[disco]

As Oscar mentioned in the Unifield 3 thread the DAC(Dallas Audio Club) is having an informal get together this weekend(April 25th) from 12:00-6:00pm. Oscar is hosting it at his house in Ft. Worth. There will be snacks(pizza?) and drinks(byob) and all guest are welcome and encouraged to bring their gear and CDs. I will have a system set up with the Unifield 3's and it will have iPod connectivity so iPods are welcome as well. For you guys in Houston and Austin (anywere really) Oscar would love to have you if you can make it. Oscar's address is 1604 Ridgmar, Ft Worth,TX. 76116 and phone # is (817)569-9315.

We hope to see you there 

Scott
(972)754-8359

[Rutgar]

Here are a few pictures of Unifield 3's from the Dallas Audio Club meet on Saturday:







And there are some additional photos of the meet located here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=65497.0

[jab]

 I followed this and the other link,, hoping for comments on how the system sound,, listeners reaction and feedback to the Uni 3's...  Nuttin...  Whats up? 

Jack

[audio_builder]

Thanks for the demo Scott.  Please understand that this is my personal opinion.  I an aware that the room setup may not have been optimal.

The speakers fit and finish was impeccable.  The speakers overall physical size should make many an audiophiles’ wife happy.

The electronics driving the speakers were first rate and I am assuming chosen to compliment the speaker.  Sonically, the speakers were a little bright and harsh on the top end and a light on the lower bass.  Some of the brightness was due to the demo CD.  Listening to Eric Caption unplugged sounded much better through the speakers, but the top end harshness and forward midrange continued.  Bass was acceptable for a small driver/speaker. 

Regardless of the speaker’s price point, the sonic signature presented is very distinct and hard to overlook.

Lee

[Rutgar]

Lee, I completely disagree that these speakers sounded 'harsh' in any way.  In fact, I would say just the opposite in that I think the Unifield 3's are one of the smoothest speakers on the top end that I've ever heard.  I am very sensitive to 'harsh', and harshness just isn't a word that I would ever use in the same sentence when talking about these speakers.  Some recordings were a little on the bright side, as you mentioned.  But other recordings sounded well balanced and detailed.  I found the room to be the biggest culprit in that it didn't have any treatment, and there were lots of hard surfaces including a large hardwood floor.  The room lended itself to some 'smearing' in the upper range, and I thought every speaker we heard that day in there suffered from the same affliction.  In fact, I remember commenting about the room deficiencies several times.  I say this because my Unifield 3's sound completely different in my room.  I have treatments, and carpet.


- Bill 

[arthurs]

I'll split the difference...I didn't think they were "harsh" nor are they "one of the smoothest speakers I've ever heard" I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle to my ears.  I have heard them now in 3 different places, Oscar's, RMAF and CES.

I would agree the room played a role in every place I heard them, but that's a given to me as are the effects of upstream components....  I would be curious to hear them in a treated room like Bill's...

[audio_builder]

I am going to keep this short and to the point in order not to offend anyone.

I thought the question was, what did people think of the Unifield 3’s sound at the demo set up at the DAC meeting.

If I understood the question correctly, my comments are 100% accurate.  I did not comment on what the speakers could sound like or what people thought they sounded like.  I provided an opinion of what I thought they sounded like at the DAC meet.

An email went out asking for opinions.  I was as honest as I could be.

Lee

[arthurs]

You did not offend me at all Lee...   

[Rutgar]

Nor me.  This is one of the big problems about these internet forums.  Posts often sound like they're offensive, when that's not the intent at all.  I wasn't challenging your post, but trying to offer some reasons of why I thought the 3's sounded they way they did in that room.  And since I have a pair in a completely different enviornment, I thought I could offer those reasons.    And like I said, I thought ALL the speakers we heard in that room took on that 'bright' characteristic.   The other room at Oscars (theater room) had better acoustics and didn't suffer from a 'brightness' issue.
 
- Bill

[oscar]

I had a too brief opportunity to check out the Unifield-3s in my system.  I do like the Von Schweikert "sound" but I was not really in the market; I have two (2) pairs of Vienna Acoustic Mahlers which are pretty decent and have bass response superior to the smaller VS Unifield-3. $15K for a smaller speaker to replace these would seem a bit much at this time.  It would have had to blow me away and it did not.  I will say, our brief efforts to integrate the Unifield-3s with bass from the JL Audio F113 (Fathom) subwoofers yielded decent results. A similar pairing should I decide to serioiusly invest in a separate dedicated stereo room (say, in my Living room with the appropriate room treatments) is not beyond the realm of possibility.  Though at that price range + the cost of a good subwoofer, I could think of an awful lot of speakers I might also consider.

