Virtual Salon

Great Northern Sound Co.

If you aren't familiar with the Great Northern Sound Co., you need to be.  If you've ever owned a Wadia you've heard the name tossed around before, as well as the name of the man behind the vision, Steve Huntley.  Their Wadia mods are legendary, and if you are using a Wadia without a GNSC mod, shame on you!

But GNSC is not just Wadia modifications, and their new website www.greatnorthernsound.com demonstrates this well.  They've opened up a storefront in Stillwater, MN, and are also carrying a range of new and pre-owned gear.

Great sound is not a gray issue at GNSC, and they stand behind the philosophy that sonic changes should be readily discernible, and identifiable as actual improvements.  Amen to that.  I offer you a brief inside look at their philosophy, then you need to check out the website, and find out what they can do for you.

"we don’t simply change products…we truly make them better and in ways we can clearly communicate to you in advance of the modification.  We have clear goals when we modify something and stick to it until we accomplish or surpass those goals.  The goals include specific sonic aspects as well as workmanship and reliability standards…we never run something out to the ragged edge of reliability just to make it sound better. Each modification is designed and implemented in a way that not only serves the music but serves you by providing that enjoyment for many years to come.

We choose to develop and implement modifications on a very select group of products for some very important reasons. We feel that a product needs to meet certain criteria for it to really make sense for us to modify it. We turn away far more mod work than we take in because we stick firmly to the criteria we set forth when we started this company."

There you have it.  Visit the website, call them - you won't find nicer guys to chat audio with.

-Jeff

London Symphony Orchestra - Recommendation

Enjoying right now:

LSO Live 
Sibelius:
Symphony No 2
Pohjola's Daughter
Sir Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra

-Jeff

The Best Place to Launch $140K Speakers is . . . the Milan Furniture Fair

Form follows function?

Virtual Dynamics is run entirely 90% on Macs - for a couple of us it's the only reason we work here.  This new speaker offering from KEF first caught my attention because they partnered with the designer of the iMac computer, Ross Lovegrove, and I don't think it was for his special cross-over design skills!  (He also makes a pretty spanky mountain bike!)

The end result is a fluid, eye-catching, back-breaking, cash crunching machine: the KEF MUON.  $140,000 and 253lbs, there are only 100 pairs; each milled from enormous billets of solid aluminum.  The video above shows the launch at the Milan Furniture Fair 2007 - a sensory-numbing experience by all appearances.  The LED flooring choreographed to the music looks wicked fun - for about 15 minutes.  If you are prone to seizures I don't think Consumers Report would recommend it for you.

KEF appears to have dug up a hefty infusion to their advertising budget somewhere.  In the past few months they have been highly visible, they were also the primary show sponsors of the Montreal Son et Image this year.

I'd love the opportunity to see if they sound as good as they look.  CES '08 maybe?  I don't mean to come across cynical, this video looks really amazing.

-Jeff

The Youngest Audiophile in Norway . . . Uses Genesis Cables?

With a picture like this I had to post this testimonial!

This review comes to us all the way from Norway.  On Audiogon, there is also a thread about this system with more pictures.  It's beautiful, and you should take a peek. 

"After just one day of burn in the Genesis interconnect has made me rediscovering my music collection.  Everything is a lot better, definition, soundstage, seperation and a lot less noise.

One of my favorite discs is the Helsinki concert from Frank Zappa`s " You Can`t Do That On Stage Anymore" series. This is not an audiophile recording by any stretch of the imagination, however playing it  after installing the Genesis it was like not only hearing it for the first time, I was there!

Each member of the 5 piece ensemble had its own space within a 3 dimensional soundstage, audience noise which before was either inaudible or sounding like pink noise was now transformed into a cheering and whistling crowd.

This is going to be a pleasurable break in process."

Atle Blekastad

Thanks again Atle, for sending us an update with the great photo!

-Jeff

Wireless Electricity - the end of the audio cable industry?

