[Triode Pete]

I'm also interested to know how things are going in the Daedalus/Border Patrol/Triode Wire Labs room.  That was another combination I would have liked to hear.  I've thought for a while that your cabling would pair well with Lou's speakers, and I have a feeling the power supplies Gary builds into his amps would be an asset to really make the Daedalus dynamic driver shine.

Jonathon,
It was a great sounding room... Gary's BorderPatrol amp & preamp as well as DACs were amazing... As Usual!!!



From Herb Reichert (Stereophile)...

"In my report from the 2016 AXPONA, I wrote a whole blurb about how I thought the Border Patrol (and Volti as well as Triode Wire Labs) room had the best sound of show, but I couldn't turn it because I had forgotten to take photos. (Sorry Gary Dews.) This time, however, Gary (and TWL) had two rooms and maybe they both will win that honor. The loudspeakers were different in each room, but the sound quality and music quality were equally wonderful in both.

The first Border Patrol room featured Daedalus Audio Athena V.2 floorstanding loudspeakers ($11,850/pair) in a super-deluxe wood finish. They were driven by the PX20 EXD Border Patrol push-pull 300B monoblocks ($16,750/pair), a Border Patrol Control Unit line stage ($6500), and Gary's excellent no-oversampling/no-digital-filtering DAC ($1250)—all of which were sitting on the new Daedalus Audio "Daedalus isolation Devices" (DiD) priced at $480 for a set of three."

Cheers,
Pete

[Volti Audio]

Hey Pete, please provide a link to the BorderPatrol Daedalus report by Herb. I can't seem to find it

[Triode Pete]

Hey Pete, please provide a link to the BorderPatrol Daedalus report by Herb. I can't seem to find it

Here you go... http://www.stereophile.com/content/caf2016-herb-reichert-opens#TphU4yCJd7dT3q41.97

[Triode Pete]

Some really fantastic sounding Living Voice speakers...

Gary Dews and I were using Gary's beautiful looking and really phenomenal sounding Living Voice OBX-RW loudspeakers (Gary is the sole US importer of these great UK speakers)... I was very, very impressed by these Living Voice speakers (http://www.livingvoice.co.uk/products-auditorium-speakers.html)... they really don't do anything wrong...

Here's Herb Reichert's impressions...



"The second Border Patrol (and Triode Wire Labs) room featured the wildly over-achieving and vivid-sounding Living Voice OBX-RW loudspeakers ($11,800/pair). Instead were driven by S20 EXD Border Patrol parallel single-ended 300B monoblocks ($16,750/pair) and a 1543 DAC ($1500). This was only my first day, but damn! The sound was really good in both rooms. Border Patrol (and Triode Wire Labs) might win my "Peace and Crickets" prize for Best Sound two shows in a row."

Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/caf2016-herb-reichert-opens#pMU2rIzqaa2TspDu.99

Cheers,
Pete

[poseidonsvoice]

Never listened to Living Voice speakers. There was a time I lusted after the Scan-Speak Revelator tweeter they use. It's been around since the mid-90's, and is a great textile dome tweeter. I first learned of them in the North Creek Rhythm speakers. Proac used them as well. 

I'll add them to my list if they are there at RMAF...

Best,
Anand.

[Triode Pete]

Pete,
Wanted to also mention that the TWL HAL AC Power Cords and the PI Audio Group UberBUSS and DigiBUSS were powering the HAL digital front end in the GT Audio Works room as well. 

Ran three days continuously with excellent sound quality mentioned by many in the room.

Thanks again for making those for me!

Best,
Rich

Hey Rich,
My pleasure! Your "stuff" in the GT Audio room sounded fantastic!

Cheers,
Pete

[HAL]

Pete,
Thanks!  Glad folks enjoyed digital replay done as well as I know how.   

[Triode Pete]

Some additional feedback from Copper...



"Daedalus showed their beautifully-crafted speakers with an impressive array of Border Patrol electronics." Obviously, cables is always the "red-haired stepchild" and does not always get mentioned...

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

...from The Closet Audiophile...

The Closet Audiophile
Capital Audiofest 2016
Posted on July 15, 2016 by theclosetaudiophile, https://theclosetaudiophile.wordpress.com/author/theclosetaudiophile/

I loved going to the Capital Audiofest (CAF) in 2013 and that feeling didn’t change this year. Gary Gill, the show’s organizer, is always gracious and magnanimous and open to ideas. I don’t doubt Gary’s enthusiasm for all things audio.

