maxg Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 To have people come around to one's house to listen to your system is not a particularly rare event. My house is frequently the location for various grades of audiophiles to come around and sample my audio wares. Under normal circumstances I am relatively confident they will like what they hear. Fairly sure that wherever they come from they will be pleasantly surprised at my modest setup and pass, in the main, positive comments. There are exceptions however, times when the person coming is one that, through variety of circumstance, brings with him the expectation of disappointment. One such person, in my mind, was Christos Skalambakos. From the postings he has made on here, from his position as President of the Audiophile Club of Athens and from the ever present rumour mill I was expecting horns, tail, a halitotic sneer of fire and brimstone and the total rubbishing of my system. Had I known the sound of his own system I would have been in a flat panic. As it was that was yet to come: At about 11:30 in the morning he and Aristidis arrived at my house. To my mild surprise Christos seemed a friendly and relaxed sort of chap much in keeping with Aristidis. There was a brief summary of my system to get them acquainted with what lay before them and then a slight pause as they checked the setup on my new turn-table. It seems my needle weights in at slightly over 2 grams (which is fine apparently) and that the guy that set it up for me in the shop knew what he was doing. So over the next few hours we listened to records, to CD's and to SACD's including a few multi-channel disks. They made a few minor changes to some things. Switched out the interconnects from turntable to phono-stage, brought gifts (they say to beware of Greeks bearing gifts but I think I got away with it in this case) and listened intently. Tony finally arrived, joined the listening session for a while, and then we all headed off for my local vinyl supplier. I expected to see some look of relief of Christos' face. Some indication that he had already passed the point of politeness in listening time, or some give-away hint of his distain for my system. Far from it. If he did feel this way he hid it brilliantly. I sensed there were parts of the system that really did impress (I am inordinately proud of my soundstage, of the level of integration of my sub and even the quality of sound I have achieved for the money spent). Christos commented on all of this, positively. I know he was not unduly impressed with my sources, except probably with the Pro-ject for its price/performance. My Marantz CD player, I think, was regarded as barely adequate, whilst my Sony SACD/DVD player was not held in any high esteem. I further surmize that Christos did get a kick out of the Rodger Water's M/C SACD but that we will need to find a higher quality player to make it more than a passing interest. The shopping was likewise a great success. Despite my record shop not having gotten in all the new titles promised we found plenty to buy. I picked up 46 new disks, Aristidis about 30, Christos 25 or so and Tony another 10. I have the feeling we made the shop-owners day! Thus ladden we returned to my house, dumped the vinyl, ordered pizza (and Chicken for Tony - he is on diet again) and to my great surprize - continued, at Christos' insistance, to listen to my system. In the end his comments were positive, and the suggestions restrained to say the least. I should get the turntable properly placed (not resting on the DVD player) and maybe play with my interconnects. Christos stressed the importance of balance in a system and indicated he felt I had it. There was no "throw away those cheapo mono-blocks", and no "that CD player is an insult". How taken was I? Well I am now a member of his Audiophile Club of Athens (ACA) - I joined on the spot. To my knowledge I am the proud owner of the least expensive system in the club. Finally time came to leave so we all headed off to Christos' house to hear his system. THat my friends is another post altogether.... ------------------ 2 * Heresy 2 (mains) 2 * Homemade horn speakers (rears) 1 * REL Strata 3 sub Accuphase E211 amp. Tube monoblocks with separate pre-amp (DECWARE ZTPRE with separate beefed up PSU) Pro-ject 4 turntable with Pro-ject 9 arm and Pro-ject 6 head, Marantz CD6000 player Sony NS900 SACD/DVD player Stax Headphones (on loan to a friend) Humax 5400 digital satellite receiver Sharp Video 32" Sony flat screen 16:9 TV Mogami interconnects Silver Synergistic speaker cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 At least the overall performance for the price passed the grade.What do you want,when an audiophile has first class gear he/she will only be dully impressed by most good setups.And you should know a man who owns Wadia digital will not find any little Marantz a worthy competitor. And his Genesis speakers,ouf these are so transparent and detailed ole Klipsches sound like detail less giga watters.The ribbon midrange units on the Genesis cannot be equaled by some midrange squaker.Ah well This is why I upgrade almost all the time,musical perfection costs around $50000 for a two channel system.Anything less and you have compromise. TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 Max, I somehow missed this post. It sounds like you had a great time having these guys over to listen to your system. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and seeing your system on the ACA website. I frequently visit the site and am amazed with the wealth of information as well as all the nice systems. It must be really nice to have people like Christos and Aristidis in the immediate vicinity. Kind of like having mdeneen around for Clipped, fini, Jazman and HornEd. I'm jealous! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 Do ypu get an official card? Is there a handshake? I have never heard (pardon the pun) of an audiophile club, sounds fun! ------------------ Receiver: Sony STR-DE675 CD player: Sony CDP-CX300 Turntable: Technics SL-J3 with Audio-Technica TR485U Speakers: JBL HLS-610 Subwoofer: JBL 4648A-8 Sub amp: Parts Express 180 watt Center/surrounds: Teac 3-way bookshelfs Yes, it sucks, but better to come. KLIPSCH soon! My computer is better than my stereo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 If you would like to check out some serious gear, then check out Christos' site... http://aca.gr Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted April 1, 2002 Author Share Posted April 1, 2002 Mike - the point was simple - what a nice guy Christos is. He managed to make me feel like my system was worth something despite what he had at home. Remember he came to my house before I went to his so I had no idea. Ear(s) - your budjet is probably correct - it may even be optimistic for all I know. I am not foolish enough with say $12,000 worth of kit to try to take on $50-70,000. My problem until Saturday was that my system was as good if not better than anyone elses I know baring a very few (Aristidis for example). I had nothing to compare to. Christos' system is so high end, and so far out there in front - that I now have a new milestone to aim for. Maybe I will never get there - but at least for once I know where I am going!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 maxg, Yeah his Genesis speakers are magical,I did audition a pair once at a Montreal high-end dealer that closed. The sound,so transparent so free from box colorations. I was floating in another space.Surreal I wish I had the room to position such large speakers(I know they need good breating space,back and sides to really shine). Still my Dynaudio and Spendor get me quite close IMO and are not as picky about placement.And the best speaker I ever(EVER) heard is the Dynaudio Evidence Master powered by Pass Labs(PassAleph)amps and Wadia CD player.Ah pure extacy When I saw the price I had to take a dump.Over 150000 USD for a two channel system! For any acoustic music this setup blew away any would be contender.And these large Dynes vanished,imaging was razor sharp. The most important thing is you are happy with your system,I know my systems make me forget time and space.This is the most important part,involving sound is king. TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOUNDJUNKIE Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 Ears, I know what you mean about the Genesis. I had a personal Sunday auditioning from Mr. Kaye himself in NYC with the front end being Jadis. I was out looking for some B&W 802SIII's and couldn't afford the Genesis, but when George found out we came from the same "old country", I was in! MAGIC!!! This message has been edited by SOUNDJUNKIE on 04-01-2002 at 06:52 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 I think Max and his friend have a great thing going - I would love to see other peoples systems and meet more music / system loving people. FYI - I live just outside of Milwaukee, WI just in case there is anybody here in the SE WI or NE IL who want to start a group like this???? Just drop me an Email. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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