Roy Gregory Names Clarisys Atrium/VAC System Best in Show

[Golum]

This is what i wanted to say after listening this sytem in munich

I heard the same comment from several guys being on the spot...

 

[Alrainbow]

Infinty Arne nudel used tubes , but went out of his way to upgrade magnets to pick up a few db in sensitivity. You may wonder why my guess is it helped the tubes
I think vac makes wonderful amps and have output taps to achieve a better result
but SS Has more power as it is not using a transformer.
the people who say no ss have a fixation on tubes making them fit.
Same is for horns , large avantguard uses ss amps 6 channels or 8
sounded very natural to me.
Heard apogees in same system same sitting
big tube amps
Then a smaller ss amp the changes were obvious , looking at the owner I smile
nice man but he smiles and says he still loves the tubes hahahaha
you can’t change minds even if you prove them wrong.

 

[JiminGa]

What’s the impedance, and what’s the lowest it drops to

that's the right question

 

[Kingrex]

I have ownes SS and tube and yes, with SS, some people would say, wow, listen to the power and force. The control and even tone top to bottom. And yes, its musical. Then you put the tube in and all that muscle and control is replaced with a tone that sounds much more like a real instrument, is much faster and the detail much higher.

So yea, some people will absolutely gravitate to muscle, grip, control, forceful bass and umph in the room. But others may prefer the more suble driver control with faster dynamics that come with a higher detail and realistic to the actual instrument sound.

I was using a $20,000 amp in both cases.

Its kind of like, I listen to a friends stereo and while tuned really well, It doesn't do anything for me. Lots of SS power. Maybe 500 watts. He.listens to mine and feels about the same. Not for him. Choices. I try to get him to realize what he's missing. But he grips onto his preferences like his SS amps grip his drivers.

 

[microstrip]

It looks a fantastic system - but I was not expecting to find an Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network in such system. Does any one have details on how it was used or is it a mistake in the list?

https://www.accuphase.com/model/df-75.html

 

[DasguteOhr]

It looks a fantastic system - but I was not expecting to find an Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network in such system. Does any one have details on how it was used or is it a mistake in the list?

https://www.accuphase.com/model/df-75.html

Between vac monos cannot be overlookedotherwise 6 amplifiers would make no sense.

 

[morricab]

It looks a fantastic system - but I was not expecting to find an Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network in such system. Does any one have details on how it was used or is it a mistake in the list?

https://www.accuphase.com/model/df-75.html

No but it was definitely there and surprised me as well. I asked what it was doing there and got a look of “Duh” before getting my answer…dividing the frequencies…

 

[Alrainbow]

If you think it allows to control not just the speakers but the room .
That unite is 10k
Active cross overs are great if you know how to set them up .
I've seen it used on clarisys before
Even other types
There was a picture using 4 or 6 Westminster amps and a analog active cross over
the one shown above can allow the use of more amps and still use the internal cross over

 

[DasguteOhr]

If you think it allows to control not just the speakers but the room .
That unite is 10k
Active cross overs are great if you know how to set them up .
I've seen it used on clarisys before
Even other types
There was a picture using 4 or 6 Westminster amps and a analog active cross over
the one shown above can allow the use of more amps and still use the internal cross over

This thing is like a Swiss Army knife. You can add delay and filter on both the analog and digital levels. I think the only thing more comprehensive is a Trinnov, which can also compensate for the room.

 

[Holmz]

If you think it allows to control not just the speakers but the room .
That unite is 10k
Active cross overs are great if you know how to set them up .
I've seen it used on clarisys before
Even other types
There was a picture using 4 or 6 Westminster amps and a analog active cross over
the one shown above can allow the use of more amps and still use the internal cross over

Ok so what slopes and frequencies are need for the Clarysis?

 

[Alrainbow]

Lol did I say I know I just know ?
No idea but I do know he knows how to set this up. I think the clarysis are very well made as some others . But a hard part is cross overs so many moving parts in a mega system like this.

 

[morricab]

Ok so what slopes and frequencies are need for the Clarysis?

I thought they were using 1st order but now I am not sure.

