[Pez]

Tysons phone placed by amp for scale!!!!!





Ok now in the listening room!!!! The first recording clearly is clipping but still good quality. I am sitting in the least ideal spot on the floor but no other place to be. Sitting in the sweet spot I made up on the floor. Pretty incredible realism though there clearly is a huge difference between recording and real life. I wish I could say it's SOOO REALISTIC but I just can't. It still sounds like a recording.

[AmpDesigner333]

Exogal is a new company created by the "old" Wadia guys . . . the original founders of Wadia who are back in the business out of the Twin Cities.  The Comet is their first introduction - with great reviews.  The DAC with dedicated power supply retails at around $3,000.  The US distributer is Underwoodhifi.  But there are other retailers.  They are about to release a dedicated amplifier called the Ion (it will only work with the Comet).  Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info.  By the way, I have a Wadia dock, 170i.  Still use it once in a blue moon.

[Pez]

Jason and Tyson, Kudos for all your efforts...really!

Looking at your photos of the Wyred/KEF room I'm wondering if you were in fact listening to class D. Looks like Wyred is resurrecting or resuscitating SST.

http://www.sst.audio/sst-launch-press-release

It absolutely was the class D not the ampzillas.

[KLH007]

Exogal is a new company created by the "old" Wadia guys . . . the original founders of Wadia who are back in the business out of the Twin Cities.  The Comet is their first introduction - with great reviews.  The DAC with dedicated power supply retails at around $3,000.  The US distributer is Underwoodhifi.  But there are other retailers.  They are about to release a dedicated amplifier called the Ion (it will only work with the Comet).  Hope this helps.

johzel, Are you at RMAF? If so are you doing a show report ala CAF?

[Pez]

No listening this year just looking. Recording studio vibe! Very cool but crowded!!!!

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes Aurender Audio Room

General Room Notes – One of only 3 rooms that look interesting on the entire 8th floor.  Tiny speakers all the way up against the wall.  This should not work at all.  But there’s an actual credible soundstage going on.  Interesting.  Just moved off axis.  Nice big sound.  There’s no way that this an audiophile type system, but I don’t think it even tries to be.  It seems to me that is aims to be a Bose killer lifestyle speaker.  And in that respect, it works.  If you are loking for high fidelity, look elsewhere.  But if you are looking for speakers for your living area that you can turn on while you entertain and party, these are the ticket!


Jason’s Notes
Gonna keep it short and sweet. I have never liked the way speakers sound when pushed right up against the wall whether it's because room constraints or and intentional design decision. I'm fairly certain in this case these are designed to be up against the wall. I find the performance splashy and very off tonally. Not my cup of tea. 

[OzarkTom]

For the first time, I see that RMAF have given out Press awards for exhibitors.

https://www.audiofest.net/awards/

The Exocal Comet DAC is one of them.

[johzel]

johzel, Are you at RMAF? If so are you doing a show report ala CAF?

No and No.  Just responding to one of the rooms . . .

John

[Pez]

For the first time, I see that RMAF have given out Press awards for exhibitors.

https://www.audiofest.net/awards/

The Exocal Comet DAC is one of them.

Tyson - What a bullshit idea.  Awards for DACs and stuff?  There's absolutely no way you can make any comparisons of anything except entire systems, and even with that, the majority of what you hear is the speakers and the room.  Idiocy.

[OzarkTom]

Tyson - What a bullshit idea.  Awards for DACs and stuff?  There's absolutely no way you can make any comparisons of anything except entire systems, and even with that, the majority of what you hear is the speakers and the room.  Idiocy.

I guess they are trying to be like the CES consumer awards. CES never hears this stuff either before their awards are handed out.

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes Vaughan and Wavelength Audio Room

General Room Notes – I’m always hesitant to hit rooms with plasma tweeters because the tweeters are ALWAYS so far and away better than the rest of the system that they tend to stick out like sore thumbs.  Or maybe stick out like shiny gold in a sea of sludge. 

Music – listening to the stock playlist from the room.  Really good integration and the mids are keeping up with the tweeters rather well.  The quasi-line array of 3 inch drivers match up quite nicely.  No CD player so looks like we are stuck with the canned music, so hard to make precise judgments.  But it does sound good, that’s easily discerned even on unfamiliar music.  These sound almost like OB speakers they are so spacious in their presentation.  Tracks switched form Allison Kraus to Shostakovich and the bass is kicking!  Nice power and control.  Hard to believe the tubes are generating that much oomph.  Of course Wavelength Audio tube gear is just stellar. 


