HEY THERE MIKE,
happy to hear that your system is still "improving" and you are having a great time listening as well. but without divulging any details, did Kevin merely move the speakers around, or also make adjustments on the back while he was doing this? If you remember, i have a pair of Von Schweikert VR-9's (which BTW i upgraded two years ago to Mk.2 status), and i really only adjusted (attenuated) the front tweeter a bit since i am not all that fussy. I imagine the Ev.Acoutics also have some adjustability as well.
but enough about my puny girly-man system. I still get excited not so much by your nice "record player", but by the Studer's over on the other side of the room. you wouldn't happen to have any nice tapes i can "borrow"?
let me know.... and once again, happy listening. D.
P.S.- if i get a USB or Firewire input for my CDP, i still don't know quite what to feed the DAC inside with. i know i am a complete dumbass for asking, but what
exactly do you "stream" or whatever...? thanks!

french_fries May 19, 2014 11:35

okay, 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch, that's what i thought....!
and the two boxes are outboard analog circuits bypassing the studer preamps...?
exactly what are they all about? or is that "proprietary intel...?

french_fries February 19, 2013 01:31

HI Mike,
what are those two boxes with round discs in 4 corners to the left of the
studer r to r's? one is above the other on an audio rack system. i don't see
them in your list of gear/tweaks. why do you have TWO studer a-820's?
two different tape widths or ?? thanks, David.
P.S. - your "barn" doesn't look much like a 21st century audio haven from the outside- nice disguise me thinks...

french_fries February 19, 2013 01:27

correction- mental block, but i heard (in a great room/system) the Avalon Ascents - the top model at the time with huge external potted crossovers-
and listened to an LP of Charlie Byrd playing tunes on a classical guitar.
i was totally enthralled, and the dealer claimed the speakers were brand new and hadn't been broken in yet. Astonishingly beautiful sound nonetheless.
nowadays those speakers aren't "any good anymore", etc. etc.
oh well, what the H_ll, right, Mike? i am happy you are grooving along and
have a big smile on your face, plus you have a nice family as the ultimate accessory (!) to the stereo.
i have no family but i get BY with some JIVE as well as a little Beethoven NUMBER FIVE...
(in SACD of course...).

french_fries December 26, 2012 00:05

Part of me wishes to see if you will finally settle down and not make any further "improvements" to this system, while the other (the "dark side") anticipates that you will learn of/hear a new tweak or component that will dramatically improve
this set-up still further. While i greatly admire the system as well as the way you have done the "matching" of the various parts so well, i wonder how much resolution is needed to hear Sinatra's voice any better, or a Stradivarius violin's tone quality, Ella singing Gershwin, etc.
As for Beethoven #5 (or #9 for that matter), can you say that your system
(or anyone's) can even come "close" to a live performance? If you can honestly say "YES", then that's great, i am really happy to know that. But...OTOH, has anyone
really been able to mic an orchestra well enough, transfer the true sound to tape (or whatever), and put it on an LP or CD (i don't suppose the Tape Project has a copy of Beethoven symphonies for sale?), and make the claim that they have finally done it, you will get to hear this music as if it was "Live"? i will even put up with a bit of hiss, or some other very low-level background noise. I just want to know if you can trick the human ear/brain into thinking you are hearing the real thing, or....not.
Technology has come a long way, and so has the aesthetic level of this hobby (in spite of the obvious objections to cost factors). i have heard the Wilson WAMMS, the ALEXANDRIAS, AVALON Eclipse's, MBL Radiostrahlers, B&W Nautilus snails, B&W 800 Matrix, Magnapan 20.1's, Sonus Fabers, and Von Schweikert VR-9's, and many other systems/speakers. nothing quite as good as your room and equipment together in one place, but some pretty heavy hitters nonetheless. Personally i would have been perfectly happy with MOST of the ultra-high end systems i auditioned, but you seem to have a difficult time reaching the point where you just don't care anymore.
so again, i hope you can STOP and take some time off from wanting to improve
ANYTHING. BUT IF YOU CAN'T, maybe you could just let us know why.
P.S.- Happy Holidays from sunny FLORIDA and stay warm everybody...!

