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19 Sep 2004: Tasos Hartzis

Hartzis-Sep-2004-pic-sys

By Stelios Mitsionis & Lambros Valleras

Tasos Hartzis is the designer and manufacturer of the well known Analysis ribbon speakers. He is also a passionate audiophile. The meeting was held at his house.

Description...

The system composed of the top of the line Analysis 'Amphitryon' speaker, a Classe 301 main amplifier, and both Symphonic Line integrated amp (used as a pre) and CD player. All equipment (minus the speakers) were under evaluation, since Mr. Hartzis is looking for the best match to drive his speakers and listen to music according to his expectations.

The listening...

Hartzis-Sep-2004-pic-2We listened mostly to jazz music. In fact the review team had brought a lot of CD's for evaluation and listening purposes. We have listened to the 'Amphitryon' speaker a few times before and we liked the sound very much. These are very open, airy, transparent and dynamic speakers, able to capture the essence of music in many respects. With the right equipment we believe that it can be a jaw dropping experience listening to them.

S.M felt that this particular setup was not the best match for the 'Amphitryon' speakers. He feels that the amp is not powerfull enough for this kind of speaker and that it doesn't have the elegance or finesse in order to reveal the Amphitryon's virtues.

C.S thought that the Tchaikovsky '1812 Festival Overture', which he brought for listening evaluation, was performed extremely well, as far as soundstage, apart from some minor confusion towards the end of the piece, which is extremely demanding anyway...

On the other hand, it was felt by the review team, that the pre and cd were propably not run in yet. Their sound seemed to be somewhat mechanical with evidence of electronic grain. Since the player and pre were set one on top of the other with no vibration control we also felt that they couldn't perform at their best.

Hartzis-Sep-2004-pic-1Even with this compromised set up, the overall sound was good. The listener had a good chance to appreciate plenty of the speaker's virtues. The sounstage was big in width and height and only in absolute terms somewhat lacking in depth and definition. Transparency was good and the atmosphere of each recording was well portrayed. These are neutral speakers with very good tonality.

Music Program Highlights: (only digital material)

  • Tchaikovsky 1812 Festival Overture, Op49 (original scoring, Minneapolis SO/A. Dorati, Mercury Liv. Presence 434 360-2, CD)
  • Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3 (PNO/Martha Argerich, RSO Berlin/R. Chailly, Philips 446 673-2, CD)

System Description

  • Analysis 'Amphitryon' full ribbon speakers, driven by Classe 301 SS stereo amplifier and Symphonic Line 'Klarheit 1' preamplifier.
  • Digital source: Symphonic Line 'Klarheit 2' CD player.
  • Wiring: Monster and Gotham for interconnects and Silver 001 for speaker cables.
  • Power cables/Electr. install.: Not special.

The hospitality...

Hospitality was of very high standards with food and drink being excellent. Everybody ate and many drank and all had a very good time. We wish to thank Tasos for this very successful meeting and we wish him luck in his search for the perfect components for his system.

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Tasos Hartzis' Member Page

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