RMAF 2016 Show Report
Wilson Audio, VTL, Nordost, dCS, And Brinkmann
Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest & CanJam 2016
RMAF 2016 Show Report By Kemper Holt

  I made it a point to visit this room often, and sit down when a central chair was available; I sat three times out of six tries, a very popular room, and well worth the wait. Wilson's front man and extraordinary setup genius Peter McGrath ran the room that debuted the Wilson Yvette, the third speaker from Wilson designed by Daryl Wilson, and I must say he is taking the sound signature a direction most will favor, this new Yvette is a great speaker.

Bea Lam was performing behind the scenes changing records, CDs, and sources, and being charming. VTL employed their S-400 Series II Reference Stereo Amplifier ($33,500), TL-6.5 Series II Signature Linestage ($15,000), and TP-6.5 Signature Phonostage w/silver MC step-up ($15,000). The Brinkmann Spyder Turntable & arm ($21,680) sported a Lyra Etna SL cartridge ($9995), dCS had their Rossini Player ($28,499) and Rossini Clock ($7499) on digital duty. Nordost Odin 2 cables connected everything, and a SXR stand from Harmonic Resolution Systems held it all.

Peter McGrath uses as wide a range of music choices as anyone, and this room had none of the tired audiophile favorites, instead I was constantly asking for the name of the artist and the album name, great job of music selections. I first heard a talented foursome playing Sonny Clark compositions from Voodoo, the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet, stunningly clear piano, huge soundstage, wide and very deep with no hint of a speaker, bass notes easy to follow without bloat but with snap and impact, and the drums had abundant "jump" factor and easily pressurized the room. Let's hear more of that!

Then on to Cecile McLorin Salvant from For One To Love, we heard "Wives and Lovers", her voice was clear and right in the room present, again the piano sounded right, and the drum kit quick and precise. Peter then played some early (pre popular) Diana Krall that was wonderfully recorded and showed off her voice brilliantly. Every time I came to the room, at some point Peter played a Boris Blank cut, scaring some to leave but bringing more into the room to see what was going on. Boris is a founder of the group Yello, and his electronica has sounds you never hear except in computer generated music. The Yvettes laughed at this assault and played bombastically loud, low, scary, dynamically alive, and still clear as a bell, a testament to their versatility. I really enjoyed listening to music here, and in fact stayed in the room for an hour after closing time Sunday with a number of others who just wanted to "enjoy the music", one of my very favorite rooms and the one I spent the most time in.

The Yvette uses drivers that are close to, or identical to, some of Wilson's big hitters so that is one reason the speaker is endearing, but the voicing by Daryl exhibits a more musically pleasing signature, rich harmonics, great tone density, and dare I say a little warmer which is why the Yvette will be a real winner for Wilson, keep up the great work Daryl.

Luke Manley, Peter McGrath, Bill Peugh, Amd Bea Lam

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