Room 1202

[Martykt]

5 minutes ago, Yngvi said:

I popped into the room way too many times. My favourite room of the show.

The Contrast Floor-standers with the 300b Nano Amp was one of the standouts for me.

Sitting in the right spot it was such a sweet sound.

[Eggmeister]

40 minutes ago, Martykt said:

The Contrast Floor-standers with the 300b Nano Amp was one of the standouts for me.

Sitting in the right spot it was such a sweet sound.

Agreed Marty. 

[Kensell21]

I must admit that both Keith’s speakers handled that room well. A lot of the other rooms the bass was overpowering.

I did also enjoy the small stand mounted speakers as well.

 

[Leo Veto]

On 17/05/2019 at 6:11 PM, rantan said:

 

It seems like an appropriate time to convey some impressions I have formed about the Contrast speakers, although I am trying to avoid making this a review laden with cliches.

 

I don't do reviews in the classic sense, but there are now sufficient thoughts about these speakers running about in my mind, so my plan is to convey some of these into an intelligible narrative.

 

As a regular (weekly ) visitor to the Grizzly cave for  music discovery evenings, I have had time to get a grip on what makes these speakers interesting. I heard them about 2 days after they arrived and in the ensuing weeks have noted the changes over time.

 

Initially, they had a wholesome and organic sound, which has not dissipated, but these speakers have evolved in stature, texture and  tonality. Music played through these takes us in a tangible and mildly emotional direction, not by 50000 lumens of LED lighting, but somewhat like the ambient light on a calm and golden autumn afternoon, where the world seems to be in balance and you just feel like everything is right.

 

Music here is as it should be, no more and no less. Honest, open and not self conscious or attention seeking. That happens naturally, without you even noticing that you have just played 6 albums and never once been conscious of the equipment used to play them. The music  in and of itself is just there, much like a familiar friend whom you would trust implicitly with anything, but also one who doesn't mind challenging you in important conversation.

 

I hope this does not seem akin to damning with feint praise, but there are no particular personality traits evident with the Contrasts. You are simply there, with the artist, or the band, or the orchestra, perhaps in row 4 centre.

 

As weeks have passed the speakers, as previously mentioned, have grown in stature and a modest but tangible, self assurance. I would say that I have heard perhaps 50 albums of all types through these speakers and never once did they sound out of their depth even on some material that was as robust as music can get.

 

Instruments and voices sound as they should, not exaggerated but equally not understated.

  I am also trying to deliberately avoid the use of words like accurate, clean, neutral, detailed etc and never -in- a -million - years will you read a boxing analogy from me.

 

The really impressive thing here is that these speakers are not contrived to sound like anything in particular. They do not editorialise the music fed to them but crucially, this does not result in making you run out of the room when a poorly produced album is played. Nothing is glossed over or sweetened with Saccharine, they just manage to help you realise that not every recording is perfect and it is what it is, but one is never punished, only informed.

 

Many of my own favourite recordings have been rendered so compellingly  that it seems like this is how they should have sounded always and on par with how they sound on my own system. This may not seem like a revelation, but hearing your own music in store demonstrations, or on other people's systems, can often be underwhelming and/or not capture your attention.

I never found this with the Contrasts. Every album just flows along a river of unambiguous musicality ( sorry, I did need to use one cliche word ) and it is musicality that defines these best of all.

 

Apologies if this reads like pretentious drivel, but I wanted to be honest and strived to avoid cliche and the above words are my ongoing impressions.

 

So, in October roll up to room 1202. I think you may be pleased .

I rolled up into room 1202 as you suggested when i first arrived and again several hours later as i was departing and never once did I see ,let alone hear the contrast speakers either connected to an amplifier or in plain view let alone playing.A real let down.Why did they not have their own room !?

 

[Guest jakeyb77]

12 hours ago, Leo Veto said:

I went into the room and did not see any Contrast audio speakers connected.I think you should have had your own separate room.I was looking forward to hearing them.

The roster was on the door for 3 days 

[JoelG]

One of the standouts of all I heard at the show. 

Soul speakers sounded the most original and fresh like their design.

[Leo Veto]

43 minutes ago, jakeyb77 said:

The roster was on the door for 3 days you goose....

