[kbuzz3]

Pete-sorry forgot to take pics. I was concentrating on getting them packed up safely and out before all the back to school/coaching takes over all of my time. 

I want to add a few minor things here for context. My reference speakers are vintage LS3/5a's with clear day silver cables or Omega Super three narrows with the aforesaid hudson audio cables.  With and without a TBI Magellan sub.  With this i have both varied impedance and high and low sensitivity references coming from really different design styles. 

The breeze is a thoroughly modern design does not fall into that audiophile show style sound.  This is a great thing, imho.  I also want to add that they make you want to play music and hear things rather then analyze.   I dont want to fall into that musicality chesnut as that damns with faint praise but am really impressed with the way they unearth sound without attacking.  A great example of this is the new HD Track download of WAR's world is a ghetto. This is an very old recording but a band light yhears ahead of their time, but with the breeze there are so many things going on its like a windex like cleaning on the music. Yet with the beat and drive timing remain strong.

I generally think that many of the HD downloads are iffy at best and may represent more of the repacking the old, but this record is one to spend the bucks on.

Someone above commented that they are polite.  I would not use that term.  Polite is harbeth, spendor --generally speaking.  This tweeter does not sound like those wonderful british designs.  A different presentation which can be beguiling.

 

[R_burke]

Knock Knock, who's got em and what do you think about them

[fly_fish_nz]

I received the Breeze monitors about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and between travel have had a chance to give them a good listen.   For reference, my standard equipment consists of Lipinski 707 monitors, Lipinski Sub, DEQX HDP3 (not used with Breeze), Sony 5400es player, Lyngdorf amps, Analysis Plus cables throughout.

The speakers arrived well packed and in good condition, except that one binding post had broken off and was laying loose in the box.     Other than that the fit and finish of the Vapors was very nice, certainly as nice as other mid-level monitors I've owned including Lipinski, Merlin, Dynaudio, etc.  After corresponding with Pete, I resolved the speaker post issue by using a bare wire connection held in place with tape, not audiophile approved, but a good enough temporary fix.  Pete sent out a new post that will be in place for members later in the tour.

Cutting to the chase, I was impressed with the Vapor Breeze and consider them among the best of the monitors I've heard in their price range.   The Breeze threw a nice sound stage and instruments were well delineated.  While the woofer obviously doesn't reach to the lowest frequencies, bass notes were musical and well defined, not muddy even on recordings I think can challenge some speakers (e.g., some Medeski, Martin, Wood).  Attack and decay of guitar and piano was also very good (Beethoven, Dominic Miller, John Scofield), and horns had a nice brassiness/burnished quality (Mozart).  On somewhat more complex/busy pieces (Wilco, Dan Deacon) different lines in the music were easy to follow and came together nicely.

A few people have thought the Raal tweeter somewhat forward, but I did not find this to be the case for my taste and in my room.  Rather I noted airy qualities and spatial cues, detail without harshness.  Rooms, recordings, and tastes are different, but I enjoyed the Breeze's mids and highs.

I didn't have a chance to listen to the Vapors in my standard listening room with acoustic treatments and the DEQX unit (my wife and I were between houses and house sitting), and I hesitate to compare the Breeze directly with my Lipinskis (several times as expensive and used with the DEQX in a well treated room) and spendy favorites like Raidho (only heard in diff rooms and with diff equipment), but only because my audio memory is short.  It was clear that for my tastes, though, the Breeze compares well to what I've heard at its price and many significantly higher priced speakers, and motivates me to check out the Cirrus (and to definitely consider the Breeze for a system in a smaller room).

Thanks to the folks at Vapor for putting together the tour!

[Vapor Audio]

Thanks to the folks at Vapor for putting together the tour!

It's our pleasure, and thank you for taking the time to share your impressions!

[csmgolf]

Any updates on the Breeze tour? It's going on three months since the last update/impressions.

[playntheblues]

Don,t know how I missed this . Dang dang dang, is there room for another stop (Dallas) on the tour?
Kind regards,
Guy

[WireNut]

Any updates on the Breeze tour? It's going on three months since the last update/impressions.

I think they come to me next.

[roscoeiii]

For those of you on the Breeze Tour thinking about moving up the Vapor line, I got to visit Ryan and hear Aurora and Nimbus this weekend.

For now, I will just say wow! Both incredibly impressive speakers. I will try to find some time to write up more detailed impressions but they were both fantastic. That Aurora is an amazing standmount, with prodigious bass. Far more than you'd expect from looking at it (internal volume is larger than it appears from looking at them, much like the Nimbus in that respect). And the newer tweeter in the Aurora since I saw an earlier version a few years back sounds great. As impressive a speaker as I remembered.

And the Numbus, just wow. Sounded fabulous on everything I threw at it.

Well worth checking out. Thanks Ryan for your hospitality.

