Chris Martens has posted a review of the YG Acoustics Carmel loudspeaker ($18,000/pair) at AVGuide. He observed:
Next there are the sounds of the instruments, themselves, which the Carmels present with such disarming and natural purity that they seem almost to deflect analysis, instead inviting a more direct and emotional connection. Through the Carmels, then, you can’t help but notice how Evan’s piano sounds more incisive, engaging, outgoing and alive in the club setting than it would in a studio environment. Similarly, as Paul Motian works his drum kit, the YG’s help you discern that the percussionist is making very small, subtle, on-the-fly adjustments to the rhythm and feel of each song, presumably in response to unspoken communications with his fellow players. And when LaFaro improvises on his bass, the Carmels show you how a certain just barely discernible hush come over the crowd—apparently an almost involuntary group reaction to the sheer inventive genius of LaFaro’s musical lines (and to the breathtaking, virtuoso chops with which he brings those lines to life). My point is that the Carmels reach beyond the usual catalog of audiophile virtues, instead pushing toward a point where all of the science in the speaker is doing its level best to stand aside in order to let the music come through.
You can read the full review here.
You can read my review of the YG Acoustics Carmel loudspeakers here.
