Favorite Speakers at RMAF


Ridge Street Audio Sason LTD/SI:

Wow! What can I say about these beautifully crafted speakers? They completely disappear with wall to wall soundstaging and naturally precise imaging. They are oh so smooth, detailed, and utterly nonfatiguing. They were about the only speaker at the show that I could just relax and listen to hours on end. You just emotionally connect with the music through these transducers. I had Robert of RSA play Somewhere Over The Rainbow/It's A Wonderful World by "IZ" a Hawaiian singer who lost his battle with obesity at a young age. It almost brought me to tears.

They were being riven by all Fi gear including their 20 watt(?) SET amps, DAC, and transformer volume control. All RSA wiring too. I would have loved to hear the Sasons with more power, like the 100 watt Atmasphere MA-1 amps. I had the pleasure of meeting Rhythmace4218 who already owns a pair driven by MA-1. He confided the MA-1 will give the Sasons real bass impact which surpasses a highly respected 300 watt solid state amp.

The upgraded SI version is 5 inches shorter than the standard version because they moved the Xover into the base stands. The stands are now necessarily taller to keep the same overall height. IMHO, the SI version looks much better because they look more proportioned. The older version looked a little pot bellied with the wider base and shorter stands. Just awesome aesthetics.

Let me just add that Robert and Steve are first class acts. They are genuine music guys who are down to earth and easy to talk to. Kudos to both of you.

Podium 0.5 Speakers:

I must admit I was sadly disappointed with the sound of the their flagship P1 speakers at the '97 RMAF. It's treble was very grainy and irritating, and the presentation just didn't seemed right. This year their smallest speaker produced some of the best sound at the show. It was hooked up to some very expensive electronics (Art Audio Jota 22 watts? at $18k, Esoteric digital, Memory player, etc). But the synergy was there in spades. The presentation was similar to the Sason's, but slighty cooler sound with wonderful imaging and staging. Because they are crossoverless, the have a very coherent sound - as coherent as the Sasons. Piano and vocals sounded natural as one can hope for. Bass was very tuneful - stand up bass was in your room real, but lacked the deep extension of cones. But what do you expect from a panel speaker? But there was one quality that bothered me. The treble was still ever so slightly grainy and irritating. I'm not sure if I could listen to these for hours on end if the music contained a lot of treble energy. These speakers can still draw you into the music like the Sasons. Overall, these were my second favorite. And the price is still reasonable at $6k (but going up to $8k in couple of months) in terms of performance, but not really in terms of aesthetics and build quality. The Sasons take top honor for that IMO. Peter, the dealer/distributor for these speakers, was a real gent.

Sorry, these were the only two speakers that really stood out in the end for me. I heard the mega expensive speakers from Acapella and Lansche (both using ion tweeters), YG acoustics, Hansen, etc. None of them could emotionally draw me into the music like the Sason and Podium.
dracule1
Trelja wrote:
...employ those velvet ropes to cordon off their loudspeakers. There were some really competent and/or exotic loudspeakers from the likes of Krell, Maxxhorn, Acapella (horrible sound, but $200K), etc. that you could go right up and put your fingers all over - and I did. Did YG and RSAD really feel it so important to keep the great unwashed away? Again, maybe it's me, but it comes off as the height of arrogance.
I understand what you're saying Trelija. As you experienced with Steve, we really ain't snobs. (Right Darren?) As a matter of fact, the stanchions were purposely not in front of the speakers but back and off to the insides of the speakers so they could be inspected and all. Believe me - they got touched (is it wrong? LOL!) The stanchions served two purposes: 1.) Not my amps / Big tubes / high voltage - you get the picture. 2.) They did dress up the room pretty nicely. To me the aesthetic of the room environment is an important part of the whole playback experience. I hoped we provided a comfortable setting to enjoy what we presented.

Dracule1 wrote:
Sorry Robert, I stand corrected about the amps.

No worries Drac (Michael?). I get a little dumerically nyslexic sometimes myself. ;)

Cheers!

Robert
RSAD
Sorry Robert, I stand corrected about the amps. Getting Fi and Ultra Fi mixed up. 12 and not 20 watts - I'm a little numerically dyslexic.
Thanks for the response, Dracule. I'm not sure what you meant by the speaker being the final common pathway, but I've always thought it's a mess in reality too.
Paulfolbrecht wrote:
Since when does Fi make 20W SET monos?
The amps used for the show were a pair of customized Daytona monoblocks by Larry D. Moore of Ultra Fi. About 12 watts a side. Normally you wouldn't partner Larry's Daytonas and RSAD's Sasons together but these amps are amazing within their limits - which definitely bellies their 12 watts. I like the amps and as far as dynamic/multi driver speaker designs go, Larry likes the Sasons. I have the amps here for a while until Larry sells them. I intend to write a full review of these beauties if I'm able to get enough time under my belt with them here. I already know this: I'll be sorry to see them go.

