Before going into detail, I like to thank Mad Dog and his lovely wife for organizing this event and the opportunity to enjoy some of the finest equipments in the audio industry. One of the biggest highlight of the session for me was the opportunity to meet the Mark Schifter, Steve McCormack and other forum members as well.
As I arrived at Mad Dog's place about 20 minutes late, there were about 10-15 people jammed into a small upstairs’ bedroom for the presentation of the 250mkii, Selah SA-1 and Ref1. I poked my head into the room for a few minutes but it was so hot in there so I decided to skip this audition. Beside I already have a pair of Ref1 at my place and very happy with it performance therefore I have no interest in another bookshelf speakers. Ref3 is the one that I want to set my eyes on
Here is my impression:
The Ref3 are truly awesome. To my ears, it sounds very much like the Ref1 but with the extra "BAM" in the bass and in the midrange. After listening to the first track from Allison Kraus CD, I was very impressed with their deep soundstage and their wonderful imaging and presence. However, I thought the upper end was a little bit bright for my taste. Maybe by swapping out IC and other components could be the solution.
The VR4jr have a warmer sound than the Ref3. Although the speaker sound very nice, I would need more time auditioning before drawing any final conclusion.
The 550mkii are definitely a big surprise for me. After listening to the Ref3 and VR4jr, I thought that the 550mkii wouldn’t stand a chance with these two big boys but I was wrong. They sound very good and not only that, they cost less than 1K, a bargain price for a very nice sounding speaker.
For the amps, they all sound nice and again I need to have a few serious listening sessions with each of the amps before I can draw any conclusion.
