maxg Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Warning - this post may come across as something of an ego trip. Apologies for that - I am feeling rather proud right now!! Well its all done and dusted now. They came, they listened, they made positive comments and constructive critisms, they ate, they drank and their comments got better and better as the booze flowed. Overall the reactions were a riot. Most had come direct from Tony's house so we ran kinda late finishing at about 1 rather than at the more normal 10 - 11. (I got off lightly it seems - the last people left Tony's house at 3!!) I am not up to sorting out the pictures and the reports just yet (one hell of a headache as I write). Headline comments include: 1. 3 people thought the treble response was off. One is of the opinion that the capacitors in the crossover need changing out (an audio consultant by trade). This is something I will investigate. 2. Everyone commented on the balance of the system and how well it all worked together. Several people commented that on paper the system held little or no interest for them but they were so glad they came to see what was possible for such a small investment. 3. No-one could believe how well the little project played, more importantly - no-one thought it worth my time and money to upgrade the TT anytime soon. 4. Arco is absolutely determined to get me to test out his 300B amps despite saying how massively improved the overall sound was. 5. 5 people were totally stunned by the amps I have now (in contrast to Arco - at $600 for a pair of KT88 monoblocks they were of the opinion that it would be difficult to beat the performance for considerably more $$$). 6. 4 people want me to help them choose a sub. Everyone commented on the seemlessness of the integration and they all fell off their chairs when I turned it off. 7. 6 people want me to come over to their house to hear their system. One of these has Lowther Horns and used to own Sansui's many years back driven by 300B's (!) He was the most complimentary visitor of all and actually told me he prefers some aspects of the way my system plays over his own (primarily voice and bass). As he is a gentleman well into his 60's I would guess he is less sensitive to the treble than others - see item 1 above. 8. A whole bunch of people want me to take them vinyl shopping. The responses to the selection played was staggering. No-one could believe that I have been collecting vinyl for only a few months. The gentleman with the Lowthers actually wants me to choose vinyl for him despite his being a collector for 40 years!! 9. One group of 4 people spent most of the evening running from one room in the house to the other shouting back how good the system sounded from wherever it was they were at the time. 10. 5 people want me to bring a selection of my vinyl to their house for them to listen on their own systems. Several of them have excluded mono recordings from their collections to date and now want to get some fast. 11. Everyone who had come from Tony's refused point blank to draw any comparisons - all saying the systems were as different from each other as it was possible to be. As one of them described it Tony's is a typical audiophile system - you have to sit in a single location in the listening room in silence with no distractions. My system on the other hand can be listened to anywhere in the house and is - in his words - the ultimate party system (I was playing with the volume dial at around 3 o'clock at the time - guess 105-110 dB at my usual listening position. From memory Marvin Gaye - What's going on? was spinning at the time. I will post in reply to this thread links, pics etc. once they are ready. I will also post the list of albums played for those interested. Overall it went about as well as it could have done. I feel that so many people have vindicated my purchasing decisions I could not be happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Max, It sounds like a good time was had by all. I would be curious to know what the music selection was... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundthought Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Excellent Max. That is fantastic. Glad that it all went well for you. Isn't it nice when your system performs like it's suppose to, when it's suppose to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 Hi Max and many many thanks for being such a good host! What happened (finally...) to the food stock and all these beers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 21, 2002 Author Share Posted October 21, 2002 ---------------- On 10/21/2002 8:14:51 AM arco wrote: Hi Max and many many thanks for being such a good host! What happened (finally...) to the food stock and all these beers? ---------------- 10 starving refugees arrived from tony's house and helped solve the problem!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 21, 2002 Share Posted October 21, 2002 So Max, are you ready for some RF7's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 22, 2002 Author Share Posted October 22, 2002 A selection of the recordings played as promised are: Bert Kaempfert, Africaan Beat - Living Stereo recording 1962 Rossini, Barber of Seville - 180 gramme recording Blue Train - Blue Note recording Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd - Greek Recording The Wall - Pink Floyd - German recording Dave Bruebeck - Take Five (180 Gramme) Janis Joplin - Pearl - Greek Recording Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto - Mono Recording - Montreaux Wagner - Extracts from the Ring of the Neibelung - Mono recording (RCA) The Animals - Greatest Hits - Greek Recording (ANT1) Marvin Gaye - What's Going On? - 180 Gramme recording Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Step - 180 gramme recording Dean - Sorry - not a big fan of the RF7 - yet to hear it play sweet enough for me to live with!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted October 22, 2002 Share Posted October 22, 2002 Max, I have also rediscovered vinyl lately (but that's another story) so I was wondering where one can get hold of this Greek pressing of 'Dark Side of the Moon' which I seem to recall you compared favourably to audiophile pressings, correct? Glad you had a good time. BTW.: Did you receive comments on your change of speakers? Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 22, 2002 Author Share Posted October 22, 2002 Dubai, Greek copies of DSOTM are not usually that difficult to find here. If I come across one I will grab it and let you know (typical price is less that 10 euros). It was difficult for most people to comment on the speaker change as most never got to hear the system with the Heresy's. Arco, on this forum, had heard the system with the Heresy's and commented on the massive improvement in my sound since the last time he was here. Sadly, as is always the case, the speaker change was not the only one I have made so he could not be sure how much of this was down to the speakers. FWIW - in my opinion the improvement through the speaker change alone was significant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 22, 2002 Share Posted October 22, 2002 Max, Did you know there were over 600 people at your house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 22, 2002 Author Share Posted October 22, 2002 OK Dean....how do you deduce that??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted October 22, 2002 Share Posted October 22, 2002 Max thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it - and if you ever pass Germany and feel like listening to my system just drop me a line... Wolfram Oh, and what else did you change apart from your speakers? And when it comes to a 300B amp I can only say...yes, go for it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 22, 2002 Share Posted October 22, 2002 Well Max, that's hard to explain. You see, there are only three kinds of people in the world -- those that can do math, and those that can't. I must have the only set of RF7's on the planet that sound good. I wish someone with a decent set of ears could hear my setup, cause it sure sounds "sweet" to me! Having lived with Magnepans for over 10 years, I, if anyone, should be able to evaluate the level of hardness in the treble and midrange. I'm starting to think more and more that 7/10's of what we actually hear is attributable to room acoustics/ interaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 23, 2002 Author Share Posted October 23, 2002 Deang, Well if you have switched from Maggies to RF7's then I think that probably proves without a doubt that the hardness issue can be overcome sufficiently. You may indeed be the only person to have done it!! So the question is - how? What's the secret? You hint at room/speaker interaction as being a possible solution - did you make any special treatments to the room? Was it just luck? In all honesty I have only heard the RF7's in shop demo's so the setups were less than ideal. I did hear them, however, in comparison to other similar floor standing speakers and to be honest they came off second best - even to the RF3's. The local Klipsch retailer has the whole RF range plus other speaker manufacturers. I have been round several times to listen (there is a women's shoe shop next door - its kind of a sanctuary!!). I suppose the fact they are being driven by SS amplification (Rotel 1091) doesnt help of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 23, 2002 Author Share Posted October 23, 2002 Just as an update the first report on the meet at Tony's and my houses are now up with pics at http://aca.gr/meet02-6.htm. For anyone that is interested.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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