Pez and Tyson coverage day 1 (10-10-14)

Pez · « **Reply #20 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 03:48 pm »

No civil wars this year mostly Tysons bitching to blame there. We will see how he's doing and go from there. Ya maybe a mask might be the way to go.

don't worry we'll pick one up and my wife is a doctor so I'm sure there's some stashed away somewhere.

Pez · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 03:51 pm »

Tyson's looking better. We are getting ready!!!

Tyson · « **Reply #22 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 04:35 pm »

Hey all, I am ALIVE!!! And just posting to test our mobile hotspot. Looks like we are up and running

a.wayne · « **Reply #23 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:00 pm »

Tks guys, need to hear about the new PS Audio amplfier, more so since they are using Vintage Infinity speakers, nothing like comparing old vs New internet hype Speakers...

Pez · « **Reply #24 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:11 pm »

We're here!

Pez · « **Reply #25 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:12 pm »

Lol this is why I don't use AC for uploads.

Pez · « **Reply #26 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:18 pm »

Tyson here - That is exactly how things look to me after multiple doses of DayQuill.

Pez · « **Reply #27 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:28 pm »

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=129371.0

Folsom · « **Reply #28 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 05:46 pm »

You two are younger than I expected

Pez · « **Reply #29 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 06:07 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]General Room Notes – Last year the King Sound room was the surprise of the show – they came out of nowhere and kicked ass. This year the speakers are the smaller brothers and still just freaking phenomenal sound. AND they use an electronic crossover – no wonder they sound so amazing.

Mahler Symphony 6 – Nice metallic bit to the horn intro. Shocking how much bass these planar speakers produce. I am actually looking around for a sub! I do think the room is a bit too small to let these speakers fully breath.

Handel Aria – Oh, very nice. Sweet and full. Who said Planars are thin sounding? Not here!

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – Nice dynamics for this track.

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – Hey, who know Tom Waits could sound so smooth? Incredibly musical speakers here!

Natalie Merchant (Pepper Man) - Handles all the different voices and rock/blues dynamics with aplomb! Even when Natalie really leans into the mic, still not painful. Great room.

Jason

Tom waits - very great pace and rhythm. Vocal clarity and detail are phenomenal. Great head bobbin. I'm astonished by the detail and clarity of the overall presentation.

Merchant - the overall balance of this system reminds me a lot of a solid state version of my RM40 setup. Backup male vocals are strong and confident! Superb bass control and vocal separation. Great way to kick off the show!

Pez · « **Reply #30 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 06:10 pm »

Sorry folks. Still trying to get the sizing right. The next batch of pictures will be smaller.

Pez · « **Reply #31 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 06:24 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]General Room Notes – Another favorite from last year. At least there are a few vendors trying to do some things outside of the standard cones-in-a-box. Love the stands with the integrated up-firing woofers. Late Ceiling Splash I believe it’s called. Gives that great open, spacious that Open Baffle lovers (like me) crave. Plus, Tubes! And Room Treatment! Love this room already!

Mahler Symphony 6 – Big dynamic swings just crush you in the chest. And surprisingly gentle during the subdued parts. And a deeeep soundstage. Those brass instruments come in from waay back.

Handel Aria –Wow, very sweet and beautiful. Her voice just flows. Great clarity and transparency

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – Large room/venue of the recording is really well defined and "lit up" going faaaar back, again! And some decent bite and grit to the violin. This is an aggressive piece and it sound grab you. It does.

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – Subdued menace. Yeah, that's Tom Waits on this song. Your bad side, whispering temptation and self destruction, secretly, in your inner ear. Yeah, they got that.

Natalie Merchant (Peppery Man) – Amazing how much "Naw'lins" come through on this track in this room. I can almost smell the gumbo

Any criticisms? For sound, no. But the speakers are a bit short, I feel like I'm looking down on the performers. Now, normally I'm totally fine with looking down on people. It fits the natural order of things. But for soundstaging, bring them up (spikes, maybe), and it'll be a grand slam home run.

Mahler - from side seat position. Mahler is imaging great! Very dynamically confident this system. I love the smooth laid back yet confident portrayal of the strings.

Handel - lovely swimming intoxicating yet never overblown. Just lusty gorgeousness here.

Saint Saens - the pacing and the immediacy is quite frankly stunning. Not as dynamically wall bending as last years system, but at the same time I like this one more for its romantic portrayal of the composition.

