2023 Axpona

[ttocs]

Something you mentioned just caught my attention, Clarisys Audio panels. These are the new ribbon panels done by Florian and his production team in Vietnam Hanoi. The Clarisys parent company is based in Switzerland with their R& D facilities based in Swiss as well. These look almost like Apogee refurbs but are a total radical design. The materials used are close to what Alsyvox ribbons use, very rare earth magnets, Neodymium's are used in every model of Alsyvox, hence the exhorbitant cost! Whereas, with Clarisys, they offer Neodymium's as an option. The price then goes up by 25%... still quite stiff: standard panels are around 30grand Euros and about 45grand for the neodymium version. Panel weight starts about 90kgs due to full steel frames and double sided bass panels on heavy duty plinths. This is the smallest model called the Minuet, which is the one you mentioned. That's about 60grand Aus dollars. I'm very keen to audition this but there isn't a single Clarisys model available here. Clarisys is yet to set up but our highend market is so damn tiny, I don't think the Clarisys range would ever set foot here, unless it was their smallest model, which is the Minuet.

The most affordable Alsyvox panels start at $AUD 125grand! And that's the Tintorento, which I've heard, wasn't that great but their Botichelli-X and Raffaello panels are superb! And so are their price tags (250grand to 400grand $AUD) so these are really big toys for the big boys!

At the end of the day, my inner passion with regards to sheer transparency, speed and inner detail will always remain true to well designed electrostats, and for that matter ML stats are superb! There's nothing quite like them. Just as another flavour though, it's always great to have choices, such as Clarisys. Once owned the Apogee Diva's, those were legendary panels.

BTW, if you can remember, how did you find the Clarisys sound? Was it worth 45grand Euros... or is it hard to justify this type of spend? Would like to get your thoughts, I think you're the only person so far who's heard these. ... anyone else?

Cheers, RJ

The Minuet has a great sound! It played strong down to 40Hz, and was playing down to 30Hz and dropped off from there. It's right up there with the best for quality of sound, quick, smooth, not sharp or shrill, very capable. It has a "luxurious" kind of sound, whatever that means, but it was lush, very inviting to hear more. They were playing at a pretty strong volume level, but not super loud, and I was happy with the whole thing!

When I walked in the presenter was talking about how Apogee-like and the new speakers are, if I heard him correctly. The bass panels are a double sided panel. I was impressed!

Cost to value ratio, if one can afford multiple listening rooms then one of the larger versions should be in one of those rooms. But if one is to have just one room dedicated to audio, and could only afford to have one set of speakers, then save the money and get something else that can sound very similar but is more like 1/3 the cost. I should mention that I was in the second row center, so I don't know how they sound off-axis.

There were several dipole type speakers at the show that all sounded fab in their own way, and I'd be very happy with any of them, but I'd also be extremely pleased with Alta Adam speakers!!! I keep saying to my friends that if I move into an old folks home, the Alta Adam would be my speaker of choice, and if a stereo system isn't allowed then there's some headphones I'd love to get. The Audeze CRBN Electrostatic powered by a LTA Z10E ELECTROSTATIC HEADPHONE AMP / INTEGRATED AMP. This is a great matchup!

 

[Big Dog RJ]

That's the most ironic and interesting thing I've heard since my entire audio journey... Wendell Diller of Magnepan doing a demo with ML stats...!!!???

Oh boy! What a paradigm shift this is. Never heard of in my day, let alone these two entirely different speaker brands coming together, wow! Must have been quite something.

When Mags first introduced the mighty 30.7's, it wasn't very well received, such that it required a huge room to begin with, plus some real hefty power to get it going. Anyway, one of my very good mates, ordered the one and only pair ever to arrive in Aus, and I helped him set it up. He drove them with a full array of Mac gear (McIntosh) pre-power match, to me it sounded passable but there was something a miss. I'm comparing it to when I first heard this multi-panel ribbon system at my mates place in Spore. He was using Dan D's Relentless monoblocks and the Momentum preamp, now that was something else! It had whiplash bass and superb sense of scale and realism, the Mac amps just couldn't do that. Only then I began to realize what the 30.7's were all about.

