Altec VOTT from 50's but in a custom cabinet. They sound very smooth and realistic, no sign of horn character.
These Altec VOTT are from 60's and in original cabinet. A little bit better than the ones with custom cabinet IMHO.
The big one on the left is G.I.P. sounding very detailed and exotic to my ears. I believe they're RCA replica. Sorry only left speaker fit in the frame.
Great stuff, do you get to hear them set properly at a distance from each other?
What you are are also hearing with the Altec and the RCA are different designs. The custom cabinet looks one woofer closed baffle, the other one like an A5 with one woofer Front loaded horn, the RCA looks like a Shearer (multi woofer horn loaded)
In another store I liked those Western Electric speakers with Western Electric amplifiers and EMT 927 turntable. Everything there was original BTW. Sound was very good with WE. Unfortunately I couldn't get a chance to hear those big black RCAs at the back. There was a big Tannoy (Red monitors I believe) at every store I went just like EMT 927. I don't remember how many I have seen, probably 8 or 10. View attachment 120072View attachment 120073View attachment 120074View attachment 120075
Unfortunately those Westen Electric 555W drivers were not installed. View attachment 120076
In another shop which is almost impossible to find there were Klangfilm Eurodyn speakers up for sale. Unfortunately they were not connected to an amplifier. There was also a Neumann VMS 70 lathe converted to a turntable. View attachment 120078 View attachment 120080View attachment 120081
In another store I liked those Western Electric speakers with Western Electric amplifiers and EMT 927 turntable. Everything there was original BTW. Sound was very good with WE. Unfortunately I couldn't get a chance to hear those big black RCAs at the back. There was a big Tannoy (Red monitors I believe) at every store I went just like EMT 927. I don't remember how many I have seen, probably 8 or 10. View attachment 120072View attachment 120073View attachment 120074View attachment 120075
Unfortunately those Westen Electric 555W drivers were not installed. View attachment 120076
In another shop which is almost impossible to find there were Klangfilm Eurodyn speakers up for sale. Unfortunately they were not connected to an amplifier. There was also a Neumann VMS 70 lathe converted to a turntable. View attachment 120078 View attachment 120080View attachment 120081
In another store I liked those Western Electric speakers with Western Electric amplifiers and EMT 927 turntable. Everything there was original BTW. Sound was very good with WE. Unfortunately I couldn't get a chance to hear those big black RCAs at the back. There was a big Tannoy (Red monitors I believe) at every store I went just like EMT 927. I don't remember how many I have seen, probably 8 or 10. View attachment 120072View attachment 120073View attachment 120074View attachment 120075
Unfortunately those Westen Electric 555W drivers were not installed. View attachment 120076
In another shop which is almost impossible to find there were Klangfilm Eurodyn speakers up for sale. Unfortunately they were not connected to an amplifier. There was also a Neumann VMS 70 lathe converted to a turntable. View attachment 120078 View attachment 120080View attachment 120081
In another store I liked those Western Electric speakers with Western Electric amplifiers and EMT 927 turntable. Everything there was original BTW. Sound was very good with WE. Unfortunately I couldn't get a chance to hear those big black RCAs at the back. There was a big Tannoy (Red monitors I believe) at every store I went just like EMT 927. I don't remember how many I have seen, probably 8 or 10. View attachment 120072View attachment 120073View attachment 120074View attachment 120075
Unfortunately those Westen Electric 555W drivers were not installed. View attachment 120076
In another shop which is almost impossible to find there were Klangfilm Eurodyn speakers up for sale. Unfortunately they were not connected to an amplifier. There was also a Neumann VMS 70 lathe converted to a turntable. View attachment 120078 View attachment 120080View attachment 120081
Back when I lived in Ilsan and Gangnam for 2 years I enjoyed the audio scene there and where I auditioned the VOTT and old Western Electric horns and tubes - and they had the famed Sennheiser Orpheus Headphone system. I also liked the shop that had the Old Matrix B&W speakers next to the new Nautilus version where you could A/B them back to back. I most enjoyed some of the bars though where they had big Khorns in one and another had a massive Tannoy system 215 DMTs. I remember mostly the copious amounts of Jinro/soju I consumed complete with soju surprise when you would stand up.
You do get this experience a little bit in Hong Kong but the bar scene isn't the same as it is in Korea where they drink 7 days a week - after work, they all go to the bars and get hammered. I chuckled that every train station had some shop selling ties. Yes, the guys would leave work get hammered - wake up at 5 am in the gutter - go buy a $5 zip-up tie because they were too drunk to tie the tie, put the new tie on and head into the office and "look different than yesterday" with the new colour tie.
The teacher I replaced was found flat on her face with a dozen+ Vodka/Soju bottles in her desk. One teacher came to work every day absolutely bombed - he was trying to get fired - if he quit he would not get his return flight paid. If he was fired they would have to pay. weird contracts. They wouldn't fire him though. The Principal would just say "I like drinking too - but try not to drink at school." - those were the days. I then went to Japan.
