Verity Audio Sarastro - Anybody heard

I now own the Sarastro Loudspeakers. I will post more detailed info later. But for now, with hundresd of hours on these ladies:

Re tweeter integration/harshness. As I ABed some front end components I heard some harshness with certain components, and with certain recordings. This is a complete non-issue now with Sim Audio Moon Andromeda front end. If you hear harshness (other than a very loud piccolo playing it's high C note), check your front end as it is, imo, likely your cd player or your DAC....it is NOT these speakers.

And re: Integration problems.....NOT. Not with Chesky discs, not with Jazz, not with Opus3 discs, not with old Mercury Living Presence ("Howard Hanson the Composer and His Orchestra"), not with simple material, and given that I am now enjoying orchestral work where I didn't before because it was not integrated and was smeared, not a problem here either: I now enjoy musical integration as well as great soundstaging fore-aft and laterally -- also in choral works which before were intolerable.

Timbre -- great. Guitars sounds like guitars. Bowed double bases sound bowed even amidst competing bassoons. The timbre of Johhny Frigos violin is different when he is instrument face on the mike vs lateral....like it is supposed to be. Want to be able to distinguish clearly the different timbre and location of the oboe vs the base clarinet in an orchestra? The Sarastro will do it for you with the right upstream stuff. Snares sound like snares, field drums like field drums, and cymbals......I won't tell you because you will immediately drain your bank account to buy these. I dare say one could distinguish a Steinway from a Baldwin on a well-miked recording.

And all the rest: dynamics--fantastic. Base extension...they are rated to 25 Hz but I get substantial base down to 22Hz.....prepare to get blown away by any recording of a classical piece called "The Vikings".

Female vocals ....sweet, full, round and so musical.

And one "pro" reviewer wrote something about "boomy" base. I am no pro reviewer, but if he comes to my room he will with humility have to retract his comments and probably move to a new listening room or invest in some sound treatments or perhaps reevaluate his choice of preamp or speaker placement. These are low and tight even with Daniel Lanois' production and mixing of a hugely boom-risky wall of sound on "Wrecking Ball". Low. Tight.

Nice.

I am a happy camper.

I also bought the Sarastro!

One of the finest speakers I have heard at any price point. My previous speaker was the Kharma 3.2.

I definetely encourage someone to have a listen if he wants to move at that price point.

I am maybe a little bit late here but something very important to point out with Sarastro is to use them with bi-wired (2 speaker cable runs are even much better).

If they are connected this way, you will have the most natural, musical and coherent speakers with correct timing, an outstanding resolution, great soundstage with depth, width, great focus and solidity, bandwidth, low level detail, dynamics, transients, accurate tone & timbre, etc.

I fully agree that they are not as coherent, with differences in timing and between the 2 modules and sometimes tending to be hyper-detaile,. when connected mono-wired and with their own jumpers,

I have not a technical explanation, since am just an audiophile but this is what I have experienced. I was tired of moving them around my room, trying to find a good spot/placement (tilt, toe-in, distance between tweeters, to walls, etc) with a better integration of tweter and between the 2 modules and was just about to sell them until I bi-wired them with Dream Stealth Speaker Cables instead of mono-wired with same cables. A connoisseur friend, distributor of Audio Research, Kimber and ProAc in Mexico gave me the hint. He mentioned that this sometimes happens with many speakers that were truly designed for bi-wire as ProAc.

Hope this helps with current owner's of Sarastro.

I also agree with comments about Saratro I is better than Sarastro II. I had the chance to audition them side by side and believe that the tweeter on Sarastro I is more natural and extended with less glare. I also believe that the crossover (different form I to II) makes a better job when bi-wired.

Rata3 spot on, I also agree that the Sarastro biwired sounds much better, as you say more coherent with better transparency and musicality. ;)

"I also agree with comments about Saratro I is better than Sarastro II. I had the chance to audition them side by side and believe that the tweeter on Sarastro I is more natural and extended with less glare. I also believe that the crossover (different form I to II) makes a better job when bi-wired."

Thanks Rata3 I though I was the only crazy thinking of that! ;)
Check out this thread: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1265099107&openflup&8&4

Sarastro is maybe the most amazing speaker I have ever heard!

Rata3 how long do you have yours for? What are you using for front end and amps?

Happy Listening,

Michael

I have upgraded through the Verity line and with each new speaker the sound has been better. The Sarastros has a wider range than the Parsifals. The instruments have more 3D space around them and more depth. The sound stage is higher and wider. The Sarastros bass is deeper 11" than the Parsifals 8" when firing to the rear but the Parsifals bass is faster especially when the woofer is firing forward.

When I listened to these at the dealer I felt there was something missing and could not put my finger on it. Then when I got them home and set them up similar to the store I found they were not sounding as I wanted them to here either. So after a few hours of setup I had them where I thought they sound good but there was still something missing. I called the store and found out they had got them not to long ago and they did not have more than 100 or so hours. I set them to face each other and let them run for 48 hours. Putting them back in place they were sounding better. I returned them and ordered my pair as I felt confident I was going to like them with what I was hearing. I let mine warm up for a few days and still felt something was missing. After a few weeks with them and a few 100 hours they started to relax and become one speaker with few issues between the drivers. I have moved them around some but have not found their final location yet. Sarastros are harder to place than Parsifals but are sounding much better.
As they break-in more the better they are sounding. I will be getting help shortly with their final location from my dealer after I feel they have settled in.

Verity speakers need time to break-in and a while to place. If you listen at a show take the fact that they are not broken in into account. I think all speaker need break-in time to sound their best. Really all equipment does.

The only music I am not happy with is the new Classic Records 45 of Peter Gabriel’s So, so far. The highs bother my ears so bad I cringe. The regular LP version is better and at low volumes the 45 version it is fine but I do not listen at low volumes. Reminds me of 80's music, very hot in the upper range.

IMHO.