56 replies to this topic

[Audiobugged]

Sigh, missed out as I was stuck working late tonight - pissed off with the motley bunch at work that decided 5.30pm was an appropriate time to start a meeting...
Apologies Phil... I was really really looking forward to this...

[tastech]

Sigh, missed out as I was stuck working late tonight - pissed off with the motley bunch at work that decided 5.30pm was an appropriate time to start a meeting...
Apologies Phil... I was really really looking forward to this...

Its wednesday arvo ie today, so u havent missed it yet....

[Audiobugged]

Ooops! Blame parenting duties and sleepless nights + work... Now the dilemma, what do I do with a 2 year old...

[Nigel]

Just got back from the show and it was definitely worth the 20 mins of driving around and around looking for a park.
Big room but good acoustics. First, I was absolutely stunned by the amount of good bass coming from his Signature standmount being driven by an entry level Arcam amp. I asked if he was EQ'ing the bass and he said no. "No subs, no EQ". 3ft off the floor! Beautiful midrange. Can't remember the model numbers but i'd love to see these in a shootout with the Duntech standmount, DM something. Then Audiobugged tells me they're $1500 . WHAT!
Then we listened to the big floorstander, his flagship, physically smaller (just) than some of the other big speakers out there. Able to go louder easier than the standmount. No surprise. Very nice sound, as though the speakers had been carefully measured (plus I'm sure the drivers are ace, as well).
Then his Soundwall which is really neat. These are 6" deep, 2.5' square panels (3) but surrounded by similar squares(3) of absorption material. These form one big flat surface 7.5' x 5' and this was screen printed. So it looks like a piece of artwork on your wall, disappears. (I walked past it thinking it was hotel painting.) 2 more for Rears and they are the home ent system that disappers. Flat screen, BlueRay of Black & White - Roy Orbison. I could have watched the whole concert. I gotta get that one. Impressive experience. Can't fault the Blueray either and same drivers behind the painting as on the other speakers.
They disappear just like Bose Lifestyles !
Someone's going to reply ...how can you mention Bose in the same...??
Oh yeah 2 sub on the floor below either side of the panel and they are the only sign that there is this excellent HT system in the room.

and Phillip is a nice guy willing to give up some of his IP. eg he told me he has an inductor in the flagship that is .1 ohm. That seems pretty good to me and the way he said it, I guess it is.
So, none of what we heard was driven by active crossovers, multi amps etc. That was impressive. maybe a passive xo with excellent components is enough ? Right at the end he told me that he had trouble with one of the amps and it was the main act, the big floorstander was running off some backup integrated amp. Ullo, better go back and have another listen. Yep they're not being driven, still, can't fault the sound. Nice. Vaf makes good speakers.
That'll do...

Edited by Nigel, 21 April 2010 - 10:14 PM.

[Texas]

It was a good night!

We brought some music and Phil gave it a generous spin.

A casual and informal evening with better sounds then you would find in most hifi shops.

It looks like Phil is taking the Apple approach where convenience is king.

No doubt this will prove to be very successful.

The SoundWall is an example of that, with a high WAF, most likely finding its way into many homes and providing a well deserved upgrade to most current music systems.

Personally, I came to get another reference point for musical systems and on that note I found nothing really exciting. It was still hifi over music.

Still, I think Phil will do very well.

He is a good mix of passion, knowledge and business skills and that should produce great sales.

VAF is going down the digital path so I was surprised not to see anything active in his line up.

It would make sense as the internet pipes get bigger the formats (discs)will disappear.

Sound and vision piped into to homes running box less active systems disguised as artwalls will be the future.

Maybe that will be at the next meet?

Thanks for having us Phil, we will be back next time!

[Audiobugged]

Hmm, so there was a trade gtg the previous day that ZB attended and posted on, hence my confusion...
All in all a good time well spent - Phil is certainly passionate and has a good mix : Added to the Passion, knowledge, great business skills, I would include great communication skills in being able to get the audience to buy-into his vision and products. Genuinely nice and easy, not the hard-sell type otherwise I would probably have left in a great hurry (as would many others).
Soundwall would be the most intriguing and convincing concept for the night - I imagine others would have done it, but unlikely to the same extent in quality. The i-91 bookshelves were the second highlight, I actually wanted to listen to them and was a bit disappointed that they were not mentioned at all in the GTG spiel earlier in this thread. Dual concentric but no detectable harshness/brightness that can irk me. Simple, very conventional looking boxes that in my opinion delivered well above their price point as did most of his other products. No, Nigel, they do not imho, come near the dsm15's, but then again there never is a free lunch, not with that sort of price disparity (again partnering electronics will be a big factor here but the arcam duo are not meant to compete against passlabs/moon electronics). But against the other imported speakers at that price... Add the 20% discount to the prices mentioned and that is an absolute bargain. I have 5 sets of speakers (including a recently acquired set of sonus faber wall speakers that I'm in the middle of setting up in my "daughters" room), am the only person that listens to music so... Still tempting...