french_fries December 25, 2012 13:01

Hey Mike,
thanks for your response. it looks as though you are not into a defensive mode regarding your stereo, my stereo, or Joe X's stereo, so that's where i'm at too. i hope you realize however that when Fremer describes a dramatic burnout of an esoteric product under review, that no one can avoid focusing a great deal of their attention on that part of the article no matter what else he says. Just as he stated the levinson amps were fatiguing to listen to. they are not in the least.
they are vivid and dynamic and super clean. not everyone is going to take to that presentation, but there are no false artifacts that i can detect (now that i have had them for 6 months). Plus i have a secret weapon anyway- the Von Schweikert VR9's have a tweeter attenuator so that i can (and do) turn them down just a notch (with my previous amps also). this closely mimics the sound my Eggleston Andras used to make.
Are the Evolution Acoustic speakers tunable as well? i would imagine so given their forward-thinking design.
so getting to the important stuff- what albums do you reach for lately?
could you list one or two? I am still heavily into classical music, including
baroque, organ, and the SACD's on pentatone with Julia Fisher (violin) or
Rachel Podger. i love Ravel and am collecting more and more Aaron Copeland.
Do you like any Reference Recordings? Prof. Johsnon is so good at what he does, it is totally amazing.
I need to find out how you stream internet music too. that is my next project. anyway, keep the volume down- you know what happened to Peter Townsend...! regards, D.

french_fries November 17, 2012 12:45

Funny, but i feel the same way about my system, too. only Stereophile stated my amplifiers (Levinson #53 reference monoblocks) sound like S__t. a year ago however they thought the #532H Levinson stereo amp sounded wonderful and gave them an unequivocal Class A rating, at 1/5 the cost. Fremer loved your amps even though one of them blew smoke at him (after "carefully following all of the instructions") and they cost $145,000.
So who then is the ultimate authority on what sounds like "straight wire with gain"? Stereophile, or you, or me, or Stereophile, or Joe Blow down the street with a ghetto blaster?
i am sure your system sounds wonderful, sublime, enticingly like the real thing. but of course it's not. but the fact that your room is so DEAD QUIET and doesn't suppress or accentuate any particular frequency band(s) could have more to do with it than anything else (IMHO).
ONLY make sure to wait at least AN HOUR after uplugging your amplifiers before
touching anything they are connected to. you never know, especially if you're the world's authority at a particular magazine on the most expensive equipment they care to review- and can't tell a piccolo from a pea-shooter.
Oh i forgot- do your amps sound as good as the $300K five-box WOLCOTT amplifiers that M.Fremer raved about years ago? or only half as good...?
Put on some nice music and relax. that's what i'm going to do.

french_fries November 16, 2012 13:17

i remember reading years ago (in the audio press) how amazing the wilson Watt/Puppy 3/2 system was; you could barely pick the top cabinets up by yourself; they were so powerful that you didn't need a large "conventional" speaker anymore. just hook up a big krell or levinson amplifier to these mighty mites and you couldn't tell where the music was coming from. the dynamics, frequency extension, and of course imaging was state of the art.
Well, how far we've come from those days of yore, with behemoth systems making their "big" comeback. no doubt the effortless effect of having many drivers doing the work of few can be impressive and unforgettable. i just
have to wonder what happened to the imaging and disappearing act that
a small/modest well designed speaker system that seemed to capture everyone's imagination?
this system is no doubt one of the finest arrays available in the world today. the problem is Rocport, Kharma, Wilson, Magico, Nola, etc. ALL have the same ambitious designs, several that require 4 cabinets, and if you put
any one of them in this incredible room (let's hear it for this spacious room with treated walls and ceiling) you would have a jaw-dropping experience over and over and over again, just with a different set of nuances and system-dependent "tonalities". SO which one is the "best" can never be absolutely decided.
i heard the Wilson WAMM system 20 or so years ago and i can certainly attest to the effect a no-holes-barred system can have on the human nervous system. but no money and the lack of a large well-damped space to put that system into has kept that experience tucked away in my memories-not in my house. BUT it's great to see one of us mortals (congratulations Michael) attain that set-up in their own home.
AS for the rest of us poor slobs, we can always go see the symphony from time to time and still have a lot of fun.

french_fries November 02, 2012 10:01

Mike, that radio content is available on the web along with commentary, blogs,
and the like so you can participate (if you want to) in what you liked/didn't like
what you heard. it may not sound that great magnified over your big rig, but
you should check it out, especially if you're looking for new music. i heard Nielson #4 the other day (last thursday 10/17) and i thought it was really great. they feature top performers and orchestras, string quartets, etc. and feature
concerts from Europe, Tanglewood music festival, the Proms in England, the list goes on and on. i don't want to harp on this too much, but there is so much music i haven't been exposed to that i might potentially love, i have to tell people about it. plus yes, i give the local classical radio station a yearly contribution in the hopes they will stay on the air- you wouldn't believe that a city the size of Miami can't come up with more than 20,000 or so patrons.
i should also warn you that before you get your bass cabinets to do some push-ups and sit-ups (and keep a bottle of tylenol handy just in case). -since you seem to enjoy this hobby "so much"...! just kidding....

