Jim Hagerman, Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, 2006
Positive Feedback
www.positive-feedback.com
“Galibier/Karna/Azzolina
- Located in one of the big corner rooms was a system
composed of a Galibier Design Stelvio ($12,500) turntable
with Triplanar arm and Dynavector XV-1s. The phono stage
and preamp were one-off designs, amplification from Karna
Push Pull 300B amps from nutshellhifi.com. The speakers
were Azzolina Audio Grand Sfera. Cables by Chimera Labs. I
played my audiophile approved Sara K., then the Pete
Townshend track. Since no one else had any other vinyl to
play, I played the Nirvana cut. All the other attendees
present left the room, but several more people came into
the room and sat down with big smiles on their faces. After
Nirvana I played The Eurythmics and Judas Priest to more
smiles. So what did I hear from these five LPs. The Sara K.
is a true audiophile recording—superbly recorded and
pressed. What I heard was like her sitting and singing
right there in the room with me. Very nice. On the Pete
Townshend track I heard every detail, every movement of his
fingers. Quite a toe tapping performance. Kurt Cobain's
voice on the Nirvana cut was not quite as realistic as in
the Walker room, but still very nice. The Eurythmics track
is heavily mixed. On a high resolution system you can hear
each separate track of the mix. I heard all of the tracks.
Turbo Lover is actually fairly well recorded and pressed,
but I played it just for fun. Judas Priest sure beats
hearing
Jazz at the Pawnshop for
the thousandth time. A very nice sounding room to which I
returned several times.”
Stereophile
www.stereophile.com
“Thom
Mackris of turntable manufacturer Galibier Design (whose
Stelvio costs $12,500) had me smiling when he played a
hilarious track by Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers.
Although a little raucous on top, the system (Schröder
Reference SQ tonearm, perversely entitled ZYX Universe
cartridge, Artemis Labs PH-1 phono stage, preproduction
Karna push-pull 300B 15W amp from Nutshell Hi Fidelity, and
Gran Sfera Horns by Azzolina Audio) offered a compellingly
huge, all-enveloping, elevated soundstage coupled to a
beautiful midrange."
"One room over from Galibier, and again sporting imposing
Azzolina Audio speakers, Hagerman Audio was showing another
all-analog system. With no time to tune the system due to
emergency equipment repairs necessitated by shipping
damage, the system offered wonderful size and considerable
midrange beauty, nonetheless.
Enjoy the Music
http://www.enjoythemusic.com
"In
a large suite Azzolina Audio was showing their $15,000
horn-loaded full-range Gran Sfera. Using the exquisite
Galibier Stelvio turntable as a source, I was impressed by
how delicate and detailed the sound was, and yet by the
power as well. Superb stuff if you have the room (and
budget) for it."
Jim
Hagerman
www.hagtech.com
"...I
also had my first exposure to the Azzolinas. These
are odd beasts, from
a technical standpoint. Lowther full range
drivers, but horn loaded on the
front, open baffle on the back. This, mated to a
La Scala like folded bass enclosure,
probably somewhat horn loaded, but also with reflex
ports. A very unusual
combination of techniques. Only it wasn't just a
lark, these things really
work! The quickness and direct connectedness of a
Lowther, improved with
the dynamics and slam of a horn. No they didn't
sound like horns, much of
the expected colorations were missing, no shouting or
honkiness. They are, nonetheless,
quite directional, so the sweet spot is rather
small. Bass was equally
efficient and tuneful.
Ok,
most importantly, the sound. Yes, the sound was
excellent. The Azzolinas made
my room. Seriously, these speakers are terrific, and
they mate to the CYMBALs
like bread and butter. They coasted at maybe 1/2 watt
or less most of the
time, and having the extra headroom and low output
impedance keep everything
in control. Dynamics were really punchy. I've
never heard a cone/box
speaker do this before. Very open, extremely
clear. We also got lucky
with room placement. Having spent all the time on the
TRUMPET, we never got
around to trying placement, room tunes, or anything
else. Scott delivered the
speakers, figured they would sound pretty good right about
here (finger pointing
to a spot on the floor), dropped them in place. They never
got moved. It
was a measured guess, and there was no need to moving
things around. The sound
was already there. Focus, a soundstage way behind the
speakers.
