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jessie.dazzle wrote:

Well I assume you mean the "pros". After this weekend at the Paris Hifi show (first one ever for me), I cannot say that I place much value in what the "pros" might think. Man, honestly, what crap sound in most every room, including those run by the respected names of the industry. Best was the Wilson/Audio Research room (a suit actually) : In this room was a pair of Alexandrias driven by 100% Audio Research electronics, including a pair of big "Reference 210" amps. To their credit, the guy running this rig was playing mostly complex, large-scale orchestral music. I was however expecting more from such a setup (around $200K, electronics + speakers). Though they are supposed to make 210 watts each, the Alexandrias actually sounded under-driven, and not able to produce live concert levels; the sort of max levels one might use at home when the wife is out shopping on a Saturday. Nevertheless, though this room did sound best to me (which is not saying much), I walked away thinking how much potency and life the system lacked compared to what I've come to expect; and this in both the mid frequencies as well as (surprisingly) the bass. Other expectations : I was expecting to be tempted to spend money on something at the show, but left the place sort of laughing.

First of all Jessie’s comments have nothing to do with Macondo and I use his quotes as a playground for a free interpretation. What attracted me in his quote that I have very much the same attitude toward to others speakers. I listen them or I am trying to understand what people were trying to accomplish and I very much look forward to be “tempted”. If people would even know how much arguing with others or “hating” what other do I look forward to be wrong and grasp a sign worth of adoption and embracing. Money or other structures or venture of investments never were an issue for me, but the nobility of services for an idea always important to me. I try to recognize in others speakers that “twist” that point out that an acoustic system is not just a tool to push air but might be an instrument of something else – most other speakers are numb about it. Even more most of other people in audio are numb about their objectives and the speakers they build or sell are a direct representation of their purposeful nothingness. The Stanislavsky’s supertask in context of many speakers out there is just a stupid illusion, not even understood illusion.

I do not see a confrontation between Macondo and “pro”, commercial or even most of the DIY speakers. It is not that one side of the “confrontation” is better but another side is worse. It is rather the absence of a proper competitive evaluation scale that would allow Macondo “compete” with others loudspeakers and to confront alternative views of acoustic systems implementations. I hear/read what people talk about acoustic systems and I truly like communicate with them in different language. Even the few Macondo’s critics that I heard were from complete idiots who have absolutely no understanding what the deal with.

The irony is that regular people out there do not truly interested what Macondo is all about. Most of the Audio Morons believes that what Macondo is the loudspeaker the Romy the Cat happen to build and then as any other Hi-Fi idiom he keeps parsing his own audio position. This view is foolish from two perspectives. First - I am the most vocal and prolific critic of what Macondo does. Second – most of the Audio Morons do not even understand what Macondo is.

  A year or so ago I made a write up about Macondo’s history and the Macondo’s ideas.

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/MacondoAcousticSystem.aspx

In there I said:

“What is also important to mention is that Macondo Acoustic System is not a design that I advocate as a “winning design” (though I do have a lot of convictions about it). The Macondo concept is not the collection of drivers, horns and frames; it is not the specific implementation – you will not be able to see what Macondo System is all about until you understand the correlation between what it meant to do and what it does. The Macondo System is rather a concept, a winning sequence of conscious ceremonial realizations and actions that lead a person from taking a room and converting it into a sensible and involved medium of musical intercourse.”

So, how it all linked to the subject of the thread and the Jessie’s quotes? Well, I do not know what Jessie’s does and look internally with his project. Externally however he implemented many of ideas that Macondo’s Axioms outline, taking it further and perhaps improving upon the Axioms, and I think he might experience some signs of Macondo-like results. When he finish and calibrate his Macondo++ System (Look for Jessie’s project elsewhere ay this site) with those upper bass horns then I will perfectly understand a very high level of arrogance he might express toward too many other acoustic systems he might come across. He will be way above the level of the “rooms” at a Hi-Fi shows.

The Alexandrias vs. Macondo? Well, this is difficult subject because as I said there is no framework primer, no competitive evaluation level in those conversation with audio people about this competition. Have you seen any Wilson owner who will be wiling to open his or her mind and just to talk about the actual Sound of the thing? I do not know the people who are able and experience to get best sound out of the Wilsons but at the same time have enough freedom of mind and judgmental integrity to observe the actual Result. So, I feel that Alexandrias world and Macondo worlds are not truly competitive and they are not competitive at the level of human factor. I did heard Wilson Alexandria twice, I would not say that it was waste of time, there is a lot that might be learned from this loudspeaker. However, in my view Alexandria is just a “Black Box”, the silent solution that doe what it intended (if it does to you!!!) and has no ability to adopt itself for evolving requirements of Sound reproduction objectives of the system owner. David Wilson is trying to suggest that following each two year with Wilsons release a new modification an owner might get “better” sound but this view too much insult my intelligence. So, in addition to all pure audio issues that I found with Alexandrias (I did not leave with them long enough to talk about higher then second, the 3-6 levels of listening perception) I think Alexandrias lack that essential component of “conscious ceremonial realizations and actions”. It is highly possible that the “ceremony” had taken place in David Wilson head but I feel that there is so much artificial structure between David’s mind and the minds of audio users that I think that if David Wilson meant to say something via his speakers then the message is very much diluted when it reaches listening rooms in the fields…

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