french_fries October 25, 2012 01:01

Hey Michael, i wish you lots of enjoyable hours relaxing listening to music in your "retreat". what does your family think about your ongoing efforts to find "the sound"? - i imagine you have a paradigm in your head about what you would
ultimately like to hear when you listen to music. i wonder a lot what that is and where you got it from. i got it from playing in the band in school and college. before i started in on chemistry and zoology...
for me i have a "stereo" in every room of my house except the bathrooms pretty much. a mid-fi set, Tivoli radio with Tivoli sub's, a boombox, and a pair of
sonus fabers in a second bedroom with a levinson integrated. to be totally honest i LOVE to listen to PERFORMANCE TODAY on public radio in the evenings on the Tivoli set while relaxing in bed. they have contemporary as well as every other genre of classical music, much of which was recorded before a live audience. i go to their web site later sometimes to get the exact name of a piece so i can add it to my collection. and the radio sounds really good, i should be totally ashamed to admit this, but the reality is i listen to a lot of other radio shows, too: Jazz with Bob Parlocha late at night, Pipedreams (organ music of ALL genre's), and so on. the big stuff in the living room is great,
but i don't HAVE to listen to only the most pristine form of music available in the house. i guess i am a real oddball for sure.
BTW, the VR9's with the new subwoofer amplifiers are noticeably better in the low bass area- tighter, deeper, cleaner. this also allows the midbass and lower midrange to come out of hiding a bit more as well. the new midrange driver sounds like the old midrange driver- which is good considering A. i liked the original driver very much and B. it's not "broken in yet" , so it might
get somewhat better (hopefully a whole lot better, eh?). who knows? I am just relieved to have them back and set-up where they were before- not that easy since they weigh considerably more with the new stiffer/heavier cabinets.
you may "love" getting a bunch of crates and having delicate equipment being hauled all over the place with a ton of packing material to be surgically removed, etc etc. I OTOH do not cherish this part of being an "audiophool".
my 1st set of components- a Fisher receiver, speakers, and garrard turntable- cost under $400 and i set it up myself. nowadays the CRATE for one of the speakers costs more than that. i am becoming incredibly nostalgic for a simpler time.
but yes, shit yes, my system does sound really REALLY good. just not (damn!) as good as yours.... all the best on your quest! D.

french_fries October 23, 2012 14:35

let me guess- Chivas Regal 30 year scotch? i saw a bottle in the liquor store for $150 years ago, but didn't get it. tempting though.
the Q7's can't compare with what you're getting, but for me i'm restricted to two cabinets, and they are beautifully designed. Von Schweikerts are all about performance and can look "lumpy" as a result (i.e. VR7 and VR9). i definitely have a weakness for aesthetics and would love to have "modern art" in the living room instead of "huge speaker- stand back!" oh well, "you can't always get what you wa-ahnt..."
and in the middle of all this i am trying to assemble a flat-screen tv with stand plus AV components in another room since my trusty Toshiba 14 YO TV set played its last re-run of "Friends" 2 weeks ago. the TV came dead on arrival on Monday so i have to wait until next week to get another one delivered. i only watch maybe 10 hrs a week but perhaps with 3-D glasses i can reach out and "put my arms around" Jennifer Aniston.

french_fries October 17, 2012 11:58

Hey Mike, i just got my speakers today (the VR-9's). three crates btw.
I will get some help (two guys from the local audio store) on friday to set them up. then i have to twist some knobs (all over again i'm afraid) for a couple of weeks to adjust the treble and bass to the mids. should be loads of fun.
and just how many crates do the MM-7's ship in? inquiring minds want to know. and, um, how many people are going to be on hand to assemble them?
I just hope you have plenty of chips and beer handy....good luck, D.
P.S.-Plus NOW i'm longing for Magico Q7's after reading the reviews. too bad they cost more arms and legs then i was born with..

french_fries October 16, 2012 16:27

well i hear you, but i still wish i had two sons who play linebacker for New England, so they can help me with the stereo during the off-season.

french_fries October 10, 2012 12:44

dear Michael, good luck with your speaker project! not to be a know-it-all, but unless you're being facetious, the parts being assembled into your speakers need to be tested one-by-one before they move on to the next part/driver. then of course once they screw the back on,
the speakers need to be auditioned at some length to make sure etc etc etc.
that's apparently why i had to wait an extra week or two for the Von Schweikert VR-9 upgrade. they test each board and each connection in some pre-determined order. since i am getting new subwoofer amplifiers as well ($4k)
they had to modify more "stuff". I am told they will sound "twice as good" as before. Jeez, i just want to get them back and set-up again. i never EVER thought i would end up with a pair of speakers i couldn't put in the trunk and connect them to my amplifier myself. i feel a bit powerless dealing with manufacturers, shippers, and installers just to extract a bit more realism from the "3 B's". What the heXX have i done? am i living in the real world or am i becoming a character out of stereophile letters, searching in vain for happiness by getting equipment so huge and cumbersome that i need two people to move the speaker 2 inches to the left?
is there a special place in Hell for people with 500W amplifiers and 400 pound speakers? maybe i should start saying my prayers....
BTW, my speakers shipped yesterday. so i should have them by Friday or Sat.

