I realize that it has been a while since this post was active, but I'm excited to say that I just put a deposit on the New Audio Frontiers Ultimate 211 SE amp and Stradivari Evo preamp. I"ve been very happy with my Circle Labs amp/preamp and the system sounds great but recently auditioned a WE 91E 300b integrated amp. The WE gave me a hint of the SET magic but overall I preferred the control and resolution of the Circle Labs pair. So I called Colin to discuss some SET options that I might consider and given his advice and that of others here I will try the NAF set up in my system. Looking forward to hearing it!
Wolf Von Langa SON (TAS 2022 PofY) and Gestalt Audio - my experience & review
In light of the recent accolades for the Wolf Von Langa SON speakers as The Absolute Sound product of the year, I am sharing some feedback. The WVL brand, along with the technologies used are not well publicized in the US as of yet so I thought it would be helpful to those that read the most recent article. I also can't do so without sharing feedback on the outstanding experience I have had working with Colin King, owner of Gestalt Audio in Nashville.
This isn't intended to be an extensive review so check out the Jan 2023 TAS for that. I have been an audio nerd for many years and have owned a decent variety of equipment but I'm generally not a frequent equipment flipper. That said I have listened to a lot of gear from budget to very high end. I over-research before making any changes.
My previous setup has been in place for about 10 years and was a Red Wine Audio (now Vinnie Rossi Audio) hybrid DAC/Pre , a VTL tube amp, and Reference 3a Grand Veena speakers in a dedicated small to mid sized room.
The WVL SONs were truly a rare speaker experience compared to anything else I had listened to. They provide a combination of outstanding detail, tone, realistic sound stage or image, and ultimately musicality. It achieves this all in addition to being one of the most enveloping speakers I've heard. I assume this is attributed to the di-pole design. However, its not imprecise like di-poles I've heard in the past.
Two more thoughts stand out. First, is that bass information sounds more like instruments than just frequency sounds than most other setups I've heard. The field coil driver technology likely is the reason for that. It's WVL's hallmark technology and worth the read for those interested. Second, the most unique thought I've had listening to the SONs is that voices sound like they are coming from a human head. Many speakers do a great job of placing a voice in 3D on the soundstage. But this is the first time I've noticed the source of the voice in addition to the voice itself.
The SONs are very good at very delicate as well as very complex or dynamic music. I listen to anything from vocals, jazz, and guitar only all the way through orchestra, metal, and rap...truly everything. Good recordings are spectacular but it also makes the worst recordings sound much improved.
These are not the right speakers if your preference is a much more direct, out front, image. That said WVL makes a horn version that was outstanding but not my style. Also, the SON's detail is excellent but its delivered in a slightly less edgy manner than many speakers.
In short, they were the best speakers that I can remember every listening to for my taste in audio. My preference is on the more linear and accurate side of the tube/analog spectrum if that helps.
If you are looking for the WVL line or other audiophile level needs, Colin is the owner of Gestalt and is truly exceptional to work with. His style is to understand your interest and simply let you hear some things. He has a great ear but most importantly is extremely non-salesy so you never feel like you're pushed to make a purchase. His "store" is his house so its more like going to hang out and listen to great gear and great music with a friend. I've been to far too many audio shops or talked on the phone with many others and he is a rarity in the industry. For those interested, I live in Louisiana so if someone wants to listen to the WVL's in the area let me know. He works very well with people that don't live nearby and will ship gear to you if you'd like.
To complete the picture, I also bought the Gold Note DC-10 DAC and power supply. Also fantastic for my musical tastes after listening to many DACs. I can share info on that if you'd like to message me.
I'm glad to answer any questions.
