Blumenstein Ultra Fi

[Hank Murrow]

Tried to post this earlier, unsuccessfully. I have been experimenting with the Orcas and BUF Subs(black cones). No sub, one sub, and both subs in a 19x15x8 room. Without the subs, the Orcas are volume limited, yet very articulate. With one sub, the volume limitation largely goes away, and with two subs the hall ambiance is stronger with a better sense of the original venue. Everything seems more effortless. Using both Stereophile test CD's, I measured the response in my room with a Ratshack meter and all is pretty even down to 50 Hz, where there is a six Db suckout, the response back strong at 40Hz and 31.5Hz, falling off to -6Db at 25Hz, and -12Db at 20Hz.

Following the testing, I listened to the Telarc vinyl pressing of Saint-Se

 

[saildoctor]

I had a super fun demo at Blumenstein Audio HQ yesterday.  Clark swapped between components and we had a small pre/amp shootout.  Up and running at the shop was a Seduction, Quickie, Sex w/ c4s, and a 2a3 Stereomour.  I contributed my own FP-III Ext., Seduction w/ c4s and 0C3, and 45 Paramounts.

Funny, the first time my components were hooked up and played everything sounded muffled.  Huh?  Was it my L-pad on the Paramounts input?  I thought of my questionably crappy soldering.  Then from some deep crevice in my brain i rememebered - OH!  My cartridge at home is a HOMC and I have like 1 or 2k on my seduction inputs!  So back went the in house Seduction and much better.  The Sex and 2a3 Stereomour amps were very nice sounding - but I really liked the highly textured sound of the 45's.  Clark was also kind enough to try some EML 45's in my Paramounts. (Well... I DO have the soft start upgrade. Sure! haha.)  Oh my - I do like my Philco's but the EML was somethin' else for sure.  Maybe Clark wants to chime in on the differences because he has a much more trained ear than I. 


The pair of Orcas & Subs they had were brand spankin' new - no burn in time.  They are literally flying off the shelves according to Clark & Molly.  That was just fine for me - even for not being broken in I could tell how great they sound.  I could really hear how much flatter over the spectrum these were over the speakers I use currently.  Also, what really sealed the deal for me was the way they had so much more more clarity during fast / complicated pieces of music which was just astounding to me.  And hey - if this is how they sound when new then I can ONLY IMAGINE for now what I will be listening to after I get my pair.  Yup - I ordered some right there on the spot!  I am very pleased that I found just the speaker solution that I was looking for - affordable, high performing, and made by super nice people!

 

[Natural Sound]

I just joined the Orca club!!! Decided to go for the full meal deal, supersized.

1 pair of Natural Bamboo Orcas
1 pair of Natural Orca Passive Subwoofers, mirrored with stabilization bases.
1 pair of 250 Watt Subwoofer Amplifiers in Bamboo Boxs
1 pair of Floor Stands for Orcas

I wanted to get a pair of bamboo boxes for my Paramour's but I blew my budget all to hell. Oh well. There is always next year.

These will be mated to a pair of Paramour II mono-blocks running 45's. A Foreplay III will be up front doing the line-stage duties.

Needless to say I'm very excited.

 

[Wormwood]

On the last second I decided to grab a pair.... or is that buy a pair....


Umm...

Well I order a set of Orca Natural. I really couldn't justify the sub and sub amp which when shipping applied really threw a curve ball into the total. Maybe later in the year or something.


Stephen

 

[Demsy]

Busy day for the Blumensteins yesterday........I also placed my order for a pair of caramelized Orcas. It will then have to travel all the way to Jakarta, Indonesia

 

[Clark B.]

Yes, it was so nice to have you over Kerry!  And sorry we didn't even have a pair hooked up for you when you got here, bad memory on our end that we had shipped out literally everything that was completed before we took off to hang with the fam last week.  We hooked up the pair we listened to so fast, that after you left we had to go back, unmount them from the Orca/Sub floorstanders, and put a few more coats of finish on them and tidy them up a bit.

Your amps were really really nicely executed, and the shootout was alot of food for thought in regards to what the Orcas like.  As I've been tending to a little higher power of the Stereomour and eventually the 300B paramounts, your amps reminded me again that appearances can be deceiving - I keep finding this time and again in the world of SET amps that the rated power output is only a fraction of the whole picture in regards to the true driving capability.  The big kahuna BH transformers in your paramounts make them one hell of a 45 amp.  Much more stout, resolved, and louder, and "rock-out-able" than my paramour II's (with speco's) converted to 45 use, for instance.  Also, your extended foreplay has got to be the finest example of a foreplay that I've heard to date.

Now that we are back to our home system, we are still running the Seduction w/C4S, Quickie w/PJCCS, and Stereomour 2A3 for the last several weeks.  We've been able to get some really respectable volumes and dynamics out of them the last few days with the Orca/Sub Floorstanders. 

In regards to break in, you are going to really like your system if you liked the sound coming from them that night!  The last few days, Molly and I have burnt them in and so much has changed in the sound (subtly)! 

So I am just jumping out of my seat to get everyone shipped out asap so that they can hear this magic too. 

Cheers,

Clark

 

[Molly]

Hi folks,

We received some emails from people who'd tried to get orders in to beat the price increase but had trouble with our online store. Since Clark and I were out of contact last night for New Years Eve, we weren't able to arrange payment. Given all that, we wanted to extend the old prices for one more day to lighten the pressure for any last-minute types (and also lighten the administrative load on our end  ).

New prices will become active in the store January 2, 9:00 am PST. We are arranging payment directly with the folks who had problems; if you too need assistance, just email me directly to place an order.

All the best to everyone in the new year! Thanks many times over for all the orders and support we've been given this past year!

