Statement event in Italy

[rsch]

Just been today at probably the first ever Statement event in Italy at Hi Fi Mer
ate shop. Mark Ragget from Naim and Luca Gombi of Naim Italy led the show. Unfortunately i booked the demo For 4.30 pm this afternoon and Mark had to leave at 5.00.
They started the demo with the Solstice deck playing a Sting record, eventually switching to ND555 later, driving Focal Maestro Utopia What we noticed immediatly was a lot of refinement and flow, expansive soundstage The last track was a sort ofelectronic music with the amps at full chat. Mr Gombi, joking with us, told we risked to be arrested for illegal rave party organization. Even at this outragious level the system was totally at ease and unstressed.

Here are a few pics with Max B. manouvring the Solstice

[Mike_S]

Have you placed your order?

[rsch]

No, unfortunately i’m not in the position to afford it. (maybe the S1 one day?)
However Mr. Alfredo the boss of HI Fi Merate told me “Come on , make yourself a little present they have two Solstice available” I reckon that for the price is quite a bargain for what is worth-
Later at home with my 500 system, some assertions sprang to mind.

1 The Solstice is absolutely sublime, granted you are using a half decent piece of vinyl. We already demoed here with 500 amps and this is further proof.
2 Nac S1 & Nap P1 have the refinement, delicacy and flow of a Phantom but when required the pace and handling of a F1 racer.
I’m not totally convinced with the Focal Maestro in a few passages the bass seemed a little bloated, I’d really like to try the same system with something like Kudos 808, Magico or YG
Definetely an achievment to celebrate. Even if few of us can afford or justify, i’m really happy it exists.

[gaetanolau]

I was there!

[Gazza]

You are spot on with other speakers would have been more enjoyeable👍

[rsch]

Probably even with smaller Focals

[rsch]

In the same room, in the past we demoed Focal Sopra 3 driven by Griphon int. amp, and i didn’t like them at all. The bass and mid bass was pretty confused. Moving in another room with CDX2/SC/282/300 were totally transformed for the better.
Another time same room with Kanta 3 and Magico Q3 the latter simply obscured the kanta. It has been one of the best midrange and 3d reproduction i ever heard

[rsch]

@ [gaetanolau Really ? Was it the same late Sat. afternoon session ?

[gaetanolau]

I was there in the morning (at half past eleven).

[graham55]

When you refer to the ‘refinement, delicacy and flow of a Phantom’, I thought immediately of the F4 Phantom warbird, but you probably had something else in mind.

Not that the F4 Phantom had much of any of those attributes, but it was a genuine Cold War warbird, and probably did more than just about anything else to hold the peace in Europe with the Soviets in the post-WWII era.

[rsch]

No, i meant the Rolls of course

[graham55]

That’s much too refined. I’d far rather have an F4 Phantom sitting outside the house, although it might block the street.

[moj]

In china Luca says that one guys buy 10 P1 for his 9.1 home theater

[Suedkiez]

@rsch

The bass and mid bass was pretty confused.

I think you are the 3rd person I have seen who used these or similar words for the Sopra 3. And myself after audition before having seen such comments:

Are Focal speakers the obvious match for Naim amplification

I had little reason to complain about the tweeters, my main issue was that the bass seemed to be coming from a different track than the rest. FWIW YMMV

This was with NDX2-555/252/300 at a Naim-Focal shop. Same with the Kanta 3 for me. I find it interesting how different people independently use similar descriptions.

[rsch]

@Suedkiez

I think you are the 3rd person I have seen who used these or similar words for the Sopra 3. And myself after audition before having seen such comments:

I said this about Kanta 3 not Sopra 3, compared with Magico Q3, driven by Gryphon amp. In the latter and that room probably were not ideal for either Focals.
In the other room with Naim amps probably it probably would have been different.

[Suedkiez]

Who knows All I can say is that I didn’t care for them at all in a setup that should have been perfect for them

[rsch]

At the end i really liked Sopra3s and were not even along a top spec Naim system. IIRC was something like 282/SC/300 with Marantz or Esoteric cd player

[Suedkiez]

@rsch

@Suedkiez

I think you are the 3rd person I have seen who used these or similar words for the Sopra 3. And myself after audition before having seen such comments:

I said this about Kanta 3 not Sopra 3,

By the way, it may have been a typo, but I did reply to this, which was written about the Sopra:

@rsch

In the same room, in the past we demoed Focal Sopra 3 driven by Griphon int. amp, and i didn’t like them at all. The bass and mid bass was pretty confused.