french_fries October 09, 2012 13:40

hey Mike, guess what...? i am also waiting for my VS-VR9 upgrade to be completed at the same time you are waiting for your new speakers to show up. So are you looking at a big empty space in your room like me, or do you keep a pair of "back-ups" around in the meanwhile? i was hoping to get my speakers a week ago, but... they are still "testing" the crossover boards and burning in the wiring, etc. But i last saw my speakers on 8/23, and i ain't getting any younger...
luckily i have a pair of Sonus Fabers in an extra bedroom, and while they are small, they're remarkable substitutes for a big pair of floor standers. Everyone is different, but personally i get used to whatever i am listening to right now- even if it's 4 drivers instead of 14....

french_fries October 04, 2012 11:34

hi, there, i guess i missed saying what i meant as far as the MM7's- don't you already have a HUGE pair of speakers relative to your room's dimensions?
i mixed that point up with an observation about amps that put out a lot of watts (gracefully). again, i have no qualms about the dart monoblocks per se, but they cost a disproportional amount of money compared to other manufacturer's "fananical-best" amps and i just have to wonder if that issue hasn't crossed your mind as well. A Lot.
If you know where i can get some good tapes (other than the limited choices from the tape project) i would certainly be interested. i had a reel to reel when you were still in diapers and i started out dubbing concerts over my old man's blaupunkt hi-fi radio. those tapes didn't sound half bad all things considered. i have a better one now of course... p.s.- i hope you still have a good sense of humor- regards, D.

french_fries August 06, 2012 00:33

Michael, since you once owned a pair of Von Schweikert VR-9's (and since i have a pair as well) i thought you might like to know the Mk.II version is now available with a better midrange driver, a stiffer cabinet, upgraded crossovers, and a more powerful subwoofer amplifier. the cost of these modifications is a fairly humble $12K ($8K without the new amplifiers). since this speaker is adjustable to almost any room (of reasonable size) you place it in, my only nit to pick is the cabinet finish which is not on par with Wilson or Rockport, etc. and could be more mirror-like.
i have to wonder how much air you're going to need to push with the enormous MM7's as well as the Dartzeel mono blocks that i would want to compare to some top-of-the-line amplifiers costing a lot less. would the newest offerings from Boulder, Pass, Rowland (725's), etc. NOT sound as good, and perhaps even better than the Dart's? if not, then FINE i could not be more enthusiastic if they are truly game-changers. Maybe...
my speakers already reach down to 13 Hz and have ribbon super tweeters
front and rear just in case i can hear anything above 15KHz (i can't). the carbon-fiber midrange unit, while not the best in its class anymore, has been favorably compared to electrostatic speakers. the crossovers are supposedly as good as money can buy.
the cabinet (350lbs) is not quite as inert as it (now) could be, but certainly has been doing a pretty convincing job (by your own evaluations).
could a Rockport, Magico, Wilson XLF, or ??? be EVEN more transparent than the Evolution speakers? was Einstein the smartest scientist who ever lived? Will the "best man" win the race for the seat in the Oval Office?
my head starts to spin uncontrollably sometimes when i read about all this equipment Equipment EQUIPMENT! IF we could only obtain master tapes of L.Bernstein conducting the NYPO or G.Szell with the Cleveland, it might be worth
all this trouble and trial. but we lack PURE signals with which to feed these Krazy Komponents of ours, and thereby often mimic the proverbial dog chasing his own tail.
SO in conclusion, i might go ahead and upgrade my speakers, but you know, honestly i can already say that the difference in quality between one recording and another is so markedly different (huge) that my gear is ALREADY light years ahead of the transparency of the software.
So who owns those master tapes i mentioned (Sony?) Isn't it about time we get our hands on them....? that could possibly kickstart a whole new industry.
respectfully, D.

french_fries August 05, 2012 12:16

hi Mike,
i am glad you enjoyed the patty g. song. one more artist i've heard of but never had a friend who sat me down to listen to one of her alblums. powerful stuff to say the least.
the philosophical comment about "your system" was meant to be half serious and half humorous. as i think i've mentioned to you before, i can't understand or explain why you do what you do. it all seems rather eccentric at times, but OTOH you seem to be quite happy when you're sharing your ideas (and your house) with your friends as well as the greater audio community, which is more than i can honestly say. i just want to share something else here- connecting. to great art.
and i don't give a damn if it's with a boom box from "brands mart" (which is all some folks have), or fiddling around and experimenting at wilson audio with DW and his switch box, trying to improve his $150k speakers. btw, have you heard the alexandria 2.2's? WHAT, YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THEM YET??!! relax, 'cause i haven't either. but i probably will someday if the local dealer gets a pair in. okay, but THEN, will i buy them?? at the rate i'm going, uh, no. but my stellavox sp8 is on its way to me as we speak. that's pretty crazy, given i already have 5 reel to reels. so when i laugh at audiophilia, it's a bar-room laugh with a guiness in my hand. i'm buying the next round, so don't get your back up on me dude...

