Visit to Clarisys Auditoriums + CH Precision System in Spokane, Washington

[spiritofmusic]

I believe it had a poor crossover from the US restorer. Still, it did some things on staging and transparency in a big room I hadn't heard at that point. As a musically cohesive whole, it was a fail.
When I see Adam's recent Clarysis demo space, the memory of that day came back readily.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Maybe, but not sure tonality is purely a function of intimacy.

No but it all goes together , like anything in Audio it will take a few listening attempts to get a proper feel for the total package involved. Florian setup is really for those liking they are here as oppose to I’m there sound..

Back of Hall type deal ..

Regards

 

[PeterA]

You know how I feel about trying to understand the in-room sound of a high-end audio system from watching a video. Since my Studio Pluses arrived I spent two days listening to them driven by Jadis, and now three days listening to them driven by VTL.

I am not hearing any tonal richness, texture, palpability lacking. In fact, quite the opposite. Book a plane ticket (round-trip, please) and come visit me and hear for yourself!

Ron, what differences do you hear between the two amplifiers when driving your new speakers?

 

[PeterA]

No but it all goes together , like anything in Audio it will take a few listening attempts to get a proper feel for the total package involved. Florian setup is really for those liking they are here as oppose to I’m there sound..

Back of Hall type deal ..

Regards

I prefer to be there, for a live performance in a jazz club, a concert hall, or the studio.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, what differences do you hear between the two amplifiers when driving your new speakers?

I really prefer comparing A/B/A before stating impressions, and I have not gone back to the Jadis on the Clarisys. But I think it's safe to say that the Jadis is a little bit warmer and fuller with greater "tonal density" than the VTLs.

 

[Audiohertz2]

I prefer to be there, for a live performance in a jazz club, a concert hall, or the studio.

Yes yours and DDK setup is just that ..!

 

[PeterA]

I really prefer comparing A/B/A before stating impressions, and I have not gone back to the Jadis on the Clarisys. But I think it's safe to say that the Jadis is a little bit warmer and fuller with greater "tonal density" than the VTLs.

thank you. When the time comes, I’m Curious about your impressions of dynamics and scale and effortlessness differences between the amplifiers on those speakers.

 

[Audiohertz2]

I prefer to be there, for a live performance in a jazz club, a concert hall, or the studio.

I do like when the system can do both, in actuality, IMO, the recording should dictate these scenarios , in this sense, I'm more inline to MikeL approach ...

Regards

 

[Ron Resnick]

I do like when the system can do both, in actuality, IMO, the recording should dictate these scenarios , in this sense, I'm more inline to MikeL approach ...

+1

 

[Folsom]

I heard Apogee Divas a few years back in a similar sized space, maybe a little smaller. Detail, staging etc were near SOTA. But tonal richness, texture, palpability etc were all sadly lacking as the system gripped me but didn't welcome me in.

I am pretty sure Clarysis does not lack any of them unless the electronics do. From what I have heard it just comes through on them.

Other panel type things like Magnapans have tone but miss texture and timbre, resolution, etc, tends to be a sort of luke warm smoothed over experience. Clarysis could run overly expressive in the wrong stereo, where you get too much of everything in such a way that it is unappealing.

 

[bonzo75]

We know the 80 watt Jadis JA100s work beautifully on the Pendragons

We don't. There were mixed reports, some reporting lack of headroom, and the owner went against his philosophy and tried to put EQ on them. He continued to find them bright, which apparently he hadn't with Gryphon amps.

The lack of headroom was also audible on the Mahler 3 Mehta video.

 

[Florian]

Thank you Adam for your visit and the great time

I do plan to bring in an alternative tube tasting as well with time since the speakers simply show what you feed them. At the end of the day, you can voice them and tailor them which is part of the fun. Two days after your visit i had another guest who bought a pair within 30 minutes from Zurich. It just goes to show how different all of our tastes are, and thats part of the fun. Lukasz from Lampi bought a pair of Minuet and enjoys them using Pass and Lampi (totally different tone); Soulution bought a pair, Shunyata bought a pair (delivery in April). You can enjoy your style of sound how you want to. There isnt actually any straight line. We have customers who use all different types of topologies and rooms.

We will be at Axpona in 3 rooms with 4 models, also with different electronics, from solid state to tube. So, you know, stop on by and lets have a chat.

See ya

Flo

PS: https://gy8.eu/review/return-of-the-thin-white-duke-2/
Part 2 (Active) coming very soon

 

[PeterA]

I do like when the system can do both, in actuality, IMO, the recording should dictate these scenarios , in this sense, I'm more inline to MikeL approach ...

Regards

The musicians were never performing in your room and the recording was not made in your room, so why would you want the presentation to make you think that the performers are in your room?

I suppose the closest you get to this sensation is studio recording, but even in this case I’d rather be transported to a studio.

What conditions must be met for you to think the performers are in the room playing for you sitting on your couch? How is that achieved in your or MikeL’s room?

