They look monstrous. Probably, the run-in time is very long. It must be a complete different animal than the Eufrodite. When available for audition, please drop me a note, PT, thanks in advance.
The Cessaro Alpha 1 is a speaker that I have never experienced before. It requires fundamantal shift of, perhaps, some of our long held audio philosophy that may held sacred place in your mind. I am adjusting to the new stuff. But this is just the first day only, so please patient about the audition. I received a total of 15 calls from HK/Beijing/Shanghai/Taiwan ever since PT posted the photos.
We are still on a 3 day training course. Audition will NOT be available until I or PT adjust to the new experience and be able to explained what are the changes. It will not be fair if you come over to judge by the old set of parameters.
The Alpha One is an INSTRUMENT, that's all I can say, after I listened to Eason Chan concert with the Recording Engineer for one hour.
Jlam, it is understandable. The greatest thing of the Alpha One even without listening is the TAD 4001 compression driver with alinco magnet. These are exotic drivers, not easy to find and expensive. I don't know the super tweeter. My hunch is compression type, otherwise can never catch the speed of the 4001. The bass much be high efficient too. Can't read German on the website.
Very few manufacturers use such exotic drivers because they are expensive and they don't have the experience to do so. I had an one ocassion in Tokyo listen to the TAD4001 driver 2 years ago. I know what you are talking about. Audiophiles including myself do not know how to react after decades of magazine education about transparency and resolution. Good idea to listen with a recording engineer as he knows better than more of us.
I'd got what you mean when you say it is an instrument.
Great stuff. When audition available, please drop me a note.
Having live with my old TAD 2402 (also w/ 4001 driver) for 6 years, I can say I still prefer it to my kharma mini w/ black diamond and all.
I was hoping the Alpha will be smaller.... sigh.
This speaker has unbelivable dynamic and resolution. Voices and string are the most natural I've ever heard. It is only 2 days in a small room. I am impressed.
It's been almost 3 years since I parted w/ my 2402, so it's a little fuzzy now. Back then I drove them w/ Shindo 300B Limited.
The thing I like most about the 2402 was it's projection power. The presence of the performer was real, and the dynamics life-like. It's also very resolving. The first time I heard it in my place back in Tokyo, I was amazed to hear the entire body of the performer, lung, chest and all. It that regard, I it even better than the Eurfo I breifly heard. Voices was the best I've heard, and is still the best I have hear so far. It terms of fidelity to human voice, the combo just portrait the human flesh and blood more convincingly than my other setup (Nagra, Goldmund, FM Acoustics driving Verity, B&W and Kharma). Thing is, if there is a 2402 now, I will trade my Kharma Exq Mini for it in a heart beat (well, actually probably the Rey Audio version....) One more thing about the 2402 that's very relevant to me is I can listen to them at very low volume. Given I can only turn on my set after the kids are in bed, that's very important (the Kharma Mini Exquisite does the same to a large extent).
However, the 2402 does fall short in the frequency extremes (actually not even "extremes"). The high-frequency roll-off is noticeable (2 inch throat, that's expected) and the 1601a woofer was no match to the 4001.The crossover freq was 650Hz, and I believe the Rey Audio RM-11 which uses 4001 and 1601c cross over at 450Hz. That may be a better choice. None the less, a real tweeter was needed, but finding the right tweeter with enough projection power will be tough. The Japanese likes to use 2 pairs GEM ribbon, or some gigantic compression driver from Ale and the like to mate w/ 4001. Getting the external tweeter to fully integrate w/ the main speaker is an endeaver that I don't really have the time to pursue.....
I am eager to hear how Cessaro manage the driver integration. Getting the best out of the 4001 will be glorious.
My TAD back then was 2402, not 2404 (2404 uses different driver units, and the compression driver in 2404 isn't even Alnico).
