Goldmund Apologue installation just completed on Long Island, NY

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29h9opxRGro&feature=youtu.be

This particular customer has "special requirements" with regards to hearing in a large space. He needs and prefers the space of the installation, which he has been using for 20 years as his listening space/room. This space in his home works for him although the system could have been installed in larger spaces in the home.

Certainly a smaller set of Goldmund active/wireless speakers would have been sufficient in the space used for the Apologues, BUT this customer understands all of this and still wanted the Apologues and after much contemplating and listening to Apologues in other small spaces made the decision to proceed. Now that they are are installed he is in love with the sound and the aesthetics in the room. The pic makes the room look smaller than it seems when in the room. The room is actually 22' W X 20' D. The wall where the Apologues are placed is 15' W which works just fine.

The Apologues would normally be installed in a larger space, but if a small space is ideal for the customer, which it is in this case, the Apologue are DSP controlled and can be made to sound ideal depending on the customers requirements and preferences.

This room size space and the Apologues might not work for most others, but it works perfectly for this customer.
 
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Jim Smith

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Very cool, Bob!

I was a Goldmund dealer throughout the 80s, and when the original Apologue came out I sold a few pair.

When setup correctly, with room to breathe, they were - in many ways - my all-time favorite speaker.
 

Audiophile Bill

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That room looks very small for those speakers!
 

Mike Lavigne

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That room looks very small for those speakers!

when you are stroking a check for $700 large (with a minimum of personal research) logic is not much involved. and as adjustable as those speakers are likely Bob gets them to work just fine. optimized? not hardly. like an F1 car at a go-kart track. never get past idle.
 

Audiophile Bill

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when you are stroking a check for $700 large (with a minimum of personal research) logic is not much involved. and as adjustable as those speakers are likely Bob gets them to work just fine. optimized? not hardly. like an F1 car at a go-kart track. never get past idle.

Yep agree, Mike. Madness IMHO. But if you have the cash then whatever. On another note I heard from Ked your system is truly epic.
 

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Sure the speakers are large and yes the room is not large 19" wide X 20' deep total size. Goldmund has sold 22 of the 25 Apologue Anniversaries and actually as many have been sold in Asia, where there are small rooms we understand what they will sound like in a small room. The new owner also understood what they would sound like in a small room as they have heard the Apologue in a small room prior to purchase.

I have sold and installed three Apologue systems this year. Two have been in small rooms and one in a larger room. I prefer the sound in the smaller room myself as it is very intimate, clear, neutral and very engaging.

Might not be someone's cup of tea, but for 22 Apologue owner's it certainly was as installing an Apologue system is quite a project.
 

Rhapsody

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when you are stroking a check for $700 large (with a minimum of personal research) logic is not much involved. and as adjustable as those speakers are likely Bob gets them to work just fine. optimized? not hardly. like an F1 car at a go-kart track. never get past idle.

Mike, just curious, how do you know that this person did "minimal" research? This particular customer happened to own a $300K Goldmund system 10 years ago, owned a $600K Kondo system for the last several years, has heard 2 other Apologue systems, and four other different model Goldmund systems prior to purchase. That's not quite "minimal research".
 
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Rhapsody

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Yep agree, Mike. Madness IMHO. But if you have the cash then whatever. On another note I heard from Ked your system is truly epic.

Hey Bill, do you think it's madness when someone buys a $500K car, or a $2M yacht, or a $50M house, or a $200K wrist watch? There are probably thousand of purchases like this every year, just in the US. If someone is financially successful in life and LOVES music and their music system, why is is it Madness for them to purchase a system that they really love and enjoy? Please enlighten me as to why this is Madness.

I ask because I am very close friends with this particular customer and his wife, and do not appreciate words like Madness used when referring to them......just sayin'.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Mike, just curious, how do you know that this person did "minimal" research? He happened to own a $300K Goldmund system 10 years ago, owned a $600K Kondo system for the last several years, has heard 2 other Apologue systems, and four other different model Goldmund systems prior to purchase. That's not quite "minimal research".

you are correct; it was a guess on my part based on looking at the room and it's level of apparent mature set-up. the carpet on the wall seems to be an afterthought not worthy of the gear. it's is a polar opposite to my approach and so hit a nerve with me.

but without being there that is conjecture and SWAG. it is a very, very, small room for that size speaker.

judging a book by it's cover is not fair, and sorry for that. my bad. not my normal approach. I should have kept my perspective to myself.
 

