Green Mountain Audio speakers
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Green Mountain Audio - Time-coherent, adjustable speakers
Seem to be another high end speaker company, really weird looking speakers
Doubt will ever get an opportunity to listen to any of these speakers....
Seem to be another high end speaker company, really weird looking speakers
Doubt will ever get an opportunity to listen to any of these speakers....
Green Mountain Audio - Time-coherent, adjustable speakers
Seem to be another high end speaker company, really weird looking speakers
Doubt will ever get an opportunity to listen to any of these speakers....
They indeed look different. Completely different from one's expectation of how speakers should look like. Wonder how they sound.
Have heard the Callisto and EOS (wierd looking stuff).
Sounds very different from conventional speakers because they are made of some grade of Mable stone. Very high resolution and fast sound...good PRAT....but never could like the speaker because of its dryish tones and rolled off bottom end.
Sounds very different from conventional speakers because they are made of some grade of Mable stone
. Very high resolution and fast sound...good PRAT....but never could like the speaker because of its dryish tones and rolled off bottom end.
in the calypso
the tweeter is a Morel
the mid range is an Eton.
and the woofer is peerless (nomex)
these are not top-class drivers but are not bad either (the Morel is well regarded).
and i do not think that many would have bought this loudspeaker - considering that the man wants about $15,000/- (USD) for a pair.
called some of my friends - no one in our circle has heard these.
the tweeter is a Morel
the mid range is an Eton.
and the woofer is peerless (nomex)
these are not top-class drivers but are not bad either (the Morel is well regarded).
and i do not think that many would have bought this loudspeaker - considering that the man wants about $15,000/- (USD) for a pair.
called some of my friends - no one in our circle has heard these.
Thanks. I am planning an upgrade from Vandy 2Ce to Quatro when I came across Roy and his inputs regarding the GMA speakers. His communications so far reflect quite some knowledge and insight to speaker design but I am not sure whether to take a chance. Moreover, shipping big speakers from USA to India (in absentia) appears to be a daunting task (especially clearance etc) and may be, better to abandon the idea altogether!
cheers.
murali
Yes, I do agree that he knows a lot of science about speaker design. However I do not know how to respect a designer who cannot understand the tonal flaw of a speaker. To me, he did not cross the boundary beyond which Audio is an art.
There are people who hate it and people who love it and just do not chage from the brand. As far as i know there are 2 people who own it in bangalore (as Dr bass said a Callista and an EOS which is a newer version)
owners swear by :
its pin point imaging in all 3 dimensions
its tonal correctness and its transparency
articulate and correct bass..surprising for a a ported speakers
its ease of drive..anywhere from 7W to 100W
finally and most importantly its correctness due to phase and time alignment
to some extent i concur with Dr Bass above on tonality but then that is also dependent on the rest of the chain.
As you would know, while the EOS and the Callisto are at the lower end of the chain and bookshelves, the Pico and the Calypso are top end stuff and i am sure will not have the same deficiency in bass.
They follow the principle of totally inert enclosure and hence uses a form of synthetic marble which is very heavy and completely damps out any resonance due to cabinet.
Extremely well engineered..but since opinions vary untill you hear it in your system would be unpredictable to explain.. but of course if you are willing to change your amp to suit it then you have a lot more lattitude to play with to make it sound better.
YOu will find both sides being discussed in AA very often.
owners swear by :
its pin point imaging in all 3 dimensions
its tonal correctness and its transparency
articulate and correct bass..surprising for a a ported speakers
its ease of drive..anywhere from 7W to 100W
finally and most importantly its correctness due to phase and time alignment
to some extent i concur with Dr Bass above on tonality but then that is also dependent on the rest of the chain.
As you would know, while the EOS and the Callisto are at the lower end of the chain and bookshelves, the Pico and the Calypso are top end stuff and i am sure will not have the same deficiency in bass.
They follow the principle of totally inert enclosure and hence uses a form of synthetic marble which is very heavy and completely damps out any resonance due to cabinet.
Extremely well engineered..but since opinions vary untill you hear it in your system would be unpredictable to explain.. but of course if you are willing to change your amp to suit it then you have a lot more lattitude to play with to make it sound better.
YOu will find both sides being discussed in AA very often.
I spent some time listening I believe to the continiuum series at a dealer friends place maybe 4-5 years back in Canada - he was giving me a killer deal - electronics used were meridien. Though I was in a large listening room I felt that the bass dominated the spectrum but mid bass onwards it was a very good speaker. Also felt that male vocals had some "chestiness" to them. Anyways since my listening room at that time was smaller I did not consider them.
Cheers
Sid
Cheers
Sid
square_wave
Well-Known Member
I have heard both the Calisto and EOS extensively. I have heard the EOS in my home too. I concur with Arj in all the technical details. I do not have much to add there.
