NL48 By Greg Roberts
Volti Audio Newsletter
By: Greg Roberts - 3/30/2022
Hello everyone, and a kind welcome
to our new subscribers
In the early morning hours I spend time thinking about stuff, like new speaker designs, or different construction methods. One of the things that occupies my mind is how the Volti Audio speaker lineup fits into the high-end audio marketplace. 

I visit other rooms at the audio shows and listen to speakers that cost $40K, $80K, $120K, etc… and I’m not all that impressed, moved, or engaged by what I hear. It boggles my mind that people will spend that kind of money on such boring speakers. Actually, it’s frustrating, because I know my $5,900 Razz speakers are more musically engaging than all of those high-priced hi-fi speakers. 

If I ever caught someone getting ready to buy an expensive pair of shiny white tower speakers with six cone drivers stuck in the front of each cabinet for $120K, I would want to handcuff them, tape their mouths shut, blindfold them and bring them down to the Volti/BorderPatrol/Triode Wire Labs show room and sit them in front of my Razz speakers for a couple of songs. 

I would advise them to buy the Razz instead, and then donate the difference of $114,100 to their favorite charity. That would truly be a way for high-end audio to help the world!

Yes, yes, yes, I know, I've said it a thousand times - this is a subjective hobby and it's all about what each individual likes. I'm sorry, I can't help myself. If you were sitting there with me listening to the gleaming white towers and then followed me back to my show room and listened to the Razz, I know you would agree with me. Some of you somewhat reluctantly maybe. Lol.

By the way, anytime you'd like to come to a show and go to some other rooms at the show with me to do comparative listening, I'm game.

Back to the 4am thinking sessions - I think about how my speakers, the Razz, the Rivals, and especially the Vittoras, fit into the marketplace, and I think I should be charging a LOT more money for them. 

As many of you might know, I'm in the process of developing the New Vittora system and I’m confident that this system will be one of the finest available in the industry. No wait, the best speakers ever designed and built! Lol. Seriously.

I don't know exactly what the New Vittora system will cost yet, but I would guess the complete system will be in the mid-40's. It will include the two main stacks, two external crossovers, two ELF cabinets, the new Volti subwoofer amplifier, and associated speaker wiring from Triode Wire Labs.

The New Vittora is a system that will easily best hi-fi speakers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, like the Von Schweikert or MBL systems, which I've heard many times now and always leave me wanting in just about every way. I would say probably better overall than any of the other big, expensive horn speaker systems that I occasionally get to hear at the audio shows. 

If the New Vittora system was sold through a dealership network, it would be double my direct-to-customer price - near $100K – and yet still a world’s-best type of system at a bargain price. 

At $45K this system will be a steal. 

Maybe I should simply put a $100K price tag on the system.

Come on Volti Newsletter Subscribers, what are your thoughts on all this?  Send me an email.
SHOWS!
We had a lot of fun at Capital Audiofest in November, 2021 and at the Florida Audio Expo last month. Attendance was pretty good considering that people are still concerned about Covid. Attendees seemed excited to be getting back to the shows, and back to normal.

Volti Audio, BorderPatrol Audio, and Triode Wire Labs had the best sounding rooms at the shows. Yes I know I'm biased, but I'm also informed and experienced! :)

We alternated all weekend between the Razz and the Rival speakers and if you came in and sat in the center seat of our room you heard a wide soundstage with believable sized images of players in front of you. You heard deep tight bass. You also heard properly proportioned bass from low to mid-bass to upper-bass. You heard great integration, full and rich midrange, just the right amount of detail on the top end - a very balanced overall tone. You were a bit startled at the realistic dynamics and you were certainly tapping your toes and becoming fully engaged with the music. Perhaps most importantly, you were not irritated by some niggling anomaly in the sound that never let you forget you were listening to a stereo system (as I found with nearly every other system at the show). Nope, not with our system. With the VA/BP/TWL system, it was a musical soundstage floating in front of you in the most believable way.