Back to your question. I think I should put it this way. I used the Shindo/2404 combo for home theater as well ( Shindo-san forgive me :-) and I thought it was fine. Honestly, the 2402 should be placed like how they are mounted in studio, i.e. the front baffle flush with the walls, rather than free-standing like conventional speakers. Otherwise the bass will be weaker. And that's exactly how I used them (my place has then 9ft x 2 ft recessed area where TV and stuff are placed. That's a curse for conventional speakers, but great for studio monitors like the 2402. So yes, I think the 2402/Shindo 300B Limited combo can rock, but that depends on your requirement (how hard you want the impact) and how they are placed. So it's not a unconditional "yes".... but I think they are pretty good.....
Comments
We are still on a 3 day training course. Audition will NOT be available until I or PT adjust to the new experience and be able to explained what are the changes. It will not be fair if you come over to judge by the old set of parameters.
The Alpha One is an INSTRUMENT, that's all I can say, after I listened to Eason Chan concert with the Recording Engineer for one hour.
Jlam
Very few manufacturers use such exotic drivers because they are expensive and they don't have the experience to do so. I had an one ocassion in Tokyo listen to the TAD4001 driver 2 years ago. I know what you are talking about. Audiophiles including myself do not know how to react after decades of magazine education about transparency and resolution. Good idea to listen with a recording engineer as he knows better than more of us.
I'd got what you mean when you say it is an instrument.
Great stuff. When audition available, please drop me a note.
Ken
Having live with my old TAD 2402 (also w/ 4001 driver) for 6 years, I can say I still prefer it to my kharma mini w/ black diamond and all.
I was hoping the Alpha will be smaller.... sigh.
Can't wait to listen.
It's been almost 3 years since I parted w/ my 2402, so it's a little fuzzy now. Back then I drove them w/ Shindo 300B Limited.
The thing I like most about the 2402 was it's projection power. The presence of the performer was real, and the dynamics life-like. It's also very resolving. The first time I heard it in my place back in Tokyo, I was amazed to hear the entire body of the performer, lung, chest and all. It that regard, I it even better than the Eurfo I breifly heard. Voices was the best I've heard, and is still the best I have hear so far. It terms of fidelity to human voice, the combo just portrait the human flesh and blood more convincingly than my other setup (Nagra, Goldmund, FM Acoustics driving Verity, B&W and Kharma). Thing is, if there is a 2402 now, I will trade my Kharma Exq Mini for it in a heart beat (well, actually probably the Rey Audio version....) One more thing about the 2402 that's very relevant to me is I can listen to them at very low volume. Given I can only turn on my set after the kids are in bed, that's very important (the Kharma Mini Exquisite does the same to a large extent).
However, the 2402 does fall short in the frequency extremes (actually not even "extremes"). The high-frequency roll-off is noticeable (2 inch throat, that's expected) and the 1601a woofer was no match to the 4001.The crossover freq was 650Hz, and I believe the Rey Audio RM-11 which uses 4001 and 1601c cross over at 450Hz. That may be a better choice. None the less, a real tweeter was needed, but finding the right tweeter with enough projection power will be tough. The Japanese likes to use 2 pairs GEM ribbon, or some gigantic compression driver from Ale and the like to mate w/ 4001. Getting the external tweeter to fully integrate w/ the main speaker is an endeaver that I don't really have the time to pursue.....
I am eager to hear how Cessaro manage the driver integration. Getting the best out of the 4001 will be glorious.
My TAD back then was 2402, not 2404 (2404 uses different driver units, and the compression driver in 2404 isn't even Alnico).
Back to your question. I think I should put it this way. I used the Shindo/2404 combo for home theater as well ( Shindo-san forgive me :-) and I thought it was fine. Honestly, the 2402 should be placed like how they are mounted in studio, i.e. the front baffle flush with the walls, rather than free-standing like conventional speakers. Otherwise the bass will be weaker. And that's exactly how I used them (my place has then 9ft x 2 ft recessed area where TV and stuff are placed. That's a curse for conventional speakers, but great for studio monitors like the 2402. So yes, I think the 2402/Shindo 300B Limited combo can rock, but that depends on your requirement (how hard you want the impact) and how they are placed. So it's not a unconditional "yes".... but I think they are pretty good.....
http://img1.musicfield.jp/ex12/20050821/3/30203_0.jpg