WHAT WAS THE BEST SYSTEM YOU EVER HEARD AND WHY WAS IT?
Raidho 5.1 Solutions 7 series mono amps and pre amp and CD player and all ansuz cabling. It was the best because it had everything. Huge sound soundstage. Musical with airy treble and open midrange. Nice full bass and transparency. All placed in an acoustically treated and measured room. System belonged to the late Dave Baskin of Design Audio Video in Whitehouse Texas. It was Audio Nirvana!
I was at Echo Audio in Portland last summer and it was a slow day (there was a parade that shut down the downtown area). The owner, Kurt had a pair of
Dan D'Agostino Momentum M400 monoblocks set up with a
Pro-Ject Xtension 10 as the source going through a Modwright PH 150 and I think KEF Reference 5 speakers.
Their listening room is not acoustically treated, there are some hard walls and open spaces.
Kurt put on Roger Waters' Amused to Death and the first song, The Ballad of Bill Hubbard has a dog barking in the distance. I was shocked when I heard the dog's bark coming from beside me. I could also clearly hear the voice over in the background, the tale of a soldier trying to rescue his buddy Bill during the war. When Jeff Beck's guitar made it's entrance it was incredibly dynamic and detailed without any hint of grain. I was amazed at the size of the sound stage and the detail and dynamics. It was a sublime few minutes that I recall vividly.
The system that is presently in my living room. McIntosh C2500 tube preamp, C152 amp, MR88 Tuner, Technics SL1200G TT, Sony HAPZ1ES music Server, Esoteric UX3 SACD player, GE Triton Reference Spkrs, Shunyata power conditioning and cords, Groneberg Quattro Ref speaker cable and interconnects. Solid Steel audio racks.
@ebm thanks im enthusiastic about Audio! My buddy used to let out this uncontrollable cackle when the music got too good! Lol. @ big Greg Man there ain’t nothing like hearing a sound you can’t forget. That system I heard was so good didn’t want to hear it again because it was like an addict mainlining on some pure dope. Lol. It was like hearing everything you like in a system all at once. @stereo5 looks like you got it dialed in to your liking. My system is the second best I’ve heard cause it does what I like most. I SHOUT CAUSE ITS AMERICA!
I’m currently listening to the carribean jazz project and my system is cooking with Crisco right now. The drums are moving the cymbals are decaying with extensions and the bass is throwing quick short power punches!
“..... Making three spectacular rooms in a row was the smaller Victoria Square room hosted by Nordost. Is there an antidote for the misconception that these fine cables are made by Vikings in Scandinavia? Their roots are in NASA and space ships, not ancient sailing vessels! And they sure know how to cherry pick the industry to put together one of the very Best Rooms at the show.
The digital front end was a multi-chassis MSB affair propped up on Nordost Sort Kones, possibly surpassing the fine suspension already designed into MSB's top of the line DAC with separate chassis for digital and analog sections. With several flavors of Sort Kones to choose from, they obviously picked the one they liked best, and it seemed pretty good to me, too.
Amplification was byDan D'Agostinowith his jewel-like preamp and monoblocks, which were also on Sort Kones.
The speakers were the highly acclaimed Wilson Audio Sasha, which need no introduction.
Everything was tied together with Nordost's Odin 2 Supreme Reference cables, seen here, perfectly aligned in rat's nest configuration.
What better way to baffle the EMI and RFI? Well, perhaps the Nordost Qb8 primary earth AC power strip with a handful of Qk1 AC Enhancer modules plugged into it helped a little. Up in the rack, on the bottom shelf was a pair of QX power purifiers. I'll guess that one was used for the low level signal units and the other for the power amps ......
It would be tough to argue with the results they achieved in this room ...”
A friend of mine has a dedicated room with 6 Quad 57 panels in a custom 3 stack frame. 6 heavily mod'd quad mono amps driven by an Nagra Pl preamp. he's got 4 tables ranging from Garrard 301 to 3 diff thorns. all the tables have two arms of various types and all have custom plinths. the room is lined all 4 walls with over 15000 records. amazing sounding system it shocked me first time hearing it. just fills the room with glorious sound. you want to talk about sound stage, nothing I've ever heard even comes close really it puts you center stage 6 rows back with the sound enveloping you. Yeah as good as 2 quad 57's are try 6 lol (no need for a sub trust me)
Top MBL System with Ultimate Radiostrahler Speakers with Seperate Bass panels and electronics,setup properly .roughlyin the $300k range and need a good size room but incredible and live as in Life sounding .they are a bit power hungry and dependent as any system on which Turntables,and digital being used .
Listening to the beater midrange system with a fine Malbec, Ancient Labrador curled up at my feet... Eva Cassidy Nightbird on the Basis ...... ain’t life grand ?????
Esoteric f-05,Luxman D-06 sacd, Ilumnia Magister ( By Venyllabs (magazine),one of the best speaker ever) It’s like the studio is at your home. speakercables: Purecable, Powercord :Pro-Line, Audioquest Niagara 1000. Speakers are now on the way to the US for “6 Moon” for listening en rating. You gonna hear about it.
@aolmrd1241 thanks for the link, I wasn't aware of that. We were listening to vinyl, but I assume the playback media doesn't matter since the effect was produced by the recording technology. I bought the vinyl afterwards as well as the CD/Bluray combo after that listening session. I did get a lot of that 3D effect in my own system, but not as enveloping.
@calvinj I told Kurt I was pissed at him for letting me hear that system because I was going to go home and be unhappy with my system. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case :)
At Audio Alternative in Ft. Collins, CO. You can google the name and click on the site to see both his show room and private set up. His set up includes Vandersteen7 mkii, Vandersteen subs, main amps and other equipment I am not sure of. Listening chairs are very comfortable leather about ten feet from the speakers. He plays only vinyl, mostly jazz. Get ready! The system no longer is a source of sound, but the room becomes a musical atmosphere and the sonic performance is as natural as breathing. All in all, an incredible experience and needless to say, very! addictive. I am not affiliated with Rick or Audio Alternative except as a happy customer.
Boulder Amplifiers a few years back at an International show in Tokyo; a million dollar ( retail price ) setup playing vinyl. I think this was the debut of their exceptional Phono stage... the Show was very well attended and the style as an audience member was to queue and wait to enter the listening room; the door would be closed, a track or 2 would be played and then everyone would be shuffled out. I queued twice. Sound is often described in textbooks as "Waves" and the sensation of listening to this extraordinary setup was like standing waist-deep in a perfect surf where the Bass gently buffeted you, the high notes like perfect foam bubbles at the top of pristine waves... it was Simply Gorgeous and I have not before, or since, experienced such a wonderful system Now, if I had a lazy million....
Fun topic...two outstanding systems stand out in my mind as they both incorporated speakers that at audio shows and retail establishments that I always found to be overly "bright" and not very appealing regardless of their reputations. In both cases they were in high end audio shops that took the time to really dial them in and the results were absolutely amazing. First was B&W 802D2's when they first came out, driven by McIntosh MC-501 monoblocks, C2500 pre and MCD500 CD player and medium level cabling, I think even Tributaries. So rich and textured with a 3D / holographic presentation that was mind boggling! It was like sitting in the middle of the soundstage with a height I have never heard again. Not bright at all. Second was with Wilson Sahsa's driven by Berkeley Audio gear with high end Synergistic Research cabling and room treatments....crazy 3D / holographic with tons of air and detail but no harshness or glare...just gorgeous!
My own system. (I know I should not state that here, as I will expose myself to criticism and people telling me being arrogant.) Never mind, I’m a happy man ;)
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