Alsyvox planars...prepare to sell your Magico's, YG's, Wilson's, Cessaro's. Maggie's, and all others!!

[DaveyF]

A very good friend recently heard the new Alsyvox planar speakers at the RM show. The Botticelli model was apparently not only his 'best of show' speaker, but also the best sounding speaker he has ever heard, period!!! Since this friend has tons of experience in over 40 years in the hobby, what he told me really peaked my interest. Apparently, he feels that the speaker not only delivers what the old Apogee's were known for, but also everything that they couldn't portray....deep bass with tremendous resolution and highs that are SOTA!
Many in the room at RM were shaking their head in disbelief....

So, for anyone considering a new speaker purchase, and with the room ( and the very large budget) to accommodate this design....something to put on your short audition list. BTW, the Botticelli is the middle of the range...the Michelangelo being their flagship...at a price that you dare not ask!

Anyone else have thoughts on this design??

 

[bonzo75]

I will try listening to them in Spain.

 

[GuillaumeB]

A very good friend recently heard the new Alsyvox planar speakers at the RM show. The Botticelli model was apparently not only his 'best of show' speaker, but also the best sounding speaker he has ever heard, period!!! Since this friend has tons of experience in over 40 years in the hobby, what he told me really peaked my interest. Apparently, he feels that the speaker not only delivers what the old Apogee's were known for, but also everything that they couldn't portray....deep bass with tremendous resolution and highs that are SOTA!
Many in the room at RM were shaking their head in disbelief....

So, for anyone considering a new speaker purchase, and with the room ( and the very large budget) to accommodate this design....something to put on your short audition list. BTW, the Botticelli is the middle of the range...the Michelangelo being their flagship...at a price that you dare not ask!

Anyone else have thoughts on this design??

I had a similar reaction to them at Munich in 2017. I think I posted something about them shortly after.

Guillaume

 

[Zero000]

Compared to an Apogee or Maggie, the difference here is that the bass driver has magnets on both sides.

That is one hell of a compromise in some respects. You lose half of the bass panel radiating area, I would say, looking at them.

Should be better in the sense that it won't have more pull than push, which the Apogee bass panel has, since the magnets are on both sides, not just one. So that's a plus (in theory).

It looks to be made with better materials than Apogees ever were, but that would not be hard. That's one way to easily improve on Apogee's efforts today. Just make them far more rigid with more expensive materials.

I'd be interested to hear them. I seriously doubt they would be much better than a really well made contemporary Apogee.

A well made planar magnetic can be an astounding thing. When I watch the faces of people listening to mine, and when I just sit there awestruck at what mine can do with some material, it isn't hard to see why people get so impressed with something like this Alsyvox.

But trust me, I know quite a bit about how to make a decent planar magnetic, and I know there are problems that simply cannot be escaped. This speaker will have those issues. It just depends on how prevalent they are to the listener, and how well they have been kept to a minimum by the implementation.

 

[Ron Resnick]

They sure look interesting!

 

[Zero000]

They sure look interesting!

If we had ventured over to Hi-Fi Delux instead of (I think) essentially wasting our last day at MOC, we'd know what they were like Ron.

Big mistake. Huge

 

[cjfrbw]

Graz of Australia, who now owns he Apogee brand, still offers the Synergy 95db efficient full ribbon model based on Scintilla, but with flat impedance of 2.5 ohms. Doubt the Alsyvox would have much on Graz model, which isn't cheap, but is still a lot less dinero.

http://www.apogeeacoustics.com/synergy1_5_specs.html

 

[DaveyF]

Apparently Jonathan Valin was so impressed by these that he immediately wanted a pair to review. The Omega audio concepts are also supposed to be amazing ss amps for their price point...and were a great synergy with the Boticellis. Too bad that the Botticelli retails for over $80k a pair

Nonetheless, if it is the best speaker out there, maybe it’s a bargain.

 

[Al M.]

But trust me, I know quite a bit about how to make a decent planar magnetic, and I know there are problems that simply cannot be escaped. This speaker will have those issues. It just depends on how prevalent they are to the listener, and how well they have been kept to a minimum by the implementation.

Which problems are these?

 

[the sound of Tao]

Compared to an Apogee or Maggie, the difference here is that the bass driver has magnets on both sides.

That is one hell of a compromise in some respects. You lose half of the bass panel radiating area, I would say, looking at them.

Should be better in the sense that it won't have more pull than push, which the Apogee bass panel has, since the magnets are on both sides, not just one. So that's a plus (in theory).

It looks to be made with better materials than Apogees ever were, but that would not be hard. That's one way to easily improve on Apogee's efforts today. Just make them far more rigid with more expensive materials.

I'd be interested to hear them. I seriously doubt they would be much better than a really well made contemporary Apogee.

A well made planar magnetic can be an astounding thing. When I watch the faces of people listening to mine, and when I just sit there awestruck at what mine can do with some material, it isn't hard to see why people get so impressed with something like this Alsyvox.

But trust me, I know quite a bit about how to make a decent planar magnetic, and I know there are problems that simply cannot be escaped. This speaker will have those issues. It just depends on how prevalent they are to the listener, and how well they have been kept to a minimum by the implementation.

They look great... I’d be interested if they were in the same cost postcode as the other options though I never have had an issue with price no object sota ventures other than the sometimes hard to call and even nominal return on investment and the fact that I just can’t afford them lol.