People say it looks weird. Compared to what ? A box ? Is there some rule which say that speakers have to shaped as boxes ? Or they have to made of wood ?
I have talked to Roy a few times. The design of the enclosure and the material is based on solid physics He is a physicist. The lack of box coloration can come across of as lack of warmth to most people. Box coloration can come from two things. The vibrating wooden material as well as the baffle surrounding the drivers. GMA takes care of both. The resulting sound is pin point accurate without any smearing.
The speakers are time and phase aligned too.
All these result in a sound which is VERY different from what we are used to. What is accurate and what works for one depends ones expectations from a loudspeaker.
Murali who is coming from a time and phase aligned boxless Vandy. I am sure the GMA will work for him.
But beware, you will not be getting any help whatsoever from the enclosure in the bass. They are tight, clean and highly detailed. It can pick out the minutest variations in a bass string as they go lower and lower. Clean and fast. Most speakers in this price range will gloss over this in favor of overwhelming bass presence. It all depends on what you like.
My experience is only with the bookshelf models. They do around 55hz / 60hz clean and tight.When I say "clean and tight" I really mean it. The bass is the equivalent of a streamlined beauty of Caucasian origin on a ramp. No bipasha basu's fat here ! Sorry !
But the bass in a small room can be very nice and extended with these. The larger speakers may extend lower.
People say it looks weird. Compared to what ? A box ? Is there some rule which say that speakers have to shaped as boxes ? Or they have to made of wood ?
I have talked to Roy a few times. The design of the enclosure and the material is based on solid physics He is a physicist. The lack of box coloration can come across of as lack of warmth to most people. Box coloration can come from two things. The vibrating wooden material as well as the baffle surrounding the drivers. GMA takes care of both. The resulting sound is pin point accurate without any smearing.
The speakers are time and phase aligned too.
All these result in a sound which is VERY different from what we are used to. What is accurate and what works for one depends ones expectations from a loudspeaker.
Murali who is coming from a time and phase aligned boxless Vandy. I am sure the GMA will work for him.
But beware, you will not be getting any help whatsoever from the enclosure in the bass. They are tight, clean and highly detailed. It can pick out the minutest variations in a bass string as they go lower and lower. Clean and fast. Most speakers in this price range will gloss over this in favor of overwhelming bass presence. It all depends on what you like.
My experience is only with the bookshelf models. They do around 55hz / 60hz clean and tight.When I say "clean and tight" I really mean it. The bass is the equivalent of a streamlined beauty of Caucasian origin on a ramp. No bipasha basu's fat here ! Sorry !
But the bass in a small room can be very nice and extended with these. The larger speakers may extend lower.
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I have heard both the Calisto and EOS extensively. I have heard the EOS in my home too. I concur with Arj in all the technical details. I do not have much to add there.
People say it looks weird. Compared to what ? A box ? Is there some rule which say that speakers have to shaped as boxes ? Or they have to made of wood ?
I have talked to Roy a few times. The design of the enclosure and the material is based on solid physics He is a physicist. The lack of box coloration can come across of as lack of warmth to most people. Box coloration can come from two things. The vibrating wooden material as well as the baffle surrounding the drivers. GMA takes care of both. The resulting sound is pin point accurate without any smearing.
The speakers are time and phase aligned too.
All these result in a sound which is VERY different from what we are used to. What is accurate and what works for one depends ones expectations from a loudspeaker.
Murali who is coming from a time and phase aligned boxless Vandy. I am sure the GMA will work for him.
But beware, you will not be getting any help whatsoever from the enclosure in the bass. They are tight, clean and highly detailed. It can pick out the minutest variations in a bass string as they go lower and lower. Clean and fast. Most speakers in this price range will gloss over this in favor of overwhelming bass presence. It all depends on what you like.
My experience is only with the bookshelf models. They do around 55hz / 60hz clean and tight.When I say "clean and tight" I really mean it. The bass is the equivalent of a streamlined beauty of Caucasian origin on a ramp. No bipasha basu's fat here ! Sorry !
Thanks for all your insights, especially arj, suri and square-wave. Yes, I know Roy is a physicist and I don't give much importance to looks of speakers. As square-wave says, I am used to Vandy's time and phase alignment and first order crossovers, so will be difficult to change to different ones. GMA is a good candidate I am looking at. As Roy himself explained to me, the Pico with its bass driver close to floor gets the floor support whereas the driver of the Calypso sits much higher and therefore, will be on its own.
The only debate I am in is the need for subs with the GMA. That is a big plus point in the Vandy Quatro with built-in subs and equalisation, with the greatest advantage of high pass filtering the main amp. This does wonders to mid-range and treble.
Still to decide the final option.
cheers.
murali
I have heard 4 different speakers based on what one would call "non-wooden" cabinets.