In a room size of what we had at the show and playing music at realistic levels consummate to the recording venue, listening distance from the speaks and room volume, it worked out very well for the show. For folks who prefer and are locked into "hi-fi spectaculars", the RSAD/Ultra Fi room probably wasn't for them. Nothing wrong with that preference mind you, just not what we wanted to present.

Hey Paul, I mentioned in another thread before the show I hadn't forgotten you. If you're still interested, now we can set up a time for you to visit at your convenience. Shoot me an email or give me a call. It would be fun.

Cheers!

Robert
RSAD
Trelja, everyone has their set point for value. Obviously, I think Sasons are high value given the amount of manual work and quality of the components that goes into making a pair.

I thought the Ultra Fi 20 watt SETs were not the best to show off the Sasons low bass - "foundation of music" as you put it. The Sasons I am told by Robert, Steve and Sason owners will go down to the low 30s. But I would have to hear that for myself.

I don't think their cabinet is their only "raison d'etre". Seems like a lot of thought and work went into the crossover parts, wiring, speaker/cable interface, and customized drivers as well.

Yea, I agree with you about the velvet rope thing. But I think the electronic did not belong to RSA and the speakers were Roberts personal pair. I touched the speakers but Robert has no problem with that.

Sound and musical taste is a highly personal matter. For me, the Sasons and Podiums just let me listen to the music and enjoy. Unfortunately, I couldn't say that for Acapella, YG Acoustics, Scaena, etc... hi fi explatives galore like "You can hear that bell way off to the side!, but couldnt enjoy the music through them.
Maybe it's just me, but while I found the RSAD speakers nice enough at RMAF2008, they didn't come anywhere close to justifying their asking price to me.

Whenever you commit to a speaker of that size, regardless of what the package offers otherwise, you are giving up the foundation of the music. It seemed you're first and foremost paying for a cabinet that requires a lot more work than most other products. On my own cost/benefit scale, that money is better spent in other areas, but hey, that's obviously their raison d'etre. They were far from being the only manufacturer I failed to see the value in.

The other thing I want to say is that they, along with "the best loudspeaker on earth, period" folks employ those velvet ropes to cordon off their loudspeakers. There were some really competent and/or exotic loudspeakers from the likes of Krell, Maxxhorn, Acapella (horrible sound, but $200K), etc. that you could go right up and put your fingers all over - and I did. Did YG and RSAD really feel it so important to keep the great unwashed away? Again, maybe it's me, but it comes off as the height of arrogance.

All that being said, I spoke to the speaker designer in the room, and he was truly a gentleman.
Jfz, good question. The speaker is the final common pathway so I can only make somewhat of a valid assessment of the speaker, not the upstream components. I can't make any real valid assessment of the upstream components unless I already know how the speaker sounds (ie, something I own and listen to). Eventhen, room interaction screws things up. It's a mess in reality.
Audiofeil, have you actually listened to these speakers instead of relying on "highly regarded" participants (whatever that means)? Have you ever seen these speakers in real life instead of pictures? If you were there, you would understand what I was talking about.
Since when does Fi make 20W SET monos?

Don makes the 2A3/45 monos/stereo and a (single) 300B mono (8W).

Paul, RSA was showing the Sasons with ULTRA FI electronics, which has no connection with Don Garber...
Audiofeil Wrote:
...but quite ordinary sounding and very overpriced.
Are you kidding!? LOL! Unfortunately I know you're not.

Aside from insulting the senses of well respected and keen eared manufacturers who've heard the Sasons - including Ultra Fi who partnered with us at the show - and 99% of the folks we've heard feedback from directly and indirectly over the last three years, all I can possibly say to that is "WOW!!!"!

Robert
RSAD
Since when does Fi make 20W SET monos?

Don makes the 2A3/45 monos/stereo and a (single) 300B mono (8W).

Has he got a parallel 300B or 211 or 845 now?
How did you (do you) determine that a particular component (this time speakers) is the cause of what you are hearing in a system (room included)? This is an honest and serious question. People do it all the time, and I've never found it works very well in my own experience.
Interesting take.

I've spoken with 3 of what you'd call "highly regarded" participants in these forums who heard the Sason at the show. The basic consensus is a very nice appearing speaker but quite ordinary sounding and very overpriced.

Funny how opinions are so diverse.
'97 RMAF? I thought this was only the 5th year(starting in 2003) that this show went on?