Acoustic Zen Adagio, How Good Are They?

Keith,

Last I looked, both Upscale and Katli had the Adagios for audition. If you decide that you're gonna schlep an hour east of LA to listen at Upscale, you might as well hit Katli on the way back (or vice versa) as these dealers are almost due north/south of each other and make for a more efficient auditioning trip. The 2 visits will allow compaison to different competition. If you do Upscale on the return, you'll also pass Brooks Berdan in Monrovia on the way home (he's due west of Upscale). He has Wilson which may allow you to get a fresh feel for the Sophias vs your Adagio auditioning.

Best of luck on the listening and the CFA.

Marty

I live near Acoustic Zen and I was recently at their office where Robert played the Adagios through a Tri 50w tube amp, Hologram speaker cables, Silver Reference ICs, Gargantua power cable. This setup had amazingly clean extension and power (especially considering the amp used). They were playing out back in a very large space, and when we were in the front office rooms with the door open the bottom end sounded absolutely live and clean, about 20 feet away. My brother was initially fooled and thought a live instrument was playing when the system started and he was in front still (he knew that Robert is a musician). The high end was pristine with no hint of glare or harshness from the silver cables. The dynamics are awesome.

I have been puzzled that my kids, 18 & 21 would sit in front of their computers and listen to i-tunes through cheap computer speakers. Although I've had pricier speakers, when the Adagios went in, the kids and wife all mentioned, I have never heard it sound so great. Now they come in on their own and listen to music. It helps that I hooked up an apple airport to my dac so they can run their songs off their hard drives. The Adagios are the first time this has happened. Very involving musical experience.

Just wondering why there are always so many Adagios for sale here if theyre as good as so many say they are. Not knocking them, no axe to grind, just wonder why so many get rid of them as they are fairly new speakers.

Mrmitch, sometimes a brand new product receives way too much attention. Then suffers from over-exposure.
I think this may be the case with the Adagios.

They have received a lot of press and were mentioned on every audio forum on the internet.

Besides, AZ delaying the website update, I think that may have been a tactical move. The less information is available on a given product, the more curious people get. No pictures, only very few dealers where you could audition. You know, the more misterious you make it, the better.
If you say 2+2=5 enough times, someone will start believing it.