Greetings All,
Newb here, so first allow me to 'Thank' the creators, maintainers, facilitators and all the contributors to this forum. I've been reading, enjoying, and attempting to digest much of the valuable information and opinions offered freely and without attitude for almost 2 years now. Much has been of benefit, much will remain over my head.
For information, as everyone has their opinion, some systemic background. Have been out of the hobby for close to 20 years as far as trying to track what's going on equipment-wise, it just got to be too much. Both research & cost-wise. 1st system in the early 70's was Marantz 1060 integrated with matching Tuner, Teac cassette deck, and Advent Utility Speakers (wish I'd spent the extra $14 each for the wood veneer). The speakers remain (re-coned by SpeakerLab locally), all else long gone. Next step was home built Hafler DH-200 & DH101, and a Pioneer 3 Hd deck. Had a cold solder that was never found in the 101 so traded up to a factory built 110 a few years later. Sadly it had the same problem and was 'forced' to live with it for years as two trips to the factory couldn't find/fix it. Only dropped a channel occasionally, and a good thump on the top would bring it back for a bit. Around the same time upgraded to a Nak 586 cassette (great deck), and some Aiwa micro components. A Digital PLL Tuner, and Timer, which at the time were well built & cutting edge. Still have the timer, am told the the board on the Tuner is not replaceable due to age or it would still be working. Next upgrade was speakers, Dahlquist DQM-7s. These are currently in service in my office, also re-coned due to disintegration of the foam on the woofers. Sadly Magnat is no longer around, but again SpeakLab did a good recone job. And at least to my ear these are still fine sounding speakers.
What brought me to the Circle was a friend of 25 yrs who not only has much the same musical tastes, but the same equipment tastes. He had his DH 200 rebuilt a number of years ago by Mr. Frank Van Alstine. I had toyed with the thought for years for my unit. Last year I started getting back into researching things, and via the AVA site was brought here. In the last 18 months I've upgraded my main (totally) & secondary systems (partially). Also thru some remodeling/repairs a couple of years ago I've created a small A/V area (approx 14'x10'), utilizing the front half of a room. Not ideal due to a fireplace bump out, but suffices to get away from the TV for serious listening and movie viewing.
At this point I'd like to publicly say "Thanks" to both Frank Van Alstine and Jim Salk for their fine equipment, work, devotion to the art/science of quality sound reproduction, and equally fine customer service. Frank was kind enough to replace a tube in the T8 when it got noisy even though not a warranty item, as well as spend the time to help me noodle out the 5.1 setup for HT with the T8 Pre & 260/3EX, since the T8 doesn't have the EPL of the Ultra preamps. My order to Jim was as a result of his association with Frank, comments here regarding his equipment & work, and was at a good/bad time. It was relatively early in the production of the Song Towers (last August), and just prior to the RMAF. It took a while to get them, and we had some bumps in the road, but he was most generous and gracious in helping me over the bumps. All of this brings us to why this post is here - I have the Kent Song Towers (& a Song Center to boot).
And, "Yes", after some hesitation, I believe a listening session can be arranged for those interested. There are some extraneous considerations that prevent specific scheduling at this moment, but we should be able to pull something together in the not too distant future. The consideration being removal of my existing roof & replacement with new.
As I have read the many postings in the various areas/circles I would say I'm probably a mid-fi enthusiast as opposed to many here. Your call on that. I realize that tweaking a system is like tweaking a car, both fun & expensive in most cases. As stated above I've pretty much searched for the system that filled my wants/needs and then let it roll. It's nice to be back to really listening to the music, and expect to stick pretty close to what I now have for some time to come.
(Will have to play with all the various buttons and smileys at the top of this since as noted it's my first post and don't have a clue what does what or where, and they do add an extra sense to content.)
Anyway, as to the Song Towers specifically I have the natural Cherry finish which is lovely. Sound-wise I can't really state much more than has been echoed by many other owners more eloquently than I could. Possibly the only new factor would be the size of my listening area, smallish by comparison to others I believe. I figured by the time I chose another monitor or bookshelf type speaker and added a stand the footprint would be the same, and as I have a 55 lb dog that tends to get rambunctious they are much less susceptible to being knocked about. I like quality sound at low to mid levels, the Hafler rebuild (250EX) drives the 2 channel system with the Towers, the 260/3EX picks up the Song Center and Outlaw Bookshelfs for the surround. Don't believe I've had the volume above 10:00, maybe 11 on the dial. Probably also related to the space they are in (it's pretty loud at than point), and am only able to space them about 7' apart. At that, the imaging and soundstage are still outstanding. Undoubtedly due to Jim & Mr. Murphy's special talents. Allow me to add "Thanks" to Mr. Murphy for his considerable contribution to the quality of the Song Towers reproduction. My musical preferences are fairly eclectic, jazz & classic rock being primary choices. Unlike Billy Bob's Country Bunker, I don't have both kinds of music - country & western. Not a commentary, simply personal taste. So far haven't listened to anything the Towers weren't capable of handling without breaking a sweat.
Apologies if this has rambled on too long, so enough for now. Am a world class procrastinator and been meaning to do this for a couple of months, so now it's done. Hope I haven't bored anyone to tears, any future postings will be brief, more later, and will advise as soon as I have a better grip on the schedule as to when I can accommodate a small (?) group for listening. For all of us on the fringes of the hobby, again Thanks to you all for the spirit with which you share your experiences and knowledge.