french_fries August 13, 2008 01:55

"UP TO THE MOUNTAIN"- Patti Griffith-
go to prairie home companion.com and "last week's show" for an MP3 of the (entire) song. check it out- you won't be disappointed...

french_fries August 12, 2008 08:20

Mike, just a thought, but with all of the tweaking and upgrading you've done over the years, has it ever occurred to you that what you are "really" doing is in a cyclical manner, screwing up the sound, then putting it back into focus, in perpetuity...? not that it can't be alot of fun to do that, but everything sounded perfect before, and then before that, and again before that, and...
did anyone listen to prairie home companion which aired on saturday (8/9/08)? the last song (title?) before the show ended was sung so beautifully by (??) with an amazing guitar accompaniment i almost lost it. something about hoping to someday get to the promised land- maybe not in this lifetime, but perhaps in the next... i am not particularly religious, but the feeling the woman sang with was so authentic, i momentarily forgot about all of my problems, my worries, and just sang along with her in my mind. music can really do some awesome things, and sweep you away to the same place where she was.

french_fries August 12, 2008 08:07

i don't wish to beat this subject to death, but before i acquired a yamaha grand, i lucked into an absolutely gorgeous teakwood yamaha upright (a U-7). the store i bought it at easily had 75 upright pianos, maybe more, in this huge warehouse (they had another warehouse for grand pianos). after trying dozens of pianos there, and also having been to numerous other stores, i fell in love with this particular piano. the tone was so even from one end to the other, and when you sat down and propped up the lid, the opening was right at ear level- pure heaven. the action on grands use gravity instead of springs, but g-d was this thing nice to listen to. btw, a piano placed BEHIND your listening chair shouldn't resonate, as the dampers are sitting on top of the strings anyway. oh, one more thing- if anyone can explain to me how yamaha et.al. can make any money from selling these magnificient instruments, with the number of parts involved and the prodigious workmanship required to assemble them, as well as voice the things to make sure they sound good too, please let me know... ok, that is all. thank you and good bye!
OH NO, i HAVE to share this as well- i am going to be getting a (MINT) Stellavox SP-8 portable tape recorder! are these dinky little things any good? just kidding of course, but the only guy on audio asylum that also has one (or two) doesn't like to write me much. after burning a hole in my brain looking at nagras and stellas ever since bookmarking e-bay, i finally decided a picture of one wasn't good enough anymore. ANYONE who knows about stellavox's and/or nagra analog portables- PLEASE DROP ME A LINE! thanks again.
PS- for starters, i need a 7 inch reel conversion kit...

french_fries June 22, 2008 10:03

jeez, you guys!! if horowitz was happy playing a steinway,
it must have been a halfway decent piano. i was only kidding about the piano anyway, but it always helps to hear how a real piano sounds before spouting off about how good a stereo system sounds. as a piano owner i have no such delusions.
oh, and you can have a good laugh on me- i only have a Yamaha- gee, life is tough, ain't it? i heard on the BBC that the people in Somalia are starving from food shortages...
(when is this s___t going to ever stop?)

french_fries June 20, 2008 07:08

is that actual "artwork" i see on the side walls of your
"audio asylum"?? very tasteful. i see you have succumbed to
public pressure and done something about those bare walls.
just kidding, it really does look nice. but... where are those reel to reels? you haven't entered the promised land without one imho- sorry!
also, come to think of it, you need to add a Steinway for further sound enhancement- i think with that you will finally have "arrived" (smile). take care, dr.

french_fries June 13, 2008 02:23

i might mention here, notwithstanding that vinyl playback has maintained a superb reputation even to this very day, that i overheard a very interesting conversation years ago about cd playback even as HDCD was just getting off the ground. a couple of guys who knew recording engineers echoed their view that the 1st or 2nd generation digital masters sounding astonishingly good. but as the music went into its intermediary and final stages of remixing for the commercial release, at each additional step of running the music through the mixers/recorders it lost another layer of majic until the 16/44 disc only sounded "pretty good" as it was finally ready to be put in a jewel box. today some of those noxious layers of redundancy have been removed, and the machinery have been refined. i myself am in the blissful state where my vpi aries sounds about as good as my cd playback- one has a bit different flavor than the other, but both are fun to listen to. i did however hear an SME-30 years ago playing Jobim records over a pair of sonus faber extrema speakers, and it was really hard to get up and go to listen to another system (this was at a stereophile show). but... don't they (the turntable/arm) go for $40,000 without a cartridge?
geezo peezo... alot of my records are cutouts for crissakes!

