For a long time, I was the typical sealed-box-low-efficiency-multiple-driver speaker + solid state type of Hifi listener. Usually UK brands. I was happy, because I didn’t know any better. I started traveling to shows around the world and by chance happened upon a very crowded Voxativ room. It immediately sucked me in - in a way I was not accustomed to - and I had to find out why. In my notes, I jotted things down like “sounds so open, effortless, huge dynamics, pin-point image... etc”. I left that RMAF in 2014 smitten with their 9.87. Then came lots of reading, research and more listening. Unfortunately, Voxativ isn’t as easy to find at a local dealer - but that now seems to be changing for the better. Cut to the chase - I’ve now been able to listen in my room to Zeth with and with out Z-Bass, Hagen Monitors and now 9.87 (with ac-4x drivers). I’ve tried them with a few different SET integrateds and even a Linn integrated - but nothing has bested the Voxativ t211. There’s a new version of the t211 that I’m awaiting hopefully soon. My main source is a fully loaded Linn LP12 but for digital I use an older TotalDAC. I know JV of TAS has had a pair of 9.87 for review for a few months now and am wondering what he has to say once he’s written it all up. Regardless, I’m a happy listener that trusts his own ears. Cheers.
I met Holger, founder, of Voxativ at the RMAF 2016. I was looking for speakers since I purchased a Constellation amp and pre-amp after hearing them at RMAF 2015. My plan was to listen to the new, at the time, Raidho D1.1s as the previous speaker was paired with my Constellations and I loved the sound. Oh how things changed. I encountered the Voxativ room on the first day of the show and immediately was drawn to the sound. I spent the next 2.5 days trying to find a system I liked better but couldn’t. I ended up buying the Voxativ show setup at RMAF 2016 (211 amp + 9.87 speakers) and gasp, sold my Constellation gear. I have been very satisfied with the setup and couldn’t be happier. I highly recommend Voxativ and Holger!
I am not sure what the "piano test" is, but if you are asking if my 9.87 sounds good with piano I would say, "yes". I listen to a wide range of music from classic jazz to industrial and have been very pleased with their broad range. I listen to many tracks with female and male vocalists and the sound is awesome. Simply put, I have never heard a better sounding system for the money; that is why I purchased Voxativ. In 2016 I listened to Magico, Focal and every other speaker I had read about or could find at the show over 3 days. Nothing matched the performance of the Voxativ setup in my opinion.
Voxativ speakers have intrigued me for quite a while. I've been doing lots of speaker demoing this year and Voxatic are on the short list of speakers I haven't heard yet but would love to. Unfortunately, no dealers anywhere near me.
Charney Audio uses Voxativ drivers as an upgrade to his horns. I have listened to the Companion with Voxativs and was blown away! Way better than the speakers Voxativ produces. If your in the NJ, NY area contact Charney for an audition...well worth the trip! http://charneyaudio.com/
"Charney Audio Companion Mk2 ($5,850-$9,550 a pair, depending on finish/driver options)
Richardson: The pair I auditioned was configured with a single pair
of Voxativ AF 2.6 drivers. The cabinets themselves were horn-loaded
using a smooth-horn configuration to eliminate diffraction and
reflection. The sound of these transducers, powered by Charney’s own
hand-built amplifiers, struck me as just right, as in how real music ought to sound. A company to watch."
I just had a wonderful experience with another potential Voxativ owner who flew into Dallas from San Diego yesterday to listen to my 9.87 system. I'm not a dealer - so can't directly help you there - but am happy to accommodate other curious listeners either local or day-trippers who'd like to stop in for a listen. DFW is an airport that is equidistant to pretty much every major US market with a ton of affordable flight options. I also have a pair of Hagen monitors for demo - and at least for now - a Voxativ T211 SET integrated amp to drive them all with. Message me if you are interested. Cheers.
Voxativs sound great with ZOTL amps. And i recently added a REL S5 SHO (high level connection) to really add to the presentation. Yeah, the coaxial driver really is wonderful.
