Razz Press and Testimonials

Our customers and The Press have spoken.

The Razz from Volti Audio is a speaker that should be on your short list!

Happy Customers

Hi Greg,

Speakers arrived safe & sound.  Had a bit of a nail-biting experience getting them up my icy driveway & front steps by myself but ultimately, I was successful & didn’t die.  I was expecting a lot with these speakers…and somehow my expectations were completely superseded.  The build quality is stellar.  Top to bottom, front to back these are beautifully well-made speakers.  If the entire world was nuked, I think there is a strong chance the Razz would survive.  Although the only person left to enjoy them would be Keith Richards.

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I listened to them through my ’60 HH Scott LK-72 & a Denafrips Pontus II for over 2 hours with absolutely no ear fatigue at all.  That was the best music listening experience I’ve had outside of live performances in my life.  Stuck mainly with rock, r&b, pop, & some classical music tonight but tomorrow I’m going to turn on my single ended 300B amplifier & delve into some jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, etc.  Don’t really have much more to say other than I am in love with the Volti Razz.

Thank you Greg and Laurie!

TJ

Posted on the Audiogon Forum by J.R. from Alabama

Audiogon Discussion Forum

Back in early January of this year I initiated a thread with the title “Speaker Pairing – First Watt F8 ”  I was looking for new high efficiency speakers and many of you chimed in with some pretty good advice.  Little did I know my journey would include a trip last week to Baxter TN, a comprehensive walk through of his speaker assembly process, dinner with Greg and his wife across the road at a good Mexican restaurant, a couple hour evening session in Greg’s listening room with MY new Razz speakers in his system and an overnight stay in his workshop!

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An expresso the next morning in the shop and then Greg and I packed up my new Razz for the drive home.  Quite the experience complete with a 650 mile round trip drive that was worth every minute.  BTW I am a pretty neat individual and had no issue with spending a night sleeping in Greg’s fastidious workshop. 

I wanted to do this follow up as I have seen a number of interesting threads on topics that are like a good book and get you most of the way through but alas, there is no ending!  I learned quite a bit of the journey here, from additional research, listening to a few different speakers and from Greg on the phone, through email and in person.  

A few factors entered into my final decision – a number of you suggested the Razz from the get go and I did a good deal of reading and digging to get a better understanding of the company and horn speakers.  Certainly hearing the Razz made an impression on me and got me most of the way there.  Then there was Greg who was not only a great asset in answering my questions but provided good system insight in a very patient manner.  He was quick to either answer my calls or emails and I never felt belittled or rushed with my sometimes naive questions. 

I will tell you this from the first hand observations of my visit and personal experience in what I call ” learning/management by wandering around” – Greg is a true craftsman, audiophile and small business owner who truly cares about the product he is making and the customer experience.  Watching him crafting a Razz cabinet, the care and process he uses to apply the quality veneer, etc was a learning journey in itself.  He is extremely detailed and I marveled at the time and attention he took to apply the speaker cloth to the removable/magnetic covers- a very time consuming process.  I smiled as he showed me the straight line of sight on the wood frame and joy he took in making sure it was near perfect.  

It was also pretty dam fun to sit with Greg at night and listen a variety of music on my new speakers!  I had to chuckle when about half way through the session I looked over and there was Greg, martini in hand, eyes closed and rocking his head to the tunes of Jason Isbell 🙂 

So probably not the typical review of the final stages of a purchase.  I hope that I don’t sound like a fan boy – I am not, but certainly have a big dose of respect for Greg and the product he crafts.  Also worth mentioning is that after a week at my home playing music throughout the day and into the evening, is that the Razz are  game changers in my system.  My wife has commented on how she can even hear a noticeable difference in the sound ( especially the mid-range )  and appreciates the way the Razz look – I went with a darker mahogany with a beautiful pattern and an upgraded weave grill!  

One last item – If you are on Instagram make sure to give Greg a follow.  He is posting quite regularly on steps in the speaker building process.  Enjoy your journey! 

 

A ‘New Vittora’ Customer Experiences The Razz

It is taking a long time to do the development work on the upcoming New Vittora speaker.  I’ve pre-sold four sets and have anxious customers just waiting to get their hands on them.  One of my New Vittora customers decided that he ought to have a pair of Volti Audio Razz speakers to tide him over, and he’s absolutely loving them.  Not sure, but these may be his first horn speaker experience.

