I have great admiration for Kevin Scott and his creations especially this one. This speaker system always reminded of a true work of art without ever hearing them. Certainly build quality extraordinaire like Alsyvox. Just curious at what they cost and what they do differently that moved you over anything you have ever heard? This is more for my knowledge from seeing them but never getting to hear them as they don't make it the US that I am aware of.
Alsyvox planars...prepare to sell your Magico's, YG's, Wilson's, Cessaro's. Maggie's, and all others!!
- Thread starter DaveyF
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I have great admiration for Kevin Scott and his creations especially this one. This speaker system always reminded of a true work of art without ever hearing them. Certainly build quality extraordinaire like Alsyvox. Just curious at what they cost and what they do differently that moved you over anything you have ever heard? This is more for my knowledge from seeing them but never getting to hear them as they don't make it the US that I am aware of.
It has become a bit of a cliche to say of a system that it “sounded like the musicians were in the room”. When you hear the LV horns you realise that it would be wrong to say that about any speaker other than the them. The only way I can describe it is to say they sound more “real” than anything else I’ve ever heard. It’s actually quite a moving experience as it verges on the magical.
Cost? Well unless you own an oil field you might as well forget it. I believe the retail price is c. £500k. Rumour has it you can get them for less, but you are still talking lottery win money.
Cost? Well unless you own an oil field you might as well forget it. I believe the retail price is c. £500k. Rumour has it you can get them for less, but you are still talking lottery win money.
Ron,
Thanks for sharing. If you have the space I believe the Alsyvox line is easily one of the best speakers on the planet but the hobby allows you to decide that for fact. BTW the single panels gets you a long way there also. So many ways to go with upgrade possibilities with the speakers themselves and or the amplifiers since the efficiency is there with the ribbon planar design. I did not get to hear these but doubt much else can rival the speed, lack of coloration, and soundstaging with added beauty that listening levels can be very low with the same affect.
gwalt
Thanks for sharing. If you have the space I believe the Alsyvox line is easily one of the best speakers on the planet but the hobby allows you to decide that for fact. BTW the single panels gets you a long way there also. So many ways to go with upgrade possibilities with the speakers themselves and or the amplifiers since the efficiency is there with the ribbon planar design. I did not get to hear these but doubt much else can rival the speed, lack of coloration, and soundstaging with added beauty that listening levels can be very low with the same affect.
gwalt
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As good as the Alsyvox speakers are (and they are very good indeed) they do not reach the realism of the LV system. Now, if one was to really optimize the electronics feeding the Alsyvox and the power etc. (As LV does at every show) then maybe they close the gap from being superb hifi to...something else altogether. That being said, I personally hear a significant drop off in this realism with the "low cost" version Vox Palladian and I was not fully convinced by this new sub that they use. The Vox Olympian is a transcendent sounding speaker when fed correctly with only the finest electronics and power (they run off a huge marine battery array with power inverter to decouple completely from the Munich MOC mains).
I think at RMAF in new Denver location this fall only. I have heard they will be displayed in a 27 X 35 room and I think the Botticelli model but not sure with the internal or external crossover version. The room size should accommodate the speaker well.
Hi Brad!
On what type of music do you mean? Does your view on the Vox Olympian system change depending on the genre of music being played?
I ask because as realistic as I found the Vox Olympian to sound on classical music and jazz music, it definitely would be not be my choice for “girl with guitar” music (for which I continue to favor ribbon speakers and electrostatic speakers).
PS: I take Kedar’s view that “all speakers sound good playing ‘girl with guitar’” but I hear material differences in realism and in in-the-room presence with this genre among different speakers. My personal audio system journey is the narrow objective of maximizing the realism and beauty of this particular genre of music.
Ron, you and I know that Ked is incorrect that "all" spkrs play "girl w guitar" similarly (well or unwell).
The majority of hot mastered, flat panned, dense multi tracked stuff sounds poor on many of the horns I've heard (can't comment on ribbons).
There are so many trade offs in audio, I cannot see anyone running Joan And The Jets thru any horns tbh.
It was telling that Justin reported the Alsyvox had a very carefully curated musical choice at Munich.
The majority of hot mastered, flat panned, dense multi tracked stuff sounds poor on many of the horns I've heard (can't comment on ribbons).
There are so many trade offs in audio, I cannot see anyone running Joan And The Jets thru any horns tbh.
It was telling that Justin reported the Alsyvox had a very carefully curated musical choice at Munich.
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Ron, my journey has been about first discovering the spkrs, followed by the spkrs/amps/room interface, that works best for my fave genres, then working hard at system optimisation and room treatments, to both keep those genres sounding good and going on to making other genres sparkle more.
Atm I'm rifling thru one after the other classical and jazz lps, something I never did back in my old room.
Maybe Ked instead of just reporting on how some of his stellar classical lps sounds like at visits needs to also relay how Taylor Swift and Rita Ora sounds too.
Atm I'm rifling thru one after the other classical and jazz lps, something I never did back in my old room.
Maybe Ked instead of just reporting on how some of his stellar classical lps sounds like at visits needs to also relay how Taylor Swift and Rita Ora sounds too.
Hi Marc!
I understand where you’re coming from.
