[James Romeyn]

I dropped off the CDP & preamp w/ Lori yesterday, Duke's lovely & gracious wife.  Lori received a brief rundown of the preamp remote/menu system & two functions on the CD remote. 

The preamp volume control is self-evident when the "VOL" menu shows in the LCD.  The other menu items require about a two-minute learning curve.  Call me for a tutorial for the other menus after the preamp is installed & the remote is in hand.  One lightly drugged operator is standing by (third tooth pulled today in the past month).

As 'splained to Duke or Lori, the preamp designer states ALL UNUSED INPUTS MUST BE SHORTED to avoid blown amps & speakers.  In an included bag will be found fourteen OEM shorting plugs (twelve RCA, two XLR) leaving a sum total one pair of source inputs.  The warning probably does not apply to tubes & high-powered AudioKinesis speakers but as the preamp designer once said to me on a different subject: "Why tempt fate?"

Also in the bag are two custom quad-twist AC power cords (IIRC neither has an earth conductor) & the preamp owner manual.  The preamp manual was included for the heck of it; just call me for the menu tutorial. 
 
Important last preamp rear panel note: Channel A is LEFT/RED/TOP ROW, channel B is RIGHT/BLACK/BOTTOM ROW (yes, colors are accidentally reversed).  Hookup per these instructions ONLY or the balance control will be reversed (who knows, you might use it).     

"Hybrid" SACD/CD's: In my experience & others the CD layer usually sounds better (same output stage).  When the CDP was packed it was set to default to the CD layer.  You may find it entertaining if time permits to listen to confirm the theory (I concur) that SACDs sum total for existence was copycode protection & to sell hardware/software.  I know this is magazine & audiophile heresy, but so be it.  To switch layers:
1. Open drawer
2. View REMOTE LCD; cycle menu bar (just below the LCD) up or down till "SACD-CD" appears
3. Depress menu bar to swap the layer; "SACD" or "CD" will briefly appear on the PLAYER LCD; a "CD" box will light on the PLAYER LCD lower/left
Or call me

Sometimes the SPL changes w/ the layer.

Cheers!         

[Berndt]

sounds great Kurt, will pick you up.
Around 10:30?
b

[Sonny]

Hi there...
I'd like to thank Peter for hosting the gathering, Duke for tell us about his speakers (JAZZ Modules) and Bill for bring/getting the gear and getting the group together!

I really enjoyed meeting the new faces of the Bay Area Audiophile community.....

Thanks!
Tuan

[Don_S]

   Fun times.

Many thanks to Bill for organizing.  Special thanks to Peter and his wife for being such gracious hosts.  They have a beautiful home with a great view and pool/deck area.

Extra special thanks to Lori and Duke for making the arduous journey. 

I enjoyed meeting some (semi  ) local Circle folks and putting faces to the names.

Don

[GBB]

Hi there...
I'd like to thank Peter for hosting . . .

I really enjoyed meeting the new faces of the Bay Area Audiophile community.....

Agreed.  My thanks to Peter and Bill for organizing another interesting NorCal get together.
And unlike Tuan, I enjoyed seeing the new faces and the old faces  aa .

Here are a few pictures to help remember the event.  I took these with my cell phone, so they're not the greatest quality but they'll do.

Here's a shot of Duke LeJeune next to his Jazz speakers, giving us an overview of his thought process during the design process.  It's clear that he's got a "world view" that drives his speaker design and it's obvious that he's done a good job.  Even with a minimal amount of time to set it up and only a little bit of tuning, he managed to get pretty respectable sound.  The room was a bit challenging with lots of reflective surfaces, but the speakers did fine anyway.



And here are few shots of the other Norcal'ers enjoying the lecture.  Clearly Tuan (on the right) found the presentation jaw dropping.



And here's Kurt enjoying a drink and also the lecture.




---Gary

[lonewolfny42]

So....any listening impressions of Duke's speakers ? Thanks...

                    Chris

[Berndt]

So....any listening impressions of Duke's speakers ? Thanks...

