Acoustic Zen Adagio, How Good Are They?

Just because someone sells a speaker doesn't mean it's not any good. Using your reasoning would indicate that all speakers for sale on Audiogon involve some sort of hype. There are many reasons for selling a speaker.

Thanks for pointing this out, Royy. I am going after a pair.

I didn't go to the showroom to listen to the AZ Adagio Ozzy62. The AZ's were in a hallway with the VR4 Sr's therefore I planned an audition at a later date comparing the 2. Just because a speaker cost twice as much doesn't always translate into twice the sound. It would be "sheepish" to think so. I've read the reviews and seen them in person. I'll post a followup DRseid after the audition.

And yes I'm gonna give the smaller Analysis planars another listen!

>Just because a speaker cost twice as much doesn't always translate into twice the sound.<

My point exactly. I wasn't all that impressed with the VR4 Sr. when it was only 8K, and unless it is VERY improved in it's new iteration, I think it offers poor value for the $$ at 12K. So I wouldn't be surprised if the Adagio was better.

Oz

Oz

I wasn't all that impressed with the VR4 Sr. when it was only 8K

Interestingly, I heard this speaker at a dealer in SF. A friend was considering them as a possible replacement for his VR4Jr's. Frankly, they sounded like...well...BAD. There's no other word for it. I was really surprised. We all were, especially considering how much we like the Jr's.

So, I made the suggestion that they pull the speakers to the other side of the room, because the system into which they were first placed was considerably lower in price/quality than that of my friend's at home. They moved them across the room into the better system, and lo and behold, the speakers sounded much, much better. The dealer then said, "Well, you know, that other side of the room is the worst of the three we use in the room. For some reason, it always sounds boomy and resonant." He wasn't kidding. Had that been the whole of the audition, my friend would have walked away utterly disappointed.

Although not 100% sold--but close enough--my friend bought the Sr's that day. Guess what happened when he had a week or two to play around with them at home? They were phenomenal. Everything he liked about the Jr's, but fuller, deeper, richer, you name it. I too left the dealer like my friend did, crossing his fingers that they would be an improvement over the Jr's. When I heard the Sr's in his system, I knew he'd made the right move.

Bottom line is, without the chance to tweak a bit, thereby comparing the component to ITSELF, you can never be sure if you're hearing it at its best.