Power, Clarity, and Emotion at Mike D's in Maine

[Delicious2 142]

I was going to just tack this impression onto my Jube thread but when my first draft got erased I realized @Md5150 system deserves its own topic.  

My honest thanks to Mike for demoing his system a week ago.  I'll let him detail exactly what he has going on but basically I experienced his K402/Faital driver/MWM system with dual THTLP subs in his purpose built dedicated basement room.

 

We listened mostly to a live Joe Satriani  recording at moderate and loud levels.  While admittedly a short session and limited variety of music, let me say upfront that I have never in 45 years of musicphile/audiophile life heard a system with such a combination of power, clarity and ability to convey the emotional intent of the music!

In my experience most systems fall apart when turned up and the distortion tells my brain that it must be loud.  Really what's happening is the system itself is compressing and otherwise distorting and/or overloading the room.

 

Not Mike's system!

 

His purpose built dedicated basement room is solid!  It has a much higher than normal ability to handle really LOUD.  Combine that with this level of horn loaded Klipsch Pro goodness and you get real power, explosive dynamics, and enormous head room akin to the best live music.  At first as Mike turned it up in several steps I expected the usual cringe worthy reaction to turn it back down, but, just the opposite, the louder it got the clearer the illusion of being at the gig became.  The drums in particular had that very unusual hit through my gut and chest that says LIVE!  When Satch was shredding those tasty licks of Surfing With The Alien I found myself shouting for glee.

 

Then I asked Mike to put on my Satriani fav Always With Me Always With You.  This tune has long had a spiritual meaning and joy for me.  One of my barometers of good sound is a system's ability to communicate the emotional intent of the artists.  One reliable indicator of this ability is the "goosebump" test.  Mike's system has it BIG time!

 

Thanks Mike for a peak audio experience!

 

[babadono 6842]

Y'all know horns are honky Couldn't help myself @Coytee

[Md5150 100]

Mark,

 

Thanks for the kind words about my setup. It was nice to have someone who has heard many high end systems come hear my setup and talk shop. Wish we had more listening time that day. Hopefully one day I get down to hear your setup, I'd really like to hear those tad's.

 

Mike.

 

 

 

 

[Delicious2 142]

You have a standing invitation to visit Mike.  Remember it's only about 2.5 hours down the highway - easily  doable round-trip in 1 day with a nice listening session  or 3 in the middle.  It won't be long before I have these dialed in.

[Marvel 5682]

@Md5150  Mike, have you posted pics of your setup here before? I would love to see some. Since I currently have some dual MWMs sitting upright in my music room (due to lack of space at the moment), I am always eager to see others MWM setups.

 

Bruce

[DirtyErnie 42]

On 8/25/2019 at 11:24 PM, babadono said:

Y'all know horns are honky Couldn't help myself @Coytee

 

Naw, man!  It's "Horn if you're honky!"

[ClaudeJ1 2740]

On 8/25/2019 at 11:58 PM, Delicious2 said:

I was going to just tack this impression onto my Jube thread but when my first draft got erased I realized @Md5150 system deserves its own topic.  

My honest thanks to Mike for demoing his system a week ago.  I'll let him detail exactly what he has going on but basically I experienced his K402/Faital driver/MWM system with dual THTLP subs in his purpose built dedicated basement room.

 

We listened mostly to a live Joe Satriani  recording at moderate and loud levels.  While admittedly a short session and limited variety of music, let me say upfront that I have never in 45 years of musicphile/audiophile life heard a system with such a combination of power, clarity and ability to convey the emotional intent of the music!

In my experience most systems fall apart when turned up and the distortion tells my brain that it must be loud.  Really what's happening is the system itself is compressing and otherwise distorting and/or overloading the room.

 

Not Mike's system!

 

His purpose built dedicated basement room is solid!  It has a much higher than normal ability to handle really LOUD.  Combine that with this level of horn loaded Klipsch Pro goodness and you get real power, explosive dynamics, and enormous head room akin to the best live music.  At first as Mike turned it up in several steps I expected the usual cringe worthy reaction to turn it back down, but, just the opposite, the louder it got the clearer the illusion of being at the gig became.  The drums in particular had that very unusual hit through my gut and chest that says LIVE!  When Satch was shredding those tasty licks of Surfing With The Alien I found myself shouting for glee.

 

Then I asked Mike to put on my Satriani fav Always With You Always With Me.  This tune has long had a spiritual meaning and joy for me.  One of my barometers of good sound is a system's ability to communicate the emotional intent of the artists.  One reliable indicator of this ability is the "goosebump" test.  Mike's system has it BIG time!

 

Thanks Mike for a peak audio experience!

 

I just want to say that I'm the guy who sold him the THT LP's and the K-402's, but he chose the Faital Pro driver wisely. I'm glad it sound as good as you say. Hey Mike did you ever sell that expensive amplifier we talked about you selling?

[dtel 29506]

On 8/25/2019 at 10:58 PM, Delicious2 said:

While admittedly a short session and limited variety of music, let me say upfront that I have never in 45 years of musicphile/audiophile life heard a system with such a combination of power, clarity and ability to convey the emotional intent of the music!

I believe you, no really I do, I completely get it.

 

Congratulations Md5150

[Marvel 5682]

Mike and Mark...

 

Because of other clutter in my room, I can't place my recently acquired MWMs in an optimal position. However, with them being the woofer section of my La Scalas, more than ever the music is quite simply "there" in front of me. Imaging is fine and even without added subs is "effortless". Once anyone hears it, you understand.  Claude said it... straight horns are the best. These are just a step removed.

 

Bruce

[Md5150 100]

18 hours ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

I just want to say that I'm the guy who sold him the THT LP's and the K-402's, but he chose the Faital Pro driver wisely. I'm glad it sound as good as you say. Hey Mike did you ever sell that expensive amplifier we talked about you selling?

 

Claude, nope I still have the amp. I should have sold it last year when I had the chance. I relisted it for sale about a month ago.

[Md5150 100]

On 8/26/2019 at 1:18 PM, Marvel said:

@Md5150  Mike, have you posted pics of your setup here before? I would love to see some. Since I currently have some dual MWMs sitting upright in my music room (due to lack of space at the moment), I am always eager to see others MWM setups.

 

Bruce

 

Not sure if I've posted any pics of the mwm/402 setup before. Basically I have them in a 21x22 room in the corners. When Mark was over I had my Parasound JC-1 Monoblocks on the bass bins. Mc452 on the 402/Faitals, A21 on the tuba subs. If I get time over the weekend I'll post a pic. 

[ClaudeJ1 2740]

2 hours ago, Md5150 said:

 

Not sure if I've posted any pics of the mwm/402 setup before. Basically I have them in a 21x22 room in the corners. When Mark was over I had my Parasound JC-1 Monoblocks on the bass bins. Mc452 on the 402/Faitals, A21 on the tuba subs. If I get time over the weekend I'll post a pic. 

It should LOOK as impressive as it sounds. Had MWMs for several years. They were hard to get as singles and hard to give up!