[HiroPro]

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 

I'm curious what your opinion is regarding the Oskar Heil AMT vs. Raal?

Those drivers are now available to the public from PE under the Dayton stencil.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-amt2-4-air-motion-transformer-tweeter-4-ohm--275-092

This one looks like it could be used as a mid substitute for a BG neo ribbon in a design like Dennis's Phils.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-amtpro-4-air-motion-transformer-tweeter-4-ohm--275-094

[Vapor Audio]

To those in the tour please read this ...

We need to get better communication and follow-through from those on the tour.  Pete has been handling things, but he's let me know of some issues getting them to move promptly from one stop to the next.  If you hold onto them a week or two longer than expected, it effects dozens of people after you.  And the result is cumulative so that now we're way behind the schedule we had hoped for.  Please, if you feel like you're not ready to give them the time required to form an opinion in 2-weeks, no more, then let us know so we can remove you from the list. 

Also if you get them, we need you to post your thoughts in this thread.  MANY people thus far have not done that.  It's not for us here at Vapor, it's for all the other people around the country and World who do not have the opportunity to hear them.  As long as they've been on tour, anybody should be able to read this thread and know exactly what they offer.  But the reviews have been spotty and some no very thorough, so we're still getting a lot of questions for people unsure of what to expect. 

A few other vendors told me that we were wasting our time with this tour, that people wouldn't follow through and that it wouldn't give any value in the end.  Please don't prove them right!

[Vapor Audio]

I'm curious what your opinion is regarding the Oskar Heil AMT vs. Raal?

Those drivers are now available to the public from PE under the Dayton stencil.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-amt2-4-air-motion-transformer-tweeter-4-ohm--275-092

This one looks like it could be used as a mid substitute for a BG neo ribbon in a design like Dennis's Phils.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-amtpro-4-air-motion-transformer-tweeter-4-ohm--275-094

This thread isn't the right spot for this discussion, but I'll answer quickly.  If you would like more follow up info, please start a new thread.

We've used quite a few AMT's.  They are good, better than the vast vast majority of dome tweeters, but still not in the same league as the RAAL.  The one thing that the bigger ones can do that the RAAL can't is offer a low crossover point, which can be a valuable tool to a designer.  But the RAAL gives more low-level detail retrieval, more refinement and a smoother presentation, and more accurate tone top to bottom. 

[Ultralight]

Old thread.....but how many here purchased the speaker after testing it?

Thanks,
UL

[roscoeiii]

Old thread.....but how many here purchased the speaker after testing it?

Thanks,
UL

Saving my pennies for a Vapor higher up I the line. Just need to wait to find a new place to figure out which would be the best fit. But wow, that RAAL tweeter and their implementation of it with the crossover and cabinet are fabulous. Proof of concept and ability. Then I got to hear the Aurora and Nimbus and wow! What a great line of speakers.

[Kenneth Patchen]

This is not meant to derail the intention of this thread and the need for tour participants to send their thoughts on the Breeze and to stick to the scedule ...  but I was planning to sign-up for the tour but the list was too long. Short story: I decided to go one up and I now have the Stiff Breeze on order. If anyone in the Rochester NY area would like to visit for an audition, you're welcome to do so. Also, I spend some of my year in Emerald Isle, NC and so the offer is open to the NC audiophiles as well.

Cheers,
KP

[R_burke]

This is not meant to derail the intention of this thread and the need for tour participants to send their thoughts on the Breeze and to stick to the scedule ...  but I was planning to sign-up for the tour but the list was too long. Short story: I decided to go one up and I now have the Stiff Breeze on order. If anyone in the Rochester NY area would like to visit for an audition, you're welcome to do so. Also, I spend some of my year in Emerald Isle, NC and so the offer is open to the NC audiophiles as well.

Cheers,
KP

Please provide review once you've gotten comfortable with them

[WireNut]

The Breeze tour schedule shows they will be coming to me next, is that right     

[Pete Schumacher]

The Breeze tour schedule shows they will be coming to me next, is that right     

that is correct.  And from you, to us.  We want to finally give them a quick inspection before they head out west.

[this_is_vv]

I guess I can request to add my name for this i am zip code 92618

[wisnon]

This thread isn't the right spot for this discussion, but I'll answer quickly.  If you would like more follow up info, please start a new thread.

We've used quite a few AMT's.  They are good, better than the vast vast majority of dome tweeters, but still not in the same league as the RAAL.  The one thing that the bigger ones can do that the RAAL can't is offer a low crossover point, which can be a valuable tool to a designer.  But the RAAL gives more low-level detail retrieval, more refinement and a smoother presentation, and more accurate tone top to bottom.

The big Heil Driver on my IOskar heil Kithara speaker (Swiss) crosses over at 650hz with significant energy down to 450hz even!
Not your Granddaddy heils! LoL