Tranfiguration Orpheus description

...so are you saying we should keep our cartridges and spend the money on pot?

LOL!! My goodness Bodidharma - get the flowers off the windshield. I'll go write that 100 times in a penitent hand.

My audio habit, er, hobby is sufficiently transcendent, thank you. Although either way I'm still not likely to remember what I was spinning two weeks ago. ;->

Deciding between things whose character is fundamentally aural is not best done on paper. I'll nominate Doug to set up 'The Cartridge Company' (like that cable outfit) where we can try/rent several before making a decision. My paper choices (for today anyway) remain the XV-1s and the Orpheus - so please arrange to include those among the candidates. If you must throw in a Uni, well, Ok. I'll kindly beta test the focus group questions for your customer experience eval and we can call it even! :-) Now, who's smoking what? Cackle!

Doug,I was quite aware that-- "that" particular set-up was under construction.Yet,sometimes it is clear that,once the bugs are going to come out,there is going to be something special,down the road.That was my real take on "that" set-up!Yes.I am also aware "The Doshi" is going to find it's way into it,too!I only hope the owner has the necessary time to "really" realize how "special" that system can/will be,as having gotten a recent E-mail,he is bogged down with the drudgery of the issues of tube trouble,and running a successful business.He gave me the impression(I never told him this)of having a real "talented perception" of what this hobby is about.Excellent concept of what components match,without the typical "latest is greatest"syndrome,affecting his sensibilities.There IS a knack to this hobby,and he "definitely" has it.
I hope to send an E-mail to him,admonishing a suspected "incosistent" approach to "consistently" be more hands on,and "realize" the system(I know what's coming)will be fascinating.We work too hard,and life is too short,to not take more advantage of the "little personal" things,that give us so much pleasure."Big Shot" entrepenuer or not "C..LO",you deserve to savor what you started,now that it's close to being finished!!It's never really finished,btw!
That particular combo of stuff was quite "right",in lieu of being a work in progress!No?
BTW,how about the combination of those "rediculously underrated" main speakers,with the addition of the Townshends,and the Stentor!!To me,a tough combination to beat,in a real-world room,and it took much more than luck to come up with the idea of fielding that combo.The "intuitive" ability!
Bc3,I do love your educated comments,and having owned reel to reel for years(why did I sell my Tandbergs?),you are on the money.As usual!
Yet,the business of "automatically" assuming the smallness of the room,and simplicity of "that" system being the sole factor of my,and a dozen other fellas(exhibitors,with a load of mileage in the hobby,btw)"knowing" something special was happening there,really does not do service to the "actuality" of what this guy(Charles King) was capable of.He is,also,a contributor to the "gorgeous" hard cover book,that has just come out,focusing on the Classic Stellavox Reel to Reels.He re-builds,and heavily modifies these units,as well as his two main systems,so unless one is lucky enough to hear what this guy can come up with,one has no clue as to how "his stuff" can sound.
The VTV show was abundant with small,simple systems.This system I speak of was something "special".You're going to have to take my word for it(actually,why?),like I have to accept your opinion of the Orpheus.
I was fortunate enough to hear the ASR/Nola "Big Boy" system,about two weeks later.Very well set-up,in a custom room.It was everything the press has described,but after about 45 minutes it was just a bit "overwhelming" to me.Like being at a wedding,or other occasion,and being seated close to the band.Not my thing.
Just my own taste.I prefer a bit more "intimate" sound,though still full range(obviously the vtv set-up was limited in bass,but BOY was it good),sort of,NO,exactly like the system I head,last Thanksgiving,in Florida.
Sorry if I seem a bit defensive.You clearly have a very good perspective,and you have not misrepresented you thoughts at all.
It has been a real pleasure reading your posts.Just stop "forcing me" to find a way to spend more cash.I know,I know...you don't have your hand in my pocket,but it sure feels that way -:)
Best!

Speaking of "flowers on the windshield", I was out driving around with a stoner friend of mine the same night Loreena Bobbit decided to toss her husband's severed manhood onto the freeway.

Well wouldn't ya know, it hit our windshield, whereupon my hazy buddy turned to me and said, "MAN! Did you see the di*k on that bug!?"
.

As a former piccoloist, who has soloed Stars and Stripes Forever while high-stepping up the 50-yard line, I'll share a couple of brief thoughts on piccolos and flutes.

