I'm guessing that they don't have as much of a presence in the states as they do in Europe, so they probably advertise and get reviewed more there. There was a time some years back when they did get a lot of press here.t of press here.
I owned the Avanti for a brief time. While they created a large sound stage and detail they had a very “soft” mid frequency in my room and set up. I tried to like them but in the end I ended up selling. Other equipment included Primaluna HP w/ kt150’s, PS Audio Direct Stream and JPS cables. I moved to Joseph Audio Perspectives and never looked back.
I used to frequent a high end store called Sound II in North Dartmouth, MA. They sold Audio Physics speakers and the many times I heard them, they always sounded fantastic. That’s all I know about them as at the time I-owned Vandersteen 2CE Signatures speakers so I wasn’t too interested in others. However, whenever walking into the store, I was always greeted to the wonderful sounds of the Tempo speakers, driven by an early VAC amp and an RCM (I think) turntable. The quality of the sound made you want to sit and listen.
When I first heard them I kind of had to have them. As I owned them I noticed they did not have the fullness I tend to like. It may have been my room but I’ve owned Revel, Proac, and a few others and never thought I was missing midrange.
My dealer used to carry AP, but now I haven't seen them in many years. I remember being pretty impressed by a smallish AP tower with dual front-firing midrange cones, some kind of side-firing driver, and the cone tweeter. I don't remember the model - it was circa 2010. They were driven by Renaissance-level VAC gear. Gorgeous huge soundstage and awesome imaging. But yes, the midrange didn't seem quite as fleshed out as other speakers like my Tannoy Canterbury. I do think back fondly of them. They seem like lots of fun in the right system & room!
Vanna LTD is the US Importer for Audio Physics as well as for Marten Speakers ........no need to say anymore as you already have the answer to your question.
Audio Physic has been one of my favorite brands for many years.
It started when I heard the Virgo (and eventually tried them in my home).
They possessed a very hard to find combination: super detailed, utterly disappearing, spacious, "fast" sounding...yet also with a timbral warmth.
Not necessarily "warm" as in filled out lower midrange but rather a timbral warmth where wood instruments sounded "right" and warm and woody, brass "warm and brassy" etc.
I found the Virgos had just a bit too much of an upper bass hump to make me pull the trigger, but later I reviewed the follow up AP model: the Libra. That was much like the Virgo but sounded more linear and dynamic. Fabulous speakers! (Though missing just a bit of the upper frequency magic of the Virgo).
I'd heard various AP speakers, other versions of the Virgo, Avanti etc, over the years at local AV stores.
Later I owned the AP Scorpios. Again, incredible disappearing act, dynamic, detailed. Though a slight tonal shift in a direction that left me wanting more timbral warmth.
The last AP I listened to was during my mega speaker search several years ago (detailed in my long thread), which was the AVANTI.
Once again, it had the AP characteristics of disappearing in to a large detailed soundstage and imaging, wonderful clarity. But ultimately the tone was a bit cool for my tastes.
Funny...like someone else mentioned...it was the Joseph Perspectives that I chose in the end, which had similar properties of being a slim floorstander that utterly disappeared in to a huge Soundstage, yet still managed to sound timbrally rich and warm to my ears.
Admittedly I have really wanted to hear the AP Codex, which could be very impressive. As of a few years ago there were at least 2 stores selling and demoing AP speakers. I don't think they sell them any more so perhaps a lack of presence is why we here less about the brand these days.
I owned the Tempos Plus a few years ago. I demoed the Avanti but didn't care for it. I thought about demoing the Midex but never did. For about a grand less I felt that my Bache Tribeca's are better sounding.
Vana Ltd. is no longer the US distributor for Audio Physic speakers. According the the AP website it shows: "USA - We are looking for a new distribution in this area" but then under Canada und USA they list Tri-Cell Enterprises Inc.
The mid and upper range Audio Physic speakers look great and are well built. Unfortunately, their bass response is sadly lacking. So, it really depends on the kind of music that you listen to. But, if your music goes down to the lower octaves, the Audio Physics simply don't have it. And, they are expensive. So, I suspect that's why you don't hear more about them. Finally, they have very limited distribution in the US, as was mentioned.
I think the Audio Physic speakers these days, e.g. Avanti, Codex and others, are among the best looking speakers I've seen. It really helped that the got rid of the side firing woofers (now downfiring I believe), which made for a much smoother, neater look. The new designs are so sleek and contemporary looking, and their wood finishes with that glass-like layer over them look really lux !
very well designed well built speakers... high resolution, terrific, vast soundstagers but a little lean with voices and lacking in bass weight and impact is what i recall from my various exposures to them over the years ... would benefit from subwoofer support despite their being fairly imposing floorstanders... like most speakers with some market success, they do some things very well, other things less so
it seemed to me they sort of disappeared when their chief designer and founder left , and started his own speaker company under his own name...Sonics by Joachim Gerhard
After auditioning many speakers, I settled on the Audio Physic Classic-30. Iv'e had them for 8 yrs.,no problems at all. Great sounding speaker!Highly recomended!
Tempo Plus here and I think all the superlatives of smooth and natural, big sound stage and disappearing speakers all apply. I think I'm looking for just a bit more weight and thickness. I'd like things to be just a bit more palpable.
