Review of our show at Stereo Times (scroll to the bottom of linked page)
Our 2012 CES/THE SHOW exhibit featured as co-exhibitors:
Wyred4Sound/Ampzilla and Wywires
Wyred4Sound showed its full line of preamps, power amps, DAC’s and other surprises to be announced. Wywires had on hand the latest incarnation of its superpremium Speaker Wire plus a full set of its top of the line balanced interconnects.
VMPS debuted the Series II edition of the RM50 speaker system ($16,900pr introductory price) complete with your choice of digital controller or outboard analog crossover.
This year we had more variety and number of performers for our one of a kind live-vs-recorded demo. Scheduled to appear: the Merv Harding Quintet featuring legendary alto sax/flute/clarinet player Fred Haller, a James Bongiorno solo jazz piano recital, and three guest vocalists.
We want to thank everyone associated with our Live vs Recorded demo in the Lake Mead ballroom of the Flamingo this year. It was a tremendous amount of work and expense, and we might have fallen flat on our faces.
We took a huge risk hiring the Merv Harding Quintet (piano, alto sax, trumpet, acoustic bass, drums plus male vocals) to play for us. The sound pressure and dynamics of these great players (whom I encouraged not to hold back in the least), particularly from the drumkit, made our heads spin. We were quite sure at first that our record/reproduction chain would not be equal to the task. After hearing the Merv Harding Quintet do sound checks with levels over 100dB SPL at a listening position about 15 ft away, it seemed we were dead ducks. High end speakers simply aren’t designed to keep up with live sound sources in a room that size (26x60x9ft). That we did so, and with great accuracy, was a relief and a real accomplishment.
We needn’t have worried. After several awful sounding takes with the musicians too far off mic, we ended with bass, trumpet and sax clustered around the stereo mics, piano about four feet away, and the drumkit about eight feet back. The Series II RM 50 played back the full range of sound at live levels with plenty of headroom, no distortion or clipping of the Ampzilla monoblocks, and no coloration we could detect. It was a triumph for all involved.
Kudos to our recordists Jim Harger (hi-rez) and Dave Housteau (double DSD), our musicians, E.J. and Clint from Wyred4Sound/Ampzilla, and Alex from Wywires for a job done to perfection.
THE ACTUAL SYSTEM USED:
Source: Wyred4Sound Media Server
Source: Modwright modded SONY 5400 SACD player
Source: James Harger’s Recording Rig
Source: Dave Housteau’s Recording Rig
DAC: Wyred4Sound DAC-2
PreAMP: Wyred4Sound STP-SE
AMPS: (4) AMPZILLA 2000 Second Edition Monoblocs
with a Wyred4Sound Modded D-OXO controller
Speakers: VMPS VMPS Series II RM50 Dual Line Array Bipole
The complete system was cabled and wired with WyWires; Digital, Analog Interconnect, Power Cords, and Speaker Cables
Recording Chain
Microphones:
( 6 ) M-Audio Sputnik Tube Condenser ( 2 ) in M/S configuration
( 4 ) M-Audio Solaris Class A Solid State Condenser
( 2 ) M-Audio Solaris Class A FET Condenser
( 1 ) Rode NT1-A JFET Condenser ( Vocal Microphone )
Microphone Pre-Amp:
Grace Design Lunatec V2 Stereo in M/S Configuration
Mixing Consoles:
Panasonic Ramsa WR-DA7 MK11
Motu 896 Digital Audio Interface
Digital Recorder:
Alesis Masterlink ML9600
Microphone and Console Cables:
Canare L-4E6S 25ft, 50ft and 100ft
Neutrik XLR Black/Gold Balanced Connectors
A/C Power Conditioning:
Equi=Tech 1.5RQ-F Balanced A/C Power
Zero Surge 1RM15-4RY Sequencing Surge Protection
Surgex SEQ Surge Protection/Power Conditioning
