Verity Parsifal Encore opinions

Ernie- I just can't get over how different our experience with these speakers is. When two audiophile friends and I returned from the show in Montreal last weekend we came to one of my friends homes and listened to his parsifal encores, his are about 7-8 feet from the rear wall- the rest of his system is first rate(tenor amps, audio aero cap. mk II cdp, basis 2500 table(graham 2.2 arm and koetsu rosewood signiture platinum cartridge), aesthetix IO and Jena Labs wiring through out. We were listening to his system and couldn't get over how bad it sounded, lack of coherency, slow and just didn't really seem to do any thing right, the next day he traded his speakers in and ordered something new. We tried many different locations, woofer cabinets front firing, rear firing it just never really came together.

He just couldn't take it anymore, I have heard these speakers in 4 real world rooms(i.e. not dealers and at shows- they never sound good at shows) including my own and they are enjoyable but they just seem to be lacking. There is something VERY unnatural about the lower midrange(the very audible crossover point) it is a nice sound, but after a lot of listening to these speakers they just don't sound like music. You will notice this varies from my experience last September because that is before I had this speakers in my room and was living with them, I found it to be unenjoyable- all in all they didn't get me as close to the music as I had thought they would have. They may be great for some people, they are at an interesting price point- which makes them very attractive but there are many other choices at or near there price that would seem like good choices to consider as well- that is to my ears and the other 2 audiophiles who were listening to this system as with all things audio your experience may be different, but 3 out of 3 on what seems to be a first rate system seems pretty convincing to me.....

Tireguy, I am indeed puzzled.
On the crossover issue, you'll note that it's a VERY low 150Hz, so that the woofer is contributing very little in the lower mids. The upper satellites are ported to provide a bit of lift in the upper bass/low mids.
The coherency inherent from wide-set crosses at 150Hz and 5kHz is practically self-explanatory, and allows sitting in the extreme nearfield...even as recording monitors, so I certainly don't understand your comment. Wow.
I certainly agree that if you pull them out more than a few feet from the front (is that what you meant?) wall (mine are 10'), then you MUST flip the woofs around to provide enough LF, but I can't understand how they could be described as anemic in that geometry.
The woofers ARE ultrafast, and super "clean", if you will, so the speakers aren't plump or warm from overhang or an upper bass bump like most 3 ways.
So I find your results fascinating. My wife and I are contemplating a weekend in Montreal this year, since it's an easy ride (or train) from Boston.
Wanna come down to Boston and listen to my setup? Mine are in a quite-dead 14x24x8 living room with only moderate sidewalls reflection and faily low slap-echo, etc.
In my adjacent 14x30x10 VERY live familyroom HT system I have Spendors and a Boston PV1000 sub, all dialed in to be much warmer to overcome the harder acoustic, for comparison.
This system is great for video and background FM (as I type), but when I want a searingly-real stage and unbelievalbly real music-making I walk over and sit down in front of the Parsifals for those live FM feeds from 'GBH et al.
My wife's a GREAT cook. How 'bout yours?
RSVP.

Ernie- Sounds like a great offer, if I have time and heading in that direction I will be getting in touch with you :) I am in the Albany, NY area- I was in Montreal just for the audio show for the weekend. If you have not heard Kharma speakers they are truly amazing, they made my friends parsifals sound dull and lifeless(and he didn't think that before the show) it was really an eye-opener. If you are ever in the Albany area you are of course welcome to check out my system and what you may find to be more interesting is listening to my friends system, the kharma's should be in mid next week. He lives about 1/2 hour north of me, keep in mind he did love the parsifals, and when he bought them he felt they were the speaker to hold onto for life. If you don't want to be upgrade any time soon, I suggest you not listen to the kharma's, they will show you how close you can get to the music- its really creepy! I would be getting a pair if (i) I wasn't so damn cheap (ii) I wasn't planning serious modification of maggies and (iii) I hadn't just ordered a new SACD DAC and transport. I have heard the parsifals do some amazing things, I will admit that, but everything the kharma's do is amazing.

As far as placement in his current room, we had them as close as 4 feet to the front wall and as far as 8 feet from the front wall- we tried lots of configurations. If I had to estimate his room is about 24x13x8, we had them firing down the long wall for all of our testing. Typically, between 7-14 feet between the speakers and the listener. But any way the new speakers should be in soon and we will be starting all over again.

btw I am single and loving every minute of it- but I am quiet the master of the culinary arts ;) heh heh

Happy listening! ~Tim