Jason’s Notes

Dynamic, amazing treble clarity and air. Superb sound staging and imaging without a doubt one of the best I've heard at the show. Just a great easy to listen to yet bold system. Pretty enamored with this setup! Top five easy.

[AmpDesigner333]

Tyson - What a bullshit idea.  Awards for DACs and stuff?  There's absolutely no way you can make any comparisons of anything except entire systems, and even with that, the majority of what you hear is the speakers and the room.  Idiocy.

Agreed!  Not about sound.  About marketing.  marketing.  mark-et-ing

I'll be slipping in this kind of thing ---- Pez/Tyson, sorry, but you can't make this your last year covering RMAF.

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes Odyssey Audio Room

General Room Notes – Always a pleasure to go to this room – tons of care taken in setup as evidenced by the room treatments. 

Sibelius – Violin is a little hot on this piece.  Nice soundstage depth and detail.

Mahler – Good raspy metallic presentation of the horn.  Highs are still a bit hot.  Absolutely crushing dynamics.

Tom Waits – Nice big presentation, acoustic bass is a bit overblown, I think there’s a room mode causing a nasty peak in the mid bass.  Vocals have tons of grit and emotion, as is appropriate with this artist.

Natalie Merchant – Bass vocals are overblown due to room issues.  Odd, I’ve never heard the Odyssey room with anything but drum-tight bass before.  Putting that to one side, the speakers image and energize the room in an absolutely humongous way.

Jason’s Notes

Sibelius awesome!!! Sweet gorgeous amazingnes from nonsweerspot
Mahler are you kidding me with these dynamics???? There is a bass bloom issue for sure.
Waits pretty damn solid but a bit dry in balance but great depth to soundstage and as usual perfection in imaging.

Merchant a little dry on male vocals but really great on female vocals. A bit shouty surprisingly at times.

There is a bass problem for sure. It unfortunately is causing a lot of problems with the overall sound really unbalancing the sound.

[OzarkTom]

Tyson’s Notes Vaughan and Wavelength Audio Room

General Room Notes – I’m always hesitant to hit rooms with plasma tweeters because the tweeters are ALWAYS so far and away better than the rest of the system that they tend to stick out like sore thumbs.  Or maybe stick out like shiny gold in a sea of sludge. 

Music – listening to the stock playlist from the room.  Really good integration and the mids are keeping up with the tweeters rather well.  The quasi-line array of 3 inch drivers match up quite nicely.  No CD player so looks like we are stuck with the canned music, so hard to make precise judgments.  But it does sound good, that’s easily discerned even on unfamiliar music.  These sound almost like OB speakers they are so spacious in their presentation.  Tracks switched form Allison Kraus to Shostakovich and the bass is kicking!  Nice power and control.  Hard to believe the tubes are generating that much oomph.  Of course Wavelength Audio tube gear is just stellar. 


Jason’s Notes

Dynamic, amazing treble clarity and air. Superb sound staging and imaging without a doubt one of the best I've heard at the show. Just a great easy to listen to yet bold system. Pretty enamored with this setup! Top five easy.

Those speakers might have rear firing midrange drivers also. Jim Vaughn used them on the Cabernet II's. The effeciency should be around 100db/1 watt since he does not use crossovers onthe midrange drivers.

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes TAD Audio Room

General Room Notes – Andrew Jone’s babies.  TAD room rocks it every year.  This year is the exception.  Listening to the canned music from the room and it’s pretty darn hot and in your face.  Still dynamic as all getout but rather unpleasant to listen to.  I’ve heard these exact speakers sound amazing with all TAD electronics.  So I’m blaming a too-small room and the BAT amps.

OK, changed tracks and it sounds much better now.  Whew, that “Like a Villian” recording was terrible.  Not sure what the new artist’s name is but it’s much, much, much more listenable.  I guess I was blaming the system when I should have been blaming the horrid recording.  OK, even re-setting expectations here, it’s still good but not great, standard hi-fi-ish sound we’ve all heard thousands of times before.

