Hello from Manhattan,
After almost five years with no
high-end show in the big apple Axpona in partnership with
Stereophile, Home Theater and CEA, Consumer Electronics Association
had one of the best high-end shows in the heart of Manhattan, right
across the street from the Madison Square Garden this past June
24-25 in the beautiful Affinia Manhattan Hotel. Here is the high-end
audio system we featured in the High-End Palace Reference Music Room
at Axpona NYC;
MARK NEUMANN'S COLISEUM XLS
- Manhattan was the right place for the world premiere of a
totally new concept in high-end loudspeaker designs. The new
prototype Mark Neumann Coliseum XLS Open Baffle Loudspeaker
System represents a new level in artistry visually and
sonically. The Coliseum XLS delivers the feeling and sound of
live music with vertical and horizontal 360° degree sound
dispersion using exclusive technology like the internal solid
maple Mark Neumann Nine Matrix™ soundboard in the top cabinet
where the dual 7” woofers and dual tweeters are mounted. With
unique rear and horizontal round openings like the cast iron
plate of a concert grand piano the music sounds open, natural,
and lifelike with flawless overtones, harmonics and decays. This
exclusive handcrafted loudspeaker system consists of a unique
set of sculptural towers with twelve drivers and a reference
active crossover component; there are no passive crossovers
inside the Coliseum XLS. Each tower
has
two high frequency tweeters with two 7" woofers in the top
cabinet, and two world-class 8" woofers in the exclusive Mark
Neumann Z8 Acoustical Bass System bellow that is fully
adjustable in room to flat response and then fine tuned to the
owner’s satisfaction in volume and tonality.
STAHL-TEK VEKIAN CDT - The
world's best ultra high-end CD Transport period.
STAHL-TEK VEKIAN D/A - The
world's best ultra high-end digital to analog converter period.
BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY VK-6200
- The world's best high-end amplifier mega chassis running in a
four monoblock configuration in a single chassis
CONCIERTO X1 SE - The
world's best ultra high-end active crossovers period.
TACT AUDIO RCS 2.2 XP -
Unique reference preamp with exclusive features
BERTRAM AUDIO - Reference AES/EBU Proxima Digital
Interconnect made in Denmark
STRADIVARI AUDIO DESIGNS -
Reference No.6 Power Plant
NVS
SOUND LLC. - Reference high-end power cords and
interconnects made in Arvada, Colorado
-
- Here is a bit of feedback from thirty
audiophiles and music lovers that attended the 2011 Axpona
NYC. Here is what they have to say about the sound of the
Mark Neumann Coliseum XLS and the components associated in
this reference high-end audio system:
-
-
- 1. Best sound of the show - very impressive,
full, rich sound. Alfred
2. Very open and detailed
presentation. The dynamics also exceeded. A. Dalgalvis
3. Good bass with nice impact.
Art Dudley
4. Lots of space and body in
the music regardless of where you where sitting or standing.
Rick Jensen
5. Very realistic sound. Khalil
6. Great imaging, depth and
effortless in bringing up the "BIG PICTURE" as well as the
finest details of the recording. One of if not the best room at
the show. F Catana
7. Dynamic, dynamic, dynamic. I
have never heard classical music sound so good. David
8. Realistic and dynamic
natural sound. Pete Grzybowski
9. Excellent definition, depth
and sound stage. One of the best sound of the show. R. Vallis
10. Amazing bass, simply
amazing. Arturo S
11. Most interesting new
product of the show! Ken Kesser
12. Spacious and full sound.
Well Balanced. Piero Gabucci
13. High-end audio at it's
best. I felt the music at my listening chair. Piero
14. Lifelike transient
response, linear throughout! Charles Rollo
15. The Stahl-Tek CD transport
and D/A provided a sound so realistic I thought I was listening
to the real thing. Stunning!
