[AUDFILE74]

Hello all, i just wanted to stop and say thanks to Mike for being a gracious host and for making me rethink quite a few ideas i have in my head. i now have system envy of epic proportions after hearing mike's rig. you and your wife are simply  beautiful people. thanx again, steve

[jtwrace]

Tell us about the experience...dont' be such a tease.   

[mgalusha]

Glad you enjoyed your visit Steve, it was great to finally meet you. Now if I could just get free GPS rentals to first time visitors so they don't drive all over the planet trying to get here.

BTW Kris (mod), not sure if this belongs in the lab though the original purpose of Steve's visit was to help him measure a transformer.


mike

[rollo]

 Yes Sir one of the really nice guys here on AC. Helpfull, thoughtfull and sincere. 


charles
SMA

[jtsnead]

Agreed! Thanks again Mike for the Felix you built me, amp sounds great!

[Lyndon]

I can attest that Mike's system is fabulous, and he is the most gracious host!

Loved his dedicated listening room and his preamp sprinkled with audio fairy dust. 

But he isn't kidding driving through Denver from the north coming south.  GPS? I need a local driver!

Thanks again for your good hospitality, Mike
Lyndon
Salt Lake City

[AUDFILE74]

Tell us about the experience...dont' be such a tease.   

Aat first mike's system did not make visual sense to me. i have a long term love affair with visual symmetry. but then you drop biasses and start realizing that it works on so many levels. it did something i value. it changed depth and scale with the recording.  imaging was dead on anddamn near creepy. tonally i was really intrigued. none of the high efficiency speaker/ horn issues i hate popped up. it balanced out very well. i love the way it was on female vocals and piano. mike's setup got the weight of dynamics perfect.  i believe in impact just was much as dynamics and it nailed it. if it is possible, clarity was the tonality of the system.it had clarity with balls. i could pay attention to the music and the system was able to change with the recording quite easily. mike could easily charge to hear this system and get away with it. good sound is priceless. and mike has it in spades

[Scott F.]

Yep, great guy ...and double yep to GPS being wrong 

Mike (coded message to follow), the fuse popped thankfully. Off to Rat Shack as I've only got 500mA in stock and these take a 300 mA. Bad news, the mesh plate is toast.

Oh well, that will learn me 

[Tyson]

I understand what you mean about Mike's system causing paradigm shifts - before I heard his system I would never have believed that speakers using horns or pro drivers would sound anything other than awful.  Not only was I wrong about that, but after hearing Mike's system a few times and overcoming my cognitive dissonance, I ended up going with a pro driver speaker system with a wave guided tweeter myself (GR Research V2's).  Although I'm not sure what you saw that was non-symmetrical - I was there a few days ago and the only thing not mirror-imaged were the subs.  But maybe some things got moved around?

[zybar]

Was Mike using the Atma-Sphere M-60's for amplification?

George

[AUDFILE74]

Was Mike using the Atma-Sphere M-60's for amplification?

George

YES IT WAS MIKE. THAT IS A PART OF WHAT MADE IT SO AMAZING. I LOVE CLARITY AND THE M-60S DELIVERED BIG TIME

[AUDFILE74]

sorry for the capslock love guys.  i also enjoyed the bass in mike's room. he let me hear the srvo subs solo and i am really impressed with the sound of them.  i really wish i could have brought something that would have posed a greater challenge to them.

[mgalusha]

You guys are kind, I am humbled. 

Tyson, yes the subs are the only asymmetrical bits since they are distributed around the room. I didn't have them on when you picked up the preamp since I'd just moved them and had not found time to measure and get them dialed in. I have since done so and am quite happy with the results. Could be also because I have all my source gear on the side as I loath a lot of reflective stuff between the speakers.

i really wish i could have brought something that would have posed a greater challenge to them.

I found something today that might have surprised you. Hugh Masekala "Hope" on 45RPM vinyl. I'd forgotten just how powerful the bass on that record is. I cranked it up to stupid loud and the subs didn't care. One benefit of having 5 of them is none have to work too hard.

Mike (coded message to follow), the fuse popped thankfully. Off to Rat Shack as I've only got 500mA in stock and these take a 300 mA. Bad news, the mesh plate is toast.

That is really good news except of course for the death of the tube.

George, as usual it was the M60's. Had some weird noise today and ended up swapping the #2 tubes. Not only did it kill the noise but the amps went to a level where they have never been before. Steve, I think you would have really enjoyed the result. More dynamic yet with more body and flesh to vocalists and with somehow better timing/pace. I was actually surprised at the change.

mike

 

[AUDFILE74]

SEE MIKE , THAt is another reason i dig you. your system is awesome but youstill want to explore audio and find pleasure in experimenting. thanks again mike

[brj]

George, as usual it was the M60's. Had some weird noise today and ended up swapping the #2 tubes. Not only did it kill the noise but the amps went to a level where they have never been before. Steve, I think you would have really enjoyed the result. More dynamic yet with more body and flesh to vocalists and with somehow better timing/pace. I was actually surprised at the change.

Hi Mike!  Hey, did you ever get the hum in the modded Jolidas figured out?  Aside from the hum, you seemed pretty excited by what they brought to the table, even compared to the M60s.


I have to agree with the rest - Mike is a generous guy and gracious host.  I've been lucky enough to hear his system on two different occasions (widely separated in time) and thoroughly enjoyed myself both times.

[mgalusha]

Brian,

Turned out there was much more going on, they were oscillating horribly at about about 85KHz if I recall. I have plans for them but at the moment they are dusty boat anchors. Perhaps over the winter I will undertake reworking them. What I loved was the seemingly unlimited power.

Even though the Abbey's are rated at 95dB sensitivity the M60's don't quite have enough power. At really high levels, like 104/105dB I measured just over 100W peaks, so having another few dB of headroom would be nice. I'm firmly convinced that most people don't really have enough power to avoid clipping on musical peaks. I've seen Bob Cordell demo it and measured for myself, so I don't think having those big 211's in a PP amp is overkill.

mike

Hi Mike!  Hey, did you ever get the hum in the modded Jolidas figured out?  Aside from the hum, you seemed pretty excited by what they brought to the table, even compared to the M60s.

[jimdgoulding]

Hi, Mike, don't be a such a stranger.