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John Potis

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  1. >>> People can't discern enough of a difference enough of the time to show a preference for either. If youre talking about comparing analog masters to digital masters and youve done this, then Ill defer to your expertise. But as extremely few of us listen to our music on master tapes, the more relevant comparison would be LPs and CDs and Im pretty sure that, one way or another, people can discern a difference. >>> There are styluses alone that cost that of a good digital player and vinyl still scratches and warps. From the standpoint of convenience and over all cost to own it would seem that digital should prevail. Thus one does not see LPs available at the local outlet. If your goal is to assemble a decent system on a budget, theres no question that digital is the way to goparticularly if you dont already own LPs. However, if you want a truly great system and if you already own a library of LPs, then one would be a fool to exclude analog. I *regularly* demonstrate the LP to people who never had a clue it could sound so good. >>>> Dare I suggest that there's a culture of vinyl snobbery keeping an archaic albeit good mode barely alive. T'is fine by me but I for one tire of hearing about the superiority of records. You may indeed dare to suggest such a thing. But Im here to tell you that I own a $10k digital system and an $8k analog system and I prefer the sound of analog. Im also pretty sure that Ive made enough of an investment in digital to avoid being called an analog snob. I would hope so anyway. Personally, I dont think its just a matter of digital vs analog-- the CD vs LP. As I said earlier, Ive got lots of recordings on both CD and LP and the CDs invariably sound worse. They dont soundstage the same and theyre not as harmonically saturated, either. Theres no question that the LPs have a denser meatier midrange presentation. Ive also got some CDs that sound really good which tells me that something is wrong with the way a lot of CDs are produced. I do acknowledge that the best analog is expensive, but the best usually is and if everybody wants to dismiss it for that reason, then thats kind of a reverse snobbery, isnt it? JP
  2. "I also liked the 2 other obviously talented and knowledgeable engineers explaining why their opposing methods were best. Its good to know that even highly-skilled recording professionals can't agree on the best way to listen to music. I thought it was interesting that the pro-digital engineer talked about how digital technology made doing his job easier while the pro-analog engineer talked about the *sound*. As a matter of fact, the more the digital guy talked about manipulating the original takes, the more uncomfortable I got. They didn't go into much detail with regard to the test. I assume that they were playing digital masters against analog masters. But that leaves out at least one step in the recording chain which takes us to the final medium used by the customers-- the LP or the CD. Now there are some really terrific sounding CDs but I can't think of any cases where I've got both the LP and the CD and the CD sounds better. Most of the time the LP is much better than the CD. I'd like to see the engineers explain that. And then they took a MAJOR leap from digital to MP3 and the death of the CD. If you guys haven't burned MP3 to CD and given a listen to it, you should. The gap between MP3 and redbook is MUCH wider than the gap between redbook and LP. It's truly horrendous sounding. JP
  3. It looks as though the brand is NSM and GREO may be a model designation. NSM makes loudspeakers http://www.nsmaudio.com/index.html but I'm completely unfamiliar with this or any other amplifiers-- I didn't know they ever put their name on them. It looks a lot like a Jolida... I wonder if there's any connection. JP
  4. Well, good luck with the Marantz stuff but count me a little envious of the Rogue stuff. I gots to hear me some of that at some point. From what I understand, it's a great company. I shouldn't say too much but Chip Stern has some of it in now and he's going ga-ga over it. Won't stop telling me about it. What I love about Rogue is their down-to-earth pricing. How he puts that stuff together for cheaper than some of the Chinese stuff earns my respect. And I've noticed that manufactures of far more expensive stuff choose to team up and use his products at shows. That tells me a lot, too. Sometimes just knowing that you have quality people standing behind your gear can add to the experience. I was just looking over their website the other night. JP
  5. Peter Gabriel: Both "Secret World Live" and "Growing Up" are fantastic. Tom Petty "High Grass Dogs, Live at the Filmore" is another favorite. Don't scoff until you've seen Peter Frampton "Live in Detroit". Yes, he does "Do You Feel Like I Do (with a great jazz improv)" but there's a slew of really good stuff there. I second the Talking Head's "Stop Making Sense" concert. It's a little dated now, but it is one of the best. If you're not a Roy Orbison fan, you will be after you see "Black and White." Last but not least, if you like great guitar and the blues, you GOTTA pick up Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival with too many fantastic guest guitarists to name here. I was never even really a Clapton fan but this festival shows Clapton playing at a level he's never even approached before. It's a double DVD and 4 hours of great music. Right off the top of my head. :-) JP