 

[Audiohertz2]

And in the overall context I'm sort of puzzled why this narrative is being pushed over and over again that panels are now super easy to drive with tube amps? I personally heard Studio plus in two different setups and on the first occasion in setup no.1 they've been driven by tube PP amps (big ones) with tube pre and tube DAC. They sounded OK but nothing more than that considering the price of the gear. On the same occasion and in the same setup we replaced the tube power amps with the monster SS amps and the result was like the gates of heaven opened - amazing difference and amazing lifelike presentation - just mind blowing.
If I'm not relevant, go and see the thread of @Thundersnow who owned and used for prolonged period of time on his panels (Studio Plus) huge SET power amps with "good" results but only when he placed monster Karan SS mono blocks with 2kW per side magic happend. In his case tube DAC and tube pre are driving the Karan amps. BTW this was system No.2 I heard few weeks ago and yeah - it sounds amazing.
So, in nutshell can you drive them with tube amps - yeah; will they pull out absolute best of them - I'm 99.9999% sure not at all - until someone proves me wrong ...even with their on the paper sensitivity rating of 102dB (for that rating go and prove it with 3W 2a3/45 SET amp - should work like a charm....ah yes you can't...)

Agree , but would love to hear them also with high powered toobs , like say an Mc3500 not with the usual low powered PP toobs . If you gonna go PP on the toobs might as well use powerful ones ..!

 

[Holmz]

I thought they were using 1st order but now I am not sure.

^#Metoo.^

But then with an active I am wondering exactly what they’re doing now.

 

[mxk116]

Ok so what slopes and frequencies are need for the Clarysis?

Attached is an interview with Florian Wiegand of the Clarisys and Mike Bovaird, the US importer, at the only showing of the Clarisys Atrium in North America at the Florida Audio Expo (February) 2025.

I indexed the link to start at the section where Florian discusses the role of the Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network with the Clarisys Atrium. Hopefully this will shed some light on your questions regarding slopes and frequencies used with the Atrium.

I attended the showing at FLAX 2025. I returned several times during the 3 days of the show and can attest to the extraordinary sound quality of the system.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Agree , but would love to hear them also with high powered toobs , like say an Mc3500 not with the usual low powered PP toobs . If you gonna go PP on the toobs might as well use powerful ones ..!

In the video post #46, three VAC amps per channel easily run over 600 watts of tube power. If VAC lights up blue, they're on, as far as I know. But maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Holmz]

Attached is an interview with Florian Wiegand of the Clarisys and Mike Bovaird, the US importer, at the only showing of the Clarisys Atrium in North America at the Florida Audio Expo (February) 2025.

I indexed the link to start at the section where Florian discusses the role of the Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network with the Clarisys Atrium. Hopefully this will shed some light on your questions regarding slopes and frequencies used with the Atrium.

I attended the showing at FLAX 2025. I returned several times during the 3 days of the show and can attest to the extraordinary sound quality of the system.

That Accuphase seems like it is basically a DSP with an ADC at the front and a DAC at the output, and the DSP part in the middle of the box.
Conceptually it seems more straight forwards to have a DSP in a digital system, and not going ADC/DAC - but they probably do not loose much.
The TT and tape being analogue… sort of from a purist PoV… seem to be possibly at odds with DSP and math parts.

I think that maybe using a 6dB slope in the passive crossover, and then a 6dB filter before it… sort of makes it a 12 dB slope.
I would have expected it to have been more ideal to have the passive XO in the speaker bypassed.

And I am not sure about having the VPI on the right and the phono stage in the middle, but it is a show set up.
Keeping the ICs shorter is usually not a bad thing to do with a phono stage <— —> cartridge connection.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think that maybe using a 6dB slope in the passive crossover, and then a 6dB filter before it… sort of makes it a 12 dB slope.
I would have expected it to have been more ideal to have the passive XO in the speaker bypassed.

When using an active crossover one does not also use the Clarisys passive crossover.

 

[Holmz]

Lol did I say I know I just know ?
No idea but I do know he knows how to set this up. I think the clarysis are very well made as some others . But a hard part is cross overs so many moving parts in a mega system like this.

Yeah it is seemingly to be a bit complex and more to show case extra gear and amps.

 

[microstrip]

(...) I indexed the link to start at the section where Florian discusses the role of the Accuphase DF-75 Digital Frequency Dividing Network with the Clarisys Atrium. Hopefully this will shed some light on your questions regarding slopes and frequencies used with the Atrium. (...)

Great to learn about the details - I noticed that Florian refers to the time alignment capability of the digital crossover, although he does not tell us if he is using this feature.