The Absolute Sound
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- Apr 19, 2013
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- #1
<p>
Several world or US product premiers were highlights of the California Audio Show from August 9<sup>th</sup> through 11<sup>th</sup> in Burlingame California. Wilson Audio, Vacuum Tube Logic (VTL), and Sonus faber unveiled impressive new products and each was making glorious music at the upgraded venue for this year’s CAS. The Wilson Audio Duette Series 2 loudspeaker, the VTL S-2000 Stereo Signature amplifier, and the Sonus faber Olympica Model 1 speaker were featured in different Music Lovers rooms, a premier retailer in Berkeley and San Francisco.</p>
<p>
Although Wilson Audio had a silent, private unveiling of its Duette Series 2 loudspeaker ($19,500) at the Munich Show, this was the first time the speaker had produced sound in a public demonstration. The Series 2 is so new that these speakers had not had the opportunity to have been broken in, and sounded noticeably better on the second day of the show after they had been run in a bit and the supplied resistors were changed. Users can easily change these themselves to help tailor the sound of the Duette Series 2 to their electronics and/or tastes. Compared to the original Duette, the Series 2 (~$17,000, or $19,500 with stands) offers more attractive (and functional) styling and upgraded sonic performance. It sports a new cabinet made of X material to significantly reduce cabinet colorations and lower the noise floor, as well as a slanted front baffle to time align the drivers. The new tweeter is derived from the one in Wilson’s Alexia loudspeaker and the 8” woofer is custom-made. The optional dedicated stand hides the cabling and includes a recessed compartment for the new crossover.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20Wilson%20Audio%20Duette-Series%202%20made%20its%20world%20sonic%20premier%20at%20the%20CAS.jpeg" title="The Wilson Audio Duette-Series 2 made its world sonic premier at the CAS"/></p>
<p>
Like its predecessor, the Duette Series 2 is designed to be placed against the rear wall, or on a bookshelf, but what was so remarkable about the Series 2 was that on Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15, it sounded as if it were at least six feet out into the room, like one of Wilson’s floorstanding models, while also capturing the ambiance of the Concertgebouw Hall. In a system with Ayre electronics, an AMG Viella 12 turntable, and Shunyata cables and power conditioning, the soundstage was not only broad but also surprisingly deep. This is a speaker that can effortlessly handle the dynamic swings of a concert grand piano, power orchestral music, a live rock concert, or voice. Renee Fleming singing Handel’s “Oh sleep, why does thou leave me?” sounded amazingly life-like, without any sibilance or strain. In short, the Series 2 tracked Fleming’s micro-and-macro dynamics faithfully and flawlessly. Here’s a rear wall speaker that doesn’t make you feel like you’re compromising performance for floor space. Very nice! *</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/Wilson%20Audio%20Duette-Series%202%20Up%20Against%20The%20Wall.jpeg" title="Wilson Audio Duette-Series 2 Up Against The Wall"/></p>
<p>
A production version of Vacuum Tube Logic’s new S-200 Stereo Signature amplifier made its world sonic premier in a different Music Lovers room with a system comprised of the*VTL's TL7.5 III linestage and TP6.5 phonostage,*Vivid Giya G-3 loudspeakers, the dCS Vivaldi DAC and transport, the Brinkmann Bardo turntable, a Reel-to-Reel deck, and Transparent Reference MM series cables and power products. The VTL S-200 ($10,000) is a fully balanced design from input to output that includes all the features of the larger VTL MB-450 Series III Signature amps, like automatic bias adjustment and comprehensive fault sensing, but in a single chassis. Like its monoblock sibling, it has a damping factor switch that allows the user to adjust the amplifier’s output impedance to improve the control of different loudspeakers. It produces 200 watts/channel into 8 ohms.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/VTL's%20new%20S-200%20Stereo%20Signature%20Amplifier%20made%20its%20world%20premier%20at%20the%20CAS.jpeg" title="VTL's new S-200 Stereo Signature Amplifier made its world premier at the CAS"/></p>
<p>