Dubbed WiTricity, MIT scientists have powered a 60 watt bulb using "specially tuned waves" - without a physical connection - from 7 feet away.  Not a new idea if you're a Nikola Tesla fan.

At only 40-45% efficient, the project is still in its infancy and must evolve big-time before boasting any practical uses.

Imminent doom for the cable industry?  Not if history has anything to do with it. 

Here's a challenge for our blog readers, and I'm willing to put an investment in to make this a little more interesting.  Say, a free Power One Power Cord (take that, WiTricity!) valued at $571 CAN?  Here's the challenge.  Find us ONE example of a technology that is no longer obtainable, or in use somewhere/somehow.

According to Kevin Kelly, exec editor of Wired magazine, you won't be able to find an example.  Reportedly he has spent much time and effort researching this very thesis, he wonders if "Technology is the 7th Kingdom of Life".

I think hi-end audio is a great example; look how many audiophiles are using turntables, where the majority of the world would question why they would waste time with such old technology?

So, I'll throw a Power One in the mix if you can help me find an example.

Back to wireless electricity.  At Virtual Dynamics the value of energy efficiency is non-negotiable; until wireless electricity can compete with the efficiency of our LiniPur conductors, we believe audiophiles will continue to flock to our fat power cords.

That being said, we strongly believe that technology has many more marvels up its sleeve, and when a better sounding solution comes across our path (with our R&D investments we hope to be the ones to discover it!) we'll be among the first to be using it!

So, WiTricity . . . ARE YOU ASKING FOR A CHALLENGE?!?

:D - Jeff

 

Zu Audio Phono Pickup

As someone who is easily swayed by aesthetic (an admitted weakness, although it landed me a beautiful wife), this picture has got my attention.  If this pickup sounds half cool as it looks . . . it will hopefully find a resting place on my Rega P3.  According to their blog,its priced at a reasonable $399 USD and is:

"Based on the legendary Denon DL-103­—nuded, with machined body, dual compound epoxy potted motor assembly and body, increased weight and machined directly into body EIA standard two hole mounting."

Unfortunately I haven't been exposed to analog long enough to have any experience with the Denon DL-103, so I won't string you along with some profound insight about this.

Zu Audio has definitely got an eye for design, I also enjoy the look of their top-of-the-line Zu Ibis speaker cables that are currently on my system at home.  To their credit they sound as good as they look, which surprised me considering my penchant for copper conductors - there must be something about their B3 technology.  One of our customers traded them in for Virtual Dynamics cables, so I took them home to try out.  Now, before you think I'm now being paid to market Zu, let me point out that I found the performance comparable to our entry level Testament Series, which at $685 for 2m are $382 cheaper than the Ibis at today's exchange rate.

Anyway, here's the nitty gritty on the pickup, let me know if you've got any experience with the Denon . . .

Bandwidth: 15 Hz — 45 kHz
Output: 0.3 mV
Impedance: 40 Ω (± 2 Ω)
Compliance: 5 x 10 -6 cm/dyne
Weight: 14 grams (includes mounting screws)
Stylus Pressure: 2.7 grams @ 70˚F for wide dynamic range media
Recommended Resistive Load: 80 — 150 Ohms
Recommended Resistive Load:
Stylus: diamond, crystal aligned, conical cut (more on this later-like why this is better than "Deeper in the groove" skinny ass needles
Warranty: 5-year limited, does not cover busted cantilevers...

-Jeff

 

A New Audiophile is Born Every Minute

You can almost hear the birthing sounds in this gamer's forum as they are inadvertently becoming addicted to a new sport: audiophilia.

Should someone warn them?

-Jeff

(Photo compliments of www.destructoid.com)

Luminance Monoblock Stats - WOW!

Steve Keiser, the legendary circuit designer, has asked us to share some of the stats of the forthcoming Luminance Monoblocks . . . to see if "we can entice some folks".  Entice?  We're going to have to ship a Luminance bib with these amps.  There's also a VERY interesting tie-in to audio cable construction.