Rhapsody

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you are correct; it was a guess on my part based on looking at the room and it's level of apparent mature set-up. the carpet on the wall seems to be an afterthought not worthy of the gear. it's is a polar opposite to my approach and so hit a nerve with me.

but without being there that is conjecture and SWAG. it is a very, very, small room for that size speaker.

judging a book by it's cover is not fair, and sorry for that. my bad. not my normal approach. I should have kept my perspective to myself.

Mike, honestly if you understood this customer and his situation you would understand. I would happy to personally discuss it at anytime and then it would make sense. I run the risk of posting pics/videos like this, but what happens is that someone that doesn't even post sees it and I get calls from them and sometimes they become clients:)
 

Mike Lavigne

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Mike, honestly if you understood this customer and his situation you would understand. I would happy to personally discuss it at anytime and then it would make sense. I run the risk of posting pics/videos like this, but what happens is that someone that doesn't even post sees it and I get calls from them and sometimes they become clients:)

Bob, no doubt it's perfect for that particular customer and that is all that matters. and i'll look forward to the 'rest of the story' when we hook up at some future point.:)
 

Audiophile Bill

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Hey Bill, do you think it's madness when someone buys a $500K car, or a $2M yacht, or a $50M house, or a $200K wrist watch? There are probably thousand of purchases like this every year, just in the US. If someone is financially successful in life and LOVES music and their music system, why is is it Madness for them to purchase a system that they really love and enjoy? Please enlighten me as to why this is Madness.

I ask because I am very close friends with this particular customer and his wife, and do not appreciate words like Madness used when referring to them......just sayin'.

Hi,

Yes as it happens I do think it madness when someone buys a $500k car - in fact I find it vulgar but each their own. Same goes for $200k watch. Anyway let us not debate this since we are clearly ethically very different people in our views of the world.

It is not madness for someone to purchase a system that they really love but you missed the point. The point was specifically regarding the size of the speakers for that room. I simply can't comprehend why one would select to shoehorn speakers of that scale into such a small space. This is one of the most common errors that us audiophiles make thinking bigger is better when actually often further issues are created when doing this. I am not familiar enough with the Goldmund lineup to pass comment but surely there are models using similar albeit less drivers with all the dsp wizardry that would achieve a similar result? It is like me trying to force Grande Utopias into my room when it can only take Maestros. Could I do it physically? Yes. Will it yield a better result - very doubtful as they would overwhelm the room and I would need masses more trapping and a lot of dsp that I don't want.
 

Folsom

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They spent $700k because they could and didn't want to have to make it complicated by listening and defining opinions. They're probably busy and it was the easy solution for them, as they needed a luxury product not just in price but in function (let's face it, us audiophile often have very tricky things like phono cartridges that are the opposite of luxury except in price). Goldmund fits that.

If they had spent a lot of time would they have chosen that setup? No & no, Goldmund isn't that impressive. Even a big room wouldn't achieve sound anywhere near as good as Mike's place, or many other stereos for even way less money.
 

Rhapsody

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Hi,

Yes as it happens I do think it madness when someone buys a $500k car - in fact I find it vulgar but each their own. Same goes for $200k watch. Anyway let us not debate this since we are clearly ethically very different people in our views of the world.

It is not madness for someone to purchase a system that they really love but you missed the point. The point was specifically regarding the size of the speakers for that room. I simply can't comprehend why one would select to shoehorn speakers of that scale into such a small space. This is one of the most common errors that us audiophiles make thinking bigger is better when actually often further issues are created when doing this. I am not familiar enough with the Goldmund lineup to pass comment but surely there are models using similar albeit less drivers with all the dsp wizardry that would achieve a similar result? It is like me trying to force Grande Utopias into my room when it can only take Maestros. Could I do it physically? Yes. Will it yield a better result - very doubtful as they would overwhelm the room and I would need masses more trapping and a lot of dsp that I don't want.

Agreed, we think differently. I believe that anyone should be able to do whatever they choose as long as it does not hurt someone, if it makes them happy, and would never question what their reasons are for doing so without knowing that person and their individual situation.

Regarding the speaker size and the size of the room - This customer and his wife have owned this home for over 20 years. They are in their 60's and have no plans of moving.

