Constellation Audio - just play flat and loud or Make Music? Just Expensive orGood?

[puroagave]

All, I just noticed that this gear is already on version 2. Tastes aside, if this was truly a team of "best and brightest" who designed this gear, why the hell do they go about changing it after only 2 years or so in the marketplace? Something smells very fishy here...

ohh ohhh...I know [hand raised] maybe its because they actually improved it, time doesn't stand still and all that. what, you don't buy it? okay, maybe its time to milk their customers for an upgrade (2-yrs as an eternity when you're talking SOTA) mk III, IV and V versions to follow so keep popping c-notes into that piggy bank

 

[caesar]

ohh ohhh...I know [hand raised] maybe its because they actually improved it, time doesn't stand still and all that. what, you don't buy it? okay, maybe its time to milk their customers for an upgrade (2-yrs as an eternity when you're talking SOTA) mk III, IV and V versions to follow so keep poping c-notes into that piggy bank

Sure, but why not every 3 months? Even Wilson and Magico swap out their products every 4 or so.

Strikes me is that they screwed up. What is amazing is that by releasing V2 so soon, they are admitting it!

 

[still-one]

All, I just noticed that this gear is already on version 2. Tastes aside, if this was truly a team of "best and brightest" who designed this gear, why the hell do they go about changing it after only 2 years or so in the marketplace? Something smells very fishy here...

I guess you feel the "best and brightest" are just supposed to quit learning and not come up with anything new. Technology marches forward. The thought that unlike every other technology 2 channel audio is in a time warp. Computers, cars, planes, watches, television, all rapidly advance whereas the idea that audio doesn't improve is ludicrous.

 

[caesar]

I guess you feel the "best and brightest" are just supposed to quit learning and not come up with anything new. Technology marches forward. The thought that unlike every other technology 2 channel audio is in a time warp. Computers, cars, planes, watches, television, all rapidly advance whereas the idea that audio doesn't improve is ludicrous.

Like I said, this sounds very fishy to me. An alternate explanation is that they released that was not quite right. Their customers lived with it and complained....

But I hope you are right.

 

[asiufy]

caesar,

You like AR, no? How can you talk about Constellation, if AR is the current king of "let's milk our customers"?
AFAIK, only the Constellation premp got an mk2.


alexandre

 

[Priaptor]

caesar,

You like AR, no? How can you talk about Constellation, if AR is the current king of "let's milk our customers"?
AFAIK, only the Constellation premp got an mk2.


alexandre

With few exceptions, they all do this. For the manufacturers it provides instant cash flow to them. Not so much from the enduser but from the dealer who MUST now upgrade and/or sell their "demo" and buy new. They have 21 distributors worldwide and God knows how many dealers so that its instant cash flow and profit for them with every "tweak", whether an enduser ever buys a product or not. Of course they have their built in (wink, wink) customers of other manufacturers who like to show their equipment with their product that they sell to those manufacturers at cost + x% and you have another cash flow cow. Add to that (wink, wink) the at show deals to "reviewers" or certain people of standing from popular forums that get the product at dealer cost and we have probably covered 75% of their sales. The true enduser probably makes up very little of the their customer base.

 

[microstrip]

With few exceptions, they all do this. (...)

I have to say I prefer a lot a manufacturer that makes open and public known changes and upgrades than those who keep the exact model designation for decades, but are constantly upgrading it. With these last manufacturers it is very difficult to know what you are buying in the used or discount market.

 

[microstrip]

I guess you feel the "best and brightest" are just supposed to quit learning and not come up with anything new. Technology marches forward. The thought that unlike every other technology 2 channel audio is in a time warp. Computers, cars, planes, watches, television, all rapidly advance whereas the idea that audio doesn't improve is ludicrous.

+1!

Electronic manufacturers of top high-end must also follow the improvements showing in loudspeakers and sources - I recently listened to a Wilson Audio XLF top Constellatio system and it was the most impressive system I have ever listened to.

 

[mcduman]

I heard the argo the other day and was very impressed. does not do audiophile fireworks but very coherent and musical. next gen solid state imo. i consider getting them home. did not feel that way for the more expensive separates.

 

[number95]

Anyone heard about the new CONSTELLATION AUDIO Argo Integrated Amplifier ?

'A 125W/ch amplifier based on the Centaur and the 4-input preamp section from Virgo.'

I listened to them today with 2 different speakers (Magico V3, YG Anat)+EMM Labs XDS1. I am impressed with what I heard. Nice tonal palette, rich midrange, good bass texture (although lack of punch), beautiful highs. The unit was very responsive to any changes of gear (eg source, cabling etc) reflecting its transparency and lack of character. Its soundstage is also big but edges of objects are a bit less defined. It is certainly not the last word in dynamics but generally speaking I found it quite robust for a 125w/ch integrated amp. The unit has been still burning in so extra refinement may be on its way. I would like to also test its optional built in DAC module when it becomes available.

 

[wizard]

Inspiration inside:

Preamp - $9000

Stereo amp - $10000

 

[wizard]

 

[wizard]

Hercules II

 

[wizard]

 

[caesar]

Anyone hear the newer Constellation amps with supposedly improved bass? Does the bass sound real, or do these still sound "eunuchy"?

 

[sujay]

Anyone hear the newer Constellation amps with supposedly improved bass? Does the bass sound real, or do these still sound "eunuchy"?

Heard them at High-End, Munich in May this year driving the magico S7. Guess it was the performance series centaur II stereo with the Virgo III. In my view, I thought this set up exceeded the Soulution/Q7mk2 rig, which to my ears, sounded very clean but also somewhat lean. The bass response (of the constellation/S7 pairing) , to answer your question, was way above average IMO with startling dynamics. This could also well be attributable to the the triple 10 inchers of the S7. So can't isolate the performance of the constellation and comment on them independently. But I liked what I heard.....hope this helps

Cheers

Sujay

 

[Chrk]

Hello,

I am new here but if I may add something. I own the full reference set up from constellation audio (Phono Orion, Altair II+ and Hercules II). I went to Munich and hear the Q7 mkII + Soulution as well as the S7 + Performance Stack. It is always hard to isolate and try to compare one side of two systems in two different rooms even if very well located in the audience both times. I would tend to think that the Soulution have a superior bass to the Constellation Audio but for everything else I prefer the delicate and precise texture and tonality of the rest of the frequency range.
On a different note, I was overall quite disappointed by most of what I have heard in Munich 2015