Volti

S

stereogeek

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2018
Messages
472
I had a nice conversation with Greg from Volti Audio yesterday. I have been thinking about getting a pair of either the Rival's (15" woofer) or Razz's (12" woofer) for my rather small listening room. What really drew me to the Rival is the ability to change the voicing of the speaker externally with jumpers and resistors. I was quite pleased to find out that Greg has setup the Razz so the owner can make internal changes themselves if the balance is too tilted up or down. As I understand it the midrange and tweeter come somewhat toned down to match the woofer output so you can crank them up a bit or throttle them back, a very nice feature. It was agreed the Rival's 15" woofers would probably be too much for my small room so I am looking very hard at the Razz. The build quality is outstanding on all of his speakers and he uses pro audio drivers which are very dynamic and durable. He gives a 1 year warranty (longer if you are nice). He says "we don't blow drivers." I responded "how about the passengers?" We both got a good laugh, I guess I will sleep on it another day or so. Cheers all.
 
Hahahaha, funny. Friends and I have attended a couple of audio shows where Greg attended. We sat mesmerized listening to his speakers. I don’t think you can go wrong and made to last a lifetime. Superb woodwork with an easy listening character. Wonderful speakers.
 
joeinid said:
Hahahaha, funny. Friends and I have attended a couple of audio shows where Greg attended. We sat mesmerized listening to his speakers. I don’t think you can go wrong and made to last a lifetime. Superb woodwork with an easy listening character. Wonderful speakers.
Click to expand...
Have you heard the Razz or his larger ones?
 
stereogeek said:
I had a nice conversation with Greg from Volti Audio yesterday.

He says "we don't blow drivers." I responded "how about the passengers?" We both got a good laugh, I guess I will sleep on it another day or so. Cheers all.
Click to expand...


We don't blow drivers?:rolleyes:--oh yeah really!- what's he doing here then:blush:?

Bruce
 

Attachments

  • _MG_8412 copy.jpg
    _MG_8412 copy.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 343
I remember when he did that at the show. Does demonstrate the horn shape affecting the sound.
 
I own Rivals and they are incredible! In fact I recently did some adjustments with the resistors in the crossovers and changed things up a little to better reflect Greg's current voicing (I got mine in 2019).

The only speakers I could ever see replacing them would be Vittoras but I do not feel that I am missing out in any way with the Rivals.

I came from La Scala IIs for reference... the only thing where the LSIIs best the Rivals is of course the speed and dynamics of the folded horn woofer. Which is why the Vittora is such an end-game speaker. It's almost identical to the Rivals from the mid horn up but there's no replacement for the speed of those folded horns. They will absolutely kick start your fight or flight response.
 
I really want the Rivals but we are afraid the bass will overload my small room which is just 200 sq ft. I had to move into a small room upstairs as I was afraid the new grand kids would damage my equipment or get hurt or burned on the exposed tubes. Anyway, do you mind me asking how big your room is and how much bass slam you have? Are they off the back and side walls? Thanks again.
 
One thing the Rivals do very well (when paired with the right amplification) is low-level listening. I am thinking your space is about half the size of my room which is 29Lx16W. However I only use the half of the room for my 2 channel system. I am sitting 13' from the front wall and about 9.5' from the speakers, which are 7.5' apart. The speakers are 54" from each side wall and 64" from the front wall. I also have them on Symposium Ultra platforms. I do not feel that the bass is overpowering in anyway. I do have 2 JL e110s which are crossed over at 40Hz.

But to give my opinion on your question, I don't think your room is going to be too small for the Rivals. They are not bass-heavy speakers although they have an imposing woofer. They are very good at lower levels and with proper placement should not be overpowering in that space. I have not heard the Razz so I don't know if they would be a better fit for your size room, but I do know the Rival is better in every way than the Razz based on specs and drivers alone.