french_fries May 27, 2008 06:50

hey i am really sorry for the diarrhea of the laptop, but i heard a really good alblum the other day thanks to parlocha- gonzalo rubalcaba- AVATAR on blue note- he's an amazing pianist, so check it out (everyone). take care, all.

french_fries May 17, 2008 10:50

as far as i can determine peter m. had advanced from the ML-5 to a NAGRA-D2
to make multichannel tapes. i heard a recording of a local orchestra playing through a reference system at his store, and went right up to the speakers to listen, because the sound was so authentic, so real (aside from the usual cd-style recordings with a mix-down, processing, etc.) yeah it was nice- a first-generation recording in 24/96. that's why i suggested you might consider get "something" you could record on as well. a basic set-up would include a mackie-mixer, basic, but having fairly good mic preamps built in. later on you want to upgrade to pro-tools (LOL).

french_fries May 16, 2008 10:56

hey, i'm just trying to touch on a few "different" areas along with equipment purchases. such as a table radio that sounds truly unreal on vibraphone recordings, or magnetic tape, live recordings done at home, some cool web sites and some good music to check out. Tito Puente is a remarkable musician, and takes american jazz and re-does it without taking anything away from it. so you don't have to worry that he is going to trivialize coltrane or ellington because he could have played with them if he'd wanted to (and probably wish he'd had the chance). but 4 months ago i would have said "duh?" if someone had told me about him, and what i now have heard myself on many recordings. hey, btw, how about some pictures of your reel-to-reels? i got to see Peter McGrath's personal STUDER/LEVINSON A80 a few times back several years ago. imagine a tape deck with hand-selected electronics to go with a state-of-the-art transport... i have had a tape deck ever since the 7th grade thanks to my father who brought home a Concord 220. after i wore that out i got a panasonic stereo deck, then a teac, then a bigger teac, etc. now i have a collection of five.
but none of them are as nice as the two you have. i'm such a cheapscate! also, because of space limitations, i didn't choose to get a 5-manual wurlitzer organ either (but imagine how good it would sound in a medium-sized cathedral!). have you ever attended an organ recital? i've been to the national cathedral, westminister abbey, even the cambridge university church, but damnit! no one was playing at the time!!

french_fries May 13, 2008 12:22

bob parlocha turned me on to another alblum you might consider if you like jazz guitar- Martin Taylor- Artistry.
available as an sacd disc from linn records.
he is a wonderful guitarist (almost as good as i am...!)
another artist he exposed my tiny brain to is jessica williams, an extraordinary jazz pianist. his web site- bobparlocha.com has ALOT of info on jazz, with links that lead to other links etc. and a very helpful playlist of current artists/groups. he sells t-shirts, but not cd's, so he is offering the information without getting a "percentage" if you buy something. jazz is a poor word imho for all of the MUSIC that is being created, both past and present, to connect the listener DIRECTLY to the "idea" behind the music. with all due respect to Coltrane, Miles, and Parker, there is so much more being offered by creative minds. lately i have been getting into Latin Jazz as well.
i thought it was mostly light-weight dance music for the longest time, but suddenly my prejudice dissolved into thin air and i discovered the layers of musicianship underneath the surface (you know, the typical "flavor" of the music the 1st time you hear it). with the recent death of Israel Lopez Cachao, again, thanks to the RADIO (I am considering building a SHRINE around the little box!), a very gifted bass player, i was introduced to ALOT of his music. geez, he was really good, and the bands were really good, too.
i also realized Cal Cjader never made a bad alblum.
anyway, i am getting transparent's MM2 tech. so don't worry that i have abandoned the high end. (Although, i REFUSE to get new amplifiers- my Levinson 33H's sound good to me, so tough S__t to all of the people who frown on them...!) i also obtained a Levinson 326S preamp and an EMM lab CDSA CDPlayer to replace my EMM lab DCC2-SE and transport, so we will soon see if my system can regain some musicality that i feel the EMM PREAMP may have bypassed.
i almost went for a dartzeel preamp, but i strongly feel that, as a audiophile friend of mine once said, it's one thing to make a super-expensive component that sounds great, but it's another to do the same thing at a "reasonable" price that many more stereo-freaks could possibly consider buying.
i am also a big proponent of "trickle down" when it comes to high-end audio. IOW, make a reference piece for the guys who drive up in a Porsche so they can get the 1st one the store gets in, and then a little later, take the Best Parts of it out and put in in another box with a few less features, and knock the price down by a third or more.
that's when i drive up in my toyota to see if i can get the "almost-reference-demo" for 25% off...

