[Jpdoyle3]

Not that old...
I’ve lurked on Audio Circle many years, thought I’d finally make a formal introduction. I was bit by the audio bug early; my father was in the Army and stationed in Germany in the 60s, while there he bought a Fisher 800, AR 3a, Dual 1019 and an Ampex 900. As a kid I loved not only listening to music but taking apart, fiddling with every component. The first record (45) i bought was Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones and loved the Beatles...
In the 70s, I worked in audio stores in the DC area, starting at the modest Georges Radio and Television to Audio Associates, to Myer Emco. While going to college in Richmond, VA, I was fortunate enough to work at Audio Art which was owned by the late, great Roger Modjeski of Music Reference and Beverage fame. I learned so much from Roger and am very indebted to him, what a character!
I’ve owned Advents (double), Polk, Klipsh, Vandersteen, Maggies, Monitor Audio, KEF (several including the LS50W now), Waveform (Mach Solo and Mach 17) plus many others... My main system is a Spatial Audio X5, Primaluna Dialougue Pre, First Watt Aleph 5 clone and a PS Audio Directstream DAC. I have five turntables in various states of states of disrepair, focused mainly on a Thorens TD 160 Super renovation with a Jelco 850 which I hope to have up and running early in 2021!
I love all music, folk, jazz, rock, world, reggae, classical and most of all, live music. Try not to judge me, I’ve attended over 200 Dead shows... Hey now!
Wishing all of you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2021 New Year!

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome 
This is a gem song, one of the best from Stones, from a time when they still had a bass player.

The first record (45) i bought was Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

[pehare]

welcome!   Good to hear from somebody in the area I grew up in.  Loved seeing the Dead at Baltimore Civic center in the 70's and early 80's, Cap Center DC and Merry weather in Columbia...I'm envious and curious about your education from Roger Modjeski he taught me so much just on the phone - he's a hero to me I've really enjoyed his RM10MkII for over a decade.

[Jpdoyle3]

Where to begin with, Roger... He was brilliant and opinionated. If you had a point of view, you better be prepared to support it. His focus was on design, reliability and simplicity. He could be kind, generous with his time but did not suffer fools quietly.
In the brief time i worked at Audio Art, he chatted routinely with Jim Winey of Magnepan, Bill Johnson of Audio Research, Mathew Polk (Monitor 7, 10 were voiced after the Spendors of that era), Bob Carver (there was a hot tub in the basement where they drank Bourbon and debated; it was the 70s...), Dick Sequerra, Robert Fulton, Harold Beverage, the list goes on. It was a heady time; the store was amazing. People traveled to Richmond to listen to the vast array of gear and talk with Roger.
The notion of a high-end audio store was relatively new. The store was a nineteenth-century townhome (2215 E. Broad St, Richmond, VA), a half a block away from St John’s Church where Patrick Henry delivered his fiery, “give me liberty or give me death” speech, which seemed appropriate that Roger would locate there. As you walked in, there was a large entryway, with a harpsichord Roger owned and a beautiful stairway, all leading to grand rooms equipped with fantastic set ups. Rooms with Tympani, Magnepan, Fulton J, Sequerra Metronome, Beverage powered by Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, SAE, Threshold, and of course, Roger’s evolving designs. Roger’s real passion was designing gear, not making it per se, but the actual pursuit of the design...
He did not inherently like salespeople. He was an engineer’s engineer but gave me one nugget of sales advice that has humbly served me well through my career in high tech sales. As you might imagine, we had a lot of tire kickers that would come in. I was 20 years old, and most of the people who came in the store were at least twice my age—listening to an exchange i had with a person giving me a hard time about something arcane who eventually left without buying anything, Roger came out afterward and looked me in the eyes and said, “you know more than 99% of the people that will come through that door, act like it. Don’t let them push you around. And for the 1%, come get me...”.  I say humbly because in this hobby, the longer I’m in it, the more I realize how much I have to learn. However, if you stay focused on understanding fundamentals, what constitutes an inherently reliable design, that foundation will serve you well though time, just as your MR amp has.

[Phil A]

Welcome!

[Jpdoyle3]

Thank you Phil!

[Jpdoyle3]

Welcome 
This is a gem song, one of the best from Stones, from a time when they still had a bass player.

Thank you FRM, agreed! It was between that and Monday, Monday... I loved The Beach Boys at that point too... There’s a great documentary on Netflix, Echos In the Canyon that discusses the Laurel Canyon scene between 64-66, and the influences that they had among themselves and other bands, notably The Beatles. Highly Recommended!

[Phil A]

Thank you FRM, agreed! It was between that and Monday, Monday... I loved The Beach Boys at that point too... There’s a great documentary on Netflix, Echos In the Canyon that discusses the Laurel Canyon scene between 64-66, and the influences that they had among themselves and other bands, notably The Beatles. Highly Recommended!

Yes - really enjoyed that documentary.