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Acapella Triolon Excalibur speakers at RMAF 2007

Does anyone else care to comment on the sound of the Acapella Triolon Excalibur $170,500.00 per pair speakers? This is Brian Ackerman's, of Aaudio Imports full $600K, personal reference system. I have heard the Acapella Triolon Excalibur's driven by Audionet AMP's in Shanghai and felt that they were underachievers and a complete disappointment for their asking price. It sounds like Gawdbless was equally disappointed with them, especially considering their asking price but I would like to hear from others who have had a chance to hear them at the Rocky Mountain AudioFest show to get their impression and to see if they would drop $600K for the Aaudio Imports/Brian Ackerman "reference" system yet alone $170.5K for the Acapella Triolon Excalibur speakers. I await the opinion of those of you at the show who have heard this "Mega" DOLLAR system to see if it does indeed deliver the $600K goods or if it's more about "Pride of Ownership" than substance. Let us know your thoughts show goers. At least one show reporter has substantiated my original listening impressions. What did the rest of you guys hear from the Acapella Triolon Excalibur speakers and the sound of the complete Brian Ackerman/Aaudio Imports reference system at RMAF 2007????
carlos269

Showing 2 responses by markxiii

markxiii
109 posts
 
I listened to both the Triolons and Campaniles on Friday and twice on Sunday. On Friday the Triolons sounded good, but not quite as impressive as when I heard them in a personal setup in Norway a few years ago. The tonality was very lifelike with amazing transparency, but the bass seemed overblown, slightly loose and lacking in dynamics. As Fcrowder said it is possible that the woofers were still breaking in, but I would be more inclined to think that the Einstein OTLs were just not capable of providing strong enough grip on the four 10" woofers. The Campaniles in the other room were driven by an FM Acoustics solid state amp and the sound was much more dynamic and alive. When I came back for another listen on Sunday afternoon, for whatever reason the Triolons sounded much better, in fact what I heard was simply breathtaking! The bass was still loose but I got so involved in music that it didn't bother me anymore. I really can't think of a better loudspeaker system for huge spaces.

Based on what I was told by Acapella's Hermann Winters, the smaller Violons are identical to the Triolons from 800Hz up as they use the same crossover components, midrange driver and the amazing plasma tweeter. I heard them on several occasions and other then the MBL 101Es they remain my favorite speakers for a more typical listening room.
markxiii
109 posts
 
Fcrowder: Having listened to different OTL amps (Joule Electra, AtmaSphere and Einstein) I would generalize that although they do so many things right, bass is simply not their forte. The Triolons need something capable of controlling their woofers, and it certainly must be a tube design as I can't think of a solid state amp that would not take away something form the midrange (although the $80K FM Acoustics amp was pretty nice...).
If I were to select a single best amp for the Triolons, my choice would be the 200 wpc 300TL transmitter tube based Amber Wave monoblocks. They were demoed in one of the rooms upstairs and I could not find a single thing that I didn't love about their sound. Bass control and dynamics better than any monster ss amp, the midrange, treble and soundstaging like the best single ended triode and at the same time an amazing transparency. All of that with a pair of $6K worth of medium sized monitors! I think that these are THE AMPS for the Triolons. All things considered, at $44K they also seem to be a "bargain" compared to two pairs of Einsteins required for the Triolons.
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