Ammar Jadusingh (AJ to those of us prone to slaughtering names) was showing a brand new loudspeaker from his Soundfield Audio brand, the $8,500/pair Variable Soundfield Tower 3 (VST-3).
These are really interesting — powered bass in a 12″ dipole (the bottom of the cabinet is open, not sealed) and a 10″ sealed subwoofer (also powered), with an 8Ω impedance and a 92dB sensitivity, these loudspeakers are fully full-range, and completely filled the room with fantastic dynamics and skull-crushing bass. With a 12″ “subwoofer” inside the tower, I guess this isn’t all that surprising. And yes, that sub has all the usual features for phase, volume and frequency controls. A rear-mounted planar tweeter provides that “big space” ambiance.
AJ was telling me that the speakers did not … quite … make it to the show unmolested. The perils of shipping have many faces, and having the haulers simply drop the speakers from the back of the truck are apparently one of the things you need to plan for when crating everything. The fact that these speakers even played was something of a surprise. The fact that it sounded as good as it did? Miraculous.
Also shown in the room was another pair of Soundfield Audio speakers, the Monitor 2. These are an evolution over his original powered Monitor 1, but I didn’t get a chance to hear them. More specs: $1,600/pair, 89dB, 8Ω, 65Hz-23kHz.
Both the VST-3 and the Monitor-2 share a feature — that giant 9.5″ planar-magnetic horn-loaded tweeter that comes in around or just over 1kHz.
AJ has come a long way from his first little monitors, and watching him stretch his legs with these big designs is awesome. Really looking forward to seeing him in a properly sized room where these bad boys can strut. For whatever reason, AJ “gets” bass response and I’ve never been even remotely disappointed by the sheer awesomeness he seems able to pour out of his cabinets. Ka-pow!
A rack full of ModWright Instruments gear was driving the VSFT-3, including a $5,250 KWA 100SE amp and $3,750 LS100 tube preamp. For sources, AJ had a Modwright modded Sony HAP-Z1ES and Oppo BDP-105. I didn’t get a chance to explore the HAP-Z1ES all that much, but I’m pretty sure that was driving the bus while I was in the room. The mods are pretty similar to what I have in my own Modwright-ed Oppo, but include an external PSU, a tube stage and a completely reworked output stage. $3k gets the mod on your own unit.
MG Audio Design cables were used throughout, including the giant flat ribbon Planus III speaker cables and the silver Planus AG1 interconnects.
I’d like to see you get your hands on both the Red Wine Audio and Modwright-modded Sony HAP-Z1ES and take both for a test drive.
I lust after this subwoofer stuck in the middle of a tower. I love the way they worked the front panel too. Very unusual.