Here are some images of the Rivals in my room:

PrimaLuna Testing

i-mQvk8h7-X4.png
 
I should also emphasize that proper placement is key to the bass response. I did several StraightTalk sessions with Jim Smith to get the most out of my room... and I do have some pretty big (7") bass traps across my front wall so I may not be the best person to comment on raw bass response in a small untreated room. I guess I would defer to Greg's thoughts on that vs the Razz.
 
Thanks again for your feed back. I do have some absorption panels for the first reflection points and a few extra just in case. I also have some bass traps. However, I have not installed any of this yet. I will have to ask Greg about the specs and drivers and see if the Rival will be better overall. I will also ask about over loading the room again and if there is enough adjustment on the speakers to get the balance right, then maybe work on position to tune the bass. You have a beautiful room and system (must sound badass), love the lighting. Cheers. P.S. I would have to wait a while on the Rival, the Razz is available in a week or so. I get jonesn' for something new and gotta have it now...lol.
 
Thanks, I have been working on the room in particular for about 4 months now, after bringing a Supernait 3 into my system (moving up from a Uniti Nova which I loved) and I have worked this room to death to try and get the last bit of resolution and engagement out of the Supernait but I have decided to give in and swap out the SN3 with the PrimaLuna Evo 300. Greg is right, the Rivals love tubes... I had a Luxman MQ88-uSE when I first got the Rivals but I felt it was too polite. The Nova was just right, and logic dictated that a Supernait 3 would be a "bigger, better Nova" but that was not the case. The upside of all that experimenting is that I have had a lot of fun with placement and tuning and working with absorption and diffusion etc to really dial things in. And now I have the Evo 300 which, although not the last word in refinement, is every bit as transparent and holographic as the Luxman with a bit of the "fun" and boogie/PRaT of the Nova.

I know you can't go wrong with either the Razz or the Rival and you are right, there is something to be said for immediate gratification LOL. However remember that more than any other component, a speaker could be a lifetime investment in your system. I would go with Greg's recommendation between the 2, he knows his speakers best, but don't be tempted to short change yourself for a quick delivery :)

Best of luck!
 
JSQT said:
Thanks, I have been working on the room in particular for about 4 months now, after bringing a Supernait 3 into my system (moving up from a Uniti Nova which I loved) and I have worked this room to death to try and get the last bit of resolution and engagement out of the Supernait but I have decided to give in and swap out the SN3 with the PrimaLuna Evo 300. Greg is right, the Rivals love tubes... I had a Luxman MQ88-uSE when I first got the Rivals but I felt it was too polite. The Nova was just right, and logic dictated that a Supernait 3 would be a "bigger, better Nova" but that was not the case. The upside of all that experimenting is that I have had a lot of fun with placement and tuning and working with absorption and diffusion etc to really dial things in. And now I have the Evo 300 which, although not the last word in refinement, is every bit as transparent and holographic as the Luxman with a bit of the "fun" and boogie/PRaT of the Nova.

I know you can't go wrong with either the Razz or the Rival and you are right, there is something to be said for immediate gratification LOL. However remember that more than any other component, a speaker could be a lifetime investment in your system. I would go with Greg's recommendation between the 2, he knows his speakers best, but don't be tempted to short change yourself for a quick delivery :)

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
After another conversation with Greg I have decided on the Razz as he stated it will be the perfect fit for my room. Also, he is working on a "new" Rival and those will not be ready for a while. He believes if I position the Razz along the long wall instead of the short wall that I will get optimum performance. If I decide later that I want the new Rivals he said he will work with me. He is really fond of EL34 amps with his speakers, which are usually around 35wpc ( 2 tubes per channel ). Just by coincidence Audio Note has a EL34 amplifier kit I have been looking at for a while now, guess its time to start building again. This is fun! BTW....I really appreciate your feedback. Your system and room is top notch. Congrats.
 
That is awesome and it sounds like excellent advice... good luck and be sure to post a review when you get everything set up and dialed in!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top