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Honeymoon ongoing with Crimson and Tocaro

T

TTom

Member
My story begann in 1990 wanting to buy a pair of Rhedeko with Crimson amps, but fate had other plans.

Fast forward to 2006 I got my set of Rethm 3s (with Supravox drivers) and DNM 3C Six and PA3s plus a Rota
and Ivwas super happy with it until the PA3s died in 2019.

But in parallel I started also looking for a second system for my second home.

I looked around, no listen around - what is on the market. I was totally open to "mainstream" stuff. I listen to
Wilson Audio (really not my taste, just HIFI imho)
DeVore (coming closer)
Fyne (ok, not great)
biiig Maggies


and finally had a private audition with Tocaro 45s and the new Crimson 880. THAT was it!! This was the "sound", no music performance I was craving since I heard Rhedeko (just more refined, less colored if you want so ... ).

I ordered a pair of Crimson 640 latest gen on the spot as replacement for my dead DNM PA3s. WOW, what a jump. Much more refined but at the same time much more authoritative than my DNM. Faster AND lighter AND better bass. I did NOT expect such an improvement all around on this magnitude. BUT, as the Crimson was much more powerful, I fiddled with my DNM Pre to reduce gain. And yes, I found out -painfully so- that my Pre had also a problem. Switching the wrong button (monitor), full voltage dropped into the Crimson and the Crimson destroyed one of the Supravox drivers in less than a second. 175w into a highly efficient driver who expects no more than 40w was a loud experience :) !! LOL

Well, now I needed a new speake too. Actually two sets. I decided to order the full set ;-)
A pair of Tocaro 40s to mach the 640 in room I
A pair of Tocaro 50s to mach a new set of Crimson 880 Triplets, yes full tri-amping. (the new Tocaro 50 will have 3 drivers). for room II which is big with high ceiling. Lucky me, I know ;-)

The delivery of the 50s is delayed due the complete reegnigneering required for the new F-series drivers. However, the F-series of the 40s arrived exactly one year ago. And I am in Honeymoon ever since!

Paired with a Mytek Manhattan II plus HQPlayer running on a powerful workstation, the music is beyond my expectations. It is literally just music. Does music have Pratt? And a fast AND deep bass? Crisp and beautiful heights? Yeah, the Tocaro is there ;-) The new 50s will be just absolutely gorgeous. I will tell more once they are here :)

Have a great rest of your day!
 
It reappears again, out of the mist of time.... Happy to read more about the Tocaro/Crimsons.
 
Oh good, another new member who has become a satisfied customer of Crimson. Good news. It's funny that established members here never seem to try Crimson gear, but there are a few really positive reviews from new members here.. They must be really satisfied with their systems, because after that one rave review we never hear from them again. They must be so busy listening to all that fantastic music on their Crimson hifi that they don't get time to post again.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Rhedeko are not even hi fi.
Click to expand...

Rehdeko has long been out of business, Weber Rehde left this world decades ago.

I think its refreshing if Tocaro and Crimson manage to survive the current boombox overpriced hifi climate.
I have great memories of the Crimson electronics I've owned back in the 90s.
 
Learn something everyday…

Never heard about Crimson, so this thread peaked my interest, sockpuppet or not, and did a bit of reading.
Seem to be be fairly well received, also here on PFM in the past.
Lovely esthetic on the amps reminds me of a modern 303. Just goes to show we have different tastes :)
Will probably never see or hear them. Shame.
 
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Crimson, and their offshoot Quantum, were originally sold as part built kits in the UK electronics mags of the ‘70/80s. Very much followers of the “hair shirt” brigade, as championed by JV (“our cases may look like sh1t but they sound great”), but reasonably well thought of at the time. With some interesting ideas, battery driven preamps and separated preamps getting their power from PSUs in the power amps.
 
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Interesting reactions. Yes, totally new to this forum ;-)

Good thing is we all have choices. And my experience with Crimson and Toc is outstanding. But thats just me. My systems are open for the discerning music lover ;-) Texas/New Mexico area....