Only other point worth mentioning was that bit about the amplifier. Not sure if that's the culprit or the source itself. Personally I think that they let down the "main" act of the night somewhat, lacking again imho in "life" and sounding a bit hifi - strings had a bit more leading edge (bite) without the corresponding body and tonal richness, though it still showed a lot of promise (and certainly far outdid either of its lesser DC series floor standers on the night). It is of course all relative and I'm perhaps measuring them unfairly against some of the best benchmarks I've heard. No doubt that setup well in the right room (I am unconvinced that the open room is that great acoustically though there were no obvious issues), and with the right partnering equipment (again season to taste as this I cannot stress more, can be very personal), they will in all likelihood be "mindblowing".


AB

Edited by Audiobugged, 22 April 2010 - 07:38 AM.

[cheekyboy]

First, I was absolutely stunned by the amount of good bass coming from his Signature standmount being driven by an entry level Arcam amp. I asked if he was EQ'ing the bass and he said no. "No subs, no EQ". 3ft off the floor! Beautiful midrange. Can't remember the model numbers but i'd love to see these in a shootout with the Duntech standmount, DM something. Then Audiobugged tells me they're $1500 . WHAT!

The standmounts Nigel I think are the I-91s and I've heard them at VAF in Adelaide and also at Rural Rat's [hi Paul] at a GTG there and everyone commented on the bass reproduction for a small standmount. They are a single driver BR design and use a dual concentric driver and are a very good standmount louidspeaker. Orbison's Black & White Night was the first music DVD I bought many years ago and it still gets a regular run now............great stuff!

Cheers,

Keith

[Philip Vafiadis]

Thanks to all those who came along, and for the kind words.

I'm please to have been allowed the oportunity to share a little history and some dreams too.

For those who were part of the group room acoustics discussion about an hour into the gig, I try to post some details in the next few weeks. A perfect room seems to me to be worth chasing.

Also we are expecting the new Signature I-33 floorstanders pre-production cabinets in soon so as data and real photo's become available I'll do my best to get these out too.

Again thanks for so many making the time to come along and it great to put some faces to the names!

[Benje]

for those commenting on the soundwall...

I have had a soundwall for nearly 20 months now. 5 panels each 2 foot square, comprising Left, Centre Right with an acoustic panel between the left/centre and right/centre. A couple of subs to go with it, and it makes a very good front stage.

We run two sets of Niles speakers in ceiling for rears/surrounds which work fine. We do not have a suitable location to wall-hang any rears, hence the in-ceiling solution. Audyssey (from a denon 3808) enables some matching and balancing of the efficiency and performance of the speaker combination. Plus some SPL meter checks.

I can only speak highly of the sound and the WAF factor.

I wonder whether with Phillip's product development whether it is possible to drop the soundwall/I-91 speaker into a ceiling enclosure, to make an in-ceiling speaker that has similar timbre to the hang-on-wall panels. The soundwall seems to be an very flexible design so perhaps a different backing panel enabling an in-ceiling option is possible. My interest in such a speaker has only occurred since multi-channel audio via SACD/DVD-A has really enetreed our house over the last 9 months. I wouldn't see the need for such a product just for movies.

Any thoughts here Phillip?

Benje

Edited by Benje, 22 April 2010 - 09:40 AM.

[Rhett Morson]

Philip, I have left the door wide open for you on the active speaker thread...

in fact, its open with a welcome mat at the front and a bouncer at the door virtually pulling you in

[tastech]

Thanks Philip for hosting the GTG appreciate the spread you put on and the opportunity to audtion you speakers

The soundwall seems like an ideal soln for the the architected home, or the stylish at art....given you can customise with artwork or hide the speakers.

I enjoyed the i-93, they had a sense of being there, maybe it was the music or the room or the amp, but i didnt sense the real low down factor...
the stuff they might kick you in the guts...but loverly sound and no distinct sweet spot....

I also note what some people might call extreme tie-in or having the speakers pointed at the sweet spot seat, but that something agree with too, as Philip explained get the full on-axis response and the sound stage still seemed wide.


Thanks again for the invite.

[AlexR]

Thanks to Phil and all comers for making an interesting and exciting evening. Got rather lost in one of the Soundwall's Roy Orbison tracks - I nearly applauded at the end! Loved the '91s and in awe of the '93s. This was our first taste of the high end VAFs, having only heard my Dad's DC-7 (?) kits before this. I feel like I'm joining a cult. Expect an order soon, Phil!