  6. I'd love to, Mike. But Maryland to Florida and back would be one heck of a day trip! :-) In what way are yours modded? JP
  7. Yes, I'm extremely familiar with the Silverline sound. I reviewed two iterations of the Sonatina, two iterations of the Sonota and the Bolero and I've used several of the smaller speakers. I heard (and liked) the La Folia. But the Sinhonia was just too much speaker to consider wrestling in for a review. But Alan Yun is a guy who designs by ear, measurements be damned. Have you looked at the uppermidrange dip he designs into his speakers? It might make some cringe but he produces very smooth and musically enjoyable speakers. And yes, they are the opposite of forward. Lamhorns: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/norvinz/norvinz.html Hornings: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/silvertone2/followup.html Tidal Pianos http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/tidal/piano.html With what are you going to power your Heresys? I don't have an ETA on my speakers yet. :-(
  8. >>>>> JP: Your post was brilliant. Alright. Consider yourself completely redeemed. :-) Seriously, I'm glad you found value in my post. I should point out that I haven't had a decent demo of Klipsch speakers in years. I'm not sure if you read about my attempt ( http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/bricks/mortar.html ) and I don't mean to put words into the mouths of others as I'm basing a lot on assumptions. Maybe we'll yet hear from others on the subject. I've used a few back loaded horns now and while some of them have problems (Lowthers), what they get right, is pretty hard to ignore. After spending a little time with the Lamhorn 1.8 with AER driver ($8500) and being blown away by some aspects of its performance, I started wondering about other horns and I stumbled into the Stereophile review by Sam Tellig of the LaScalla IIs, which, frankly, surprised me. The Lamhorns are different, but very similar to the Horning Perikles (one of two speakers I used in the dedicated listening rooms-- the other being the Tidal Pianos) and I couldn't justify the expense. So I'm looking for something that will energize the family room system like the Lamhorns did the listening room. When I read Tellig's comments about the smooth and sweet, if somewhat reticent treble, I was pretty sure I was onto something that could be exciting to listen to without being fatiguing. In the Family room I'm using a pair of Ohm Walsh 4s which have been upgraded with the Walsh 5mkII drivers. These, too, have a very musically friendly personality and are not the last word in some HIFI criteria, but are musical as hell and just enjoyable to listen to. But what these omnis do is drop the soundstage behind the speaker-- they make the rear wall vanish. What I want to try is something that projects out into the room, like the Lamhorns did. Something that just energizes the room. Incidentally, with the exception of bass, the Lamhorns do all the audiophile things superbly and not to the point where they distract from the music. In some ways they are indeed uber-speakers. Buy they add the dynamic snap that so many speakers are missing. If the LaScalas get me the lion's share of those goodies with the same level of dynamic finesse, I know I'll be very pleased. And I won't pretend that I love the whole history behind the speaker. JP
  9. You don't have to defend your doing your homework, you were quite right to do so. My points were two: 1) You didn't have to comment on this forum over there. That was bad form, in my opinion. 2) If you want to know about Ford trucks, why do you think you'll get more objective information from a Chevy owner? First, he hasn't lived with a Ford in order to understand why Ford owners love them. Second, he has to justify in his own mind his purchase of the Chevy. Unless he really regrets his purchase, he'll probably recommend the Chevy to you just to make himself feel good and because it's the only truck he has real experience with. Klipsch speakers may well be colored. I haven't enough meaningful experience with them to know. But horn speakers have virtues that other less colored speakers do not. And if someone hears the Klipsch speakers in a showroom and, due to any amount of variables, doesn't like what he's hearing and decides to pass on them, he'll never get to understand what it is that Klipsch fans love so much. As a personal aside, I can tell you that I've been wondering aloud for years now if the high end isn't moving in the wrong direction in speaker design. Levels of coloration are diminishing greatly, frequency response curves are, in some cases, ruler flat. In some cases levels of detail go beyond what we really may want to be hearing off our CDs and LPs-- certainly capable of more detail than what we hear from the audience. In short, I don't find most of today's speakers more musically enjoyable than speakers from the past. In fact, I've had several of these types of uber-speakers under my roof and I can tell you that some of them were down-right unenjoyable. Not only was my listening enjoyment not enhanced, I flat out didn't want to play music when some of these speakers were in the room. In my opinion, the high end may be moving down the wrong path and maybe it's time to reconsider what is important in speaker design. Like you, I've recently ordered a pair of Klipsch speakers-- sight unheard-- and I'm waiting to hear them for the first time. I'm waiting on a pair if LaScala IIs. Am I expecting a highly detailed speaker? Nope. Ruler flat FR? Nope. Deep subterranean bass? No. But what I'm expecting is a level of dynamic expression that I'm starting to fear is missing from most other speakers. Know that question we like to ask; when you walk by a room where music is playing, how do you know if it's live? Well, I don't think it has anything to do with frequency response! The room can be and often is awful as compared to a good concert hall. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with imaging or soundstaging-- you're listening through a doorway. But what I think is the greatest clue is dynamics. Micro dynamics, in particular. I'm starting to think, or at least wonder, if dynamics are not the key to music sounding real in the home. Maybe even without expressing it this way, I wonder if this is what Klipsch owners hear and what non-Klipsch owners don't understand about the brand. Bet you didn't think I was ever going to get back on track, did you! As for your question about my posting an answer, I'm not sure I understand the question. JP
  10. What I don't understand is, if all you were looking for was an unbiased opinion, why you had to mention anything about this forum at all over at Audio Asylum. I do think it was offensive. I'm new around here but I've spent a fair amount of time poking around the place and I find absolutely no difference in the validity of opinions here and at the Asylum. Well, that's not true. At least when you post a question about Klipsch over here you're going to hear from people... multitudes of them!-- who have owned and lived with the speakers. At the Asylum you're more likely to hear from people who are only familiar with Klipsch based on a one-hour demo in a store somewhere. Is one opinion more valid than the other? Inasmuch as you know nothing about the likes and dislikes of the nameless/faceless inmates, I'll take the opinions as expressed in this forum any day and twice on Sunday. People who have found a reason to invest their money with another speaker brand are not necessarily more objective about their decision than a Klipsch owner. The other difference between this place and the Asylum is the congenial nature of these forums. In that regard, the Asylum is aptly named. To answer your question, I did hear a pair of Heresys years ago that had the reticent midrange that you seem aware of. That was back in the very early 80s and from what I gather, newer models are improved. Can't say for sure, though, as I haven't heard one in years. JP
  11. "let's wait and see 20 years from now if the new wave chinese products are thought of as vintage, or disposable !!!" ... or still affordable. If you guys haven't noticed, the price of the Chinese gear is escalating. The combined greed of the Chinese manufacturers and distributors is, very soon, going to deprive Chinese gear of its price advantage.
  12. Wow, I'm a little taken aback by the fact that some seem to think that the word audiophile is a dirty one. As far as credentials required, there are none. The most commonly shared trait is that of being male, though I've known of exceptions. Beyond that, all that is required of being an audiophile is being a music lover who also enjoys the gear required for its reproduction. As far as being a male thing; most males love toys. It's the way we are. When you combine the love of toys with the love of music, you can't avoid creating an audiophile. After that, it's unfortunate that audiophiles choose to subdivide into different groups that seem to forget that there are no rules involved in being an audiophile except that he (or she) just enjoys the hobby. JP
  13. The CA 160s had some noise and my CA 330s have some, too.I believe Srajan's commented on a little noise on every Canary he's reviewed. Into my 96 dB Hornings it's not problematic at all and while Srajan's speakers are even more efficient, once the music gets going its never been a problem with him either. As a matter of fact, once the music gets going the noise floor seems amazingly quiet and the level of detail is terrific. I once read a review about an amp (can't remember which) that was only able to achieve it's optimal signal to noise ratio with an input signal. (shrug) Best, JP
  14. Sorry again about the coffee. I'll behave myself. You know what, maxg? There once was a day when I thought that the Bose 901s were grossly overpriced for what you got. Now, I haven't heard them in years but for the amount of bang for the buck they bring to the table, I can't say that they are as poor a value as they once were. At least their price has remained relatively stable while everything around them has gotten more and more expensive. From what I understand their construction has gotten cheaper and cheaper but I have no idea how this has effected the sound. Last time I heard them they did indeed have a big and exciting presentation with that big wall of sound thing going on. It can be fun and I don't blame people for liking it. Personally, I'm a little too addicted to image focus, stability and specificity to be able to enjoy it long term but hey, what ever floats one's boat. It's been way too long for me to be able to comment on the sonic merits of the speaker. Best, JP
  15. Hi rplace, How far up 95 are you? Here's my problem... as a chef I'm working while all of you guys are playing. This time of year my only day off is Monday and I do all my traveling during the day time because there's always something going on with the kids in the evening. Best, JP
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