The Voxativ drivers are wideband drivers - single point source. Absolutely glorious. I have a 5" AF-2.6 in DIY cabinets supplemented by a Rel S/5 SHO and its all I need in a nearfield setting (I sit about 7-8' from the speakers). The Voxativ sound is another word for transparency. As you move up to the 8" drivers you get more low end ...but I think the sub-bass of the Rel, while perhaps not as super fast as the units on the 9.87, does a great job.
to ct007. I live in Victoria Tx. My daughter lives in Plano and the wife and I get up there occasionally. I have a pair of lamhorn 1.8 with an aer 2B driver. We would love to hear your Voxaativ's. Would like to discuss them with you if you have time. My email is rjosefsmith@gmail.com.
Bache, I have gone to RMAF for a number of years, and there was a guy in the main lobby area each year using voxativ drivers. He was usually playing piano music at moderate volume. I never heard better reproduction of piano sound. I can’t vouch for how they would sound at loud volumes, but boy did they sound real.
I went to audition a pair of Charney speakers and do to the size of my room I naturally had to consider what I purchased. I did not expect much...well 3 days later I committed to a pair of Charney Companions Excalibur with Voxitiv AC 2.6 Best 12,100.00 I ever spent. Sounds erotic with all my amps my QS 2a3 my QS 6c33c triodes my Transcendent Pinnacle 300b my Atma-sphere m60 my ARS Sonum Filharmonia and my QS new KT88’s. I working on the future which will be a larger room and won’t even audition another brand of speaker I’ll just go pick up some Concertos
I came away thoroughly impressed with a demo of the voxitive zeth towers. female vocals were reproduced better than i have ever heard. unfortunately i did not hear them with more complex, demanding music of which their limitations may have been exposed. some of their models use DSP correction and have dedicated subwoofer integration which would definitely help. if you listen mainly to vocals and acoustic music i could recommend them enthusiastically
The Voxativs are not 2 driver coaxials, they are single driver with a whizzer cone. There is a crossover, it is mechanical. The whizzer cone decouples from the main cone at a certain frequency. Essentially, the main cone has a 6 dB/oct mechanical low pass filter.
The Voxativs are capable of a fine image if managed correctly however like the SET amps people tend to use on them they are colored. Many people love this sound. I don't
This can be corrected. Like any full range driver speaker, subwoofers are virtually mandatory. With a two way crossover they will have higher headroom and much les distortion. Removing the low bass from the SET amp should also be an advantage but, I have never used a SET amp so I can not say how other than higher headroom.
I am a dedicated full range driver type person and am thinking about getting a pair of AC-X's and try them out in an open baffle configuration. I would cross over to subs at around 125 Hz to start. So, the open baffle becomes practical. If they do not have to make bass the enclosure becomes much less of an issue.
The Vox AC1A just arrived, tested in test cabinet, Hard to say, But i think will list the pair on Ebay and stay with my DavidLouis 4 incher wide(does not list this 4 any longer, has another a 5 incher = does not look as good as his 4 = not same sound) band at the moment, My 2 cents
The cone material is super thin paper, it just seemed to my ears, ina short test, to lack body, the bass just was not there, Sound too thin, Female vocals, not accurate. I did not find 1 thing I liked about the speaker, I can also assume the AER also suffers these very same issues. Whereas the DavidLouis 4 incher at $175 a pair, had body, some slam, female voice very clear, clean, accurate. Goes to show you do not have to spend alot of money to get good sound. The DL 4 inch has some stress, some distortion, but very livable, acceptable, doable. The Vox just had nothing to offer vs the superior davidLouis 4 inch wide band. Now I will sell the Vox and buy the davidLouis 6.5 for $400, Maybe i get even better sound out the 6.5 vs the 4 incher. My guess is the wood cones of the Vox offer better bass, maybe better voice, better dynamics. This may be true. I am just not willing to spend $2k++ for a speaker that does not perform much better than a DavidLouis $400 speaker. Lets say the Vox/AER comes out 5% better sound.. OK, but at 6-10x's the price?? = Not worth it. These days its all about economics. = Best bang for the worthless buck.
I did not like Lii wide band, has that cheap plastic!!!! phase plug. Sounds soooo chinese.
