Rethm Maarga Impressions.


I have been going about trying to find the right system for about 5 years and this is the culmination of my journey.

The speakers that I had last were a pair of Klipschorns. Irrespective of what I did they did not become small. They were also slightly fatiguing and seemed to lack details at low volume. Now, they were stock and needed the crossovers replaced. But they were not easy on the eyes and were very large.

I went through listening to
B&W 800 or 801 D - sounded reasonable, needed a lot of power to get them to sound that way.
Devore 9s- sounded better than B&W, still lack finesse
Harbeth 40.1- Not really easy on the eyes, bass could get boomy with wrong room
A smaller Harbeth- mid range was to die for, relatively easy to drive, no bottom end.
Wilson Audio Sasha- quite bright with a good CJ pre amp and monoblock amp. Perhaps needed more power from solid state.

I proceeded to fly down to New York and listened to Rethm Maargas after making an appointment with Gideon.
They left me completely stunned. This was my second exposure to Full range speakers. The Zu house sound had left me quite turned off.
The music was making every molecule in my body to experience the passion in it. I was bobbing my head, could not stop although I tried. I was impossible to not get involved in the music. I could not stop listening to 1 song after another. Finished the entire hour without ever realizing it had passed by. The music from my compressed 128 kpbs Iphone was quite good but the music from vinyl was ravishing. The best speaker to speaker soundstage, all the low level detail one can dream of without getting overwhelmed with the detail, liquid sound, very immersive. Not at all fatiguing.

I have since purchased the speaker and have had it for about a month. I got the dealer demo which appears to have been completely broken in. After going through some amps, I found the incredibly cheap T amp to match well with the speakers. The sound almost as good as they did with the Jadis monoblocks that was used to run them in Audio arts. I am sure if I had them side by side I would end up preferring the Jadis SET monoblocks but for now this is a great solution.
Gainclone amps with a good tube preamp also works well but getting a good inexpensive pre is difficult.

Now the part which I have deliberately left out- the way it looks. Gorgeous. Art . Sculpture. The attention to detail is stupendous. It is not something we like initially and then grow tired of (say like an outrageously colored car which becomes tiresome after some time). This is truly a work of art. Does a great job of sitting there and entertaining me and then when music starts playing it become better.

My rest of system is just as modest as the T amp. It includes Apple TV and Mac Mini for source, home depot cables. Large open room which includes dining and kitchen, about 600-800 sq feet. Hardwood floors.

Now a shout out to the guys who have worked with me to get to sound this way- George Jacob from Rethm. He has been answering my emails for the past year while I was considering the speakers. Gideon from Audio arts, who has no patience with anything but the best sound and great synergy. Gary, my local audio dealer for his infinite patience, allowing me to audition as many components as I wanted without every losing his temper. Due to his patience, I have tried at least 7 pairs of speakers in my house, along with different components.

Wanted to get the word out on a particularly good speaker.
blueacara
Blueacara,

I happened to see this thread and thought I'd sound you out on deepOmega Micron subwoofers. If you haven't heard of Louis Chochos and his single driver designs you might want to look him up for a subwoofer design that will complement your Rethms.

Regards,
I'm looking to buy a pair of Rethm Trishna but I dont have the option to listen to or try them at home first. I will be driving them with a 300b SET so about 8 watts max to play with.
I have a modest sized room about 20 square meters which means they will have to be used back against a will. I'm currently using Snell J/111's which are quite efficient an dont mind being up against the wall. I just dont have the space to accommodate full size horns etc. However: I have a number of concerns:
Will their close proximity to the wall destroy their imaging and sound stage?
I also hear because the was the bass is produced by the isobaric chamber. Does the Rethm’s bass loading reduce significantly the physicality and impact of the bass. Drums don’t hit, explosions don’t bang for example.
I also love male singers particularly opera like Pavarotti and Bryn Terfel’. Its been said that they sound a bit winded, and lighter than usual, with less of  projection power or presence.
I wondered if anyone can comment of these points?
Just an update for anyone looking for long term opinion.

I got a Seaton Subwoofer to pair with the Maarga and I think the way to go would be to add a dedicated sub with either Maarga or Trishna. You would need to pull the speakers out into the room a bit for stable and 3d imaging, but it isn't bad even if placed close to back wall. 

If I had to do this all over again, I would probably just buy the speakers and amp without going through the journey of finding the "right amp". Just not worth the trouble and I spent more money than just buying it together. 

Something about the REL sub and tube amp gave a bad humming noise so I settled for Seaton. The sound is great but it isn't a great looking sub, especially next to the Rethm Maarga.

After 4 years, the speakers still sound great. No sense of fatigue, no feeling of need to change, no restlessness that maybe I could get something better, nothing.
Can you upload the following songs on youtube with your system playing?

"Getting Late" by Floetry
 "Autumn in Seattle" by Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi
"Aqua de Beber", by Sophie Millman
"Putite Fleur", by Archie Shepp Quartet
"With a Wave of my sleeve", by Jeremy Monteiro Orchestra