Well I hope all the other Regional Groups are having as much fun as we are out here.
Holy Toledo (ohio) what a great sonic treat (not tricks) we acheived yesterday.
First and foremost I (again) have to thank Mad DOg and his wonderful and supportive wife. They have a beautiful new home and each and every session yeilds more and better sonic qualities.
I might also mention we had two new attendees (Jeff and Eric) who definatly added to the fun. Jeff being a very knowledgable and seasoned audiophile (as well as a serious reviewer for Positive Feedback Online). It was great to exchange memories of the "early days" and the equipment we had, heard, and liusted after.
Eric was a newcomer, who was but a "weedhopper audiophile" just learning the ropes and picking up (very quickly) all of the things we were listening for and hearing.
We had some great surprises (I always like that)
1) was the BAD PLUS CD which has already been mentioned. Ever since I got my first pair of 626Rs over 2 years ago I have been into "quality sounding bass. Not "overpowering, kick you in the gut bass" but highly defined, solid and lifelike bass. My first pair of 626Rs had that in spades and every CD that I find that has this is a big plus. Flight of the Cosmic Hippo by Bela Fleck, much of the Diana Krall Love Scenes CD, BlackLight Syndrome, and now BAD PLUS all offer some incredibly complex and detailed bass passages to test the quality and strengths of most systems.
Thanks Glen, Zybar, Lonewolfny42, and any other in the chain of sharing this gem.
2) Another surprise is the Bedini CD Clarifier. Now as "subjective" as I might sound to some, I always search for "why" something might sound better, or improve the sound. While I don't understand this one, it certainly seems to make a sonic improvement.
It seems that the literature says that it "de-magnetizes" the disc?????
Since when can plastic be magentized, or how can aluminum be magnetic without "current" present? (as in alnico magnet). Is it that the "static electricity" created by the plastic is acting as current to make the aluminum become "alnico"???
And if so, whay would a magnetic force, have any effect on the laser? Or is it the electronic circuitry that is affected and not the laser?
If anyone knows what the deal is, let me know, but I think all there would say that the CD "did" sound better after treatment.
A couple comments about the amps we used.
I brought along my Son of Ampzilla ($3250 list/100wpc) and MD has just picked up a Jeff Rowland AMP ($7300 list/150wpc).
What a beautiful sound we had from both amps.
A few weeks ago we compared the Rowland 201s (I think around $4500/200wpc) to the SoA and due to the huge number of people there, I don't think any real conclusions were drawn, but I think this time we could all say the results were outstanding.
MD's present Rowland sounded much more "complete" and less "dry" than the 201s in this setting and system.
Firstly the Rowlands are a beautiful set (they come in two boxes) and had the Master of Mad DOg "approval rating" as well as
As far as sonics, both were quite similar. The biggest difference (on this system) might have been in the bass (and the difference was small but noticable) the Rowland seemed to have "dryer" deep bass and the bass of the SoA was "meatier".
Tonally both had slightly differing character, which sounded equally accurate. The highend too was slightly different, but both had good definition, detail and resolution.
In this system I think most would have said the tone and quality of the midrange might have been slightly in favor of the SoA and the treble and high end might have been in favor of the Rowland, but that is in this system on these speakers.
We also compared three DACs (Benchmark, AudioMagic, and Dodson)
Of the three the Benchmark and Dodson stood out the most. The Benchmark for its performance to value, and the Dodson for it's absolute performance. Not one to have expereimented with or listened to a lot of DACs, I will say that the overall perfromance of the Dodson, "was" pretty incredible.
As far as the speakers. I have always said that, for some reason, I always seem to like speakers with V in their name (VMPS, Von Scheikert, Vandersteen) and this listen to the VR-Jr's was no exception.
Now granted we had some exceptional equipment in the drive train.
The best sound included:
Audio Alchemy DDS Pro Transport
Dodson DA 218 DAC
Placette Active Preamp
AudioQuest DBS Cheetah interconnect (from Placette to SofA)
Son of Ampzilla Power Amp
AudioQuest DBS Volcano single BiWire Speaker Cables
Von Scheikert VR-Jrs
Argent Audio Jaden Signature interconnect (from Dodson to Placette Active)
The VR Jrs were exceptional. Now while I prefer the detail and limited dispersion of ribbons, these speakers had excellent sound.
We also did a comparison of the "active" vs "passive" Placette Preamps and it took no time at all to know that the active was sounding better.
If I had to count the times I have heard better sound from "non-ribbon" systems, it would be on two fingers. Overall this system in it's finished configuration sounded as (or almost) as good as a TAD system I heard almost a year ago. And it might even be closer than that since I didn't hear the same cuts.
All in all this was one fun time, and aurally, a pleasure.
So again, to all the "familiar faces" great to see you again and th the new faces, glad to have you in the group.
