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Japanese Exotica Kondo, Leben, Luxman, Zanden

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  #1  
Old 05-13-2013, 12:52 AM
miziq miziq is offline
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Default Kondo and Living Voice at Munich high end show 2013



I was both surprised and happy to see Kevin from Definitive Audio UK at this years Munich high-end show 2013. As we talked with many people, Munich is really spreading its wings and importance of participation slowly becoming most important for the world wide impact.

My eyes lighted on when I saw Vox Olympian in the room. Luckily it was not on the static display only, but Kevin rotate two system.

So, is Vox Olympian worthy of the fame? And how about Kondo Audio Note Japan? Vox Olympian played in the full blooded system consistent of Kondo Audio Note Japan DAC, M-77 preamplifier and two Gakouh mono blocks.

<< Read more >>

http://www.monoandstereo.com/2013/05...nich-high.html

Last edited by miziq; 05-13-2013 at 01:18 AM.
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  #2  
Old 06-04-2013, 09:55 AM
sickophant sickophant is offline
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Moved on, bye.

Last edited by sickophant; 04-30-2014 at 08:55 PM.
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  #3  
Old 06-05-2013, 03:23 AM
murrayp murrayp is offline
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Hi Ozzie in Warsaw,

This system was a revelation for me. I'm a solid state person at heart - I've never (before) been convinced by valves - and there was much in my element at Munich. In truth I didn't expect a lot from this system so I was completely stunned by what it achieved - I've never heard any system come close to the realism with which it painted the performance, or really gave the performance. The music was spell binding - in one case drawing open applause from Sarajan of 6 Moons who happened to be in the room at the same time (his review here 6moons industry features: High End Munich 2013 with Srajan & Joël).
The sound had an addictive quality - particularly to the treble which was both clean and clear, but also attractive vs virtually all ss I've heard where it can be clean and clear but not necessarily attractive or pleasant. Voices we completely realistic.
Really, this completely reset my expectations for home audio. Mind you it did so in terms of cost too - as in most homes would cost less than this system.
One regret is that I heard only opera, symphonic and modern jazz on the system. I don't know how it would perform on eg rock or electronica - but I suspect it would be excellent too.
Hope that helps from a Kiwi - now back in New Zealand.
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Old 06-05-2013, 04:43 AM
Glisse Glisse is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sickophant View Post
Certainly an undertaking with passion. Wild looking things.

Any chance at a glimmer of a spark of a hope of reading what you thought? The Mon&Stereo link, well, sometimes I don't know how to read him. That link reads as if he's rushing off somewhere else.

At least, do they come off as substantial in any way?
The OP is Matej Izak from the linked site, and he does tend to just drop the link and rush off to somewhere else ( ) rather than hang around for a chat, unfortunately.

Still, I thought his description of Audio Note was perfect.

As Murray said, the price of this system was extreme - and so was the set up. I understand Kevin Scott even brought his own power supply to run that system.

What I did not realise, until reading Roy Gregory's report here:

Living Voice Vox Olympian - High End 2013 Munich -* The Audio Beat - www.TheAudioBeat.com

is that the 2 huge black boxes next to the Vox Olympians (which have no deep bass due to the short length of the bass horn) were subwoofers, driven by SS amps and an active crossover, at around $275k a pair! Adding in the cost of the Vox horns, the system was using speakers costing not much less than 1 million dollars. Yikes! The cost of the Audio Note amps was like small change.

Martin Colloms also raved about the system.

I am jealous Murray got a chance to hear them
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Old 06-05-2013, 07:55 AM
sickophant sickophant is offline
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Moved on, bye.

Last edited by sickophant; 04-30-2014 at 08:55 PM. Reason: gorgeously
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  #6  
Old 06-05-2013, 08:02 AM
sickophant sickophant is offline
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Moved on, bye.

Last edited by sickophant; 04-30-2014 at 08:55 PM. Reason: Go Roy!
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  #7  
Old 06-05-2013, 01:00 PM
Glisse Glisse is offline
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Well, the owner of Living Voice, Kevin Scott, is quite an interesting guy. He started running a retail business, which he still has, and then made low power valve amps called Border Patrol (I'm going from memory here). Then made speakers, ie Living Voice, which work well with valve amps. He was one of the early guys to follow the underground Japanese trend to use low power valve amps, preferably 300Bs, with high efficiency speakers.

So he is not going to get involved with separate, out of the box, high powered amplifiers. Anyway, I think powered sub-woofers are the way to go. It can be tailored perfectly to the driver/enclosure, and you aren't paying for casework, etc.

I don't haven't read any specs on the Vox Olympian, but I don't believe there is much bass below 70Hz. There is a formula for working out the length of horn needed to get to a certain frequency. I can't remember it, and I'm too lazy to look it up. But we are talking about 15 feet to get toward low bass. Some of the Japanese crazies I referred to built horns in their chimneys. Of course, you can fold horns, but that has compromises.

Roy Gregory was the editor of HiFi+ in the UK for a number of years. He left, a little controversially, to become the marketing VP for Nordost. Don't know if he still is. He is highly experienced in most things audio, and writes well as you said.
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Old 06-05-2013, 10:40 PM
sickophant sickophant is offline
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Moved on, bye.

Last edited by sickophant; 04-30-2014 at 08:43 PM.
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  #9  
Old 06-06-2013, 09:31 PM
ianmedium ianmedium is offline
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Here is a great link as well with the first video of the Olympians to my knowledge..

Living Voice Speakers, the worlds most expensive loudspeakers, Kondo amplifiers - YouTube
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  #10  
Old 06-20-2013, 04:28 AM
sickophant sickophant is offline
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Moved on, bye.

Last edited by sickophant; 04-30-2014 at 08:54 PM.
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