 

“Hi Greg, just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I finally had time to set up the Razz speakers, and I really like them.  They were way better than I expected.  The speakers they replaced are . . . .

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$68K Vivid G1’s and there’s been no drop-off in performance!  Pretty amazing for a speaker 1/10th the price.

The dynamics of the horns is really interesting.  I guess you call this micro-dynamics, but there are sounds that were before muddled background noises that now can be clearly heard as other instruments playing at a quieter level or in the background.  The bass shakes my sofa!  The imaging is great in my room with a locked-in center and very clear front to back perception.  Very impressive.  If the Vittoras are better than this I’m going to be very happy!”

 

In another email . . . 

“I am really liking the Razz.  They are making me even more anxious for the Vittoras.  Horn speakers are amazing.  So much more life than my $68K MSRP Vivid G1’s.  I thought the Vivids were very transparent and supplied a lot of detail.  When I listened to the Razz I am hearing so much more.  Really noticeable are the things playing at a lower volume in the background.  I was listening to some very familiar music and what I had always accepted as random background noise was actually violins playing at a lower volume in the background.  I never heard it on the big expensive speakers.  It was immediately clear and obvious on the Razz.  Trumpets and Saxophones are amazing.  Acoustic guitar is right in the room.  The Razz has some solid bass but I’m looking forward to getting out of the ‘box’ and into the better sound with the Vittora bass horn cabinet.  Here is hoping to some good progress on Vittora design.”

 

and another email . . .

“Hey Greg,

I keep finding ways to be more impressed with the Razz.  I was listening to a favorite jazz recording tonight and I noticed that you could clearly hear that the saxophone was recorded in a different acoustic space than the other instruments.  I have loved this recording for years but I never heard that before.  I was amazed that you could hear such detail that the space around individual instruments could be heard.  It unfortunately was not a good thing to notice.  Once I heard it, I could not unhear it and found it rather distracting.  That was a good thing about the speakers but a bad thing about that recording.  I hope the CNC trip went well and you are getting closer.  I may have to buy your pair of Rival SE’s to tide me over.”

2023 REVIEW

Volti Audio Razz-LE

“This speaker’s voice is uniquely defined by timbral textures. Brass sounds like metal, wood sounds like wood and most importantly the human voice is attached to a flesh and blood person.

Click on the picture for the full review

Happy Customers

The Volti Experience!

(Posted on a forum)

I wanted to post on my experience taking delivery of my new Volti Razz. I Ordered them in walnut with the premium black textured cloth. I was not expecting such an awesome . . .

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. . . experience picking them up. I arranged with Greg of Volti to come down to his shop and receive my speakers instead of have them shipped. Yes it saved me a few clams, however on retrospect, I think my true motivation was the 8 hour drive through beautiful OH, KY and TN, as well as meeting the creator/master builder and seeing his impressive workshop. What I got was that and so much more. Greg and his wife were incredible, they were amazingly generous hosts, engaging, fun, and clearly a devoted couple. Great Mexican food was followed by an extended listening session well into the night. I got a chance to listen to the Razz as well as some not yet released gear. And let me tell you, it blew my socks off… All of it!!!. There is surely a Volti House Sound. regardless of what speaker we were listening to, it’s there. Greg is equal parts mad inventor, super cool guy, music lover and car nut. I think the man’s mind is constantly engaged.. thinking, planning and working on speaker design. (when he’s not blasting down epic country roads in his convertible).

If you are in the market, run, don’t amble towards any of the Volti speakers. And if you are fortunate you will come home with not only world beating speakers to cherish for the rest of your life, you may also have a lifelong memory of the experience.

I have literally had mine set up in house for only two days. What money and time I have invested simply doesn’t matter. I have found my HFI, musical nirvana.

Doug in Ohio

Total Satisfaction With My Razz!

(A nice note from a Volti customer)

Hi Greg,

I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how absolutely thrilled I am with your Razz speakers. I’m retired and I listen to them all the time. Every single record I spin is like a concert in my home.  My placement is per your recommendation, further apart than normal and toed in to intersect in front of my head. Keep up the good work! Your efforts to provide a realistically priced top end speaker are appreciated and enjoyed!!