Not one other system at the shows could do everything ours was doing nearly as well.
Are you coming to the AXPONA show in Chicago?

You really should. It's the largest audio show in the country and it's a blast for those of us with even the slightest interest in stereo gear.

Volti Audio will be there, along with the usual suspects BorderPatrol Audio and Triode Wire Labs.

I'll be showing the Razz speakers all weekend, but I will have a pair of Rivals at the ready and I will put them into the system for anyone who wants to hear them. Rival listening sessions are by appointment, after hours in the evening or first thing in the morning when the show opens. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to hear the Rivals at the show.

The Rosewood Razz that I'm bringing to the show just sold as I was writing this newsletter. But the Beautiful Buginga Rival Type II's are still available.

You can put a deposit down prior to the show and I will hold them for you. You can pick them up at the show or I can drop them off at your home on my trip back from the show (Chicago to Tennessee), or I can ship them to you after the show.

Here's a couple of pictures of the show speakers:
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the grill cloth. It's the vintage looking woven grill cloth that I usually use, but not quite black. It's more gray/black. Very nice, and something I'll be using more of in the future. One thing I like about it is that it is very acoustically transparent, made just like the woven black cloth.
I'm doing the best I can to hold my speaker prices where they are. It's getting difficult though. I'm seeing price increases on almost everything I use to build them. Given the current situation overseas, can you imagine how much Russian birch plywood costs right now!

I'm just letting you know that if prices continue to go up, I will be raising my prices as well. It's a matter of survival and I'm sure you understand.

If you're considering the purchase of a pair of Volti Audio speakers, you should make a deposit and hold the current pricing.
A Volti Audio Customer . . . .
. . . . Mark Truhowski, sent me pictures of his listening room and I thought I would share them with you.
Thank you for sharing Mark. Have Fun!
Hey
Would you like to buy an audio rack that I built a few years ago? I love the sound of heavy wood racks like this, and I've got a used one that I don't use anymore. It's in remarkably good condition considering it was used at several shows.
It's made with 2" thick Baltic Birch plywood and veneered with walnut wood veneer. It has a clear satin lacquer finish.

As shown with the two plinths and spikes under everything. It's about 30" tall and 22" wide and 18" deep. Please don't hold me to those dimensions exactly. It's packed away in a crate and I don't want to take it out to set it up again to measure it.

It's very heavy and shipping would be fairly expensive.

I think I'll bring it with me to AXPONA and if anyone wants to buy it there at the show, they can bring it home with them. If you want it, let me know and maybe you can come pick it up at the show or pick it up here at my shop in TN, or even have it shipped to you - I don't mind putting it on a pallet and arranging for truck freight shipping to your place.
Make a reasonable offer
Life Is Not Fair
In my last newsletter, I featured a system that included a pair of beautiful Walnut Burl Vittoras, BorderPatrol electronics, TWL cables, etc... that we set up in St. Paris Ohio for my customer Ron Burns.

Remember this?
With great sadness I am sorry to say that Ron passed away on December 15, 2021. Only 61 years old - much too young.

I guess the lesson we learn is to never take life for granted, it can end all too quickly.

Ron had a passion for listening to music on a great stereo system. Like me, he was a Klipsch Khorn owner for many years and definitely had the bug for that high-sensitivity horn speaker sound. Also like me, he became tired of the issues with the Khorn sound and sought out something better. He bought a whole system from me and I'm thankful for the sale of course, but even more thankful to have that relationship with him that went beyond the sale. More than once Ron told me how much he enjoyed relaxing in the evenings melting into the music the Vittoras brought into the room. I'm glad he got to have that experience before he passed.

Rest In Peace Ron.
So will we see you at AXPONA? Let me know. If you'd like to arrange a listening session with the Rivals, I'll set them up for you.
Well that's it for this issue of the Volti Audio email newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and until next time, trust your ears and as always, Have Fun! 

Greg