Yes primarily i viseted Thomas to compare tonearms, he has a couple of Schroeders, the new graham Phantom ( mark III ) a vintage Ortofon amongst others. and he has a fine collection of cartridges, as I mentioned he is a very nice guy, The real surprise was the Cessaro Alpha's whic he has had for about three months, they were astounding, I had only heard the Avantgardes, and some vintage Vitavox's ( and some diy lowthers ) up to that point, the Cessaro's were jaw droppingly good, more like real music than anything else I have heard, can't tell you much about them, TAD drivers obviously, I know that each horn is spcifically designed for each driver, I believe Ralph prefers a simple passive crossover , at Thomas's they were being driver by a KR amp, ( huge valves ) I think they can be configured pretty much to your taste, beautifully made, the website photos give no sense of the size or beauty of the speakers, horns are solid wood, I think Thomas said that the horn alone weighs 35kg, and as mentioned they will be at the Munich show, Thomas is a very hospitable host visitors are most welcome and he has no axes to grind, he lives in herne relatively near Dusseldorf, for me it was a revelation. |
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