[SuperFi]

I really like the Manley ... fantastic phono stage for the price, and few compare above it's price. I've still got the Shorty Rogers Mosaic set rolling this morning ... glorious mono, but my PC1 is a stereo cart. I'll add another arm sometime next year and mount a mono cart.

I get stuck in front of this rig for hours at a time

[SuperFi]

great looking room, I'd love to see and hear it

Come on by!

[Duelund Coherent Audio]

Speakers look good. I've got the impression you know your sound.

Will they be at CES?

[SuperFi]

Speakers look good. I've got the impression you know your sound.

Will they be at CES?

They will be at CES but not playing. We will be playing Peak Consult El Diablo loudspeakers - I think you are familiar with them? 

We have a very high resolution system at the show: Diablo loudspeakers, Berning amplification and preamplification (new models!), Stereovox cabling, Stillpoints isolation racks and implements, and the new Continuum Audio Labs "Criterion / Copperhead" analog combination.

[Duelund Coherent Audio]

Speakers look good. I've got the impression you know your sound.

Will they be at CES?

They will be at CES but not playing. We will be playing Peak Consult El Diablo loudspeakers - I think you are familiar with them? 

We have a very high resolution system at the show: Diablo loudspeakers, Berning amplification and preamplification (new models!), Stereovox cabling, Stillpoints isolation racks and implements, and the new Continuum Audio Labs "Criterion / Copperhead" analog combination.

I'll certainly make my way to the room.

I do have some prior experience with the Peak Consult line... 

[SuperFi]

I will look forward to meeting you!

Chris

[Duelund Coherent Audio]

I will look forward to meeting you!

Chris

Likewise!

[woodsyi]

They look good and I am sure they sound good.  It's just that I have to feel like I have a bargain before I spend any money on gear.  Some how I have to be convinced in my head that I am paying less than half of "retail" for me to feel good about a gear purchase.  I know I am a cheapskate but that's what makes me tick.      A case and point: if Usher was a legal copy of Sonus Faber model (no patent infringement) that sounded alike, I would feel foolish buying the premium-priced SF pair instead of the Usher model.  On the other hand, I also feel a pull for the products from small boutique outfits even if Wall Mart has something similar for less (a little) because I want to keep them in business. 

[SuperFi]

Hi Woodsyl,

I understand your feelings, but it seems to me that Usher only intended to capitalize on the signature look of the speakers they copied, with no intention of equalling them in performance. This is just my opinion, of course - I can't know for sure if they intended to copy performance, as well.

Now: That you have to "be convinced in my head that I am paying less than half of "retail" for me to feel good about a gear purchase" is understandable. There is no shortage of used gear out there, nor is there a shortage of manufacturers who will circumvent their own dealer network to make a sale. There is also no shortage of falsely inflated products designed for discount so that audiophiles like yourself can "feel good" about their purchases when they get the discount.

As a manufacturer and a distributor I don't do that because I believe that my dealers add value and deserve their margins for the services they provide to both client and manufacturer.

I think that when you buy great equipment, equipment built and meant to last, and you buy it from a dealer - you've invested in the company, you've invested in the dealer, and you've invested in the future of the hobby and the freaky industry that supports it. As that continuum of support breaks down because brick-and-mortar dealers are getting commoditized out of the market, the value to the consumer deteriorates ... it just becomes the audiophile merry-go-round on steroids.

There IS something to be said for direct market, for DIY, and the like. But there is also something to be said for the traditional market, where you can go to a brick-and-mortar store and audition products you wouldn't orindarily have audition access to. THAT guy has rent to pay, salaries, utilities, and he's got to sit through a lot of tire-kickers to get to a sale in order to count his money. And fewer people are willing to shoulder the risk to provide that convenience to audiophiles because the system get subverted and circumvented for discounts.

So at the end of this cycle we could be left with no physical dealerships, and a lot of equipment in constant circulation on the used and auction market with no reasonable way to try certain things before you buy them (I know I'm not sending the Continuum out on loan!) 

[JoshK]

Superfi,

You make good points about the B&M dealer, but unfortunately they do not all provide good service and in particular I care not for the dealers I have visited in Manhattan.  Ultimately you need to be able to hear the gear in your system and in your room, not a dealer's room.  If the dealer doesn't let you take a demo piece home to evaluate, IMHO then they don't provide any service above a direct sales, but do offer a considerably steeper price. 

Many of the direct to consumer manufacturers here on AC have lent out there wares to various clubs on this forum in exchange for feedback, unbiased reviews, etc.  To me, in this case, they are bridging the gap between the DTC & B&M systems.  Also, many DTC companies use a 30 day money back trial.  That also bridges the gap.