@Arkless Electronics I pay you more than 14k for a set of speakers IF you can give me more music :)
 
TTom said:
Interesting reactions. Yes, totally new to this forum ;-)

Good thing is we all have choices. And my experience with Crimson and Toc is outstanding. But thats just me. My systems are open for the discerning music lover ;-) Texas/New Mexico area....

@Arkless Electronics I pay you more than 14k for a set of speakers IF you can give me more music :)
Click to expand...
Ignore them Tom. Some of the members here are at a 'difficult' age and given to cynicism.
Did you obtain your Tocaros through Austin HiFi?
 
No, Austin Hifi is closed for business afaik. But an old associate I met in a San Antonio shop gave me the names behind Crimson and Tocaro. I can send DM if you like ;-)

My system "looks" like this and sounds absolutely beautiful. (oops how do I insert here pics...)

Weber Rhede is the grand father of this system. Maybe great grandfather ;-)

He postulated that a driver should not move air but excite air. Even a bass drum does not move really air, but rather just inflicts a big energy ;-) same with Tocaros, super fast, no cone movement (or really just a tiny bit) but super exciting, pun intended. So quite a different approach. This requires obviously super transparent and fast electronics and Crimsons complements the Tocaroos in an amazing way!! You have to hear to believe ;-)
 
I also believe that Bob Neil of Amherst Audio in the USA also championed Tocaro/Crimson some years back. I had always wanted to hear the Tocaro's just to hear what the fuss was all about, and almost took a punt on a pair of used model 40's. In the end I decided not to, as Tocaro seemed to go away, and the thought of trying to get any kind of service on such a driver a bit daunting at the time. The Crimson amps on the other hand, I had heard a few times and enjoyed them.
 
I can only speak to the new F-series from personal experience. But the quality of workmanship is outstanding. The box is finest carpentry, the cone is hand made from cotton afaik...and the doping of the fiber seems to make them very robust. I do not have any concern with this speaker. The opposite, after one year they sound better than ever...
 
I have heard the system comprised of the crimson 880 and Tocaro 45’s that Tom refers to, and was also hugely impressed. I have the Tocaro 40’s with the phenomenal Crimson 640 e4 and Crimson 710 pairing, and also a pair of 880’s. I have had the good fortune to own many, many sets of amps and speakers in my past from the usual suspects such as Naim-Tannoy, McIntosh (275 valve, several solid state) , Sonus Faber, Krell, Classe, with Kef, vintage Jbl and Altec, Klipsch, etc. ad nauseum. I currently also have the excellent Audience One Plus v5’s, an Air Tight Am201 amplifier, vintage Albarry 408’s and some other nice pieces to refer too. The Crimson amplification setup has all of my favorite attributes associated with Naim i’ve owned (various naits, and a 250) (pace rhythm, timing) but with additional speed and transparency. They make every speaker that I own sound their best. They are utterly remarkable. Their ability to convey dynamics and transients is one of my favorite elements of their capabilities. The Tocaro speakers have incredible craftsmanship as Tom has mentioned. They are quite unique and hard to describe. They are unbelievably fast, dynamic, rhythmic, and it is almost as though they are playing harmonics in a unique way. Even though they are quite sensitive they prefer to be driven with a high current amp. One would think they would partner well with a small SET amp, but I don’t prefer them with mine (I forgot to mention that I have also dabbled in that arena, and own a DIY 345 triode amp). The Albarry play a distant, but still enjoyable second fiddle to the Crimson with the Tocaro’s. The Tocaro 40E are ruthlessly revealing, and with some amps you definitely are left lacking of their magic. They also need a bit of fiddling with their placement, and in my instance they preferred to be about 4-5ft into the room, and a bit over five feet apart with 15 degrees of toe in. I am also a musician (vocals, drums, keys, attempting to learn guitar), and do quite a bit of audio engineering. The Tocaro-Crimson pairing are wonderful in that application as well, as they show any flaws in the recording. I’ve used them both in my small acoustically treated studio room (13x12x8), and also in my large living area successfully.
 
Hello Roomfrog. I am glad you like your 880s. It took me, my son and Peter More 17 years to get from the concept to shipping them out.

I'm a musician too (guitar), I love playing the Beatles songs. also Eagles but for a challenge some of the ABBA songs are good; two diminished chords in one song must be a record.

Happy listening.
 
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