At THE Show in Newport Beach, I had the pleasure of an interesting discussion with Alon Wolf of Magico fame.
Alon was present at the room featuring his new S5 speakers and using the impressive Constellation gear.
As I walked into the room, he noticed that I had just left the contiguous suite featuring the Wilson Sasha's as displayed by Brooks Berdan and utilizing the DCS gear and VTL amps. The front end of Berdan's system consisted of a mix of DCS for digital and the Black Diamond racing TT. Alon asked me what I felt of the sound, which IMO was the best that I heard at the show up till then. When I told him that I thought that the Sasha's were sounding great, he told me that he was going to check them out for himself and asked me to revisit his room in about 30 minutes.
When I returned ( and after having heard his room) the conversation went like this:
Alon: I can't believe you liked that room so much!
Me: Come on Alon, it sounds exceptional
Alon: Our room is much better in my opinion and no comparison.
Me: Laughs, Come on That's a little biased.
Alon: I know, I'm just kidding, it is good, BUT I still think we are better.
Me: Alon, I know you play classical guitar and you are an accomplished musician, i too play this instrument and wanted to ask you about where you think your speaker's sound is in relation to the real instrument.
Alon. ( Now very peaked) That's a very easy question to answer, we are NOT even close to being able to reproduce this sound. NOT close.
Me: Why do you think that is?
Alon: Well, there are several reasons, but one has to remember that the sound that the speaker gets to reproduce is far along a chain of reproduction that has multiple levels of drop-off and error. Many links on the chain that are subtractive and reduce the possibility of accurate reproduction. Plus, real instruments are immensely dynamic and I don't think speakers can really get that aspect too well. Our Big Magico horn system ( he told me the name and I cannot remember) or Q7's come about as close as possible and they still aren't up to the task.
Me: That's very interesting, so the ability to move air is important.
Alon: Yes, what do you think of our new S5 speaker's, they have a different representation in the bass than our Q3's
Me: I think the new S5's are more "robust"
Alon: That's a good description, Laughs. The Q3's are more accurate but put out less quantity.
Me: You know your speaker's have been accused of being "analytical" in the past?
Alon: No, that's not correct ....Sorry, Yes, they are "analytical"...how do you understand "analytical"?
Me: "analytical" in the sense of"?
Alon: I do like this subject of "how far have we to go in regards to getting the sound of real instruments"
Me: I have demonstrated on numerous occasions the difference between my 'live' guitar and the reproduced and there is no comparison.
Alon: It cannot be even close, like I said, many issues and reasons-- electronics, wires, engineers and on and on.
At this point Jay Kaufman of Audio revelations interrupts and tells Alon he needs to talk business with him. Alon, turns back to me and says that he enjoys this type of conversation and wants to continue, BUT Jay is having none of it, and asks me to leave...since I have known Jay for several years, I agree and end the conversation.
What I do have to say about Alon, is that he is a VERY strong defender of his line ( as he should be) and a very thoughtful man, devoted to his craft and IMHO a MAJOR benefit to the high end community.
Alon was present at the room featuring his new S5 speakers and using the impressive Constellation gear.
As I walked into the room, he noticed that I had just left the contiguous suite featuring the Wilson Sasha's as displayed by Brooks Berdan and utilizing the DCS gear and VTL amps. The front end of Berdan's system consisted of a mix of DCS for digital and the Black Diamond racing TT. Alon asked me what I felt of the sound, which IMO was the best that I heard at the show up till then. When I told him that I thought that the Sasha's were sounding great, he told me that he was going to check them out for himself and asked me to revisit his room in about 30 minutes.
When I returned ( and after having heard his room) the conversation went like this:
Alon: I can't believe you liked that room so much!
Me: Come on Alon, it sounds exceptional
Alon: Our room is much better in my opinion and no comparison.
Me: Laughs, Come on That's a little biased.
Alon: I know, I'm just kidding, it is good, BUT I still think we are better.
Me: Alon, I know you play classical guitar and you are an accomplished musician, i too play this instrument and wanted to ask you about where you think your speaker's sound is in relation to the real instrument.
Alon. ( Now very peaked) That's a very easy question to answer, we are NOT even close to being able to reproduce this sound. NOT close.
Me: Why do you think that is?
Alon: Well, there are several reasons, but one has to remember that the sound that the speaker gets to reproduce is far along a chain of reproduction that has multiple levels of drop-off and error. Many links on the chain that are subtractive and reduce the possibility of accurate reproduction. Plus, real instruments are immensely dynamic and I don't think speakers can really get that aspect too well. Our Big Magico horn system ( he told me the name and I cannot remember) or Q7's come about as close as possible and they still aren't up to the task.
Me: That's very interesting, so the ability to move air is important.
Alon: Yes, what do you think of our new S5 speaker's, they have a different representation in the bass than our Q3's
Me: I think the new S5's are more "robust"
Alon: That's a good description, Laughs. The Q3's are more accurate but put out less quantity.
Me: You know your speaker's have been accused of being "analytical" in the past?
Alon: No, that's not correct ....Sorry, Yes, they are "analytical"...how do you understand "analytical"?
Me: "analytical" in the sense of"?
Alon: I do like this subject of "how far have we to go in regards to getting the sound of real instruments"
Me: I have demonstrated on numerous occasions the difference between my 'live' guitar and the reproduced and there is no comparison.
Alon: It cannot be even close, like I said, many issues and reasons-- electronics, wires, engineers and on and on.
At this point Jay Kaufman of Audio revelations interrupts and tells Alon he needs to talk business with him. Alon, turns back to me and says that he enjoys this type of conversation and wants to continue, BUT Jay is having none of it, and asks me to leave...since I have known Jay for several years, I agree and end the conversation.
What I do have to say about Alon, is that he is a VERY strong defender of his line ( as he should be) and a very thoughtful man, devoted to his craft and IMHO a MAJOR benefit to the high end community.
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