[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Do any of you believe in an Alternate Universe?  Evidently, some reviewers do.  Check out TAS's online RMAF 2013 Show Report, wherein one of their reviewers who checked out the speakers over $20,000/pr wrote a confusing report on a speaker system that we didn't have there! 

Once you read the Show Reports, don't forget to read the Comments below.  I tried to shed a bit of light on the confusion in that article and thus wrote a tongue-in-cheek reply.   I certainly hope that my words don't incite a riot!

Happy Listening, as always,

AVS

 

[ASMAN]

A very confusing review. He seemed to contradict himself. I would expect better from TAS as I have been a subscriber for many years.
Marlin

[Holli82]

A very confusing review. He seemed to contradict himself. I would expect better from TAS as I have been a subscriber for many years.
Marlin

TAS circa 1988....yes, I would expect better.
TAS 2013............business as usual.

[Delacroix]

The thread in question is here: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rocky-mountain-audio-fest-2013-speakers-20000-and-above/

Also, there have been several 'first timers' suddenly appearing here on our circle who are commenting on this issue and I've placed their posts in moderation pending normal protocol of introduction. If you posted and did not see your msg, check your private mail then read the Welcome thread. This only applies to people who have never previously posted anywhere on AC. OK, normal service is resumed.

[es347]

This is so typical Valin.  Back at the 2011 RMAF when Albert had the VR5 Annies paired with Jolida amps and a UHA RtoR front end, Valin was orgasmic regarding the deck but gave little credit for the room sound to the VR5s.  JV has a tendency to embrace certain equipment (see Magico ad nauseum) at the expense of worthy competition.  His love for the UHA decks is well documented and I'm guessing he either has one on long term loan or is fishing for one.  I don't think the guy has ever had to buy anything.  It does seem however that his courtship with Magico has ended.  Alon Wolf must have made him return the big speakers.

[gammajo]

I posted this tonight on TAS
TO JV - When one is dead it is not a problem for the dead, because they don't know that they are dead, it is just a problem for those around them who have to suffer - just like when one is stupid.  What an unfair review! What I hear you say is that the VS speaker - Constellation combo were very highly transparent to sources and with a stellar source that they were stellar - probably Best of Show in a great show. Why single out the source (while obviously important) as responsible for the great sound - it only can happen when the speaker and amp are magnificent too!

[gammajo]

Followup

Jonathan Valin
OK. I'm stupid or dead. But for the record I did NOT say the VS/Constellation were "highly transparent" to sources. What I said was that the system shined on ONE great-sounding album of electric rock music at very loud levels and did NOT shine on two other great-sounding albums of acoustic rock and jazz/pop music, which is kind of the opposite of being " transparent to sources" and more like being "highly selective of sources."

Moreover, this was not a review. It was a show report based on very limited listening under highly limited circumstances.

Gammajo
    Jonathan - maybe just tired:). You are correct it was not a review, just a comment. Frankly I do not know how you guys do it. What a challenge to get any sense of what is going on in the pressured atmosphere of a show with so much to cover, people talking, poor rooms etc. It takes me being alert, fresh, and carefully listening in quiet circumstances to make judgements and after hearing more than one or two pieces of equipment, things begin to blur and I have to break for another day. I appreciate your efforts in a difficult situation to convey at least some sense of what is going on. If I were a dedicated and careful reviewer, reporting on what I heard at shows would not be my favorite part of my job.
 

[Rouslanbel]

The article reminded me Soviet-era propaganda materials about agony of the capitalism and poor American middle class workers ... Living on the streets of New York in paper boxes.

The main goal of propaganda journalism - to lead you to the intended conclusion while sounding believable.
The article could be totally fictional, had nothing to do with the reality

Another theory - lazy journalism - cut&paste from CAS review materials or from 1-2 years before .

I am running out of theories 

Maybe, VSA has to invest more in advertising to "be alive again" for TAS. Chicago style politics?

[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Most of our customers and neutrality-biased audiophiles get what we're doing with the VR-100XS.  Please read this show report:

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?12344-RMAF-2013-Gear-worth-making-the-trip-to-Denver-to-hear-And-not

Happy Listening,

Albert Von Schweikert

[SundayNiagara]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Most of our customers and neutrality-biased audiophiles get what we're doing with the VR-100XS.  Please read this show report:

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?12344-RMAF-2013-Gear-worth-making-the-trip-to-Denver-to-hear-And-not

Happy Listening,

Albert Von Schweikert

Again, a reviewer doesn't talk about the sound coming out of the VS speakers and just mentions the tape deck.  Instead, he dwells negatively about the Wilson's.

