YG Acoustics Hailey Event Review

I’m very lucky in Vancouver because there are several independent high-end audio (and one dedicated headphone shop) establishments to drop in on if I’m in a mood to listen to something new or just shoot the breeze with fellow music lovers and gear heads.

HiFi Centre is just such a place and they are in the habit of hosting some pretty cool listening events. The latest one was last Saturday where they had YG Acoustics North American Sales Manager Adrienne Alterman and showman extraordinaire and YG Director of Sales and Marketing Dick Diamond on hand to educate a consistently deep crowd of audio enthusiasts about the YG Hailey and Carmel 2 models.

Adrienne Alterman of YG Acoustics.

I asked Hi-fi Centre owner Igor Kivritsky about dedicated high-fidelity havens as opposed to big-box stereo “sections” that seem to predominate the audio-sales industry when it comes to the general consumer looking for gear.

“In a time when our lives are filled with never-ending distractions, it's great to see how important music is to so many people,” Kivritsky said. “The brands we represent strive to achieve the correct reproduction of music, including not only the basic tones, but the emotions and feelings that put a smile on your face.  This past weekend’s full house for our YG Acoustics Hailey listening event confirms that the desire to re-create these emotions runs high and what better way to experience such amazing products than in a comfortable, relaxed environment where the goal isn't to close a sale but to share in the enjoyment of music.”

• YG Acoustics Hailey 1.2 $57,000/pr
• Gryphon Diablo 300 with DAC module $30,000
• Mcintosh MCT500 CD Transport $5,850
• Roon Nucleus server $2,050
• Audioquest Niagara 7000 Line Conditioner $9,950
• Audioquest Diamond USB Cable $700
• Audioquest Dragon High Current AC Cables (2) $5,700/each
• Audioquest Dragon Source AC Cable $4,400
• Transparent Reference Digital Cable $2,500
• Transparent Opus Speaker Cables $50,000

The Carmel setup consisted of:

• YG Acoustics Carmel II $32,000/pr
• Naim NAC-N272 Preamp/DAC/Streamer $7,800
• Naim NAPS-555DR Power Supply $14,000
• Naim NAP-250DR Power Amp $8,500
• Audioquest Niagara 5000 $5,000
• Audioquest Hurricane AC Cables (3) $1,750/each
• Audioquest Diamond Ethernet Cable $1,550

The sound out of the Hailey setup was all about authority and control with the Diablo 300 having complete command over the mid-sized Hailey’s in every frequency range and both the vertical and horizontal ecliptics: treble was clean, open and spacious with great 3D reproduction of the recorded space, driving, formidable mids with clear, precise timbre delineating instruments and a bottom end that truly belied the normality of their size: room filling, multi-note and dominating. I noticed several people in the crowd shaking their heads on a couple tracks when the notes between the lowest octaves unwound into the room.

The Hailey’s are capable of a resolution that few transducers I’ve heard can manage regardless of what’s playing without straying into being clinical or overly analytical. I’m not saying their ruler flat in their playback, but I’m pretty sure they will accurately translate what ever amplifier you’re powering them with and clearly demonstrate every subtle nuance of difference.

I caught up with Alterman after the demo session and asked her a few questions regarding the importance of these types of dealer-based events:

Rafe Arnott: Hosting dealer events can be a hit or miss experience, Saturday's YG Acoustics event at Vancouver's Hi-Fi Centre went very well indeed, with a lot of positive feedback from those in attendance, are you (and by association YG) of a mind that this level of interaction is key to getting the word out to those most interested in the brand?

Adrienne Alterman: “Events like this weekend provide a great opportunity for the manufacture to directly talk with consumers and share the uniqueness of YG Acoustics brand directly. There becomes an energy when everyone in the room shares the same experience of jaw-dropping sound playback. You could really feel it this weekend in Vancouver where the audience didn’t want to stop listening and in fact had an impromtu listen to the Carmel 2 speakers. These events provide a great service of exposing people to the brand and we look forward to hosting more with strong partners like HiFi Centre.”

RA: Not as many people are familiar with YG Acoustics as they probably should be, I was deeply impressed (once again) with the level of sonic authority that the smaller Hailey is capable of projecting. What are some of the key design features that allow YG to wrest so much energy across the frequency bandwidth (especially lower mids and bottom end)?

AA: “There are more than a few key parts to our design like the rigid aircraft-grade aluminum cabinets, in-house CNC-machined aluminum BilletCore Drivers or the enclosed, sealed cabinet design. But the greatest secret sauce to our design philosophy is the DualCoherent technology; Most speakers brands decide between optimizing phase or frequency in their design. Our DualCoherent crossover allows us to optimize both. You hear this in the music with the control and detail no other speaker brand can command in my opinion.”

 RA: I've heard YG speakers from the Hailey right on up to the Sonja XV four-stack and they all share a signature sound – which is an incredibly linear response with a level of fidelity to the accurate playback of a recording seeming to be paramount in their design precis. What would you say the YG sound is all about?

AA: “I’ve heard this described differently depending on who you ask, some say transparency, others say detailed or accurate. I find these words limit the total essence of the listening experience. Each system I hear YG speakers on consistently brings one word to mind; effortlessness. There is an ease in the playback of music our speakers bring to the recording resulting from a combination of our different technologies and build quality. It takes a few songs to recognize this while listening, but it is a quality most customers find addicting and they find it hard to press pause on any track playing.”  

RA: Lastly, what's next for YG? is there any major release in the pipeline that readers should be aware of?

AA: “Yes, the pipeline is full! Yoav Geva has finally had a chance to totally focus on engineering and that’s exactly what he’s been up to this last year. At RMAF we will have a fun surprise shown. While I can’t say anymore right now, I can tell you that it'll be outside the box!”