So, using a multi-tower bass drivers and stat panels, hopefully a damn good crossover, that should sound mighty fine indeed!

Cheers to ML & mags!
Woof! RJ

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Thanks for the update ttocs.
I'm heading off to Spore in July and have already set up appointments to audition:
Genesis Tributes with VAC Statements
Diptyque with Jadis amps
CLX's with Dartzeel monoblocks (new versions).
*forgot to mention, Alsyvox Botichelli-X with CJ's ART108A's*
And hopefully one of the private demos on the new Clarisys line. I really need to hear these in person, before making a decision or might just stick to the CLX's.

Cheers mate,
RJ

 

[Big Dog RJ]

According to those videos by Wendell D, he's talking about incorporating dipole woofer systems with panels, and ML stats used as an example. Dipole to dipole... says that no one had really adopted it as yet with DSP and it works very well. In that case, what the heck! ML, Genesis, Avant Garde and a host of others have already adopted this bass driver integration config years ago! So... only now Magnepan is hopping onto the band wagon. There's nothing new to this concept at all. In fact going way back to the early 80's probably even earlier, Arnie Nudell introduced the Infinity Servo Static 1, using servo controlled woofer systems, this was the beginning towards panel & woofer integration.

Anyway, WD is always a funny chap, joking around as usual... Would be a first though for Mags to introduce an integrated woofer system with full dsp and parametric equalizers, I guess they're going to launch this model pretty soon. WD calls it their newest flagship line, sounds interesting.

Until such time, do enjoy those finest tunes!
Cheers, RJ

 

[ttocs]

According to those videos by Wendell D, he's talking about incorporating dipole woofer systems with panels, and ML stats used as an example. Dipole to dipole... says that no one had really adopted it as yet with DSP and it works very well. In that case, what the heck! ML, Genesis, Avant Garde and a host of others have already adopted this bass driver integration config years ago! So... only now Magnepan is hopping onto the band wagon. There's nothing new to this concept at all. In fact going way back to the early 80's probably even earlier, Arnie Nudell introduced the Infinity Servo Static 1, using servo controlled woofer systems, this was the beginning towards panel & woofer integration.

Anyway, WD is always a funny chap, joking around as usual... Would be a first though for Mags to introduce an integrated woofer system with full dsp and parametric equalizers, I guess they're going to launch this model pretty soon. WD calls it their newest flagship line, sounds interesting.

Until such time, do enjoy those finest tunes!
Cheers, RJ

It sounded very good!

But we don't know what the frequency range is for the woofers, how high they go, and we asked but got nothing but flippy floppy.

 

[GW1800]

Yes has been in Chicago for years. Previously in Atlanta one year.

RJ when are the audio shows in Oz? Will be going there in March /April next year.

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Yes has been in Chicago for years. Previously in Atlanta one year.

RJ when are the audio shows in Oz? Will be going there in March /April next year.

Would have certainly been nice to have such shows here. Since our last decent one, which was in Nov 2017, the ones after that were absolutely useless. Nearly every source is predominantly streaming, zero TT's, zero analog. Hardly anything to gain or learn from, other than have a good laugh meeting old maties. It's not a sad thing, it rather reflects the actual highend market, which is a very very tiny segment compared to say the US, UK, Europe or the far east.

However, our private owner / dealer demos are really tops! Some very lofty systems that need further tweaking to sound optimally but those few who get it right, are definitely impressive. These are the ones I look forward to attending, plus you have to be invited. And of course the other demos I look very forward to are the ones at the Adelphi or the dealership gigs in Spore or HK. So whenever I do visit at least once a year in Feb or July, I make the most of it for that one full week. These private demos over there are outstanding! Nearly all of them now use Nordost Odin 2 Gold cables as their full power loom. That cost of cables alone, exceeds my entire system! So it better be good!

We're having our usual Stereo Net hifi show this October. I'll probably go just bump into a few mates, have a few Coffees and talk shop. Then get invited to their homes and the real demos begin, ah that's the good life.

GW1800 when you do plan on getting over here, please get in touch. Would be great to meet up.

Cheers mate, RJ