Are you seriously so rude that you can bring yourself to post such a comment?

[Guest jakeyb77]

10 minutes ago, Leo Veto said:

Are you seriously so rude that you can bring yourself to post such a comment?

Trust me... I held back. 
Maybe you should read your own post back. 

[scuzzii]

I'm fairly sure Keith or Ant would have also verbally advised when the rotation to Contrast was scheduled.

 

Shame you missed out as they sound very nice indeed.

Edited October 20, 2019 by scuzzii

[Luc]

1 hour ago, Kensell21 said:

I must admit that both Keith’s speakers handled that room well. A lot of the other rooms the bass was overpowering.

I did also enjoy the small stand mounted speakers as well.

 

They were very good weren't they. Kieth and Ant and Benjamin and Dave O and all the people involved in this put on a really good exhibition. In some rooms the bass was sometimes boomy sometimes muddy but not in this room. Same could be said for the Acoustic Energy room too as their little standmounts put out a lovely sound.

 

[Guest]

I have to thank everybody who took the time to come through and especially the many who gave such encouraging feedback. The bass was very much all over the shop- our front row missed out on a lot of it, and the rear wall gave a huge reinforcement. The middle row was best by a long shot!

 

Having the room come together as it did between the 4 of us, with some initial challenges, was satisfying to say the least!

Edited October 20, 2019 by Grizzly

[Guest]

12 hours ago, JoelG said:

One of the standouts of all I heard at the show. 

Soul speakers sounded the most original and fresh like their design.

Thank you Joel, I'm glad you feel that way and appreciate you saying so! I hope I was able to at least say hi at the time and thank you for coming through. 

[cheekyboy]

23 hours ago, Leo Veto said:

I went into the room and did not see any Contrast audio speakers connected.I think you should have had your own separate room.I was looking forward to hearing them.

Hello @Leo Veto, as you would be aware, there was a speaker playing schedule clearly posted at the entrance to our room 1202 and changes were all made promptly according to that schedule. I'm sorry you didn't hear the loudspeakers you wanted to hear, but a change between Wyndham Audio and Contrast speakers was never more then a two hour wait.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

[Nanoat]

A very well organised event, Many thanks to Marc and the team from SNA.

At Nano-AT  ™ we were able to demonstrate our Bespoke Australian Made  tube / valve Amplifiers with some excellent products ( speakers , TT, Phono stage etc } from Wyndham Audio and Contrast Audio Range of  high efficiency speakers, these were able to provide a very revealing and balanced sound with our Finemet ® and M19 range of output transformer 300B and 6A3 tube amplifiers.

It was encouraging to see locally made product well supported.

Our intent was to bring an enjoyable & revealing musical contribution where the equipment let the music ebb and flow naturally as if it was not there at all,.

I noticed many in our room closed their eyes to hear Vinyl from the Brinkmann Turntable and GSP  phono stage     https://www.wyndhamaudio.com.au/products/gsp-accession-mc-phono-preamp-psu1   ,bring a very lifelike & balanced presentation into the room through various set ups we had on show.

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by Nanoat

[cheekyboy]

Hello folks, it was great to catch up with many old friends throughout the show and to meet many more audio enthusiasts over the three days. Thanks to @Marc and his staff for all the behind the scenes organisation.

 

The room 1202 had it's anomalies, but for what it was, overall the sound reproduction was acceptable and if you happened to be in the right part of the room, it did at times sound just right. 

 

I thought all the loudspeakers performed very well, with some working better with different amp combinations. My Wyndham Audio speakers were mainly played using the beautiful PrimaLuna EVO 300 integrated tube amp, but the BR2s were superb when driven with Ben's sensational Nano 300B tube amp.

 

I had the Bel Canto Design e.One Stream DAC playing some hi res files through Tidal and from an assortment of USB drives and the reproduction was exceptional, however, it did not even remotely come close to the Brinkmann Bardo turntable, with Brinkmann 10.5 tonearm and Brinkmann EMT ti cartridge fitted. All this was fed through the Graham Slee Accession C phono stage and the end result was a flawless and absolutely stunning reproduction. The Bardo did probably 95% of the the music source duties, understandably, thus I hope that all of you who got the chance to hear the Bardo, really enjoyed it.