After seeing the two countries I can safely say that I would be very confident in buying a Japanese Car and I wouldn't touch a Korean car with a barge pole.
Well Stereophile surprised me - they chose the Meishu as their amplifier of the year - two reasons it surprised me is that John Atkinson and Peter Qvortrup do not get along at all - AN UK does not advertise with them - and it's a SET amplifier and Stereophile really loves their measurements.
Well Stereophile surprised me - they chose the Meishu as their amplifier of the year - two reasons it surprised me is that John Atkinson and Peter Qvortrup do not get along at all - AN UK does not advertise with them - and it's a SET amplifier and Stereophile really loves their measurements.
Well Stereophile surprised me - they chose the Meishu as their amplifier of the year - two reasons it surprised me is that John Atkinson and Peter Qvortrup do not get along at all - AN UK does not advertise with them - and it's a SET amplifier and Stereophile really loves their measurements.
But certainly the sound at Kondo Factory in Tokyo is not a disappointment. On the contrary it’s fantastic. I visited Kondo Factory today and spent very good time with Masaki San.
Kevin Scott of Living Voice is the Kondo distributor in the UK (Definitive Audio). He used Kondo gear when he brought his horn set ups (VOX Olympian and Palladian) to Munich, as well as in his listening room. In recent years, he has been showing his Auditorium series non horn speakers in Munich. His set-ups with the horns have always been considered one of the best of the show in years past. We mainly use Kondo electronics with our VOX Olympian/Elysian set-up. I have tried Lamm electronics as well and the combination was fantastic. Personally, I think Kondo amps are best when driving horns and can understand the negative impression some people might have after listening to these amps driving other types of speakers.
A wild guess.... It could be that Kevin didn't like the sound of the new generation of Kondo Japan products ?????
If you look Definitive Audio's 'Product Portfolio' listing on their web site, it looks like they have replaced Kondo Japan products with tube products from other companies.
Also at UK and the Munich Hifi Shows over the past couple or so years, Kevin has been displaying and using fantastic tube Phono Stage, tube Pre-Amp and 300B tube Power Amp products from 'SJS Electroacoustics' along with the lovely latest Kuzma and GrandPrix Audio TT set-up products, Consolidated Audio Berlin SUT's and his OBX RW4 and Auditorium range of speakers and this year is fantastic new R80 speakers.
Yes Kevin said he does not like the new generation of Kondo but I doubt SJS be better than Kondo. Actually I think this is related to business not the sound.
Yes Kevin said he does not like the new generation of Kondo but I doubt SJS be better than Kondo. Actually I think this is related to business not the sound.
I have never heard a full Kondo Japan system....would surely love to some day especially with Living Voice Speakers.
The full suite of SJS electronics with the Living Voice OBX RW4 speakers and the new R80 speakers sounds amazing to my ears. Couldn't stop listening to these two systems and that was under hifi show conditions (albeit I would say that Kevin and his Team always do their utmost best to make the room they are show casing their systems to be the best they can possibly get them to get the best sound possible).
I have never heard a full Kondo Japan system....would surely love to some day especially with Living Voice Speakers.
The full suite of SJS electronics with the Living Voice OBX RW4 speakers and the new R80 speakers sounds amazing to my ears. Couldn't stop listening to these two systems and that was under hifi show conditions (albeit I would say that Kevin and his Team always do their utmost best to make the room they are show casing their systems to be the best they can possibly get them to get the best sound possible).
Munich 2014 setup was:
CEC TL0 Transport
Kondo NOS tube DAC
Kondo Pre
Kondo 300b push pull amplifier
Living Voice Horn + sub (4 tower)
Kondo cables
AC power from Victron Inverter 3000 with Lead Acid battery (off grid)
4 Speakers were properly positioned
Kevin is very professional and knows how to setup his system.
I like your reply - different taste. Way back in the thread, there were two reviewers who liked AN UK and didn't like Kondo's room. Those two reviewers are from Soundstage - the head of Soundstage is Doug Schneider (who doesn't like AN UK). Stereophile's Kal Rubinson and John Marks don't like AN UK (or SET/Tube amps) and Michael Fremer and Jason Victor Serinus are in the Wilson/Revel/KEF/Magico speakers camp and 1000-watt SS amps are the best camps. The tube/SET camp were Art Dudly, Wes Phillips, and are Herb Reichert and Ken Micallef and previous Stereophile writers Peter Van Wellinswaard, Peter Breuninger, Martin Colloms (though he liked both camps).
Magazines simply hire people with a wide range of tastes that way everything can get a great review. It appears that perhaps now there is a slight edge of tube and HE speaker friendly reviewers at Stereophile so if there are dealers paying close attention - now is the time to send them horn speakers (I noticed Klipsch was a runner up) and SET amplifiers.
