I had a great time putting a face to the nomenclatures in our little forum we have here. I made a brisk trip up to Lima, and spent the greater part of my vist in room 604. 'The Crew' of Wayne, Pez, Marbles, Mgalusha, and Drphoto were a motley bunch. Their know-how was daunting, but I got some more upgrade ideas.
Depending on my better-half's career search, my FST upgrade and Dio with boulder upgrade will be the first. The Radii sounded smooth as hell, is now on my needs list.
Norh's pre-amp was very cool looking without the black face, and if my wife had not called to tell me that I could not buy anything...for $250 it would have been mine(special show demo price).
Walking into the Oddyssey room, there was Klaus, unmistakable light german accent, tho, he is physically large. Talking to, why it must be...Mr. Barnes hisself. The speakers that Klaus had there sounded great, of course the larger ones had a very full sound. Even Michael was a little taken aback with the bass response, stating that he had never used such a large cabinet that particular woofer. They both agreed that the 9700 tweeter was the better sounding over the 9900. For $1500 for the pre, amp and the smaller speakers it is a bargain.
Walking up to Norh, there were all the faces I know from the website. I was the only one in the room except for those 4. All smiles and very proud of their handy work. If I had an extra $100 and older children the 3.0's are a no-brainer. They look great. The leAmp2s were powering them thru the Norh server and a laptop as well as an source amp that Yuths was very willing to explain. They were closing shop soon so listening was really not an option.
Listened to the Cain & Cain loudspeaker, very interesting look. Exceptional finish and design. Falls off when at an angle. Not my cup of tea.
Back up to room 604. As you may not know I have listened to the RMX's and 626r's thru the ampzilla. This new itineration with the FST kick's serious ribbon butt. Off-axis was just like I remembered on the RMX, flawless. Reminded me of the off-axis sound when I a/b'd my CBM170's from AscendAcoustics. Did I tell you already that I will be upgrading?
The best part though was meeting the guys
I saw and heard that $10,000 turntable, sweet! Crafted by an 83 year old, and assembled by his slave driving son!!
I hope I am that crafty and busy as an octegenarian!
All in all, just wish I had the cash flow (Marbles) to try everyones products to get that synergy that we all strive for.
Take Care,
Eric