The Azzolinas were set up so we played LPs into the night."
Six Moons
www.sixmoons.com
"More
Azzolinas were next door with a Galibier turntable. Good
music, good sound - what more could one
want?"
Doug
Smith
Shortly
after purchasing the Gran Sferas, I wrote to Scott,
expressing my great pleasure of owning these fine
speakers. Scott asked me if I would be willing to
write a candid review and forward it to you. I
agreed to do so, but having never reviewed any audio
equipment, having a somewhat plain style of writing,
and feeling insufficiently qualified, I have been putting
off this task. I am, however, going to
relate to you a few of my observations following
several hundred hours of listening.
1) The location of musicians and
vocalists can be precisely identified on
any decently recorded music. Even the
movements of musicians and their instruments during a
piece of music can be detected!
2) The sound stage is incredibly deep.
On many recordings done on large stages, it is
easy hear the tympani, the trumpets, the horns, or
whatever instruments are 20 feet behind the
forward instruments, as if they are actually 20 feet
behind the instruments on the front of the stage.
3) The width of the sound stage is almost as
realistic as the depth. Even though my dedicated
listening room is only 12 feet wide, the speakers easily
place instruments and singers way beyond the width of my
room when the recording calls for that placement.
4) The timbre of instruments and the reality of the
human voice is stunning. Though I don't
consider myself an expert in the evaluation of audio
systems, my wife and I do attend dozens of live
performances yearly, including opera, orchestra, small
chamber groups, choirs, small jazz groups, brass
bands, rock bands, and more. My mom was a
piano performance major; my brother has a masters degree in
piano performance; my son and daughter were piano and
violin performance majors respectively at the UMKC
Conservatory of Music in Kansas City. My point is, I
do have a good grasp of the sound of live
music. After my brother, the piano
player/professional musician, listened to Diana Krall
sing to him in my listening room, he had goosebumps on his
skin and was speechless--literally, speechless!
5) The dynamic capability of your
speakers is fantastic. Thirty years ago I built
a couple pair of Speakerlab corner horns--the Klipsch
copies. It has been a long time since I sold my
personal pair, but the dynamics and the ability of the
Gran Sferas to capture the energy of music is at least as
good as my corner horns. The first time I listened to
Bill Berry (For Duke), I would have sworn that he had come
back to life and was playing in my listening room! It
sounded as if he was playing
his trumpet in my home--the rest of the band was
there too!
6) Music simply sounds more real on my system than
any other system I have heard. I have listened to a
number of audio systems costing two, three, and even four
times the cost of mine, but none even remotely approaches
the level of reality that my system, anchored by the
Gran Sferas, does.
7) There are two issues that do trouble me. One
is that the sweet spot is so small, not even a second
person can enjoy the full benefits offered by the Gran
Sferas.
8) The other problem is that they are so outrageous
in appearance, I will never be able to use them outside of
my private listening room--yes, I have been isolated to the
only finished room in our basement. My wife is most
tolerant, but she has said no to the Gran Sferas. She
was perfectly happy with the corner horns early in our
marriage, but has put her foot down firmly in this
case.
Ok, I feel like I'm rambling now, so I'm going to
stop. I do want to tell you that I'm hearing all of
the things above with a modest system made up of a $2000
Sony 555ES SACD player, the $5000 Cary
2a3 amp/preamp combo that won many
awards ten years ago, and about $1000 in
cabling. My dedicated listening room is 19' by
12' with a 10 foot ceiling.
Thanks for making music so enjoyble to me! I never
dreamed I would have such fine music making in my home!
Sincerely,
Doug Smith
Dennis
Boyle
Chimera Labs
www.chimeralabs.com
As
you know, I am not a fan of the fairly popular Audio theory
of mixing the "Tones" of various pieces of audio equipment
to achieve a high performance level that accurately
reproduces the sound of Live Music. I want
transparency.....I want that audio device to be invisible,
so it lets the Music flow through without changing it.