Whether a flute, and piccolo to a lesser degree, sounds round (meaning overtones and breath are evident) has a lot to do with the style of the performer. A very pure tone may be found in Galway. A more rounded tone may be found in Herbie Mann. To me, Galway may be compared to Yo Yo Ma, a technical virtuoso. Mann, and perhaps Eric Dolphy, may be more likened to Pablo Casals. A flute played at lower register with a lot of volume of air and diaphram support should have a resonant quality, similar to the overtones of the low strings of a cello played with force. If performed this way, a good test is to see whether a system can reproduce the roundness of the instrument and the vibrato of the performer.

Personally, I liked the overtones of the flute and found, especially in the lower register, that they are emphasized by employing a wide embouchure coupled with a strong diaphram. Other flutist prefer a purer tone, meaning overtones and breath are less evident, and this usually means using a smaller embouchure and perhaps blowing less air. In short, if you are using the flute or piccolo to test your system, it will be helpful to know the style of the performer.

After having strived to sound like Jean-Pierre Rampal, I eventually came to prefer a less technically pure sound in favor of one with rough edges to it. If you have not heard it, I highly recommend a listen to Herbie Mann's, At The Village Gate, an imperfect but wonderfully musical recording that shows a soleful side to the flute. I use it to test cable midrange. Many cables sacrifice the roundness, meaning mostly low overtones, in favor of a correct upper register.

If your system can accurately play a piccolo at realistic volume and not sacrifice a bunch of other musical attributes to do it, then I give you "props" :).

Last thing: I'm bringing ear plugs for any full on piccolo tests.

Best, Jeff

Jj, I know exactly what you mean. I actually have had a thing with my right ear that seems to resonate with real high freq. and high vol. blasts (piccolos, irish pipes)...feels like it is popping in and out. High frequencies are my hot-spot and I can't stand it when they are wrong...at live venues, I constantly am stuffing my ears with plugs or napkins, or whatever is available when things get loud and shrill. But, that is live music, which, even if poorly balanced and sucked-out in the midrange, if amplified, is still live and still trounces the best systems I have ever heard when it comes to emotional connection to the music. A couple of weeks ago I was at a Santana concert at an outdoor venue with really awful PA balance... napkins stuffed in the ears, bitching every 20 minutes that the sound guy should be fired for steeling (sp. error intentional) the magic coming from Carlos Santana's Gibson...all that, plus the 20-something, midriff baring dancing narcissist women in front that made it hard to see or concentrate on the real performance...still, an experience that no stereo could ever duplicate. We spend countless hours and ridiculous amounts of money and achieve a sound at home that is objectively superior to what we hear in concert, in areas of correct tonal balance, timbre...blah, blah, blah... but never even come close to the joy of feeling that thud in the chest, or soaring extended notes that live performances revel in, even though recorded versions of the music do not allow such "excesses"... Reminds me of the problem I have with Glenn Gould's decision to walk away from live performances in favor of the "control" possible with recorded venues...but where is the life? The irony there was, they spent countless dollars and hours trying to damp out his own live exhuberance (a serial hummer...) at the keyboard on recordings, which he could not suppress, that would have been either inaudible, or welcome at a live performance.

Sorry, did not at all wish to undervalue the achievements of Mr. King at the vtv show. Rather, he should be applauded for the passion he has maintained in his work with tape machines. This is probably an indicator of his knowledge of music and that it just sounds more alive through his rebuilt Stellavox than just about any other medium. And, if he is aware of this, it is no surprise that he could put together a very musical small system that works well in a hotel room.

I remember returning repeatedly to a room at a mid-90's Stereophile show to relax and lose myself in the music being produced by Victor Tiscareno of Audio Prism with his little 70 watt stereo amp driving a pair of the original Totem 1's. Lovely. Sounded (if on a slightly smaller scale) like what I heard in the concert hall with chamber music, or solo acoustic guitar, or vocal... Of course, that year, Wilson Audio won "best sound" of show, even though it was totally out of whack, overly huge, harmonically challenged...and hurt my ears. Not a mention of the AudioPrism/Totem room, even though, to my ears, it was no contest. Taste? Perhaps. However, if you spend a lot of time at live events, you know what musical instruments sound like (Jj, as a musician knows, certainly, better than I) and what usually passes for high-end audio ain't it. Sometimes live music hurts your ears, sometimes it is far more delicate than any stereo can be. But "we strive on, against the stream..." ever hoping to get closer to the magic that a well-practiced hack with a guitar and a stool can achieve on any give Wednesday night at an open mic. What fun...