Verity Audio Sarastro - Anybody heard

I heard the Sarastro and enjoyed it. That said, for a speaker with moving coil drivers I'd much prefer the Rockport Merak/Sheritan Mk II, at $29,500.

Brian Walsh

While I am a big Parsifal fan, I never liked the Lohengrin. The ribbon tweeter did not seem to integrate correctly with the midrange. From what I have been told, the Sarastro is almost identical.

I agree with Jtinn. I heard the Sarastro at the CES and it seemed like the ribbon tweet sounded a little detached from the midrange and the balance was a little tilted up in the treble. It might have been the DCS front end (which I never found particularly musical), but the Sarastros simply didn’t sound as coherent as my beloved Parsifals.

I auditioned the Lohengrin a couple of days back with Matisse tube equipment and a digital processor whose name now escapes me.

The setting was not ideal - the room was fairly small, etc.

The sound was certainly impressive, yet after an hour or so of listening, I couldn't help but feel that the upper frequencies were a little strident and on some recordings the sound was hard and glassy.

The distributor (I was in his studio) said the Sarastro is fairly close in sound and that the ribbon tweeter - like super tweeters - is something you (need to) get used to. Maybe, and as with all music demonstrations, the sound you get is the result of synergy (or lack of it) between the different constituent parts. I'm not sure that the Matisse equipment is in the same league as the speakers and the digital processor did clearly 'process' the sound.

I have auditioned the Parsifals twice, partnered first by McIntosh monoblocs (350 watts) + McIntosh tube preamp, and then, later, partnered by McIntosh integrated tube 75 watts per channel. In both cases the source was the outstanding McIntosh MCD/MDA 1000 CD transport and DAC.

The first demonstration showed the Parsifals on splendid form: fine integration of the different drivers, timing, liquid midrange - and, above all, sheer musicality that many other speakers in this range and above (Wilson/Watt 7; Vandersteen 5; Talon Firebird) simply can't match. Well, that is, of course, in my view!

The second demonstration showed the limitations of the partnering McIntosh integrated tube amp, which could not drive the speakers to an acceptable level, and which produced more distorted and wobbly sound than you could shake a stick at.

Of course I would like to listen to the Sarastros. In the meantime, I have no doubt that, partnered with the right amps and digital source, the Parsifal is a speaker which is hard to beat in small/medium sized rooms. It has detail, soundstage (especially depth), grunt, and outstanding midrange. It is definitely one of the most MUSICAL loudspeakers I have ever heard and it retails for around 50% of the Sarastro. It is also a finely designed and unobtrusive loudspeaker.

I listened to the Sarastros at the recent Montreal show and would have to agree with the impression that the ribbon tweeters did not appear to integrate well. They were also quite strident sounding and the whole setup which used a large solid state amp, Ayre I think, was not very musical. The Lohengrin was there only on static display.

By contrast, the Parsifal Encores were in two systems and sounded much better than I've heard them before. In one setup they were driven by Nagra solid state mono amps. In another room they were being used to demonstrate the Tenor 150 stereo hybrid amp which was driven by the EMM Labs DCC2. The latter setup was helped by being in the best proportioned large room at the show with the speakers about 15 feet apart. The Parsifals had no problem filling this room with glorious sound.

I'd go with the Parsifals over the Sarastros and spend the difference on fine ancillary equipment.