As I listened to your Loudspeakers, the first thing I
noticed was how quickly I got "sucked" into the Music. My
feet were tapping; I would have got up and danced if I
would have been by myself. It was Live Music in all its
Glory and I was THERE! And I had no plans to leave.
How did the Basso and Alto interact? To be honest, I didn't
think any 15" driver could keep up with the Lowther A55
drivers. When we listened to Katie Melua's Piece By Piece,
tracks 2 and 4, the difference was amazing. Mid-bass, upper
bass and lower midrange performance was outstanding. Best
string bass reproduction I have ever heard. I was astounded
how accurate the voices of the instruments were. The
transition frequency range from the 15" driver to the
Lowther was seamless and undetectable.
Then there were the Susana Baca tracks that showed me that
speed and 105dB sensitivity could accurately and
effortlessly reproduce the challenging percussion...Rhythm,
Pace and Dynamics. These are three of my favorite things
and, in my opinion the hardest to achieve.
I am sure you can tell that I am still pumped about how
they sound with any type of Music, in both vinyl and disc.
I don't think I have ever heard a more accurate or
transparent reproduction.
In one sentence, in my opinion, your Loudspeakers are one
of the finest I have ever heard!
Best Regards and Congratulations,
Dennis
PS Thanks for developing a speaker accurate and transparent
enough to let us hear what the Axiom Amps can
do."
Thom Mackris
Galibier Design
www.galibierdesign.com
"Serendipitously,
I discovered Azzolina in my quest for new speakers for our
Galibier turntable demonstration room.
In one sense, I consider my decision to use Azzolina Gran
Sfera speakers to be stacking the deck, because the
speakers' resolution level as well as their compatibility
with all types of music rival that of my analog front end.
One could argue that demonstrating with such a system
presents an unfair advantage. My clients have however come
to expect nothing less of a system I assemble for
demonstration purposes, so the decision to go with Azzolina
was an easy one.
As a small, boutique manufacturer, I don't have the room to
store multiple reference speaker systems. The speakers I
choose have to do it all - to the extent that this is
possible. They must play to a wide range of musical tastes.
Additionally, people should be able to relate to them -
irrespective of whether their home system is based on
dynamic box speakers (cones 'n domes), open baffle
architecture, electrostatics, or horns. I am a firm
believer that the best expressions of various architectures
will converge on musical truth and that the experienced
listener will recognize quality when they hear it.
Over the few months I've been running the Azzolina Gran
Sfera's, I've received comments like "these don't sound
like horns". I interpret these statements to mean that they
don't have typical horn coloration's such as "honk" and
other inconsonant resonance. They certainly have
room-filling dynamics to the point of being frightening,
scale the presentation correctly (large works sound large,
and small ones are intimate), and have an immediacy and
low-level nuance characteristic of the best horn systems.
Having worked with Azzolina for these short few months, I
made the decision to make their speakers available through
Galibier Design.
Small, boutique manufacturers occupy a rare position in the
audio world. On one hand, we realize that our products need
to have universality (which I consider both our turntables
as well as the Azzolinas to have). On the other hand, we
realize that the very top echelon of equipment requires
painstaking system matching and configuration in order to
achieve world-class sound.
This latter point is where we as boutique manufacturers
hold the trump card over a conventional hi-fi distribution
network. It is virtually impossible to lay 5 components
from each equipment category in front of a competent audio
dealer and expect him to build even one single world-class
system from the components. They will likely achieve very,
very good "sound" but will fail to achieve greatness and
results will not stir the soul.
Achieving greatness in a music reproduction system results
from equal amounts of hard work, perseverance and luck. As
a result, many boutique manufacturers adopt a model of
assembling a single system - one they have invested years
in configuring. If you change one component, its
performance can easily degenerate into something so
pedestrian as to "only" receive a product of the year award
from the popular audio press.
