Hey Folks,
Quick story of a visit to Volti Audio. Before Greg moved to Tennessee from Maine and a week before his visit to our brother, Art Dudley's (RIP) home in New York, a friend and I demoed his Vittoras for a friend in CA. Jeremy had fallen in love with the fine woodwork at a show. Greg had graciously set up the threesome on the long wall of his "Paul Klipsch dimensioned" living room space. At that time, I was unaccustomed to larger spaces and horns in general. Greg said he had vacillated in using the short or long wall. He was still locking in the crossovers, driving the pair with less than 2 watts of tube power, a Canadian amp designed for him. I had brought a small batch of CDs and we settled in.
The glory of a full range horns was fully in evidence. Since then, I have experienced 10 years of sharing a huge space with a nearby friend, sampling modded corner Tannoys...in nearfield, vintage AR9s, King stats, Dynaudio, Von Schweikert, others. I've forgotten Greg's CD player, but it was one of the day's best. The musicality of the digital source shone through, yet lacking some detail, especially by today's standards. My flavors focus on truth of timbre and a detailed soundstage. I suspect the short wall would have increased and enlivened detail, we agreed.
Greg tossed in some rock and cranked that little SET amp with a shrewd grin. I was looking for the exits...NOT because of distortion, rather, sheer clean, powerful volume. He had the Vittora's 18" sub locked-in and man! Winning the day were cuts from "Let Your Voice be Heard," Cantus, a men's choral group recording by Phile's former Chief Editor, John Atkinson. The space of that college hall is captured, and the sound spread, glorious!
Art Dudley, to me so qualified in many ways...great ear, musician, hands-on turntables & loudspeakers, likely THE best audio story writer and plain-truth evaluator ever, found the Vittoras a bargain. (for me, TAS's HP paved the way in DESCRIBING SOUND.) Imagine if Art had allowed himself the luxury of room tuning! I respect his choice of an untreated room for reviewing but am somewhat saddened he didn't get to live with a well-tuned room at home. Today, one wonders of his thoughts surrounding the BACCH crosstalk-cancelling DSP? I've had the Plug-In since last August and cannot find a negative. Yes, it changes lots of overdone studio stuff, however, who's to say what is better around that? On minimalistic recordings, for me, truth of timbre increases atop the spacial stuff. The future.
I found Greg to be a no-nonsense, fair-minded businessman with a great passion for his craft and love of music. An artisan. His sincerity and directness brought back the days when a handshake was enough. Greg, if you chance onto this, thank you again for a memorable experience. Continued great success to you and your wife and your lifestyle choices. Tim G
More Peace, Pinthrift (bold print for old eyes)