Molly

 

[Molly]

Hi all, I come bearing even more news of technical difficulties. We just discovered that our email has been down since midnight, January 1. If you placed an order or tried to reach us by email after that time, or would like to reach us in the meantime, please contact us at this temporary email address:
blumensteinaudio@gmail.com

We should have our email back online by Friday at the latest I'm told, but hopefully much sooner than that. Our phone numbers are also posted on the 'Find Us' page of our website.

-Molly

 

[Molly]

We are back online and our email addresses have resumed working. Hooray!

molly@blumenstein-ultra-fi.com
clark@blumenstein-ultra-fi.com

Molly

 

[Grainger49]

I received my speakers two weeks ago last Friday.  I had Christmas shopping to do so I put them on the floor facing each other, out of phase, in mono, and started burn in.

Three hours later I returned for my first listen.  They are a beautiful piece of audio jewelry! 

 

[bjorgens]

Howdy.
I'm a new forum member who is [very] anxiously looking forward to receiving my paramount 300B kits in ~3weeks.

The Orcas are also super intriguing to me (especially given all the positive words from you folks).  My listening space is not large (essentially a sitting area off of our master bedroom)...it's a turn of the century home so the space was probably a sleeping porch originally.  I.e. they'd be used primarily for near-field listening most of the time... As it stands today, my listening is via headphone (re-cabled Senn 600s)

The Paramounts will be paired with a VPI traveler turntable and Coffman Labs G1a pre-amp/ phono stage (also serves as my headphone amp).  I may add a digital source at some point down the road.

At the risk of asking a presumptuous question, is there anybody in the Portland, Or area with Orcas in their setup that might be amenable to me having a listen?

Many thanks in advance, and I genuinely can't wait to start building the Paramounts.  Really impressed by the demeanor and expertise of folks on this board as I've been reading through threads in a blind attempt to make myself a little smarter 
cheers
Bryan

 

[Hank Murrow]

I am in Eugene OR, and you would be very welcome to come for a listen. The rest of the system is all tube MQ/Bottlehead Customs, with an Oppo DVP-95 player and a VPI 19 table with BPS Evo lll cartridge. Mine are set up in a quasi-near field(7' x 7' x 7') with Clark's Subs(they can be silenced).

Cheers, Hank (541-285-4222)

 

[bjorgens]

Hank,
that's really kind of you.  Thanks!

I'll see what my schedule allows in coming week ( I may be travelling for work) and give you a ring to coordinate a covenient time/ date if it looks like I could make the drive to Eugene.

best regards,
Bryan

 

[Grainger49]

Here is how the Orcas look in my listening room.  It is 21' X 13.5'.

The room could have been neater.  My fat feet are not in the way of the drivers, the Paramours are between the Orcas, FP 2 and Eros behind in the bottom of the cabinet.  My VPI table is covered with the cloth to keep the two kittens off of it.  It also keeps off a lot of dust dog and cat hair.

The sub in the right rear corner is not playing.  It is a Brazilian rosewood (from the 70s no embargo then) Infinity sub.  It isn't on.  The Boston Acoustics sub behind my right foot is playing.  The Full Sail Ale beer sign should have been on, it is the serious listening light.

 

[Tubejack]

Nothing goes better with Jimmey Buffett than an all tube rig ...... trust me, I know ....

 

[Grainger49]

Had another audio buddy here this weekend.  He drove up from Atlanta, 4 hours, to hear the Orcas.  He agrees that they seem to defy the laws of physics.  His jaw was on the ground.

 

[Downhome Upstate]

My 2 cents about the Orca's after about only 20 hours:

Imaging better than my MMG's, tone to die for, and a reach (resolution) further into the music. Listening to Fleet Foxes 'Helplessness Blues' 24/96 HD Tracks album download through the Halide DAC HD and the Orca's was a revelation. A great match for the 2A3 Stereomour (stock except for ALPs Blue Velvet control).

Kudos to Clark & Molly. I had worried that jumping from my old amp and MMG's was another impulsive twitch. Thanks for saving me the cost of another hair shirt.

 

[Doc B]

I disagree with the notion that the Orcas defy physics. In fact they show that Clarko has a pretty damned good grip on the physics. Use them wrong, and you will never appreciate their capabilities. Use them as designed and they are truly wonderful. Please don't take that as damning with faint praise, because they can definitely outdo my bigass 6 driver and 7 amps per side setup on imaging. You will not recreate the impact of exploding C4 when they breach the doors in Zero Dark Thirty (great flic, saw it last night) with Orcas. But when listening to music you will hear vocals at live room levels that will make you open your eyes and look to see if the artist is really in front of you.

 

[Downhome Upstate]

AMEN, Brother. Can I hear a Gawd Bomb?!?

 

[jrebman]

I myself wouldn't call it defying physics either but I do think in terms of the physics it is far more optimized than any other speaker I've experienced.  I do think that that as one listens though, a bit of cognitive dissonance does set in as I think most or all of us simply aren't used to hearing so much, with so few flaws from such a small speaker.

I'm so glad to seeso many people trying these and really enjoying them.  I'm not at all comfortable being a fan-boy, especially of things audio knowing how different we all hear and perceive music and sound, the effects of room and gear, etc. but they really seem to just make music so well for so many, and as Clark said, high-brow or low-brow, they're right at home in a wide range of systems.

It's really fun to see how many people's system profiles in their signatures that have been static c for so long (a thing I admire and aspire to myself), now list Orcas in place of their long-standing reference speakers.  And it's really gratifying to me personally, if I've helped at all to spread the musical love a bit.  I do it completely for my fellow audio geeks and nothing more.

-- Jim