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

[MarkusBarkus]

...I would not know how to translate the sound heard in that room to what I might have in my room. I *think* I could approximately interpolate effects from different equipment/cables, etc. but the dynamics of that room would be tough to equate (for me).

But that said, as a demo of what is possible, it might make sense. And it must be awesome!

 

[Ron Resnick]

isn't there a chance the merest imbalance or deficiency in a system in such a space will be magnified manyfold?

In my experience, it just doesn't work this way. Large space doesn't function as an amplifier of anomalies.

Except maybe for a square room, I would take pretty much any bigger room over pretty much any smaller room.

 

[Ron Resnick]

scale and volume can be mighty impressive when pulled off,

+1

 

[spiritofmusic]

We've had this discussion before, I totally disagree with you. This is not just a big room, it's an aircraft hanger with massive HVAC pipes present. I'm saying that what Adam heard might very much be the huge challenges of that room introducing discontinuities or anomalies that a more human size room, even if large, wouldn't.
Then again, I hear a lack of tonal richness in the video posted of Cyrus' room, so maybe the Clarysis have some form here?

 

[Ron Resnick]

I hear a lack of tonal richness in the video posted of Cyrus' room, so maybe the Clarysis have some form here?

Sorry, what does "have some form here" mean?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Adam is commenting on a lack of tonal richness, I hear that in your interview video. I'm saying that maybe this is a trait, or maybe running them on uber SS like Soulution and CH Precision is a major factor here.
My comment on this room that Adam visited stands... even at c.12' apart, the Clarysis are lost in that space. Having to fill it must put the most crazy demands on the system upstream.

 

[spiritofmusic]

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.

 

[Ron Resnick]

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 auditioned Apogee Divas and Apogee Stages back in the day. I visited Henk and heard his Apogee Grands.

I know it's difficult when you have heard Apogees in the past, but aside from conceptual design ancestry, the Clarisys is superior to the Apogee in literally every way that I can discern.

 

[Ron Resnick]

But tonal richness, texture, palpability etc were all sadly lacking as the system gripped me but didn't welcome me in.

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!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I'm sure they are. Justin never returned here to fill us in on his revelation that the Clarysis are poorly put together.
All I'm saying Ron is that Adam has now heard them in as dedicated a room and system as possible, comments on some shortfall in tonal richness, that was my impression from Cyrus video, and that was the deficit of Divas in a big room.
Gonna bow out, lest I be accused of talking about things I have no first hand experience of.

 

[spiritofmusic]

You know how I feel about understanding 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!

Ah, well now we're taking. Tubes.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

achieving tonal density, immersion and intimacy to improve the emotive connection in a large room is not trivial. especially with solid state amplification. and this is a very large room.

I know how long it took me, and how much work.

interesting that Bovaird just added the darTZeel brand to match with the Clarisys. solid state has it's advantages in linearity and low noise, but how to achieve it all? and we are only talking degrees of things. or in direct compare (to the aural memory of Adam's demo). and personal taste and comfort zones too. and even musical choice tendencies.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Older audiophiles remembering the difficulty of driving Apogees might have trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that medium power tubes work beautifully on Clarisys. We know the 80 watt Jadis JA100s work beautifully on the Pendragons, but there the amplifiers are being asked to handle only 200Hz and above and on a single, thin ribbon. How would those same 80 watts handle the Clarisys full-range and with a lot of ribbon driver surface area?

Answer: No problem! I think I raise the VTL preamp just .5dB or 1dB for the Clarisys versus the Pendragons. The Clarisys sensitivity rating of 88dB and an easy to drive impedance load is true.

As one of those audiophiles who remembers the difficulty of driving Apogees it's pretty interesting to see/hear this.

 

[heihei]

I guess my experience and the above comments reinforce the age-old point that the only true way to evaluate a hifi component is in your own listening room with your own components. This is perhaps even more so given how different the system and surroundings were in this instance.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I guess my experience and the above comments reinforce the age-old point that the only true way to evaluate a hifi component is in your own listening room with your own components. This is perhaps even more so given how different the system and surroundings were in this instance.

agree. and at the end of the day when you acquire a very transparent speaker system, it will not be solving your tonal needs. it will get fully out of the way whether you like it or not. it will also reveal any transparency restrictions in the amplification. and the larger the room the less tonal room reinforcement.

amp choice has to be spot on.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Older audiophiles remembering the difficulty of driving Apogees might have trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that medium power tubes work beautifully on Clarisys. We know the 80 watt Jadis JA100s work beautifully on the Pendragons, but there the amplifiers are being asked to handle only 200Hz and above and on a single, thin ribbon. How would those same 80 watts handle the Clarisys full-range and with a lot of ribbon driver surface area?

Answer: No problem! I think I raise the VTL preamp just .5dB or 1dB for the Clarisys versus the Pendragons. The Clarisys sensitivity rating of 88dB and an easy to drive impedance load is true.

As one of those audiophiles who remembers the difficulty of driving Apogees it's pretty interesting to see/hear this.

How is that being rated Ron ,

88dB@2.83V /M ..? Anechoic .? Free space.?


Regards

 

[Audiohertz2]

I guess my experience and the above comments reinforce the age-old point that the only true way to evaluate a hifi component is in your own listening room with your own components. This is perhaps even more so given how different the system and surroundings were in this instance.

You liked everything except the lack of intimacy, this would be improved by bring the panels closer and have your seated position ( starting point) 1.5x twt >Twt distance. Intimacy will go up 100% with no loss of dynamics or scaling .

In such a large room that far back and speakers that wide apart , not surprised..

Regards

 

[heihei]

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

 

[spiritofmusic]

It isn't, I don't think. I do believe my Divas demo, big ribbons in a humungous room, wasn't a hundred miles from your experience.
It ticked so many boxes, but just couldn't provide the juiciness of texture, saturation and tone density.
The demo was a purely cerebral high.

 

[bonzo75]

It isn't, I don't think. I do believe my Divas demo, big ribbons in a humungous room, wasn't a hundred miles from your experience.
It ticked so many boxes, but just couldn't provide the juiciness of texture, saturation and tone density.
The demo was a purely cerebral high.

That wasn't a good Apogee system - quite poor in fact.