[Spatial Audio]

Hard to believe I was skiing two weeks ago! Some parts of the northwest picked up fresh snow last week. But, from here on out, it looks like sunny days are ahead. For me, the sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers means Summer is here. If you are looking to get out and hear some great live music with a few thousand friends, there are a lot of options this Summer! From Governors Ball in NYC to Bonnaroo in Tennessee, Summerfest in Milwaukee, Pitchfork and Riot Fest in Chicago, Under The Big Sky in Montana, Yacht Club Festival in Minnesota, Fairwell Festival in Oregon, Evolution Festival in Missouri, Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, about a dozen in California… too many more to list. A quick search of the interwebs will likely turn up something interesting within driving distance.

(All of these are hyperlinked on the Spatial Audio Lab website)

New Website - Updates

Even more changes to the look and feel of the website along with the ability to enter order information. Our new S6 speaker is now for sale with other speaker accessories like replacement 12” grill covers (later this week). So, click over to www.spatialaudiolab.com and check out what’s new. Let us know what you think of the changes and what else you would like to see.

Revelation Series Amplifiers

We are starting a third build cycle of the Revelation series! Take a look at what some owners are saying about the Raven preamplifier on Audiogon and Audio Circle. The new wood cases are Sapele (dark, similar to walnut) and Cherry (light color).




S6 Wide Dispersion Open Baffle Speaker

Minor changes to the S6 as it enters production reduced the height to an even 40”. Frequency range is now testing lower at 30Hz and highs up to 30kHz. Some efficiency was sacrificed in order to achieve the bass extension and still maintain precision and detail along with depth of soundstage that are our priorities. Most suitable for small to medium sized rooms. We found that our 24W Blackbird amplifiers and the Schiit Aeger rated at 40W into 4 ohm RMS per channel provided more than enough power to achieve very loud results. Priced at $4,995+shipping. Available colors are black, white and graphite.





[S6 in white with Raven preamp and Schiit Aegir amplifier]

Music -
For those of you looking for more interesting tracks, the following are some of my favorites that I keep coming back to :

“Kiss in Blue” by Yello - these guys out of Switzerland have been creating dynamic tracks since 1979!

“Cortado” by Roman Street - Punchy, jazzy, classical guitar[/li][/list]

“Magnetic Lies” by Malia - atmospheric, smooth vocals[/li][/list]

“Fading Sun” by Terje Isungset - if you are getting too hot this summer, this track is like air conditioning for your ears[/li][/list]

“Golden Embers” by Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) - emotional folk track; if you were at SWAF you may have heard this in our listening room

Thanks again for your support. We hope you all have a wonderful summer. Get outside. Enjoy the weather and the scenery with friends and family. And, make time to relax with your favorite music

David Whitt, General Manager

[Daryl Zero]

Thanks for the update and the music suggestions. I've been a fan of Yello since they started out distributed on Ralph Records out of the Bay Area.

[Mr. Big]

Good looking speakers and I am thinking of buying the Raven Preamp. To add a bit of tube magic in my system, should match well with my ML 532H power amp.

[Daryl Zero]

The sun is shining a bit too much where I live.

[dls123]

Good looking speakers and I am thinking of buying the Raven Preamp. To add a bit of tube magic in my system, should match well with my ML 532H power amp.

Yes, the Raven will be perfect for most solid state balanced amps like that.   I think it would be a good combination.  Plus, the Raven gives you the option of a fully balanced system if your source has XLR outputs.  Of course it will happily take RCA inputs as well.

[dls123]

Some test tracks I use.  The first one is a pop track, the rest are rather eclectic, but will show off your stereo's abilities.  Of course I listen to all sorts of music, but these are good test tracks that are also fun to listen to.  All can be found on Tidal.

The cover of Paul Simon's "One Trick Pony" by Holy Cole - very dynamic with excellent recording quality. 

Myriam Alter - Crossways is the album.  All the tracks are interesting.  It is a small ensemble with Bandoneon (accordion), clarinet, piano, percussion.  If your stereo is good you will hear the breathing of the Bandoneon bellows, the clack of the keys, the woody body of the clarinet, and of course well recorded piano.  The interplay and counter melody between instruments has a certain swing to it that will show you if your system has good pace, rhythm, and timing.  If you pick only one track, try Dancing with Tango.

Anouar Brahem - The Astounding Eyes of Rita, the title track.   A Tunisian oud player and composer.   The track starts slowly and builds.  It features the oud, which is a lovely stringed instrument, and a really good bass clarinet with wonderful percussion.  This track will show off your imaging, and again, the ability to portray acoustic instruments in all their glorious overtones.  The hollowness of the instrument body...

John Leventhal - Album is Rumble Strip - track is Tullamore Blues No. 2.  Very dynamic track.  Short and sweet.

Kenny Baron/Mino Cinelu - album is Swamp Sally - track is Moon Dance.  This a percussion track.  It is fast and dynamic, with many things that have hollowness, sounds that hang in the air and decay.  On the Raven / Blackbird combo it sounds fantastic.  Your system has to be fast and dynamic to portray this track correctly.  The reverb tails on the things that decay are a very good test of a system. 

The Single Singers - album is Jazz Sebastian Bach - track is Fugue in D Minor.  Choir doing Bach.  Listen to pick out all the voices and parts.  If your system is good, you can follow any individual voice or switch to listening to the whole......

