Acapella Apollon speakers here at Audio Federation

s We just swapped  the Acapella Campanile [means ‘bell tower’] speakers for the larger Acapella Apollon speakers [who knew all those games of magic squares – now called sliding tile puzzles – we played as kids were training us for things like this?]. Hallway is chock full of boxes of Campanile top and bottom bass units. Campanile horns fill the dining room. And the garage? Every time we do ANYTHING it seems like half of the crates are out in the driveway making room for the other half of the crates.

The Apollon look like bigger Campaniles. Looking at before and after photos: Same color speakers, same color horns, same rack, same basic shape, but a bigger cabinet and bigger horn [better crossover, better drivers, more expensive, etc.].

The Campanile speakers that were here just last week will be playing at Capital Audio Fest early this November [in a few weeks] and then make their way from there to a new home.

The “Before” picture with the [cute, little] Campaniles. Neli is there ‘decabling’ things.

The HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems) VXR equipment rack.

The Acapella Apollon without speaker grills or horns and with only one side-panel installed. The substantial side-panels [about 35 lbs I think] both reinforce the rigidity of the speaker as well as being aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

The Acapella Apollon speakers with horns but still no grill cloth.

The Acapella Apollon speakers with horns but still no grill cloth [but the rack is back in place]

The Acapella Apollon speakers in place. The Acapella La Musika integrated amplifier has been added up front as we put the system through its paces.

More resolution and integrated sounding [but less dynamic in the mids] than the similarly-priced Acapella Triolons. More open and dynamic and musical [but ultimately less resolution] than the Marten Supremes.

We are very happy with the sound. With what we have learned about system setup over the last many years, we expect we will eventually be able to make this the best sound we have ever had. O… M… G. we are so happy.

Should take about 30 to 90 days to fully break-in the speakers. [and the poor EMM Labs DV2 is STILL breaking in – it has been off for several weeks during the last 2+ months we have had it as we keep tearing down the system to nuts and bolts and cables over and over again…]

Have a lot more photos and videos…. just need to find time and I will post them all.

 

On holiday at the Audio Note U.K. factory

[Our backgrounder, from the video…]

On the way to the Munich Hiend 2019 show we stopped in Brighton U.K. for a few days so we could enjoy some time with the Audio Note folks and check out the factory and, in general, see if, you know, there was any There There [hey, most factories are kinda, you know, boring…]. What a blast. These people are more crazy wacky mad scientists than anything else. Thank goodness they are extremely successful at it…

In this video you will see mostly Peter Qvortrup, Audio Note founder and CEO, and Neli Davis, my partner in Audio Federation. The Chinese importer, nicknamed ‘TH’, also makes an appearance.

Audio Note U.K. is a high-end home audio technology research and development company that also builds and sells products. They make everything from resistors and capacitors to turntables and cartridges to cables and speakers to amplifiers and digital-to-analog converters.

Audio Note is years, if not literally decades, ahead of everyone else when it comes to advanced audio reproduction technology and, ultimately, quality of music reproduction in the home. This is because, as we know from other industries, innovative R&D takes courage and investment not found in larger companies (too much CYA bureaucracy), nor smaller companies (can’t afford it), and the vast majority of same-size companies find it more convenient to just sit on their laurels raking in the money while putting out yet another version of last year’s products with a new-and-improved name tag on the front.

Through aggressive trickle down, products range from several hundred thousands of dollars down to a few thousand.