No, not at all. Photos of your big Prime loudspeaker system is the audio equivalent of looking at the Space Shuttle -- endlessly fascinating.
An announcement of new modest, conventional driver box speakers is just not terribly exciting.
Genesis Prime + (& G7s) @ Pacific Audio Fest June 23 - 25 2023
- Thread starter carolkoh
- Start date
No, not at all. Photos of your big Prime loudspeaker system is the audio equivalent of looking at the Space Shuttle -- endlessly fascinating.
An announcement of new modest, conventional driver box speakers is just not terribly exciting.
A good customer of ours heard Genesis new speakers at PAF and was mightily impressed with their sound. Bob Clark, a colleague whose ears I trust ran the vinyl replay in the room and was similarly impressed. Gary's line-array speakers don't get much love in the US, which given their excellence is surprising. I admire Gary and Carol for taking on the challenge of offering a more affordable and smaller footprint line and view it as a positive development for the industry.
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Hi Ron, Unfortunately, due to a DHL snafu, the AAD machine only arrived the day before the show, and then was shipped back to ProAudio - Brian Tucker - and much time was spent reading the manual and setting it up in time for the show. Most of my time at the show was spent with the small system so I did not get to listen to it much. I'll ask if Gary had the opportunity.
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it! That's also only the 2nd iteration on the bases. I didn't like the first iteration and I'm not overly fond of these either.
Congratulations on your show at the Pacific Fest. Looks like the room had a positive and energetic buzz going. System sounds nice on my computer speakers which, of course, is a long way from an 'in-the-room' experience. How does the Wand tonearm compare sonically with the new VPI 12" 3-D tonearm made of newer, stiffer materials? That's the one I now use on my VPI AvengerDirect so I am interested in hearing your comparative comments..
Carol, can you tell us what the speaker model line-up is going to be for Genesis? I own the Maestro speakers. These are a very good sounding, medium-priced and medium-sized speakers that work in a variety of settings. But Gary tells me he is discontinuing it. Sorry news that is. So, it looks like Genesis will now offer an entry-level model and then the big room filling speakers at the top of the line. Even the old Forte speaker is large. With the Maestro gone, there's no apparent middle ground. Just entry level and then very big and expensive models.
? Perhaps there was some miscommunication? We are NOT discontinuing the Maestro. We do not have any wood veneer cabinets at this time, but I just got in a shipment of glossy black cabinets and also shipped out a pair of Maestros to a new customer on the East Coast. I was in fact talking to Gary about our planned upgrade cycle just before the July 4th holiday and this model (the 5th in line) is due for an upgrade in about four - five years.
*edit* Incremental upgrades happen all the time. Sometimes when Gary is designing a different model or an upgrade for a different model and discovers a new way to do something / new component that is significantly better - it goes into the builds across the line. But planned upgrades are usually at the 5 / 10 year mark, so maybe he was talking about the upgrade - i.e. the Maestro would be the... Maestroso or something like that.
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Thank you. Before I tell you my thoughts on the sonic differences between the tonearms, you must know where I stand with music and audio gear.
I skip almost all the meetings at my local Audio club that do gear "shoot outs" - I say "almost" because some can be endlessly fascinating - like when Gary got Mat to bring several different models of VPI turntables and we set them up with identical tonearms and cartridges and several copies of the same pressing of records.
That said. I've listened to both of them and like them both very well (of course you must match cartridges too). It really comes down to flavor and personal preference. Do you like vanilla or chocolate better? If you like big bold sound - the new VPI. If you like a lighter, more delicate touch, the Wand. Which is also why Gary likes the option of having two tone arms on his turntables. Playing metal? Oh, let's use the Fat Boy!
Hi Carol;? Perhaps there was some miscommunication? We are NOT discontinuing the Maestro. We do not have any wood veneer cabinets at this time, but I just got in a shipment of glossy black cabinets and also shipped out a pair of Maestros to a new customer on the East Coast. I was in fact talking to Gary about our planned upgrade cycle just before the July 4th holiday and this model (the 5th in line) is due for an upgrade in about four - five years.
*edit* Incremental upgrades happen all the time. Sometimes when Gary is designing a different model or an upgrade for a different model and discovers a new way to do something / new component that is significantly better - it goes into the builds across the line. But planned upgrades are usually at the 5 / 10 year mark, so maybe he was talking about the upgrade - i.e. the Maestro would be the... Maestroso or something like that.
I was quoting the man himself, Gary Koh, standing in my listening room, looking at my Maestros, telling me they've been discontinued. "So my Maestro speakers are now collector items?" I asked. "They are indeed collector items," he replied. Anyway, thanks for this update and I am very glad to read that Gary has evidently changed his mind. These are very good speakers and deserve a slot in your line-up.
How much wine had you fed him?
I must tease him now. Seriously though, the Maestros are one of his greatest achievements in his design career. They are not going away from our line-up.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Most importantly neither has Gary , were these Gen 1 type Prime at the Show ? I havent seen one report on this , no video , no room pics from Genesis , nothing ..!
C’mon Gary lets see something on these big boys ..!
I've been too busy to pay attention to forums and such. I've got 3 entry level designs to finish, and then there's that pesky cartridge.... and designing VPI's new phono stage based on mine.... and then making tapes for sale as some of my customers complained that they can't get the quality of music that I've been using to design with.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
They devoted half of their 3rd-day video to the Genesis room. The show was 3 days......
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
I've been asked for my large speakers to review but when I ask for pictures of the room that they will be put in for the review..... that's when I politely decline. I'm sure that Ron knows how much effort it takes to get as large a pair of speakers as the Gryphon Pendragons to sound great.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
The AAD had barely any time to break-in, but if the smoothness of the mechanisms is anything to go by, it will exceed many of the vintage gear. What I couldn't wrap my head around was a full-color touch screen on a tape machine.
But from one comparison we did, fresh out of the box, it was as good as the A810. A little lean - but that's because of brand new electronics and solder joints. The low-level signal electronics will take a long time to break-in. As long as it takes a phonostage to break-in. May be 500 hours.
Compared it to Ki Choi's "ultimate" everything taken care of personal machine, it's close and may exceed it if broken in.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
The Ebony and Rosewood are collector items. I'm never going to make another Maestro in a wood finish because of the phenomenally difficult task of making SIX cabinets match. A flaw in any one of the pieces means that a pair of cabinets gets destroyed and thrown away. And with increased costs through the pandemic, they need to sell at almost 80% more just so that we can make any money at all.
I showed a prototype of the Maestro at CES 2017, and then the final design was launched about 6 months later. So, it's about time for me to start thinking about the Maestroso.
i would be happy to review them. I am sure the HOA WOULD LEND ME THE COMMUNITY CENTER.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Besides.... Carol has an MBA in International Marketing. I leave most of the marketing and management stuff to her so that I can focus on design and development and talking to audiophiles.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Hi Gary,
Bob did tell me that one of his dealers has already "practically sold a pair". That must have been you?
Since I did so much development of parts for the Prime+, it made sense to bring that technology down to something more affordable. We have to constantly remind ourselves that what is a US audiophile's month's salary is many many more months in many of our markets around the world. And without more affordable speakers which would not need a mansion to house, we are not growing the market. We are all aging, and the market is dying just from old age.
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