that the biggest hurdle to overcome for an internet direct manufacturer is the trepidation of buying a speaker without listening first.  Tours like this help bridge that gap, even though we know some on the tour are only on it out of curiosity, but their feedback will certainly help others down the road.  And I love that some newbies are on the list, hopefully being part of the tour will help bring them into the fold. 

Those on the list, make sure and thank Pete for handling all the logistics!  It's a big job on top of everything else we're doing, which is why I dumped it in his lap 

I agree and give you and Pete kudos for the tour.

Jim

[neekomax]

Okay guys, I've had  the Breeze in house and set-up for a couple hours.  What a great opportunity to hear a true high-end product in your native environment.  Thanks Ryan, Pete, and team!

System:
Peachtree Decco
Samsung Blu-ray jacked into the Peachtree dac (mass produced big box grade, but hey, it's from 2013)
Rega P1 Turntable
Sanus stands - Too tall @ 29 inches
Synergistic speaker wire
Mapleshade interconnects

Room:
Brick walls, hardwood floors w/rug, 13+ foot ceiling, modest room treatments, pretty big volume for the Breeze to fill.  Traditionally difficult to tame "vibrant & lively" room.

Initial Impressions:

As I feared - I AM NOT WORTHY!!!  Clearly the rest of my gear is not in the same league as the Vapor Sound, but the taste I am getting is enough to push me down the slippery slope of acquiring electronics worthy of these speakers.  I am just now re-entering the hobby after a 10 year absence. 

Buzzwords leaping to mind:

-  Decay - Now this is what a well integrated RAAL sounds like!  Fantastic "decay" on the highs as they just fade in a way that is so natural, with an air of ease and delicacy.
-  Holographic - Air & Ambience combine with a wide soundstage that punches well beyond the lateral edge of the speakers add up to a holographic sound I have not experienced in my room.
-  Naturalness - These things just sound "right".  A drum sounds like a drum.  The resonance is right on wood instruments.  Vocals are well defined and have an ease to them.
-  Resolution - Related to "naturalness" in that they do not strike me as a "hi-fi" speaker that is overly detailed and etched but there is a fresh window into my collection that allows me to peer into the music with at least one layer of cloudiness removed allowing the natural recording to come through in a way that does not feel over-extracted (to steal a wine term).

Hey man, good little writeup, thanks. I too have a Decco, although it's not hooked up right now. Good sounding piece of kit. What speakers do you have in your system normally?

[LateApex]

Thanks neekomax.  I normally have Monitor Audio RS6's hooked-up to the Decco.   

Really enjoyed my time with the  Breeze.  Kudo's again to Ryan and Pete. 

[rebbi]

I do see the possibility of building a 2nd pair and splitting the tour up ... so maybe sooner.

Now that would be amazing, Ryan.   

[roscoeiii]

Breezes finally got hooked up this weekend, and I am still getting used to them. But first impressions: these ribbon tweeters are amazing. Like highs? Check these out.

Comparisons and other details to come.

[stlrman]

Looking forward to your impressions ! How do they compare to the Kefs, sp techs?

[stlrman]

Earth to Roscoe!!

[roscoeiii]

It is coming. It is coming.

[roscoeiii]

To start with, my impressions of the Breeze are very much in accord with what LateApex stated above. And he put it so well that I will just cut-and-paste:

Buzzwords leaping to mind:

-  Decay - Now this is what a well integrated RAAL sounds like!  Fantastic "decay" on the highs as they just fade in a way that is so natural, with an air of ease and delicacy.
-  Holographic - Air & Ambience combine with a wide soundstage that punches well beyond the lateral edge of the speakers add up to a holographic sound I have not experienced in my room.
-  Naturalness - These things just sound "right".  A drum sounds like a drum.  The resonance is right on wood instruments.  Vocals are well defined and have an ease to them.
-  Resolution - Related to "naturalness" in that they do not strike me as a "hi-fi" speaker that is overly detailed and etched but there is a fresh window into my collection that allows me to peer into the music with at least one layer of cloudiness removed allowing the natural recording to come through in a way that does not feel over-extracted (to steal a wine term).

As for what I can add to the above impressions:

The treble on these RAAL tweeters is excellent. Really first class. A great sense of air, and superb upper freq detail. Lovely decay of notes, and excellent leading edge transients as well.

The bass is nice for what it there. As has been said about other quality monitors: They are very suggestive of what you are missing. I think that the quality of the bass on these monitors contributes to that. The big kettle drum in the Fleet Foxes' first album is nicely resolved and not MIA, though (no surprises here) the visceral impact it has with my full range Von Schweikerts is not there. Likewise notes on the bass guitar, but less is missing there.

