Clement Perry's new reference speaker

Clement's warning about listening for yourself is, as always, the best advice, especially at shows. I find it appalling that brand new equipment is used, that there are alliances between manufacturers to split the cost of the room that often have poor electronic hooked to great speakers, that speakers often overload rooms, and that many manufacturers cannot set up a room or are indifferent to the sound they get. This was certain true of this years CES and THE Show.

I won't name poor rooms or praise good ones, as some named by others here and elsewhere IMHO were quite poor. I deliberately paid little attention to what I heard on Monday or Tuesday and stayed on until Friday to be assured that at least equipment would have some break-in and demonstrators would have some time to tweak their rooms.

I carried a copy of the FIM K2 sampler with me and listened to cuts 2 and 16 everywhere. On returning home, I listened here. Of course, we all think highly of our own systems, but I am just struck by how hard it is to get the best out of equipment and the hours it would take demonstrators to "tune" their rooms at shows.

I am also struck by the total lack of consensus on where there was good sound. Since my friends and I were in substantial agreement on what sounded good, there must be personal dynamics going on in terms of what one hears as good. Oh well, I enjoyed myself once again!

I have a theory about speakers at shows. If they sounded bad at the show it only means they sounded bad at the show. If they sounded good at the show then I feel they have a reasonable chance of sounding as good to much better in the home. That is if there are no show conditions that cannot be reasonably duplicated in the home. This means the speakers were not pulled out 8' from a wall or driven with prohibitively expensive electronics.

I count myself as one of the fortunate music lovers who just about a month ago was invited to listen to Clemet's current audio setup. I listened to his gear several times in the past and I was always impressed with the quality of sound he is able to reproduce in his dedicated listening room. Since this thread is about speakers I will stick to speakers alone. During my previous visits I was able to listen to Dali Megalines and Talon subs. The sound was great. The instruments, vocals and the surrounding venues of the few live recordings we listened to were so palpable you could almost "touch" the performers. Needless to say I was surprised when I called Clement in December and he told me he is listening to new speakers now, and........ they are horns. I have no experience with horns and my initial reaction was,...WHY? I was invited to visit, listen and judge for myself. Since I work in Jersey City it was easy to find a couple of hours and visit.

My opinion of the Majestics in combination with Clement's electronics and his dedicated listening room is that they are the best speakers I have ever heard under any circumstances. Yes they are big, heavy and financially unobtainable to the great majority of us. As to the listening experience, it was the best. To me it was as if I was in front of a live performance. Nnena Freelon's live performance of Tears of a Clown was the absolute best I ever heard. It was just so real and smooth but also incredibly dynamic. No edginess in high frequencies or booming bass and certainly no shouting horns. It's hard to believe that the integration between the drivers was so flawless.

I must admit I was little depressed on the way home from Clement's house knowing that replicating such high quality listening experience in my house is not going to happen anytime soon. The Magestics are... truly majestic.

My name is Greg Petan, I work with Clement at the Stereotimes.

I first heard the sunny speakers in Clements system with which I am very familiar. I have always marveled at the high level of quality sound Clement has managed from a less than optimum listening space. Yes, The Behold electronics with which I share in my system have a great deal to do with completing the delicate balance achieved. The Dali's were terrific. That ribbon is really magic.

HOWEVER.....After a few short moments in front of the Sunny, I got that uneasy felling that every thing was about to change. Like Clement, I lost no love over horn designs. Nor have I been a fan of large diameter bass drivers. The thought of combining the two was hardly a peanut butter in my chocolate moment. Yet The trick pulled off by the Sunny is mind blowing. There is a cohesive top to bottom balance, seamless bass to mid band transition and an open upper mid range and treble I have never experienced, any were. Then there are the dynamics offered up from the horn and the ease provided by the very high sensitivity. I will not go to much further as I am reviewing the model just below Clement's that use a 15"woofer in place of the 18" in his.

Whether there is a huge audience for these speakers is besides the point. As far as I am concerned, Sunny is a visionary, a purist unrelenting in applying everything he knows in the effort to solve the problems with speakers as he sees them to be. The fact that he has succeeded as he has is news that is well worth exploring. Like Clement, I welcome visitors to my SOHO loft. Feel free to contact me through Stereotimes. PS....please see my review of the Sunny 1000 series wire. Greg Petan, Managing Editor/Stereotimes

If I have invited you to my house for a listening session and evaluation of my new speakers etc. .........YOU better say something nice or you gone see a pink slip in your
E-mail.

Mariusz Stark