Opinions of people who have OWNED Adagio's


I'd like to hear from people who have actually owned Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers. They're on my short list for auditioning. I've got a Unico SE integrated (140w) and Cairn Fog v3 cd player.
Thanks.
dave_rosenblum
I have had a pair of Adagios for a year and a couple of months. As has been commented before, they need a fair number of hours before they really come on song. I would suspect that more than a couple of pairs have been sold before being properly run in. In my case, I was very impressed with the initial demo but somewhat disappointed when I brought them home and hooked them up. Somewhat dull and disjointed would be how I would describe it, not musical and effortless which was what my initial impression was. They definitely open up with time and they required a bit of playing around with in terms of positioning in order to be at their best.

All that being said, I am quite pleased with the sound that I am now getting and have no desire to change or upgrade. As mentioned above, I would describe them as being quite musical and effortlessly so. Fairly quick as well and just a touch on the warm side. I would also describe them as being non-fatiguing, there have been many marathon listening sessions that I have had and they don't grate on the ears at all.

Other comments that I would make would be that they tend to favor the sweet spot meaning that they will sound best when you are in the prime center listening position. They still sound decent in the next room or in another spot in the room but you won't get the full effect unless you're in that prime location. Also, if you have them in a large room they will not have quite as much bass impact as a smaller room. My listening room is not huge by any means but it opens up to the bulk of the rest of my house and the bass is solid and definitely present but does not have quite the impact as the smaller more closed in listening room that I first listened to them in.

Lastly, I would comment that the Adagios will greatly reward you if your amplifier and source are top notch. I completely built my system ass backwards having bought the speakers first, then upgrading my amplifier and then my digital and then my analog source and I definitely feel that this is the wrong way to go. I have only been thrilled with my system after upgrading the rest of the system so bear in mind that this speaker will reward good upstream components. People on the British forums are very adamant about "Source First" and I absolutely believe that 100% now.

The only other comment that I would make is that at the prices that these speakers are currently going for used, they are a great buy.
Digsmithd,Thanks for your interest.I noticed after the first month of having the Adagio,The notes and the bass are not as clean as I've hoped them to be.Put your hand on top of the Adagio,you will noticed there are plenty of cabinet vibrations.having tried various configurations of suppots,I decided to get the Finite Elemente CERAPUC .To say my jaw dropped was an understatement.Havind seen the rwsults I've decided to move up to CERABASe and I got further improvements.

The soundstage becomes superwide.Separations of instruments are clearly heard,the bass becomes so gorgeous.But to me the ultime improvement is in female Vocals.Try Listening to Eva Cassidy with and without The CERABASE;you wouldn't think that it is the same speaker that you are listening too.

I believe It might be true too with other type of resonance controlled feet like Alto-extremo,or the likes but I hanven't auditioned them.I urge every ADAGIO owners to try the feet ,though.IT changed my life{And save me lots of money on unnecessary upgrades actully...]that I feel that I should spread the word aroud.

I bought the CERAPUC here on A'gon but the CERABASE were bought from my local dealer in Malaysia.

Digsmithd,sorry to write such a long answer to a very short querry...
I have used them for about 2 years and am more than pleased. They replaced Living Voice Avatars and have better base, more trasparent, less coloured. I am interested in the opinion about the Cerabase. I have had similar benefit with Symposium svelt shelves and Rollerblock juniors, a clear upgrade to my ears.
I use an 845 SET, only 22 watts, but more than enough. The flat impedence at 6ohms, seems to make them SET friendly, despite only 89db sensitivity. Are they the best speakers around? of course not, but they are very good value and appear well made