Hi
This is my first real vacation in almost 10 years. I have a minimum of agenda or schedule.. A joy! I took the opportunity to visit NYC and audition some speakers for my next system
I had a great experience with Ciamarra in NYC. I wanted to audition the kef Blades, speakers that are high on my list because of my present experience with the stupendously good LS 50. This is not an account of the Blades as they weren’t available but of another speaker I “discovered”” The TAD Reference. These speakers drop you in teen-age talk: “omg”, “lol”, “omfg”, “2G2BT” etc… I wasn’t prepared for what these speakers sound like. As coherent as the LS 50 but with a presence the LS50 can’t begin to suggest, not a bass thing really.. There is a density (for the lack of a better word) to the sound of the TAD Reference that the LS 50 (and many speakers out there at all level of prices) simply lack. The speakers are superb, one of the truly great speakers I have heard recently… The dealer was of the let-it-play-as-long-as-you-like school of salesmanship. No push, no hurry, no sales pitch. Discrete presence and available to answer any question. The room wasn’t optimal but the personnel couldn't be any better. Driving the Reference was the Ayre Integrated!! (It is that kind of good) and a Viola DAC/preamp (used as DAC only) this time I was able to play my USB stick. I cam utterly impressed by the gear and dealer, another enthusiast, I had to leave but if it looked that if it were for Sanjay Patel, I could have remained in his loft for as long as I had to (that’s a thought by the way, I have an additional place to stay in NYC
) . Sanjay knows his stuff and let the gear strut his stuff. With him you listen to music and determine how the gear present it. The sales pitch is kept to a microscopic level … IOW almost none. If a person is out there for speaker over $50K, please do give a serious audition to the TAD Reference, if you are in NYC, Ciamarra is a great place for that … I still need to audition the Blades… I have a suspicion they are close to the TAD Reference…
It is always a pleasure to meet your fellow WBFer in-the-flesh. I met Ack for a brief time and am looking forward to meet him again on my next stay in his home area. One word describes Ack: Enthusiast. He is an avid music lover who finds the accurate reproduction of music attractive and abide to it. A fine ear and a fun person to be around.
I was to spend a week in the New England area. Due to unforeseen events (euphemism for poor planning ) I was only able to spend a day in Boston. Ack hooked me up with the people at Goodwin’s. a very, very different High End store in my experience. The only thing fancy about Goodwin’s are the equipment they carry, the rooms and the knowledge of its personnel, else you could pass by the store and barely notice there are that level of gear in there… If the deal is to find the best place to audition a given gear, there aren’t many places like Goodwin’s High End. For starters, they are not pushy. You want to listen, you are left to listen, audition and look around. Your questions are answered politely and expertly. IOW these guys know their stuff. Their business model is refreshing: They are there to serve audiophiles and music lovers and also those (non-audiophiles) who need a custom anything to grace their house.
Now back to the gear I auditioned (about 4 hours). First the Magico Q7. I can’t understand the kind of hate Magico elicit, again I understand it : ) . The speaker is simply spectacular. (Please see the above texting abbreviations and add “7k” and expletives not suitable to utter or print ) For starters, they are big, very big, bigger than they look in pictures and surprisingly handsome, not “Sonus--Faber handsome, a sort of techno. They are solid as anything any audiophiles as ever experienced. When you do a knuckle knock test on these speakers, the only feedback is … nothing. You knuckle and brain tells you that increasing the level of stimuli will only induce pain to your anatomy.. Then the sound. Glorious. Big when it needs and as small as necessary. The most interesting aspect of the “sound” of the Q7 is the lack of noise, which translates in the speakers being as absent as a 750 pounds black monolith can manage to be. Playing you have the strange and almost unsettling impression that the speaker are … not …playing.. Sounds doesn’t come from the speakers themselves but from a real, palpable soundstage. With 3-D expanse and definition, more so than any speaker I have heard to date. Forget tonality which is spectacular in this speaker or neutral which this speaker is to an unusual extent… it is palpability. The stage is set. The sound is set on a stage if the recording allows and is presented that way, not a speaker “playing” . Highly unusual and to me intoxicating …
Driving those where all Spectral gear. Let me say it if I haven’t yet. Spectral may well be one the best value in High End Audio. I have heard a lot of gears with tag price well over $100K per component The whole Spectral system I heard was around or under $50K (Spectral 400: $28,000 the pair, Preamp: $12K, CD Player about 10K, maybe slightly more)… If the opinion many have formed of Spectral is “Analytic” , “Dry”, “sterile” bring a new set of descriptive or better leave the false stereotypes at home or in the garbage can. None of this, rich, harmonically correct, incredible timing and utter silence... And yes people... Power… plentiful and a sound as real as anything you have heard in a concert or live. Oh mine! they are the real deal. While I know there is a whole attraction toward some SS brands. Please do give Spectral a listen first with an open mind, then pay up for more… if you want to but do not think or expect you’d be buying superior gear… I was an admirer, I have become a fan… From now on high, very high on my list, very much near the top … What I could have wished for? That they could play the music that was on my USB stick, the DAC that could wasn’t available…
Then came the Q3. They are not the Q7, not at all but there is no letdown. You go from an insanely great speaker to a great speaker at a quarter of the price. I could not help thinking how would the Q3 sound with subwoofers… I simply believe that the Q3 in a multi-subs system would come very close to the Q7 without subs… Oh yes!. I can see myself with a pair of Q3 and a pair (or more) of Seaton Submersive. Heaven at a (relative) discount.