I thought the 20.7s had magnets both sides on the bass panel though... would double check if I hadn’t already gone through the experience of taking off and replacing the speaker cloth when I did the upgrades on the 20.7s to the crossover capacitors a few years back. Btw that mod created such a beautiful step up with a range of gains including additional fullness and body, resolution and tonality that it even put the vaguely chronic notion of going for a Apogees restoration project out of the equation for me. Sanity prevails... sort of... now must get back to putting my new horns together... hmmm where did I put those wood screws...

 

[bonzo75]

What new horns?

I find stock Maggies sound a bit plastic. Did your mods make them more organic?

 

[DaveyF]

What new horns?

I find stock Maggies sound a bit plastic. Did your mods make them more organic?

I used to think that in the past, but the new generation seems to have done away with this issue...and in the new 30.7’s to have actually acquired the ability to portray dynamics and scale down fairly deep...maybe to 30hz clean!
What’s interesting, is that my friend, who has heard the new 20.7’s ,although not the 30.7’s, tells me that the Alsyvox is far more able across the whole spectrum than any Maggie he has ever heard..or any other dynamic/planar speaker for that matter!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

i heard them at RMAF.

sounded pretty good, but only heard them with 'electronic soft jazz' type music. it did the ribbon-planar transparency/speed/space type things nicely......for whatever that is worth. bass was limited to the degree i could tell with unfamiliar music.

did they wow me? not quite......missing weight of images for $80k, but i'd need to spend more time to get a better handle.

 

[DaveyF]

Mike, apparently the music that was generally played was soft jazz...but my friend was having none of that. He brought along some pretty good test pieces, along with a Cello piece that plumbs the depths. Apparently the speakers reacted tremendously to all music that he played. So much so, that several members of the audience were in shock at the SQ.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Ked, I’m having a modest horn with SET explore (at last) and just now putting together the Pureaudioproject Trio 15 inch open baffles with compression driver horns and a line magnet 805 set with 300b drivers and Microzotl as a pre to drive them. Will look at the new Psvane Acme valves for 805 and 300B upgrades, plus maybe later integrating fostex super tweeters or even the polish autotech iwata horns. Have mods planned for the caps and resistors in the Mundorf crossovers as well. Much fun and plenty of room to play.

Yes, the 20.7s as I have them are sounding organic but not at all cloying as a result of having a richer balance, considerably greater resolve and marvellous tonality. It’s taken a few years of development with a lot of gentle mods and optimising in terms of shielding, components, rigidity, plus resonance control. I’ve heard all the current Maggies, quite a few Apogees (though not Graz versions) and a couple of the Audio Analysis. I’ve also compared with three other 20.7 setups regularly... I am finished improving the 20.7s now and completely happy with the quality of sound and how beautifully they play music.

 

[adyc]

I have heard Botticelli twice. One is in AE owner’s home. One is in AE show in July. In both occasions, Botticelli is driven by full Trinity electronics.

In AE’s owner home, the source is Tidal. I’m able to select the music I’m very familiar. I found the dynamics is constrained. Bass is not tight and has room mode issues. I think some of the issues are due to relatively small size of his home. Once again, it proves that one need a big size room for planar speakers to breathe.

In AE Hi-Fi show, the room size is around 1000 sq feet. This time is much better. More open and transparent. However, the bass is still limited. This should be no surprise. Their top two models have bass panel extension.

IMHO, they are not dynamics speakers killers. Far from it. I haven’t heard 30.7 before. But I bet 30.7 kills them in bass simply because of larger bass panels. 30.7 is also much less expensive.

 

[DaveyF]

I have heard Botticelli twice. One is in AE owner’s home. One is in AE show in July. In both occasions, Botticelli is driven by full Trinity electronics.

In AE’s owner home, the source is Tidal. I’m able to select the music I’m very familiar. I found the dynamics is constrained. Bass is not tight and has room mode issues. I think some of the issues are due to relatively small size of his home. Once again, it proves that one need a big size room for planar speakers to breathe.

In AE Hi-Fi show, the room size is around 1000 sq feet. This time is much better. More open and transparent. However, the bass is still limited. This should be no surprise. Their top two models have bass panel extension.

IMHO, they are not dynamics speakers killers. Far from it. I haven’t heard 30.7 before. But I bet 30.7 kills them in bass simply because of larger bass panels. 30.7 is also much less expensive.

I have not had the pleasure of hearing the Botticelli's, but I have heard the 30.7's. The 30.7's are the first planar speaker that can do deep bass...and therefore the best planar that I have heard. OTOH, according to reports, the Botticelli has even more resolution and extension at both ends of the spectrum than the 30.7! If that is true, then the Botticelli would be one amazing sounding speaker. Agreed, the asking price of the Alsyvox is very off-putting, but the 30.7's are priced at almost a bargain in todays high end world.

 

[Tango]

Alsyvox planars...prepare to sell your Magico's, YG's, Wilson's, Cessaro's. Maggie's, and all others!!

Maybe Cessaro should not be on the heading of this thread. It is already a non contender crappy sounding horn by most .

Tang

 

[DonH50]

Are these true ribbons? If so, magnets should be on the sides of the radiating surfaces... It looked like it, but I couldn't really tell from their website and the brochure didn't help (maybe just not looking in the right place).

FWIW, Magneplaner's 20 series (and I assume 30 series) also have magnets front and back in a "push-pull" configuration. The 3.x and lower only have magnets on one side.

 

[DaveyF]

Don, I believe that the Alsyvox’s are true ribbons.