With the S-200 engaged, this system produced the best sound I have heard from the Giya loudspeaker at a show, with beautiful timbre, broad and deep soundstaging, and exceptional clarity on transients on material ranging from The Tape Project’s <em>Nat King Cole</em> release to Peter McGrath’s 1979 recording of Schubert’s B-flat major piano sonata played from a MacBook Pro into the wonderful dCS “Vivaldi” DAC. The VTL S-200 Stereo Signature made quite an auspicious debut.</p>
<p>
Another speaker on static display in Munich, made its first public sonic premier in the US at the California Audio Show. The Sonus faber Olympica I ($6500, or $7700 with stands) .is a two-way bookshelf speaker with completely new drivers designed from the ground up by the company’s engineering team, but benefiting from technology derived from the development of its flagship Aida loudspeaker. New die-cast baskets on the 6” midrange/woofer and a 1” silk-dome tweeter improve rigidity without reducing the speaker’s lovely timbre and transparency. The Olympica I features a beautiful solid walnut wood and leather enclosure in a new asymmetrical shape that eliminates parallel surfaces, and accommodates the new bass-reflex system developed for the Olympica series. In what we’ve come to expect from this Italian manufacturer, this is one drop-dead gorgeous speaker.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20Sonus%20faber%20Olympica%20I%20had%20its%20US%20sonic%20premier%20at%20the%20California%20Audio%20Show.jpeg" title="The Sonus faber Olympica I had its US sonic premier at the California Audio Show"/></p>
<p>
The good news is that the Olympica I’s sound matches its stunning looks. It displayed excellent coherence and seemingly disappeared with a soundstage extending beyond the boundary of the speakers. While its rated low frequency response is 50 Hz, this baby seemed to extend lower. Like the Amati futura I happily lived with for quite some time, this smaller Sonus faber model also seems to like power, yet it can be driven with as little as 40 Watts. Seems like good things do come in small packages!*</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20beautiful%20woodworking%20of%20the%20new%20Sonus%20faber%20Olympica%201%20tastefully%20accommodates%20an%20innovative%20bass-reflex%20system.jpeg" title="The beautiful woodworking of the new Sonus faber Olympica 1 tastefully accommodates an innovative bass-reflex system"/></p>
[Source: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/worldus-premiers-from-wilson-audio-vacuum-tube-logic-and-sonus-faber-highlight-california-audio-show/]
Several world or US product premiers were highlights of the California Audio Show from August 9<sup>th</sup> through 11<sup>th</sup> in Burlingame California. Wilson Audio, Vacuum Tube Logic (VTL), and Sonus faber unveiled impressive new products and each was making glorious music at the upgraded venue for this year’s CAS. The Wilson Audio Duette Series 2 loudspeaker, the VTL S-2000 Stereo Signature amplifier, and the Sonus faber Olympica Model 1 speaker were featured in different Music Lovers rooms, a premier retailer in Berkeley and San Francisco.</p>
<p>
Although Wilson Audio had a silent, private unveiling of its Duette Series 2 loudspeaker ($19,500) at the Munich Show, this was the first time the speaker had produced sound in a public demonstration. The Series 2 is so new that these speakers had not had the opportunity to have been broken in, and sounded noticeably better on the second day of the show after they had been run in a bit and the supplied resistors were changed. Users can easily change these themselves to help tailor the sound of the Duette Series 2 to their electronics and/or tastes. Compared to the original Duette, the Series 2 (~$17,000, or $19,500 with stands) offers more attractive (and functional) styling and upgraded sonic performance. It sports a new cabinet made of X material to significantly reduce cabinet colorations and lower the noise floor, as well as a slanted front baffle to time align the drivers. The new tweeter is derived from the one in Wilson’s Alexia loudspeaker and the 8” woofer is custom-made. The optional dedicated stand hides the cabling and includes a recessed compartment for the new crossover.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20Wilson%20Audio%20Duette-Series%202%20made%20its%20world%20sonic%20premier%20at%20the%20CAS.jpeg" title="The Wilson Audio Duette-Series 2 made its world sonic premier at the CAS"/></p>
<p>