 

[Audiohertz2]

We listen to recordings of live music not live music itself the presentation is different for sure ...

Setup should place you in the sound field not in front of it , like everything in audio its all preference , one way is not right the other wrong, choose your poison ..!


Regards

 

[PeterA]

We listen to recordings of live music not live music itself the presentation is different for sure ...

Setup should place you in the sound field not in front of it , like everything in audio its all preference , one way is not right the other wrong, choose your poison ..!


Regards

Audiohertz2, you say "choose your poison". Do you make that choice through set up, or is that choice made for you by the recording? If a recording is of a live performance in a space other than your listening room, and the ambiance of that space is captured on the recording, how do you and MikeL set up your gear to get a "they are here" presentation? I agree that this hobby is about preference, but why do you prefer to manipulate the presentation's recording space to bring the musicians to your room, and how do you go about doing it?

I agree with you about being in the soundfield. But I do not want to be "center stage". Assuming the recording is made with the mics in front of the performers, I want the performers in front of me, but the soundfield to fill the room, just as it does when experiencing live music.

 

[Argonaut]

agree with you about being in the soundfield. But I do not want to be "center stage". Assuming the recording is made with the mics in front of the performers, I want the performers in front of me, but the soundfield to fill the room, just as it does when experiencing live music.

And just how are you claiming to achieve this presentation in your pretty much constrained room dimensionally , with transducers not suited for large scale classical recordings ?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I do like when the system can do both, in actuality, IMO, the recording should dictate these scenarios , in this sense, I'm more inline to MikeL approach ...

Regards

sometimes the recording defines a large space, all around with scale and low frequency ambient clues, and "we are there" to some degree in that large space. other times it's more that the performers and instruments "are there" in our room, with their more intimate space. a sense of close proximity. maybe not defining the outer limits of the soundstage.

linearity, ease, and extension in the bottom octaves does underscore any system's ability to do both. it's big part of how space gets defined. "they are here" can also be '"we are there" with the right recording and low octave definition. it's not necessarily one way exclusive to the other. not all good recordings have equally live presence.

both you are there and they are here can be immersive and holographic.....in my particular room and with my system. "they are here" can give you more the reach out and touch it sort of sound.

systems with headroom in speakers ability to move air and amplification with low noise along with top to bottom coherence do the large space "we are there" more easily....but cannot always get the intimate "they are here" to the same level of success. and not all driver types result in the same presentation. there is more than one right way to do it.

different music and recordings can lean one way or the other, if your system can play it both ways.

of course, not all recordings succeed at either one.....relative to the recordings with more ambient clues and sense of ensemble and flow. all acoustic simple recordings tend to do better than multi-tracked. but sometimes multi-tracked can be great.

 

[AudioHR]

"bright and shiny without powerful bass"
those are the characteristics of Soulution.

I have to agree with your assessment of the Solution gear. Having said that it was a very limited experience in what I would say was a poor room. Having not been in that room before I shouldn't assign blame still I was not impressed.

 

[AudioHR]

sometimes the recording defines a large space, all around with scale and low frequency ambient clues, and "we are there" to some degree in that large space. other times it's more that the performers and instruments "are there" in our room, with their more intimate space. a sense of close proximity. maybe not defining the outer limits of the soundstage.

linearity, ease, and extension in the bottom octaves does underscore any system's ability to do both. it's big part of how space gets defined. "they are here" can also be '"we are there" with the right recording and low octave definition. it's not necessarily one way exclusive to the other. not all good recordings have equally live presence.

both you are there and they are here can be immersive and holographic.....in my particular room and with my system. "they are here" can give you more the reach out and touch it sort of sound.

systems with headroom in speakers ability to move air and amplification with low noise along with top to bottom coherence do the large space "we are there" more easily....but cannot always get the intimate "they are here" to the same level of success. and not all driver types result in the same presentation. there is more than one right way to do it.

different music and recordings can lean one way or the other, if your system can play it both ways.

of course, not all recordings succeed at either one.....relative to the recordings with more ambient clues and sense of ensemble and flow. all acoustic simple recordings tend to do better than multi-tracked. but sometimes multi-tracked can be great.

A very insightful post! It's always hard to put the appropriate words to this stuff, thank you for the clarity.

 

[tima]

If a recording is of a live performance in a space other than your listening room, and the ambiance of that space is captured on the recording, how do you and MikeL set up your gear to get a "they are here" presentation?

This strikes me as psycho-acoustic effects of perspective and partially a function of one's reference.

If I listen to a performance in the concert hall, I am in the room with the musicians, I am in their context. If that experience of live acoustic music is my reference, that is what I aim for in reproduction. If I choose musicians in the room with me, that is different as they are in my context, sans the ambiance of where they would perform if they were not here. Or some sort of mash-up. Musicians in the room with me is an audiophile construct, something extraordinarily rare in life or made up.