TAS: 2024 Golden Ear: Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Mk II Loudspeaker - The Absolute Sound

Dre_J

Dre_J

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TAS: 2024 Golden Ear: Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Mk II Loudspeaker - The Absolute Sound

by Andre Jennings


2024 Golden Ear: Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Mk II Loudspeaker - The Absolute Sound
"Based on the many attributes observed during in-house evaluation and those mentioned throughout the TAS equipment report, the DARC 250 Mk II is truly an upper-echelon performer worthy of this Golden Ear Award. "

Dre
 
I had that speaker here. I thought it was a pretty poor sounding speaker. It was lifeless and had one note bass that was bloated.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
I had that speaker here. I thought it was a pretty poor sounding speaker. It was lifeless and had one note bass that was bloated.
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This is a perfect example of a very expensive speaker not sounding great in a real-world system. I have no idea what associated equipment, cables, room treatment, etc. were present when you tested them, but I do know that you've had several speakers come through that room that you were very impressed with (most of them at significantly lower prices, I believe - correct me if I'm wrong).

Then there are my $650 LRS's, that sound very good to me, in my system and my room. That I get so much enjoyment out of a very modest system, to the point that cables and tweaks are the only things that I am experimenting with, leaves me feeling truly blessed.

Now, when the Imersiv D1 DAC comes out, things might change. I'm pretty sure that I'll want it, the only question is whether or not I can afford it.
 
JCS123 said:
This is a perfect example of a very expensive speaker not sounding great in a real-world system. I have no idea what associated equipment, cables, room treatment, etc. were present when you tested them, but I do know that you've had several speakers come through that room that you were very impressed with (most of them at significantly lower prices, I believe - correct me if I'm wrong).

Then there are my $650 LRS's, that sound very good to me, in my system and my room. That I get so much enjoyment out of a very modest system, to the point that cables and tweaks are the only things that I am experimenting with, leaves me feeling truly blessed.

Now, when the Imersiv D1 DAC comes out, things might change. I'm pretty sure that I'll want it, the only question is whether or not I can afford it.
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Correct.

I also have two friends whose hearing I align with and trust also were not impressed with them. Additionally I've heard them two other times in tow different systems.

I'm not saying they are "bad" speakers - just not my taste at all. The $15K Audio Solutions I had at the same time was far superior to them in my personal opinion. Actually, the Audio Solutions speakers - even at lower than that price points - are terrific speakers for many people.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
I had that speaker here. I thought it was a pretty poor sounding speaker. It was lifeless and had one note bass that was bloated.
Click to expand...
Michaels HiFi said:
Correct.

I also have two friends whose hearing I align with and trust also were not impressed with them. Additionally I've heard them two other times in tow different systems.

I'm not saying they are "bad" speakers - just not my taste at all. The $15K Audio Solutions I had at the same time was far superior to them in my personal opinion. Actually, the Audio Solutions speakers - even at lower than that price points - are terrific speakers for many people.
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For clarification, what speaker are you talking about, specifically?
 
Sorry guys - just checked my notes. It was a Capello big floor standing Gauder I had here. I stand corrected that it was not this exact speaker in the OP I had here.

I have in fact heard a variety of their speakers in different set ups / locations over the course of the last year out side of my system here. Within those experiences I've still yet to hear one that I like in my personal opinion.

Apologies for the mix up of models.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
Sorry guys - just checked my notes. It was a Capello big floor standing Gauder I had here. I stand corrected that it was not this exact speaker in the OP I had here.

I have in fact heard a variety of their speakers in different set ups / locations over the course of the last year out side of my system here. Within those experiences I've still yet to hear one that I like in my personal opinion.

Apologies for the mix up of models.
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What amps did you use with whatever Gauder speakers you were sent?
 
mep said:
Thanks for your response. Do you have a link to your Gauder video review? Also, there are many models in the Capello series of speakers. Which model did you have?
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Yes, I agree, I'd like to see that review as well as I've been a fan of the older Gauder Berlina and later DARC series models for quite a few years.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
Sorry guys - just checked my notes. It was a Capello big floor standing Gauder I had here. I stand corrected that it was not this exact speaker in the OP I had here.

I have in fact heard a variety of their speakers in different set ups / locations over the course of the last year out side of my system here. Within those experiences I've still yet to hear one that I like in my personal opinion.

Apologies for the mix up of models.
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Which models have you heard? Any details on the setups would be appreciated....thanks.
 
mep said:
Thanks for your response. Do you have a link to your Gauder video review? Also, there are many models in the Capello series of speakers. Which model did you have?
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Hi - I had the largest one - it was the 100.

Every video I make takes between 30-50 hours to fully produce. Where it is such a personal subjective take on speakers, and it's possible they just didn't work in my system (even though I did try various amps), I didn't want to spend all that time and effort to actually produce a video. I just sent them on to the next reviewer.

I am actually backed up by about 14 videos currently.

I also didn't want to put a video out there saying I didn't like them. Because no matter how many times I would say in the video "it's personal opinion - go listen to them for yourself", I felt no one would actually hear that part and just have the takeaway of they are "bad speakers".

My personal take is that they were dull, lifeless and one-note sounding bass. I actually felt they were easily bested by the much less expensive Audio Solutions I had here at the same time.
 
For anyone reading this thread:

If you'd like to read more specifics about the Gauder DARC 250 Mk II, which was the subject of the original post, you can read my equipment report of the speaker that goes into more detail and adds substance to why it received a Golden Ear Award from me.

This is beyond the link that summarizes my thoughts on the DARC 250 Mk II in the original post that starts this thread before it went off track.

The full equipment report is here:
Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Mk II Loudspeaker REVIEW by Andre Jennings https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/gauder-akustik-darc-250-mk-ii-loudspeaker/

Dre
 
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