Funny you should ask! It was a very "mini" jam... mainly me! marvda1 did have another audiophile friend over, but he didn't stay the entire time and I don't think he is on AC yet. marvda1 can correct me if I'm wrong...
First, a huge thank you to marvda1 for letting me listen to his gear for quite a few hours and picking his brain on the many systems he has listened to. His Usher 6381's sound very nice indeed. By the way, we did hit a BBQ restaurant before listening to the gear... just for those that were interested in Texas BBQ!
Basically, we played through a few of the pieces that I have been using to audition speakers (mostly classical, but with some jazz and vocals) and then spent several hours playing various pieces from marvda1's massive collection (mostly jazz with excursions into blues, classical and "progressive bluegrass"!). Hopefully marvda1 will chime in with a detailed description of his components and room layout.
Regarding the sound itself, I liked it. The 6381's were well-balanced across the entire spectrum and provided plenty of impact. They were physically larger than I was expecting, but finished beautifully. Most of the surface is a wonderfully deep, black, gloss finish, with furniture grade walnut accents. The 6381's are advertised to extend down to 29 Hz, and I think I heard that. There was a bit more low end resonance than I was expecting, but his setup in on a second story carpet-over-wood floor in a room that marvda1 hasn't had a chance to equip with base traps yet. I liked the top end, and I have to agree with marvda1 that his previous Paradigm studio 60's definitely sound hot in comparison.
Imaging was quite good. I heard width and height to a greater extent than depth, but part of that may have been the recordings. The image did occasionally extend outside the speakers, but not dramatically so. (Speakers baffles were maybe 2-3 feet from the back wall and 2 feet from the side walls.) Obviously, these last observations are very much affected by the limitations of the room and its treatments. Marvda1 has already added some treatments, but I confess that I'd like to hear the Usher's in a long wall placement with some additional treatments. Of course, marvda1 is already (still) plotting the replacement of some upstream components, so that could change things too!
Once again, thanks to marvda1 for a fun time and the chance to hear some great speakers. Hopefully, we can extend this kind of meeting to a larger group of people and evolve it into some genuine shootouts. I have convinced myself that I can't declare any component a "winner" (to my own ears) without hearing both contenders in the same room and system. Even if I take notes, I just don't trust my aural memory that far.
