[Vipers]

That is such an awesome corner, I have walked up it a few times, it really is amazingly steep, must be a real buzz maxing it out through there though, I really should get the Lotus over there one day

[saveloy]

That is such an awesome corner, I have walked up it a few times, it really is amazingly steep, must be a real buzz maxing it out through there though, I really should get the Lotus over there one day

It's a roller coaster ride.  Do it once and you just want to pile in again & again.  Next stop, the Alps.  And on to the Stelvio Pass.



Kyri

[Vipers]

And now for something a little Different with obviously Bryston at the centre of the day

I know that this won’t be for everybody and I could well end up sitting on my own all day but I thought I would mix 2 of my loves, HiFi and Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band to create an open day with a difference.

Some of you may well know that I'm a little bit of a Bruce fan, 70+ gigs since my first one on July 4th 1985, (that first Bruce gig really did change my life and gave me a real appreciation of live music) also managed to book 8 so far for this year, the Wembley Stadium show last weekend went straight into my top 3 shows, amazing night, there really is nothing better than a Bruce gig.

Anyway the idea is that we have got some real reference kit at HiFi Lounge so why not use it to showcase who I consider to be the best singer, songwriter and live entertainer the world has ever seen, yes I think it is fair to say that it will be a slightly biased day So on August 10th HiFi Lounge will be holding our first Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band Appreciation day

It is at the early stages of planning at the moment, needless to say it will be a mini Bruce festival with nothing other than Bruce being played all day through our reference HiFi system consisting of the awesome  PMC MB2 SE speakers and our full Bryston rig to help Bruce sound his best, the new award winning Rega RP8 turntable will be spinning some Bruce vinyl, so it really will be a great opportunity to hear Bruce on some top kit, we will also power up the JVC X55 Projector for some live footage of the boss in action on our 120” screen.

I am thinking that we will play 2-3 albums in their entirety, if I have my way it will be E-Street Shuffle and Asbury Park to start with, then we could maybe do a couple of hours or requests, then fire up the Projector for some of our favourite Bruce live and video moments, I will work out a timetable and put it up nearer the time, if anyone has any ideas please let me know, but be warned I could see it going on late into the evening.

It goes without saying that if you have any rare material you’d like to hear or think anyone else would like to see or hear please feel free to bring it along, and if by some fluke the sun comes out we can open up the gardens to give everyone a chance to mingle and swap Bruce stories, saying that I can’t remember the last hot and sunny outdoor Bruce event I went to so I guess it will be safer to expect rain.

So as you can see this is a total indulgence on my part but with Bruce doing some of the best shows of his life at the moment and with the imminent release of the movie ‘Springsteen and I’ I thought it would be a great time to hold this open day and a great way to ease the blues of the European tour being over and discuss the various highlights we all had from the Wrecking Ball tour, I’m still buzzing from hearing ‘Lost In a FLood’ live, and to talk about any other Bruce stories we may have, like when I met him in London a couple of years ago for the showing of ‘The Promise’, actually we could show ‘The Promise’ if anyone would like to see it.

On the off chance that anyone would like to come can you please e-mail me on paul@hifilounge.co.uk with any other ideas so I can get an idea of what everyone would like the day to entail that would be great.

If we can make this a success then it would be great to think that it could possibly become a yearly event, but for now please put August 10th in your diary as it would be great to see any other fellow Bruce fans at HiFi Lounge for our appreciation day.

Cheers,

BBBRRRUUUUUUUUCCCEEE

[Vipers]

Hi all,

Yesterday was the dealer Launch event of PMC's new Fact.12 speaker and was of the usual high standard you would expect from PMC, held at the Luton Hoo Hotel which is a pretty spectacular place, all the more so being that it is in Luton, I really never knew it existed, apparently is is used a lot for film locations, pic below -



It goes without saying that a SP3 and BDP-2 and BDA-2 were used for the demo's along with a pair of 7B's.

As for the Fact.12's what can you say, they are spectacular, I was speaking to Olly, who is Peter Thomas's son and the lead designer, top bloke btw, and he has further tweaked them since I heard them at Munich, mainly playing with the crossover, they don't sound massively different but he is now happy with his work and has signed them off so production is now up and running :smashin:

The basic design brief was to design a IB2 sound in a much smaller cabinet, no pressure there then and to my ears I would say that PMC have done just that, the smaller mid range which is a re-design on the PMC75 sounds equally as impressive as its bigger brother but it is the bass that really astounds, I really believe there has never been a speaker like the Fact.12 before, can't wait to get my hands on mine

We also played around with the treble and bass lift and minus with a couple of tracks and in the room we were in you could really hear the difference, more so than I have heard with the Fact.8's before for some reason, I particularly liked the bass on the - setting as it really helped throw the vocal into the room as the mid range came across a lot cleaner, but as PMC said there is no correct setting, they are all correct, it is just which setting the customer prefers or if they need to be tuned to a particular difficult room it can really help.

