Bob's New Listening Room and System

[Tango]

I see nothing in this design which would explain why this particular speaker does not suffer that tiny loss of transparency and in the room presence on vocals I have found with all horns thus far.

You can get truly exceptional presence period ... not only on vocal... from horns with excellent drivers. But speakers alone don't do that level of presence. It is the sum of all parts. Some horn systems you can sit four meters to the side of sweet spot not looking at the speakers, you still think someone singing in the room.

Kind regards,
Tang

 

[Ron Resnick]

You can get truly exceptional presence period ... not only on vocal... from horns with excellent drivers. But speakers alone don't do that level of presence. It is the sum of all parts. Some horn systems you can sit four meters to the side of sweet spot not looking at the speakers, you still think someone singing in the room.

Kind regards,
Tang

Dear Tang,

Outside of vocals I think horns reproduce instruments with the most realistic presence I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

 

[Bobvin]

With respect to placement in my room... the front of my Alexia are currently 48" from the rear wall/door/glass. And there is probably 16" more forward I could place speakers without getting into the room in a way that would effect the balance of the room aesthetically. Other than effecting room nodes in a different way, which might require changing the seating position a bit, I don't think adding the Roma's horn/open-baffle design would be problematic in my room. When you look the structure and how the room was assembled acoustically, there isn't anything really specifically directed at one type of speaker or another. Most folks comment very soon after walking into the room how it feels and sounds different—and just carrying on a conversation voices are clear and articulate. There is a very different feel compared to the rest of the house.

Ultimately perhaps amplification could change, but I know of at least one audiophile who loves using the ARC REF 160 triode mode with Avantgarde speakers. I welcome the chance to give that a go with Diesis.

 

[microstrip]

Dear Tang,

Outside of vocals I think horns reproduce instruments with the most realistic presence I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

Reproducing individual instruments is easy - reproducing the musical scene is a different matter.

For complex music all systems are so far from reality that many times " most realistic" is a matter of preference.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Anyway, next time I will travel to Madrid I will not miss listening to them again at Ars Audio Antigua, their local distributor!

You really should, they do not sound like what you would expect from the concept, easily one of the very best I heard at the Munich show.

 

[Bobvin]

I thought I'd posted this? I was tinkering with Photoshop and dropping the Romas into my room. They are the same height as the Alexia, and weigh essentially the same. They're a little wider, and of course open baffle they are not too deep. As mentioned above, I could easily move them into the room a bit more but if they sat where the Alexia sit the front of the speaker would be 4 ft from the back wall/door/glass. (When my dealer setup the Alexia, he spent the better part of 6 hours tweaking and said the Alexia played best within a very narrow range, i.e. the Wilson "zone of neutrality" was pretty small in my room.)


I think they'll work just fine I trust Bob has the skills to get them sounding right. Now I just need to keep stuffing the piggy-bank.

 

[microstrip]

I thought I'd posted this? I was tinkering with Photoshop and dropping the Romas into my room. They are the same height as the Alexia, and weigh essentially the same. They're a little wider, and of course open baffle they are not too deep. As mentioned above, I could easily move them into the room a bit more but if they sat where the Alexia sit the front of the speaker would be 4 ft from the back wall/door/glass. (When my dealer setup the Alexia, he spent the better part of 6 hours tweaking and said the Alexia played best within a very narrow range, i.e. the Wilson "zone of neutrality" was pretty small in my room.)

View attachment 53159
I think they'll work just fine I trust Bob has the skills to get them sounding right. Now I just need to keep stuffing the piggy-bank.

Congratulations!!! But IMHO you have to go again to Photoshop and replace the Transparent cables ...

 

[Rhapsody]

Congratulations!!! But IMHO you have to go again to Photoshop and replace the Transparent cables ...

The Romas would have to be placed where you have them, connect the ARCs and hit play......that's the skills that would be required in this case

 

[microstrip]

The Romas would have to be placed where you have them, connect the ARCs and hit play......that's the skills that would be required kn this case

I was not thinking about sound quality, just about those very sensitive WBF members that will suffer seeing network cables with horns!

 

[Bobvin]

Lamp cord is all I need

 

[Rhapsody]

I was not thinking about sound quality, just about those very sensitive WBF members that will suffer seeing network cables with horns!

I agree, but I bet lamp cord would sound really good.....why? Efficiency.

 

[bonzo75]

You can always try first with the AR but personally I would sell the AR, buy some simple SETs, and put the money saved to the speakers. Yes later you can always upgrade the SETs but is not required. Or get the Diesis integrated if more oomph required

 

[christoph]

Now I just need to keep stuffing the piggy-bank.

And/or sell the Wilsons. I thought they have excellent resale value

 

[Bobvin]

Selling the Alexia will definitely be part of the equation but they only seem to be getting around $25K these days. That leaves a lot of piggy bank stuffing to be done. Possibly the REF160s too (argh, those have been dream amps for me... sure would want to hear them in triode mode on Romas before parting with them.)

 

[christoph]

Selling the Alexia will definitely be part of the equation but they only seem to be getting around $25K these days. That leaves a lot of piggy bank stuffing to be done. Possibly the REF160s too (argh, those have been dream amps for me... sure would want to hear them in triode mode on Romas before parting with them.)

I was amazed by the sound of the rather moderately priced Diesis hybrid amp
Unfortunately they didn't play the Ongaku to compare but that "cheap" hybrid amp sure sounded excellent

 

[microstrip]

And/or sell the Wilsons. I thought they have excellent resale value

Nothing has excellent resale value in the high-end. However some equipment always manages to find buyers, other is almost impossible to sell even at extremely low prices.

The success of the Alexia II has brough to the market a high number of old Alexia's in a short time, lowering the prices. They are now an exceptional acquisition in the used market.

 

[Folsom]

Selling the Alexia will definitely be part of the equation but they only seem to be getting around $25K these days. That leaves a lot of piggy bank stuffing to be done. Possibly the REF160s too (argh, those have been dream amps for me... sure would want to hear them in triode mode on Romas before parting with them.)

Sure but at that point you might by happy with a fleawatt amp from Decware...

Micro, the engineering on album recording are a bigger hindrance to sounding real than anything else once stereos start to get good. Maybe one album sounds real, the next anything but...

 

[Rhapsody]

I was amazed by the sound of the rather moderately priced Diesis hybrid amp
Unfortunately they didn't play the Ongaku to compare but that "cheap" hybrid amp sure sounded excellent [/QUOTE

I'm glad that you noticed the Evento sounded good. The Ongaku has it's own magic, BUT the Evento has it's own magic as well. One is not better, they are both VG, just different.

I am waiting for my Evento to arrive and in the meantime when not using the Ongaku, Jadios I88 integrated or Kondo 2A3 amp I am using an AVM tube preamp with a 150 Watt SS AVM amp. For whatever reason the tube pre and SS amp on the Roma is the real deal.

At the Marriott we played the Ongaku when I first arrived. It sounded great. I told Giuseppe I was anxious to hear the Evento. We swtiched to the Evento and for the next 3 days we never went back to the Ongaku.

 

[Rhapsody]

A few videos of the Roma at 7:00am on Saturday morning Qobuz/Tidal>>Aqua Formula xHD>>>>AVM tube pre>>>>AVM SS amp>>>>Roma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBg3tAoIk6E

 

[Tango]

Come on rvisinta you can do much better. Do the speakers justice with better source.

Kind regards,
Tang