Virtual Salon

Virtual Dynamics

The cabling industry gets it's fair share of punches and the longer I go in the industry the more I feel that we deserve it.

It has long been the case that cable skeptics have challenged the idea that cables can even make a difference, well... I am obviously not in that camp but I do respect it.  I respect that there needs to be a valid application of science behind the claimed "improvements" of audio.

As you may know, or simply may not, Virtual Dynamics is breaking new ground.  Doing something that has never been done before that we know of.  Something that will change the idea of the cabling industry once, and for all.

Now who would have thought that a small cable company from Canada would be the one to promote this change?  Well, quite honestly, I didn't think so myself, up until recently.  Yes, we have known that there was an audible difference based on our cables since the time that we started to create them, but wires and conductors themselves are really only a very small part of the Virtual Dynamics story.

You see, we have always claimed that the wire itself would only make a very small difference, and for the most part the differences in wire could be attributed to conductivity, which simply means, the size of the wire, and also somewhat, configuration.  The configuration part is where I really feel the challenge to the wire industry is legitimate and very skeptical.

Why?  You might ask. Well, the stranding and creating of different pathways in multiple strand cables is truly a two edged sword.  We have and industry that is completely convinced that you shouldn't run an 8 foot speaker cable to one side and a 6 foot to the other, a host of people who can hear the difference and an industry in complete and total agreement that it's a poor idea, in fact, don't we agree that it is downright just wrong?  But, once we wrap it together and call it a single conductor, even though there is multiple strands underneath,  When we call it a speaker cable and not speaker conductors, which is what most speaker wire is.  Tons of cables all working together towards  one goal, what do we call this achievement?  Stranded cable, and we hope to soon prove that it is maybe the single worst thing you can do to an audio system to distort the sound.

Virtual Dynamics is going to do this, well no, fact is the work has already been done and anybody that understands the basic ideas behind electricity could easily figure it out for themselves, however, through testing done at the University of Toronto, a test that we are preforming as we speak we are finding profound evidence of the damage that cables can make or the blessings that they can bring to the truth of audio.

Now let's, just for a moment, establish that we are on the same page about what truth might be.  What I am suggesting here is that we would all agree universally through the entire audio industry that putting your speakers in a cardboard shipping box stuffing it full of packing material, covering the speakers in a good solid plastic wrap, sealing it all up tight and then hooking your speakers up to play them in this condition would be stupid, correct?

All we are doing is establishing that anything that is obviously creating distortion or stopping the signal from being accurately reproduced, and we know for sure that it is because we have been able to identify through simple understandings of science some things are simply wrong.  Well, the wire industry, as a whole, has been definitely unequivocally and absolutely wrong.  So, why would it be in our interest to educate the consumers about the truth of audio cabling and how it is actually detrimental to an audio system if we are a cable manufacturer?  Well, that is easy, we are not an audio cable manufacturer.  Our devices have never had really much to do with any other product in the audio industry .  Our approach is completely different.  The things that we are trying to develop have nothing to do with the wire industry.  We are a technology company, and we are out to prove that our technologies are legitimate, and even revolutionary.

To date, to the best of our knowledge, we do not have a competitor...  We would proudly and cheerfully put our cables against anything in the market, especially when it came to real world testing.  That is how we are different.

Pretty bold, I know, but you know, it is okay to be bold if you can put your money where your mouth is, and the tests that we will be providing over the next several years, but starting in the next few months, will help us establish for you the consumer, one important thing...  Truth.

If you have not tried the technologies in Virtual Dynamics then it is time you did.  The results from our preliminary tests show that we are, indeed, offering a unique audio product that is like nothing else in the audio marketplace.  It is proving that our cables not only do not distort the sound, but they will actually increase the electrical specifications of a connected component.  We can prove it , we have been proving it to our customers for years, and the tests that we are having done will verify it for the world.

Are you ready for some audio truth?

Keep your ears tuned,

Rick Schultz

Fighting for Consumers - Virtual Dynamics, and Who We Are

As our company grows, and becomes talked about more, I am brought back to remember how I started and what motivated me to bring my product to market.

These days we're trying pretty hard to get our message out, and I'd like to think we are doing an okay job at that, but the reality is we haven't been telling a message publicly loud and clear for way too long.  So, what is our message?  Well, that's why I titled this thread "Fighting for consumers."  For the first 10 or 15 years of being an audiophile I struggled to know really anything at all about audio.  I missed the fact that it was an electronic device just like a computer, and either you knew how they operated or you didn't.

I bought parts for mine on a regular basis.  For me it was a true addiction.  One of those types of addictions that you put before everything else.  I so desperately wanted to know how things worked.  I find myself in my advertising, this blog, and everywhere else, hoping to communicate to people, and show them, and tell them, what I ended up finally learning.  What did I learn?  Well, audio does come at a price, it is just not the price that i thought it would be.  It is not monetary, you can't buy it.

