Virtual Salon

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

 

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

Sam Tellig's (Stereophile) Favorite Solid-State Amp

"Sam Tellig listens to his new favorite solid-state, the Luminance KST-150 stereo amp"

Enough said.  Well, I'll just say a little more.

Pick up the newest issue of Stereophile (May 2007) and find out why long-time reviewer Sam Tellig is digging the Luminance KST-150.

We don't put all our eggs in reviewers baskets (we prefer to invest in our customer's 'baskets'), but Sam Tellig is telling it straight - straight through all the industry politics.  In the review you'll find some provoking quotes about price points - and why Sam thinks the KST-150 would garner more spotlights if it wasn't priced to be such a steal at $3000 . . .

-Jeff