Waits - from the main seat there is bass bloom, room related for sure. Great imaging and sound staging. Things are pushed waaaay back in the space between the speakers.

Merchant - again laid back. A bit less detailed than I care for but still great focus and realism. The male vocals are definitely over loading the room and loses detail in the low end. Aside from that this system is solid.

Pez · « **Reply #32 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 06:44 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]

General Room Notes – I have to say that Emerald has really upped their game in the fit/finish department. I come here every year, wanting to really love this room, and every year the room sounds a bit hot and unrefined in the treble.

Mahler Symphony 6 – Oh crap, I think they have their L/R reversed. Horns are coming out of the right side here, not the left. Or maybe just my imagination The great news is that these do not sound as hot this year. I am also impressed how much bass they get out of these speakers! Clarity and detail is outstanding, as usual.

Handel Aria – Last year this track almost drove me out of the room, but I’m sitting here and enjoying it quite a bit. Not sure what changed year over year, but well done!

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – Ah, there’s the bite and thrust I love. Uhm, wait, did I just say that? Haha. It’s actually pretty hard to get this track to sound correctly, with enough force, without turning hard/sterile. But these guys pull it off.

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – First room at the show I can actually understand the words Tom is saying. Clarity and detail are off the scale. But they also sound a bit flat and lacking tonal depth.

Natalie Merchant (Peppery Man) – This track highlights another strength of these speakers (which OB speakers usually suck at) - rhythm and pace! These guys boogie! Wow, what a fun performance.

Without doubt, this is the best the EP room has sounded in all our years.

Jason

These are the best looking emeralds I have seen bar none. Fit and finish is absolutely stunning.

Waits compared to the other setups we've heard today this system is a drier sound. Not as toe tapping IMO. But still incredibly musical and honest. Great sound stage and decent imaging.

Merchant still a bit dry but great bass control and merchants vocals are superb sounding. Her voice just fades to black between phrasing. Great bass control. Not as three dimensional as compared to other setups but still very convincing.

rave959 · « **Reply #33 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 06:50 pm »

Ted_b,

LOL!

Ian

Quote from: ted_b on 10 Oct 2014, 02:51 pm

No non-sense? Wait, I thought this was a Tyson and Pez thread!

OK, it's time for that opening picture of a half eaten bagel, and Marjorie running through the lobby.

Pez · « **Reply #34 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 07:15 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]

General Room Notes – HORNS!!!! Last year we thought the Volti room show a lot of promise but was a bit hot sounding.

Mahler Symphony 6 – Right off the bat, better balanced sound than last year (which was high/lows dominated). Strings come through well, without glare or any grit. Not easy to do with massed strings, especially for horns (and I generally hate horns, FYI). Cymbals are a bit splashy still, but I think it’s a factor of 2 things – we are sitting very close to the speakers (kind of a small room), and no room treatments.

Handel Aria – But that doesn’t hit the human voice at all. Normally I just run out of the room with this track on horn speakers (yes, that’s what makes it a good test track), so having it sound so good is kind of undercutting my preconceptions

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – Ah, there we go, dynamics! Man this track just rocks on this system, love it!

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – Another track that I thought would sound like crap, because horns!, but nope, another preconception smashed. Incredible clarity. And not a hint of tizz or splash. Nice.

Natalie Merchant (Peppery Man) – You really hear the twang of the string of the guitar and how it lights up the hollow body of it. Harmonica just eases in effortlessly. Oh and the BASS! These speakers were just made for tracks like this. If you want a speaker that can grown and whisper, and rock your world, here you go.

Jason

Waits so on this track imaging and sound staging just isn't gelling for me. It's there it's just not solid. Speakers are probably too big for the room. Tonality is there again a bit on the dry side.

Merchant interesting much better soundstage and imaging on this one. Two dimensional but nice balance. Backup singers not overblown. For the size the dums don't scale as good as I prefer them to be but still confident with what they do.

Pez · « **Reply #35 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 07:20 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]

General Room Notes – EP in black, and with room to breath. After the last EP room, I kind of excited to hear what these can do. No CD player, so listening to random tracks while our disc is ripped. OK, here we go....

