Clari-T mentioned in "The ORB of Music" review in

Vinnie R. · « **on:** 1 Jun 2006, 07:34 pm »

All,

Sandy Greene of www.Dagogo.com recently reviewed the following system:

Original CD-A8T HDCD/CD tube/solid-state CD player
Red Wine Clari-T battery-powered integrated amplifier
Bastanis Prometheus Black loudspeaker

http://www.dagogo.com/Original-RedWine-Bastanis.html

Sounds like he really liked this combo! Where is Panda Gary? I want to hear him say "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" ?

Here is another review of those Bastanis:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/bastanis/prometheus.html

Lots of Open-Baffle lovin' going on these days

All the best,

gary · « **Reply #1 on:** 1 Jun 2006, 08:58 pm »

oh, i'm right here, and i'm glad to see what i've known for almost 2 years now finally in print

the prometheus and the upgraded clari-t are a perfect match for each other, this guy heard much the same thing i do in my system (although those speakers had the $800 tweeters that mine are still lacking). and bill allen, the US distributer, told me that the clari-t was about his favorite digital amp, and that in order to get a tube system that can keep up with it (i.e. no major compromises wrt background noise, speed and transparency) you have to spend over $3k easily. more if you're buying from one of the big brand names. i basically agree, although i still prefer the clean sound of the clari-t to tubes.

congrats on another well-deserved positive review too...

gary

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 12:12 am »

Vinnie,

Congratulations on another well deserved recognition. And thanks for telling us about the OB Bastanis matching the ClariT.

Gary,

Please tell your impressions of the speakers as of today. If you already did, please do again.

gary · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:37 am »

Quote from: Paul_Bui

Gary,

Please tell your impressions of the speakers as of today. If you already did, please do again.

To me the Prometheus' main strengths are the open-baffle design and the fact that they give you sound from 100Hz to 10kHz with no crossover to muck things up. Above that there's a tweeter high-passed with a single cap and below that there are two powered woofers, the broadband drivers are run full-range and fall off naturally at either end. This gives you the purity of a single-driver speaker across the most important range of the spectrum without having to sacrifice low or high frequency extension. This is critical for me because while I love the way acoustic guitar sounds on a crossoverless speaker I also want to listen to Tool. And I don't want to give up detail and subtleties either.

Much has been said of the open-baffle sound, which makes the speaker as clean and fast as anything I've heard. Box speakers, especially ported ones (and even very very expensive ones), sound muffled and congested in comparison to some degree or another after listening to the Bastanis. YMMV.

The bass is extremely tight, and probably extends down to somewhere in the high 20's. Never measured it myself so I can't say for sure. The low-midrange is probably the biggest weakness, as the transition from wideband driver to powered woofer isn't perfect. Highs are very smooth and detailed, and the soundstage is again big strength of these speakers. The transparency, clarity and resolution are all superb, to say the least. Those three things are my main goals in a system and my choice in equipment reflects that.

Mine are set up nearfield since I have them in such a small room, and the way I describe the sound is that it's almost like listening to a room-sized pair of headphones. They're forward in the sense that it feels like the music is happening right in front of you, but not in a way that makes it seem like vocalists are yelling at you. This may not be for everyone.

Synergy with the Clari-T is amazing, due in large part to the 100dB/W efficiency of the speakers but also because the Clari-T doesn't handle bass duty (a known weakness of the T-amps is drop-off in the low bass). With my Clari-T (upgraded and basically the same one as in this latest review) and Vinnie-modded iPod I think my system is up to par with most anything I've heard. I wouldn't call it the best but It's certainly not completely outclassed by the very best systems I've heard. The only speakers I've listened to that did enough things better that I'd think of them as a substantial upgrade were from WLM, and they were expensive. $15k or so? However much it was too much for me to spend, although I still lust after them

. For what I've invested though, maybe $4k or so, I'm pretty happy.

Hope that helps.

Gary

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 06:11 am »

Thanks Gary for your impressions. I guess the only last wrinkle is the imtegration between lower midrage and powered subs. When you have a chance, can you elaborate? Does it show on male vocals or something like that? How "bad"?

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jun 2006, 01:30 am »

Thanks, Guys!

Sometime this month I will finally make the time to listen to the Bastanis in my listening room. I am borrowing the pair that was reviewed by Sandy Greene and right now they are still waiting patiently to be used, sitting in my basement. I am LOVING my B200 OBs and I know I will love the OB sound of the Bastanis, and the powered bass drivers is a nice plus

I'll post about this in a few weeks....