He has owned several high end systems in the last 10 years. He has had them all in this room. The house is quite large but this is the space that he likes for his listening. The room happens to be a great sounding room, very warm and natural sounding.

He could have purchased a small set of Goldmund speakers that would have fit this room very appropriately and sounded great. He knew that, I knew that. BUT does the person that buys a 911 Turbo vs a 911 do it just because he needs more power? There's a lot more to it than that.

This particular owner LOVES the aesthetics of the Apologue. He saw the pair at Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), in the 80's. He just wanted it. He also heard it in other small rooms prior to purchase. He also, for personal reasons, likes to listen in a small intimate setting. He only listens to Opera and simple jazz recordings, he actually prefers a small intimate setting for his listening......there are reasons that I won't go into here (feel free to call or pm if interested) that this all works for him. Not for you, but for him.

A large room does not work for this customer, although the Apologue will play and look incredible in a large room....we do that too when the situation calls for it.....like this pic below, but in this case this customer would not trade the system in the video for the system/room below, because it would not work for him.

1424503_1588250321496126_2959689844355773822_n.jpg
 

Rhapsody

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Rvisinta, thanks for sharing.

I have never heard these. What is their sonic signature? What is it about them that makes them special? Thanks

Hi Caesar,

Ok, first they are completely active and if you choose completely (other than one power cord per side) wireless.

They have separate Goldmund DACs and separate Goldmund Telos amplifiers for each driver (not box) in the system, plus over 30 dsp's per side.

The sound is high resolution and clear, think Swiss, but the last few generations of Goldmund products have I hate to say it but a bit of welcomed warmth, but just a tint, mostly neutral.

The bass is world class.

When set up in a large enough space they throw a true 3D holographic soundstage, with density and body to the individual instruments and because of the clarity and precision the harmonics coming from each individual instrument are very discernable.

Honestly, I have maybe 30 Goldmund customers and they actually love their systems more than my regular audiophile customer do. My regular audiophile customers are always messing with their system (because they like to of course) but the Goldmund customers seem to just forget about upgrading and changing things and listen to their system for hours each day and just focus on the music.

I have one Apologue customer who has Ferraris, Bentleys, Race Horses etc. He says take any of that stuff away, but don't touch the Apologues.

It's not for everyone, nothing is, but for many global Goldmund customers, the new active/wireless systems work really well for them.....sort of depends on the customer and their situation.

Goldmund also has 10 models starting at $5K up to $540K for the Apologues, and each model using the exact same technologies.

Thx for the "teeing up" the commercial:)
 

caesar

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Hi Caesar,

Ok, first they are completely active and if you choose completely (other than one power cord per side) wireless.

They have separate Goldmund DACs and separate Goldmund Telos amplifiers for each driver (not box) in the system, plus over 30 dsp's per side.

The sound is high resolution and clear, think Swiss, but the last few generations of Goldmund products have I hate to say it but a bit of welcomed warmth, but just a tint, mostly neutral.

The bass is world class.

When set up in a large enough space they throw a true 3D holographic soundstage, with density and body to the individual instruments and because of the clarity and precision the harmonics coming from each individual instrument are very discernable.

It's not for everyone, nothing is, but for many global Goldmund customers, the new active/wireless systems work really well for them.....sort of depends on the customer and their situation.

Goldmund also has 10 models starting at $5K up to $540K for the Apologues, and each model using the exact same technologies.

Thx for the "teeing up" the commercial:)

Thank you. I am really into modern design, and I think these look gorgeous. What are the different "modules" that make up the speaker?
 

Rhapsody

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Thank you. I am really into modern design, and I think these look gorgeous. What are the different "modules" that make up the speaker?

Two bottom modules have one large woofer per box.

Middle small module is the tweeter.

Top large module has two midrange drivers.

Top small module is a super tweeter.

Again, each driver has it's own DAC and Telos amplifier.
 

Rhapsody

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They spent $700k because they could and didn't want to have to make it complicated by listening and defining opinions. They're probably busy and it was the easy solution for them, as they needed a luxury product not just in price but in function (let's face it, us audiophile often have very tricky things like phono cartridges that are the opposite of luxury except in price). Goldmund fits that.

If they had spent a lot of time would they have chosen that setup? No & no, Goldmund isn't that impressive. Even a big room wouldn't achieve sound anywhere near as good as Mike's place, or many other stereos for even way less money.

Folsom, can you share where you heard the Apologue system?
 

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