They are a bit forward compared to my Von Schweikerts. I might worry a bit about listener fatique though, which is how I feel about many very detailed speakers. A price one may have to pay for so much detail. BUT, and this is a very important caveat: My main complaint about my Von Schweikerts is that they are just a touch laid back for my taste (just a touch, and by a small enough amount that it can be addressed by an appropriate choice of upstream components and cables). So in order to bring the Von Schweikerts a bit more forward, I may have created a chain of equipment and cables that would lead to the Breezes being a touch fatiguing in my set-up. I'd like to hear stlrman's experience on this, as he has lived with Breezes for a while, and I imagine has worked on matching upstream gear with these speakers.

Next up, a comparison with my SP Tech Minis (waveguide monitors that are a good deal larger than the Breezes).

[roscoeiii]

OK, Breeze vs. the SP Minis.

Yup, the Breeze and that RAAL win on air, high frequency detail and treble in general. The breeze is also less forward than the SP Minis, though the SP Minis less detailed treble may make it a less potentially fatiguing speaker in my system (again, see my note above that I think this forwardness and potential fatigue is likely very much related to my efforts to make my Von Schweikerts a bit more forward. VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE how my system has been voiced for those speakers which differ from the Breezes significantly in their presentation. And as you can ascertain, of late I have been zeroing in on getting what I find to be the sweet spot of forward vs. laid back).

With the diminished treble, the SP Minis have a bit more midrange emphasis. As a much bigger monitor (that goes down to 35Hz!), not surprisingly the bass is more impactful on the SP Mini. Although, as I mentioned above, the bass detail on the Breeze is quite impressive.

And let us not forget that we are talking about comparing the Breeze to Von Schweikerts and SP Tech speakers that retailed for 2-3 times the price of the Breezes.

[roscoeiii]

I should also say that the SP Minis (no longer made) much more resemble what I heard from the beautiful (to look at and to hear) Vapor Aurora (which I heard prior to the new and improved ceramic tweeter). And the bass and impact of the Aurora blew me away in comparison to my SP Minis (so much so that my main concern with the Auroras would be them potentially overpowering my smaller listening room, though this doesn't seem to keep me from dreaming of the much larger Vapor Nimbus).

Great stuff from Vapor!

[roscoeiii]

I should also add that for those of you who are big fans of female vocals or acoustic guitars, these speakers really shine in these areas. Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose (produced by Jack White) sounds fabulous on these.

[roscoeiii]

...and then it hit me: My Rogue Stereo 90 has an Ultralinear/Triode switch. On my Von Schweikerts I keep it in Ultralinear to bring things a bit more forward. But flipping the switch to Triode on the Breezes really hits a sweet spot for those speakers. Yup, said it before and I will say it again: all about synergy.

Wow, great detail, and a nice body to the sound. With the concern about listening fatigue dissolved in listening so far.

[Vapor Audio]

Good stuff Roscoeiii, thanks for posting impressions ... finally 

If I can though, allow me to share my thoughts on the issue of fatigue and detail.  The standard paradigm is that more detail retrieval means more fatigue.  Assuming the same drivers are being used, that would be a fair assumption, because the only way to resolve more details would be through a frequency response imbalance.  However, with the RAAL it's inherent ability to resolve details is far greater than with other tweeters.  The reason why is energy storage, and the RAAL's lack thereof.  It's beyond this thread to post measurements, but suffice to say it's very clear in measurements like Burst/Decay and Etc that the RAAL is far superior in the time domain.  I believe that lack of energy storage allows the RAAL to more closely follow a complex waveform known as music. 

So that's why I refer to the detail from a RAAL as resolution, not detail.  Because the detail from a RAAL is more akin to the extra resolution in a high res recording.  Think about that, Redbook vs 24/192, which is more detailed and which is more fatiguing.  I think clearly the 24/192 is more detailed and LESS fatiguing.  Why?  Because the extra bit depth allows it to more closely follow and re-create the complex original waveform ... just like a RAAL. 

So at least in my experience and opinion, the RAAL breaks the paradigm of detail and musicality being diametrically opposed.  I actually think the RAAL is more detailed and less fatiguing than dome tweeters. 

Again, that's my opinion.  I don't presume it to be accepted as universal fact.  How would you respond to that Roscoe? 

Oh, and good idea on the Triode 

[roscoeiii]

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree on any of that. This is my first experience with a RAAL, and I don't have a great grip on the ways in which it differs from other tweeters technically and what those technical differences may lead to in the listening experience.

And I should have put more emphasis on " I might worry a bit about listener fatigue though." I haven't been able to play music on these for long stretches at a time unfortunately (had to watch a 3 OT hockey game last night!). So I wasn't able to determine if the detail and forwardness I reported would in fact lead to listener fatigue. But some fatigue has been my experience with other speakers which have been forward and detailed that I have listened to for long stretches. So probably best to defer the question of fatigue to those who have lived longer with the Breezes, such as stlrman. 

[bigbang]

On to the next stop.