[Daedalus Audio]

What speaker cables did he use?

we changed to the Daedalus speaker cables which are made by Wywires with wire that we supply. they are not necessarily a better cable BUT these are based on the same wire technology we use inside the Daedalus speakers and have an inherent synergy. unfortunately as often happens at shows we had other equipment issues on setup day and made the cable choice based on a faulty setup.  sorry about that. at least one person was able to hear what the system could really do!
I will reiterate I would not say that with most systems these cables would be a better choice than the Wywires Platinum, the Daedalus cables are made for the Daedalus speakers and we have not even tried them with other systems. it is quite possible , even likely that the Wywires would be a better choice for most other speakers....

thanks,
lou

[roadkingraw]

A very honest and respectable comment Lou!  Greatly appreciated with regard to the Daedalus speaker cables.
Randy

[dB Cooper]

Scott - I think you did all just right.  I'm just becoming overly sensitive to "hard" sound and gradually diving into the "dark / euphonic" side of the sound spectrum.

An unsolicited piece of advice : leave the damn AC on as much as needed, unless it really is killing the AC quality to the system.  On more than one occasion I left a room prematurely because the BO + feet stank was too much.  And this last weekend was unusually cool + dry for a DC July weekend as you know.  Between temperature + odiferous comfort & sonic purity, I think 90% of us will take the former.......and after all, most of us have to deal w/ some level of ventilation noise in our homes, even if a simple fan.  So "real world" background noise makes more sense even for a demo.......my 2 cents (now worth 1 w/ inflation).

Maybe the fall would be a better season in this area? Just a thought.... Let the gear supply the heat...

[fsimms]

Thanks for all the reviews.  They were  fun to read.

This was the debut of Dennis Murphy’s new Philharmonic Slim tower.  I have been waiting for someone to compare how the Slims sounded at the CAF compared to the other Philharmonic models.  Nobody anywhere on the net has said yet.

Bob

[dB Cooper]

I thought the Slims were excellent performers, sounded bigger than their size, great vocals, not quite as 'lightning quick' in the mids as the planar mid in the 3 but still good transient response. Excellent driver blending, none of the disjointed sound I heard from a number of three way systems at the show. (I listen a lot to headphones these days so may be more aware of crossover artifacts than I once was.)

All of Mr. Murphy's speakers punch way above their weight on the value scale.

[woodsyi]

Thanks for all the reviews.  They were  fun to read.

This was the debut of Dennis Murphy’s new Philharmonic Slim tower.  I have been waiting for someone to compare how the Slims sounded at the CAF compared to the other Philharmonic models.  Nobody anywhere on the net has said yet.

Bob

Philharmonic room was a hopping place.  Every time I poked my face in there, it was packed.  Like Coop said, 3 was the beast but the slim was good too.  What surprised me the most was the AVA gear really showed off well with Dennis' speakers.  I didn't always find it so with the Salk Speakers.  I even took my own amps to Dennis' house to audition the (prototype) Soundscapes.  I thought mine sounded better than AVA with the Soundscapes.  With the Philharmonic line, AVA amp did great -- fast and dynamic as hell without any SS leanness -- tonal texture was rich.   

[AJinFLA]

Can you or other attendees (or AJ), give us an idea of how these new speakers are voiced? This is a speaker that many of us are interested. And brand spankin' new.

Hi Roscoe,

I think other than me, only Joe from HTShack would have heard both M2s and VSFT1s (Axpona and this show). The primary driver compliment being identical (8" midwoofer and planar midtweeter), they sound very much the alike tonally. The ribbon supertweeter adds some air just like the dome on the M2. Main difference would be the added 6db voltage sensitivity with the 2nd midwoofer giving a bit more dynamics and the dual active 12 OB subs extending the bottom into the 20s.
IIRC, you may have heard PSlates with subs as well. So you probably have a pretty good preview of what to expect.

cheers,

AJ

p.s. oh yeah, Scott from PT Audiophile too

[fsimms]

Thanks Woodsyi and DB.  That is exactly what I was looking for.
 
Bob

[woodsyi]

The Quads in Robyatt room sounded just fine, especially running mono.  I was intrigued by the new Miyajima EC-5 preamp.  It has 2 MC, 1 MM, 5 line inputs.  Each phono has independent loading options.  And I was quoted 5K.  It had small Tango transformers on the output stage too.  The mono records sounded really good.  Disclosure:  I got the zero mono cart from him last year.

Speaking of mono playback,  Highwater Sound in Linden room rocked.  They were running dedicated stereo and mono paths:  1 table, 2 arms, 2 carts (mono and stereo) and dedicated mono and stereo phono-preamps.  When asked why a mono preamp, he said a mono cart into stereo preamp can cause ground loop.  I was having this problem.  I think I have to use only one channel and split it into stereo or get a mono phono-pre although this would be a very esoteric product with not much resale value. 

[roscoeiii]

Hi Roscoe,

I think other than me, only Joe from HTShack would have heard both M2s and VSFT1s (Axpona and this show). The primary driver compliment being identical (8" midwoofer and planar midtweeter), they sound very much the alike tonally. The ribbon supertweeter adds some air just like the dome on the M2. Main difference would be the added 6db voltage sensitivity with the 2nd midwoofer giving a bit more dynamics and the dual active 12 OB subs extending the bottom into the 20s.
IIRC, you may have heard PSlates with subs as well. So you probably have a pretty good preview of what to expect.

cheers,

AJ

p.s. oh yeah, Scott from PT Audiophile too

Thanks AJ. Yeah I really liked what I heard at pslates. But I think that he didn't have subs hooked up when we listened, or didn't have them totally dialed in. I remember being impressed by the bass of the M2s alone with no subs.

[avahifi]

Woodsli, at home Dennis has a generation old AVA solid state equipment, not our best stuff as used at the Capital Audio Show.

Frank Van Alstine

[AJinFLA]

I remember being impressed by the bass of the M2s alone with no subs.

They (M2s) are sealed, so in typical rooms, with proximity to boundaries placement, will extend fairly deep with their 2nd order LF roll off. But they certainly won't get into the 20s like the towers, nor have the sheer volume/dynamic capability. High passed with good subs (which I thought Paul was doing), brings things closer.
Of course, I also have an affinity for gradient LF systems, but that is primarily based on taste/what I listen to music wise.

cheers,

AJ

[dB Cooper]

Another thought re the Philharmonics- last year I thought the big Three sounded a bit 'hard' in the midrange. This year, not at all. Hypothesis? What a difference a room makes.

[jarcher]

Another thought re the Philharmonics- last year I thought the big Three sounded a bit 'hard' in the midrange. This year, not at all. Hypothesis? What a difference a room makes.

It's the groovy tubes, baby!  The tubes!

[dB Cooper]

Could very well be, not sure what he was playing last year. Think it was his personal SS system.This year it was the T9 proto and FetValve 400 IIRC