Sonic Spirits, Blue Circle, Focus Audio, Audience at HE2004

PhilNYC · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 May 2004, 10:25 am »

Thanks lonewolf!

Yeah, we've had a really tough time getting the sound right with our setup; in addition to the challenges of having a big system in a small room, we also had a number of new items (including new tubes in the BC3000 preamp, a Sony DVP-NS999ES with the BIG Audience mod and a number of power cords) that needed to break in. The first two days of the show, I don't think we were very successful at controlling the bass (which led to a lot of other things sounding a little out of whack)...but Saturday afternoon, I started thinking that things were finally settling down and starting to sound the way I hoped they would. Then again, I only left the room for a grand total of 20 minutes over the last three days, so maybe my ears are shot...!

If you're at the show today, please stop by and check it out! And yes, please do bring some CDs to try out...am always looking for good stuff to listen to!

(Mike...sorry about the middle-aged music selection, but you know that I *am* middle-aged...! I did play some Who yesterday towards the end of the day, tho...played it LOUD, too!

)

zybar · « **Reply #21 on:** 23 May 2004, 01:05 pm »

Phil,

Glad to hear that the system has improved!

As we discussed on Friday, we all agreed that we didn't think you were getting everything you could out of the system.

I look forward to hearing things at your place next month.

BTW, thanks for letting us play our music and at the louder volumes we requested.

George

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 May 2004, 01:26 pm »

Hey Phil,

Found this on AA, someone else liked you room too(Blue Circle/Focus).... http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/330104.html . Have a good final day !!

[/list:u]

zybar · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 May 2004, 01:35 pm »

Nice detailed write-up, but I had almost the opposite reaction to the rooms that were described.

Just goes to show we all like different things and can come to the opposite conclusion when listening to the same muisc.

George

PhilNYC · « **Reply #24 on:** 24 May 2004, 04:25 am »

Quote from: zybar

BTW, thanks for letting us play our music and at the louder volumes we requested.

George

Hey George, no problem! I do wish you had come back to the room today, because this afternoon I finally felt like we were getting a sound that was indicative of what the system was capable of (of course it came on the last day of the show

). Even though I took CDs to play from people the whole show, today was really the first day I had good confidence that the system was going to do a good job with anything we threw at it. The first 3 days, I only played about 5 different tracks from my own CD collection that I was sure were going to sound decent...imagine how sick I am of Stacy Kent, Jazz at the Pawnshop, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Persuasions, and Willie Nelson after three days of that! But today, we put on everything...classical, jazz fusion, classic rock, r&b, new age, you name it. I don't think I played the same track more than two times the whole day. We even closed the show to a room full of people with Van Halen's version of "You Really Got Me" cranked WAY up!

This was my first audio show as an exhibitor and member of the industry, and while I still have my consumer-view of what I think exhibitors should do at these shows, I do now have a far better perspective and respect of the challenges that manufacturers and dealers face in doing these kinds of shows. I promise you, I wanted to knock the ball out of the park with this show with great sound and do all the things that I've complained in the past that exhibitors don't do...in the end, I think we had a good show, but I want to do better. It was a great learning experience for me, tho, and I do think I'll be more prepared to do a better show next year.

Thanks to everyone on AC who stopped by and introduced yourself to me! And particular thanks to Mcrespo, lonewolf, and Levi for your help and contributions to the room!

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #25 on:** 24 May 2004, 12:44 pm »

Yeah, Phil- that was awesome you played Pinball Wizard from the Who at Maximum Volume! I couldn't believe how much the sound had changed from Wednesday when I helped you set up. Sonic Spirits, Linn, Naim, Martin Logan, JM Lab/BAT and Tenor/Epiphany were the only rooms that let us rock out a bit. I love classical and jazz, but I need to hear other more modern stuff as well. I understand that the middle aged/older audiophiles make more of a difference to the bottom line of most dealers, but the industry definitely needs some new blood and I don't think that many 20 year olds are going to get turned on to hi-fi if all people listen to are Mahler and Coltrane in these rooms (and I love them both). I think all rooms need to play what the younger set can relate to, at least when they are in the rooms. I nearly had to twist the arm off of the guy in the Linn room to put on some Clash London Calling, which is not only one of the greatest rock and roll records of all time, but is also very well recorded. The White Stripes Elephant is also minimally recorded in all analog, but you'd think I was offering up death metal. Anyway, thanks to those that let me play this stuff, which I picked specifically for sonics, and kept me from hearing the Dave Gruisan/Diana Krall that was playing everywhere. IMO, a good audio system should be able to play any type of music, as long as it is well recorded. Martin Logan played Usher, which is heavily compressed, etc., which is exactly how it sounded in that room.

Michael

Carlman · « **Reply #26 on:** 24 May 2004, 12:48 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42

Hey Phil,
Found this on AA, someone else liked you room too(Blue Circle/Focus)....
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/330104.html . Have a good final day !! [/list:u]

Did Mr. Wolf get a chance to visit the show? Any comments? A long, detailed review would be excellent!

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #27 on:** 24 May 2004, 01:09 pm »

BTW, Sunday is always the best day to go these shows. It's less busy and exhibitors have more time to tweak the sound, so it sounds best. Many rooms had much improved sound on Sunday, including Focus/Blue Circle, Karma/Lamm, and Linn.

Michael

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 May 2004, 03:16 am »

Quote from: Carlman

Quote from: lonewolfny42
Hey Phil,
Found this on AA, someone else liked you room too(Blue Circle/Focus)....
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/330104.html . Have a good final day !! [/list:u]

Did Mr. Wolf get a chance to visit the show? Any comments? A long, detailed review would be excellent!

mmmm, a detailed review, ok Carl,.... I went to the HE 2004 show on saturday, looking for the "Gilmore Girl"....she was not there, I was disappointed !