Report on the gathering at Hanson:
To Andreas, Troy and the gang at Hanson, thanks. It is obvious that you all have worked very hard to make it a great experience to visit your store. Too often, I think we lose the "fun factor" with this hobby, but I imagine that it would be hard not to enjoy oneself at Hanson. From the attitude and knowledge of the staff to the killer coffee maker to the decor, it was all a blast. All of this before I even mention the listening.
First let me say that if you were not able to come to the meeting, you should get up there and visit. We got to listen to Simaudio and Bryston electronics (they are expecting new Conrad-Johnson gear soon); pro-ject turntables and sumiko cartridges; and speakers - how about Sonus Faber, 2 pairs no less as well as the beautiful Focal Utopia Scalas and the recent Thiel 3.7s. Many folks brought their own music to share and we were able to listen to many speakers back to back. Personally, I was really taken by a pair of the smaller Sonus Fabers driven by a simaudio i-7 integrated amp and believe it or not, the phono was a basic model pro-ject and under $100 sumiko oyster cartridge and very basic phono stage, but that baby sure made music.
The Hanson folks were totally cool with my rearranging their furniture and pushing the speakers around as well until it sounded right for me. They are definitely people that you would want to do business with in my humble opinion.
All totalled, we probably had 10 to a dozen folks come buy and I was so into it that someone said it was after 8, I had to check my watch. This was great all around and the drive from NKy wasn't even that bad and I hate to cross the river, but I would go again in a heartbeat.
Thanks again Andreas and feel free to pass on my opinion to your colleagues.
Tom Collins
