Munich High-End 2018 Ron Report: Horn Loudspeaker Report

bonzo75

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thanks Ron!

it appears if I decide to pursue horns at some point, a visit to Munich would be mandatory. although in the States, AG and Cessaro are really the only 2 options (and both only have 1 dealer iirc)

You would be better served with an EU tour outside of the Munich show
 

bonzo75

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Ron Resnick

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You are welcome, Keith!

For horns, you and Jeff T would love the Tune Audio Avaton, I would be willing to bet!
 

Ron Resnick

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And thanks to everyone else for their comments on my horn report. Obviously, I have heard these systems mainly only at shows, so that puts a cloud of unreliability over everything. On the other hand different preferences and different perceptions is what makes this hobby subjective!
 

marslo

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Horns are my cup of tea.
Living Voice is too expensive, price/ quality ratio is important to me, audio is only a hobby.
I might be happy with AG’s, Cessaro, Horns Universum , Acapellas - everyone may adjust them with amplifiers and cabling to personnal taste.
I did not hear Tune Audio, Odeon nor Aries Cerat though. I am sure I could be happy with them as well.
Jazz and classical is approx 80% of my music selection, imho horns are best speakers for big living rooms with difficult accoustics, which is my case.

Thank you Ron for interesting report.
 
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Believe High Fidelity

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Thank you for the report Ron. With the plan to do the LAAS I didn't make plans to go to Munich and missed out on a lot of systems and gear that I wanted to hear including the Apolyte. Next year though....
 

ack

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We greatly appreciate your reports, Ron! Very nicely done and also kudos for the photos
 

Tango

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Horns are my cup of tea.
Living Voice is too expensive, price/ quality ratio is important to me, audio is only a hobby.
I might be happy with AG’s, Cessaro, Horns Universum , Acapellas - everyone may adjust them with amplifiers and cabling to personnal taste.
I did not hear Tune Audio, Odeon nor Aries Cerat though. I am sure I could be happy with them as well.
Jazz and classical is approx 80% of my music selection, imho horns are best speakers for big living rooms with difficult accoustics, which is my case.

Thank you Ron for interesting report.

Saw your comments and it is like De’javu.

Tang:)
 

Ron Resnick

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I heard the Avatons last year at Munich. On the Friday I was underwhelmed, but on the Saturday they were my favourite speakers of the show (along with the Aries Cerat).



I doubt you've heard the Anima at its best. Having heard both the Avatons and Animas, they clearly share a 'house sound'. The retail price of the Anima is a fraction of that of the Avaton - I reckon you get a lot of speaker for your money.

Mani.

The big open box of the Avaton seems uniquely able to project an open, planar-like, sound.
 

Ron Resnick

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Funny how we all have very different impressions of the same setups :)

The Tune Audio was the same model as displayed last year, but while I enjoyed it quite a bit last year, this year was so-so. Might've been the amp, since last year they had the big Trafomatic amps, with a turntable, etc.

I actually preferred the big AG room (with their amps) than the one with tube amps, that was all midrange.

My pick for 2nd best horn after the AG was the Odeon with the NAT Magma amps. I didn't listen to digital, vinyl only every time I was there, but it was really good, nuanced, with the bass being just a touch "behind" the rest. But still very, very enjoyable, which is far from what I could say of the other horn systems. Some, like that funky chinese thing shoehorned into a small cabinet on the ground floor, as well as the back-loaded Pnoe, were truly puzzling...

Yep; I went bonkers over the Avaton -- and that system did not even have the advantage of vinyl to help it.
 

manisandher

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"On my first visit to the TuneAudio room, their 82" high, Avaton hornspeaker (220,000 Euros/pair) made a solo piano appear full-sized (or larger) and full-density between its towering, 82" deep rectangular horns. I was listening with David Chesky, to a recording made by David Chesky, of a piano played by David Chesky; and we were both looking at each other, shaking our heads. When it was over, we both agreed, this was closest any loudspeaker ever got to reproducing the density and presence of a real piano. I left the room in tears from the experience."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/more-munich-herb-reichert

Mani.
 

Ron Resnick

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I think they might’ve been in the room when I was there. When I first entered the room I heard piano playing, and as I sat down and listened I thought the piano was exactly how Herb described it: full and rich and dense and real; like there was an instrument in the room.

Herb first believed “it was the best hornspeaker I had ever heard.”

(Now I feel like breaking my arm patting myself on the back.:D)
 

microstrip

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"On my first visit to the TuneAudio room, their 82" high, Avaton hornspeaker (220,000 Euros/pair) made a solo piano appear full-sized (or larger) and full-density between its towering, 82" deep rectangular horns. I was listening with David Chesky, to a recording made by David Chesky, of a piano played by David Chesky; and we were both looking at each other, shaking our heads. When it was over, we both agreed, this was closest any loudspeaker ever got to reproducing the density and presence of a real piano. I left the room in tears from the experience."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/more-munich-herb-reichert

Mani.

"After I left, I texted several friends and told them to go there now and listen carefully. I said it was the best hornspeaker I had ever heard. Later, when I asked them what they thought: none of them were as impressed as David and me"

Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/more-munich-herb-reichert#khjsR7ZUjppiY1eo.99

It is the first time I read something from Herb Reichert, but listening close to the person who played and recorded is surely a very strong bias ...

It is surely one of the problems of shows - some designers and demonstrators are enthusiastic and persuasive. It is not easy to make judgments in such company. Collective auditions are a real danger!
 

Audiophile Bill

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I think they might’ve been in the room when I was there. When I first entered the room I heard piano playing, and as I sat down and listened I thought the piano was exactly how Herb described it: full and rich and dense and real; like there was an instrument in the room.

Herb first believed “it was the best hornspeaker I had ever heard.”

(Now I feel like breaking my arm patting myself on the back.:D)

Hi Ron,

Any consideration to getting these instead of the Pendragons?
 

Ron Resnick

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"After I left, I texted several friends and told them to go there now and listen carefully. I said it was the best hornspeaker I had ever heard. Later, when I asked them what they thought: none of them were as impressed as David and me"

Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/more-munich-herb-reichert#khjsR7ZUjppiY1eo.99

It is the first time I read something from Herb Reichert, but listening close to the person who played and recorded is surely a very strong bias ...

It is surely one of the problems of shows - some designers and demonstrators are enthusiastic and persuasive. It is not easy to make judgments in such company. Collective auditions are a real danger!

Did you go to the TuneAudio room last week in Munich High-End?
 

microstrip

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Did you go to the TuneAudio room last week in Munich High-End?

No, I was not at Munich. I must say that I am enjoying shows each time less. Currently I go there mainly for the social aspect - meeting old friends.
 

Ron Resnick

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No, I was not at Munich. I must say that I am enjoying shows each time less. Currently I go there mainly for the social aspect - meeting old friends.

I didn’t think so.

How about enjoying the reports instead of trying to figure out a way to pick almost everything apart from a distance?
 

bonzo75

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I didn’t think so.

How about enjoying the reports instead of trying to figure out a way to pick almost everything apart from a distance?

+1
 

microstrip

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I didn’t think so.

How about enjoying the reports instead of trying to figure out a way to pick almost everything apart from a distance?

I have really enjoyed some reports, including yours, and acknowledged them. But IMHO we are here to comment on them, not only to thank and glorify the posters.

IMHO the part of the sentence I added was very relevant to debates concerning objection that other posters had expressed about show evaluation.
 

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