Acoustic Zen Adagio, How Good Are They?

FWIW, I was in Kansas City last week, and Al at Primus Audio was extremely gracious and allowed me about 4 hours at his place to hear some big-bang-for-your-buck speakers. Here are my thoughts on those speakers, as I wrote elsewhere...

(BTW, the real purpose when I went to Al's was to hear the VS VR-4Jr's - I'd never even heard of Dali or that Acoustic Zen had a speaker before Al set them up for me.)
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Al at Primus Audio in Kansas City was kind enough to let me spend about 4 hours at his place last week while I was up there, and I got to compare four solid speakers in the +/- $2k-$4k range.
I listened to a pair of Von Schweikert VR-4Jr's, Dynaudio Focus 220's, Dali Helicon 400's and the AZ Adagios. I spent about an hour with each speaker, and listened to six widely differing tracks, relistening to what are key passages to my ear several times in each track.

The Adagios won hands down. The Dynaudios were very pleasant but not at all transparent, and the Dalis had a nice top end (I really liked that super tweeter above 12.5k) but were only moderately transparent. The Adagios were next; more on that in a minute. I saved what I thought would be the best for last: the highly-regarded 4-Jr's that I'd been dying to hear because of their reputation on the 'net. Unfortunately, they disappointed me with a bit of boomy bass (the room was well treated, for those wondering, but did have a 6dB rise around 60Hz, although none of the other speakers sounded boomy) and they sounded very slow and weighty. The soundstage wasn't what I had heard it to be, either; it was pretty narrow to my ears. Imaging was excellent though. Maybe the problem was I listened to them right after the Adagios.

In short, the Adagios were amazing for a $3700 speaker. Lightning fast with beatiful decay - thanks no doubt to the circular ribbon tweeter - and they had surprising bass for just two 5 1/4-inch woofers. (The manual says they are 6 1/2" drivers, but we measured them, and the actual cones are 5 1/4; the 6 1/2 includes the metal mounting plate around the cones.) My only complaint was the soundstage seemed a little narrower than I'd like, and they almost seemed *too* fast and light to my ears. They disappeared very nicely though, which surprised me since they don't have a narrowed front baffle, and I found myself eventually letting my mind shut down and just enjoying the music instead of constantly trying to "hear deeper" into the music.

Al told me these are "transmission line" speakers and that really helped the cones keep pace with the ribbon tweeter. Whatever it was, I'm still amazed at the speed of those speakers.

Frankly, the Adagios were the only of the 4 speakers I heard that I thought bested my Murphy-modified nOrh 9.0's. At $3700 I don't see how I can not buy a pair when I upgrade, unless the Ridge Street Audio Sasons I audition this weekend can blow the Adagios away. The Sasons are $1500 more, but they'd have to be truly amazing for me to steer away from the Adagios as my next speaker.

Howard

Sirspeedy, thanks! Will do on the Sason impressions.

Howard

Aktchi, you're presenting a rock-solid list of speakers, IMHO. I've not heard the Zu (something about a single-driver speaker scares me despite the benefit of not having a crossover) or the Daedelus (of which I'd never heard before your post.) Jim and Ty both make excellent speakers. I would compare Ty's main line of speakers to the Adagio to some degree for their "cleanness" throughout the audible range, but the Adagio's speed and decay is a whole different league.

I haven't heard Jim's speakers yet, but hope to hear the HT3's while on vacation in Houston later this month. I'll let you know what I hear, if you like.

Howard

Ghasley is correct; the cabinets are sourced in China.

Robert,

The transmission line terminates in an opening on the front of the Adagio, so I don't see why they wouldn't excel in a 14x14x10 room. My new living room will be 20x14x10 and I'm certain they'd be magic in that relatively small room.

A couple of people have asked me about the Sasons in addition to and/or compared to the Adagios. Below is a copy-and-paste of an email I sent to someone this morning.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for my assertion that the Sason "might be the best speaker on the planet" but based on my experience (which, admittedly, isn't as vast as many on a'gon) I believe the Sasons may be the best speaker (to my ears) because they sound less like a speaker and more like life than any other speaker I've ever heard - and by a wide margin.

One note on the Sasons before I copy and paste: the pair I heard were in a very small room (maybe 12x10x8) and only had 60 hours on them, so they were nowhere even close to broken in. I think the Adagios I heard only had 100 hours on them or so. The bass response on the Adagios may get even better with more time on them, and the bass was already surprisingly good, as I may have written before.

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I'm happy to tell you what I think of the speakers. Both speakers have such distinctive strengths that I don't think opinions could vary much as to the character of the speakers, although some people may prefer one over the other.

As background, let me say first I currently own nOrh mini 9.0's with the Murphy-designed optimal crossover, hand-build with the best components available by Jim Salk. The nOrhs are known for their fantastic mid-bass, soundstaging, and imaging. I've not found a speaker (of any kind) at $5k or less that I like better overall than my nOrhs (although I've found several that I'd take over a stock pair of nOrhs in a heartbeat.) The only exception to that statement might be the Adagios.

