[JLM]

The room was 14ft x 18ft x 8.5ft (all agreed not really big enough for the Whites) equipped with GIK absorption panels.  Scott rigged up shotgun and jumper cables while Ed and his friend John dollied the heavy Whites downstairs.  Part way through we played the 1812 Overture and realized the right channel jumper wasn't properly connected.  Afterwards it sounded very much better and repeated some of the earlier material.  Then played with toe-in and up-tilt. 

Very revealing, analytical, full range sound.  But the MTM arrangement requires a very specific vertical positioning.  The RAM membership in attendance agreed that the sound bested the big Wilson's ($220K with $65k speaker cables) we heard locally last July.   

We had a total of 9 in attendance.  Too bad Ryan and Pete couldn't make it, although Ed (builder of the cabinets) gave a synopsis of the design and of course provided the super yummy pulled pork.

[EdRo]

Heres  a pic of the blessed event.

[fex02]

Ed, i wish i could have been there.I am not surprised of the results of the listening team.
You look like a seasoned pork man.I wish i could have sampled it.
I am sure Pete and Ryan wished they could have been there.

[EdRo]

WOW!!! 220k Wilson's WITH over 60k in cables...bested by my lil Nimbus? Sounds like you guys liked my babies, Jeff! These silvers are my demo set, but are available to a good home, at a substantial savings. Heck, I'd even throw in some pulled pork sliders!!! Thanks for your opinion guys!

[Gopher]

  The RAM membership in attendance agreed that the sound bested the big Wilson's ($220K with $65k speaker cables) we heard locally last July.   

As an owner of Ed's baby Nimbus speakers, the Auroras, I am not surprised by this outcome.  Nice friggin work, Ed!  I only wish you had a bigger audience than 9.

[EdRo]

Here's a couple more photos.

[douglas_schroeder]

God's Joy to all,

Congratulations, Ed/Vapor, on a nice showing! This should help substantiate what I have said about the Nimbus and Joule White 3.
Whoever gets the Nimbus, especially at a discounted price, will be set up with a monster of a speaker.

Blessings,
Douglas Schroeder

[EdRo]

Please excuse the pink foam used for "feet"! No, that isn't some new speciality vibration-absorbing stuff...I just forgot the nice ones at home! They were supposed to be up off the floor some, so that's what I had on hand. Those silvers really have nice feet; whoever buys these can't have my prototype top secret pink foam "adjusters" used at this session. Sorry! Well, I guess I could use them for packing, if someone just had to have them!

[Rocket_Ronny]

Thanks for sharing. With such wide baffles The imaging would take a bit of a hit, as in flatter instruments and more bloated in size. Would have liked to have been there.

Rocket Ronny

[EdRo]

I was hoping for some Canadian participation, if not from Toronto, then maybe Windsor. Windsor is only about 25 minutes away from the listening session local! Next time, eh?

[toddc2]

I was hoping for some Canadian participation, if not from Toronto, then maybe Windsor. Windsor is only about 25 minutes away from the listening session local! Next time, eh?

I was thinking about driving out from Waterloo ON, but had a concert to get to Saturday night so the timing didn't work for me. Sounds like it was fun, sorry I missed it.

[Vapor Audio]

Nice work pulling it off without me Ed, your first 'show'  

Thanks for sharing. With such wide baffles The imaging would take a bit of a hit, as in flatter instruments and more bloated in size. Would have liked to have been there.

Simplistic thinking like that does nothing but get in the way of the truth.  Enough people have heard them now for confirmation, the imaging is World Class on the Nimbus.  If it wasn't, we'd refine the design until it was.  It's not by mistake, the entire cabinet is shaped so we can control edge diffraction, make the baffle wide where needed and narrow where needed, and then we added time alignment of the MTM section. 

[Rocket_Ronny]

Fair enough. Just sharing my observations, not simplistic thinking, from the various speakers I have experienced in this long journey.

Obviously, if the sound waves coming off the tweeter can be directed so not to bounce off the front baffle you could achieve the imaging you describe. I do like your company and products, yet when I first saw the Nimbus what I shared was a first thought. Having not heard them that's all I can go by. Hearing is believing.

Rocket Ronny

[Vapor Audio]

Fair enough. Just sharing my observations, not simplistic thinking, from the various speakers I have experienced in this long journey.

Obviously, if the sound waves coming off the tweeter can be directed so not to bounce off the front baffle you could achieve the imaging you describe. I do like your company and products, yet when I first saw the Nimbus what I shared was a first thought. Having not heard them that's all I can go by. Hearing is believing.

Rocket Ronny

Thinking wide baffle = poor imaging, narrow = good is simplistic.  It's of course not that cut and dry.  Of much greater importance than baffle width is edge diffraction.  Few manufacturers do anything of significance to deal with edge diffraction, because doing so properly greatly complicates cabinet construction.

[eventhorizon]

I was in attendance and sorry I'm late to the party posting.

I'd like to sincerely thank both Ed for lugging these behemoths along for all of us to listen to and to Scott for hosting.  The hospitality was much appreciated.

I found the Vapors to be very engaging and overall "stupendous" for lack of a better term, both in aesthetics and sound.   While I don't entirely agree that they overpowered the room, their sheer presence as works of art certainly did... very stately to look at while listening and have their own elegance which is unmistakably "Vapor".   

While I did thoroughly enjoy them, I would have loved to have had the chance to hear the new version in a typical (non-MTM) set-up as I kept thinking that the tweeter's attributes were getting lost in the shuffle especially on really complex passages.  What I was hearing from that tweeter, when I was able to distinguish it, was very, very good. 

I would have also like to hear them bi-amped (even though the dynamics of the Belles amp was impressive once we got the other woofer working).  I made some comments to Scott that I cannot remember exactly as I had assumed they were for him to keep.   I did mention I liked them toed in ever so slightly, but not as much as we started off at, and that the "sweet spot" was much lower than their height would make you believe.  I found them to sound their absolute best when I was sitting in the lowest chair (which was very comfy), and rather far back from them.   

Ed, I was fascinated by your talk describing how you built these cabinets, you are equal parts artisan and craftsman and all speaker cabinets should be built as such (built as if they are instruments themselves).  I think my comment claiming you to be a "human CNC-machine" is fitting.  GREAT WORK!

[EdRo]

Thanks for the interest guys. It was fun showing off my babies. I never tire of showing people what the Nimbus can do for music. I have to say that the guys at the listening session really knew what to listen for, and they weren't afraid to push the Nimbus. That's what helps me know if I've succeeded as a speaker cab designer. When I design a peice that catches the listeners interest and sounds as good or better than anything else they've heard, then my job is a success. Listening to the conversations about what styles of speaker cabs people prefer to listen inspire new designs. Thanks again for your time, guys!

[EdRo]

Hey Rocket, you're from Canada, eh? How about dem Leafs, eh? (My mother-in-law is from Victoria, B.C.) Let me know when you'd like to hear the Nimbus and I'll schedule a listening session for my Brothers North of the border. Toronto is about 4 and a half hours away. Bring some friends, and I'll bring the drinks and smoked meat.

[Rocket_Ronny]

Hi Ed. Thanks for the response and offer. I am sure some in Ontario would love a chance to hear them. Myself, being a 3 day journey to the west, won't be able to make it. Will be in Victoria in July though.

Rocket Ronny