Here are a couple of pics of the 12's in the Tiger Ebony, on the 8's this wasn't my favourite finish but for some reason they looked quite stunning on the 12's, sorry for the low quality pics.

It goes without saying that a SP3 and BDP-2 and BDA-2 were used for the demo's with a pair of 7B's.

So to sum up I really think PMC have created something quite special with the Fact.12, basically an amazingly high end speaker that sounds phenomenal and doesn't dominate the room like a IB or MB but gives similar performance.

I have just arranged with PMC to do a Fact.12 Launch event at HiFi Lounge on August 3rd, I will post more details shortly.

[James Tanner]

Great stuff Vipers! - thanks for the report.

james

[Vipers]

No problem James, last time I heard the Fact.12's PMC had 28's powering them but to be honest the 7's sounded equally as good, a perfect combination I would say

[saveloy]

Vipers,

Fantastic.  Firstly, Luton Hoo is a deeply wonderful place, famously known as the location for a speech by a certain Winston Churchill.
I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of years ago - my friends were married there. 

August 3rd is in my diary.  But I expect to hound you for a taste before then.  Is there such a thing as audiophilia?  I feel like a pervert every time I look at the fact 12s. 

Kyri

[sfraser]

I love your idea of a Springsteen day of Music. I wish I lived closer. May I suggest a concert to play a few track from?  There is a concert/bootleg floating around the Internet  called " Live at the Main Point 1975" . It is certainly not the best recorded, however it widely viewed as one of his best performances.  By far my favorite. The performance took place while he was in the studio recording a little album called " Born to Run" . He was still working out some of the final song details, Thunder Road was referred to as "Wings for wheels". He covers a lot of tracks from "The Wild and the Innocent" as well, with very unique versions of particular songs. If your interested, and can't find it, let me know and I can get you a FLAC copy.

Cheers

Scott

[Vipers]

Vipers,

Fantastic.  Firstly, Luton Hoo is a deeply wonderful place, famously known as the location for a speech by a certain Winston Churchill.
I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of years ago - my friends were married there. 

August 3rd is in my diary.  But I expect to hound you for a taste before then.  Is there such a thing as audiophilia?  I feel like a pervert every time I look at the fact 12s. 

Kyri

Hi Kyri,

Married at the Hoo, now that would be special, put it on your to do list mate, that is one party I wouldn't want to miss.

Being that you live so close now I'm amazed I haven't seen more of you tbh, I guess that will change once the rather svelte Fact.12's are with me.

The good news is that they are due in with me sometime next week, maybe you can help me run them in ready for the launch event 

Here's another picture to get the pulse rating, she certainly seems to like the look of the 12's

[Vipers]

I love your idea of a Springsteen day of Music. I wish I lived closer. May I suggest a concert to play a few track from?  There is a concert/bootleg floating around the Internet  called " Live at the Main Point 1975" . It is certainly not the best recorded, however it widely viewed as one of his best performances.  By far my favorite. The performance took place while he was in the studio recording a little album called " Born to Run" . He was still working out some of the final song details, Thunder Road was referred to as "Wings for wheels". He covers a lot of tracks from "The Wild and the Innocent" as well, with very unique versions of particular songs. If your interested, and can't find it, let me know and I can get you a FLAC copy.

Cheers

Scott

Hi Scott,

Thanks, hopefully it will be a fun day, going to see Bruce again on Sunday in London, can't wait, I've got a really strong feeling that he may play the whole of Born In The USA, I'm really hoping so as over the last 2 gigs I have been to he has played the whole of Darkness and Born To Run, all very emotional

Thanks for the recommendation of 'Live at the Main Point' I'll have a hunt around see if I can find it as that is certainly my favourite Bruce era, I'll let you know if I can't find it though.

Cheers,

[Vipers]

Downloading as we speak, I'll put it on the playlist for our Bruce Appreciation day 

[saveloy]

Vipers,

WOOOO & HOOOOOOO!!!!!!  I'm there matey.  Well actually that depends on when they arrive - I am off to the continent again with the car between 4th & 8th. 
But I'll be making myself comfy on your sofa as soon as possible.

I have been meaning to pop in; I do miss you. But I've been busy with the new home.  And then last week I contracted hand, foot & mouth disease. No really, I did. And it has kicked the hell out of me.  That along with the fact that it is highly contagious has kept me indoors for almost a fortnight. 

Kyri

[Vipers]

Sorry to hear that Kyri, sounds like we will have to quarantine the area if you come in for the Fact.12 launch, hope you are feeling better soon.

Result you are away in between the Springsteen and Fact.12 events as I need someone to run the BBQ