In our Italian tour to discover the High End of the Italian North East, the visit to Audiosophia has been a major stopover. I must admit that I had never heard before the brand or his owner, Max Micelli, but after having listen to the machines and chat with the designer, I have got a clear idea and I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel of the Hi-Fi…Is that enough to begin, isn’t it?
The clarification
Audiosophia is not a company, but a single designer with an own brand for his products. The website is not fed and updated regularly, so you can find here only a part of the endless top-level production. Let’s say that Max Micelli does not improvise in making audio gears. With a degree in Electronic Engineering, his main occupation for more than twenty-five years has been the audio playback.
Max has collaborated and acts as consultant of musical groups, audio enthusiasts and recording studios, like the Bombanella Soundscapes in Maranello.
Besides modding several devices like microphones, mixers, equalizers and digital recording devices, he has provided the studio with the Audiosophia C18, B8 and L1 monitors and with the Audiosophia DM7 microphonic preamplifiers.
The Stock
What can I find at him? The first interest that should move any audio enthusiast to a pilgrimage at Max’s, are the shelves full of audiophile abundance. A Mecca of more than 34.000 vacuum tubes, most rare, with a constantly increasing number. Then, there is a personal collection of amps and tuners of the ‘70s. I think unique. Moreover, he owns tens of pairs of amazing drivers. The greatest collection of drivers, amps and tuners I’ve ever seen. And all is on sale, at convenient prices. Take a look at the photo gallery and hurry up!
The realizations
Max’s entire production is homemade: tube or solid-state amplifiers, acoustic loudspeakers, DA converters, mains, power and signal cables.
Starting from the design, rigorously on paper, he makes manually all the manufacturing stages of gears and speakers. Ad example, for the transformers he makes winding, isolation, cooling, wiring and painting of the caps. For the chassis of the machines he makes stamping, drilling, smoothing, painting, assembling. In the circuits, he cuts the headers, and then he makes marks, holes, assembles the components and wires.
I own his Audiosophia I-50jm integrated amp, which has an exceptional balance between power, precision and listening pleasure although is a pure solid state, even if with mosfets.
The sound
I will be straight. At Max’s I have enjoyed the best interfaced systems I’ve ever heard. The most fulfilling ones. Let me explain.
The loudspeakers can be clear, but without body. They can be of impact, but without grace. The amps can be very powerful but without real dynamics. There are amps that are more refined although perforated lugs with the blow of the tuberculosis…
Most of all, there are very expensive systems, but without coherence, balance, completeness and sound cohesion. On the contrary, Audiosophia has them all.
I am in love…In the end, Max and I think similarly. What counts having the maximum accuracy on the paper – and there is accuracy of course – if there is no emotion in the air? This is what an Audiosophia’s system puts in the room. Detail, vibrant air, endless power and listening pleasure, no measurable distortion or perceptible listening fatigue. Pure emotion. Always. I do not know how he does, but he does. This is why I ordered him a pair of loudspeakers as my personal reference.
N.B. His creations are extreme. Max squeezes every component or device until he gets the sounds he wants. The amps are warm but not hot. The tubes are pushed but no strained. This is Max. He knows where to put his hands and bend metal or silicon to his will. I do not know how he does, but he does. He said something about the tubes, though. It is all about currents. I cannot say much more, otherwise he should kill me. Yes, there is a reason. Read below…
The caution
The man we are talking of is a very dangerous sociopathic. If it hadn’t been for the good influence of his wife Susanna, he would have already grabbed someone by the throat. And he probably did, secretly. When you say Latin, you often think to something heating and inflammable. When you say tough South American, specifically from Venezuela, you mean natural killer…
Micelli is overflowing, exaggerate, excessive, gigantic, endless. He can shifts from testing machines to stroke his beloved and big dogs or becoming irascible. If you see a flash in his bloodshot eyes, be sure he has taken his pills…
And, last but not least, what makes me real doubt about my safety when I am with him is that, sometimes, he speaks of himself in the third person…
What do you think? Am I exaggerating? Wait to know him…
Anyway, his wife Susanna says that he seems, if you do not know him, unfriendly and blunt, a bit intransigent, but then he becomes extremely patient and communicative as soon as he starts knowing you and then you love him! Almost…
Modus operandi
Max has always been aimed to realize personal designs, depending on what the customers asked for. Big or small speakers, floorstanders or bookshelf speakers, in wood or colored. Amps with tubes or transistors, more or less powerful, with chromed or colored chassis. Take him anything and he will overturn it. Usually he succeeds in making a strong bond with the customer. He deepens the acquaintance. He tries to understand the tastes, the exigencies, the conditions where his realizations take life. He “enters” in the customer’s mind. They are often in touch and they often become friends. Max’s design suits perfectly with the personality and the means of the customer.
Then, while he realizes the design, he likes to captivate the future owner, who can live in first person all the stages. He never says: “Ok, we will see in three months, when the work is done”…
So, in most of the cases, new relationships, new friendships grow. Very often, also after years, old customers show up or call only to know how is he.
From the practical point of view, it is very difficult that a customer with a specific design made for him by Max wants to change, after a couple of years, amp or speakers. Sometimes they do not want to listen to more innovative solutions or they agree to the results but they still want to keep their creatures. Maybe they agree to an upgrade, an update, but nothing else. That happens almost all the time.
Advices for purchasing
Hear ye! Our designer and manufacturer has only two hands. Don’t ask him for mass-production. Imagine an engineer specialized in the audio field that, if necessary, can work as a blacksmith or a carpenter, a designer or a painter.
His designs are exclusively on request. That takes time and, consequently, he makes just few pieces in one year.
For this reason, I suggest you to buy what he has already made. Then you can always sell it to Max’s fans or to your friends that have for sure appreciated his machines.
If you want something special, unique, well, pay the advance payment and wait in line.
His secret dream is a company that hires him and takes care of everything – from the stock to marketing, from bureaucracy to production – while he just acts as a designer.
I am confident he will. Max does not leave things halfway through.
Until then, we knock at his door, book one of his realizations and enjoy it. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Bye, bye, come visit us again!:-P