[gammajo]

Reading between the crazy lines it is clear that JV and Whats Best have now both called the VR-100XS with Constellation Best in show by a clear margin . If anyone is interested, I am sure that Albert would be glad to host you at his showroom to hear for yourself which is the ultimate test and definitely worth doing at this level of purchase - right Albert?

[es347]

The article reminded me Soviet-era propaganda materials about agony of the capitalism and poor American middle class workers ... Living on the streets of New York in paper boxes.

The main goal of propaganda journalism - to lead you to the intended conclusion while sounding believable.
The article could be totally fictional, had nothing to do with the reality

Another theory - lazy journalism - cut&paste from CAS review materials or from 1-2 years before .

I am running out of theories 

Maybe, VSA has to invest more in advertising to "be alive again" for TAS. Chicago style politics?

..or given JV's age...dimentia 

[Delacroix]

Agree that the JV bit seems odd in his explanations and descriptions - so many contendors for 'best' (though I think it's getting whittled as he edits). I would not pay much attention to what ends up being  his 'best' as I heard some of the gear he thinks sounded great and I would have to say that I heard otherwise. Also, a lot of stuff that is not listed as among his best is still described as 'excellent'  or greatly improved some areas so you really have to take it all with a pinch. He seems to be trying to build up some tension in his audience by informing us we won't find out the the 'winner' until it's published in the mag but really, this is a cheap trick.

Nice as it might be to have the pros confim our own tastes, the sound at RMAF was just too variable, not only room to room but hour to hour. I visited the 100XS at least four times over the show and never felt I really got a handle on their full capabilities. Sometimes the music being played was really poor, other times the volume was way down, often people were talking ceaselessly behind my ears. I know that it was a problem to get everything set up right as I had a private listen late on Saturday night with Albert and Cor and at that time the pair sounded so much better than when I'd heard them during the previous days that you might as well have been listening to a different speaker the other times.  Show conditions will do this, I know, but it really seemed there was so much variation in this room that even if the whole TAS staff bent down and genuflected in front of  the one 'best' speaker, I'd have a hard time believing that I was hearing the same thing later that day. 

If anything was learned here, it was the lesson of Wilson in the Hyatt. Control the space. Hand pick the accompanying gear. Play a pre-determined selection of music to a single cohort of listeners then move them out. Sounds completely militaristic  but I bet Wilson did not suffer from some of the variability problems Albert experienced here.

[fplanner2000]

I mostly agree.  If you don't control the room, you are wasting your time and money.  You have a greater chance of your gear sounding poorly, as has happened to VSA the past 2 years now at RMAF..  Each of the past 2 years I had friends with me looking for new speakers, and each time the VSA rooms were a letdown.

I can also relate to the room this year with the 100's.  The 3 times I was there (each time hoping for impressive sound and being disappointed), the tape deck guy was talking to his buddies incessantly while sitting in the listening chairs.  Not only was it rude, but since he seemed to control the room, there was nobody to kick him out or tell him to be quiet(didn't work).

Albert - if you're not going to control the rooms your speakers are in, it may be best just to not bring them.  Your "partners" have been making your speakers sound bad.  I agree with Patrick on this, as well as a number of others who feel the same way.  I talked to Cor briefly about this as well at the show.  I had never heard the 100's, and sadly came away totally unimpressed by what I heard at the show.  If you can't show them off properly, they probably shouldn't have even been playing, IMO.

[JackD201]

Patrick and Harve bring up some very interesting points. I feel for manufacturers and dealers who go to show having done quite a few myself over the years.

We all know what acoustics and AC quality bring to the table. Every hotel I have ever been in has poured concrete for ceilings and at least one concrete wall. Then you share power with so many others sucking up the juice. Airconditioning is typically noisy, people will talk and people won't always like what you play. If you play crowd favorites, they will say you are playing safe or worse call you sonic freaks as opposed to music lovers.

From the get go the exhibitor has to make this single decision. Do you shoot for what your system can do to the max or do you average down? This is the same question each of us faces in our own homes. Do you set your system up to such a degree that your best recordings will sound glorious or do you set it up to be more forgiving to accommodate music with crappy sonics which you love regardless?

It's an easy decision to make for the home setting but one hell of a tough one for a trade show. The temptation to put a systems's transparency capabilities on full display is tempting, very tempting but it is also very, very dangerous. Harve is spot on here. You've got to either control your content if you are shooting for max potential or you dumb the system down with a greater downward FR slope than usual if you can't.