Blumenstein Ultra Fi

[tdogzthmn]

Did anyone who received their Orca's get a tracking number once they shipped?  I'm hoping I can get one so I can plan for their arrival. 

[Molly B]

Tdogz, can you give/message me your name? Chances are we haven't shipped yours yet if you haven't received a tracking number, but I can give you an estimated ship date.

We received a lot more orders than we thought we would this season but luckily our shop has been able to handle it with only minor delays. We've changed our initial focus, which was to have everyone delivered before Christmas, to shipping before and after Christmas depending on when orders were placed. The good news is that we've shipped over 17 pairs out in the last week and we'll be shipping out even more this week. So...back to sanding!

[Wormwood]

Are these Orca's being signed by both you and Clark?


Stephen

[Jim R.]

Finally... got my new Orcas playing today!  They sounded like sleeping speakers always sound, but after about 15 minutes of low to moderate play of some live music (Martin Sexton) they started waking up, filling out and sounding amazingly good for having so little time on them.  Very transparent, decent dynamics and super evenly balanced and smooth.  No sub yet -- I want to listen to these during the break-in process up to about 20 hours before I bring the sub in.  The bass, as is to be expected at this point isn't exactly gut punching, but it seems to fill out, deepen, and increase in dynamic response with every CD played through it.  I'm also not sure how much of this is the MyDac, but today I found the lost digital cable so was able to hook things up with the dac feeding the LM mini amp and the cdp being used only as a transport, and again, very impressive as a system.

My only issue is that the Orcas are too tall for this room and the seating we have, so they'll likely go back to the listening room as the seating is another 4 or 5 inches higher in there and everything should line up nicely in there.  The Nagas seem to be happy no matter wher they are but that's also just a quick first impression.

I can definitely tell that when all this is dialed in and broken-in that these two systems are easily going to meet and exceed what I was hoping for -- and I'm a pretty picky customer when it comes to my audio.

I honestly can't even begin to imagine what  these are going to sound like with something like the sr-45 amps.

Great going Clark and Molly!  For those of you who are in the queue, you will be rewarded :-).

-- Jiim

[Paul Birkeland]

I can testify to how busy Clark and Molly have been.  I have been in and out of their shop (mostly invited) as we work jointly on a few special productions, and they have been cranking out Orcas at all waking hours for weeks.  I hope they can take a day or two off for the holidays to catch their breaths!

[Clark B.]

Jim, exciting news to hear!  Congrats on getting them setup and warming up.  Yeah, I can't wait to hear what you think of the solid back version of the Orca.  The pair you already have had was early 2012 that was some of the few ones we made with the terminal cups right?  Dan's system still has the terminal cup versions at BHQ as well.  He's getting his new solid back version soon here and it will be great to hear what you both think of the systems as they'll be breaking in at about the same time.  Once broken in, their disappearing act should be pretty much spot on.  BTW, we are getting your Bottlehead SEX and Seduction bases made over the next week as well and will have those out to you soon here.  Also, those little chuncks of scrap wood you wanted finally got freed up.  And if you ever decide that you'd like shorter stand columns we'd be happy to accomidate you.

I can testify to how busy Clark and Molly have been.  I have been in and out of their shop (mostly invited) as we work jointly on a few special productions, and they have been cranking out Orcas at all waking hours for weeks.  I hope they can take a day or two off for the holidays to catch their breaths!

Yeah Paul, we've worked for so many years learning how to become being productive and well trained craftspeople and so now's the time to put the pedal to the metal and really show everyone what we are capable of.  Watch out!  We even just picked up a second electric sander so that Molly and I can team sand and learn techniques from each other.

As well, with our recently discovered production chops we are shooting to shrink our lead time down to the point that by the end of this month Orca Fullrangers can ship in either finish in well under a month from the time that an order is placed. 

I know - compared to the way so many companies work this is still a long wait time, but for us it is a herculean effort considering that we are unwilling to reduce the level of woodwork and finish quality.  Its taken all my problem solving and sweat that I can muster these last several months to get so far caught up as we are now.  But this is really cheerful effort.  I want to make it alot easier for people to be able to purchase and enjoy them till the end of time.

Clark

[Jim R.]

Clark,

Yes, the other pair is the caramelized with the binding post cups.  Those are going to be just fine where they are too.

Everybody who sees these just ooohs and aaahs over them and just, like me, can't help but run their hands over them.

I think the only way I'd change the stand height is if for some reason there was some distinct benefit of having the Nagas in the listening room and the Orcas had to be in the media room, or if I got a different listening chair that was significantly lower to the ground.

If I do end up with the Orcas in the listening room I'm sure I'm going to be very tempted to add a second sub, but that's a bit premature at this point.

Looking forward to the bits...

-- Jim

[Molly B]

You got it, Jim.

I found a hilarious photo from the archives.

holiday production, 2007.

[saildoctor]

Hi Molly and Clark - is the Blumenstein HQ going to be open to demonstration visits over the next two weeks?  I was thinking of stopping by to check out the Orcas I've read so much about here on the BH forum to compare with the speakers I currently have.  Sounds like things are pretty busy however and I wouldn't want showing up to be a hassle - if it would be inconvenient I could try to find an open Saturday in the months to come.

[Jim R.]

I know that things are not supposed to sound this good so early in the break-in process, but I just had an amazing listening experience with the Orcas.  I put the XRCD of John Coltrane's "Settin' the Pace" in the player and hit play and after a short intro by the rythm section, Coltrane's sax cut into the mix and nearly knocked me over!  This is absolutely the best sax I've ever head -- big, no, huge, reedy, brassy, clean, meaty and so very real.  I've listened to this album many times on my old system with the tranquility SE dac, Fi 2a3 monos and my tonian tl-d1s and I thought it was really quite good then (and that was using a fully optimized computer as a source for the Tranquility.)  This easily bested it in every way.  And for those following the MyDac thread, yes, this is still the MyDac in the system.

Great stuff!

-- Jim

[Molly B]

Hi Kerry,

Send me an email ([email protected]) and we'll come up with a time for you to stop by. No inconvenience at all! We'd be happy to have you by.

[Dr. Toobz]

Say, how do the Orcas do at low volumes? Do they need to really be "cranked" to sound fleshed-out? I now am running a Stereomour with 2A3 tubes, but in a much smaller, urban condo with wood floors (bamboo, coincidentally) where I can't really crank anything up too loud.

[Doc B.]

The Orcas sound really good at lower volume levels.

[Molly B]

I just got an email from a customer in Australia who is really happy with his Orca/Stereomour setup. He said I could share his impressions:

"The stereomour is a very good amp, especially for the price. The 3.5 watts a side go a long way with the orcas. I recently compared it to a Bakoon amp. This particular bakoon amp retails for $4k, has 15 watts a side and is a solid state design that has converted set amp enthusiasts to solid state, sort of like the Nelson pass designs. The bakoon is a very good sounding amp, but the stereomour had more drive and overall, to my ears,  the stereomour just sounded better. I actually did not realise the full extent of how good the stereomour was until I compared it to the bakoon. I have also compared it to a few other tube amps and the stereomour keeps coming out on top.

Due to my geographical location I don't get the chance to listen to a huge amount of gear like some 'Audiophiles' but I am completely happy with Bottlehead and Blumenstein gear. It's a sound I have been looking for for the past 3 or so years."

[Wormwood]

Molly,

Was that with sub or without?


Thanks for the read.


Stephen