If you are going to be taken seriously then you must do serious listening tests. You cannot do serious listening tests doing what you do. Here are a few suggestions:
You need to treat your room.....horrible sounding......reflections everywhere. You need to get some better cables....make sure they are all off the floor.....including the power cords. You need some serious racks and footers......you are using nada for support......footers and stands make a serious improvement You cannot stack gear.....each piece needs to be isolated by itself......get the equipment either way back or closer to the floor as stuff in the middle and high up will mess up the sound. You cannot have anything in front of the speakers or it will mess up the sound. Your table is in front of the speakers. You need to do defraction control (felt around full range and tweeter). You need to mount the full range with all its screws (preferably brass). Your box needs to be made of 13 ply birch plywood or other constrained layer material and have damping material inside. You need to wire your drivers directly to the voice coil wires. The Voxative has HORRIBLE sounding binding posts. All binding posts, spades and bananas suck. You have not heard any driver till you wire directly from your amp to the voice coil wire. Ground Enhancers on the ground voice coil wire will help a lot. All drivers.....especially full rangers need to be burned in (loud playing) for at least 200 hours before they show you what they can do. Every driver requires a different size box. Some will sound better with a port. Most sound best on open baffle. You do not want a square box.....worse sound. Bypass the input switching in your preamp.....you only have one source. All wiring and switches degrade the sound. Get some serious line conditioning (i recommend low distortion sine wave inverter running off batteries and then extra line filtering afterwords). Treat you CDs (way better sound with treated CDs)....look on my website (tweakaudio dot com) for CD tweaking suggestions. Of course there is more.......but if you did all the above you would cry....it would sound so good. Have fun.
To say something sounds "Chinese" is a serious ego statement. You need to look in the mirror. Here is a video of some Chinese 8 inch full range Lii drivers in a box. I don't hear any Chinese sounds. His system is maybe $3000 worth of gear.....hardly tweak.....but the sound speaks for itself. People all over the world are going crazy about the Lii speakers......and only one person has heard them without the horrible sounding binding posts.......imagine the posted system with no binding posts on the speaker box and none on the driver......would have way more information.
My guess is the new Lii fast 8 or 10 will have the very same issues I heard in the Fast8. The low mid register was HIGHLY colored = Distortion. = Real ugly, This is the truth. My impressio0ns of the Vox ina basic cabinet were not good either. Although I was prasing that speaker to the highest heavens, seems I was completely totally wong on that speaker. There was nothing I liked about the Vox. nada. Thats as far as i will go, others might love the Vox/AER wide bands. And thats their opinion, Right now the DavidLouis 4 incher is the best wide band on the market. I will order his 6.5 as soon as the cash settles for the Vox Took a 600_ hit on the Vox,. But I am waiting for the buyer to answer my Q before ZI ship, Does he havea SET,, Because the Vox did not sound good on my PP amp, I ahte to ship, and he finds the same issues I have , then he wants to return, Then its all messed up. Before order the Davidlouis 6.5, Which IMHO is the finest sounding midrange on the market,,But i could be wrong. The 4 incher is good, I am hoping his 6.5 is better. If there are issues, then i will dump the DL6.5 and buy a Seas Midrange Nextel Hexydn Neo 5 incher.
We can try that.
We have to find something at least superior to the DL 4 incher. Follow?
"This is the best, finest Sounding, on the market, this is the truth, etc." Even though you have not heard it or heard it compared to ALL the speakers in the world. And did you burn in each speaker you have for 200 hours of loud music.....and did you mount each driver in the perfect box (your box looks like doodoo), with the perfect damping and stuffing and port and did you bypass the speaker terminals.......and did you listen on a super tweaked stereo system? The answer to all the above is no.
Your information is basically useless. There is nothing more to say.
mozartfan, You should really think about letting them break in before making the "sell decision" & going through the hassle of selling them. If nothing else, it will be a good learning experience. I'm not familiar with these speakers, but most (if not all) high end speakers don't shine out of the box. On the other hand... Most don't sound terrible either.
I've been a professional musician who has worked with some of the best in the business, both vocalist and instrumentalist alike. It didn't take all of that to do a live show, besides theirs no gear created by some of the best minds (engineers) that can even come close to how real live music is created through gifted, talented musicians. That's just way to serious and obsessive to actually enjoy to whatever your listening to, IMHO.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
