![]() ![]() After finishing his first year of residence, he quitted and started a company with his father, making precision high-end pistol barrels used in the Colt 1911 custom-gun market for shooting sports. Karl received his undergraduate degree in physics, but went on to and finished medical school. My search eventually led me to Audiomachina, a boutique speaker company in the US run by Dr. Based on various forums, and review, it seems that Dunlavy designs were very highly regarded in their times. The only manufacturer I could find that do their designs based on these two principles is Dunlavy, which sadly is no longer in business. There are first order crossover speakers but all are ported! It is nearly impossible to find! There are sealed speakers, but none I can find uses first order crossover. even though I am not a first-order-or-nothing kind of person, I thought it may be interesting to look for a speaker that are sealed and first order crossover. But I do see the merits, at least on paper, of a first-order crossover design. I am aware that many people claim the advantages of first-order crossovers are not audible or important. ![]() I have read a lot about the pros and cons of first-order crossovers. With my new speakers hunt, naturally, acoustic suspension design becomes one of my preferences. However, I suspect if one lives with a properly designed and executed acoustic suspension design such as the Magico designs for a while, many will share my view when they listen critically. But with Bass Reflex being the norm nowadays, it would appear that most people are not bothered by these side effects. Transients just do not seem to be as quick, and to my ears, some of the bass reflex speakers with the ports tuned to 40Hz or so, just sound like they 'give up' when it reaches that point. And very often, the 'side effects' spill over and affect not only the bass, but the entire audio spectrum. I shall emphasize though, I do not find all bass reflex speakers intolerable, but the majority of them just sound boomy, slow, and monotonic, and always with inferior transients to my ears. One thing I notice after I bought the Mini II, is that I now have a tough time listening to bass reflex speakers. But every design has a set of compromises. They are truly state of the art in many many aspects. The Mini II is still one of my favorite speakers regardless of price. Magico taught me how good a well-executed, no compromise, 2-way shelf mount, acoustic suspension speakers can sound. When I purchased the Magico Mini in 2006, I was floored by them. I have yet heard a setup that sounds good (in the long run) that is not also solidly engineered. Truly good sound is always backed by good science. Even though I am not an engineer, I do consider myself a man of science, and have a good grasp of scientific and engineering concepts. Of course, they have to sound good! That's a given. The better purchases, I realized, are the ones that I took my time to understand the design principles and philosophies, and execution. I have come to realize that these mistakes are usually the results of relying on A) sales pitch (duh!), B) impulse purchase and C) auditioning in dealers' showrooms - in-home trials do not exist here in Hong Kong. I have made many purchasing mistakes in the past. But no other purchase taught me more then when I decided to purchase a pair of Audiomachina Maestro (later, Maestro Ti, and finally, Maestro Ti-200), designed and built by Dr. In my nearly two decades in this hobby, I always learn something new when I make new purchases. The new room is 15.5 x 18.5ft, a room within a room construction with double drywalls, using Green Glue with built in bass traps and various absorption and diffusion panels. With a new dedicated audio room (designed by Rives Audio), I began my search for a new pair of speakers to 'augment' my Magico Mini II, (I have finally recently sold the Mini II) which I have enjoyed tremendously for the past few years. Only when I move to a new room, do I get the 'serious upgrade bug'. Once I optimize the system in a room, I tend to just leave it alone and can usually enjoy the system for a few years. While I certainly qualify as an audiophile, in the earlier days, I did not change equipment all that frequently. The system served me well throughout my college years and beyond. In less than a year, I made more than enough to afford my first Hi-Fi which comprised of a Wadia 6 (later 6i) CD Player, Jadis DA60, and a pair of B&W Silver Signature (the original model) with MIT cables. When I first entered college, I opened a stock trading account, and used the money that was given to me for my college tuition to invest (secretly). This purpose of this write-up is to document my unique journey and buying experience to become the very first owner of the Audiomachina Maestro Ti-200 outside of the US. AudioMachina - The Dark Horse in High End Audio
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