french_fries May 09, 2008 06:51

hey mike, it's french fries. how're you doing? btw, i need to ask you- do you sleep in the same bed as your wife? OK, HOLD ON, it's an audiophile question, honest! because you need to try MY audio-nirvana discovery, and i am, unlike yourself, going to reveal this amazing experience to everyone here!
now, you need to have a nite stand on either side of the bed?
GOOD, you're 90% of the way there!. one one side you place a tivoli stereo radio, preferably the clock radio (it has a stereo/mono switch, and an external power supply), and a tivoli subwoofer. using a splitter cable, buy a second subwoofer for the other nite stand, which will also have the stereo speaker. the cd player is a nice touch as well. you'll also need some good commerical free stations in the vincinity that play jazz, classical, electronica, indie, reggae, etc. you will pick up on alot of music you never knew existed, some of which you will eventually order.
anyway, lie in the middle of the bed, head within a foot or so from the headboard, and listen at a moderate volume to some tasteful jazz. the stereo imaging, the smoothness, and total lack of glare will start to make you wonder how a crummy little radio can sound so satisfying? whenever i get tired of television (i watch maybe 2 hours a day max, usually the news- you can get BETTER news on the radio anyway) you simply relax and let some well-informed DJ introduce you to great music you know and new releases you may come to know. BTW, have you ever heard Mendelssohn's Piano Trio #2? i know, what's the big deal, right? well it so happens it is one of the great chamber masterpieces, and is available for $9 on Amazon (sony records). do you get Bob Parlocha's jazz show in your area? he's one of the greatest authorities on jazz you could want, and comes on here at midnite, for a FIVE HOUR show. have you ever heard of Lambert, Hendrix, and Ross? they "sing" ellington and put words to a bunch of familiar jazz tunes (called Vocalese, like Manhattan Transfer). totally brilliant music. anyway, i hope you're enjoying your tape recorders, too. if you buy an upright piano (or a guitar) and invite someone (good) over to play it, you can record them, and i guarantee you, you will forget all about sound quality and just get really into the fact that you SAVED some live music for posterity. it is a lot of fun... all the best, FFries

french_fries May 07, 2008 08:08

Dear Mr. Loxodrome, please recall the wisdom conveyed by the bumper sticker- "mean people suck". Mr.Lavigne deserves to be treated with the same respect that you would want to receive.
OTOH, i do have to re-emphasize that half the work of achieving the most satisfying experience in listening to recorded music involves "letting go", or putting aside concerns you might have about the endless electronic and mechanical limitations that are always going to exist anyway.
as one graduate student i used to know in college would state- that, through careful research "science will be able to uncover ALL the answers to ALL the questions". perhaps he was right, but not in his lifetime, or his great-great grandchildren's. so each of us must at some point come to grips with, whether it's the house we live in, the car we drive, or our diamond-encrusted speaker system, how much is it enough?
TWO THINGS I WANT TO KNOW- #1- what records, cd's, and tapes people find most inspiring and enjoyable, and why. it doesn't matter if you have a $100,000 plus stereo system or you heard it on a radio broadcast. i am on the hunt for new stuff, and as much as i love Mozart, Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi, i need to explore new areas and new sounds. and hopefully (but not necessarily), i want the recordings to be revealing enough so i can hear everything clearly, so i can enjoy it on my (fairly decent) system.
NUMERO #2- i do have a nagging concern regarding my EMM DCC2SE preamp/dac-
should i seriously consider sending it off to be modified, adding blackgate caps and other upgraded parts? some people have subtly hinted that the preamp section is a bit dry sounding. i describe the sound as "VERY neutral", not necessarily thin sounding but not harmonically rich either. like i said, NEUTRAL SOLID STATE/JUST THE FACTS. the dac section otoh is excellent and gets the notes right, both accurately and musically.
this is not an inexpensive component, and the thought that EMM labs could have used (quite a few) better-quality parts is somewhat unsettling (not that i think about it all that often as i have more important stuff on my mind). So, i don't care that it's not the nicest looking preamp; if they saved a few bucks on the design, i can live with that. But it's what's inside that "should be" designed and modified by a group of engineers with some "trained ears" weighing in on the results.

french_fries August 17, 2007 09:39

mike lavigne is one of the most generous people/audiophiles i know, and personally called me to help me set up my von schweikert vr-9se's. we talked and wrote on other occasions as well. however, mr. loxodrome's point can be taken in a couple of different ways, aside from being Mr. Sour Grapes.
OTOH, i do recognize his point about taking the time to "really listen" to what THE MUSICIANS are doing on a recording (after you've tweaked your equipment ad nauseum)- this requires patience and concentration, like meditating (or studying organic chemistry).
drinking single malts, flipping through the absolute sound, wondering about this or that tube, power cord, a better speaker, the mark-2 version of your mark-1, or watching the lights blink on your amplifiers, are not going to get you to the promised land. alot of times i myself think my stereo is just making sophisticated noises, even after spending obscene amounts of money (i too have those accursed opus cables). friday morning was different though. a big veil lifted- probably a brain clot dissolved relieving a psycho-neuro-blockage (rather than the purity of the electricity coming from the wall), while listening to Handel string concertos (on an ordinary redbook cd). i was HEARING what those guys were doing; i could FEEL what they were feeling. i was grateful that i was able to make the connection- it doesn't happen all that often. even though i feel my equipment is doing its job, and that i'm reasonably satisfied evolving and upgrading my system, that extra dimension, that special mood, only comes around when i am "ready" to experience it. this takes some Mental-House-Cleaning for me, to get rid of the pops and clicks cluttering up my brain.
BTW, this thread is so long my computer (or audiogon's server) is having trouble viewing it! may i suggest that you start a new system thread called "please don't take me too siriusly"?? i would really appreciate it.
MY most sincere wish for myself and others is that we're having fun and making the most of our time listening to the music.