On the two-channel side of the house, I thought the Volti / BorderPatrol / Triode Wire Labs room sounded exceptionally good. Volti was demoing their new lower-cost horn loaded speaker, the Rival, alongside BorderPatrol’s S20 (with a gain knob for volume control). Their top of the line, non-oversampling, filterless DAC-1 and a CEC transport provided the tunes. All the electronics were wired up with Triode Wire Labs current stock. The sound was dynamic and instantly engaging. Midrange and treble were finely textured and never harsh or piercing. Bass was surprisingly tight and tuneful, given the tiny room they were working with. Just an all-out stellar performance and easily the best sound at the show.

[rpf]

Just an all-out stellar performance and easily the best sound at the show.

Again. Congratulations, Pete!

[Triode Pete]

More recent feedback from Part Time Audiophile... https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2016/07/23/capital-audiofest-2016-daedalus-goes-borderpatrol-stirring-wood/

CAPITAL AUDIOFEST 2016: DAEDALUS GOES BORDERPATROL, STIRRING WOOD



"I suppose it shouldn’t have been surprising to see, but the team-up between two American-Made brands was unexpected — and delightfully so.

Daedalus loudspeakers, a visually striking example of modern design meets retro styling, paired with BorderPatrol electronics, a visually striking example of modern design meets retro styling. Like I said, I should have seen that one coming.

A Daedalus loudspeaker is iconic — all-natural all-wood cabinets. No veneers. No paint. Just a towering sculpture of nature’s finest, outfitted almost PA-like with high-sensitivity drivers. BorderPatrol is equally iconic, all 300b-based vacuum tube amplifiers, the warm thermionic glow belied by a bass-grip and top-end extension that “ought not be possible” to wring from such a tube. Together. Sweet! And to ice this All-American cake, it was all tied together with Triode Wire Labs — more on TWL soon, as I have a full set to play with — but I can tell you up front that this is some of the least expensive and highest caliber wire currently available in today’s high-end.

The sound here was pretty familiar, I’ll have to admit. Ha! Fine — yes, this is perilously close to the system I reviewed not too long ago and was very happy with, so I’ll refer you to the link for more detailed comments.

In-room, the sound was warm and inviting — this was an absolutely non-fatiguing set up arranged for all-day immersion. Well. It almost depended on who was running the room — Gary Dews of BorderPatrol, Pete Grzybowski of Triode Wire Labs, or Lou Hinkley of Daedalus Audio, the triumvirate responsible for the room. I heard, by turns, rich renditions of “female vocals”, audio show standards from Mark Knopfler, and some loud-as-hell ZZ Top. Music range? Handled. This was a kick-ass room."

Daedalus Audio
Athena v2 loudspeakers: $11,850
DiD: Daedalus Isolation Devices: $480/set

BorderPatrol
BorderPatrol 1543 DAC: $1250
BorderPatrol Control Unit Preamplifier: $6,500
BorderPatrol P20 EXD stereo amplifier: $16,750

Triode Wire Labs
Obsession Power Cord: $1,299
Silver Statement Power Cord: $1,199
Gold Statement Power Cord: $999
Seven Plus Power Cords: $549 each
Ten Plus Power Cords: $399 each
American Speaker Cables: $699/set
Spirit Interconnects: $349/set
Spirit 75 S/PDIF: $349 each
Spirit "Split Power & Data" USB cable: $329 each

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

Some additional feedback from EnjoyTheMusic.com... http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2016/Border_Patrol_Daedalus_Audio_Triode_Wire_Labs/]http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2016/Border_Patrol_Daedalus_Audio_Triode_Wire_Labs/]http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2016/Border_Patrol_Daedalus_Audio_Triode_Wire_Labs/




"Border Patrol's head guard, Gary Dewes, and Pete Grzybowski, aka "Triode Pete", combined for 2 rooms at 2016 CAF, the first featured Athena V.2 speakers, ($11,850 per pair) from Daedalus Audio. The Athena V.2s, on loan from Scott Dalzell in Vienna VA, have a story that shows how much concern and commitment Lou Hinkley has for his clients. Scott's Athenas didn't start out as V.2s, but have undergone some major upgrades to reach that designation, and Lou was thoughtful enough to make sure the upgraded product was retrofittable to the original model. Lou likens the process of buying one of his speakers to having a musical instrument made for you, custom choices available, and a Daedalus speaker is more than just great sounding, clients have an heirloom type attachment to them and how they match the decor of their rooms.

