I once owned the Ultimate Monitors, which was AudioMachina's first speaker offering. Although somewhat of a niche product, I felt it was the best loudspeaker I ever owned (I preferred it over my Avalon Eidolon Diamonds within its power envelope) up to that point in time. My understanding is that Karl has improved on its performance with the CRM. I currently own and have been extremely pleased with Tidal's Piano Cera. I think I will use the shipping crate as my casket!
13 responses Add your response
Hi Hamburger, I just took delivery of 3 pairs of CRM. They are truly fantastic speakers. I too am surprised they do not receive more attention. I also own a pair of Maestro Ti-200, and will upgrade to the Maestro S when they become available. To ans your question, I think it is simple why they do not get much coverage. If you have ever communicated with Karl, you will know he just focuses on his work. He is a 'function-driven' designer. Form is quite secondary to him. He builds each speaker personally, from machining to crossover design/execution. It is as bespoke as it gets in the audio industry. But as a result, his output is very limited. He sells mostly to Japan if I understand correctly. And as far as I know he has no distributor in the U.S. He does no advertising, no 'PR'. Very low profile. You know mags like Stereophile will only review your prod if you have a certain number of dealers in the US. If you are interested, email me, I can share more with you. I urge you go listen to them if you have the chance. They are fantastic speakers by any measure, and some of the very very best value in the audio world. a true dark horse. ws |
They spend little to no money on advertising. They never had very many dealers and now sell direct. This means few have heard OF them and even fewer have heard their products. It should be no surprise that they fly way under the radar. It probably doesn't help that they have funny name that sounds like an Italian manufacturer of exotic turntable stands. Marty PS I actually have heard their "Pure System" (IIRC) at a local dealer (one of the few in their old network) and agree that it sounded great. |
One year at THE Show (CES) Karl showed next door to us. If I recall right, the manufacturer he was to show with was unable to make it at the last minute, but as luck would have it we had a spare set of M-60s on hand so we lent them to him. The speaker was very impressive and the M-60 drove them quite well. Karl does very well with his designs overseas but they are not so well known here, which is a pity since the speaker is really quite good! |
Glad to hear from Atmasphere about his impression on Karl's speakers. Most of Karl's designs are quite easy to drive as he uses truly simple (does not mean it's not sophisticated) first order crossovers. The CRM are amazing for their size. I just tried them out the other day and was extremely impressed. Huge soundstage, excellent tonal balance. They honestly sounded better than the Magico Mini II I had in the same room. I have not tried the Q1, but the CRM are really very special. |
No - that is Geoff Kait's Machina Dynamica. http://www.machinadynamica.com/ Karl is the real deal. I've not heard his latest speakers but I was most impressed with his old Ultimate Monitor with the BOMB bass extension module many CESs ago. I'd love to hear some of his latest creations. Regards, |
A pair of brand new CRM was delivered yesterday. 24 hours have passed since I started the break-in with old NAIM NAIT3 and CD3 staff. They are, as you may know, the lowest ends of NAIM product line. CRM sounds so perfect even with $1,600 premain amp. I cannot imagine how the sound improves after 200 hours break-in done. ShinjiShinji7, Tokyo |
Hi Shinji7, How's your CRM coming along? How about an update? I am looking at a CRM+CRS combination and I wonder how they comapre to YG Kipod I/II, because both share similarities of an active stereo sub, aluminum body, small size (for me small room)... Really appreciate your comments as the CRM+CRS is really rare... Thanks. |