Callisto and EOS from GMA, Wilson Benesch Arc (thats again some carbon based inert cabinet) and one more which I forget (it was in Spore). All of them sounded dry to my ears.
Time and phase aligning is very important, getting rid of cabinet coloration is equally important, articulation in bass is a must.....but if all of this doesnt make music sound real....I think someone somewhere missed the point.
Just to clarify, I have heard these speakers with a variety of a electronics ranging from Pass labs, Odyssey, Threshold, Gryphon Audio and also Tubes !!! I dont remember a single occasion when I was able to appreciate "Music". I was able to appreciate accuracy, articulation, imaging, speed but sorry, no music.
The day I do it, the first thing I would do is, come here and post..with delight.
I may sound too strong here on my opinion but I am only stating my experience without assuming much.
There is a reason why Wood is an accepted material for speaker cabinetry. Lets not talk about bad examples of implementation where they resonate and distort the sound. There are Wilsons and Tidals who could have afforded even the most precious metals for the purpose but they do wood !!
As far as inertness is concerned, I do not believe any material is really inert. Only free air is inert. Otherwise, soundwaves interact with every material and what happens after that is not easy to measure. There is some reason why a bare marble floor sounds hard and clinical compared to a bare wooden floor in a listening room. I am applying just common sense here. The sound difference I hear between a marble cabinet and a wooden cabinet is somewhat similar to their flooring effects.
I am not a metallury Engg or a physicist like Dr.Roy, but my listening experience and some extrapolation of the common sense around it gives me rational about what is happening.
This post is more for the discussion purpose and nothing else.
Murali, I would not discourage you from listening to them or buying them, if you like them, you should buy them. But please listen to them BEFORE buying.
Callisto and EOS from GMA, Wilson Benesch Arc (thats again some carbon based inert cabinet) and one more which I forget (it was in Spore). All of them sounded dry to my ears.
Time and phase aligning is very important, getting rid of cabinet coloration is equally important, articulation in bass is a must.....but if all of this doesnt make music sound real....I think someone somewhere missed the point.
Just to clarify, I have heard these speakers with a variety of a electronics ranging from Pass labs, Odyssey, Threshold, Gryphon Audio and also Tubes !!! I dont remember a single occasion when I was able to appreciate "Music". I was able to appreciate accuracy, articulation, imaging, speed but sorry, no music.
The day I do it, the first thing I would do is, come here and post..with delight.
I may sound too strong here on my opinion but I am only stating my experience without assuming much.
There is a reason why Wood is an accepted material for speaker cabinetry. Lets not talk about bad examples of implementation where they resonate and distort the sound. There are Wilsons and Tidals who could have afforded even the most precious metals for the purpose but they do wood !!
As far as inertness is concerned, I do not believe any material is really inert. Only free air is inert. Otherwise, soundwaves interact with every material and what happens after that is not easy to measure. There is some reason why a bare marble floor sounds hard and clinical compared to a bare wooden floor in a listening room. I am applying just common sense here. The sound difference I hear between a marble cabinet and a wooden cabinet is somewhat similar to their flooring effects.
I am not a metallury Engg or a physicist like Dr.Roy, but my listening experience and some extrapolation of the common sense around it gives me rational about what is happening.
This post is more for the discussion purpose and nothing else.
Murali, I would not discourage you from listening to them or buying them, if you like them, you should buy them. But please listen to them BEFORE buying.
Thanks a lot. I agree with many of the things you say but do not fully accept your "wooden" contention. The Vandy 2Ce I have been hearing for the last 5 years have hardly any wood inside (you know it is mostly cloth wrapped) and with time and phase alignment and first order crossover, no doubt, are one of the best "musical" speakers I have heard. That is why I started looking at the Quatro option for an upgrade. This also originally came with little wood but then they introduced a wood version. If you read in Vandy website or communicate with Richard, you will find that he had to resort to some of the drivers used in the 5A in the wood Quatro to get an equal or better performance than the cloth version.
I have no chance to audition GMA or Quatro but having owned the 2Ce, it is not difficult for me to go for the latter. But the shipping option seems to be the biggest bottleneck now and unless I resolve this, I may remain stuck with the 2Ce. So options open....
cheers.
murali
Hey Murali, I have never heard a Vandy hence cannot comment on thier sound. However I just checked out their design on their website and they seem to use MDF all throughout with "acoustically transparent" cloth to cover them. I kind of like their design because they seem to sound like semi-open baffle speaker with the rest built around wood.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Murali,
So you finally decided to go with Vandys against the green mountain audio ? Once you are a vandy maniac, there is no turning back right ?
So you finally decided to go with Vandys against the green mountain audio ? Once you are a vandy maniac, there is no turning back right ?
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