[Triode Pete]

Some feedback from CAF as follows...

First from Michael Lavorgna's Twittering Machines... https://twitteringmachines.com/caf-2024-old-friends/

CAF 2024: Old Friends





Gary Dews from Border Patrol and “Triode” Pete from Triode Wire Labs had a room full of gear I’ve reviewed from source to speakers.

The gear:

Living Voice R80 OB-X (from $46,875/pair) (review)
Border Patrol S20EXD Parallel Single-Ended Amplifier (starts at $22,500 without 300B tubes) (review)
Cables from Triode Wire Labs
Border Patrol DAC SE-i (starts at $1400) (review)
Innuos Statement Music Server with Next-Gen Power Supply ($26,200 w/4TB SSD storage)

I admit I didn’t spend a lot of time listening because I already have in the Barn which is a much friendlier place for gear (and people) so if you want to know how these things sound, a review beats a show report by a country mile. And while we’re here, a show report is never, ever, a review no matter who writes it. Think of the difference between a show report and a review as being like the difference between having a a sip of coffee with a stranger as opposed to dinner with a friend. Yet I know some people who walk away from coffee with a stranger thinking they know everything there is to know about them and other people who leave a room at a hifi show after a few minutes of listening thinking they know exactly what all the gear sounds like. And they’re always inevitably wrong due to the complicated nature of people and hifi.



Thanks for the coverage, Michael!

[Triode Pete]

A nice video from "The Listening Chair from Howard Kneller"... Greg from Volti Audio tells us about his new Lucera speaker (with Triode Wire Labs internal & external wiring!) at the Capital AudioFest...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exdrchGugSs&ab_channel=TheListeningChairwithHowardKneller

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

Some feedback from Part Time Audiophile on the Volti & Triode Wire Labs Room... https://pt.audio/2024/11/22/volti-and-cary-and-triode-wire-labs-caf-2024/

Volti and Cary and Triode Wire Labs | CAF 2024





Wait, did I say the Volti and Cary room? I know, I was surprised to walk into this room and not see the usual Volti Audio-BorderPatrol-Triode Wire Labs “Three Amigos” set-up. (BorderPatrol and Triode Wire Labs were featured in another room.) Instead, Volti’s Greg Roberts placed the Luceras in a more affordable system that included the classic Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated amplifier ($4,995), a Mojo Audio Mystique SE DAC ($8,499) and the Innuos ZENith music server ($6,699 with 2TB storage). Cabling was still supplied by Triode Wire Labs.





The Volti Audio Lucera, finished in a lovely padauk finish for $11,750/pr, captured all the attention in the room. There are so many things to celebrate here–the 99 db sensitivity, the high-quality components inside, and that commanding 15″ woofer. As I mentioned the first time I heard the Luceras, there’s an additional measure of refinement to the Luceras that goes beyond the usual “Have Fun!” attitude that permeates the rest of the line-up. Instead of a big powerful speaker that is dynamic as all get-out, the Lucera is all that and more. The Volti and Cary room might have been a surprise at first, with its unexpected line-up, but I felt the room knowing that Matthew Partrick was absolutely right about the Luceras.

Thanks Marc!

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

A great review from Stereophile's Ken Micallef!!! ... https://www.stereophile.com/content/border-patrol-triode-wire-labs-living-voice

Border Patrol, Living Voice, Triode Wire Labs



Gary Dewes and Pete Grzybowski, the minds behind Border Patrol Audio and Triode Wire Labs, respectively, conjured a sonic space that wasn't merely heard, but felt. A room where sound didn't just exist, but seized the listener, demanding attention.
Said setup included an Innuos Statement Music Server with Next-Gen Power Supply (4TB SSD–$26,200), Gary’s BorderPatrol S20EXD power amplifier (from $22,500) and BorderPatrol DAC SE-i (USB, from $1650). These drove the Living Voice R80 IBX Oak loudspeakers ($42,750–$54,250/pair, depending on finish), a two-way, ported, MTM loudspeaker with 92dB/W sensitivity at 6 ohms and a prodigious bandwidth of 25Hz–20kHz. Soft-toned, super refined, the LVs glowed. Various Triode Wire Labs cables connected it all.



Streaming files ripped from CD, the system brought to life a luminescent Buddy Holly, his voice singing True Love Ways. Gene Ammons’s tenor sax, resonant and rich, wove My Romance. And then, a crisp, early morning wake-up call: Junior Wells, his voice grabbing me by the collar. Shelly Manne and John Marshall’s Poinciana was visceral, natural-sounding. Percussion, drums, and tabla darted across the room like playful puppies. This was a sweet-sounding, naturally toned, fully robust system.

Thanks Ken!!!

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

Some nice feedback from Part Time Audiophile's Graig Neville... https://pt.audio/2024/11/27/living-voice-r80-obx-borderpatrol-and-triode-wire-labs-caf-2024/

Living Voice R80 OBX, BorderPatrol and Triode Wire Labs | CAF 2024

Running from room to room nearly non-stop, looking for serious audio sounds, makes a reviewer dehydrated and thirsty. Stopping in room 316 with Triode Wire Labs and BorderPatrol was a thirst quencher. Besides being offered a cool bubbly beverage, I had several minutes to take photos and listen to the Living Voice R80 OBX loudspeakers in Glossy Ebony ($54,250/pr) that debuted at CAF in 2023.



Triode Wire Labs and BorderPatrol had posted a very heartfelt salute to our veterans on the door. As the show overlapped Veteran’s Day, it seemed appropriate and patriotic. I know post-election fervor was present in spades at the event, with it being so close to the District of Columbia, and I did my best to dodge politics and focus on the hi-fi, but this resonated with me in a positive way.