french_fries August 12, 2007 02:53

well, i, for one, feel that mike's ongoing experiments best serve the people that read these commentaries, so i thank you first of all for making SOTA 2-channel audio just as interesting as my subscription to stereophile and the absolute sound combined. of course i have an opinion about a "theoretical person" who would indulge in this hobby to such a degree that he would A.(hopefully) find the situation frequently humorous and laugh about his compulsions with his friends, or, god forbid, B.become overcome with rage and have a coronary if "some audiophile big shot" came over and felt his stereo sounded like crap.
either way, i have a pretty elaborate hi-fi myself, AND 13 guitars which mostly gather dust (but i love just having them anyway). and a piano, and 5 reel to reels, and... well, so WHO AM I to tell mike that he can or can't try out a new component? all i want is that he take the time to tell me (us) how it all worked out. yeah, i'm a bit pissed off that i get a pair of VR9SE's, 'cause they're so good according to a certain person, so no sooner do i get them i hear he goes off to get the VR-11's, only NOW he's listening to something else with gorgeous wood all over it which i don't have, and i haven't heard him say they sound better than the 9's but they probably do, etc.....! (just kidding)! my system sounds wonderful, and i cherish good music above all else.
i even like my Tivoli radio a whole lot and can listen to that for hours, too. so i just hope everyone has fun whether they spend a bunch of money or are total cheapskates and simply open the windows when their neighbors play music...

french_fries February 02, 2007 13:47

TO JOEY V.-
as a vr-9se owner i can offer a brief description of the speaker:
finish- could be alot smoother. speaker could be a whole lot prettier. (i have piano black gloss).
otoh, quality of materials and fit- A+
sound- for me it's all about midrange transparency; my previous speakers were eggleston andra-2's which were musical to the degree that you could listen to them all day, and lacked nothing except "huge speaker" dynamics. but after hearing the vr-9 midrange, they are truly in another league, truly in magnaplanar/quad territory. the perspective i get is not 10th row but more like standing at the podium (classical recordings), free to constantly adjust my focus on single musical lines or the the total mix at will. the subwoofer presents a challenge to integrate properly with the other drivers, but it is adjustable, and you just have to learn when to turn the level down (most people including myself like a lot of bass, but with the 9's a lot of bass is too much bass...)
as for all of the other dials and switches on the back which taylor the sound, i feel you can, with patience and time, get the speakers to sound good in just about any decent sized room - mine is 14 x 20 with a cathedral ceiling, 2.5 ft. from the side walls, with the rear of the speakers at 22 inches from the front wall.
i've heard a lot of great speakers over the years, including most recently the wilson alexandrias, and the vr-9's are definitely in their league. of course, if you buy the wilsons, the dealer will set them up for optimum performance for you. as the vr-9's do not even come with a manual (they're working on it), most customers will have to listen, get up, listen, get up again, listen some more, get up some more,... I was lucky in that i used the egglestons as a reference standard, and when the vr-9's got to sounding nearly identical, i felt i reached my goal. in other words, the treble still has some "bite" as did the egg's, the bass is ample but controlled. as for the mids, you'll just have to go and hear them for yourselves! and don't forget to bring a baton along to the audition...

french_fries June 04, 2006 17:50

in my discussions with transparent audio's representatives they do offer some scientific explainations (resistance, conductance, impedence, etc.) in addition, they admit that carbon fiber was part of an experiment in resonance control, and they do not have the test equipment per se, but in listening tests, it appears to work significantly better than acrylics or metals in isolating the network components.
they admit the prices are obscene, but insist that the amount of work involved in putting the whole cable together is considerable. i myself have Reference-MM which is one step below opus. it's very expensive too! but it's not just wire- it's a component. so much so that anyone out there with a pair of eggleston andra's, or an equivalent quality speaker, might want to at least think about this wire. in my system the andra's produced DEEP, clean bass that brought organ recordings to life, and midrange clarity and a 3-D stage that i didn't think the speaker was even capable of.
in the end, if you have the money stashed away somewhere and you are a crazy musicphile, you're in for a real treat.

french_fries May 12, 2006 10:16