Thanks again,

Dmason · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jun 2006, 02:14 am »

What's with all this open baffle stuff anyway? Anything to it? Anyone actually HEARD one? How could it possibly work, without a proper cabinet? The Emperor has no clothes, looks like, to me.

I have heard the the ClariT though...quite nice, but I cannot take anything so small very seriously; it must be missing important parts, like output transformers.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 03:29 pm »

Quote from: Dmason

What's with all this open baffle stuff anyway? Anything to it? Anyone actually HEARD one? How could it possibly work, without a proper cabinet? The Emperor has no clothes, looks like, to me.

Hi Dmason,

Take a look at this thread about OBs....you'll learn a lot:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=19253&start=0

I would tell you that you have NO IDEA how amazingly good my B200s + newly designed OB combo is sounding (I'll post about it on the darkstar thread soon), but then again, I'm sure you DO know!

Quote from: Dmason

I have heard the the ClariT though...quite nice, but I cannot take anything so small very seriously; it must be missing important parts, like output transformers.

Yeah I hear ya! I was thinking of coming out with a new version in a large 3U or 4U sized rack mount enclosure, adding 50 lbs of lead or something like that, and HUGE heat sinks and all that jazz. Then would you take it seriously?

Cheers!

Dmason · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 04:36 pm »

Maybe a nice three unit rack with fins, and Lundahl transformer for the recharger would add weight and audiophool veritas. And weight. Just that it is sooooo ...Euro.

I will read that thread to learn some more about the subject. BUT, no transformers, no speaker cabinets?

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 05:03 pm »

Quote from: Dmason

I will read that thread to learn some more about the subject. BUT, no transformers, no speaker cabinets?

It's called progress by elimination. There are a few other things once thought of as necessities that are no longer required...

No records
No CDs
No power cords

Perhaps one day they'll figure out a way to eliminate the whole system?

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 05:09 pm »

Quote from: Dmason

I will read that thread to learn some more about the subject. BUT, no transformers, no speaker cabinets?

Dmason,

This:

Plus this:

Equals = the "reach out and touch the performer on the stage" effect in spades....such realism I have never heard like this before. I am so hooked!

I am thinking of making the baffles in spruce and having them lacquered with natural burgundy (spruce) resin. We'll see what happens...

Thanks for pointing me to the DarkStar!

texendo · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 09:16 pm »

Spruce and natural resin? Any chance you've been reading Charles Altmann's pages?

Very cool speakers. I'm eagerly anticipating your report on the Darkstar thread, and I for one can't wait for the opportunity to hear some of those someday soon.

Has Louis by chance been working on an Omega OB????

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #12 on:** 5 Jun 2006, 10:03 pm »

Quote from: texendo

Spruce and natural resin? Any chance you've been reading Charles Altmann's pages?

Very cool speakers. I'm eagerly anticipating your report on the Darkstar thread, and I for one can't wait for the opportunity to hear some of those someday soon.

Has Louis by chance been working on an Omega OB????

Hi Texendo,

Yes, Altmann refers to the spruce natural resin thing and I've been doing a lot of searching on google and the more I read about it, the more I want to try it!

Louis is actually the one who made the prototype baffle for me that is shown in the pic above. It is just a simple prototype using 3/4" MDF. He needs to stop over and give 'em a very careful listen!

If he does an OB, it would most likely be finished (veneered on both sides) and just need to be assembled (screw the hinges for the wings in the pre-drilled hole, screw in your driver into the pre-drilled holes). This way it can all ship in one box. I could only imagine how nice they would look in all veneered. They can even be made to look really unique using different vaneers for the front baffle and the wings...ahhh the possibilities.

Best,

MarkR7 · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 Jul 2006, 10:43 pm »

Hey Vinnie, how about some listening impressions between the Bastanis Prometheus mkIIs and the Omega B200 OBs? What does each one do better than the other, drawbacks of either, etc., anything pertinent? Thanks.

Quote from: Vinnie R. on 3 Jun 2006, 01:30 am

Thanks, Guys!

Sometime this month I will finally make the time to listen to the Bastanis in my listening room. I am borrowing the pair that was reviewed by Sandy Greene and right now they are still waiting patiently to be used, sitting in my basement. I am LOVING my B200 OBs and I know I will love the OB sound of the Bastanis, and the powered bass drivers is a nice plus

I'll post about this in a few weeks....

Thanks again,

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 Jul 2006, 12:41 am »

Hi MarkR7,

I still haven't made the time to do a detailed comparison for myself

I've just been too busy, but I will get to using those Bastanis at some point soon enough...

Best regards,

Vinnie