The Living Voice R80 OBX speakers were driven by a BorderPatrol S20 EXD amplifier (from $22,500 depending on tubes) and a BorderPatrol DAC SE-i (from $1650 depending on options). There was no vinyl present. The SE-i DAC was so cute! It’s a little box with a tube rectifier and was sitting between the S20 and the Innuos Statement Nex-Gen Music Server w/ 4Tb SSD ($26,200).

Triode Wire Labs brought several accoutrement including Obsession NCF power cords ($1499), High Power Digital American II power cords for the power supplies ($749), Bi-Wired American speaker cables (starting at $1099/pr) with TWL jumpers ($299/pr), Spirit II RCA interconnects (starting at $399/pr), and a Passion USB cable ($329).

The sound was truly enjoyable. The hotel rooms at Capital Audiofest can be tricky and getting an appropriate sized speaker for the room is often a challenge. The Living Voice R80 OBX speaker looked physically a bit too large for the space, but I felt the bass was a bit softer than I expected from a speaker with this large of a driver compliment. The music wasn’t playing ear-blastingly loud, which was a welcome respite for a reviewer trying to save their ears for the entire weekend, which perhaps contributed to the softish bass. The treble and midrange of the Living Voice R80 OBX were warm and inviting, so I stayed and listened for longer than I had in many other rooms enjoying the gear and music.



Thanks, Graig!

Cheers,
Pete

[Triode Pete]

Some very nice feedback from EnjoyThe Music's Rick Becker... https://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2024/Becker/Part4/



Room 741  Volti Audio - Triode Wire Labs
Walking into the Volti Audio room you are hit with unrestrained music. Greg Roberts presented his finished version of the Lucera model ($11,750), the middle speaker in his 3-model lineup. It was shown without the standard cloth grills to display the three-driver design that included an impressive 15" woofer, a modification from the 12" that was originally spec'ed. The 2" midrange compression driver has a wide-dispersion horn and the tweeter is a neodymium horn driver. With 99dB/W/m sensitivity, this 40" tall conventionally shaped speaker answers the question, "What would a modern-day 'Voice of the Theater' speaker look and sound like today?" The answer I took away was "higher resolution, deeper bass, and a more room-friendly design." (Yes, I've owned two pairs of VoTT in the past.)

And, unlike those massive Altecs, you can get the Lucera in a variety of real wood veneers and grill cloth covers to suit your décor. The pair shown here were in Padauk veneer with a reddish stain and clear satin lacquer finish. Sold factory direct, you can hear them where he builds them in Baxter, TN between Knoxville and Nashville, just off I-80.

The rig included an Innuos ZENith music server with 2TB of storage ($6,700) and a Mojo Audio Mystique Y model that was very similar to their acclaimed X model but simplified with only a USB input for streaming. The Y starts at $4k and there is an upgrade version at $7k. The Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated has been around for decades and now sells for $5k. The cabling was from Triode Wire Labs. And who could not notice the audio rack Volti has used for years, cut from 16-layer plywood and topped with a gorgeous veneer?


Thanks, Rick!

[Triode Pete]

Some additional feedback from EnjoyThe Music's Rick Becker... https://enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2024/Becker/Part7/page3.htm



316  Triode Wire Labs & Border Patrol Audio

The Border Patrol Audio and Triode Wire Labs were getting to be "same old, same old" when teamed up with Volti Audio for several years running, but the folks at Border Patrol are now the sole U.S. dealer of Living Voice speakers from the UK. (In Canada they are available from Guelph HiFi in Ontario.)



While relatively rare over the years here in the U.S., Living Voice is well represented throughout Europe and the Far East. It is a high-quality brand noted for its efficient, tube-friendly designs and fine finishes. The R80 OBX model shown here was a 2-way ported design with a sensitivity of 92dB/W/m and an easy 6 Ohm impedance. It is available with either an internal crossover or external crossover as shown on the floor behind the speaker in a matching high-gloss finish. Prices start at $42,750 and rise to $49k in gloss finish with the inboard crossover and start at $46,875 and rise to $54,250 in gloss finish with the outboard crossover as shown.



The Border Patrol S20EXD amp puts out 16 Wpc with parallel single-ended Western Electric 300B power tubes. It is point-to-point hard-wired, uses tube rectification, has no negative feedback, features a copper and hardwood chassis, and both the amp and power supply unit have been cryogenically treated. Prices start at $22.5k and vary with the price of 300B tubes selected. From personal experience with other tube amps that put out 16 to 20 Wpc, I can tell you the jump-up from 8 Wpc from a 300B tube is very significant. It opens up the possibility of using more speakers in larger rooms.



The Border Patrol DAC SE-i is a mainstay in this room and ranges in price from $1,650 to $2,125 depending on the number and type of digital inputs you select. It is a basic, non-oversampling DAC with no digital filtering. It features a resistor ladder (R2R) DAC and a tube/solid-state hybrid power supply. Like the amp, it features a copper chassis. It plays files only up to 24/96kHz but it has been highly praised for its sound quality. Sale prices of $250 off plus free shipping to the USA and Canada were mentioned at the show and may still be in effect if you ask.

The Triode Wire Labs cables included "The Obsession NCF" power cord with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors ($1499), the "High Power Digital American II" power cord ($749), the "Digital American II" digital power cord ($549) used on the DAC, "Bi-Wired American Speaker Cables with TWL Jumpers, terminated with Cardas CAB bananas, (starting at $1099, jumpers at $299/set), "Spirit II" RCA interconnects with Ohno continuous cast 7N copper (starting at $399/pr), and "Passion" USB digital cable – a true 90-Ohm cable ($329). All are very reasonably priced considering they are handmade in the USA.

For streaming an Innuos Statement Music Server with a Next-Gen power supply with a 4TB SSD ($26,200) was used.


Thanks, Rick!

Cheers,
Pete