In my search to upgrade to Codex/Midex I spoke to a couple of dealers and neither seemed to be a fan of the manufacturer. (New Ownership) What i heard was they now had too many speakers models with too many versions I, II, III, IV, 35th anniversary etc and too many finishes but in the end it didn't matter as supply chain issues likely prevented any new stock in the US. I suspect this is why Vana is no longer the distributor. I do think they are looking for another US distributor however. How long that might take who knows.
I'm also on this thread now as someone looking to upgrade their AP to something new and finding Perspective Graphene in the conversation, but suspect they might be a bit out of my league!
I have Avanti IIIs. I got a great deal on a pre owned pair. But they really didn't sound as great as any of what I read. Disappointing. I put them away. Then I actually read AP's set up guide and one day dragged them out and tried that. Huge difference. Then I better matched components, even better (4 different amps and settled on a Naim). Then I raised them a tad on higher spikes. Better. Then I added a sub. Which I thought I shouldn't need, which is one reason I got them. That was the final enhancement. They sound better than anything I own or owned. Really beautiful on well recorded classical and jazz. But....a big but....that room is only that. If you are someone who can be a slave to a single sweet spot which the whole room and all your stuff serves, go for them. But if you want to do anything else or sit anywhere else in that room you are better with something else. My room is the old playroom, cleared out with just bookshelves against walls the system against a back wall, the speakers pulled forward 9 feet apart and a chair 8 feet away centered. I have a desk on the back wall and if I sit at that desk, with the chair only about 5 feet beyond the "spot" I may as well be listening to the radio.
I own a pair of the Avantera IIIs for a couple years now. I own Focals, Raidhos, and Dynaudio and out of all of them these speakers sound the most like real instruments playing and real singers. It took awhile to get the right amplifier--currently the Hegel H590. With this amp they are a bit cool, but the sound staging is huge. Plenty of bass and a luscious midrange. They are in a gorgeous ebony finish (matte not gloss). Sadly, I must let them go as I am retiring and they will be too large for my new much smaller digs.
I have a pair of Audio Physic Avantera, bought dealer demos in 2019. I think they are terrific. I was moving to a different house, needed speakers to fit a 13 x 22 room. Driving them with Esoteric amp and preamp. Source is digital streaming. Imaging is amazing, speakers disappear, and really can hear deep into the recording. There's plenty of bass, its taut and tuneful not earth shattering. Don't use analytical or bright cables because they can get a bit edgy, I use Cardas Clear.
They don’t have a wide distribution net in North America but they make some competent speakers.
I owned the Avanti (current version) for a couple months. Overall, they were a good value at the price I paid for them pre-owned. The cabinet finish is second to none. The only complaint I had with these was some cabinet resonance that sometimes distracted from otherwise great performance. I didn’t notice a lack of low octave extension as others have mentioned. In fact that was one of their strengths. They just lacked the 50-100Hz hump that many tower speakers produce. So if one is used to that midbass hump then I can understand why they’d sound lean.
At the retail price of the Avantis, there are better options, like the Spendor D7.2.
Heard the Tempo Plus at Holm Audio here in the Chicago suburbs, and some things were amazing and some I didn't have much of an opinion......just so so. The only speaker I've ever heard where the soundstage was almost the entire room, up/down/sideways/wide. They are also the only speaker I have ever heard that I had no idea where the speaker was, sound just enveloped me from all sides.....and that was in a crowded sound room.
However, they did not "excite me". Impact was not there, gorgeous sweet mids were somewhat there but un-exciting, and transitions seemed to be "lazy" or slow.
Wanted SO much to love them as they were on a ridiculous sale, but just didn't fall in love with them
I generally agree that if you are looking for thickness,weight, slam then Audio Physic speakers aren't the go-to speakers. That's one of the main reasons I didn't keep the Virgos after a home audition - too polite and soft with high energy music.
However the Libra speakers that followed were more dynamic, and the Scorpio model I owned really did have impressive guts and punch.
The Joseph speakers are slim floorstanding speakers that cast a walk-in-to-it soundstage like the AP speakers, but have a more pure tone and also, for their size, kick more *ss than the AP. As John Atkinson put it in his review of the Joseph Perspective Graphene floorstanders:
"When the kickdrum was doubled with synth dropped-bass notes, I was astonished by how much clean, low-frequency energy four 5.5" woofers could pump into my room.
With the Perspective2's combination of clean dynamics and rich, well-defined low frequencies, orchestral music was well-served. The big tune at the start of the first movement of Elgar's Symphony No.1 (Sir Adrian Boult conducting the LPO, of course, 16/44.1k ALAC files ripped from CD, EMI Classics 64013), with its pulsing bass line, sent shivers down my spine."
You should post the speakers you own currently and in the past for a better response profile.
I bought these years after hearing them at the RMAF where I was very impressed by them. After several more years of listening to the Focal Range into Grande Utopia (not that I can afford it, but in a local amplifier manufacturer's listening room), Magicos, B&Ws of several ranges into 801s, PMC, and ProAc 2.5 which I owned for nearly 20 years, the Audio Physic speakers stand up to their billing: "No loss of fine detail."
Imaging, control of frequency, fine representation of instruments, natural sound are all available. They have a sound that I tend to prefer which is the British design despite their German heritage.
Beautiful speakers as well. Again, what do you own?
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