@swingfingers thank you, as well.
Yes, I had a pair of the original Gemme Tanto. I didn’t have much interest in another pair of loudspeakers, and just sort of happened into them. I had a line of amplifiers, and at shows, you know it takes two to tango. Based on a friend involved in an ultra high-end amplifier company also in Quebec who also used them at the Montreal Show with his own side project line of loudspeakers, they approached me about a pair of tube mono blocks to use at the same show the following year. They liked them enough to ask to keep the pair, and show them with their loudspeakers going forward. In lieu of a cash payment, they offered a pair of Tantos, which I found a reasonable deal. At the time, I only dealt with JP.
I found their aesthetic particularly good. The piano finish on the attractive and unique veneer, small footprint, and silhouette all garnered praise from both me and my wife. You've probably noticed their surprising weight, due to the the unique cabinetry required to execute their bass alignment. In my system, they performed fine. I didn’t get the revolutionary / stupendous bass response claimed, but maybe because I’m used to actual serious bass response that come from far larger drivers. The Tantos definitely put out impressive lows for such a small driver. They require a good amount of power, which was no problem for me. I noticed many wanted to employ lower powered amplifiers with them, such as 211 / 845 SET amplifiers, which I remember as the type Gemme got from me. You make a good point in regard to their timbre. I found it disappointing so many highly regarded loudspeakers (and amplifiers) just cannot provide natural tonality. Overall, I found them a nice alternative to the overly forward, edgy sound so many products over the past two decades feature. I apologize if I don’t sound as enthusiastic as you may have hoped. I have to admit that for whatever reason having an overcritical ear when it comes to loudspeakers, and have not been able to live with all but a handful. For example, so far all of my experience with Magico leaves me with the feeling I would never want a pair. So it’s not related to cost. I kept the Tantos for a year or two, then sold them to a friend who I found out happened to want a pair. Again, right place at the right time.
I met Robert Gaboury a couple of years later, and we spent a fair amount of time together at an audio show over the course of the weekend. I found him an incredibly insightful, witty, and down to earth person. He mentioned moving cabinet production from Canada to China (Tanto v2), for reasons both of cost and quality. Sadly, that became par for the course with Canadian HEA manufacturers. Their logic, we just cannot build product profitably in Canada. I think it’s more a reflection of having lost their appetite for manufacturing. My experience has shown one of two things come out of that. Either the brand continues, though it seems without the soul the products possessed when made in Canada, or the brand stalls out altogether, which happened with Gemme.
In regard to your placement issues, I do hope JP comes up with something. It’s difficult to believe no one has a soft copy on a PC somewhere. Apart from what happens, VERY few loudspeaker manuals meaningfully help the customer with placement. I consider environment and loudspeaker placement at least as critical as component selection, and the most obvious reason all of us routinely hear more modest outdo far more expensive ones. Good luck!
