Acoustic Zen Adagio loudspeaker on Kharma amp and Audio Aero Prestige player

After going through several system configurations, this one was perhaps our favorite, especially of those with speakers driven by solid-state amplifiers.

The Adagios, in this configuration, in this room (that wall behind the speakers is not symmetrical and not flat…) seemed to prefer the more aggressive Kharma digital amp than the more powerful, more laid back, and more expensive EDGE amps. It helped wake them up, so to speak.

All Nordost Valhalla cabling. Yeah, each cable cost more than the speakers… but we save money using the Office Depot power strip, see? 🙂

But in the end, this is a fairly reasonably priced system at about $25K + cables.

No, these speakers don’t sound as tight and controlled and have the finesse of the $45-$50K Kharma Mini Exquisite and Marten Coltrane speakers… which just seems to depress our visitors who are auditioning the Adagios.

Maybe we should just hide them next time?

We already go through the ‘You really don’t want to hear these. You’ll be spoiled and will never be able to go back”. Doesn’t work, though.

And we really LIKE the Adagios… what other speaker can you play (successfully) rock & roll AND opera on in this price range? Like none, man.