Mike and I made it to Audio Advixe today to hear some speakers. Started with Aerial 7T. It is a very very beautiful speaker. The dark rosewood like piano gloss cabinet and piano black baffle, black drivers was gorgeous. Any wife that can't handle this beautiful phallic monument to technology in her living room needs a new husband. The speakers were placed haphazardly, wedged between the side wall and Vandy 5As. There were 4 other pairs of speakers in the room at the same time, totally screwing up the bass. That, plus the bad placement made the speakers sound very woofy, dark and slow. They were also not broken in yet, so they also and sounded thin in the low midrange. I think they are worth another trip in a few months, hopefully they will get broken in during that time. The Levinson class D tower amps were used with their SACD player and 326 preamp. Total coincidence but this is my 3rd lousy demo of their class D amp. It just gives a funny feeling. The linear 532 in the Wilson room did not do that.
The Tritons had their own room, the log cabin, called because big faux wood beams and vaulted ceiling feel that way. It is a small room, too small for these speakers. I did move them out from the wall which helped immensely with the bass. Another foot or two away from anything would make it better. The bass was still turned down all the way from Carl's visit. It was almost enough, but bass still overpowered the midrange balance just slightly. So the speaker is not in a happy place and I can't rightly judge the bass quality which sounded disconnected from the midrange and less detailed. The reviews state that they need room. The same treble flavor was evident with the Arcam FMJ A18, and C17 player as with the Mac electronics on my last visit. I listened carefully to it and would call it noticeably detailed rather than harsh or anything like that. Sandy Gross knows that detail sells a speaker. The tweeter is great, as are all folded quasi ribbons seen everywhere these days. The midrange drivers are also very detailed and well integrated with the tweeter. Piano, violin, female vocals sounded excellent. A tweeter cap upgrade might bring the treble fully into high end territory. I kinda liked the Arcam sound on classical music, it is calm, controlled, quality sound, 70s japanese neutral that I grew up with. But for the price of the Arcam's top gear I thought it would be bigger and more substantial. The all in one remote worked great and not so big and heavy as the Levinson bricks.
The Triton's bass drivers were not as well integrated with the midrange as the midrange is with the tweeter. I could hear the music change from mid range driver to oval bass driver, a little detail is lost. The bass drivers are powered by their own built-in class D amp, with DSP LP crossover and EQ. The room and PR effect lower freqs, but I think this is the amp.
Imaging was pretty good. In a deader room with the speaker distances measured it would image very well.
Taken together I came out of there thinking the same thing again, that it is a remarkable value for $2500. It has a high end soul easily heard in the mids and upper freqs. It has the impact and presence of a big speaker. I found myself moving to the music on classical and jazz, like Carl said, it is toe tapping. I could relax and enjoy the music very well, or I could focus in on details.
We stopped into the Wilson demo for a reference. ARC CD player, AR tube pre, new Levinson 532 amp Transparent cables, Sasha. Not as good as I have heard with AR reference electronics, but pretty good. Just too much of everything, same as the Revels did with the same amp. With the tubes, the Wilson sounded much better at the Music Matters event.
Thanks for a fun day Mike, and Randy and Chad at Audio Advice.
