Location JHB and Pretoria 9:00, the posse assembles. 3 pairs of ears joined by a 4th tad later..... assembled for their listening qualities AND honest opinions....
10:00 Northcliff
Suspect: Vivid Audio Giya G1 driven by dCS and Ayre MX-R monoblocks.
Time: 1hour
Verdict: I wont be selling my speakers... :dance: I went slightly biased, this is what I WANTED and sold/started selling all my stuff for. Krell/VT100/LS5/Quads/Momsoons gone.... maybe a tad too soon. :headbanger:
Listen (pun intended) they are magnificient. One of the best 3 speakers I have ever heard. But I was expecting a LEAP better than the Kingdoms. They ARE better than a Watt/puppy 7, Revel Salon II, B&W800, JM Labs Mezzo Utopia (havent heard the big one). They are better than ANY Maggie/Quad. Yes, even Avantgarde DUO. Better than any Sonus I heard. Yes even better than Dynadio's top dog. FOR ME, all of us havent heard them all! :stop:
Some of these speakers have traits that are BETTER than the G1's.... :thinking: One example is the amazing midrange of a Quad 2905 (still the best), and...and...and... I dont have 10 pages to ramble on. Just simple NEVER quite a 10-0 defeat for the contenders! :RTFM:
BUT and here lies the rub, not more than 10-20% better. I give it a quantitative measure because we all know the law of diminishing returns with ultra high end.
The bass is REALLY good, tight, deep, strong. Tuneful!
The mids are perfectly neutral...and here lies all 4 listeners comments. Its perfect... but not forgiving. It doesnt pull you in and caress you and say "Man let me end your day on a better note". It says "Wake up and listen". Does that maybe sum it up ? Well yes.
The treble - Magnificent! Vivid can sell that tweeter as OEM to Wilson Audio - There my top preaise.
The looks - FORGET the photos, they are bull :cr@p: Walk in and touch these babies. They are so nicely sculpted, proportioned and VERY pleasing to the eye. Really guys, I though moderately ugly, now ? PLEASE can I have them. Ill put them in Sonus Faber territory!
Next Stop - Orange Grove - and here we were horny >
What can I say ?
ZERO: We arrived to be greeted by a beautiful white beast! They are MUCH bigger than you think looking at them!! Avantgarde Zero Pro. Built in AMPS - NO speaker wire! Go read, this is a very advance speaker.
Sound: Bliksim, they are revealing, very open. NO shouting. incredible details and bloody hell what driver is producing that BASS! EVERYTHING configurable! Room correction at your fingertips! What DIDNT they think off ?
UNO: We just plonked them down. just where we assembled them. Thay are fff heavy 90kg! We didnt move tham, 1.8m from your ears, not played in. BUT BUT.... WOW they were brilliant! Man what a speaker! You OWE yourself a listen to them! the ZERO plus a bit more! I would love to spend a LOT of time with this speaker - the DUO and God bless me the TRIO!
DUO: - bloody hell we HAD to leave - else we could have unpacked that too! :notworthy:
True Audiophile. this can mean two things. Interesting reading when you have time to concentrate OR substitute for toilet paper if you think they are talking crap
This is the STRANGEST remote you will ever see. The Avantgarde ZERO. Guys I checked it 4 times to make sure its NOT a tazer and that I was going to endure serious discomfort pressing any button!!
From there we went Analog/digital - Old school Tannoy Autographs
Driven by beautiful EAR valve amps and the BEST turntable in the country. SME30 with Thales arm and Dynavector XV-1t.... It really is. I spent time with clearaudio master reference and goldfinger.... this one is tad more natural... and MUCH cheaper!
SOUND: What a bloody huge soundstage, Organic, tad warm, enveloping sound. Bloody hell, old speakers should NOT sound that good. No wonder the poor Quad 2905's left the very next day! Yes, they have a quad like sound, just with MASSIVE more volume. WOW!
And off to Jazzy.
Now what can I say about this guy!
What person will speed off, go BUY fresh ribeye steak at restaurant, pack a fire, open R800 bottle of wine (2) and have impromptu listening session and dinner! :notworthy: :notworthy: Is this just JHB ? You wont easily find this is Pretoria and DEFINITELY not in CapeTown (I couldnt even find a bed there :vsad: )
Like EVERYBODY says and Martin summed it up. "This is an example of a medium take to its ultimate conclusion"
Yes I rate this as one of my 3 best system I have EVER listened to.....
Guys, visit him, take a red with and spend HOURS there. We did again, left at 22:00. Where have you ever for 4 hours listened to one LP after the other, when you DONT like Jazz ? In a TOWNHOUSE FFS! There is possibly 30 valves running there ? How is it possible this system rocks EVERYONES world so easily? Dont go and expect Avantgarde tweeter sound, Or Kingdom Bass. But expect Quad and better mids, Vivid smoothness and coherency, Tannoy warmth, Dynaudio solid soundstage, B&W looks and the culmination of valve technology....
That amp, designed by Master Hobkirk is the BEST vale amp I ever heard and possibly will ever hear! :notworthy:
Last visit - Home
I put my system on..... sighed several deep sighs and felt, well home. I wont comment on my system. All I will say is Timber put up a wall of diffusers behind my couch and BLOODY hell, what happened, things improved! I KNOW I KNOW, room treatment, but guys I didnt expect that :stop: :Whoohoo:
(I MISS my KRELL, what have I done.... :headbanger: )
Edit by F_D: Fixed "Remote" pic.