All the best,

Kurt

New Meadows, Idaho

2023 REVIEW

“I came away quite impressed with the speakers’ ability to cast a wide and deep soundstage, even with their rear panels placed close against the wall

Click on the picture for the full review

2022 REVIEW

 

“They not only give you effortless realistic sound in your home, but they also do so with top-quality fit and finish and build quality that will last for generations. Highly recommended!!!”

Click on the picture for the full review

More PTA Love

The crew at Part Time Audiophile have given us a ‘Reviewer’s Choice’ award for 2021

Reviewers Choice Awards | 2021 – Part-Time Audiophile (parttimeaudiophile.com)

 

And also a nomination for ‘Best Value of the Year 2021″

Best Value of the Year Award | 2021 – Part-Time Audiophile (parttimeaudiophile.com)

Happy Customers

The Razz is still the king here. I am finding that they are the best at everything I can throw at them. Better than any speaker I have had here in my sound room.

Not only can they rock (boy can they rock!) but they can be as subtle and quick as my beloved Quad ESL’s.  Choral music is a stand-out.

I am using just a 9-watt SET amp. It is the first system I have had in my house that has the “magic” I have been looking for for a long time.

Thanks for all your efforts

Paul

 

 

I’m really loving the system.

. . . . it is mind blowing how powerful it is and how you feel the performers are in the room. The clarity is next level. I’m convinced on my vinyl I’m hearing new things, like the creak of a chair in the studio, or the horn player discreetly breathing in, or drum work dynamics I never heard before, talk about being in the room in 1960. Beautiful.

I’ve got the digital set up and it sounds really great as well. I need to spend some more time with the digital system doing more dedicated listening, but I’ve been having too much fun with my vinyl so far.

Appreciate you Greg!

Jud

 

 

The Razz speakers produce excellent reproduction of instruments and human voices, very much as if you are in the room with the performing musicians.

I am extremely happy with the Razz speakers and the beautiful music they produce in my home.  I would strongly recommend the Razz speakers to anyone who wants to hear the subtleties in performance of both instruments and voices and places a premium on accurate tonal reproduction

David

 

 

​I’m actually breathless. I’ve only had a chance to listen a bit, and the room setup is weird, but they are magic. They have presence, speed, accuracy, clarity and they sing and hum and dance!

I’m powering them with my Shindo Montille (thanks Art) and they are giving me a huge smile.

Thank you for the magic.

Seth

Hi Greg

I couldn’t even describe how happy I am with the Razz. I’m back in time, I feel like a kid again listening to my stereo.

I had a good opportunity and bought a tube amp, the Leben CS600x.  It’s a beautiful combination, precise, sweet, punchy. The bass still very detailed with the tubes.  The horns and cymbals float on the air.  It shines driven by EL34 or 6L6

I was really happy to see Steve Guttemberg reviewing the razz.  Looking forward to the final video.  I truly hope this brings you a lot of business.  You’re an honest, knowledgeable hard working person, deserves a lot of success.

Best

Felipe

More Happy Customers

I recently purchased a pair of Razz speakers from Greg–here’s my initial take. They replaced a pair of Klipsch Forte IIIs . . .

 

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The bass response on the Razz is much better. For some reason, you look at the woofer on the Forte III’s and the giant passive radiator on the back and you expect a lot of bass, but it really doesn’t happen. Maybe pushed about 10” off the wall, but leads to other issues. I never minded the bass on the Klipsch but the Razz are clearly more prominent in the bass response. What really stands out is the integration between the upper bass and lower midrange. I’m hearing details in this area that I NEVER heard out of the Klipsch.

The imaging is also much better on the Razz. They throw a nice wide sound stage in which all the images are clearly firmly locked in place. That just isn’t something the Klipsch did all that well.

For me, the biggest improvement is how real the instruments sound coming out of the Razz. The horns sound like they are in the room with you. Acoustic guitars are right on. Combined with better detail coming out of the Razz, this is where the two speakers are the most different. The number of times I heard a detail or a separation of voices on the Razz that I have never noticed on the Forte III’s was astounding.  And there is no upper midrange glare of any kind on the Razz. The volume goes up and it’s just as listenable as at lower levels.

 The Razz are simply better speakers.

 

I set up my Razz speakers today, and after a bit of tinkering, I can honestly say . . .