Like its predecessor, the Duette Series 2 is designed to be placed against the rear wall, or on a bookshelf, but what was so remarkable about the Series 2 was that on Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15, it sounded as if it were at least six feet out into the room, like one of Wilson’s floorstanding models, while also capturing the ambiance of the Concertgebouw Hall. In a system with Ayre electronics, an AMG Viella 12 turntable, and Shunyata cables and power conditioning, the soundstage was not only broad but also surprisingly deep. This is a speaker that can effortlessly handle the dynamic swings of a concert grand piano, power orchestral music, a live rock concert, or voice. Renee Fleming singing Handel’s “Oh sleep, why does thou leave me?” sounded amazingly life-like, without any sibilance or strain. In short, the Series 2 tracked Fleming’s micro-and-macro dynamics faithfully and flawlessly. Here’s a rear wall speaker that doesn’t make you feel like you’re compromising performance for floor space. Very nice! *</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/Wilson%20Audio%20Duette-Series%202%20Up%20Against%20The%20Wall.jpeg" title="Wilson Audio Duette-Series 2 Up Against The Wall"/></p>
<p>
A production version of Vacuum Tube Logic’s new S-200 Stereo Signature amplifier made its world sonic premier in a different Music Lovers room with a system comprised of the*VTL's TL7.5 III linestage and TP6.5 phonostage,*Vivid Giya G-3 loudspeakers, the dCS Vivaldi DAC and transport, the Brinkmann Bardo turntable, a Reel-to-Reel deck, and Transparent Reference MM series cables and power products. The VTL S-200 ($10,000) is a fully balanced design from input to output that includes all the features of the larger VTL MB-450 Series III Signature amps, like automatic bias adjustment and comprehensive fault sensing, but in a single chassis. Like its monoblock sibling, it has a damping factor switch that allows the user to adjust the amplifier’s output impedance to improve the control of different loudspeakers. It produces 200 watts/channel into 8 ohms.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/VTL's%20new%20S-200%20Stereo%20Signature%20Amplifier%20made%20its%20world%20premier%20at%20the%20CAS.jpeg" title="VTL's new S-200 Stereo Signature Amplifier made its world premier at the CAS"/></p>
<p>
With the S-200 engaged, this system produced the best sound I have heard from the Giya loudspeaker at a show, with beautiful timbre, broad and deep soundstaging, and exceptional clarity on transients on material ranging from The Tape Project’s <em>Nat King Cole</em> release to Peter McGrath’s 1979 recording of Schubert’s B-flat major piano sonata played from a MacBook Pro into the wonderful dCS “Vivaldi” DAC. The VTL S-200 Stereo Signature made quite an auspicious debut.</p>
<p>
Another speaker on static display in Munich, made its first public sonic premier in the US at the California Audio Show. The Sonus faber Olympica I ($6500, or $7700 with stands) .is a two-way bookshelf speaker with completely new drivers designed from the ground up by the company’s engineering team, but benefiting from technology derived from the development of its flagship Aida loudspeaker. New die-cast baskets on the 6” midrange/woofer and a 1” silk-dome tweeter improve rigidity without reducing the speaker’s lovely timbre and transparency. The Olympica I features a beautiful solid walnut wood and leather enclosure in a new asymmetrical shape that eliminates parallel surfaces, and accommodates the new bass-reflex system developed for the Olympica series. In what we’ve come to expect from this Italian manufacturer, this is one drop-dead gorgeous speaker.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20Sonus%20faber%20Olympica%20I%20had%20its%20US%20sonic%20premier%20at%20the%20California%20Audio%20Show.jpeg" title="The Sonus faber Olympica I had its US sonic premier at the California Audio Show"/></p>
<p>
The good news is that the Olympica I’s sound matches its stunning looks. It displayed excellent coherence and seemingly disappeared with a soundstage extending beyond the boundary of the speakers. While its rated low frequency response is 50 Hz, this baby seemed to extend lower. Like the Amati futura I happily lived with for quite some time, this smaller Sonus faber model also seems to like power, yet it can be driven with as little as 40 Watts. Seems like good things do come in small packages!*</p>
<p>
<img alt="" class="caption" src="http://media.tas.zeitpress.com/articles/images/The%20beautiful%20woodworking%20of%20the%20new%20Sonus%20faber%20Olympica%201%20tastefully%20accommodates%20an%20innovative%20bass-reflex%20system.jpeg" title="The beautiful woodworking of the new Sonus faber Olympica 1 tastefully accommodates an innovative bass-reflex system"/></p>
[Source: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/worldus-premiers-from-wilson-audio-vacuum-tube-logic-and-sonus-faber-highlight-california-audio-show/]