The A5s are on my short list too.
You can probably expect Alon to announce an across the board price increase in the near future with the increase in materials. Most all of the EU brands have done so in the last month or two.
They are beautiful!
What finish did you get?
How do they sound?
Inquiring minds need to know!
The Sabrinas are superb. Within a few minutes, I was in love with the tweeters. They’re so very convincing with remarkable sustain. Cymbal strikes that I’m familiar with sound so multi-dimensional and have far more “hang time”. And leading edges to plucked bass are distinct. For example, I can clearly hear Steve Swallow’s pick on his bass strings.
I could go on for days raving about these things. They make me happy and I don’t regret a single penny spent.
I’m with you on those two and I would probably throw in a listen to MBL 120/126 which I hope to do soon. I guess the FR30 could be in the mix but the wait continues.
The original owner special ordered them with the Ferrari Rosso Red side panels to match his rooms color scheme. Would not have been my first choice if ordering new at retail but have to admit they look quite good in my room which is different shades of gray. As to the sound so far so good though still working on placement and cable matching. Surprising bass response and lovely midrange. Remind me of the SF’s from the days when Franco Serblin was in full control. They were one of three pairs I was considering for this room in the Greenville house and the first ones to show up on the used market. One of the other models showed up on US Audiomart a couple of days later but at a price more than I could have ordered them for from a dealer friend in a standard finish. Again another special order finish adding several thousand dollars to cost.
Very different speakers, the Sabrina X and the A5. Good choices, but they sound very different from one another.
Those Volterra’s look cool. Do you know if the midsection is a discrete box housing the crossover, or is it part of the volume of the upper or lower?
The midsection is a separate damped box housing the crossover and fastened to the top ported section and sealed bottom with the wiring from the crossover to the two sections. The top section can be purchased separately as the Fiesole monitor. Similar concept as the early Verity Parsifal versions.
According to the US distributor the side panels can be changed out but it requires a trip back to the factory.
While not “new”, I did listen to the $100k Neolith by Martin Logan again. Smooth, clean, stable, seamless, speakers completely disappeared, but they were driven by 100% solid-state electronics, and was missing some tube magic that I now crave.
Then you would need to spend that much again on big VAC’s.
I’ve heard the Neolith’s hooked up to McIntosh Solid State mono’s and it was in a store so take that for what it is worth but I prefer my CLX speakers and separate subs. I think the Neolith’s I heard needed a better room and setup. I love the large electrostatic panel on them!
I can’t afford the Neolith even at the discount rate. TMR had a pair for $42-$44k ? They must of sold because they are no longer on the site.
Generally speaking electrostatic speakers need some space to deliver their best! I have always asked myself if ML wall mount electrostatics were designed to perform well fixed to / in the wall!
The Neolith look massive, and awesome. Even without a proper setup they still have alot going for them. I also saw the pair on TMR, which went from $46k down to $42k. Still out of my price range. My current speakers, the Sonist Audio Concerto 4, sound quite good in the meantime, with good dynamics and plenty of magic with PS Audio driving them, and a little more magic (on some music) but much less dynamics with CJ tubes driving them. The one thing that will get me to buy new speakers is a custom ribbon midrange and custom ribbon tweeter at a more attainable price point.
Sounds like the PS Audio FR-30 at a “measly” $28k.
There are other speakers being developed, hopefully with the same/similar custom ribbons, at other price points. I am going with the notion that patience is the key to virtue.
At Fidelis in NH- I checked out Vivid Giya G1S in the store’s main sound room with MSB stack for about 1.5 hours. The store have smaller models lying around the showroom.
It is a new pair so probably still breaking in. It is very good sounding- and I heard very good bass definition. The room itself had ceiling resonances that take away from the auditon experience. The speaker is very large thus [IMO] requiring an abnormally large room.
@aangen is the resident Vivids Giya G1 expert! He can give advice on them.
My son works for the designer of the Vivid Giya. Maybe I can get a discount.
Well put, the PS Audio aspen FR30 trickle down effect.