The only way that you can truly get to know how audio works is to learn the science behind how the machines themselves operate.  If an electric motor is a machine, then so is your amplifier.  They are too closely related of brothers to not fall into the same category.  In fact, your audio system is not so unlike your microwave, your coffee pot, your computer... you get it, electronics. 

For six years I have been answering questions and the question I think I get most often is "What would sound best?"  I think it sums up what everybody really wants, well, let me share just a small story with you, I'll keep it brief.  I recently set together a system, maybe not so recent, it's been gone for about a year now, but this system was something that you couldn't buy.  I mean it wasn't about the fact that nobody has enough money it's just there was only one like this.

It had been taken from the very best equipment that I could find and everything was torn down and rebuilt using everything that I had come to know for high end upgraded caps, to technologies like dynamics filtering and our speed of light built right inside.

It represented hundreds and hundreds of hours of my personal man hours of labor, and I would guess close to 300,000 dollars of cash investment, and I realize that that was all "at cost".  I say one night after getting to the point that I knew what to do well enough that I could get up anytime that I wanted to and make my audio system significantly better with a few minutes, usually with a soldering iron in hand and a couple of inventions that I learned that I could rely on. My amps at this point were a special design, one only, and the circuit was from Steve Keiser.  Each amp was fed by a farad of capacitance.  I had custom built stands for my speakers and every driver was customized by myself.  Machine shop time stopped being calculated pretty soon after I started, and I seemed to live there for a while.  With all of this time and all of this investment here's the one thing that I have learned.  It will always get better.

I mean that.  You cannot hit utopia.

If you think you have, and you don't believe what I'm saying contact me and with a few minutes and soldering iron, I will ruin it for you.  So why is there no pinnacle? Well, because gents, ladies, it's a moving bar.  Recently, I have been trying pretty hard to explain some fairly basic stuff.  I remember one conversation with a very intelligent and kind I person who was almost hurt as I started to explain the basics.  He had an engineering background, and in part, I think a little distraught that a guy like myself, with no secondary education or real electronics background could provide such explanations and experimentations that he could do for himself that challenged what he had been taught to believe.

It was almost a "Who are you to be challenging me?" type of feel.  I would  explain how something worked , like how no two conductors would be the same , and then he would argue that they could be, so we broke it down, and we looked at the likelihood of "could they be?"  and the answer from he, himself was , no, I guess not.  If no two particles are the same, then no two conductors can be the same.  He went from believing as an educated person that they had to be, to knowing, from simple understanding, that they couldn't be.

See, my problem is, I want to help consumers, but even the most basic or arguments that should be so easily won, to help consumers understand better, are taking such a tremendous fight.  I have been asked, "why don't we do more testing?" and, we are, but I guess this is the point, isn't it?  For the basic design of a conductor, what makes it special,  and what cables really do, we seem to have no collective clue, as an industry.

What I have seen, learned, and come to understand that, just like I had to go through it, the only hope I have of helping you, as a consumer, is to encourage you, hope for you, help you, do the best you can to understand what it is you are buying, how and why it works, and how much impact it will make on your system for the amount of dollars you have to put towards it.  My hope is that prestige in High-End audio shifts from what is most expensive to what can be explained by simple, easy to understand science the best.

It's not to say that cool inventions should be excluded, even if they are not easy to explain, but without the basics most audiophiles will never assemble a system like the one they dream of having.

Fighting with a Stiff One

Over six years of selling Virtual Dynamics audio cables we have run into the comments from a few customers saying, jeez, these things are really stiff, big  and heavy.  After clarifying with them that they are talking abut Virtual Dynamics audio cables and not their Christmas lights, I will usually answer with a soft giggle and a "Yes, they are..."

of course, the next question is always, "why don't you make them lighter?"

So, I thought I would share with you why I don't make them lighter.  The simple answer is, the honestly if there was any way that I could do this without compromising the cable's sound I would be the first one to jump on the bandwagon, but it is a big bandwagon, and there are literally thousands of manufacturers building the thing that I refuse to.  Light, flexible audio cables.  Products that do not meet my standards.

I will admit that, from a marketing point of view, Virtual dynamics sucks.  We're not a company that gives customers what they want, in fact, the sole purpose of creating Virtual Dynamics' audio products was to introduce customers to what they really needed and desired above all things, if they are truly an audiophile, and that is, better sound.

Alright, better sound to some is debatable, elusive and not achievable, but I am definitely, and with all certainty, not in that camp.  To me, the idea that some audio products are not better than others, or some cables are not better than other cables, is as ridiculous as square tires for your car.

So what am I getting at?

Well a few of you who have talked to me in person, know that I use the square tire analogy quite commonly, and I would like to explain it and where it came from, but first let me take you on a little adventure. I have been on talking to hundreds of audiophiles from all different regions and walks of life.  I have asked on question over the last year quite consistently to consumers looking for audio cables, some who own cables in the tens of thousands of dollars... I ask them one simple question, to see what answer I might get.

The answer is consistently, and pretty much, I can say at this point, without exception "I don't know."