 

Once again, thanks for all the support that Ant, Ben and myself got from you and don't wait till the next show, feel free to get in touch with us anytime, even if its just for a chat.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by cheekyboy

[joz]

Nearly forgot about this room (slaps head)

Especially as I spent so much time here, very enjoyable.

Thanks guys for the Dreaming with Dean.

 

[Eggmeister]

18 minutes ago, joz said:

Nearly forgot about this room (slaps head)

Especially as I spent so much time here, very enjoyable.

Thanks guys for the Dreaming with Dean.

 

Any time your head needs a slap, gimme a call

 

[joz]

Damm you Ingo!

[tubularbells]

My vote was for the BR1's being the most gorgeous looking speaker of the show as unfortunately i didn't get to hear them. What a  refreshing take on all the super gloss (look at my reflection) speakers on display. 

[audiofeline]

I really enjoyed what I heard in this room on the Sat. 

[Ian McP]

Those Contrast Audio speakers driven by the Nano amps were very nice indeed and most importantly non fatiguing. l had a long and interesting chat with the Nano's designer too!

regards Ian

[Guest jakeyb77]

There wasn’t a lot at the show for me this year but I really enjoyed this room. 
In the interest of transparency I do know @Grizzly well and help set up some of the room. But to be honest it was my first time seeing and hearing this gear. 

I hadn’t met @cheekyboy or Ben from Nano before. 

@Grizzly had been talking about a new rack design but had been keeping it close to his chest. Having not seen it in the flesh before the show, I was truly amazed by the finish. 
In fact it’s a main theme of this room to me that everything had proven functionality but also a very pleasing look. *make the wife happy fellas. 
I think big things will come from his and @Dave O))) “Stratus” design of Soundscape equipment racks. 

The Brinkman turntable was smooth sounding piece of art and the Wyndham speakers have a proven track record of looking and sounding great. 

 

As others have said, the Contrast speakers really do deliver detailed music with an enchanting and non fatiguing flavour. The Soul range was a huge talking point with its wood finish even on the drivers. 
I wasn’t expecting much from 8 watt tube amps but I tell you what, they surprised me. There was much talk about them inside and outside the room. Lots of talk from the maker himself  but you want your amp builder to be proud of his product and so he should be. 
Great room guys and I’m really happy to hear and read all the positive reviews. Well deserved. 
 

[cheekyboy]

Hello folks,

 

My BR1 loudspeakers in natural timber camphor laurel finish got a lot of attention at the show and rightly so too, as they are a lovely loudspeaker to look at, feel and to hear. I also had a pair of BR2s that I alternated in the demo times with the BR1s and these sounded exceptional, particularly when driven by Ben's 300B amp.

 

Apart from the sound of these BR2s, the finish is simply superb, although I noted that in the room and with the curtains drawn, as they were most of the time, you could be forgiven for thinking they were simply a glossy piano black finish. In actual fact, these enclosures have a very special application of two pack tri-colour pearl in Lamborghini Black and the finish achieved is flawless and in natural daylight has a gorgeous pearl fleck imbedded in the coating.

 

These BR2s were offered as a Show Special and would normally cost $6,950.00 in a two pack tri-colour pearl finish, but we're offering these Show Special BR2s at $4,950.00, which is the regular RRP for our BR2 loudspeaker in a normal timber veneered finish. These BR2s are still available at that show special price and if you're interested in hearing them, they are available to audition by appointment only in Melbourne. Just drop me a PM and we can arrange an appropriate time for you to attend.

 

I'll include a couple of pics of the BR2s below and if you don't recognise the room, it is SGR's sound room in Templestowe.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by cheekyboy

[Doppelganger]

This was my favourite room of the show. Got to listen to the BR1’s driven by one of the tube amps and it was such a welcome break for the ears. No strident assault on the ear drums in this setup. Such a relaxed and smooth delivery, I could have stayed for hours.

 

I didn’t get to hear the Contrast speakers but having spent an afternoon with them at my place earlier this year, I’m confident they also would have sounded exceptional in that room.
 

I was also very impressed with the new Soundscape audio rack - we desperately need more locally built audio furniture options!

 

Well done all you guys on a superbly presented room!

[Guest]

....all sorted, cheers!

Edited October 27, 2019 by Grizzly