Raidho founders dump speaker company to peddle cables. Not surprising. Good luck to new team!

caesar

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Catching up on my audio reading found this information...

Shows one where the money to be made is in this hobby... amazing how guys go crazy for stuff like stillpoints that gives a bit more detail (frequently of analytical variety)...

Why run a speaker operation - akin to a furniture/ cabinetry operation - with electronic parts/ crossovers inside, when one can wind cables in a small garage and sell them for more than what speakers cost?

Raidho speakers sound gorgeous with female voices (I only heard them play female voices at shows).

Good luck to the new team!
 

caesar

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By the way this is not an anti-cable thread. But I think those Ansuz cables cost more than most speakers do.
 

DaveC

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Raidho has a nice tweeter, the rest, meh... a big part of what you pay for in a high end speaker is the bass and Raidho doesn't deliver. I look at their marketing efforts as being a good example of a successful brand launch though.
 

caesar

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Raidho has a nice tweeter, the rest, meh... a big part of what you pay for in a high end speaker is the bass and Raidho doesn't deliver. I look at their marketing efforts as being a good example of a successful brand launch though.

Yes, "Sterile" Jon Valin used Raidho to pivot away from his "BEST" Magico Q5 driven by soulution v1 system. I hope "Sterile" Jon sticks around with the new Raidho team, for their sake...

Recently, "Sterile" Jon has been hard at work marketing the Ansuz cables while trashing other brands.
 

spiritofmusic

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Hmm, refer to the Jeff Fritz thread for someone actively unhappy w such practices
 

marty

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Catching up on my audio reading found this information...

Shows one where the money to be made is in this hobby... amazing how guys go crazy for stuff like stillpoints that gives a bit more detail (frequently of analytical variety)...

Why run a speaker operation - akin to a furniture/ cabinetry operation - with electronic parts/ crossovers inside, when one can wind cables in a small garage and sell them for more than what speakers cost?

Raidho speakers sound gorgeous with female voices (I only heard them play female voices at shows).

Good luck to the new team!

Can you cite your source for this information? I looked at the Raidho site and Michael Borresen is indeed no longer listed as their chief engineer. They have apparently brought back their former chief designer, Peter Larson according to the Raidho web site.. My understanding is that Ansuz was (is?) led by Lars Kristensen (formerly of Nordost fame) and Michael Borresen was also involved. Michael Borresen seems to be a solid engineer/designer. Lars is strictly a marketing guy (unfortunately I know him as the man who did the most fraudulent audio demos I have ever seen when he was at Nordost). The Ansuz site is not informative at all about their current management.
 
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bonzo75

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What demos did Nordost do at audio shows
 

marty

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What demos did Nordost do at audio shows

This was at Rocky Mountain a number of year ago. They had a decent system w Raidho D3's as I recall with a Burmester CD player and integrated amp. . He insisted that changing just one interconnect between CD and amp could make huge differences (if it was a Nordost cable, naturally). Each time he changed cables, going progressively up the line, he changed CDs! The audience never got to hear the same CD or track with different cables. At the end, after he finally put in a Valhalla cable and praised its obvious virtues. People were nodding their heads like lemmings. I asked if he could keep the same song and go back to his first cable or in fact, any other Nordost cable. He refused. Hemmed and hawed, babbled something idiotic and never gave a cogent reason. A complete charlatan. The most fraudulent demo I have ever seen in public. Too bad because Valhalla cables are actually pretty good and in fact I owned them at the time!
 

caesar

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Can you cite your source for this information? I looked at the Raidho site and Michael Borresen is indeed no longer listed as their chief engineer. They have apparently brought back their former chief designer, Peter Larson according to the Raidho web site.. My understanding is that Ansuz was (is?) led by Lars Kristensen (formerly of Nordost fame) and Michael Borresen was also involved. Michael Borresen seems to be a solid engineer/designer. Lars is strictly a marketing guy (unfortunately I know him as the man who did the most fraudulent audio demos I have ever seen when he was at Nordost). The Ansuz site is not informative at all about their current management.

It was initially mentioned to me by a friend, and I subsequently did some searching like you did. The names Borresen and Lars come up initially during the search, but then the page loads the information showing the new guys' names and bios. This quote on the Raidho main page helps connect the dots" "At Raidho we are comitted to develop and produce the best loudspeakers ever built. We might not yet be there, but time will show that a Raidho product is state-of-the-art in its category. At Raidho we dare to be unique, explore new territories of sound design and put our ideas into the nice products featured on this website. Raidho is always on the move so please keep updated with our latest innovations on this website and contact your dealer for a breathtaking demonstration."