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. . . they are the best and most natural sounding speakers I’ve ever owned.  They replaced an excellent pair of more expensive Harbeth HL5 Super Plus, and after listening for a few hours, my wife and I both think the less expensive Razz are much better and do a much better job of capturing what real instruments sound like.

I’ve owned dozens of pairs of speakers over the years, including many from the Klipsch lineup and the Razz are in a different league.  I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

Ralph – San Antonio, TX

I first heard of Volti Audio and Greg Roberts around 2014 when attending Axpona.   Greg was demonstrating the Vittora at that show.  The speakers were very different in a good way from anything else I heard or saw that day.  Greg had high energy going in that room and he had a huge . . .

It's a pretty long love letter. : )

. . . whiteboard with markers for people to give their impressions.  The main impression that weekend had been “fun”.  In fact, I can remember only a few of the other rooms from that visit, and of those few, mostly speakers costing much more and looking like typical audiophile speakers.

Flash forward to the present.  I have been using small to medium floor-standing speakers since I came back to the hobby in 2005.  I have had many amps, preamps and pieces of front-end gear.  95% of todays audiophile speakers have narrow front baffles and most have some version of a dome tweeter.  Many of these speakers are 2 way.  I won’t mention the name of my last set of speakers, but they came from another small maker in the US who produces very high quality speakers that generally win rave reviews with many reviewers buying the review pairs.  So, my bar is pretty high.  These prior speakers have an efficiency of 91db per watt, are 2 way with bass down to the mid 30hz range.  They were supplemented with 2 small, fast, powerful subs.  My amps are SET mono-blocks outputting appx. 8 watts.

However, from that show in 2014, I never forgot the Volti Audio Speakers.  As such, I finally acquired my own set of Razz.  The first thing I noticed (which did not surprise me as the Razz are 97db efficient), much less power was needed from the amp.  From this efficiency all of the good things just build on each other.  I will attempt to play reviewer now.

The first thing of note is that all of the small, narrow floor-standers I have had and heard in other’s systems have a gap between the lower midrange and the upper bass.  This is where the trombones, cellos, tympany among other instruments live.  With my previous speakers, I had plenty of midrange and plenty of low bass, but that octave was weak, offering only suggestions of these instruments.  With the wide baffle 3 way Volti’s those instruments come to life.  They bounce and sing with real presence, not shadows as before.  If the Volti’s did nothing more, I would consider them a success, but wait, there’s more.

On certain recordings of tenor sax and trumpet as well as some nasal high voices (Neil Young), dome tweeters can give a sound that bores into your head.  This may be amplified by certain front end equipment and phono cartridges.  In this range of music, the Razz just lets the music pour out without the blare.  This is not to say the music is subdued, but just natural.  Because, what better type of speaker to reproduce a belled instrument than a horn.  Never fear, when the musician leans into the horn, you hear the attack or the reed vividly, but not in a sharp way.  What about the upper registers?

The tweeter on the Razz is a real gem.  It blends with the midrange seamlessly, as such you simply have a continuation of what was described for the midrange.  There is an ease of presentation in the upper register which encourages one to keep listening and the only limitation to your session is how much time you have, not because your ears can’t take it anymore.

What about dynamics?  Off the chart.  If you think SET amps sound sweet and weak, you have not heard one with these speakers.  They thunder when the music calls for thunder as it does on Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms.  But you can discern Forte from Mezzo Forte in a Rachmaninoff piano concerto.  I have also heard small details never before heard on 40 year old records I thought I knew inside out.  For example, on “Don’t give up” by Peter Gabriel, with my prior speakers there is a section that always sounded like a 2 part harmony, I now know it to be a four part harmony, but it is so subtle, after 30 years, I finally have a speaker that let me hear it.  This precision of presentation allows the Razz to show great stage width, depth and height as well.

I have to say a word about the service after sale.  Greg builds these speakers with love and he really cares that his buyers are happy with them.  As such, we have e-mailed nearly every day since I received my set with ideas for me to try.  The suggestions have been spot on.  I don’t know how he has time to build the speakers and communicate with his buyers, maybe he has a 26 hour clock?

I now am faced with the awful task of re-listening to my entire music collection.  Tough work, but someone’s got to do it.  I am just glad I can do it with the Razz.

A very satisfied Volti owner.

T. Collins