Hifi is a journey, not a destination.

I played piano, alto sax and clarinet, subscribe to the symphony, and enjoy the jazz and blues scenes in Seattle. I'm familiar with live music. My music interests span from classical to jazz, blues, and other stuff (rock, folk, funk, electronica, etc). Favorites include Michelangeli, Argerich, Furtwangler, Montoya, Piazzolla, Melvin Taylor, Junior Wells, Lionel Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Brubeck, Jeff Beck, Stanley Turrentine, Jeff Buckley, (early) Chicago, Zeppelin, Cream, Groove Armada, Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax, Daft Punk, etc., depending on mood.

I've been interested in hifi since I was a kid. Pioneer in the 70s, Counterpoint in the 80s, Audio Research in the 90s... I grew cynical of the direction the hobby took in the 2000s. For this system, I wanted to express my personal sonic priorities beyond what is available in the commercial market. My goal is to communicate music's impact, soul, emotion, and nuance. I want my system to play with alacrity, gravitas, affection, protest, or just funkin' good times. If it can't conjure a wide range of emotional reactions, than it simply won't satisfy. After years of effort, this system plays small-scale music with softness and delicacy, while large-scale music like Rachmaninoff, Mahler and Zepplin is sublime, projected with bone-crushing power like a big Steinway D or Audi RS6.

Creating a memorable sound system is like cooking a delicious meal. In the beginning, I bought great ingredients, all the components and parts that comprise my playback. I quickly learned that ingredients without experience and talent aren't enough to create a memorable sound system. It took many years, failed experiments, and a few successes to get here.

Experiencing thoughtfully-implemented multi-way horns was an epiphany. My high points are Josh's wonderful Electronluv system at VSAC 2003, and Romy's Macondo in Boston.

The speakers are the heart and soul of my system. I named them Shibusa, a Japanese word describing an aesthetic of simple, natural beauty. Shibusa refers to things that exhibit: Elegant simplicity. Effortless effectiveness. Understated excellence. Beautiful imperfection. They began as Edgarhorns, purchased new in 2005. After years of learning, stupid mistakes, and epiphanies, I could write a book on horn speaker design and still barely scratch the surface. Horns are like F1 race cars - silly high performance under skilled hands, while unforgiving of fools (I made my share of foolish mistakes). My Edgarhorns evolved with the addition of stereo sub-bass channels (Danley Sound Labs horn subs, used in IMAX theaters), upper bass (full-size 142 hz tractrix horns from John Hasquin loaded with Fane Studio 8M drivers), mid-range (Coral M-100 drivers in 400 Hz tractrix horns), and HF (magnesium Fostex T500A Mk II), and crossovers and amps to support them. There is literally nothing leftover from the original Edgarhorns, but they were a great education.

There are a total of 10 drivers and channels (5 per side). All filters except sub-bass are first order, with both speaker-level and line-level filters. First order filters are beneficial to minimize phase spinning and other time domain pollution, but require better performing drivers due to more overlap between the drivers. Integrating all the horns, drivers, amps, and crossovers in my room was challenging, more difficult than I ever anticipated, and a required a very long learning curve. I use both measurements and subjective listening to balance speaker placement and individual channels. Listening room is 16' x 18'. The effortless and deep-bass, startling dynamics, and full-range clarity distinguish Shibusa from conventional speaker designs. There is NO harshness or 'horn' sound in Shibusa, according to visitors - even those with anti-horn bias.

Without the kind and generous support of horn thought-leaders like Dr. Bruce Edgar, John Hasquin, Steve Schell and Rich Drysdale, Romy, Jeffrey Jackson, and ESO, it would have been very difficult for me to achieve as much as I have. Thanks to all who shared in this journey!