Acoustic Zen Adagio, How Good Are They?

It seems odd how mixed the response is. Most people say they love them, and if they characterise them say that they are slightly on the warm side of neutral, but there are a suspicious number of people who find them to be the exact opposite, and find the ribbon tweeter a bit peaky and hard in places.

Room setup is important to a point, but I haven't come across a speaker that seems to split people in this matter between sharp and soft/smooth. Usually it's 'neutral to me, bright to some people'. I don't really know what to make of the discrepancy...

I think the discepency is peoples listening preferences.i have had my adagios for about 3 weeks now(or more)and they are on the warmer side of neutral to my ears.I listen to well recorded ecm jazz..I have many more cds than i listen to.I usually go to a 3to 5 disks to really enjoy the adagios.I have to say that they are a very relaxed natural sounding speaker to my ears and dont find the teeters to be at all peaky and hard.Are they perfect speakers?they are the best i have had in my livingroom so far.

I normally do not recommend a product to anyone but I have to say this is an experience at the price point. I think the fact that my wife wants a second pair for the living room speaks for itself. On a side note they do come into their own in person - the pictures out there do not give credence to their looks - if the red fits your life-style they are as beautiful as they are sweet sounding.

I wish my wife wanted another pair!i got the red and the matching figured maple is beautifull.Matched split sides,matched fronts.My old man loved them..color and all,couldnt tear him away.He usually discourages me from purchasing gear,everything is over priced to him...go figure.They do come into there own after some burnin(200 + hours).Very content with them.I have been playing music proffesionally for a 35+ years,they just sound natural as can be with jazz.I think robert lee is a genius.

To try and shed some light on peoples perceptions of these speakers...[a disclosure-I am a NY based AZ/Adagio dealer].
I have set up several of these, including the pair we had at the HE 07 show last week. The newer version, to my ears, is even better than the prior.. drivers better integrated. The speaker is sensitive to not only toe in, but how tilted back it is set up on the spikes. In other words, I suggest checking with a level, side to side and front to back leveling. I find a slight tilt back, [bubble touching the outer center level marks as opposed to inner center ones]works best, and certainly level side to side adjusting with the spikes height.. This slight uptilt/tilt back, in most applcations will balance the driver focus and get image height locked in. If you listen standing more than sitting, even more tilt back may be to your liking. Toe in will vary from room to room, but moderate toe often works best. If I can be of help, let me know... Most people find the Adagio to create an extremely pleasing musical event.