I kind of feel bad for dealers who bought into the brand based on "audio journalists" marketing Borresen as an innovative talent, but I don't know anything about the new guy. I hope he is even better - for those who like the brand, bought into the brand promise, and who have skin in the game.
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Another point in retrospect: when I was in the mood for some well-done female vocals at a recent show, I stopped by the Raidho room. But this dude Lars was so focused on demoing his stillpoint-type footers, he he didn't play anything more than a 30 second snippet of a song demonstrating how great his footers were...
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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This was at Rocky Mountain a number of year ago. They had a decent system w Raidho D3's as I recall with a Burmester CD player and integrated amp. . He insisted that changing just one interconnect between CD and amp could make huge differences (if it was a Nordost cable, naturally). Each time he changed cables, going progressively up the line, he changed CDs! The audience never got to hear the same CD or track with different cables. At the end, after he finally put in a Valhalla cable and praised its obvious virtues. People were nodding their heads like lemmings. I asked if he could keep the same song and go back to his first cable or in fact, any other Nordost cable. He refused. Hemmed and hawed, babbled something idiotic and never gave a cogent reason. A complete charlatan. The most fraudulent demo I have ever seen in public. Too bad because Valhalla cables are actually pretty good and in fact I owned them at the time!

In a recent show report, "Sterile" Jon Valin was reporting how he heard the Ansuz cables wipe out and annihilate the Nordost cables...
 

marty

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It was initially mentioned to me by a friend, and I subsequently did some searching like you did. The names Borresen and Lars come up initially during the search, but then the page loads the information showing the new guys' names and bios. This quote on the Raidho main page helps connect the dots" "At Raidho we are comitted to develop and produce the best loudspeakers ever built. We might not yet be there, but time will show that a Raidho product is state-of-the-art in its category. At Raidho we dare to be unique, explore new territories of sound design and put our ideas into the nice products featured on this website. Raidho is always on the move so please keep updated with our latest innovations on this website and contact your dealer for a breathtaking demonstration."
I kind of feel bad for dealers who bought into the brand based on "audio journalists" marketing Borresen as an innovative talent, but I don't know anything about the new guy. I hope he is even better - for those who like the brand, bought into the brand promise, and who have skin in the game.

Unfortunately, sounds like "another one bites the dust". The Danish company to watch now I think is Gryphon. Virtually no presence in the US until recently (Philip O'Hanlon) but when somebody like Andy Payor says their electronics is what he has used for years, I generally pay attention. I might even go to a show (CES?) if they are going to demo there!
 

caesar

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Unfortunately, sounds like "another one bites the dust". The Danish company to watch now I think is Gryphon. Virtually no presence in the US until recently (Philip O'Hanlon) but when somebody like Andy Payor says their electronics is what he has used for years, I generally pay attention. I might even go to a show (CES?) if they are going to demo there!

Yes, I think you are right. As Jeff Fritz has written, Philip's Vivid speakers sound outstanding with Gryphon.... and I am also curious if Philip will be bringing the Gryphon speakers here in addition to the amps.
 

LL21

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Unfortunately, sounds like "another one bites the dust". The Danish company to watch now I think is Gryphon. Virtually no presence in the US until recently (Philip O'Hanlon) but when somebody like Andy Payor says their electronics is what he has used for years, I generally pay attention. I might even go to a show (CES?) if they are going to demo there!

Big fan of Gryphon here and they have been vanguards of great audio for 2 decades...just in Europe and Asia. I trust with Philip's careful, passionate stewardship...Gryphon will find themselves in great hands in the US after a 20-year hiatus.
 

marty

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In a recent show report, "Sterile" Jon Valin was reporting how he heard the Ansuz cables wipe out and annihilate the Nordost cables...

To say something like that based on a show report sounds rather incredulous to me. "Sounds promising", "has me interested", "sounds excellent" are all reasonable impressions based on a show demo, but over the top comments like "wipes out" is just hyperbole at best and makes the credibility of the commenter very suspect IMHO.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Yes, I think you are right. As Jeff Fritz has written, Philip's Vivid speakers sound outstanding with Gryphon.... and I am also curious if Philip will be bringing the Gryphon speakers here in addition to the amps.

I heard the speaker and amp yesterday at Philip's house
 

Folsom

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Raidho had some good things going on, but not enough. The thing about Danish manufacturers is more recent ones, like Raidho, get pumped with state money just to exist. In many ways that makes it even harder to be successful. I think Gryphon pre-dates that hand out by a decade or better.
 

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