RMAF 2012

Vapor Audio: Anything but Vaporware

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 19, 2012

Vapor Audio’s Rick LaFaver had reason aplenty to smile. Playing M•A Recordings’ fabled CD of Sera Una Noche: La Segunda, his system nailed the timbre of instruments spot on. I was amazed at the depth he achieved from his small speakers, and took special note of the realistic decay of the sound of brushes on cymbals and bells being struck. “The hollow resonance of the percussion seems real,” I wrote in my notes.

Doing the honors were Vapor Audio’s Joule Black loudspeakers ($8995/pair with stands), pictured beside the smaller Vapor Audio Cirrus Black loudspeakers ($3995/pair). Completing the system, and equally responsible for the sound, were BMC M2 monoblock amps ($7990/each), BMC BDCD1.1 belt-drive CD transport ($4990), and BMC DAC1 preamp ($6290); Antipodes Music Server ($2500), a VortexBox based design that operates headless, and uses an external battery power supply for the USB output to truncate computer power supply noise to the DAC; HB Cable Design PowerStar Horizon power distributor ($3995) and Stage III cabling; and racking from HiFi Racks UK (approx. $1000).

COMMENTS
bachMan's picture
Submitted by bachMan on October 29, 2012 - 12:06am

There were 3 contenders for me at RMAF: dc10audio Berlin, Vapor cirrus, and Joseph Audio for a small to medium stand mount speaker to use with my 20 watt S.E.T setup well. the Berlin won by a mile as they played at concert level with 4 watts. The other two speakers are really more for bigger trasistor power and the sound was so typically truncated or over crossovered unlike the Berlin which played with a sonic sensitivity that will be fab with my 20 watt tube baby.

bachMan's picture
Submitted by bachMan on October 29, 2012 - 8:51am

It seems some in the industry are a little worried about this tiny Company dc10audio as aliases known to works for two other brands both showing on the same floor 4th floor as dc10audio continue to Bash the company on agon and here. We've heard from the experts that the room was one of the best at the entire show and even greats in the amplifacation business such as Kondo and Rogue said it was one of the best rooms.....Oh yeah, these guys don't make speakers! Are the other brands worried that dc10 is doing something new? Grow up boys take a chance and invent something...dc10audio did and guess what it works VERY WELL!

Peter

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