Let me start by saying the Sason is unlike any other speaker I've ever heard. I've not heard Maggies, but I've heard Conrad Johnson and Martin Logan speakers plus a host of dynamic driver and line array speakers, and the Sason doesn't sound remotely like *any* of them. There's so much air, and the image is so holographic, it's eerie. I've listened to several speakers that people say "convey a sense of air" and they all still sound generally like other speakers, just a little better at instrument separation. The Sasons are so much better at separation and air that it can't even be compared with any other speaker that I've heard. I listened to some $100k McInosh line arrays the same day I heard the Sasons, and let me tell you, the Sasons are almost as good, and even better in terms of air, soundstage, and space. I haven't heard the $20k monitors that people say the Sasons can compete with, but after hearing floorstanders that range from $500 to a hundred thousand, I find myself seriously doubting there is another speaker in existence that can compete with the Sasons in terms of soundstaging and "air" or separation of instruments/performers.

The only concern I have with the Sason is the pair I heard only had 60 hours on it. I believe Rob and Steve are using highly-modified Scanspeak drivers, which are notorious for taking hundreds of hours to break in. Even the stock Scanspeak drivers in my nOrhs took probably 500 hours to get really settled in and sound like they do now. So although the air and soundstage is already presented at 60 hours on the Sasons, it sounds like you aren't getting anything below about 500Hz on them. You hear the sounds and know they are there, but it's not "right" yet. I'm sure once the Sasons break in the tweeter cools a little (not that it's really hot now, especially compared to a stock Scanspeak tweeter) and the woofer really comes to life with a tremendously rich mid-bass and bass, but that will take at least a couple hundred hours, and then they won't really be all they can be until 600 hours (which is Steve Rothermel's assertion.) I have a hunch that, due to the modifications to the drivers, it may take a bit longer than that. I have to tell you, though, that if the Sason drivers break in and sound as good tonally as my nOrhs - and they should sound even better (otherwise why modify them, unless that's the secret to the air and soundstage) - these speakers will, to my ear, be the best speakers on the planet in my experience. I fully expect that to be the case, and if it isn't I will probably return my pair and just stick with my nOrhs for now. But I doubt I'll have to return the Sasons. They're magic, plain and simple.

Now that I've gushed about the Sasons, let me do a short comparison of them with the Adagios. The Adagios have a ridiculously "clean" sounding top end. The ribbon tweeter they use bests every other tweeter I've heard (including the Sason's) in producing a clean, lightning fast top with amazing decay. High-pitch percussion, such as cymbals and triangles are perfect. Overall, the Adagios are just so fast, detailed, and transparent that I just closed my eyes, tapped my feet, and enjoyed not just music, but life. I had so much fun listening to the Adagios that I stopped listening intently for every little nuance and just enjoyed them. They're the only speaker, Sasons included, that have ever made me do that. I'll bet the Adagios mated with an REL ST-series sub would be a combination that could last a lifetime.

In conclusion, I would have to say that unless the new $7500 price tag of the Sasons doesn't bother you at all, I'd go with the Adagios. They don't do the air like the Sasons - nothing does - but the soundstage and imaging are amazing and they're the most "fun" speakers I've heard. And at $3700 (or even at the new $4300 price) they are a steal compared to their competition. If you want what might be the best overall speaker on the planet and are willing to pay $7500 for it, go with the Sasons. The Sasons will compete with anything at any price, and best almost all if not all the others, so at $7500 they're a steal. $7500 is $7500, though. That's a lot of money.

Please feel free to send me any questions you might have. I'm happy to help in whatever way I can.

Howard

nOrh is a company in Thailand (www.norh.com). The nOrhs feature top of the line Scanspeak drivers and a very rigid marble (or synthetic marble, depending on the model) cabinet, but the stock crossover for their best models aren't very well-designed and use cheap parts. Dennis Murphy optimized the crossover for two nOrh models (the 9.0 and mini 9.0), but didn't have time to build me a pair of crossovers himself, so he and "Marbles" over at audiocircle referred me to Jim Salk. Dennis Murphy and Jim Salk have worked together on several speaker projects, including most of the current models you see on salksound's website (www.salksound.com) and Jim took Dennis' specs plus my desire for the absolute best crossover that could be made and voila! I, along with a handful of others who have shelled out some serious money on crossover parts and expert labor, have probably the best-sounding nOrh speakers in existence. :)

I've emailed AZ about the conspicuous absence of the Adagio on their website, but received no response, and the speaker is still not listed. It has been out for almost a year, though!

Good reading, thanks!

I read somewhere (maybe on this thread?) that the Adagios have been modified to "focus the sound toward the tweeter."

Has anyone heard both versions to comment on the difference? Also, how would a buyer know whether he was buying the "original" or "revised" model?