Vivid audio - partnering gear

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Cellindo

Not surprising to me. VTL makes very good stuff. I always remember a fantastic VTL + TAD demo at the CES some years back.
So a pair G2 with the right tube electronics, it should sing very well, I guess

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Wasn't a fan of the VTL/TAD pairing I heard at RMAF a couple years ago, actually.

[Cellindo]

Okay Puma car. Each one of us has his own musical/hifi preferences.

These TAD Ref one are at the pinnacle of loudspeaker top 3 for my tastes. And the VTL gear gives them the right amount of "humanity" that is sometimes lacking with partnering TAD electronics.

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[Cellindo]

Let's come back to Vivid Audio now. My second favorite speaker brand so far. ;-)

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[Puma Cat]

CA Audio was the first time I've heard the Vivids where I thought they sounded good, actually. I heard the smaller (B1s?) Vivids a couple of years ago at CA Audio and they sounded just awful. I attribute this to poor system pairing and set ups in the past. Philip O'Hanlon set up this pair in conjunction with Music Lovers Audio and Bea Lam of VTL and they did a great job.

[Briz Vegaas]

Sounds like the G3 with Devialet. Not awful, unless you were the other guys in the room who were not kind, but not right either. Mind you last time I liked that persons system he had Classe amps and a MacBook Pro up front. I used to love his sound back them. I actually wondered about the Aurrender. Every system is the sum of its parts, that's why I started this thread.

Puma disliked the B1s he heard, I easily prefer mine over the G3 systems I have heard so far. CJ tubes and one of their pointy end preamps, A Naim source, particularly with A big outboard power supply and reference Nordost cables are the key I suspect. It's the sum of the parts. It nothing like Puma's B1 experience, yet I don't doubt his comments or opinion.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Briz Vegaas

Sounds like the G3 with Devialet. Not awful, unless you were the other guys in the room who were not kind, but not right either. Mind you last time I liked that persons system he had Classe amps and a MacBook Pro up front. I used to love his sound back them. I actually wondered about the Aurrender. Every system is the sum of its parts, that's why I started this thread.

Puma disliked the B1s he heard, I easily prefer mine over the G3 systems I have heard so far. CJ tubes and one of their pointy end preamps, A Naim source, particularly with A big outboard power supply and reference Nordost cables are the key I suspect. It's the sum of the parts. It nothing like Puma's B1 experience, yet I don't doubt his comments or opinion.

Interesting, Briz....the G3s sounded great with VTL tube gear and I can easily image the B1s would as well (especially C-J!). IIRC, the B1s were set up with a Luxman SS integrated....but I suspect the real culprit was the set up and the room (this was the first CA Audio Show at the Crowne Plaza venue near the SFO airport, which was a dreadful hotel).