2. speakers
  3. 1300099158

Verity Audio Amadis Owners, Listener Impressions?

I was wondering if anyone who owns these speakers or who has spent some time with them could chime in about them. I'm waiting to hear a pair and it will probably be another couple of weeks at least before they will be available. The demo pair I will get to hear is currently being built by Verity, hence the delay. In the meantime, I was curious to get feedback from any owners out there or folks who have spent some time with them. I've done a good bit of searching on various forums and come across a couple of folks who have heard them but not a single owner. This is still a relatively new model from a pretty small manufacturer and at a significant price point, so I guess that's not surprising.

My local dealer has the Finn, Rienzi and the Leonore at a on display and I thought they had some very impressive qualities about them. In a second demo I had with the Leonore, I began to understand the view that I had seen various folks comment about Verity in general which is that while they may not necessarily grab you right away, spending time with them substantially increases appreciation for them. That was my experience and II am very much looking forward to hearing what the Amadis brings to the table in the way of additional bass output and overall sound refinement. I had been interested in hearing the Parsifal Ovation as a next step up from the Leonore, but there are no demos available from the distributor or from Verity directly because of the age of that model. So, the Amadis was suggested as an alternate. In speaking with Julien Pelchat, he had high praise for the Amadis (as you would expect) and takes the position that the ring radiator tweeter it employs is very close to the ribbon used on the Sarastro II. I haven't heard the latter, but it seems that there is quite a bit of good sentiment out there for the Sarastros so if the Amadis is close, I should be in for a real treat. I'm certainly interested to hear how the Amadis improves upon what I've already heard from the Leonore.

Since I know folks will ask if I have looked into or suggest alternatives, note that I am indeed looking at a variety of choices (as we all should be when considering new speakers, especially at this price point where so many good choices exist). My interest in this thread was to get some feedback on this specific model while I wait. Patience has never been my strong suit, but this seems like a good way t pass the time. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or feedback.

Jeff
rgbyhkr
fmj
11 posts
 
I heard the Amadis last year at the Montreal show and they made a great impression on me. They were playing a tape version of a live Shakti concert from Montreux on the Amadis in the Verity room. Stunning clarity, invisible and excellent percussion reproduction. It was a larger room than I will likely ever have but I understand from talking to Verity that they can be placed in smaller rooms and closer to the back wall quite effectively.
The Verity's were being driven by Nagra gear from what I recall - often the case in Montreal. I have them at the top of my list if I ever find a gently used pair at an affordable price.

BTW the Finns were also at the Montreal show. I think they were paired with Ayre gear and they sounded amazingin a very small room. They had "tuned" the port a bit with foam or something.

Let us know what you think when you hear the Amadis and Devore's.

Chris
fmj
11 posts
 
just found the details about the system on stereophile's site
FYI
http://www.stereophile.com/ssi2010/dcs-nagra-verity/index.html
countingbackwards
138 posts
 
Reading that comment from Stereophile, I know which room that was (since Verity speakers all pretty much look the same, I sometimes don't know which one I'm listening to). It was a bigger room than most others, but not that large in absolute terms - it's just that most manufacturers had small rooms with huge speakers, so in comparison this room looked far more logical.

What I remember from that room was that it was the first time I'd heard a hard-drive-based server system through a DAC sound absolutely world class. Prior to this, I had only hear those systems sound somewhat lacking in liveliness - but in this room I learned that with enough $$$, hi-rez server/DAC can be absolutely top notch.

It was definitely one of the best rooms at the show, but so was the room with a Leben integrated and a Devore 3XL...it was the rare case of a system that fit well with the room it was in.

This year's Montreal show is just a week away now!
countingbackwards
138 posts
 
So I was at SSI this weekend, and heard a LOT of good sound. Unfortunately, the Amadis weren't on show this year - there were Sarastros in 2 separate rooms, and both were excellent - the room where they were paired with the new Nagra 300B integrated amp was mind-blowing, probably the best in the show. A big part of the wonderful sound was the fact that they were (a) playing real music and (b) playing it at a comfortable volume, which nonetheless did a great job of filling the big room with music.

The Burmester room also sounded fantastic - but unfortunately, the only music on display in the room was the Burmester demo CD - a CD designed to sell Burmester gear. So it was a bit hard to determine what was what...but the sound was incredibly smooth, rich and detailed throughout the frequency range.

The Devore Orangutans also sounded wonderful in a much more modest system with a Leben integrated amp.

Basically, all of the above are excellent choices, and it'll come down to personal preference.
rugby1
27 posts
 
I had a listen to the Verity Leonore this past week for comparison to my Devore Silverbacks.The Devore sounded deeper,fuller,smoother and less analytical to me. The value to me is in the silverbacks compared to the Leonore for the same price.
More to discover