Jana Dagdagan

GoldenEar's Sandy Gross Talks Loudspeakers

Jana Dagdagan | Dec 4, 2017

The January 2018 issue of Stereophile, which will hit newsstands at the end of this week, features GoldenEar Technology's flagship Triton Reference loudspeaker on its cover, with a review inside from John Atkinson. When GoldenEar's co-founder and president Sandy Gross visited JA last July to set the speakers up in his Brooklyn listening room, John asked Sandy about his loudspeaker design goals, his preferences in sound quality, his tastes in audio, and the state of the high-end audio market.

As the day this video was shot was one of the hottest days in the New York summer and JA's room doesn't have air-conditioning, we left the door to the outside world open. But JA really shouldn't have worn shorts!

COMMENTS

Excellent interview.

Submitted by Glotz on December 4, 2017 - 3:10pm

JA asked the best 'why' questions... and he is one well-spoken dude. Kudos for yet another video.. much appreciated.

Not sure why JA shouldn't have worn shorts though... perhaps I shouldn't ask.

And Sandy seems like such a nice and thoughtful person! He deserves a lot of praise for his accomplishments over the years.

Mr.JA has

Submitted by tonykaz on December 4, 2017 - 7:06pm

a lot of gear but no signs of vinyl record playing paraphernalia, just like me ( now-a-days ). Two thumbs up !

I especially like the Square D electrical panel Modern Art Piece centrally featured between those speakers, ( I'm going to make one of those with my Wall Safe behind it ) verrrreee clevah.

$8,000 speakers made from the highest quality Chinesiums . hmmmmmm...
Is there about to be a Full Review of these?

Tony in Michigan

ps. a nearly complete Anechoic Chamber can be had on the Roof of that Apartment. ( probably for free )

LP Gear

Submitted by John Atkinson on December 5, 2017 - 4:13am

tonykaz wrote:
JA has a lot of gear but no signs of vinyl record playing paraphernalia, just like me ( now-a-days ). Two thumbs up !

My turntable is out of shot to Sandy Gross's left.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Yes,

Submitted by tonykaz on December 5, 2017 - 7:58am

I think that I recall you owning an LP12 Linn. I wondered which plinth and which Arm. I sold the various Linn Plinths : Rosewood , Black, Walnut, the various Arm Boards for a wide range of other Arms ( about 20 various Arms ). My Esoteric Audio specialized in Turntables , we sold and imported everything England, USA, Japan made. I loved it ! ( past tense )

I'm noticing the absence of a Wall ( or more ) of Vinyl record collections accompanied by the required Pro level cleaning machines and all the other misc. that is required to be an active Vinyl Household. Not even a Vinyl Record Jacket laying on display, to show which music is being played.

All these things once dominated the Hobby. It seems obvious that you are not a Vinyl Collector with thousands of beautiful vinyl on display.

And you say that you have "a" turntable. I read that as you saying that you have only One and not many turntables.

We all know you're a Recording Engineer, probably a Mixing Engineer and a Mastering Engineer that is Active in the Pro-audio Segment of this Business, don't we? And typical of the Pro-Audio people I know, you have a bundle of misc. interconnects hanging over a "handy" bit of metal, located near the rear of your various gear. Which suggests that you are not a "Wire" Audiophile.

In summary, I have Mr. JA as a pragmatic Music Industry participant ( wearing many hats ) that probably doesn't have the time to 'obsess' over niche things like Cable Trusses or Audiophile Fuses.
I recall a picture of JA listening to various Winter CES gear, using an AK240 as the Source.

My kind of Publication Editor

Tony in Michigan

ps. Arnie Nudel passed a couple of weeks ago, PS Audio will continue the work on the loudspeaker system they were developing.

Wow, obsession....for men.

Submitted by Anton on December 5, 2017 - 8:18am

Dude, you think about vinyl more than Fremer.

Mr.Anton

Submitted by tonykaz on December 5, 2017 - 11:35am

this is the enthusiast's network, we're Educated and have plenty of disposable incomes.

We are Enthusiasts !

I participate in a wide range of activities this Organization Covers with Print.

My parent Corp. regularly Advertises in these pages.

I've loved vinyl since the 1950s, even the little vinyl 45s that replaced 78s in 1949ish. I still admire vinyl but it underperforms compared to Redbook, SD Memory Cards, Streaming, Roon and now MQA.

But, I'm an mediocre enthusiast, i think.

Tony in Michigan

ps.1). obsessed suggests singleness of purpose, I have dozens of irons in the fires of life, I've just taken up Peashooter competition!
The Working people have to be obsessed or they'll get "fired".

ps.2). I know Golf people that are totally Obsessed

ps.3). I know Religious people that are beyond Obsessed ( including my Minister Wife ) Phew on this one!!!!

ps.4). Politics is Obsessed on the Crazy Scales.

And yet...

Submitted by Anton on December 5, 2017 - 12:04pm

It seems none of those people need to include their obsessions in almost every utterance about any topic.

Obsessed is accurate. If you don't agree, see if you can go 90 days without spewing the same old stuff about vinyl and see if you can do it.

Same old stuff

Submitted by tonykaz on December 5, 2017 - 1:12pm

There is new stuff to be talked about coming out of Europe. Tyll is reporting on it.

Otherwise, all this Audio stuff is mostly the same old stuff we've been talking about for decades, even Futtermans and OTL are being reminisced. Can we discuss SET Amplification ?

There is a levitating turntable platter concept discussed in Europe but still not discovered here in USA. hmm. I've seen it.

Some Germans have a Laser phono cartridge launch needing financing, wanna write about it? I'll pass.

Goldmund moved to where the Swiss locate their high-end Watch manufacturing, wanna discuss Goldmund?, I just heard one of their systems in Palm Beach, nice stuff.

Bob Katz is raising hell about our technical specification system, he prefers dbu instead of watts per db. Katz is pointing to a better way.

The Auto industry is migrating to streaming music, still clinging to satellite sourcing. hmm. lots to talk about there.

Stereophile Mag. covers mostly us old geezers and the stuff we traditionally owned. I'd love them to broaden out to cover everything from Phonak Bravo hearing transducers systems to advanced iPhone Audio Systems.

I'm not worried about angry neanderthals clinging to fossil based music storage formats. ( like me, I suppose )

I'm anxious for Stereophile to chart new technology vectors and moderate the 21st. Century debates.

This is an exciting time for Music Formats : much like Cameras that went from Kodachrome to Canon 1D and Music Gear transitioning from Class A amplification to Class D.

Don't wanna talk about the same old thing ? have a look at Hobie Kayaks, Honda's brand new generation of Gold Wings, there is a new generation of ultralight experimental aircrafts, and even a whole new Piper Cub.

Right Now is the best time, ever, to be alive. Lets talk about it!

21st Century Tony

Same old stuff

Submitted by tonykaz on December 5, 2017 - 1:13pm