Many thanks to Ryan for refinishing my new to me Breeze by applying a labor intensive hand rubbed gloss finish to a pair of already gorgeous redwood burl Breeze. The results are amazing and these pictures don't do them justice. Bottom line is if you want the ultimate in sound plus the ultimate in audio eye candy, go with Vapor!
I drove to St. Louis to pick them up in order to hear some of the other Vapor offerings. Thanks go out to Ryan and his lovely wife for the great hospitality and food. I'd go back even if he didn't have world class speakers to listen to just to have another great meal. Ryan has a locally made steak marinade that's killer!
I got to hear my speakers paired up with some incredible BMC components in an acoustically engineered room and was blown away by the quality of the sound! Not sure where to start but one of the first things that grabbed me was the amount of detail the convey at lower volumes. I'm used to turning my system up pretty loud to hear all the details but that's no longer necessary. I hear everything now at 10 o'clock that I used to have to go to 2 to hear. The second thing that stood out was the Raal tweeter and the amount of detail it is able to convey while being so relaxed at the same time. The Raal's are completely non fatiguing but incredibly accurate.
Thirdly, the tight and controlled bass that all of the Vapors deliver is instantly evident. I'm listening to Lowrider by War as I type this and the bass is really detailed and punchy.
Excellent imaging is something I've been chasing for a long time. I got it instantly in Ryan's nearly acoustically perfect room, but the real good news is that I got it from the very first note at home. I set the Breeze up by trying to eyeball the approximate toe in I remembered from Ryan's room and nailed it right away. My #1 go to demo CD is "Get Inside" by guitarist Johnny A. The guitar was floating right above my center channel speaker that was not on. Off axis listening still gives you all the details too. I'm now listening to "Baja Sessions" by Chris Issak and when I moved off the couch to the recliner in front of the left speaker, the vocals are staying right in front of me but I'm still getting plenty of detail and fill from the right speaker.
Got a lot more to say but I'm beat. I'll post some more in the next few days on my impressions of the Sundog and the Aurora, the baddest looking speakers I've ever seen. In addition, the ridiculous amount of acoustic engineering and thought that goes into the design of Vapor speakers is a big difference maker and worth mention.
Bottom line is I'm a Vapor customer for life. The Breeze I have now are so good there is no need to upgrade, but the rest of the line is so amazing I definitely will.
Pete, where were you? You missed out on some great IPA's, wine and food!
