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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Reply to: What's up Bob? It's like moving from Cricket to Lacrosse! posted by Frihed89 on March 22, 2013 at 14:33:40:
What’s up with that? You want the long version? Like you have a choice. What’s up is that Tocaro importer and evangelist Creston Funk of Austin (Texas) Hifi, having induced me to develop very positive feelings toward Crimson electronics and cabling, could not leave it at that. It began soon after my first audition in Austin, with a Tocaro T-shirt. Then he had to plant Tocaros behind the Neill lines so they could work on my equivocal early response to them (http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html forum=speakers&n=314322&highlight=Tocaro&r=&search_url=%2Fdefault.mpl%3Fforum%3Dspeakers). He had no wish to enlist me as a retailer, since as I said in the above post, the limited supply from Germany would not really permit a network of dealers. But he knew I tend to talk (here and elsewhere and at great length) about what pleases me and figured he had nothing to lose by lending me a pair of 40D’s to see what might happen. So I said okay. And they’re here, have been here since mid January, breaking in. At a snail’s pace. And yes, they're now beginning to appear in my music reviews -- to give me a different perspective on recordings. Obviously, I’ve gotten over my “issues” with them. But it obviously goes beyond that...
Yes, I was very iffy about them back in Austin. Both curious and iffy, as you remember. And I would have little to do with them for the first month here. Their brand new D drivers were grouchy and stiff, withholding a great deal of what they were fed and insulting much of the rest. The ones I heard in Austin were partly broken in, but only partly; and the Tocaros played at RMAF last October, which were nearly new 42D’s and 45D’s, sounded like parodies of what even partly broken in Tocaros sound like. But during late February their bass firmed up and cleared and their treble sweetened enough to make a far more compelling (and competitive) case for their point of view than I imagined was possible. This past week, as they passed the 175 hour mark, I thought they had pretty much arrived and was generally pleased. But Creston wasn’t satisfied with my reports and sent me another pair of D drivers with many more hours on them. And with the new drivers in, their performance leapt ahead around three months (of my kind of listening time) and became dramatically better, especially in the low end but also in their ability to get the music out of the boxes. How many people would put up with this long a break-in time?? (Creston says with the replacement drivers in, my Tocaros are still only about 40% broken in!)
Sound. To begin with, these now late adolescent Tocaro 40D’s sound nothing like Audio Note or Reynaud speakers, which is part of what held me off so long. But what they do sound like is interesting (as always) and now, compelling. They are big on inflections, from surprisingly deep and commanding bass (remember these are single driver stand-mounts) to smooth clear treble on up as far as I can hear. (Note: age 74). Instruments and voices are extremely clear and present -- and they also have considerably more jump than I’m used to. On first hearing, with the sounds of other, more traditional (richer, fuller, more solicitous, a beat or so slower or more refined sounding) speakers in your ears, as I’ve said all along, they can discomfit for a while. They discomfited me some in Austin and, as I say, even more for quite a while here. But of late, after dutifully listening to them all by themselves for a couple of weeks in March, and now hearing them further broken in, I am beginning to hear music from their point of view. Different philosophies indeed. But they work. More than work. They have actually become somewhat addictive. Creston wins again?
I’m using them for my reviews alongside the Orféos to see how long the addiction lasts. They already sound good enough to recommend to friends looking for alternatives to Audio Notes and Reynauds (and Harbeths and Spendors). Pretty soon I am probably going to suggest to Creston that I become a sales agent for them, keeping his Tocaros 40D’s here to demo for the curious and referring enquiries to him. Why? Because I like them a lot, because they mate really well with and show off the Crimson electronics and the Resolution Audio CD player I sell; because they are an exciting alternative to Audio Notes and Reynauds deserving of more exposure especially up here in the Northeast.
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Follow Ups
- Tocaros - Bob Neill 03/22/1315:51:08 03/22/13 (3)
- RE: Tocaros - Frihed89 01:42:27 03/23/13 (2)
- RE: Tocaros - Bob Neill 07:06:18 03/23/13 (1)
- P.S. - Bob Neill 12:48:50 03/23/13 (0)
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