                    Chris

Chris, sorry it has taken so long to reply, just did a month off of work, and the rave came at the end.
Work has been hectic to say the least.
Peter hosted a wonderful spread along with open pool.
Food and company was perfect.
We ended up having 14 or so people.
It was a showlike dash to set my rig up in Peters front room in one hour, before guests arrived.
If this sounds like the preface to an excuse or anything similar let me say in advance I was not able to get the sound I enjoy at my abode.
I felt it to be shrill and constricted. The introduction of new variables overwhelmed our collective (Duke, Lorie, and myself), ability to tune the equipment to our new environment.
After speaking with the owner of the system preamp I realized the pre was set to clip the attenuation 20db.
That explains strangled....
GBB's felicia made a difference on the CD player, smoother more liquid~fluid sounding.
The felicia on the pre sounded more choked?
The thing with Duke's design, IMHO, is that the 45% toe in drives image/soundstage people nuts.
Those individuals want to see the speakers pointing in the face, (forgive my generalizations, just got off of 10 hours of overtime)
My personal opinion is that they must be toed in at least 45% firing 2 feet in front of you. I run them closer to 30%.
We also had problems with bass boom but again it was a new room, Duke and Lorie had never heard the jolidas before and it was a new system.
The bass was adj. via the port tuning but again time was not our friend.
In the end we had a very nice lecture from Duke, concerning his speaker philosophy.
Afterwords, Duke and Lorie came back to the berndt house were I set my rig back up and played my stuff.
Duke claimed he never heard those sounds coming out of his speakers...
Granted we were listening to "Pig Destroyer" at around 105 db, but the point was listening to his speakers (92~93db efficient, with 200 triode watts),
The bass had layers, like a onion, and texture, not to mention chest pounding dynamics.
note to self...
 Do not do a rave with new gear and a new space with no previous set up time.

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks Berndt....

[Berndt]

stand by for pictures...

[Berndt]

Mr Bauer

Our host and Duke

Duke and the module

The gang

Peace out Kurt...

the solid gold dancers

Duke, the room, and the rig

The listening end of the room and our humble group of norcal attendies

Is this thing on?

bass down to 30

I can fly!

[low.pfile]

Solid Gold Dancers... Sweet!

All Raves need those!

[GBB]

Mr Bauer

Our host and Duke

Duke and the module

The gang

Peace out Kurt...

the solid gold dancers

Duke, the room, and the rig

The listening end of the room and our humble group of norcal attendies

Is this thing on?

bass down to 30

I can fly!

Here it is with bigger pictures.
---Gary

[Berndt]

thanks Gary!

[Sonny]

Ok,

Sorry for the late response, but work's been crazy!
Anyways, I wanted to give a little feedback on the listening session with the Jazz Modules as well as the Spectrum (I think the $7500 preamp) at Peter's with Duke's Speakers...

So, after the good eatens, chatting and some drinking, we finally got to sit down to listen to the jazz modules (here on JM), the Jolida Amps and the $7500 pre (here on $7.5K)...and the new Bent passive.

Having heard the JM at Bill's home before, I had a good sense of what they can sound like.  At Peter's place, it seems that the tuning, as well as the room response really through the JM's bass off.  The bass was uncharactoristically boommy, slow and muddle at first listen...  Duke then re-tuned the JM and put in a larger, I think port.  That helped a bit with the bass, giving it more details, speed and articulation.  However, I know the JM sounds better than that even...then Peter brought in some traps and placed them behind the JM, that helped even more, but it was still not JM bass like.

After a while, we removed the $7.5K pre and hooked up the Bent Passive.  I think the Bent had better control, speed, articulation and dynamics over the $7.5K pre, however, inherently being more open, it did seem to sound a little more forward and, dare I say, brighter than the $7.5K but over all, I, and some others, like the Bent in that environment better.

Overall, sorry to focus on the bass, the JM sounded good, open and dynamic, however, the bass really did dampened the listening session a bit, and kudos to Duke and Bill for trying to resolve the situation...though it bettered the initial bass response, it was far from what the JM can sound like, based on my experience at Bill's!!!

Thanks again Peter, Bill and Duke for organizing a great gig...
Tuan