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Vapor Audio RoomI am loving the picture of Tyson next to Vapor’s Perfect Storm. We have watched Vapor’s evolution on AC and this picture really drives home just how B I G a speaker is going to get when one uses 15” class woofers while also delivering high efficiency and deep bass.I also find it interesting comparing the photos here (http://www.enjoythemusic.com/RMAF_2015/day2/) and those in P&T’s coverage. Specifically when LaFeaver with enjoythemusic.com dropped by tube mono-blocks were in use and when Pez and Tyson heard the system some of the photos have the tube amps and others show a Jeff Roland Design Group stereo amp in the rack. That is what I love about stepping up to big woofers in big boxes, they work with both tube and solid-state amps. It could be a horses-for-courses thing or we could admit that some of us like different flavors. Jason wrote “Note: we visited this room over two days and they made significant equipment changes FYI”. I would be curious to know if the superlative filled descriptions of the guys’ standard tracks referred to the system with tube or solid-state amps?
10-04-15: MattnshilpI'll post a seperate post on my Rowland trip. Wow. Show is winding down. Day 3 is always quieter. Some quick thoughts:The Vapor room lost its amp late yesterday (the Lampy amp died for whatever reason) and since Rowland was on the same floor they were asked and Jeff graciously provided a brand new 625 S2. It was a revolutionary improvement in the system. Today, the room was awesome. They also hooked up their Nimbus White in a different room either last neither or today and I got to hear that as well. What I learned is that they are serious players and make some good damn speakers. I have now heard both the Vapor and the similarly designed Salk and I think I prefer the Vapor, although I still haven't heard the Joule, which is the model I would have the most interest in.
I have never been a Rowland fan (although I have not heard the latest generation tbh). I personally would love to hear the 211 monos on a speaker that was copacetic (like a big horn). I know that is Lampizator Lucas' bias.....
The Lampi amps didn't die, we just decided to try something different for the final day. And with Jeff Rowland being right down the hall, and having that huge static display of amplifiers, we gave it a shot. He was quite the gentleman, and ended up spending a couple hours in our room with a big grin on his face. They both had their strengths, neither necessarily had weaknesses. I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know how they performed with the tubes, and then in the same setting try a top-tier solid state amp. That's something we've never tried at a show before.
FYI the Elac room was using $13,000 worth of Shunyata line conditioning. This is twice as much as all the other gear in the room. Check out this review for an idea of how effective these things can be: http://www.audiostream.com/content/shunyata-research-hydra-triton-v2-hydra-typhon-hydra-dpc-6-v2-and-%CE%BEtron%E2%84%A2-%CF%83-sigma-ac-power#xiIsmGSF0xeLPSZB.97Its no wonder the speakers did so well. Not to say they are not the best speaker at their price ever or whatever.......However, how many people buy $600 speakers who have $13,000 worth of the latest line conditioning? I would say none. Also that is some serious snake power cord in the pic that is going to the power supply to the preamp/DAC. Is it Shunyata? How about the one to the amp.....There maybe thousands of dollars more here in cords.
Norman- re: JTR they got numerous noise complaints and were even threatened to have their power shut off. Didn't seem to phase them one bit. They BLASTED music with reckless abandon. As far as my comments I'm confident that what I was hearing was quality. We ended at 118 db and 129 peak but we started much lower than that.
I am intrigued by these amps. I am a fan of OTL designs (minus the heat and hassle of course). In the past, the Berning stuff always came off as a tad dry or thin compared to Joule Electra (my historical fav). I am wondering what these new amps will sound like? I noticed they are class AB and to class A like the headphone amp. I am wondering if we can convince linear to do a 845 or 211 class A version???
Hey guys thanks for the great coverage and pictures, really enjoyed reading this thread! Berning already had/has a design for one: davidberning.com/products/zh_211_845. They were distributed by www.rbhifi1.com and were only 75K a pair!
Here is one possible answer from a Rowland devotee on Audiogon:http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1398132150&openflup&2569&4#2569I have never been a Rowland fan (although I have not heard the latest generation tbh). I personally would love to hear the 211 monos on a speaker that was copacetic (like a big horn). I know that is Lampizator Lucas' bias.....
Another review said the Vapor room was easily one of the best five, but the report also said Vapor was using over $42k worth of room treatments in their room.
