Hello everyone in this thread,
It was a surprise to find a review of the time that Neal and I spent listening together in September, including a review of my demeanor, while I was doing some resource research this morning regarding the Leonore. Believe me when I say it feels a little weird for me.
Anyhow, I'd like to address a couple of items mentioned in this thread.
Firstly, I appreciated and valued the time Neal spent in our store. Neal had taken the time to contact us on the Friday prior to his visit. On Saturday night, after closing, I spent roughly 2-3 hours listening, tuning and precisely leveling the speakers so Neal, and all other future visitors, would be given an accurate interpretation of, and window into, the speakers capability.
Because of the time spent invested in voicing the system for Neal's evaluation, in advance of his visit, and the seriousness with which I approach setup, I hesitate to move the speaker as if the room is THE determinant of a speakers perceived performance. Because of the time put in, he was able to listen, almost totally unobstructed (I only inflicted a few demo cuts on him) and make the observations he cites above.
My facial expression tendencies make me a little more transparent than many people, for better or worse. He may have seen an expression of surprise on my face when he pulled his stack of evaluation material from his bag, along with his listening journal. I certainly wasn't irked by his desire to do such intensive listening. Once I understood the "requirements" of this particular demo, I moved in and out of the room to listen with him while making sure other obligations were being addressed during business hours. I had no qualms with his schedule and applied no pressure to end the demo
Experience has shown me that when I critically setup a stereo, it becomes far easier for anyone to evaluate. Conversely, a cold, thrown up system can, possibly, yield a no-fuss listenability that is pleasing and colored in a way that better matches what we'd encounter throughout life, and we identify with that out of the gate. However, longer listening reveals vagaries that become intolerable if your goal is fidelity to the recording, and demonstration of the investment asked for getting there.
Neal opens by saying "First thing I was impressed with was the amount of detail the speaker produced. I heard subtle sounds that I haven’t on any speaker in the 5K price range (not a fair comparison though) or even from the Sophia or B&W 8 series." That's what I strive to provide in all systems I work with, and I would have given that impression with the Sophia and 800/802D, having worked at length with both. In fact, I've shifted notions of what particular equipment "does" when I've been given the keys to some widely respected and disrespected equipment and had the opportunity to share the results with people, i.e. you've heard Watt/Puppy's but have you heard the Watt/Puppy's I've setup?
Retrieval of detail can oftentimes sacrifice emotionality - initially. In the pursuit of neutrality as a virtue, and an accurate playback platform, things can cool somewhat. This is why I enjoy revisiting setups and it's one of the joys I know as an owner. I can identify what's missing, the presence of which would make a difference, to borrow a line from a class I took. There are manufacturers who intrinsically sound pleasing; who make you smile. The system we listened through was not all from one manufacturer, like a Linn might be and therefore it can take some work and rework to "know" what it can/should sound like. The demo system that day was made up of a speaker we'd had for less than two weeks and it was only my 3rd or 4th time positioning them (only my second hard core effort).
I've included a link to an audio recording I made, of a track played through the stereo Neal heard the following Monday, using my iPhone, that I posted to share with friends of mine via facebook. This recording was from the exact system he heard. Even given the compromises of the recording, I hope you agree it's a contribution to this thread. I think you might need a facebook account to hear it.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=130731493518&ref=mf
I refused to move the speakers then and there because of the significant effort already made on behalf of Neal, the equipment manufacturers who can only hope their equipment is well shown, our showroom and the subsequent investment (a risk in this economy) and the fact that we may have gained a sense of how they fill the room, but would have lost many other aspects of a focused setup without taking the time to reset them tactically.
Neal was in the showroom for three hours, which is less time than I typically give a single stereo's setup. Knowing the amount of time I give to voicing a stereo, based on extensive experience, I don't need to waffle on whether I think switching rooms is a good idea at that moment. If I'd plunked them down when he came in, I'd be glad to plunk them down somewhere else in the store. That wasn't the case. Respectfully declining the request, even if held to firmly, isn't the same as being some stereo N*zi.
My memories of the visit:
Neal came prepared to listen. Once I'd gotten an impression of what would work for him, I largely gave over all control of his listening to him. This handing over probably occurred in the first 20-25 minutes, which is not an inordinate amount of time for a client to be "left alone."
He was clearly on a quest and that day's visit was critical, but only represented a step he was taking on that quest, as evidenced by his subsequent trip to RMAF.
While we're interested in closing sales, in order to further fund the company and the investments made that allowed for this very kind of real world demo, my recall is that, in the end, I really just wanted to know where this experience stood with him, against experiences he'd had elsewhere and his notes. My memory was that he said the experience that day placed the Leonore at or near the forefront of contenders, even against those that more obviously displace air. That helps me, as a salesperson, to gauge what I might have in my pipeline and tells me how we measure against the competition. If I felt the experience was a dud, our relationship would have gone dormant. As we left it, Neal and I had a respectful and inquisitive, if brief, correspondence earlier this week as a form of professional pulse taking (my research, which led me here today, was unrelated).
Neal learned and confirmed certain ideas regarding the importance of excellent power conditioning, relating what he was hearing to what I shared philosophically (I wax lyrically about this stuff) plus what he had experienced with a close friend's hi-fi.
He was excited by many aspects of his visit. I was happy with the visit and our time together. It was enjoyable and involving.
Finally, about imaging. I have certain views on imaging, that I even tested last night when I listened to people speak during a meeting I attended. I'll just say that I go for a natural type of imaging that mimics the real thing. For me, this means that you can source the source of sound with some specificity, i.e. from 30'-35' I could hear differences in where three people spoke from, who were all in the same general area but seated and oriented differently, but I couldn't carve out their voice from the soundstage. In low lighting, I could tell that where my eyes were looking wasn't the source and my ears told me to keep looking until there was alignment between what I saw and what I was hearing. Yikes! I sound wordy, so I'll drop this topic. Just believe me when I state that my speaker setups correlate with a certain take on imaging, combined with at least a dozen other considerations. Any question as to whether my approach is valid, without bowing at the altar of the image, should read again what Neal said about his witnessing of subtle detail.
I also don't fret over disappearing loudspeakers. Having setup probably 100+ High End two-channel systems over the last ten years has me believe this shouldn't rank at the top during initial setup; hours of playback time, of which this system lacked, will usually disappear a speaker to a satisfactory extent. If you heard the Leonores in their current configuration, you'd hear what I mean, as the sound pans quite free from the speakers. Again, this is a byproduct of concerning myself with other qualities first. No, I don't keep a David Wilson evaluation sheet when I setup, which weighs and tracks desirable criteria, although I have used that approach and I know it's useful.
Also, the room is 13'x15'x8' with drapes and an angled alcove doorway. Not a cube.
Hmm, what else? I guess I know there's always a certain amount of "suck" in things I do, even things I love. Still, I strove to provide value and continue to attempt that. There's passion in what I do. I'm not a geek or a freak, but I've given ten years to my work and strive to perform professionally from the listener's perspective, and that's not ten years of doing the same thing wrong again and again, IMHO (to steal a favorite forum quip). I look forward to seeing Neal again, and hope the link I included in this "rebuttal" works for some of you and that you've enjoyed this.
Kind regards,
Graham Skardon
