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Constellation Audio

H

heihei

pfm Member
Anyone heard these? Read a few reviews and would seem an interesting alternative to Naim / Vitus....
 
yes , seem to read a lot about them but not heard any yet . as you say expensive . luxman good alternative if you want ss
 
I've heard the Hercules monoblocks at the Guildford HiFi Show (Absolute Sounds) running Sonus Faber and the small Wilson's. The sound was very good. My first impression was how large they were, they are large vented grey boxes sitting on the floor. I think you would need a dedicated listening room IMO. These are actually competitively priced for similar performance products....this is getting close to high end. A different sound to the Naim signature.
 
timola said:
I've heard the Hercules monoblocks at the Guildford HiFi Show (Absolute Sounds) running Sonus Faber and the small Wilson's. The sound was very good. My first impression was how large they were, they are large vented grey boxes sitting on the floor. I think you would need a dedicated listening room IMO. These are actually competitively priced for similar performance products....this is getting close to high end. A different sound to the Naim signature.
Click to expand...

Uh?

Competitively priced and getting close to high end ... ?
 
I was looking at the very bottom rung which is < £25k and therefore well inside Naim 500 series. Using the mono blocks would still come in cheaper. Far from cheap, but given the number of people running top-flight Naim, an interesting comparison.
 
Have heard the Inspiration stereo amp with their pre and can only say we thought it was excellent. My brother has it on his short list if he should change his VTL.
 
I've heard them on several occasions, very impressed. If I was going SS, which I'm not, then Constellation, Dartzeel or D'Agostino, would be where I would be looking.

The best value in the insanely price world we live in, would, for me, be the Dartzeel integrated, an amp I prefer to the companies Pre and Mono blocks. I've seen those under £9000 second hand, still very costly I know.

As an aside, I've seen D'Agostino Pre and Power amps, three months old, half price second hand. I know there may be some financial or personal crisis underlying this. If not, what sort of sane person spends north of £80,000 on amplifiers and tries to sell them second hand three months later, for half the price.

If anyone knows who it is, I am raising money to build a canal across the Amazon, very good investment opportunity.
 
I believe the brand started with Continuum (Dohmann designed turntable) and then they brought on a veritable who's who of designers and engineers to produce the constellation line. Then then let Dohmann go, or he left, and they have now brought out a replacement for the Caliburn.

Their stuff is clearly very good, how good or how it would compare on an inch-to-inch basis against Levinson, Krell, Dan D'Agostino, Vitus, DartZeel or that Greek company (blanking on it), or a host of others in a similar design segment, is up for debate. But they'd typically be paired with things like Wilsons, YG's, Tidals, Martens, etc.
 
The long and short of this is simply trying out the alternatives. Easier said than done to be fair.

I have moved on to Vitus myself. A significant step up from Naim in my opinion. I am sure the same can be said for the likes of AR, Constellation, Krell, Mark Levinson, Soulution and others. I have also heard some of the offerings of the others above mentioned. All very good, but do things differently, and it is simply down to want you want to hear.
 
MichaelC said:
The long and short of this is simply trying out the alternatives. Easier said than done to be fair.

I have moved on to Vitus myself. A significant step up from Naim in my opinion. I am sure the same can be said for the likes of AR, Constellation, Krell, Mark Levinson, Soulution and others. I have also heard some of the offerings of the others above mentioned. All very good, but do things differently, and it is simply down to want you want to hear.
Click to expand...

Totally. When I was growing up we were indoctrinated that Brit-Fi = good, and American-Fi = overpriced and lacked "PRAT".

While there was some kernel of truth in it.....at certain price points and focus on certain aspects, both sides of the design mentality have evolved and grown and have strengthened the quality and elements they bring to the table. A linn Klimax amp has tonnes more bang than they used to, and a modern day D'agostino has more boogie than his older krell stuff (I'm not sure he was going for 'boogie', but it happens to be a side effect). A naim Statement amp is kind of something trying to be all things to all people, but it is some $300,000 for a full set (I think that's the price now, yeah?).

Brits tend to put active systems at the top of the foodchain, American hi fi still tends to value large passive systems with big power. There are of course exceptions on either side.



But really what we should all just do is get big Tannoys and be done with it, regardless of which amps we have. :D:D:D:D
 
Given the distributor here in the UK hasn't had the courtesy to reply to an email asking where I can demo them, Constellation might quickly be coming off the list.
Honestly I despair sometimes at the responsiveness of what is essentially a service industry.
 
I'm surprised. At that price level it's shocking.

Do you know a UK dealer? I'd imagine there would only be...a few. As in any country.
 
I have heard Magico S5s powered by Constellation pre/power but preferred them with Devialet. They used to have the same UK distributor.
 
Solution, Vitus Audio and D'Agastino up there with the very best in solid state. Vitus Won me over from 845 mono blocks.
 
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