AXPONA Live

Two of my favorite rooms were the Ayon room and the Tri-art Audio. The open baffle 5s were amazing and quite reasonably priced.

 

Did anyone at Axpona buy the UHQR Hendrix vinyl? Someone in the Hendrix thread said the insert mentioned the future releases and I am really curious what they are

 

This is absolutely fantastic to hear and doesn’t make me feel so bad, like that times truly haven’t changed lol. My friends and I discussed this, and we felt that most manufacturers are just scared and play it safe with the female vocals thing, but they always sound good. I made sure to give credit to Klauss and odyssey for spinning Santana abraxas and turning that way up lol.

One room was playing some Jacintha but it sounded terrible, warbly, and she sounded manly. I realized the guy was playing it at 33 when it was a 45 rpm set! Ugh he was so embarrassed.

WHY DO MANUFACTURERS HAVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF GEAR YET NO ROOM ACOUSTICS? Sorry your room sounds like crap! The Daedalus rooms sounded great and had a great conversation with their reps about their room treatments with Gik acoustics.

Speaking of which, had an excellent conversation with the gik acoustic peeps and purchased a bass trap for my one corner

 

How did the Odyssey amps sound? What models were they?

 

Great! They were whatever mono amps, couldn’t tell because Klauss told us all to sit the f*** down, he turned down the lights and freaking cranked it

 

Which Odyssey speakers? How did the room sound overall?

Odyssey is the factory-direct brand I find most intriguing at the moment.

 

I listened for a bit in there. It was probably the 5th or 6th room I went in and what impressed me first was the Spendors were not toed-in. All of the other rooms to that point had the speakers pointing directly at the center seating position which may have attributed to what I perceived as excessive treble. The Spendors didn't suffer from this and I was grateful. They had a very nice tonal balance from my seat.

I mentioned the lack of toe-in to the person demoing them.

 

Anyone get by the Bel Canto room with their new e1x gear?

 

Excellent shop! My local go-to. Mike is great

 

Didn’t catch exactly which odyssey speakers. Room sounded great! Klauss cranked it a bit too loud for my tastes but had great soundstage and was very open sounding.

 

That's SOP for Klaus. I just peaked into his room this year to have a look.

 

Was this a dealer demo, or ATC's US distributor, or another manufacturer's?

Nothing you describe is what I know the active ATCs are capable of (I have worked/demo'ed with 50s, 150s and 300s). Here are some reviews of the 50s and 40s which contrast with your comments:

ATC SCM50 ASLT Loudspeaker

ATC SCM50ASLT SPEAKER REVIEW

http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Hi-Fi_Critic_SCM50PSL_WEB.pdf

ATC SCM50 review | What Hi-Fi?


http://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_073.pdf

http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Review_Hi-Fi-_SCM40A_Naim.pdf

ATC SCM40A review | What Hi-Fi?

Getting Active with ATC SCM 40A Speakers - Positive Feedback

ATC SCM40A Active Loudspeaker

 

Nah I didn't realize the forum was owned by a dealer always teying to promote what he is selling. Audioadylum has a rule and each member has a D for dealer or R for reviewer or M for manufacturer.

So I was discussing a situation where I auditione Avante Garde horns which left me roundly underwhelmed and prefered a much less expensive speaker from AN. Just saying it like it was and still is.

I rememberer Fred Crowder covering a factory tour and I noted that PQ often buys his top competition to test out to see what they're doing correctly and incorrectly.

And Fred had a picture of some Avante Garde apeakers in the broom closet at ANs factory. Mike called me a liar and this and that. So I posted the picture. Truth being a defense. All the while I have no idea this guy runs the forum and sells Avante Garde. I mean I would have no idea he is blatently shilling his wares.

All of this was in an Audio Note thread so bringing it up wasn't out of place. I thought I was somewhat complimentary in fact.

Anyway, he goes off his nut stops me posting sends me messages that how dare I say anything negative about stuff he Owns. I own this!!. Wah wah. Holy crap. Another little dictator man baby.

Then he spends time ripping Audio Note. Like umm take it out on them because of what a customer says on a forum?

Anyway, I auditioned Eva Cassidy on Avante Garde and I asked the dealer to turn it off it was painful to hear. But if they were at a show I was at and it sounded great I'd say so. Regardless of what I think of one dealer.

 

Makes two of us. I missed the boat on a pair of Stratos mono's for only $1,200.00 - swiped from under my nose. Still kicking myself.

