Living Voice Vox Olympian - Kevin Scott talking about the design (video)

Elberoth

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Dec 15, 2012
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A great video about the mighty Living Voice Vox Olympian horn speakers recorded dring the last Audio Video Show in Warsaw.



Kevin Scott - the designer - talks about the design details:



Original article with lots of unique images from the factory !

http://www.infoaudio.pl/artykul/295,living-voice-vox-olympian-na-audio-video-show-2015
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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They sure are beautiful. But a cool half mill system, w/dedicated subs, that only goes down to 40Hz? Really?
 

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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The English manufacturer undoubtedly would be horrified but I am sure you can tack on cone subwoofers!
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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I'm sure you can, but I'm assuming I'm cashed out after signing the cheque.
 

Ron Resnick

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I think that is an incorrect assumption. I am pretty sure that anyone who signs a check for that whole system can also afford a couple of subwoofers.
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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It was meant in jest.
Any luxury product that says "price on application" you can be guaranteed will have consumers happy to cough up and have plenty spare. If you have to ask, you can't afford.
Whether cone subs however are the way to go...
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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I have always found Beech a touch acerbic.
Keith.

Edit: sorry Keith - just watched the vid and now understand your sarcastic comment ;)

I don't like this particular finish either. The ones in Munich were delicious looking though. Very, very coloured sound but then it was fed by Kondo DAC, Kondo pre, and Kondo power. Each to their own I guess.

I would rather my £500K was being spent on state of the art innovation and technological advances including sota measurement facilities than on a gloriously finished furniture piece - but then horses for courses. I would take the Tidal La Assoluta for that money and have change :)
 
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Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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Without wishing to become all objectivist - I would love to see measurements for these but I doubt they'll be forthcoming.
 

wisnon

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Dec 12, 2011
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Edit: sorry Keith - just watched the vid and now understand your sarcastic comment ;)

I don't like this particular finish either. The ones in Munich were delicious looking though. Very, very coloured sound but then it was fed by Kondo DAC, Kondo pre, and Kondo power. Each to their own I guess.

I would rather my £500K was being spent on state of the art innovation and technological advances including sota measurement facilities than on a gloriously finished furniture piece - but then horses for courses. I would take the Tidal La Assoluta for that money and have change :)

Or one of these?

full system 3.jpg P1030220.jpg Apologue Mk2.jpg
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Nice , and the sound ??

That you'll only find out if you hear the system under the proper required conditions. I think this was a great interview and he did express well what you should expect from his speakers, wether one likes it or not is a different matter.

david
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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I was asking elberoth actually, as he posted the interview and the show pics he is also from poland

I heard these in Munich - they are wonderfully engaging and easy to listen to for sure. It is hard to disentangle how coloured they are because of the full Kondo electronics that are obviously voiced also. It did not help that the only music played was audiophile twaddle - stuff that most systems sound good with. No full scale orchestral or rock - plenty of small scale audiophile Jazz. Maybe the Polish show was different....
 

Audiocrack

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Aug 10, 2012
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Edit: sorry Keith - just watched the vid and now understand your sarcastic comment ;)

I don't like this particular finish either. The ones in Munich were delicious looking though. Very, very coloured sound but then it was fed by Kondo DAC, Kondo pre, and Kondo power. Each to their own I guess.

I would rather my £500K was being spent on state of the art innovation and technological advances including sota measurement facilities than on a gloriously finished furniture piece - but then horses for courses. I would take the Tidal La Assoluta for that money and have change :)

Intriguing remarks. Could you please elaborate somewhat on the words 'coloured sound'. Have not heard the Vox Olympians myself but I am very familiar with Kondo equipment. Although I am not using their dac anymore I did listen to it for many years.
 

andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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Yes most most music played on shows and even at a lot of dealers is a joke , for a house and rock lover like me , give a lot of systems a good work out and a lot fall apart like pudding , regarding the horns the
designer? said they were voiced by ear of which i am also not very fond off , i also agree regarding kondo ,.... but in the end if it sounds good and gives you pleasure who am i to Judge ??
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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Intriguing remarks. Could you please elaborate somewhat on the words 'coloured sound'. Have not heard the Vox Olympians myself but I am very familiar with Kondo equipment. Although I am not using their dac anymore I did listen to it for many years.

