Ron Resnick Launches Audio Cafe LLC, a New Clarisys Audio Dealer

[morricab]

I have only initial impressions of Clarisys.

As far as Pendragon versus Clarisys I have the very preliminary sensation that Clarisys might be even more differentiating of different recordings than is Pendragon. Clarisys is at least as transparent and at least as resolving as Pendragon but with no edginess or brightness or any frequency response anomaly I can discern.

I continue to think the Gryphon powered woofer tower is completely brilliant. I'm not sure anything can better it from 20Hz to 200Hz. Of course dedicated subwoofers like Goebel Sovereign and REL No.32 6 Pack and Wilson Master Subsonics should better it from around 30Hz on down to the infrasonic region. If Elliot dropped two Sovereigns into my Christmas stocking I wouldn't turn them away.

From 20Hz to 500Hz the Auditorium overall is a more consistent and satisfying and relaxing and natural experience, because there is no anomaly in any crossover. It's very nice and satisfying to have one 20 Hz-capable driver covering all the way up to the lower midrange.

Piano sounds completely amazing, maybe even as good as any big front-loaded horn I have ever heard. It is similar to Magnepan bass in sonic concept, but significantly more powerful and impactful, and maybe more resolving.

During the listening session on Saturday somebody put on an electronic music track via streaming. There was a very low rumbling sound which the commenter thought was around 30Hz. The commenter thought that it sounded like the ribbon woofer panel was bottoming, so loud and strong was this rumbling sound. Someone else in the group volunteered that he was very familiar with this particular recording and that that is exactly how it was supposed to sound, and we were simply hearing the speaker reproduce accurately the depth and power of that sound on the recording.

From top to bottom, the Clarisys is truly a full range loudspeaker. And I am somebody who would put subwoofers on a ham sandwich.

The Studio Plus sounded good right out of the box, with no fuss, no muss. There is no edginess, no frequency balance problems, no fussiness. The speaker just works right out of the box.

The critical frequency range of upper bass to lower midrange needs no excuse, like it does on the various Martin-Logans I had my whole life, on other electrostatic loudspeakers, on other hybrid loudspeakers, and even on the Pendragons. It all sounds very natural right out of the box. And everyone reports to me that it will only get better after about 200 hours.

My initial reported positive impressions from AXPONA of last year are confirmed in all respects. Unsurprisingly I like tubes on the Clarisys, and my listening room is the first time I have heard them with tubes.

Thx Ron! That was the kind of feedback we were looking for. Maybe you should use the Pendragon woofer towers with the Clarisys and figure a way to cross around 40-50hz?

 

[PeterA]

Not too sure why you are interested in his opinion. As soon as he announced he is the dealer of Clarysis speaker, his any opinion of Clarysis is not neutral anymore. I do not care he says he is impartial nor he says he can take off the dealer hat when comparing Clarysis with other speakers.

Do you expect him to say anything bad about Clarysis ( to be clear I am not implying Clarysis speakers are bad) when he just got the Clarysis dealership? If you are really interested in knowing Clarysis, I recommend you read Roy Gregory’s review. His review is detailed and fascinating. He has also compared Clarysis against G3 which you should find informative as you are a horn guy. And Roy is not selling nor having long term loan of both Clarysis and G3.

Ron asked his readers to judge for themselves whether he’s able to deal with the conflicts. Sounds like you’ve made your judgment.

Honestly, after Ron declared that his real passion in the hobby is panel speakers and he announced his dealership, I was most curious about why he chose to represent Clarysis over Alysivox, the two brands that are getting a lot of discussion here. I know that’s a different question than what I asked about sound quality, but we hear from most dealers that they sell what they truly love. I also figured, someone’s got to ask the question.

 

[Argonaut]

Not too sure why you are interested in his opinion. As soon as he announced he is the dealer of Clarysis speaker, his any opinion of Clarysis is not neutral anymore. I do not care he says he is impartial nor he says he can take off the dealer hat when comparing Clarysis with other speakers.

I recommend that you watch … ‘Cape Fear’ , either the 1962 original or the 1991 re-make for your answers .

 

[tima]

I wouldn't look into those kind of relationships too much, most show partners are done based on accommodations and sharing of show cost , of course synergy is important too , but not always the case ..


Regards

With 20 years in the industry I'm well aware of how dealers and manufacturers associate for shows and otherwise. Very few make endorsement of other's product however there are consistent pairings for shows and demonstrations, sometimes for years. While it is not literal, these these are implicit recommendations. Take Wilson and D'agostino for example or Atma-Sphere and Classic Audio Reproductions or J.Sikora turntables and Aidas cartridges. Apart from what he might say, it probably is not a coincidence that Ron Resnick includes the Hegel line in his dealership.

 

[AudioHR]

Not too sure why you are interested in his opinion. As soon as he announced he is the dealer of Clarysis speaker, his any opinion of Clarysis is not neutral anymore. I do not care he says he is impartial nor he says he can take off the dealer hat when comparing Clarysis with other speakers.

Do you expect him to say anything bad about Clarysis ( to be clear I am not implying Clarysis speakers are bad) when he just got the Clarysis dealership? If you are really interested in knowing Clarysis, I recommend you read Roy Gregory’s review. His review is detailed and fascinating. He has also compared Clarysis against G3 which you should find informative as you are a horn guy. And Roy is not selling nor having long term loan of both Clarysis and G3.

I can't say I entirely disagree with your statement on how can a dealer be impartial.

However I would add that few people are completely impartial. The evidence of that is obvious when you read the comments of WBF members when they are commenting on components they own or have owned, hobbyists and industry pros alike. I would call it for the most part as being passionate about our shared hobby!

