Empirical 2004 T.H.E. Show report

audioengr · « **on:** 18 Jan 2004, 07:45 pm »

We didn't get out of our room much, but here is our view of the show:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/frTHE_Show_2004.html

Hantra · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Jan 2004, 09:18 pm »

Steve:

Are you saying the modded Adcom 585 sounds better than the JC-1's?

Just curious. I wondered if it was the Soundlines, or the amp.

Thanks for the pics!

B

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Jan 2004, 09:26 pm »

Steve,

You weren't gonna' hear anything dramatically better in any other room for anywhere near your kind of system dollars....you didn't miss THAT much, therefore.

I have to agree with you on the Audia Ribbons...Fernando (designer) said has has 16 models planned from $2000 to $10,000 coming out....thru dealer distribution. They are a company to watch if he only comes out with half as many for twice as much as planned. He even made tube ( a wholly subjective opinion of mine) sound good in his room.

And Bob Gross of Speaker Art has apparently been around a whole long time, I never heard of him or his creations, but his speakers sounded mighty good powered by an Acoustic Reality ICEpower stereo amp and cheapo NAD 541i CDP. The total experience sounded a lot better than the sum of the parts would have suggested without listening.

Dang, that's what you had packed in the KEF Widow's hump.....ummm, impressive.

audioengr · « **Reply #3 on:** 18 Jan 2004, 11:14 pm »

Hantra wrote:

Quote

Are you saying the modded Adcom 585 sounds better than the JC-1's?

Just curious. I wondered if it was the Soundlines, or the amp.

Yep, the modded Adcom is MUCH better than the unmodded JC-1's. I cannot wait to mod the JC-1's now. Just have to find the time.

The Soundlines have potential. They are no match for the modded KEF's right now though. I hope the dynamics are just as good after I mod the Soundlines. I am also hoping to get some of the Audia ribbons. We are working a deal of consulting in trade for some speakers. The Audias are definitely capable of great dynamics. Unfortunately, the Audia electronics was really holding back the speakers. I would like to help them in this area, including some active and passive crossover design.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 03:13 am »

Curious what Steve's system at T.H.E. Show would retail for? I was:

Sony DVP-S7700 Transport > $300 + $500 + $130 (Jensen 4 Pole)
EA Bitmeister 0.5m digital cable > $280
Perpetual Technologies P-3A DAC > $800(new) + $1357 (w/Superclock2)
EA 1.0m Holophonic-PC IC-silver bullet rca > $620
Mark Levinson #38 preamp> $2500 + $2400
EA 1.5m Holophonic-PC IC-silver bullet rca > $794
Adcom GFA-585 2-channel amp > $750 + $2000
EA 8-foot Clarity7 speaker cables > $1512
KEF 104/2 loudspeakers > $800 + $1400(?)

$16,143.00 is what I come up with using today's Audiogon used pricing for the Sony transport, ML #38, Adcom GFA-585 and KEF speakers and assuming I heard/remembered Steve correctly that the mod on the KEF (if he offered it) would be $1400.00. The +'s are his mod costs. Anyhow, these assumptions and a few hundred freight back and forth would bring us to about $16,500.00. Give or take a few % either way.

It's certainly a sum that the non-obsessed would blanche at, but many of us have already spent this and much more for our systems.

Me, I know I'm about $6500 shy of nirvana....but at least I have something of a target now to reach for. Nice to know I won't have to file Chapter 11 reorganization to get there

I don't wanna' keep smooching Steve's (lanky) butt-ocks, but it really was nice and fatigue free in his room at T.H.E. He's a gifted engineer with a keen ear.

And Steve, I changed my avator, so you can post my pic if you like....if there are any young children in the audience, please shield your eyes!

zybar · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 03:19 am »

Well, I can say that the modified Sony S-7700 makes one heck of transport and will be in my system for quite a long time!

It would have been nice to hear the complete system, maybe next year...

GW

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 03:26 am »

Quote from: zybar

Well, I can say that the modified Sony S-7700 makes one heck of transport and will be in my system for quite a long time!

It would have been nice to hear the complete system, maybe next year...

GW

Yeah, I have not gotten mine modded yet (except for a few pads of effective constrained layer damping material on the tray), but it is high on my list of upgrades right now. I wouldn't have previously thought a substantial mod to a transport wouldn't matter as much as this...despite some informative posts from Marbles and others in the recent past. I can be a bit thick sometimes until I hear it for myself. It's a major upgrade...jitter must suck worse than originally thought.

I remember Dan Wright / Modwright saying he doesn't mod the DVP-S7700 because of concerns the laser would peter out as it's most of the Sony's are well used and 5 years old...but Steve seems to have no such qualms about it.

zybar · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 03:36 am »

It can't just be jitter b/c the unit it repaced was the SF SFT-1. The SFT had extremely low jitter, yet was bettered in all areas by the Empirical Sony.

It was well worth the money.

BTW, I did get the Jensen Caps.

GW

audioengr · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 05:44 pm »

Sony DVP-S7700 Transport > $300 + $500 + $130 (Jensen 4 Pole)
EA Bitmeister 0.5m digital cable > $280
Perpetual Technologies P-3A DAC > $600(new) + $1357 (w/Superclock2)
EA 1.0m Holophonic-PC IC-silver bullet rca > $620
Mark Levinson #38 preamp> $1500 + $2400
EA 1.5m Holophonic-PC IC-silver bullet rca > $794
Adcom GFA-585 2-channel amp > $650 + $2000
EA 8-foot Clarity7 speaker cables > $1512
KEF 104/2 loudspeakers > $800 + $4000

I made some adjustments above. First, I generally give a little discount on my cables, particularly for system quantities and sometimes they are actually on sale. Second, the KEF mod I will NOT be offering due to it's difficulty. The total I get is: $17,443
With cable discounts it would be closer to $15K

As for Lasers petering-out. I have never had this happen to any player of mine. In fact, I have a Philips 8800 CDP that is about 16 years old and still works fine.

This was an interesting excercise. Thanks John.

audioengr · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 05:50 pm »

John - you asked for it, so here it is: The Chair Guy in the flesh.

I think the grin is a result of what is playing - Frampton.

Marbles · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 05:51 pm »

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #11 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 06:02 pm »

Darn good thing I wore my clean shirt that day and wore a bandana...the glare from my naked pate would've washed out the pic otherwise

I didn't notice you had any power cables in the mix or mention of a power conditioner/fancy strip, but you probably had a couple PC's (Adcom, Perp Tech, ML?) in there, so we're at about $18/19,000 or so...less the definitely-not-available $4000 mod to the KEF's.

Even so, nirvana is plainly in sight now.

audioengr · « **Reply #12 on:** 19 Jan 2004, 06:05 pm »

You are correct. I had one 10-foot Grand Slam to the Adcom. The rest were just generic cords.