Thumb5's system

[thumb5]

Being candid, the Accordos made it onto the list simply because they're designed by Franco Serblin and look gorgeous in the pictures I'd seen.  My heart said I must consider them.  In my head, though, I must admit I was sceptical.  They are so tiny -- even compared to the Guarneri Homage -- that I thought they couldn't really do a better job in the bass.  I'd also read a few reviews that suggested they were a bit of a curate's egg: "very sensitive to amplifier matching", "only good for chamber music and jazz", you get the picture.

Anyway, I was convinced to try a pair, and had them at home for a couple of weeks together with the G Evo.

At first listen, I was instantly back in familiar territory.  To cut a long story short, these are like the Guarneri Homage fifteen years on.  As might be expected.

My listening notes include:

These sound very similar to the G Homage + Gravis, without the faff of a sub and with perhaps an even clearer, airier, more open presentation.  They do a creditable job with loud and nasty rock music.  Imaging is very good, at least on a par with the G Evo if not better.  They are very good all round, except for large-scale orchestral tracks which can sound a bit mushy in the bass - i.e. you can’t easily follow the lines of the cello, bass, etc. independently.  They image extraordinarily well.  If I had to buy a direct replacement today for the G Homage, this would be it, without a doubt.

There is much more bass coming out of these tiny boxes than there should be, and it suffers a little bit from port resonances being picked up by room modes, I suppose...there’s just a touch of “one-note-ness” to it at times.

Drums are not entirely convincing.  That mid-range and imaging is completely addictive, though…if someone said I had to live with these for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t complain.

I can't emphasise enough how beautiful the Accordos are in the flesh.  Lovely craftsmanship, and so elegant.  They almost disappear visually because the aggressively-tapered body is hidden by the dark baffle.  My wife loved them too.

I listened to them very happily for a week or so thinking:

I wonder whether I prefer these to both the G Evo and the G Homage, but perhaps they’re not different enough from the G Homage to make it worth the switch…if I bought a pair I’d be happy listening to them, but they don’t quite satisfy the brief.

Then the penny dropped: they have a SAM profile!  A few minutes with the configurator, and I'd enabled it.

Wow! Bass is tighter, room modes have “gone away”!  Can follow bass/drums /much/ better.

Not only is the bass improved, but something good has happened in the mid-range and treble too.  SAM seems to have locked something into place that I hadn't realised was even wrong.

The second week with them was just spent playing music, and enjoying every minute of it.  Very often I found myself thinking: how is it possible to get that bass out of those tiny boxes?  Truly amazing.

The Accordos are an absolute gem.  They're not cheap, but taking inflation into account they cost a little less  than the Gaurneri Homage.  With SAM, they sound so much more accomplished.  For me, they knock spots off the G Evo.  I was sad to let them go back.