OTOH, I'm of the opinion serious evaluations of stereo components take  time so anything I say has to be taken with a grain of salt.  Unfortunately, I did not have a serious opportunity to listen to  these with Electrocompaniet gear as originally planned, due to responsibilities (and unpreparedness?) as host.

I have heard the VR9s which I would love to have. Definitely a step above my own speakers but also, well above my price range.   The Unifield-3s paired with decent subwoofer(s) might get me most of the way there to the VR9s at a fraction of the price. When the opportunity presents itself, I will try to listen to the Unifield-3s in a system/room optimized for those speakers and in a more relaxed atmosphere.  I don't believe I sat for more than a couple of minutes to listen the the Unifield-3s in the Living room because of everything else going on.

[marvda1]

I think I was about the third person to arrive at Oscar's home and to me the original setup was the best sounding.
The system consisted of an Electrocompaniet cdp, Electrocompaniet 70 watt integrated (used as preamp), Parasound A21 power amp with Mit speaker cables, Mit interconnect between pre and power amp and Cardas interconnect on cdp and VS Unifield 3.  Scott can chime in with the exact model numbers on the equipment.  I find that when I am in an unfamiliar room with unfamiliar equipment I listen for things such as pace, dynamics, balance, and tonality of instruments and voice taking into account the condition of the surroundings so as to try and factor them out.
I have yet to latch onto the ribbon/planar tweeter sound as I am a die in the wool soft dome tweeter sort of person, but I thought the Unifields were very detailed without being bright or harsh.  The sound was balanced although the bass could have reached a little lower.  The soundstage was not as high as I am use to, sort like the height of stage problem with the Gallos Reference 3.1.  I know some of the Gallos owners tilt the speakers back a little to help in this matter, don't know if it would help the Unifields as they have the ribbon tweeter.
Imaging was pinpoint and the speakers did a good disappearing act.
The only time I thought the Unifields sounded harsh was when we were using the DYI tubes amps.
This could be from the amps not being warmed up enough or a possible mismatch with my Belles 21a preamp that we also had introduced into the system.  But what I do know is that the Belles is not bright or harsh.

We did change the interconnects on the cdp as everyone thought the Cardas did not sound the best and later there was a power cord change on the cdp.
I too like Art would like to hear them in a better room  hint..hint aa


Lee, maybe it was the interconnects that you won that were harsh sounding.

Marvin

[marvda1]

Maybe I should explain the interconnect thing.  During the door prize drawings I won a medium tee shirt which I traded to Bryant for a large tee shirt.  Someones girlfriend or wife won the $100 Mit Z Duplex noise filter, well she didn't want it and traded it to me for my large tee shirt
After about four beers I said what the hell and approached Lee to see if he wanted to trade his $500 Mit interconnects that he had won for my now Z Duplex.  Well Lee was having none of this and after my fifth (I think) beer I decided I'd throw in a $600 pair of Verastarr Interconnects that we had in the system playing at the time.  I even talked Lee into connecting and listening to his interconnects but still it was a no go.  I think I messed up by not pumping five beers into Lee

Say Lee, that's Z duplex ($100)+ Verastarr interconnects ($600) = $700 for your bad sounding Mit interconnects($500)  aa

Marvin

[es347]

"The Unifield-3s paired with decent subwoofer(s) might get me most of the way there to the VR9s at a fraction of the price."  Don't overlook the VR5 Anniversaries as a means of getting you much closer to the VR9s; more money than the Unifield 3s granted, but a steal compared to other speakers in that price range.

[audio_builder]

Marvin, you may get your wish to wheel and deal.

When I got home Saturday night, I hooked up the MIT cables to a CD player and amp and set the CD player on repeat.  At the 50 hour mark I listened to the MIT cables in my system between the DAC and Pre.  Definitely not harsh, more like fuzzy.  The cables went back on the CD player for another 50 hours.  

Tonight, with more than 100 hours of burn in, I am going to take a final listen to them.  I will send Scott my thought.  

Are the Verastarr interconnects the ones with the 26 karat gold wire and the feminine looking pink heat shrink?

Lee

[steve_sf]

- Bill 

Nice setup, Bill. I'd love to have my Uni 3's in my HT but I get better sound in another room so they're setup there.

[Rutgar]

Nice setup, Bill. I'd love to have my Uni 3's in my HT but I get better sound in another room so they're setup there.

Thank you!

Yeah, I don't have the funds or space for a seperate dedicated HT and 2-channel room.  So I have to make some compromises.

[McTwins]

Put the Unifield 3 in my room and the harshness will disappear and the bass will be tighten up.

It's true that it will sound harsh without any treatment. Had that problem in my room but not anymore.

Nice speakers.
Thanks