I think Border Patrol amplifiers have the highest "pounds per watt" in all of audio. Gary strongly believes in a stout power supply, and the outboard "boat anchor" heavy external supplies for his amps prove that point. So much iron must contribute to how BIG Gary gets 20 watts to sound. A Border Patrol P20 EXD amp ($16,750), Border Patrol Control Unit preamp ($6,500), and Border Patrol 1543 DAC ($1250), all sat on DiD Daedalus isolation devices, ($480 for set of three). The 1543 DAC is a no oversampling or digital filtering DAC built around the TDA1543 R2R ladder chip, uses a C-Media USB receiver chip, and has a choke input filter power supply with hybrid tube/solid state rectification. I'm sure the 1543 is one reason digital sounded so natural here.

Triode Wire Labs had a cable for everything, adding to their award winning, and affordable power cords, Pete has upped the ante into "Statement" cords which utilize different dielectric material, new design, and more copper than before. Connectors play an important role in these cables, choosing between Furutech, and IeGO plugs allows you to tailor the sound to be synergistic with your system. TWL Spirit interconnects and TWL American speaker cables filled out the system, getting out of the way of the music and contributing nothing tonally, (neutral), and presenting music in an organic fashion. Digital sources used the new TWL Split Power and Data USB cable, and the TWL Spirit 75 SPDIF cables. Pete continues to offer an American made product with superior sonics at reasonable pricing, kudos Pete.

I heard Rickie Lee Jones' "Easy Money" and her vocals were clear and imaged properly. Bass was tight as the speakers disappeared. So I stayed in this room for quite some time as Lou played my favorite from his server, Jesse Colin Young's "Ridgetop", and got swept away by the huge soundstage, swirling sax, and Jesse's voice, one of the rooms you wanted to relax in and enjoy the music."

[Triode Pete]

A video report from Peter Breuninger from AV Showrooms...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wYgVMD_F04


Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

Some nice feedback from Kemper Holt at EnjoyTheMusic.com! Thank you, Kemper!!!

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2016/Triode_Wire_Labs_Border_Patrol_Living_Voice/



Capital Audiofest (CAF) 2016 Show Report
Triode Wire Labs, Border Patrol, And Living Voice
Report By Kemper Holt

Reporting on rooms can be difficult, especially getting all the front-end gar, preamp, amp, speakers, cables, etc listed correctly. "Triode Pete" of TWL says cables are "the red-haired stepchild" of rooms, and at time may be left out of a show report. So I'm starting with some of the most neutral, non-fatiguing, engaging cables from one of the truly good guys, Triode Wire Labs and Pete Grzybowski. You can always ask Pete questions about his cables, audio in general, music, beer, and especially which cable choices should work best in your system, he'll always have time to help. TWL has branched out from their award winning power cables, and now have a complete wiring palette to cover all your connections, including a new Split Power/ Data USB cable ($329). TWL now offers a premium line of power cables incorporating larger diameter conductors, different dielectric, new design, and Furutech FI-50M connectors, top of the heap called "The Obsession" ($1299).



Gary Dews had his Border Patrol S20 EXD dual mono amp with dual outboard power supplies ($16,750), and to streamline the system he incorporated a volume control on the S20. The big silver box sitting outside the rack is the tube rectified power supply for the Border Patrol 1543 "Il Bambino" DAC ($1500), which uses a TDA 1543 R2R ladder chip with no oversampling or digital filtering, and comes in a beautiful wood box. For such a small looking, and attractive speaker, the Living Voice OBX-RW ($11,800 per pair), produce a much bigger sound than they look. A CEC TL3N transport fed the 1543 DAC, and TWL cables laced it all together.



This room sounded great on all my music, voices focused and properly sized, speakers disappeared leaving a wide and deep soundstage, rich tonality, extended but not bright treble range, tight and punchy bass especially drum kits, and oodles of detail without sounding etched or lean. The Living Voice speakers have an outboard crossover box, which prompts many to ask "what's the box behind the speakers"? The outboard xover, and 300Bs with giant power supplies let the LV OBX-RWs sing with authority and dynamic excitement, if you need speakers that don't dominate a room, but are accurate and you can listen to all day without fatigue, call Gary.





Late Friday night Greg Roberts of Volti Audio, now in TN, rolled into Rockville after driving all day towing a pair of new speakers finished the day before. Well finish tells the whole story, the new Rival speakers ($7900 per pair), are un-finished and require almost 10 times less man hours to build compared to Volti's Vittoras ($25,750), even though they use the same drivers. The production Rivals will have some improvements to crossover tuning, and will be narrower and taller not requiring stands. Now many more fans of Greg's Volti sound will find them affordable. So halfway through the show, the Rivals were setup in place of the LV OBX-RWs, Gary Dews graciously allowed the Rivals to crash the party. The Rivals had the tone and dynamics Volti is known for, and the bass could easily overload the room at times. The next time we hear the Rivals they will be dialed in and a speaker to watch for.

