Green Mountain Audio

bogiedr · « **on:** 13 Apr 2012, 12:59 am »

Found a pair of Continuum 1.5 available at a very reasonable price ... anyone experienced with these speakers out there? What can I expect at an audition? What type of sound? How much power needed to drive efficiently?
Thank you.

bunky · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Apr 2012, 01:16 am »

Green Mountain Audio's phone number is (719) 636-2500 Roy Johnson is the chief designer and owner and a very nice guy. i used to own the Europa's and they were great speakers. i would call Roy and he will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

nrenter · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Apr 2012, 01:22 am »

...and realize it may not be a quick conversation. Roy is passionate about audio and enjoys chatting about it. Great guy. And I love my GMA Callostos.

coverto · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Apr 2012, 01:38 am »

Expect extraordinarily fine pinpoint imaging on a 3-D soundstage, and the Q-stone enclosures do a great job of "getting out of the way" of the presentation. You'll get lots of detail, with a sound that's smoother than most higher-efficiency speakers. Timbral accuracy is first-rate, harmonics are rich, and when dialed in properly the phase-coherence of the drivers will add considerable depth and focus to the presentation.

Roy will usually indicate his speakers can be driven by amps with as little as 7 watts, but in my experience 15 and up will give you better results.

Shakeydeal · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Apr 2012, 06:48 pm »

Unfortunately the OP decided to pass on the 1.5s. He seemed to be offended that I alluded that they would sound better than his VS VR2s. Over on Audiogon, I was just trying to be helpful and let him know that it was my opinion (as a former owner of the VR2s) that the GMA speakers would surely outshine the VR2s.

Shakey

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Apr 2012, 02:52 am »

Quote from: Shakeydeal on 16 Apr 2012, 06:48 pm

Unfortunately the OP decided to pass on the 1.5s. He seemed to be offended that I alluded that they would sound better than his VS VR2s. Over on Audiogon, I was just trying to be helpful and let him know that it was my opinion (as a former owner of the VR2s) that the GMA speakers would surely outshine the VR2s.

Shakey

Hi Shakey,

I see you're new here and I abhor coming down hard on new members, so as gently as possible I'd like to inform you we have a "no dirty laundry" policy here. You can read about it on the site guidelines, but basically we don't bring disagreements from other sites here. Of course I don't know, and don't care, what happened over on A-gon, but going strictly from your account here, "He seemed to be offended" and "I was just trying to be helpful" don't bode well for any future exchanges here regarding what happened out there. Therefore it's perhaps best if the OP posts what his decisions were and are rather than others speaking for him. Thanks for your attention and welcome to AC.

Shakeydeal · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Apr 2012, 04:48 pm »

Sorry, didn't mean to break any rules. I will be more careful in the future.

Shakey

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Apr 2012, 10:55 pm »

Tanks, and no worries. Your post was polite and respectful, just an issue that has been a problem before. If the OP has gone in another direction the thread will prolly just fall off naturally anyway.

Green Mountain just doesn't seem to drive much passion on forums despite the good things many have to say about them. Maybe too original? I really couldn't say for sure.

doug s. · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 02:56 am »

unless the o.p. is shopping for a 2nd system, wouldn't he also think there's a possibility the continuum 1.5's would be better than what he already has; otherwise why would he consider auditioning them?

personally, i think the gma speakers don't have as big a following as they might, simply due to their appearance. they are a strange looking thing; not sure i would want them in my room. (their simpler tw0-way monitors are not quite so odd.) but, if they sound as good as purported, perhaps i could adjust.

doug s.

charmerci · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 06:47 am »

Quote from: doug s. on 18 Apr 2012, 02:56 am

unless the o.p. is shopping for a 2nd system, wouldn't he also think there's a possibility the continuum 1.5's would be better than what he already has; otherwise why would he consider auditioning them?

doug s.

The guy with a thousand tuners is asking this question????

Shakeydeal · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 10:59 am »

Quote

personally, i think the gma speakers don't have as big a following as they might, simply due to their appearance. they are a strange looking thing; not sure i would want them in my room. (their simpler tw0-way monitors are not quite so odd.) but, if they sound as good as purported, perhaps i could adjust.

I think they don't have a bigger fan base because they aren't prevalent enough in dealer showrooms. Another reason is because they remind me of Wilson speakers (ONLY in this one way) in that they require extra attention to detail when setting them up. You can make them sound pretty bad if you screw it up. But when you get it right, there's not a lot out there that's better.