From my experience of the Azzolinas, it's obvious that they
share my philosophy - that great sound is merely the
departure point on the road to musical greatness.
Furthermore, they are well on their way. Listen to these
speakers only if you're ready to get out your checkbook.
Resistance is futile."
David
Wong
Horn Enthusiast
It has taken me almost 1 year to write a report on these
bass units. First of all I must thank Charlie for his
patience and all these years of support in this endless
madness of Hi Fi. Our history goes way back. By the time we
got in touch (this time) it was a discussion about the
LeCleac’h flare. Fast forward like 6 years...
Quick summary
of my speakers : AER MD3 drivers mounted on Azura Horns
naturally cutting off at 204Hz married with the Basso bass
units in 160 litre bass cabinets. The horns are driven with
Yamamoto A-08s which give out a whopping 2W, the drivers
are 106db alone and the front horn takes them to 11odb or
there abouts. The Basso bass units are currently driven
with Restek Thorens which are 50W mosfets and Toshiba fets
with FRAKO caps. Crossover is a kit from Borisaudio using
LeCleac’h theory, no expense spared with Jensen PIO silver
lead outs caps, that’s 24 of them, SPU is all back gates –
all resistors are RMG. Pre-amp is Supratek Cortese. My
front end has many variations, heavily modified slate
Lenco, Garrard 301, SP10 MK2 just to name my main current
players. Digital – which I don’t take too seriously as I am
a vinyl freak. Carts – too many to name here which includes
my own modified version of the Denon 103R (MIDAS).
Before I bought the Basso from Charlie, I had the Klipsch
K33-E which were known as a good bass driver and were used
in the La Scala bass units. When the Basso arrived, I
noticed the difference, the weight of the frames, the
weight of the speaker – you could feel the quality
immediately ! After several emails between Charlie and
myself he calculated that I could produce 30Hz bass with
160 litres in my living room. That was sufficient for my
requirements.
I have a transparent system, the horns are not shy and many
who have electrostatics claim they have the best
transparency only to be shocked what these horns can do -
not perfect, but refined and dynamic and really hit like
you are there. Micro dynamics are almost unmatched. So when
I was told that the Basso would improve the clarity of my
system, I was puzzled. Charlie explained the need for
extremely clean bass. Can it get better? Well, yes! When I
installed the Basso I noticed improvement in all registers,
everything had cleaned up, not only bass but also the mid
range and possibly even the treble. It sounds crazy but it
demonstrates how a bass unit not only rolls over, but can
colour your system. Charlie informed me that the speaker
will improve in 150 to 200 hrs – but will only break in
after 1000 hrs. Unreal.
So one year later on, what can I hear? Bass does go down to
30Hz because this is what I can hear from the test CD I
have. The lower level registers are clean, picking up
everything. It has allowed me to even fine tune my
turntable to reduce further any unwanted lower motor noise
I could pick up with my front end. The Basso kicks bass
like I have never heard, only the very best 15 inch bass
units can compare, these are like TADs, possibly the
B&W drivers or you can go for the legendary Altecs, but
I have never heard texture like these. What I mean by
texture, listen to Witches brew RCA Living Stereo Danse
Macabre, you will hear even at the beginning the roll of
big drums at the back... the background is clear and dark
and pickup the music scores being moved, shuffling, the
lot. If you have the CD – the Reference Recording Mephisto
version, the recording is more modern date - make sure you
bolt down everything as when the drum rolls and are hit,
its like canons going off ! Elgar Pomp and Circumstance –
Marches 1 1956 EMI recording, the drums go so low, you can
feel the waves. On Moonight Serenade with Ray Brown
& L.Almeida track 1, Ray Brown can be heard giving you
the full texture of his double bass, unreal – you can hear
the big man grunt as he gets to grip towards the end of the
track pushing with all his might !
Never mind other bass from other pieces of music, the pick
up is quiet spectacular yet it does not colour the upper
registers. I urge anyone who is serious not only in bass,
but serious in clarity and reproduction to consider this
driver.
AZZOLINA
AUDIO SOUND
MATTERS