Tír Na HiFi

I was in Cloney's on Wednesday for another reason, but I'd seen in their ad in The Irish Times that they had some YG Acoustics speakers on dem and I was all agog, having heard so much (and all very good) about them. There they were, a pair of Carmels, YG's smallest, most affordable speaker.

They were being driven by an enormous Pass Labs integrated (though only 60W, despite the size!) and in appearance they seemed almost disappointingly neat. They would probably be mnore domestically acceptable than many audiophile delights (once the price was never discovered!). A two-way design, unported so apparently not too fussy about placement.

They lived up to their reputation. The sound was clear, clean, natural and effortless. Stage-depth, complete separation between instruments, beautiful natural timbres, and of course that old chestnut, hearing new things in familiar recordings. Every other speaker I've heard is distorted and bloated by comparison with these. So fast and accurate! And they go down to 32Hz! My huge sub only reaches 30Hz.

You should try to hear them while they're there!

I said affordable, but that's only relative to the rest of the range: I still couldn't dream of buying them (£25k). And I lose all sense of proportion when I hear sound like this!

Exact same reaction when I heard them a couple of weeks ago, Ciaran. My only misgiving at the time was a slightly shouty upper mid, which I put down to newness and maybe the Devialet amp not being the greatest match. The Pass should be a better match by all accounts, and I can't wait to hear it.

Still, nothing here is remotely close to a budget I'll have in the foreseeable future!

Damn, I was in Blackrock yesterday and considered dropping in for no particular reason... I would have liked to hear those.. comfortably expensive to be completely out of contention. Which is best these days!

Thanks for the interesting write up there Ciaran, good to hear interesting news about new blood on the street so to speak.

Yes I saw that Pass Labs some time ago, a INT60, 30 W in Class A and when the love gets really hot it switches to 60 W in Class B. A truly enormous amplifier with about twice the depth of my Leben 600. Definitely a two man lift!

Stereophile give it a stupendous write up, best thing since sliced bread etc!

Pushed me to check Cloneys site. They have some interesting stuff in the secondhand section at the moment. 989's, wonder are they DaveF's old pair? Kharma's,ML's
Never heard of YG acoustics maybe the price range just excluded them from my radar. Might make a trip out to hear them.

I heard them during the week. With Devialet yoke. Ridiculously good I think.


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I heard them too a couple of weeks back in the shop. Incredible size of soundstage for what is quite a compact footprint. And fully agree with the comments on the accuracy. They really are very well worth auditioning!

The Pass hadn't arrived yet and so I also heard them with the Devialet. Have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of the Devialet's top end and prefer the smoother type of presentation that I've heard from a lot of amps that run in Class A. I can imagine the Carmel's partner really well with that Pass integrated...

Great to see the guys in Cloney having these ranges in to audition!

tony wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:17 am Pushed me to check Cloneys site. They have some interesting stuff in the secondhand section at the moment. 989's, wonder are they DaveF's old pair? Kharma's,ML's
Never heard of YG acoustics maybe the price range just excluded them from my radar. Might make a trip out to hear them.

Hi Tony,
The 989's are mine unfortunately. Due to circumstances beyond my control I have to downsize somewhat. The 989's,which sound brilliant, have to move on as I just won't have the room for them.
Mick.

Loved them too. Dropped in a couple of weeks ago. Can't recall what was playing but it was startling in it's ease, breadth, depth and pace. Rock solid, rigid construction - honed from a single aluminum (one 'i') billet I was told. Remember thinking - had the guy put on some sort of studio master recording of sorts?! €25k is a reckoner and the experience made me a tad nervous cranking up my own gear later. Needn't have worried! Happy out.

mick wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:54 am

tony wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:17 am Pushed me to check Cloneys site. They have some interesting stuff in the secondhand section at the moment. 989's, wonder are they DaveF's old pair? Kharma's,ML's
Never heard of YG acoustics maybe the price range just excluded them from my radar. Might make a trip out to hear them.

Hi Tony,
The 989's are mine unfortunately. Due to circumstances beyond my control I have to downsize somewhat. The 989's,which sound brilliant, have to move on as I just won't have the room for them.
Mick.

Ah that is a pity Mick sorry to hear that. 989's need a lot of room I remember them in Ivors house and even though the room was a good size I think to get the best out of them they need circa 18 x 15ft room. Interesting to see if somebody here goes for them. What work was done on them?