I know Joan Jett would sound fantastic on audioquattr’s system and JeffT’s system, And I am highly confident Joan Jett would sound fantastic on DDK’s system and Tang’s system.
But if I had each of their systems in dedicated listening rooms in my house, and a big panel system with woofer towers in my house and the Wilson Audio Master Chronosonic and Subsonic system in my house, I would want to play Joan Jett on one or both of the latter two systems.
But I try to avoid making normative statements about audio for other people. If that is Kedar’s considered judgment, then I totally respect it, and I would never say he is “incorrect.”
You also know that I have written repeatedly that as much as I love horns for jazz and classical, thus far they are not my personal cup of tea for rock and pop in general and for vocals in particular.
Kedar says this is not true of the Yamamura system and the General’s Pnoe system and some open baffle horn systems (Kedar and I are having a sidebar on the significance of open baffle cones on horn speakers systems). But it remains the case as of today, for my ears, that I have never heard any horn system reproduce girl with guitar vocals with the transparency and resolution and realism and in-the-room presence as I have heard with ribbon speakers and electrostatic speakers. This fact (it is a fact presently for me) is why I continue to feel strongly that musical genre preference drives speaker preference (whether we realize it explicitly or not).
PS: Keith likes both rock/pop and classical a lot. It will be very interesting to me personally to see what Keith makes of the horn speakers he hears at the LA Audio Show.
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Hey, 20 months on from yr visit here, you cannot believe how good vocals are here, esp off vinyl. Discovering music I subliminally avoided back in the day is a joy. Opera even sounds compelling via the Zus.
Put it another way, if I ran most horns, I wouldn't be delving into Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Allman Brothers.
Ked's venture into Tannoys could be the one spkr he discovers that does tick these boxes, along w yours, and his core go-to lps.
Put it another way, if I ran most horns, I wouldn't be delving into Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Allman Brothers.
Ked's venture into Tannoys could be the one spkr he discovers that does tick these boxes, along w yours, and his core go-to lps.
Ron,
I think you heard some folks (that you must trust in) state what they heard at Munich of the Alsyvox. Your curiosity must be a little elevated one of these days. Why not jump a plane to Denver in September and take the listening plunge (in a 27 X 35 room) and trust in your own ears, meet the designer etc. I know the electronics will be Omega Audio Concepts from Italy and are outstanding but these speakers simply play what you voice them for so no worries there. I have played several Amanda M., Jennifer Warnes, Rita Wilson, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Eva Cassidy, and the list goes on and predict you won't be disappointed.
Bottom line is if you are serious in starting with something extraordinaire go listen to the Botticelli to gage your thoughts. I also have them here.
gwalt
I was all over these speakers in April 2017! See https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/new-full-range-ribbon-speaker-line-debuting-in-munich.22937/
I am extremely curious to hear the Alsyvox speakers! Based on the Munich reports of Justin and Max and others I am strongly confident I would not be disappointed!
If I had been fortunate enough to be able to go to Munich this month the Alsyvox speakers would have been my primary target of interest!
If these speakers prove in extended listening auditions outside of shows to be any large fraction as good as the preliminary reports indicate I think they will catapult to the state-of-the-art planar king of the hill. A (even) better-sounding Apogee-type speaker with high sensitivity and an extremely robust frame is what planar aficionados have hoped for for 20 years!
(If I had not purchased speakers over two years ago I would hunt down an Alsyvox demo immediately like a heat-seeking missile. But since I am no longer in the market for speakers I will have to await hearing them until it happens to occur naturally and conveniently.
Even if I were still in the market for speakers I would have my standard concern about such an expensive product from such a small company, and such a new company, located so far away from me. These speakers already had one false start (Leonardo).)
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Hi Ron!
That is indeed a narrow set of criteria!
What I found is that the seemingly less “processed “ the music , the less compressed, less eq’d, less manipulated the more distance the LV system puts between itself and most of the rest. That said last year the Vox Olympian did the best reproduction of Dead Can Dance Yulunga I have heard.
Ron,
Don't worry I had the same concerns and ask a lot of questions of Daniele and myself before pulling the trigger. However, once I heard them it was a gameover event rather than becoming annoyed with what I was hearing from other speakers before me and trusting my own ears from that previously gained experience.
OMG I spent way over what I paid for these after selling all previous speakers at serious losses amounting to way more because of dissatisfaction and emotion over time. For me, music has become way more realistic and a part of life upon owning these after retirement. I simply wanted the best I could source and afford knowing how important the music really is in the end.
In addition, I have no guarantees of longevity, company survival etc. from any audio company....who really does? Is there any guarantees of anything in life? Yes I know the lack of the latest established would scare a plenty.......I fussed with that also.......however I sourced them right and the sound outweighed the price and fear especially reaching for something I feel exceeded anything I had heard in the past 40 years and had nary a fault to my likeness. In addition, if you read the history behind it all as I did, Daniele has been making speakers for over 35 years.
In the end, only you can decide whether the risk is worth the reward......for me it was and certainly that has grown over time with ownership. As I said in a previous post, forget all that has been said and just go listen......and then let your feelings be the judge of outweighing the factors involved.
If your at that end level of satisfaction then your game could be over without the trouble.
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