10:00 Northcliff
Suspect: Vivid Audio Giya G1 driven by dCS and Ayre MX-R monoblocks.
Time: 1hour
Verdict: I wont be selling my speakers... :dance: I went slightly biased, this is what I WANTED and sold/started selling all my stuff for. Krell/VT100/LS5/Quads/Momsoons gone.... maybe a tad too soon. :headbanger:
Listen (pun intended) they are magnificient. One of the best 3 speakers I have ever heard. But I was expecting a LEAP better than the Kingdoms. They ARE better than a Watt/puppy 7, Revel Salon II, B&W800, JM Labs Mezzo Utopia (havent heard the big one). They are better than ANY Maggie/Quad. Yes, even Avantgarde DUO. Better than any Sonus I heard. Yes even better than Dynadio's top dog. FOR ME, all of us havent heard them all! :stop:
Some of these speakers have traits that are BETTER than the G1's.... :thinking: One example is the amazing midrange of a Quad 2905 (still the best), and...and...and... I dont have 10 pages to ramble on. Just simple NEVER quite a 10-0 defeat for the contenders! :RTFM:
BUT and here lies the rub, not more than 10-20% better. I give it a quantitative measure because we all know the law of diminishing returns with ultra high end.
The bass is REALLY good, tight, deep, strong. Tuneful!
The mids are perfectly neutral...and here lies all 4 listeners comments. Its perfect... but not forgiving. It doesnt pull you in and caress you and say "Man let me end your day on a better note". It says "Wake up and listen". Does that maybe sum it up ? Well yes.
The treble - Magnificent! Vivid can sell that tweeter as OEM to Wilson Audio - There my top preaise.
The looks - FORGET the photos, they are bull :cr@p: Walk in and touch these babies. They are so nicely sculpted, proportioned and VERY pleasing to the eye. Really guys, I though moderately ugly, now ? PLEASE can I have them. Ill put them in Sonus Faber territory!
Next Stop - Orange Grove - and here we were horny >
What can I say ?
ZERO: We arrived to be greeted by a beautiful white beast! They are MUCH bigger than you think looking at them!! Avantgarde Zero Pro. Built in AMPS - NO speaker wire! Go read, this is a very advance speaker.
Sound: Bliksim, they are revealing, very open. NO shouting. incredible details and bloody hell what driver is producing that BASS! EVERYTHING configurable! Room correction at your fingertips! What DIDNT they think off ?
UNO: We just plonked them down. just where we assembled them. Thay are fff heavy 90kg! We didnt move tham, 1.8m from your ears, not played in. BUT BUT.... WOW they were brilliant! Man what a speaker! You OWE yourself a listen to them! the ZERO plus a bit more! I would love to spend a LOT of time with this speaker - the DUO and God bless me the TRIO!
DUO: - bloody hell we HAD to leave - else we could have unpacked that too! :notworthy:
True Audiophile. this can mean two things. Interesting reading when you have time to concentrate OR substitute for toilet paper if you think they are talking crap
This is the STRANGEST remote you will ever see. The Avantgarde ZERO. Guys I checked it 4 times to make sure its NOT a tazer and that I was going to endure serious discomfort pressing any button!!
From there we went Analog/digital - Old school Tannoy Autographs
Driven by beautiful EAR valve amps and the BEST turntable in the country. SME30 with Thales arm and Dynavector XV-1t.... It really is. I spent time with clearaudio master reference and goldfinger.... this one is tad more natural... and MUCH cheaper!
SOUND: What a bloody huge soundstage, Organic, tad warm, enveloping sound. Bloody hell, old speakers should NOT sound that good. No wonder the poor Quad 2905's left the very next day! Yes, they have a quad like sound, just with MASSIVE more volume. WOW!
And off to Jazzy.
Now what can I say about this guy!
What person will speed off, go BUY fresh ribeye steak at restaurant, pack a fire, open R800 bottle of wine (2) and have impromptu listening session and dinner! :notworthy: :notworthy: Is this just JHB ? You wont easily find this is Pretoria and DEFINITELY not in CapeTown (I couldnt even find a bed there :vsad: )
Like EVERYBODY says and Martin summed it up. "This is an example of a medium take to its ultimate conclusion"
Yes I rate this as one of my 3 best system I have EVER listened to.....
Guys, visit him, take a red with and spend HOURS there. We did again, left at 22:00. Where have you ever for 4 hours listened to one LP after the other, when you DONT like Jazz ? In a TOWNHOUSE FFS! There is possibly 30 valves running there ? How is it possible this system rocks EVERYONES world so easily? Dont go and expect Avantgarde tweeter sound, Or Kingdom Bass. But expect Quad and better mids, Vivid smoothness and coherency, Tannoy warmth, Dynaudio solid soundstage, B&W looks and the culmination of valve technology....
That amp, designed by Master Hobkirk is the BEST vale amp I ever heard and possibly will ever hear! :notworthy:
Last visit - Home
I put my system on..... sighed several deep sighs and felt, well home. I wont comment on my system. All I will say is Timber put up a wall of diffusers behind my couch and BLOODY hell, what happened, things improved! I KNOW I KNOW, room treatment, but guys I didnt expect that :stop: :Whoohoo:
(I MISS my KRELL, what have I done.... :headbanger: )
Edit by F_D: Fixed "Remote" pic.