[Triode Pete]

Feedback from Scot Hull at Part Time Audiophile! Thanks, Scot!

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2016/08/04/capital-audiofest-2016-borderpatrol-and-triode-wire-labs-home-away-from-home/

CAPITAL AUDIOFEST 2016: BORDERPATROL AND TRIODE WIRE LABS, HOME AWAY FROM HOME





If you wanted to know what my “house sound” was — the BorderPatrol Audio room at CAF built around it.

Years ago, at the very first Capital Audiofest, I ran across Gary Dews of BorderPatrol and his unabashedly retro 300b-based tube amplifiers. Then, as now, he was showing them off with a pair of Living Voice Avatar loudspeakers (here, it was the OBX-RW, the top of that particular line), and I nearly wept. The sound was fantastic, my kids — who were 3 at the time, I think — loved it too. But that’s not why I was distraught. I was weeping because I had just sent a very large check to a different set of audio companies for different components and speakers. A mistake that I realized, there, in that room. A mistake it took me a full fiver years to rectify.

But rectify it, I did. And I’ve now had a version of that 2010 system, here at home, for about a year. And I love it. Yes, still.

And here it was. At CAF 2016.

The Living Voice Avatar OBX-RW are, in most ways, an incredible speaker. There’s just this sense of timbral rightness and full dose of gorgeous tone that I’ve found only ever-so-rarely in my exploration of the world of high-end. I have only two nits — one, they can look a bit drab compared to the newest and fanciest tower speakers “out there”. It’s just a speaker — but I will say, this walnut finish was quite posh. Second, they don’t quite reach to subterranean depths. I miss that — but that’s a room-dependent thing. My room is rather large — the room here at CAF, not so much. Guess what? Better fit. At home, I tend to run the Avatars in almost near-field, but here, there was plenty of room assist to create a very convincing sound-stage, with eerily-accurate renditions of some very tough-to-imitate piano, string, and vocals.

Paired with the BorderPatrol gear, the sound is heaven. Well, to this audiophile, anyway.

First thing to know, the BorderPatrol gear is deceptively not-300b sounding. Paired here with a quartet of EML tubes, the S20 EXD integrated amplifier ($16,750) is quite extended both in bass and treble reach. There’s a muscularity in the sound that is also unexpected; 300b tubes just aren’t supposed to sound like this. Gary says that the results he gets are partly due to the tube, partly to the circuit, but that the “secret sauce” is his massively overbuilt tube-rectified and choke input filtered power supplies. This amp had two, one per channel. And yes, they’re big — each case is completely separated and isolated, and separate integrated power leads head into the amp — but they can be snuggled together to only consume the space of an additional single regular-rack-sized component.

Gary was also showing off his newest DAC. As shown, the “Il Bambino” DAC (as shown, $1,500 — prices start at $995) is a non-oversampling/non-upsampling design based on the TDA1543 R2R converter and CS8414 receiver chipset. And yes, there’s a sophisticated version of the classic BorderPatrol power supply built right in. USB and S/PDIF inputs are options. Mine should be coming soon. The DAC was used with an “old” CEC TL3N transport.

Triode Wire Labs provided all the cables in the rig, including:

Obsession power cable: with latest, “state of the art” Furutech FI-50 NCF(R) Power Connector series along with conductive silver mylar and patented conductive carbonized external sleeving to assist in maintaining clean signals as well as providing interference & RF filtering being on the PI Audio UberBUSS – $1299

The Silver Statement power cable: with silver NEMA5 and C13 conductors and carbon fiber “Lightning” connector shell bodies with conductive silver mylar and patented conductive carbonized external sleeving to assist in maintaining clean signals as well as providing interference & RF filtering being on theTL3N CD Transport – $1199

The Gold Statement power cable: with Copper over 24kt plating NEMA5 and C13 conductors and carbon fiber “Lightning” connector shell bodies with conductive gold mylar and patented conductive carbonized external sleeving to assist in maintaining clean signals as well as providing interference & RF filtering being on the DAC – $999

Seven Plus power cords: audiophile 7 AWG cables used on the BorderPatrol twin external power supply units – $549

American speaker cables: Bi-wired, terminated w/premium Cardas CAB bananas – $1099/set, with “American Speaker Cable” cross-over-speaker jumpers- $299/set

Spirit RCA interconnects: hybrid material design utilizing Ohno Continuous Cast Copper – $399/pr

Spirit 75, a true 75Ω SPDIF cable – $299

[DTB300]

An excellent sounding room with great hosts.

[Triode Pete]

Stumbled across this today... even though we only had this system set-up for 1/2 of the show (before the new Volti Rivals took over), we garnished this award... Pretty Cool!




Cheers,
Pete