Jason’s Notes
And the winner for worst music when we first walk in award goes to....   THIS ROOM!!!!

Literally a woman screeching with some sort of distortion pedal hooked up to the microphone. Holy shit it's literally horrifying.

Now that we're done listening to someone being murdered we are hearing some well recorded vinyl. I can say that it is very excellent. Very pleasant. Great imaging and sound staging.

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes Avant Garde Audio Room

General Room Notes – Oh man these speakers are ridiculously beautiful.  Object d’art to lust over.  Huge, but would work absolutely perfectly in the grand hall of my second home in the mountains.  If I had a second home.  Or lived in the mountains. 

One thing these speakers are NOT – screechy and/or overblown in the treble.  Horns have come a long way since your grandfather’s day.  Oh wait, I forgot how old the readers are of this forum.  So, they’ve some a long way since YOU were born

Bass section is separately powered and can be tuned to the room.  That’s very very very smart.  I have no idea why more manufacturers don’t do this – the moment you have prodigious bass, you need a way to control it and tune it to your room, PERIOD. 

Anyway, these are the complete package, stunningly beautiful looks, beautiful sound and super smart engineering.  I think they could benefit from a warmer sounding amp, but overall I say this:  They may be physical big but aurally they are svelte and nimble.

Jason’s Notes

Pretty serious looking setup in here. I'm always surprised at how tonally neutral avantegarde horns are. Short post for me sorry but overall pretty damn good.

[Pez]

Tyson’s Notes Skogrand, Modwright, Endeavor Audio Room

General Room Notes – Finally, another manufacturer that gets it – substantial amounts of room treatments.  You know that there’s been a lot of care put into a room when they have good treatments, well set up. 

Sibelius – Very good emotion and mystery.  So many systems miss the mystery of this piece.  And the ineffable mystery is where art can touch us most.  And I want to be touched.  A lot. :O

Mahler – just explodes with dynamics.  Not quite as clear and detailed in the bass compared to the very best systems. 

Tom Waits – A bit of a bass mode on the acoustic bass.  Man this track is brutal about exposing any little bit of bass issues in rooms.  Otherwise the vocal and emotion are first rate.

Natalie Merchant – This track really showcases the superior detail and texture this system has.  And groove/soul.  Funky.  Nasty funky in the best possible way.  Goes very loud with no treble hardness at all, very very rare.  Big thumbs up!

Jason’s Notes

This room is really gorgeous walking in. Odd thing to point out but it really is a nice color in here.
We are listening to some of the house music and it sounds phenomenal!!! Great attack love whatever we're listening to.

Sibelius Hahns solo (pun intended) is the best I've heard so romantic and breath taking.

Mahler nice dynamics. Really superb scary deep scary attack scary good.

Waits a touch of bass bloom but not awful. Great growl and body to his voice. Sweet sorrowful bliss. Detail like you wouldn't believe.

Merchant really beautiful sound staging. Male vocals have texture like you wouldn't believe. The dynamic shift is nice!!! I cranked it a bit and the setup handles flawlessly. Best tonality and overall sound thus far for me. Perhaps tied with the KEF room.

[Pez]

P





Tyson’s Notes Sonore Audio Room

General Room Notes – No listening notes for this room because whatever random customer/show goer who happened to be with us in the room at the time STANK WORSE THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN I’VE EVER SMELLLED.  Good God it was so bad you could not escape it no matter where you went in the room.  Shockingly this is not the first time we’ve encountered this at the show.  My message for people like that “I know that being around other human beings is ridiculously stressful for basement trolls like you, and being out in the sunlight probably burns your eyes, but FOR GODS SAKE PLEASE FUCKING WASH YOURSELF YOU STANK STANK STANK STANK YOU RANK PIECE OF CRAP.”

We’ll try to come back later and sorry about the rant.

[SoCalWJS]

Keep the reports coming!

Hope Dinner at Shannahan's is a blast!

[Don_S]

Jason,

Don't beat yourself up over your initial impression of SRV's Tin Pan Alley.  That's our job.    I do not use that track for testing. It is very holographic but it lacks a center or focus IMO.

More info on the Plasma Canons please.  Are they sold separately?  I want a pair.  Well, just because they are called canons.    And plasma canons sound like something out of Star Wars.