I recently took a tour of Benaroya Hall in Seattle. The tour guide said that all the wood veneer in the Hall came from the same tree. It must have been a very large tree. They must be able to slice the veneers incredibly thin to cover such a large space. She did not say how much the veneer cost but did say the 2500 seat hall itself cost almost $120 million to complete. There was a free pipe organ recital before the tour. A 4000+ pipe organ. When he really got on it at the end it was very impressive.
From the same tree??? There is a limit to how thin you can slice the veneer before glue bleeds through. Then, when you slice veneer that thin, you do not get the rich luster that you have with thick (expensive) veneer. It would surprise me if the Benaroya hall had all the veneer from the same tree.
My Apogee experience was with the Duetta IIs. They sounded great, but at that time I found that sound quality depended excessively on the quality of the recording. But with a few of them that could suit them it was a great sound.
Unhappily they sounded very poor with the first digital systems and at the time I got them I made the mistake of prematurely moving to CD. As a result I sold them sometime after. I can assure they were really very heavy as I helped a good friend to move them in his van!
From the same tree??? There is a limit to how thin you can slice the veneer before glue bleeds through. Then, when you slice veneer that thin, you do not get the rich luster that you have with thick (expensive) veneer. It would surprise me if the Benaroya hall had all the veneer from the same tree.
Yes, it does not make an sense to me either. That is what they said in the tour. Seems impossible to me as there is alot of veneer there. Maybe she was mistaken. I did not look at it very close. Maybe they made a fake veneer from the same pattern of a tree. From memory the pattern did look the same everywhere.
Yes, it does not make an sense to me either. That is what they said in the tour. Seems impossible to me as there is alot of veneer there. Maybe she was mistaken. I did not look at it very close. Maybe they made a fake veneer from the same pattern of a tree. From memory the pattern did look the same everywhere.
There's a lot of fake veneer..... with some companies even passing it off as "premium". But, I have to say that some of that fake veneer really is very good quality. Alpi makes some of the best - and they could possibly make it from the same pattern..... http://www.alpi.it/uk/ListaProdotti.asp?IDSC=14
There's a lot of fake veneer..... with some companies even passing it off as "premium". But, I have to say that some of that fake veneer really is very good quality. Alpi makes some of the best - and they could possibly make it from the same pattern..... http://www.alpi.it/uk/ListaProdotti.asp?IDSC=14
That's not very good. Makore is a huge tree, but it is endangered - even more so than Brazilian Rosewood. However, I guess that if they wanted to make a statement with veneer from one tree, Makore would probably be one of the few that could make it. It would be akin to chopping down one of the Redwood giants..... but this is in poor Africa.
That's not very good. Makore is a huge tree, but it is endangered - even more so than Brazilian Rosewood. However, I guess that if they wanted to make a statement with veneer from one tree, Makore would probably be one of the few that could make it. It would be akin to chopping down one of the Redwood giants..... but this is in poor Africa.
Must have been very large. Which means it was very old as well. The Hall was built 14 years ago but I assume the Makore was not much less endangered at that time. On the plus side I doubt that much of that tree was wasted.
I wonder how long it took that tree to get that big? Maybe 100 years?
I have heard the Genesis 1.1 in two different rooms and different equipment. I have heard the Alexandria I also in 2 different rooms and different gears as well, plus I have heard Steve's Alexandria 2 a few months ago. Both speaker systems sounded different as Gary mentioned and even if they were A/B'ed in the same room with the same audio gears, I think they would still sound very different. The Genesis 1.1 with its bass towers will have the edge in powerful, articulate and deep bass response. The Alexandria impressed me with its mid bass wallop and control. And I have so far heard the best Paramita 'Earth Drum' rendition on the Alexandria with Burmesters driving them. With the Genesis' wide wings, I would imagine it would benefit from a much wider room than the owner's system here in Manila. The depth of image was excellent and tonally, there was almost nothing to fault. I should say that too about the Alexandrias. The owner of the Alexandrias here had a much larger room than the Genesis room. It would been very interesting to hear what happens had the Genesis 1.1s been in that bigger room. And I know that when the 1.1s arrived in Manila it was due to be delivered to that bigger room but the owner suddenly had a change of heart and went Wilson.
