To that end, the Magna Riser stands are sufficient, good enough for the task and finished nicely. This is all to say that VPE operates on a good quality, good value basis and not a cost-no-object basis. While the smoked acrylic baffle of the Crystal Dipole and the paper components of the Cube Audio F10 Select driver need to be handled delicately, the Model 1 is tank-like, plain, heavy, and strong. The subs seem to have been mishandled during shipment as they sustained some cosmetic damages. Neither sub was affected operationally, so the review continued.
Other factors that must be kept in mind when patronizing a small-scale audio company include the potential for a significant wait time, i.e. weeks, not months, for production and shipping. Exercise patience and forbearance.
Be realistic about what you are buying when it comes to supporting a small manufacturer. Audiophiles can be consumed by a self-imposed necessity to make every purchase of audio equipment a zero-loss investment despite depreciation. There can be an unrealistic tendency to expect less expensive gear to suffer no depreciation. The financial concern can control development of the system to the point that advancement of the system is of secondary importance, and flipping gear and hopefully making money becomes primary. A terribly arrogant perspective is the false belief that the budget audiophile is obtaining very close to ultimate performance with little expense. Before I became a reviewer, I applied that attitude to system building. I eventually came to see that it was counterproductive as a means of advancing the system and gave it the name Chintziphilia. My advice is to stick with the well-known lower cost products that are popular, and that way they can be satisfied that their primary goal of preserving their money is intact.
A product like the Crystal Dipole and the Model 1 are not yet widely deemed giant killers or sold in the thousands from a factory that churns them out, so like most products will lose a lot of their initial cost value. If you flip gear, don’t expect to hold extraordinarily high residual value when you resell. For those who attempt to read between the lines when it is not warranted, this is not a veiled statement about some hidden problem with the company or build quality. No one is to infer by this discussion that the Crystal Dipole and Model 1 Subwoofer are less desirable than any other budget product. I would state the same observations about any budget speaker, including the ones aforementioned.
As an example of this principle applied to a more expensive cottage industry speaker, following my review, I purchased the prodigious Aspen Acoustics Grand Aspen Speakers made by Scott Kindt. The company is largely unknown, so as a very early adopter of his design I consider my price to largely be sunk money. If I were to resell them, I likely would see well under 50 percent recovered. If I were still a Chintziphile I would never buy such a product because of the potential for significant depreciation. Why would I buy such a product? Because I am no longer a budget audiophile for whom price dictates my decisions and I am keen on achieving extraordinary performance within my budget. Having heard dozens of the world’s most vaunted big tower, full range speakers and using several imposing tower speakers in my room, I have a very good grasp of upper end performance. I deem the Grand Aspen to be in the sound quality range of all but the most extreme, i.e., $100K+ speakers. Considering that my budget is important to me as I reach for extreme performance, I chose to exercise my reviewer accommodation option for this MSRP $15K speaker at the time of review, as opposed to a speaker like a large JM Lab or Wilson which would be multiples more expensive. Given that these, too, suffer considerable depreciation, I conclude that my total cost including depreciation will be well under that of owning these others, or any number of other high profile statement speakers.
I accept the fact that I am not going to win financially on both ends. Chintzy audiophiles think they will win on both ends and get bent out of shape if they don’t. Those type of audiophiles are not the right customers for VPE. Those who are realistic about buying a lower priced but very high-performance product that does not yet have the benefit of industry-wide approval are the right kind of customers for VPE. The reward will be that you will get sound quality on a par with the more expensive but less prodigious speakers. How will you know? You will need to take my word for it. But it doesn’t take Mensa intelligence to conduct window shopping comparisons between the Crystal Dipole and Model 1 and the many truly puny, severely bass-limited, smallish tower speakers with a diminutive full range driver and a flashy finish.
As a self-confessed former Chintziphile who let very low absolute thresholds for spending dictate system development, I am not particularly worried if I upset some people by this discussion. If you are angry that I characterize some hobbyists as Chintziphiles, consider the wide range of behaviors of members of the community. Take a deep breath and see if the shoe fits. It was not until my eyes were opened to my unrealistic expectations about system building and performance that I began to build advanced systems and enjoy premium sound. The performance spectrum is not influenced by one’s attitude, good or bad. It is influenced by one’s actions, productive or unproductive!
Gratifying
The time I have spent with the Crystal Dipole is as gratifying as with a dipole such as a small Magnepan. Frankly, in most respects, I consider time with the Crystal Dipole to be better spent. It has characteristics that a Maggie will never touch, including scintillating transients, fabulously dense and colorful center images, and the vaunted coherence of the single driver technology. Without the Model 1, it’s nice but lacking in weight of the low end, like a smaller Magnepan. With the Model 1 it’s a compelling experience. Again, for not all that much money, it doesn’t have to be a win/lose result. Many audiophiles can swing the extra approximately $3K to own both a small dipole and the Crystal Dipole. In my younger time in the hobby, I would have chosen the Magnepan over the VPE, but now, if pressed to select only one, it would be the Crystal Dipole. It’s a more pristine speaker than a small Magnepan.
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