Shakey

doug s. · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 03:47 pm »

Quote from: charmerci on 18 Apr 2012, 06:47 am

The guy with a thousand tuners is asking this question????

hey! i only have 50 tuna, not a thousand!

and yes, i am asking this question - when i wanna sample another tuna, it's not cuz i wanna see if it's worse than what i may be presently using...

doug s.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 04:33 pm »

Quote from: doug s. on 18 Apr 2012, 02:56 am

personally, i think the gma speakers don't have as big a following as they might, simply due to their appearance. they are a strange looking thing; not sure i would want them in my room. (their simpler tw0-way monitors are not quite so odd.) but, if they sound as good as purported, perhaps i could adjust.

Very generous, Doug. I think there new models are butt-ugly. It's a bit hard to take them seriously based solely on appearance. WAF also severely limits their sales.

That being said, I did have an opportunity to hear on many occassions one of their first (I guess) models. I thought they were beautiful and fantastic sounding. They were a three way where the cabinets were made using some type of synthetic gree marble. They weighed a ton and sounded fantastic. They must have been really expensive to make as they abandoned the design. Too bad.

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 05:01 pm »

Quote from: Ericus Rex on 18 Apr 2012, 04:33 pm

I think there new models are butt-ugly. It's a bit hard to take them seriously based solely on appearance. WAF also severely limits their sales.

I completely agree. Even if they were the best sounding speakers in the world there is no way something that looks like the new models on their website would ever see the inside of my house. They are not alone, BTW.

charmerci · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 05:32 pm »

Quote from: doug s. on 18 Apr 2012, 03:47 pm

when i wanna sample another tuna, it's not cuz i wanna see if it's worse than what i may be presently using...

doug s.

ah, I didn't read Shakeydeal's post carefully enough.

But that was his interpretation of the dialogue. Anyway, we really don't know why the OP passed on the speakers.

Only 50? Uh, OK. I'll keep that number referenced when talking about you in the future.

Shakeydeal · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 05:51 pm »

vinyl_lady,

I guess I can somewhat understand why a woman wouldn't care for their looks. However, my wife thinks my C3 HDs look fantastic. But then again, they don't reside in "her" living room. But when the music starts, all thoughts of aesthetics are pushed aside.

Shakey

Shakeydeal · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 05:54 pm »

Quote

That being said, I did have an opportunity to hear on many occassions one of their first (I guess) models. I thought they were beautiful and fantastic sounding. They were a three way where the cabinets were made using some type of synthetic gree marble. They weighed a ton and sounded fantastic. They must have been really expensive to make as they abandoned the design. Too bad.

Ericus,

That model would be the Diamante. I have never heard them, but heard many good things about them. I did own a model from a few years later, the Imago III. A very fine sounding speaker it was too. Much more traditional looking than what came after it.
Shakey

Thirsty · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 07:02 pm »

I bought a pair of the Eos HX a few months ago and in my rather small man cave (12 x 24) they sound great. Roy Johnson has taken the time aligned/phase coherent design to a level that no other speaker manufacturer has attempted before. I think GMA would sell more speakers if people had a chance to live with them for awhile in their own rooms, maybe something like a 30 day trail period. The more I listen to them the more I appreciate what they do right.

doug s. · « **Reply #18 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 08:18 pm »

Quote from: Thirsty on 18 Apr 2012, 07:02 pm

...Roy Johnson has taken the time aligned/phase coherent design to a level that no other speaker manufacturer has attempted before...

i suspect this is why they look so strange. phase coherency and eliminating cabinet diffraction seem to be a big factor in getting good sound from conwentional drivers. no free lunch here...

doug s.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #19 on:** 18 Apr 2012, 10:27 pm »

Quote from: Shakeydeal on 18 Apr 2012, 05:54 pm

Ericus,

That model would be the Diamante. I have never heard them, but heard many good things about them. I did own a model from a few years later, the Imago III. A very fine sounding speaker it was too. Much more traditional looking than what came after it.
Shakey

Yes! That's it! Man, what a beautiful and good sounding speaker. I seem to remember them being around $4,500 15 years ago. Maybe the current equivalent (in sonic terms, not looks) is the Pico Exec at $9K? I would guess the Diamantes could be had on the used market for about $2K. And that would be a great deal!