The question, "Why do cables change the sound of your audio system?"

So why are virtual Dynamics cables so big and thick?  Bet you thought I forgot that was the topic, huh?  well, it is this, there is only one possible realistic and irrefutable way to absolutely and with all certainty ensure you lower the total resistance of a conductor, and it is to increase the gauge size.  I will repeat, so that you might understand my motive.  There is no other reasonable, logical, proven, available method of getting more signal from point A to point B than to increase the gauge size of the conductor. Not in audio anyways.  DO superconductors do this?  Sure, but we are nowhere near that technology in audio, in fact, we are not even embracing the known technology and understanding that Gauge size of your conductor is absolutely and fundamentally the single most critical thing you could possibly do to increase signal flow.

No kidding.

You know what?  I bet you already knew that.  So, why is not the body of audio demanding that cables be made from thicker, heavier, bigger wire, and how is it possible that manufacturers are not trying to educate consumers on this one simple yet profound truth?

Well, consumers have demanded that cables be light and flexible, and they will buy them regardless of how much sense it makes to have tiny flexible conductors.

Virtual Dynamics made a commitment, okay, I made a commitment, long ago, that my mission wasn't to become the best marketer.   I am not even close, nor do I care to be, but I do, with my whole heart, care to provide you with the very best audio cable performance that could be had, and if I knew of a way to better what I had, I would offer it for you.  I understand full well that the industry is using things like six nines pure copper to achieve better conductivity, but if you do your homework, you'll realize that no one is talking about conductivity, just copper purity.  No one is saying "hey, we're more conductive than the next guy. we'll actually let more signal through."

Why?  Why is it that we're not saying "we're twice and conductive, we're 300% more conductive as audio manufacturers with our technology of high purity wire?"

Well, here is the simple truth. One of the most conductive conductors on the marketplace, as far as material goes, for copper wire, is electrolytic tough-pitch.  It's rating for conductivity is actually 101%.  It is a technical marvel and is only 99.95% pure.  It is recognized by the entire wire industry as being, well, you get it, it's a very cool wire technology product, because it is 1% more conductive than any other 100% conductive copper, but let me let you in on a little secret, that this rating of conductivity is restricted to and guided by one simple common factor.  Gauge-size.

Huh.  If you increase the gauge size, at all, you will supercede this conductivity, so why not just double the gauge size and make the conductor far more conductive than you could ever do with high-tech, and high-purity conductors.

So why are cables from Virtual Dynamics, so stiff and heavy, because we are building what you need, you are ignoring purposely what you have asked for because we know it is neither what you really want, or good for you.  We respect you, and we love that you share this hobby.  We want to get you closer to the truth of the original sound, and if we have to fight you to get you there, you will find a bleeding, battered, torn up, kicked and pushed-around Rick Schultz laying on the street somewhere begging you to just increase your gauge size. 

It's funny that audio isn't full of simple little truths, but I will guarantee you that this simple little truth that I have shared today will make some people very very angry, and, in fact, although it is the simplest law of physics for conductivity, some will even try to argue it.  Because what I'm telling you is not good for everybody, it only meets one real need in the audio marketplace, and that is to educate and help you, the consumer, build better sound.  If that was not what I was doing, I certainly would not want to tell you, and would argue this simple fact even though the sheer idea is ridiculous.

So, finally, what was I babbling about with square tires, well nice you see the logic of things, some thing make little sense.  It is simple to see the logic behind the good old fashioned round tire, but let's just say, for argument's sake, that all the major tire manufacturers launched, this year, a brand new revolutionary tire.  The concept was that it was different than anything made in the market before.  It had a revolutionary new rubber, and a tread pattern that was certain to turn heads, it was lightweight and leak resistant, but let's just say, to own this new tire, you would have to be certainly of a little more wealth.  These new tires do not come cheap.  They are 30x more expensive than the good, old fashioned tire of the past, the round tire, oh yes, did I mention that this new tire, was square?  Why oh why do the tire companies not do this?  The marketing, I mean with a good push, could make it sound like a marvel, a technical creation beyond the driving enthusiast's wildest dreams.  Well, let me pose this.  You might just look at that square tire understanding the basic physics and say "What the ^&%*?" and I would suggest a few other people, may be with you on this. 

So now, really, can you blame me if I might have a little bit of the "what the ^&%@" over this whole idea of thin, light, flexible cables.

Keep your ears tuned,

Rick Schultz

Tubeopedia

Are you a tube aficionado?  You'll love this user-generated wiki on Tubes.  From the description, it is:

"an encyclopedia of electron tube data and related topics collaboratively written by its users (who might be called Tubeopediacs or Tubeopedians). It is a special type of website, called a wiki, that makes collaboration easy. By spreading the creation of content among many editors, content isn't dependent on a single site administrator, and site growth and existence isn't dependent on one person's time, energy and money. Your charming and delightful editor in chief expects this encyclopedia to grow and exist long after he's gone."

You can join in the fun at www.tubeopedia.com!

-Jeff

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

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

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