The highlights:

• Power Output: 450 watts into 8 ohms, 900 watts into 4 ohms, 1200 watts into 2 ohms.  Able to drive 4 pairs of speakers per channel.
• Slew Rate: 600 volts/microsecond (um, wow.)
• Distortion: Less than 0.1% . . . at any power level, at any frequency.
• Frequency Response: DC to 1 Megahertz.
• Current Output: 40 amps peak to peak.
• Signal to Noise Ratio: 130dB below full power.
• Efficiency: 94%
• Damping Factor: 3000* ?!?

A damping factor of 3000?  Here's the interesting tie-in to audio cable construction - the damping factor varies according to conductor.  The amps measure 3000 . . . with a 6 gauge solid core conductor, which coincidentally is what we use in our Genesis Series cables.  Using a 14 gauge solid core conductor, the damping factor drops to half of that, 1500.  With a 12 gauge, stranded conductor, the damping factor drops to 250!

We're not surprised, you can watch a video about how Virtual Dynamics chooses conductors here. 

Just what is "damping factor"?  Here's a short excerpt from www.classic-audio.com:

"If you don't understand basic electric current and voltage, let's just say that damping factor is a figure of merit that tells you how good an amplifier is at controlling a speaker system. The larger the number, the better it is. At 100 or above, it's pretty darned good. Below 20 or so, it's pretty poor.

When one amplifier's damping factor is higher than another's, that tells you that the amplifier with the higher damping factor can better control the speaker systems, and all other things being equal (frequency response, phase shift, distortion, etc.) that it is a better amplifier."

Ok.  So 3000 should be decent.

So when is this premonition going to appear on the scene, or better yet, in your listening room?  At what cost?  These are questions I don't have firm answers for.  How "enticed" are you?  If you are interested in getting your hands on some of the first, please give us a call or email and let us know.  The more interest there is, the sooner we'll be able to bring them out.  What will they cost?  I can offer one guarantee, it's not going to be ridiculously cheap like the KST-150.  What were they thinking with that one??  I hope by now you've had a chance to read Sam Tellig's article in Stereophile about the KST-150, and how it would receive the attention it deserves if it was priced at $18,000. 

By the way, we still have a few remaining units of the loss-leader KST-150 if you're in the market for the world's best stereo amp under $3000.

If you're on the geeky side, you'll enjoy reading about Steve Keiser's design philosophies at Dagogo.com.

-Jeff

User Testimonials - Thank you!

I was recently conversing with someone in the hi-end industry all of us in Virtual Dynamics respect.  He was curious about our user testimonials, how do we get so many?

First, a few points about our User Testimonials.

• We are currently only displaying testimonials since December (the hundreds of older ones were lost when we redesigned the website!)
• We can't make this *stuff* up.
• We don't buy them.
• Most have been supplied without any prompting on our behalf.

Why are there so many, where do they come from?

• Our customers rock.  They are genuinely passionate about good music (yes, some are addicts!) and are on a quest to be closer to the music.  In essence, they partner with us in our quest to provide the best tools to bring people closer to the music.  They feel that by communicating their experience with our products it can help us make them better yet.  They're right about this.
• We've proved we value our customer's experience.  They are a focal part on the homepage, occupy primary real estate on our website and marketing, and we invest a graphic designer to highlight some of our uber-dedicated customers' audio systems.  We have invested more into "User Experience" than any other aspect of our brand.  It's created a culture where invested clients volunteer their experience for others to benefit from.

They are largely unsolicited, but we do have a policy of following up with every customer to make sure the products are living up to the hype.  Our User Testimonials are passionately worded, we follow-up to ensure every customer is experiencing something similar.

So this is a thank-you note to all of our customers who have invested in our products, and have partnered with us by providing us valuable insight into their experience with our products.  Your feedback is a great help to other audiophiles trying to bring their audio system to its fullest potential, and a great help to us in guiding us in our product development.

Thank you.

-Jeff