Hi Rudolph,

The system @ Munich did not have a timbral fidelity that was anywhere faithful to my ears - it was a very "comfortable" sound. So what do I mean by that - well if you hear a real life live trumpet playing a staccato passage with an abrupt sforzando, that is anything but easy on the ear. Through this system, that bite is not there, it is modulated to be more relaxing / more easy going. Strings sound delicious BUT they have an unfaithful sheen to them as though someone has taken a dose of double cream and dipped it on them. Saxophone has wonderful bloom and 3D presence for sure - in fact I could not criticise it but then my ears are more acutely tuned to classical instruments. The low end does nothing below 40hz - we don't even know how much it is down at 40hz (-1db or -6db) - therefore it is unable to even produce all the notes on a grand piano let alone a large organ pipe.

Anyway - don't get me wrong, you could listen for hours on end and smile from ear to ear - it does not sound realistic though so for some the rose tinted view just might become tiresome.

Does this make sense?
 

Audiocrack

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2012
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Hi Rudolph,

The system @ Munich did not have a timbral fidelity that was anywhere faithful to my ears - it was a very "comfortable" sound. So what do I mean by that - well if you hear a real life live trumpet playing a staccato passage with an abrupt sforzando, that is anything but easy on the ear. Through this system, that bite is not there, it is modulated to be more relaxing / more easy going. Strings sound delicious BUT they have an unfaithful sheen to them as though someone has taken a dose of double cream and dipped it on them. Saxophone has wonderful bloom and 3D presence for sure - in fact I could not criticise it but then my ears are more acutely tuned to classical instruments. The low end does nothing below 40hz - we don't even know how much it is down at 40hz (-1db or -6db) - therefore it is unable to even produce all the notes on a grand piano let alone a large organ pipe.

Anyway - don't get me wrong, you could listen for hours on end and smile from ear to ear - it does not sound realistic though so for some the rose tinted view just might become tiresome.

Does this make sense?

Hi Bill,

I suppose it always depends on what kind of 'live' sound you try to achieve in your listening room. One of the reasons I like my Kondo equipment so much is that to my ears (and in my home environment) it resembles - to a certain degree of course - the sound I experience in "het concertgebouw" in Amsterdam. That hall has a very smooth and velvet sound presentation (some may even say a somewhat 'muffled' or indirect sound) that I like very much. So for me that is the 'live' sound to which I want to compare (the sound of) my audio set up. But of course there are also halls that are more straight in your face sounding - or if you want: less easy on the ears sounding - in which eg a trumpet sounds much more direct. So I suppose I want to say the following: in my view a lot of people on this forum use the words 'coloured sound' too easily because it depends to a large degree on the 'live' benchmark you choose. Taking my 'live' benchmark into account I would conclude that a lot of solid state amps that are highly regarded sound pretty 'coloured' to my ears. I hope this also makes some sense to you.
 

Audiophile Bill

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2015
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Hi Bill,

I suppose it always depends on what kind of 'live' sound you try to achieve in your listening room. One of the reasons I like my Kondo equipment so much is that to my ears (and in my home environment) it resembles - to a certain degree of course - the sound I experience in "het concertgebouw" in Amsterdam. That hall has a very smooth and velvet sound presentation (some may even say a somewhat 'muffled' or indirect sound) that I like very much. So for me that is the 'live' sound to which I want to compare (the sound of) my audio set up. But of course there are also halls that are more straight in your face sounding - or if you want: less easy on the ears sounding - in which eg a trumpet sounds much more direct. So I suppose I want to say the following: in my view a lot of people on this forum use the words 'coloured sound' too easily because it depends to a large degree on the 'live' benchmark you choose. Taking my 'live' benchmark into account I would conclude that a lot of solid state amps that are highly regarded sound pretty 'coloured' to my ears. I hope this also makes some sense to you.

It all makes a lot of sense to me and I utterly "get it" - my golden gate is cut from this cloth! However, where we diverge in taste is that I also like to be able to hear a Decca recording for example and then a modern DG and them sounding so very different in that one can easily distinguish the 2. Colour in this latter context means to me that the sonic signature imparted is so heavy so as to diminish the difference.
 

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