Mat Weisfeld seems to be everywhere these days, promoting his VPI tables, kicking ass, taking names, shaking hands, kissing pretty ladies, and generally having a far better time than you or I ever do. Must be exhausting! When pressed, Mat admits that it is, “But hey, that’s the price I have to pay for being awesome.” Indeed!
Mat was showing off one of his Classic turntables, and was only partially upstaged by Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio hamming it up for his piece-de-resistance, the Pulsar loudspeaker, a piece who’s price is set to increase to $7,700 on Sept 1st. Better get ’em while they’re hot ….
If you haven’t noticed, I’m a huge fan of both VPI and Joseph Audio, so let me say that this was a great room to visit, both for the sound and for the people. They’re just funny. Haven’t had the chance to experience either? Guess what? You’re totally missing out. This is what audio’s high-end is about — especially when you dump the stratospheric price tags. The sound in this room was easily on par with the best at the show, so if you did miss this — and perhaps you are passing it over for some some utterly bizarre reason, let me tell you this: cut it out.
Anyway ….
VAS Electronics and a Lynx DAC also lent their sonic gifts to a lively performance. The cross-corner setup strikes me as odd but eminently workable — got a challenging room (I can think of a couple at my place right now …)? You should consider this approach. All I can say is that it worked. Great imaging, both depth and width, and the presence was enough to have me rolling my R’s and and gyrating my hips. See? Told you that you were missing out.
I agree with Tony, what an awful room they were in, yet they still sounded great.
For the money this is one super speaker, I really like the big Joseph Audio’s I have heard at shows previously.
I felt a little sorry for the Pulsars, bounced from Center Ring at Command, by their more glamorous stablemates, the Raidhos, and set up in an awkward room with awkward placement. But with the VPI and especially the VAS, they actually sounded better to me than they had at previous shows. And at 1/3 the cost of the Raidhos, their charms were more apparent.