Iron and Wine
Beast Epic
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Hi guys, I’m back from my travels to Washington and visit with Daedalus Audio for speaker evaluation. By the way, some really great music selections on this page. I look forward to spinning vinyl again, tonight. I stayed with a friend at Lake Stevens, WA. He is a better fisherman than I am and his freezer is stuffed with a big Summer catch of local caught halibut, ling cod, and salmon. Excellent meals for both nights. I promised to report back on my experience with the Daedalus Audio speakers so here goes. First off, WOW, those speakers are spectacular! The owner, Lou Hinkley, is such a pleasant and wonderful human being and I had a great time at his facility. I was there for nearly 5 hours. During that time I received a thorough tour of his shop and the various machinery for woodworking, finishing, etc. It was wonderful to see the different build stages of speakers that were currently under construction. The bracing alone is a work of art. I was very impressed with just how thick the cabinet walls are and how such a structure is all joined together. No mass production here, none whatsoever. And the choices/selections of wood that Lou makes are absolutely as good as it gets. Stunningly beautiful. On to listening, the music selections were choices that demonstrate vocals, string instruments, wind instruments (of course that included a trombone😁), bass guitars, drums & kick drums, some synthetics (such as Pink Floyd), but mostly natural instruments. Using the same front-end electronics of an LTA preamp and a Lampizator DAC we first used solid state amplifiers that were PS Audio, the BHK series, dual mono amps (big ones, huge power). Everything sounded very good and, frankly, very impressive. All the descriptive you would expect of a great sounding system (without having to list and repeat that here). Yet, I still had a slight reservation. There was something not exactly what I was looking for. OK, let’s change over to the tube amp and I’ll study for the difference. We connected the LTA (Linear Tube Audio) top model. I don’t recall the model number but it is there best amp and is only 20 watts per channel. Now remember, the BHK mono amps are 450 watts each. So now we are going from big-iron horsepower to a very modest powered tube amp. I listened to a few songs and that’s all it took. Holy cow, that is what I have been seeking. That’s the sound I have been wanting and was very hopeful for experiencing. Indeed, those speakers being a very consistent impedance curve (read that as a very flat impedance curve), along with being highly sensitive at 96 db, are driven to very satisfying SPL with that 20 watt/channel tube amp. But the sound quality was light years better than the solid state amps. I mean, it was night and day difference. At least, to my ears and also to my friends’ ears (he chose to travel with me for this adventure). Just amazing how those speakers can deliver all of the impact you would think only a higher powered amp would be able to do, yet, with only a small tube amp doing the job. The Daedalus Audio speakers are everything I had hoped for, and maybe even just a little more. They are just flat-out awesome! We concluded my choice of wood, inlay design, and inlay choices of wood. Lou drew up the paperwork and I placed my deposit for order on a new set of the Apollo 11 speakers. These are the latest generation with the newest driver updates/designs for 2022. My timing is very fortunate for that. And now the long waiting time for delivery. That’s the tough part because it’s 4 1/2 to 6 months lead time for this highly bespoke speaker build. I’ll survive but I sure am anxious. The ski days ahead for this season will keep my attention divided well enough, though. We are heading to Mammoth Mountain on Tuesday for a couple of quality ski days. Big storms are under way now, should be a good time. Thanks for taking your time to read my story. |
Very much enjoyed your travelogue Joel. I especially liked reading that you liked the sound of LTA equipment. If the LTA amp used was 20 watts it was likely their Ultralinear+ model. The do make a 40-50 watt (depending on tube selection) amp too, their Reference+. Congratulations on your decision and purchase. Very nice.
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Awesome travel trip Joel, what wood did ya get ? best to you ! @bslon I was blessed to catch the Dregs in a relatively small venue back in the day.. first time I heard a Chapman stick… yum. i am a simple 50 watt per channel Robot |
To answer Jim's question, the wood is quarter-sawn North American walnut and the inlays are of two woods, claro walnut and I can't remember the name of the other, but it's a gorgeous combo. These are the best choices so not to clash with the zebra wood I have in the room. It's really quite stunning, those woods for the speakers. And if it makes you Northerners feel better, I am heading to the cold. I changed plans for travel to Mammoth, out 1 day, Wednesday to Friday. The major storm is forecasted to drop 6 to 8 feet from main lodge to the summit and about 3 to 4 feet in town. I-395 is expected to be closed from Bishop to Mammoth on Monday and possibly Tuesday. All this snow in the time frame of Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night. That's a serious storm. Spinning vinyl tonight, after the basketball game. |
Tim, I have had a similar set out of acrylic for years. I didn’t like them as much as these. The acrylic bases on the others made an audible scratching noise. Unlike the more substantial material on the Nobsound. I can’t really make a substantive comparison at this time but my system has never sounded better in the last few weeks and this change today did nothing to harm this. I do believe the power of the low to deep bass has benefited. |