I agree with Jim: I was going to review the Mangers for Ultra Audio, but they arrived damaged. Nonetheless, I set them up to see if they played. They were freaking DAZZLING....I could hear into the soundstage in a way that the Genesis 6.1s that I reviewed for Ultra Audio didn't even come close to, although the Genesis had deeper bass. My brother, who knows nothing about audiophiledom, said that this was the first speaker that sounded like there was actually a person playing music live.....and this was with a little Arcam A65+ integrated. I kid you not: it reminded me of when I was the Equipment Manger for Fi Magazine, and I went to Larry Kay's house and heard his Grand Slamms with a Rockport turntable and Jadis Electronics: you could actually "see" the instruments instead of looking at the "outlines" of the imaging. And I was only using a JVC XL Z-1010TN. I have lusted after a pair of them ever since I had to send them back....
Anyone familiar with the Manger driver?
Sounds like a new and innovative approach to a speaker design. The big question is, HOW DOES IT SOUND? Some interesting stuff on their website MANGER, but I'm curious to know the impressions of people who have actually heard one...I didn't make it to the CES this year.
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GB, You, your brother and I are defnitely on the same page. The realism is what jumps out when you hear any Manger loudspeaker and it's unmistakable. The Manger louspeaker has caused this SET tubeguy to re-think amplification. I can no longer accept slow, colored, mushy, bandwidth limited, rolled-off extremes, excessively expensive SET amplifiers as nirvana. Indeed, those colorations and limitations are simply unacceptable if one is pursuing pure musical reality. As an aside, Daniela Manger (and everyone at Metronome, too) not only designs state-of-the-art equipment that is superbly constructed with quality parts, but their honesty and business integrity is the tops. All of this is a most welcomed change. Jim Ricketts/tmh audio |
Oh, Man, you HAD to ask which model it was?? Now, you'd think I'd remember, but I don't. I remember the price was around 9k for the pair, because UPS had to come and inspect the damaged box (man, they must have dropped it from 8 feet high!). When you hear a speaker that doesn't have any "fog" whatsoever surrounding the instruments, THAT is what live music is like. Unencumbered by any artificial humidity, aka "noise," the sound simply moves through the air. I'm used to good sound, but this was simply exquisite. It's a shame they were damaged, because I couldn't be absolutely sure of the dynamic range/contrast or bass depth or any of that, but for a broken speaker that still played, well....props to the Manger!!!!!! Who the h is importing these??? I remember that HP, back in issue 112, talked about the Audio Physics Medeas. They were in his Editor's Choice. He found them "dazzling." They used the Manger drivers, as he pointed out. I believe he said they sounded like ribbons without the colorations... Oops, my bad. I HAD to look it up: issue 109, page 80... "... Joachim Gerhardt's dazzling Medea, which features on each channel three of the jaw-dropping Manger drivers..." which has "...all the speed, quickness and detail of a great ribbon (which it is not), without some of a suspended-ribbon's flexing FM distortions..." I think he liked-ed it. |
GBM, Your comment "doesn't have the fog" is a great description of the Manger speaker including the Zerobox 109. Watch for an upcoming rave review!!! btw, tmh audio is the US importer. More info at http://www.tmhaudio.com Jim Ricketts/tmh audio |
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