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
I concur with Bluecara, they are outstanding loudspeakers, but if it wasn't for Gideon and Audioarts efforts we will not have the possibility of discovering the most innovative audio gear that exist in this shores.
I have the chance through many years to listen to all kind of audio equipment, most recently a mega system worth more than 1/2 a million and yet no comparicion to what you can expect at Audioarts.
Gideon will guide you through the many options and at same times he will insist that you don't need to expend more to obtain better results.
AA it is one of those magic places that the moment you step in you sense something very special will happen.
It is not audio gear you will listen to, but music.
And that is the big difference, because after all the reason and propose we are into this is music, isn't it?
The musicality and synergy that Gideon systems posses are out of this world.
Golden ears are passe now is the era of platinum ears.
When you enter AA you consult the oracle.
Claudio
Blueacara,

Thanks you for your post. I have been seriously considering Rethm speakers after reading the positive reviews for the speakers in other journals; and like you, disappointment with well know brands such as Zu (fatigue factor###!!). And I concur that Gideon is a wonderful person with high principles having met him at a regional audio show last year. A few questions for you though.

When at Audio Arts did you compare the musicality of the Marragas with the Ampeggio Voxativ speakers that I assume Gideon had in his showroom. If so, could you comment.

Secondly, based upon what I have read on the Rethm site, your square footage would be better suited for the Saadhana rather than the Marragas which the literature says is for rooms up to 400 sq feet. Why did you not go with the larger speakers. Do you feel you are lacking in any areas of musicality ( sound stage, bass, midrange, etc) with your choice--which may have very well been driven by economics as the Saadhanas are considerably more expensive.

I think it is time for me to also book a ticket and fly to New York to audition the speakers in Gideon's show room. By did way, did he have the Gaanam integrated in the showroom at the time. Or any informtion on pricing? I can''t find much on the net except for a post that says that Jacob has changed the driver tube for the Gaanam.

Thanks for you feedback for another prospective Rethm owner.
Sorry for the delay in reply. For some reason I was unable to login for the past couple of days.

1. Maargas vs Saadhanas- I am a VERY cheap guy. I did not compare the Saadhanas (which I think are still not out yet). The square footage might be slightly over cautious there. I sometimes listen to the speakers from my bed room and still they sound stupendous. Truly big sound. Anything bigger in my room would have been overwhelming sonically and visually.

2. I listened with the Jadis monoblocks and did not see the Gaanam when I purchased. It has been more than 3 months since I first listened to them. Gaanam were priced closer to 6-7k.

3. Voxativ were off to RMAF when I got there. I did want to do a side by side. Also they are quite expensive.

4. Dayens ampino- I did not see that coming. I was thinking of gainclones integrated but I think they need a very good tube pre to work with. Problem is trying or sampling it in your home before buying it. Selling it is a hassle. This is where a local dealer comes into picture, like Gary from Summit sound, Bangor - great guy to work with.

I am not sure I can do much better with other amps. There is great synergy here that I had previously not experienced with T amps. The DAC I am using is Bryston which is at least 2-3 steps higher than Rega. Every small difference gets amplified in this sensitive system. That said I could not make out much difference between apple lossless and HD tracks download.

Gideon gives about an hour to listen to his gear and works 1 on 1 in that hour. Take some LPs or good CDs. He was much less than impressed when I took my iPhone and plugged it in.
This is very different from other dealers in Boston who generally do not have experience with low powered amps and cannot for the life of them figure out why you would want 10 watts when you can get 100?!!
Maybe I can revive this thread as I am also interested in the Maarga or even the new Saadhana.

So any new input/impressions is very welcome. In particular, after reading the reviews of these speakers, I wonder whether they are suitable in the longer term for a broad range of music including rock, big orchestra pieces, maybe even some opera, so not only small acoustic/vocal music, as my musical taste is fairly broad.

I would also be interested in hearing about your experiences/thoughts regarding suitable amps. To compensate for the maybe somewhat lean character maybe an amp with a bit more grunt such has an 845 or even push pull would work nicely?

Thank you!
I have heard the older Saadhanas several times. they are truly exceptional in their speed and agility as well as the way they are able to resolve all the harmonic content. the powered bass module helps in the low end grunt as well. I believe the Maargas are all that in a smaller package for smaller rooms.

I have heard them with 2A3 based SETs and would suggest you try them with those. Fi/Yamamoto et al should all be great options.

you do owe them good cables. I believe solid core goes well with them . the person i know who has taken it to a very high level uses ASI Livelines