 

Thinner ones with one small light in the center (Khartago), or thicker ones with glass "window" at the center (Stratos)?

 

If only I had known about the combo deals he offers years ago.

 

A lot of generalization here. People with real money listen to whatever they enjoy. There are just as many high end systems that play rock as there ones that play classical or jazz.

As far as electronic music...listen to Massive Attack’s Mezzanine in it. It is one of those albums that will tell you how all around good your system is. Then come back and talk to us about electronic music.

 

Gave an interview with Music Direct on the JBL L100’s. Link below

Music Direct

 

A friend of mine is the moderator of that site. He owns the AG Duo Mezo's and loves them to death. Best he has ever heard (And he has been thru LOTS of gear). He doesn't listen to the same kind of music as me. (He does lightweight female vocal genre...insert BARF bag here)

Ive heard others say AG don't do well with Rock which wouldn't work for me. Next time I see him I told him I would lend him my JINRO so he can try them out with his AG's. I did read one JINRO Review where one of the comments said that the Jinro/AG was an amazing combo....I have no idea what kind of music was played tho....probably not Zeppelin etc. I would lend him my AN-E SPX too to try out but neither of us have big enough vehicles for all that gear.

 

The thing with generalizations is that the word means exactly what it says. In general not ALL people. If you take 100 audiophiles who spend $100,000 on loudspeakers and polled them are you seriously under the impression that the majority (the general majority) are not first and foremost classical music listeners or do you believe that 90 out if the 100 listen mainly to Massive Attack, Tiesto, Delerium et al?

PS I like electronic music but the reason they buy these systems is to listen to an actual piano, violin, cello, french horn. Not primarily to listen to an echo button on a synthesizer run through an amplifier and endless processing. Heck earlier in the thread I posted Aurora covering Massive Attack.

I actually don't fit the generalization I stated because my music selections are varied but if I did buy a 100k speaker it would be to get the most from classical pieces. I think if people had better stereo equipment they would appreciate classical music more.

Just the other day my dealer played for me a variation on this - and for me this is why I am into all of this. Not because of the slam bang affects of this speaker can hit 30khz or crack plaster with bass slam.

 

Thickets ones I believe, glass window

 

I find that funny because I didn't like the vocals on the demos of AG speakers - I actually have not met many people who have actually liked them - certainly not horn fans. Frankly I think Acapella walks all over them. Hermann Winters - plays hard rock at well over 100dB at shows on the last day. But it was utterly glorious on female vocals and even relatively middling recordings like Aurora. So check for rock, check for girl singers. I didn't get to test the AG's for rock because it failed at well recorded vocals. And then the price doesn't help much - they look cool though.

I kind of figure the Jinro (or baby Ongaku) is going to make anything sound better. And maybe that has been why I didn't love the AGs - what is in front matters. The best sound I have heard from Quad was on an OTO. Magnepan - on a SORO. B&W on a 211 Wyatech Labs amp. The correlation = Single Ended. I can't quite remember what I have heard AGs with over the years. But NAT and Abbingdon Music Research computer audio as source with a Nottingham turntable.

 

But remember, his audition is under show conditions. And he owns I believe Harbeth which has a considerably warmer presentation. ATC does not. It has a far more clinical side to them. Interstingly, I enjoy both characteristics. But I can see a Harbeth fan finding the ATCs too in your face and overly analytical. An ATC fan though will probably find Harbeth too soft and veiled.

 

I grew up being dragged to The Cleveland Orchestra by my parents. They were as good as it got and I didn't enjoy it...still don't. I find it uninspiring. Listening to it through $100k speakers wouldn't make me like it any more. The decline of top orchestras are all you have to know about Classical music...folks have moved on to other forms and they should. Listening to Maxinquaye on $100k might benefit the listener more than any classical piece could.

 

When I got a high end hi-fi in the 80s, I was picking up a bunch of Decca/London, Mercury and RCA classical records at yard sales and thrift shops. I had an epiphany one day. I'm wasting my finite days on earth listening to this stuff when I could be listening to the Shangri-Las, Link Wray, or any number of artists that I truly love. Who cares if I could precisely locate the contra-baboonist in the soundstage of music that ultimately left me cold? Sold off my high end gear, and lived for twenty some years listening through a 70s Marantz receiver and Optimus bookshelf speakers, listening to the music and not the stereo. I recently bought some new high end gear. First record I played? Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) - The Hombres. Haven't had the urge to play any classical music yet.