Steve
Showing 12 responses by hchilcoat
@lalitk @grannyring Can’t wait. The Circle Labs sound great, I can only image how the SONs sound with NAF. |
@geauxaudio great to see you comments about the WVL SON I have a deposit on a pair which I plan to get in the next month or so I’ll be using the Circle Labs M200/P300 separates I also have a KR Audio Kronzilla amp that would be fun to try but I need to get it repaired. I had a chance to listen to the SONs in Colin’s room at CAF and the sounded wonderful. Thank you for sharing your experience with the speakers and Colin. He really is a great guy to work with
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I will certainly share my impressions of the SONs with my Circle Labs gear. One challenge in my 11x17 room is that there a bathroom with a door that opens out along the side wall near where the right speaker is placed. While having a bathroom is convenient during long listening sessions, it constrains speaker positioning somewhat. I’ve had success with the front of my Audiokinesis Jazz Modules placed about 3.5 feet from the front wall and the speakers a bit over 7 feet apart center to center. If I move the speakers out further they have to be closer together based on the arc of the door. If I reverse the way the door opens so the handle is away from the front wall that would allow me to move the speakers a couple of feet out into the room. So when Colin comes I think we’ll start with where my speakers are now and tweak around the current door set up, then set up the speakers ignoring the door and see how that optimizes sound and how we can work around that. I am curious about what types of footers others are using for their SONs. I currently have my Jazz Modules on Starsound Sistrum stands, which do a nice job of removing the speakers from the floor and allow for a very tight, clean bass. We’ll see how they work with the SONs relative to their footers The Jazz Modules are amazing speakers for the money, but Duke had to stop making this version because the wonderful Pioneer TAD driver he was using.was no longer available. So I will be curious what level of improvement I get with the SONs. I could certainly be happy living with these speakers but expect an even higher level of performance with the WVL field coil drivers and AMT tweeters. Colin is also bringing some cables to play with. I have been using Grannyring’s Acoustic BBQ ICs and speaker cables and have Hijiri Nagomi power cords on my amp and preamp. Colin will bring some Hijiri cables and perhaps others so we’ll see what further improvements they bring to my system. So an exciting week ahead! |
@grannyring thanks for the advice on footers and cables. I’ll follow up with an update after speakers are set up. |
It’s been a few weeks now since Colin came out and set up my WVL SONs. I’ve been too busy listening to write about my experience. It was a busy, long day while Colin was here. Not only did he set up the speakers, but he brought a few different speaker cables and ICs to try out. Also we had to play with positioning the SONs on floor, carpet, and the Sistrum stands. In my 11w x 17L room we ended up with the front of the speakers about 4 feet from the front wall and the outside edges just under 2 feet from the side walls. That position gave us nice solid bass with boom and clear highs without honk. To make a long story short regarding cables, I settled on the Hijiri speaker cables. I really enjoyed the energy and transparency of the Sternklangs but in the end the more laid back musicality of the Hijiri speaker cables was what suited me best. I have been torn between Hijiri HCS interconnects that I already owned and the Tchernov Ultimates that Colin bought. I think I’m going with Tchernov IC. Both wonderful cables yet markedly different. It was pretty clear that the Sistrum stands were the way to go. I’ve used them for years on my Audiokinesis Jazz Modules and they really worked their magic with the SONs. We set them up directly on the wooden floor and they sounded great. For aesthetic reasons, we pulled the area rug in the room and placed it under the front spikes of the Sistrum. The rug has a thick pad so we couldn’t get the spike through it to make direct contact with the floor and this ended taking away the magic we heard previously so pulled the rug back again. Others here and in reviews have described the sound of the SONs better than I could, and I heard much of the same qualities that they have. While setting up the speakers and testing positions, we listened to a recording of the Roches singing Hallelujah that Paul Weitzel of TRL (who made the incredible Dude that I used to own) had given me. Colin commented that the lead singer sounded pretty much like she was in the room and the harmonies as the other singers came in were glorious. The word that came to my mind with these speakers was “palpable”. You could just feel the music through deep rich bass, solid dynamics, and emotional highs. When Colin was here we didn’t move the speakers out further because we needed to be able to fully open a bathroom door on the side