For serious fun... try the track "Bubbles" by Yosi Horikawa on the Wandering album.  Just try it:)

Finally, Bela Fleck, arguably the best banjo player on the planet.  Two Tracks..
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones- The famous "Fight of the Cosmic Hippo" from the album of the same name.  The fretless bass will give your system quite a workout.  The melody is infectious.

Bela Fleck - Rhapsody in Blue(grass).  Yes, he actually arranged and played Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on banjo and bluegrass instruments!  Lots of fun if you are familiar with the Rhapsody, and quite an amazing feat.  All the parts are indeed there and the musicianship is stunning.

Happy listening....
Don

[dls123]

What I neglected to say in the previous post is that when I voice amplifiers and preamps I play music that is mostly acoustic.  The Raven and Blackbirds excel at portraying the overtones of instruments.  You can hear the bodies and resonance of wooden instruments, the skin on the head of a percussion instrument, and of course the left hand of the piano and the wavering beats of low piano strings as they fade away.   You can hear the intent of the musician and producer.  Most decent equipment can rock and roll.  It takes superb equipment to portray a piano, choir, or an orchestra correctly.....  My 2 cents.

[Mr. Big]

Excellent information. You are correct to voice your gear on "natural" instruments and recordings where that is their goal. Today's crap of over-processed, auto-tune vocals, and over-the-top compression would not be helpful at all for good audio gear and speakers. Garbage in equals garbage out. I go to an audio store and they put on this type of recording and play them loud to impress a buyer or me, and I think why? One you know crap about audio and sound reproduction and how in the hell you expect buyers to drop money and big money on this type of presentation and sound. XLR fully balanced gear is the way to go and I run my system fully balanced from the front end to the amp.

[dls123]

I made a typo above..  It is the Swingle Singers, not the Single....  That track is worth checking out.

Yes, if your stereo will not play the left hand lower notes of a piano correctly and convince you that the piano is in the room.... then it is not a great stereo.  One test I use all the time is to play Glenn Gould's famous recording of the Bach Goldberg Variations.  The later recording, which was the last he ever made.   If you can clearly hear the interplay between the left and right hand, and you can easily listen to the left hand, then you have a good system.  As I have improved the Blackbird and Raven I can always hear the result on that recording.  He was a fabulous pianist and balance between left and right hand is astounding. 

Any competent stereo can play rock and roll.  I like all sorts of rock and am not saying it is inferior music at all!  But you don't know what that electric guitar is supposed to sound like.  It is run through all sorts of pedals.  If you play an acoustic instrument you know what it is supposed to sound like.  You should hear the resonances in the body of the instrument.  Lower piano notes are of course comprised of three strings.  As they fade away you should hear the harmonic beats.  You should know whether the pianist is using the pedal and you can easily discern finger pressure.   You can do that with the Raven and Blackbirds provided your source and speakers are up to the task.....  They have ZERO feedback in the entire signal path of the both.  Feedback will shorten reverb tails and make the sound stage less 3D.  That cymbal brush stroke or triangle or bell will not hang in the air as long as it decays...  It is also my experience over many years, that tubes with large plate structures will give you more of the overtones and harmonic richness.  Small plate tubes generally sound brighter and busier.  The large plate tubes sound fuller and richer.  The good ones have all the detail of the small tubes with no brightness.  DHT power tubes excel at this.   Hence all the tube choices in the Raven and Blackbird.   

You will find that if your stereo can play the acoustic instruments and voices correctly, then your rock and roll sounds FAR better as well.  So does the electronica and other genres.  As I posted above, if you want a cool test track that will show you how fast your system is, and how well it does 3D imaging.. try that Bubbles track.   I couldn't listen to that all the time, but it is fun, and when you have a great system.......

[abd1]

@dls123

That Anouar Brahem album is fantastic all the way through, as is his Blue Maquams album.  I usually start my Sunday mornings listening to one of those. Highly recommended!

What are the speakers in the photo behind the M6's?

[dls123]

@dls123

That Anouar Brahem album is fantastic all the way through, as is his Blue Maquams album.  I usually start my Sunday mornings listening to one of those. Highly recommended!

What are the speakers in the photo behind the M6's?

Those are probably X4.   I should have played the Brahem in Dallas at the show when we had the Raven and Blackbirds driving Sam's new Q3.  It was really good and would have done that recording justice.  The DAC we had was quite good, the Mola Mola.  That said, that DAC could not portray that music like my Pacific 2, but still, it would have made a great demo.  Problem is that at shows you have to play music that is very accessible to a variety of people who walk through the room.....  So you tend to go for 3-4 minute pieces so you can move on to other genres.  The Brahem takes a bit more of a committment:)

[dls123]

@dls123

That Anouar Brahem album is fantastic all the way through, as is his Blue Maquams album.  I usually start my Sunday mornings listening to one of those. Highly recommended!

What are the speakers in the photo behind the M6's?

If you like Brahem, try the Myriam Alter recording I listed.  Totally different genre, but I bet you will enjoy it if you are not familiar with her.  I love the recording because it is a small ensemble, wonderfully recorded and it has a combination of instruments you are not usually used to listening to.  It is wonderful for stereo testing because it has piano, bandoneon, clarinet, bass and percussion.  All going at once.....   The Revelation series gear and the Lampi Pacific 2 renders the musicians in the room.  It gets the clarinet right.  That is really hard to do...

[rfluongo]

Myriam Alter - Crossways is the album. 

Really enjoyed this whole album. Thanks for the recommendation

[dls123]

Really enjoyed this whole album. Thanks for the recommendation

My pleasure.  Now you can see why it is a really good test of a stereo!