16. Amazing imaging! The whole
wall was full of musicians. I was deeply moved. Charles
17. Nice articulation in the
mids and highs. Len Schneider
18. Excellent sound that does
not sound bright or digital. Sounds live not like recorded
music. David Lepkofker
19. Effortless sound. I like
the fact that I enjoy the music no matter where I was at in the
room. Richard
20. The whole system was very
good on all points. Love the sound. Michael A. Harvey
21. Excellent sound
reproduction with amazing space between instruments. Howard
22. Very nice high-end system,
smooth and realistic. very pleasant sound. L Reyes
23. Good range and clarity.
Sound was full and open with great tone in the voices. Lance
Smith
24. The sound stage was the
best I have heard at the show. Custis Gayle
25. Impressive sound from my
demo CD. John Marks from Stereophile
26. Size and authority that you
can only get from large reference loudspeakers. Darin
27. Incredible stage and low
level detail! John Lucas
28. Addictive sound! I feel
like I am listening to live music. Aurelio
29. Natural sound! Involving!
Crystal clear music with solid bass impact. This is what I
expect from a true high high-end system. Thank your for this
experience that I will never forget. Mario
30. Two words; Alive and
dynamic. Christopher S
A NOTE FROM LARRY FROM THE
HIGH-END PALACE REFERENCE MUSIC ROOM
I have
always been fascinated by the people that you meet in high-end
audio shows, by the music that you get to hear and the lifetime
friendships that you make by attending. After nearly twenty
years of attending most high-end audio shows it simply never
gets old for me.
We had
quite a turn out in the High-End Palace Reference Music Room,
after all we were at the heart of New York City and we had
people from all over, from Manhattan, Philadelphia, Long Island,
Queens, New Jersey, Brazil, Spain, South America, Japan,
Denmark, Germany, audiophiles and music lovers from all over the
world.
I manage
to please nine audiophiles out of ten that visited our room,
that’s number works for me because no matter what high-end audio
system you put together you will never be able to satisfy every
one. The high-end audio system that I put together for the 2011
AXPONA NYC is listed above. This high-end audio system provides
the main elements to satisfy most audiophiles.
A true
world-class front end CD playback system by Stahl-Tek, a true
reference controller and preamp by TACT Audio, the last world in
active crossovers by CONCIERTO, an amazing discovery by
CONCIERTO in multi-amplification from two channels to six
channels in a single chassis by BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY (BAT),
reference audio cables by NVS Sound LLC and a prototype set of
Mark Neumann Coliseum XLS Open Baffle Loudspeaker System.
Having
flexibility to tune a high-end audio system is practically none
existence in high-end audio. As a matter of fact 99.8% of all
preamps and integrated amps made today do not have any tone
controls so adjustments for tonality for most are done with
audio cables and positioning of speaker placement in the room.
Some of us go it bit further with room treatment and tweaks.
Having
the knowledge and experience that I have of listening to
thousands of high-end audio systems just in the last decade
alone I should have a pretty good idea of what an audiophile
likes and expect in a high-end audio system. But some of us are
set on our own ways, we expect the music and the presentation to
sound a certain way. I as a knowledgeable perfectionist
audiophile, musician and sound engineer have the experience, the
components and all the tools I need to provide the perfect sound
to any audiophile personal taste.
EXAMPLE:
The Mark Neumann Coliseum XLS Open Baffle Loudspeaker System
with Stahl-Tek, TACT Audio, CONCIERTO, BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY
and NVS Sound provided a superb sound that most liked very much
but to a few attendees the bass was a bit strong for their taste
with some recordings. This usually happens simply because most
audiophiles are not use to or have a true full range loudspeaker
system and have never heard a system with real impact and energy
in the low frequencies, this information is there to begin with
but can not be achieve by 98.5% of high-end loudspeakers out
there unless you are running separate amplification and active
crossover for the bass (No passive crossovers). Or even better a
true reference subwoofer system with world-class active
crossover and outboard high-end amplifier or monoblocks.
SOLUTION:
The benefit
of running separate amplification for the bass is that you have
full control over how much bass you like in your music and in
your room. In this particular case you can adjust the bass
output volume without moving from your listening chair with the
remote of the TACT RCS 2.2XP preamp or in other systems all you
have to do is make the adjustments needed in the active
crossover provided with the Coliseum. All models of the Mark
Neumann Soprano, Coliseum and Royal Opera provides you with this
amazing benefit, full control in volume and tuning of the bass
to please any owner's personal taste.
Thank you
to everyone who attended the 2011 Axpona NYC & Stereophile
high-end audio show, for all the kind words, statements and
positive feedback not only from attendees but also from the
press and magazines reviewers.