near the speaker. A few days after he left, I decided to hell with the door, I’ll try moving the SONs further into the room and deal with door later. So I moved the SONs about a foot further into the room and this really increased the 3d quality of the soundstage in terms of depth and width. There was mare air around voices and instruments and more sparkle to highs. I think the Circle Labs separates work very well with the SONs. Colin, as well as many of you on this thread have suggested the New Audio Frontiers 211 integrated as an amazing match with the SONs. So I will have to go to Colin’s shop or have a home demo to see whether I would want to trade the Circle Labs M200/P300 in. Need the audio coffers to be replenished first! Finally, I plan to trade in my Starsound SP-101 Sistrums and an extra Sistrum 3 level rack and purchase the newer Rhythm-JR stands that would fit more cleanly under the SONs and the Rhythm rack under my amp. So more on that front later. It’s late, but more later. |
@wvl Great to hear you were inspired to move your speakers further out into the room. I had the same reaction you did, I was amazed at the improvement in soundstage and how voices more open and lifelike. I played around with toe in too and found just a slight amount worked best more me. And just wait until you try some Hijiri or Tchernov cables! @grannyring It is certainly true that the SONs reveal everything upstream. One example was when I played music through my Mojo Audio Deja Vu streamer without the Network Acoustics ENO system and then heard how much improvement there was when I added it back in. I heard some improvement previously but the impact of the ENO was much more evident. I will have to make a trip to Colin’s sometime to hear the SONs with the NAF and Circle Labs. The system is very clear and dynamic with the Circle Labs separates and I love it but would love hear it with a top notch SET. Now wish I hadn’t sold my TRL Dude! Also have to check out the Tron DAC. No excuses now that there is a cheap direct flight between Richmond and Nashville. @facten Thanks for the suggestions on the Neodio B2. I don’t think Colin brought them up before. I’ll have to.check them out. @willgolf I didn’t know much about the Cessaros until Colin mentioned them during his visit. THey seem fascinating and I will listen to them when I get to Colin’s shop. But the price is out of my range at this point. I know Colin loves them. |
A funny thing happened today related to my comments about how the SONs reveal everything upstream. Everything was soiunding wonderful last night. I went to play some music again this afternoon and the magic was gone. I let the system play a while, thinking that the drivers needed to warm up a bit but the system sounded frustratingly lackluster. Bass was boomy and there was considerable congestion with a flat soundstage. I began to panic a bit what could be wrong. Then I suddenly realized that I had rebooted my Mojo Audio server when I went to bed. I rebooted it I had the Ethernet cable from the wall plugged directly into the server and I had taken the Network Acoustics ENO system out of the chain (the JCAT XE USB doesn’t seem to like the 100MB speed of the ENO and doesn’t.set up an Ethernet connection when I reboot). As soon as I realized that I moved the cable from the wall and plugged into their Ethernet switch and replaced the ENO system. Now the magic was back! Thanks, @grannyring for letting many of us know about the Network Acoustics products! At.some point I’ll get the Muon Pro so I can boot up without switching Ethernet cables. |
@jafant The. SONs will show clear differences between cables. Colin brought some cables to try out when he came to set up my speakers.I listened to the Hijiri HCS and Sternklang speaker cables. The Sternklangs were impressive with clarity of sound and dynamics but I decided on the relatively laid back sound of the Hijiris that I found more engaging in my system with the Circle Labs separates. I have been comparing the.Hijiri HCI ICs,which I have owned for several months now, with the Tchernov Ultimates. The Hijiris definitely have their own imprint on the sound, seemingly more subdued than the Tchernovs but seductively musical. The Tchernovs are very transparent and had less of their own imprint on the sound. I was leaning toward the Tchernovs because I felt they had a more palpable dynamic sound. Then I mentioned to Colin that I was curious about the Hijiri Million Kimami IC although I really didn’t spend more after purchasing the new speakers and other cables. He said I’ll.just send you a pair to listen to. I consented, knowing that it would be dangerous to accept the offer. Sure enough, once I connected them between the Mojo Audio DAC and Cirle Labs preamp I knew.there was no turning back. THe Million IC combines the strengths of what I heard in the Hijiri HCI and Tchernovs. Again, the WVL SONS really reflect an improvements made upstream of the speakers. Look forward to hearing about your impressions and what you end up with. |
@jafant i just posted my Virtual System. I’ll fill in some details soon. |