You bet. I'd like to bring some of Telarc Orchestral Spectaculars featuring the Russian heavyweights like Stravinsky, Rimsky Korsakov or Peter T's 1812.
One comment I've heard about these speakers is that even if you close your eyes you can't seem to make these speakers 'disappear' from your mind.
Sorry to be late to this party, but I just found this forum and this is my first post here.
Call me prejudiced, but I have to say in a contest between the Genesis 1.1/1.2 (or the IRS-V which I own) compared to the Wilson Alexandria, there is no contest. the Genesis/IRS-V wins.
I have also heard in a private audition, in the same room with the same source, preamp and amps, the Martin Logan Statement E2 and the Alexandria X-2, and again, there was no contest, the Martin Logan Statement E2 came out on top.
Personally, I don't see the appeal for the Alexandria, even though it is certainly a well and carefully made speaker.
Sorry to be late to this party, but I just found this forum and this is my first post here.
Call me prejudiced, but I have to say in a contest between the Genesis 1.1/1.2 (or the IRS-V which I own) compared to the Wilson Alexandria, there is no contest. the Genesis/IRS-V wins.
I have also heard in a private audition, in the same room with the same source, preamp and amps, the Martin Logan Statement E2 and the Alexandria X-2, and again, there was no contest, the Martin Logan Statement E2 came out on top.
Personally, I don't see the appeal for the Alexandria, even though it is certainly a well and carefully made speaker.
Hi Gary...nice system! And welcome. I have heard great things about IRS Series V...legendary stuff really. I have also spoken with a dealer who is long in the tooth...and his favorite of all time is the ML Statement. Have you ever heard the Rockport Arrakis?
If you get a moment, some specific comparison points between ML Statement, IRS/Genesis and Alexandrias would be most appreciated...particiularly for those of us who dont have ability to hear those other speakers. I have heard all the big Wilsons and own the X1s myself so i know them well, and would appreciate getting your thoughts on specifically where you feel the other speakers bested the Alexandria. Thanks!
WOW. I need some time to collect my thoughts on that since I heard the Statements and the Alexandrias about 10 years ago!
I'm not saying the Alexandrias were bad, but I heard them at one dealer and wasn't crazy about them, then wanted to hear the Statements, and that dealer as it turned out also had the Alexandrias so he played both. I confess to not being the best putting the differences into words, but the Statements had better soundstaging and sounded "real." My main criticisim of the Statements is that the Statements had a smaller sweet spot than the Alexandrias. The IRS on the other hand seems to have almost no sweet spot, sounding neutral and pretty much the same as you walk around the room.
WOW. I need some time to collect my thoughts on that since I heard the Statements and the Alexandrias about 10 years ago!
I'm not saying the Alexandrias were bad, but I heard them at one dealer and wasn't crazy about them, then wanted to hear the Statements, and that dealer as it turned out also had the Alexandrias so he played both. I confess to not being the best putting the differences into words, but the Statements had better soundstaging and sounded "real." My main criticisim of the Statements is that the Statements had a smaller sweet spot than the Alexandrias. The IRS on the other hand seems to have almost no sweet spot, sounding neutral and pretty much the same as you walk around the room.
Thanks...i have heard a similar comment about the realism of the soundstaging from the dealer i know well. i like what panels can do well in this regard, so i can only imagine what Statements are capable of delivering.
WOW. I need some time to collect my thoughts on that since I heard the Statements and the Alexandrias about 10 years ago!
I'm not saying the Alexandrias were bad, but I heard them at one dealer and wasn't crazy about them, then wanted to hear the Statements, and that dealer as it turned out also had the Alexandrias so he played both. I confess to not being the best putting the differences into words, but the Statements had better soundstaging and sounded "real." My main criticisim of the Statements is that the Statements had a smaller sweet spot than the Alexandrias. The IRS on the other hand seems to have almost no sweet spot, sounding neutral and pretty much the same as you walk around the room.
A smaller sweet spot for me is not important because I'M always in the sweet spot, i often hear this these speakers sound the same EVEN when you walk around the room, who listends walking around the room ????? i know i don't and none of my friends do and most of them own very highend sound systems and the ONLY time you give up the sweet spot is when you have friends over and for me it's NEVER more than two and most of the time it's ONE only becaue no matter how good the soundstage there is only ONE sweet spot.
It must have been a very large tree.