So you have this sort of convergence going on with some of the DTC companies.  That is a very good thing in my book. 

Josh

[SuperFi]

Hi Josh,

I agree with you  --  some of the B&M dealers fall short of their service responsibilities and just want to push out boxes, while some direct sales manufacturers take up the slack and give you as much flexibility as possible. I think in all cases it's important to reward the guys who are giving the best service - without service the industry will deteriorate completely, IMHO.

[woodsyi]

Hi Woodsyl,
Now: That you have to "be convinced in my head that I am paying less than half of "retail" for me to feel good about a gear purchase" is understandable. There is no shortage of used gear out there, nor is there a shortage of manufacturers who will circumvent their own dealer network to make a sale. There is also no shortage of falsely inflated products designed for discount so that audiophiles like yourself can "feel good" about their purchases when they get the discount.

I certainly have bought used goods but I have also purchased new products as well.  In both cases, I hope I have done enough homework to see through marketing hypes an bloated list prices.   There is another angle in gear purchase and that is buying used or new gear and modding it either yourself or by a mod pro.  For better or worse, there is always a trade off in OEM parts due to price consideration and much can be gained by upgrading a well designed gear.      In fact, you should  offer options for different quality parts. 

[SuperFi]

Modding is yet another angle that can bring satisfaction - but in the course of modding you void warranties, so tread carefully.

 

[JLM]

I've only found two shops in Michigan that sell any tube equipment.  Each only have one or two such pieces, but nothing even close to a decent room to listen in.  Not that tubes are the "end-all" but it shows, at least to me, a certain level of sophistication and keeping up with the current state of the art.  Visiting the typical shop around here is like going back to the 80's.   

It's been a long time since I found an audio retailer in state that adds value.  Within an hour of home there are only 3, each 40 miles plus from the others.  The best one is a combo car, PA, audio dealership and sells VMPS.  Unfortunately most of the speakers are crowded into a triangular room with floor to ceiling plate glass (storefront).  The others are audio turned mostly HT shops that have precious little product of interest (same as sold at the big boxes or poor value at higher cost) and the bulk of their advice revolves around why their $4000 TV is better than someone else's $2000 set (neither of which I'm more than vaguely interested in).  One store had never installed A/C, and so you listen as long as you can take it before they open the doors to the 5 lane street out front.   

Two-way coaxial drivers in a floorstanding base reflex cabinet is hardly new or exciting.  The very nice looking front baffle and flowery description provides above average window dressing though.  I like the coaxial concept and the driver looks to be better than average quality.  Let's have "one of our own" review it and we'll see. 

[SuperFi]

$5,500 / pair

ANGELUS is a floor-standing 2--way coaxial monitor the likes of which has not been seen nor heard before. Crafted in the finest quilted-maple and plain maple veneers, trimmed in bloodwood, and finished with a deep and lustrous lacquer - mere photographs do not do it justice. Standing at a mere 34" tall with a 9" x 12" footprint, you wouldn't think that its elegantly petit proportions could produce such tremendous sound ... and yet!

Disappearing completely into the soundstage, the Angelus gives no clue that it is producing the illusion projected before you. Deep and wide musical vistas become the home of stunning musical images rendered in living, breathing dimensions - like a mystical portal into the musical event itself.

Angelus is superbly crafted, extraordinarily finished floor-standing loudspeaker of diminutive proportions, able to project an impossibly vast musical vistas while remaining sonically invisible.

Hand-crafted in North America by a pair of supergeniuses for Stereolab, a wholly owned subsidiary of Signals-SuperFi, LLC.

[NealH]

$5500.....Ouch!! 

This price puts this speaker in the playing field of some fine competitors, like the Acoustic Zen Adagio for over $1K less.     

[SuperFi]

Sorry ... but I don't get your point?

[DARTH AUDIO]

I don't think that price is too expensive if the quality and sound are reflective of $5500.00. Hell, I just paid $2000.00 for a record cleaner aa I just hope your dealers will allow in home trials? Because at that price I would want to make sure they were a good match for my system. Have you located a dealer in Chicago, IL? Good luck you speakers look beautiful and the price IMHO isn't outrageous

[Bill Baker]

That pricing seems to be reasonable to me. I don't think anyone can pass judgement on a product they have not yet heard. Obviously, it will be the ears that tell all.

 As I mentioned previously SuperFi, if you ever want to use my facility to do an Upstate NY audition or promotion, I would be eager to hear them myself. Although, if you would want to demonstrate them with solid state, you would have to bring your own. Nothing but tubes here.

[Scott F.]

Nothing but tubes here.

God love ya