This is my first real vacation in almost 10 years. I have a minimum of agenda or schedule.. A joy! I took the opportunity to visit NYC and audition some speakers for my next system
I had a great experience with Ciamarra in NYC. I wanted to audition the kef Blades, speakers that are high on my list because of my present experience with the stupendously good LS 50. This is not an account of the Blades as they weren’t available but of another speaker I “discovered”” The TAD Reference. These speakers drop you in teen-age talk: “omg”, “lol”, “omfg”, “2G2BT” etc… I wasn’t prepared for what these speakers sound like. As coherent as the LS 50 but with a presence the LS50 can’t begin to suggest, not a bass thing really.. There is a density (for the lack of a better word) to the sound of the TAD Reference that the LS 50 (and many speakers out there at all level of prices) simply lack. The speakers are superb, one of the truly great speakers I have heard recently… The dealer was of the let-it-play-as-long-as-you-like school of salesmanship. No push, no hurry, no sales pitch. Discrete presence and available to answer any question. The room wasn’t optimal but the personnel couldn't be any better. Driving the Reference was the Ayre Integrated!! (It is that kind of good) and a Viola DAC/preamp (used as DAC only) this time I was able to play my USB stick. I cam utterly impressed by the gear and dealer, another enthusiast, I had to leave but if it looked that if it were for Sanjay Patel, I could have remained in his loft for as long as I had to (that’s a thought by the way, I have an additional place to stay in NYC
) . Sanjay knows his stuff and let the gear strut his stuff. With him you listen to music and determine how the gear present it. The sales pitch is kept to a microscopic level … IOW almost none. If a person is out there for speaker over $50K, please do give a serious audition to the TAD Reference, if you are in NYC, Ciamarra is a great place for that … I still need to audition the Blades… I have a suspicion they are close to the TAD Reference…It is always a pleasure to meet your fellow WBFer in-the-flesh. I met Ack for a brief time and am looking forward to meet him again on my next stay in his home area. One word describes Ack: Enthusiast. He is an avid music lover who finds the accurate reproduction of music attractive and abide to it. A fine ear and a fun person to be around.
I was to spend a week in the New England area. Due to unforeseen events (euphemism for poor planning
) I was only able to spend a day in Boston. Ack hooked me up with the people at Goodwin’s. a very, very different High End store in my experience. The only thing fancy about Goodwin’s are the equipment they carry, the rooms and the knowledge of its personnel, else you could pass by the store and barely notice there are that level of gear in there… If the deal is to find the best place to audition a given gear, there aren’t many places like Goodwin’s High End. For starters, they are not pushy. You want to listen, you are left to listen, audition and look around. Your questions are answered politely and expertly. IOW these guys know their stuff. Their business model is refreshing: They are there to serve audiophiles and music lovers and also those (non-audiophiles) who need a custom anything to grace their house. Now back to the gear I auditioned (about 4 hours). First the Magico Q7. I can’t understand the kind of hate Magico elicit, again I understand it : ) . The speaker is simply spectacular. (Please see the above texting abbreviations and add “7k” and expletives not suitable to utter or print
) For starters, they are big, very big, bigger than they look in pictures and surprisingly handsome, not “Sonus--Faber handsome, a sort of techno. They are solid as anything any audiophiles as ever experienced. When you do a knuckle knock test on these speakers, the only feedback is … nothing. You knuckle and brain tells you that increasing the level of stimuli will only induce pain to your anatomy.. Then the sound. Glorious. Big when it needs and as small as necessary. The most interesting aspect of the “sound” of the Q7 is the lack of noise, which translates in the speakers being as absent as a 750 pounds black monolith can manage to be. Playing you have the strange and almost unsettling impression that the speaker are … not …playing.. Sounds doesn’t come from the speakers themselves but from a real, palpable soundstage. With 3-D expanse and definition, more so than any speaker I have heard to date. Forget tonality which is spectacular in this speaker or neutral which this speaker is to an unusual extent… it is palpability. The stage is set. The sound is set on a stage if the recording allows and is presented that way, not a speaker “playing” . Highly unusual and to me intoxicating …Driving those where all Spectral gear. Let me say it if I haven’t yet. Spectral may well be one the best value in High End Audio. I have heard a lot of gears with tag price well over $100K per component The whole Spectral system I heard was around or under $50K (Spectral 400: $28,000 the pair, Preamp: $12K, CD Player about 10K, maybe slightly more)… If the opinion many have formed of Spectral is “Analytic” , “Dry”, “sterile” bring a new set of descriptive or better leave the false stereotypes at home or in the garbage can. None of this, rich, harmonically correct, incredible timing and utter silence... And yes people... Power… plentiful and a sound as real as anything you have heard in a concert or live. Oh mine! they are the real deal. While I know there is a whole attraction toward some SS brands. Please do give Spectral a listen first with an open mind, then pay up for more… if you want to but do not think or expect you’d be buying superior gear… I was an admirer, I have become a fan… From now on high, very high on my list, very much near the top … What I could have wished for? That they could play the music that was on my USB stick, the DAC that could wasn’t available…
Then came the Q3. They are not the Q7, not at all but there is no letdown. You go from an insanely great speaker to a great speaker at a quarter of the price. I could not help thinking how would the Q3 sound with subwoofers… I simply believe that the Q3 in a multi-subs system would come very close to the Q7 without subs… Oh yes!. I can see myself with a pair of Q3 and a pair (or more) of Seaton Submersive. Heaven at a (relative) discount.
