2. speakers
  3. 1300099158

Verity Audio Amadis Owners, Listener Impressions?

I was wondering if anyone who owns these speakers or who has spent some time with them could chime in about them. I'm waiting to hear a pair and it will probably be another couple of weeks at least before they will be available. The demo pair I will get to hear is currently being built by Verity, hence the delay. In the meantime, I was curious to get feedback from any owners out there or folks who have spent some time with them. I've done a good bit of searching on various forums and come across a couple of folks who have heard them but not a single owner. This is still a relatively new model from a pretty small manufacturer and at a significant price point, so I guess that's not surprising.

My local dealer has the Finn, Rienzi and the Leonore at a on display and I thought they had some very impressive qualities about them. In a second demo I had with the Leonore, I began to understand the view that I had seen various folks comment about Verity in general which is that while they may not necessarily grab you right away, spending time with them substantially increases appreciation for them. That was my experience and II am very much looking forward to hearing what the Amadis brings to the table in the way of additional bass output and overall sound refinement. I had been interested in hearing the Parsifal Ovation as a next step up from the Leonore, but there are no demos available from the distributor or from Verity directly because of the age of that model. So, the Amadis was suggested as an alternate. In speaking with Julien Pelchat, he had high praise for the Amadis (as you would expect) and takes the position that the ring radiator tweeter it employs is very close to the ribbon used on the Sarastro II. I haven't heard the latter, but it seems that there is quite a bit of good sentiment out there for the Sarastros so if the Amadis is close, I should be in for a real treat. I'm certainly interested to hear how the Amadis improves upon what I've already heard from the Leonore.

Since I know folks will ask if I have looked into or suggest alternatives, note that I am indeed looking at a variety of choices (as we all should be when considering new speakers, especially at this price point where so many good choices exist). My interest in this thread was to get some feedback on this specific model while I wait. Patience has never been my strong suit, but this seems like a good way t pass the time. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or feedback.

Jeff
rgbyhkr
rgbyhkr OP
32 posts
 
Hey Soniqmike,

I really am hopeful that the Amadis is what I want it to be and with any luck, it will be. I just got confirmation of another demo, but from a local owner this time instead of a dealer. I guy who lives near me has a pair of Avalons and invited me to come take a listen. I will be doing that this weekend so that certainly should round out a pretty darn good comparison. The next 2-3 weeks will be interesting.

Jeff
countingbackwards
138 posts
 
Based on the 4 different Verity speakers I've heard, I'd say that there is definitely a house sound. But, I would disagree that the differences are insignificant.

I found that the Rienzi is noticeably better than the Finn - even if they have very similar specs, the Rienzi has much better detail retrieval and richness throughout its bandwidth. Tonally, the Rienzi much more closely matches the higher-line Verity's than the Finn does.

The Parsifal retains the basic tonality of the Rienzi, while offering (again) enhanced low-level detail retrieval and richness due to its world-class mirange. Another big advantage over the Rienzi is that it's really a full-range speaker (down to 25 hz) that is equally adept at all parts of the range, and that difference is easily noticeable. The Parsifal just sounds much bigger than the Rienzi.

The Sarastro, IMHO, is a different beast than the Parsifal...not better or worse, just different. It's a high-efficiency design that excels at playing music at low volume levels - the Parsifal, while still excellent at low-level listening, is more of a dynamic and "exciting" sound - which makes sense based on the expected amplification of each speaker. The Sarastro has an incredible smoothness to it that is very beguiling...but it may need a bigger room to maintain this ease/flow.

I've never (knowingly) heard the Leonore, but my local dealer has told me that they usually don't recommend that model (and they don't stock it for auditions). They prefer Rienzi or Parsifal in terms of what they do for the $$$. With a dealer, YMMV, but based on what I'm reading here, it sounds like others may agree with him.

soniqmike
140 posts
 
Counting backwards, you wrote that ''But, I would disagree that the differences are insignificant.''

Who ever wrote that this was the case? I wish you would read the whole thing before jumping to quick conclusions. Insignificant or not is not for me to judge, I was meaning that the incremental benefits are not great, and that diminishing returns kick-in rapidly - but it is by no means ''insignificant'' and even if it was, for a lot of folks in this crazy hobby - ''insignificant'' improvements is good enough to warrant shelling out a lot of cash for. It is what drove me away from this hobby on to more sensibly-priced gear, with not as big a loss in overall quality. But that's a different topic altogether....
rgbyhkr OP
32 posts
 
My situation was one where I started off liking what I heard on the Finn and also liked the Rienzi but still wanted more bass than what either of them provided. This was prior to really looking into the specs of the model lineup so going into the Leonore, I figured I would get that. In many speaker lines, increased bass output quite often accompanies moves made to more expensive models. In Verity's case, you get very similar bass output across the first 3 models before making a jump when you get to the Parsifals and then again at the Amadis. That was my experience with those first 3 and what I expect from the Amadis based on specs. That being said, I've read more than once that Veritys are not bass monsters. And really, that's ok. I just wanted more than what those 3 gave me.

In the absence of additional bass output on the Leonore, I was expecting more improvement in other areas to justify the price increase. For me and my taste, I just didn't see that. As such, the value proposition was not there for for me for that model. Certainly I understand diminishing returns in this industry, but as Mike says, that scale will be different for each particular listener. I still saw very good value in the Finns and the Rienzis (which were actually a trade in pair that I could get for less than the Finns, which improved their value further). As stated above, I have high expectations for the Amadis. I expect to get better bass output as well as overall sound refinement. I don't think I would be going too far by saying that I need to really be wowed to justify them at their price point. If they do, I know full well that they may not for others and the reverse might wind up being true. It's all subjective as different listeners have different preferences. I fully expect to find a very good choice at the end of this journey, whatever that final choice might be.

Jeff

Jeff
edorr
714 posts
 
Jeff, the way to get more bass with the Verities is get two JL Audio 113's subs, an external crossover and a discrete 2 channel SVS sub equalizer. This will give you completely flat bass response from the subs, and very good integration with the Verities (which drop if nice and steep around 35Hz - at least mine do base on in room measurement). I do this at home using a cheap Xover and only using the low pass signal to the subs. The verities run at full range. You can also get a better Xover and use a high pass filter for the verities. I personally prefer not to have the additional filter in the main signal path.

There are a few advantage to this approach:
Although by no means cheap, it is far more cost effective than going two three models up in the main speaker product line, which is what it would take to get this amount of additional bass extension.
Since the subs are active and 2x 1,500watt class-D works just fine for subs, the savings on amps is also significant.
You have full EQ on the bass, which is where most room response problems occur. The mains signal stays pure and clean in the analog domain.

If you wish you can listen to the results of this setup, because I live very close to you. I have the old partifal encores.
More to discover