Mahler Symphony 6 – Just cavernous soundstage. And, not short speakers, so I am actually looking into the soundtage where it should be. Love that you can hear the main notes coming off the violin, and then hear them flowing back and off the rear of the soundstage. Probably the widest/deepest SS at the show. Of course, biggest room, too.

Handel Aria – Hard to hear a bit because the room next to us is really loud. Sounds good, I guess, but fucking rude neighbors. Sounds a bit more relaxed/laid back than what I"m used to.

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – Slight hollow sound to the violin. Not surprise, as I get that same effect on my home OB setup also. But good job putting the instruments up front and having a big room audible behind them.

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – The slightly hollow quality affects clarity, so not sure what Tom is saying, but I'm sure he's up to no good. Nice fleshy slap on the congos. Again, giant soundstage. I think that's the biggest strengty of this system, very big, very convincing soundstage.

Natalie Merchant (Peppery Man) – Quite a bit more laid back than we've heard so far, but I think it has to do with the fact that everything isn't shoved right in your face - there's real soundstage depth. So, less exciting, but more realistic, maybe? At least that's what I'm hearing.

Jason

Mahler - ok it took a while for them to get the music going for us but it's done. There's a lot of cross. Sound from other rooms here so I'll be brief. Very high fi sounding. Not very inviting IMO. But it is incredibly detailed and scales well. A bit tipped up in the highs but not annoyingly so.

Handel - They've got something going on in the room next to the main room. It's very very annoying. I can't really hear this one for what it's worth. Vendors note: too much stuff going on is absolutely a bad idea. Keep it simple. Having a system in the main room and another one blasting in the bedroom is not ok.

Saint Saens - buzzy strings and detail is lost quite a bit in quieter passages. Imaging is falling flat for me on this one.

Waits - odd imaging snapped back right when this track started. Somewhat lethargic sounding and just not doing it for me. Sound staging is still lacking I don't get the impression that there's much other than the left right and center going on. Even though this track really has quite a bit of activity.

Merchant - same problem here. Everything is either center of collapsed into the speakers a bit. Sorry this system just isn't doing it for me. Great bass. And that's about all she wrote.

Pez · « **Reply #36 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 07:25 pm »

Next year nothing but James Taylor. Why? Because fuck Tyson that's why.

Pez · « **Reply #37 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 07:57 pm »

image by -jaspoon187-

image by -jaspoon187-

[Tyson]

General Room Notes – Daedalus room – we hit them every year because they are so incredibly musical. Every. Single. Year. I’m not sure what Lou does, but they energize a room in a way that most speakers don’t. It’s different and very good.

Mahler Symphony 6 – Oh thank god the sweet spot hog left. Now I can hear glorious Mahler properly :p You know, this room is really all about the emotion. I’m not really wowed by a giant soundstage or hyper clarity, but I do feel my heart strings tugged at more than any other room so far.

Handel Aria – Just a full, beautiful sound. Can’t get over how beautiful it is.

Saint Saens – Danse Macabre (Violin & Piano) – And, they are fierce when they need to be. So definitely not a one trick pony. So, beautiful, but not soft sounding. Neat trick.

Tom Waits (Jockey Full of Bourbon) – Oh man, Tom sounds very sinister now, hahahah. "I'm full of bourbon, I can't stand up", indeed! Just a swagger to the whole thing.

Natalie Merchant (Peppery Man) – Just amazing how SOLID and tactile the imaging is. Incredibly fleshy and real. You know, we hit the Daedalus room so often, we almost skipped it this year. I'm glad we didn't. Downsides? They are short. What's up with all the shorties at RMAF this year? And I don't mean booth babes (which are sorely being missed this year).

Jason

Mahler -

Handel - from what I heard off center this one sounded great. I loved the emotion. Clean yet rich and full blooded.

Saint Saens - I just love the voicing of Daedalus speakers. Just really excels on stuff lie this.

Waits - bass in this room is actually reticent which you don't see often. Very very very laid back. Soft in detail but superior tonality.

Merchant - you can really hear the maturity of Merchants voice in this system. She has a certain gruffy yet feminine timbre that really comes through on this setup. I think the biggest thing lacking in this setup is confident bottom end. More bass pls!

Randy · « **Reply #38 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 08:00 pm »

Any comments on the sound of those Daedalus speakers?

Pez · « **Reply #39 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 08:18 pm »

Nice little tribute

image by -jaspoon187-