A dealer obviously has a vested interest but a thoughtful dealer would realize that personal integrity is the best choice in the long run.

Kudos to those reviewers like Roy Gregory that have earned your respect. How did they earn it?

 

[ozzzy]

Ron, Hope you remember me, I own the Clarisys Minuet speakers.
Here is some information, on my experience with them. My room is 17X25X8

I moved the speakers back and forth, toe in, no toe in, wide separation, narrow.
So now after about 6 months of use:

1. I now have the Minutes 5 feet from front wall.
2. NO- TOE IN- I found it important to have both sides of the speakers to be exactly equal to the front wall. The speaker's ribbons settle over time and stretch out, sound becomes more detailed, yet more rounded... See #4 below.
3. I have them about 20" from the side walls, bass seems to be stronger.
4. Absolutely no sound absorbent material in the room, but I did find reflection behind the tweeters to be a good thing.
5. I placed ISO Acoustics Titan footer's underneath.

ozzy

 

[Audiohertz2]

Ron, Hope you remember me, I own the Clarisys Minuet speakers.
Here is some information, on my experience with them. My room is 17X25X8

I moved the speakers back and forth, toe in, no toe in, wide separation, narrow.
So now after about 6 months of use:

1. I now have the Minutes 5 feet from front wall.
2. NO- TOE IN- I found it important to have both sides of the speakers to be exactly equal to the front wall. The speaker's ribbons settle over time and stretch out, sound becomes more detailed, yet more rounded... See #4 below.
3. I have them about 30" from the side walls, bass seems to be stronger.
4. Absolutely no sound absorbent material in the room, but I did find reflection behind the tweeters to be a good thing.
5. I placed ISO Acoustics Titan footer's underneath.

ozzy

Thanks for this post Ozzy ,

1. What is your tweeter to tweeter distance.?
2. How far is your listening chair from tweeters ..?

Regards

 

[Audiohertz2]

With 20 years in the industry I'm well aware of how dealers and manufacturers associate for shows and otherwise. Very few make endorsement of other's product however there are consistent pairings for shows and demonstrations, sometimes for years. While it is not literal, these these are implicit recommendations. Take Wilson and D'agostino for example or Atma-Sphere and Classic Audio Reproductions or J.Sikora turntables and Aidas cartridges. Apart from what he might say, it probably is not a coincidence that Ron Resnick includes the Hegel line in his dealership.

How is what i said any different, do you think there is optimum synergy from any of those pairings ? Obvious theres a personal and or Business relationship going on there.

I have heard the Clarysis /Hegel combination BTW ..!

 

[ozzzy]

Looks to be 116" tweeter to tweeter.
Chair from center of speakers is about 144"

ozzy

 

[ozzzy]

Ron,
Question:
Have you tried the grounding lug on the speakers to a grounding box?

ozzy

 

[Kingrex]

I wonder how much size matter. Minuete to Studio to Auditorium.

 

[ozzzy]

I added the Titans to the Clarisys footers which raised them about 3.5". I do think the extra height was a good thing.

ozzy

 

[PeterA]

I wonder how much size matter. Minuete to Studio to Auditorium.

Much Ado about Nothing to…As You Like It to…Taming of the Shrew

(an old joke about size asked for extra credit during an English class final)

 

[Audiohertz2]

I wonder how much size matter. Minuete to Studio to Auditorium.

Big difference , Minuette really for small , rooms , projection size and dynamic contrast being the biggest difference in sound . The larger speakers do take more to get them in room correct vs smaller models ...!


Regards

 

[Al M.]

I can't say I entirely disagree with your statement on how can a dealer be impartial.

However I would add that few people are completely impartial. The evidence of that is obvious when you read the comments of WBF members when they are commenting on components they own or have owned, hobbyists and industry pros alike. I would call it for the most part as being passionate about our shared hobby!

A dealer obviously has a vested interest but a thoughtful dealer would realize that personal integrity is the best choice in the long run.

Well said! I think your view correctly emphasizes the positive angle of things, based on passion for the hobby.

Usually I tend to be on the cynical side myself, but I think such a view is valuable and probably closer to the truth.

 

[ozzzy]

Audiohertz2,
I don't know what size room you consider to be small, but my room is 17 X 25 X 8 and the Minuets are perfect for this room. I play Classic Rock music at large sound levels.
A bigger speaker would not only look out of place but is not necessary.

ozzy

 

[adyc]

Audiohertz2,
I don't know what size room you consider to be small, but my room is 17 X 25 X 8 and the Minuets are perfect for this room. I play Classic Rock music at large sound levels.
A bigger speaker would not only look out of place but is not necessary.

ozzy

For this size of room, you should get studio+ if not auditorium. Room size is nice!

 

[Al M.]

For this size of room, you should get studio+ if not auditorium. Room size is nice!

Studio might work, but Auditorium is a no-no, in my view. You shouldn't put a 6.4 ft tall speaker in a room with just 8 ft height.

I have a room of 8.5 ft height, and I wish I had a much higher ceiling. It would allow the music to breathe more.

 

[adyc]

Studio might work, but Auditorium is a no-no, in my view. You shouldn't put a 6.4 ft tall speaker in a room with just 8 ft height.

I have a room of 8.5 ft height, and I wish I had a much higher ceiling. It would allow the music to breathe more.

Respectfully I disagree. In opposite, I think 6.4 feet tall speaker is perfect for 8 feet room. By symmetry, it forces the sound from line source speaker sound wave in cylinderal shape. This is one advantage of tall line source speaker to reduce floor and ceiling interaction.

 

[Gregadd]

Congratulations Ron! I know you so will make the manufacturer and customers proud.
P can't say I am not just a little uneasy about the arrangement. Full disclosure is the antidote to conflict of interest.