[Desertpilot]

Today, I had the pleasure of hosting a listening session for a prospective X5 customer.  We spent about an hour as I played a couple minutes from several of my albums (mostly classical and some jazz).  He brought over several of his own CDs and we sampled his albums.  He said he was impressed with the wide soundstage and depth and especially the "phantom" center image.  This was a very fun experience for me.

If you are visiting Las Vegas, let me know and I'll arrange a listening session.

Anyone else do this?  How did it go?

Marcus

[Don_S]

I auditioned my M5 Sapphires for someone. Probably about two hours of listening. He said he was going to order from Clayton. I did not hear anything after the audition.

[franSSS]

Did you at least get some chocolates or wine for your effort?

Not that one does anything expecting a return. But would be a nice gesture from the visitor.

Greetings

Francois

[Tyson]

I've hosted several people that were interested in hearing my OB super 7 speakers downstairs.  Now that I have the X3's coming for the upstairs system, I imagine I'll get even more.   Which is great, I love hosting people - they are almost always very interesting people.

[glynnw]

30 years or so ago I belonged to an audio group in Atlanta.  We would meet at a different member's house once a month for a session.  After a year or so this started to include food by the host and it became almost as important as the music.  Full meals, some barbecue, etc.  I really miss both the people and the food.

[geerock]

A guy messaged me asking if he could get a listen after I got my X5's.  He was 45 minutes away and came with his wife after work on a friday.  I smoked up some ribs and chicken wings and my lady did up a couple of sides.  They bought a large bottle each of red and white.  I handed him a tablet and told him to search out whatever he wanted and then asked me some of the tunes that I thought played extremely well on the system.  It was a good time and the girls became friends as they were both realtors.  The guy was gonna just buy the X5's but asked his wife if they could swing for a couple more pieces of equipment.  He even bought a modified tube DAC that I had just pulled out of my system a couple weeks earlier.  He ordered the X5's from Clayton right away.  Good time, good food, good music.

[bbybaudio]

I have hosted two X5 listening sessions. Both were a lot of fun. The first was a mix of my music and CDs he had brought. The second was all his own music. The first guest brought me a great mixed 6 pack of beer.

[Big Red Machine]

It used to be an annual event for us and 50-60 of our closest friends into audio and HT.

See how many audio industry celebs you can identify in these photos:

http://alhull.com/hemi2007sanctum/index.htm

We ran continuous HT demos and let the music playlists loop in the 2 channel room and everyone got a chance in the nice seats! And plenty of food!

We even had Frank Val Alstine at one event eating apple pie at the counter and he wanted a glass of milk, and we obliged.

Not quite a personal demo event by any stretch.

[TomS]

It used to be an annual event for us and 50-60 of our closest friends into audio and HT.

See how many audio industry celebs you can identify in these photos:

http://alhull.com/hemi2007sanctum/index.htm

We ran continuous HT demos and let the music playlists loop in the 2 channel room and everyone got a chance in the nice seats! And plenty of food!

We even had Frank Val Alstine at one event eating apple pie at the counter and he wanted a glass of milk, and we obliged.

Not quite a personal demo event by any stretch.

I remember it well. Lotsa fun at your place 

[abomwell]

I've been both hosting and attending listening sessions for many moons sometimes to hear new music and other times to compare equipment.

Before purchasing my current speakers, Dutch and Dutch 8C's, I had a pair of Morrison Omnis on one side of the room and Janszen ESL's on the opposite side, both of which were hooked up and could be switch on or off quickly. By turning the listening chair around one could easily compare both sets. I had several audiophile and musician friends come over to listen and help me decide which speakers to keep or sell.

When living in Richmond VA I was in an audio club that would occasionally go to members' houses to hear their systems. We did a shotgun start so not everyone was at one location at any time. It was both fun and fattening   One member had a fortune invested in his system in a custom built gigantic special purpose audio room. He had 10 Krell amps! The electric company actually installed his own electric pole in front of his house. That adds new meaning to the term dedicated line. Lol

Al

[Jazzman53]

Every year myself and 20-30 other Carver gear heads attend a festival in the NC mountains, which we call CarverFest.

I spend the fist day setting up and tuning my latest homebuilt ESLs and Ripole subs, and then invite the gang over for a listening session, with abundant eats and libations. 

I give a lot of thought to selecting the tunes I will have queued to play, before taking requests.  And I always search the music forums on AC to find new stuff. 

The cabins at carver fest are quite "live", which makes tuning a challenge compared to my acoustically treated home listening room. 

Then the next night I visit someone else's cabin and hear their setup as we do it all over again. This goes on for about two weeks and it's It's all great fun... the volume always seems to increase in proportion to the libations consumed! 
 

[Desertpilot]

Thankyou everyone for posting your experiences with hosting listening events.  I've enjoyed reading all of them.  Prior to Covid, my wife and I hosted a lot of pool parties at our home.  I had streaming jazz playing all day & night.  Maybe 30 to 60 folks from our Southern Nevada Camaro Club.  Neighbors couldn't help but take photos of all the colorful Camaros parked along the street.  I would love to have a group of audio enthusiasts over but I still don't feel safe with a crowd.  For now, one or two guests would be comfortable.

Thanks again for all the great stories!
Marcus

[franSSS]

One member had a fortune invested in his system in a custom built gigantic special purpose audio room. He had 10 Krell amps! The electric company actually installed his own electric pole in front of his house. That adds new meaning to the term dedicated line. Lol

Al

JOOOOO!!! i suppose when he started up the Krell's the neighborhood went black?!

[abomwell]

Just brown:).

[Desertpilot]

I am hosting another listening session for a potential X3 customer tomorrow, 8-31-21.  We've corresponded via email.  I gave him a list of what I like to demo and he's bringing a flash drive with some of his music.  He likes classical and jazz so I think we are going to have a great time.  He's a stereo (2 channel) listener and I have plenty of files in both 2.0 and 5.0.  My DAC will play only to left/right speakers when fed a stereo signal so we're good.

FYI, I have about 200 plus hours on my X3s.

If you are in Vegas and want to listen, message me.  Clayton also has my contact information.

Marcus

[Craig B]

Auditioning gear for an individual and hosting events are two different things. Even if someone was amenable to playing host, they (like me) might not have the space and setup to demo their system to more than one person at a time. I'd be happy to let someone hear my system if they were planning a purchase of a piece of gear I own, but in my home, a group of even two simultaneous guests would likely produce poor results for both of them.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I usually have a group of 3 to 6 people over for listening to music, auditioning gear or swapping gear about 3-4 times per year.  I supply the food and some drink, others bring beer.  Sometimes we have shoot outs of cables and DAC's.  We also get together at other peoples houses a few times a year.

[RonP]

Auditioning gear for an individual and hosting events are two different things.

+1

[Desertpilot]

I usually have a group of 3 to 6 people over for listening to music, auditioning gear or swapping gear about 3-4 times per year.  I supply the food and some drink, others bring beer.  Sometimes we have shoot outs of cables and DAC's.  We also get together at other peoples houses a few times a year.

My wife and I have enjoyed hosting many group parties over the years.  But, with Covid, we've stopped social gatherings.  Sad, but necessary, especially with Covid coming back strong here in Las Vegas.  Just too risky (I'm 70 years old).

Yesterday, as before, just one individual came over to listen to my X3s.  I am comfortable with it.

Thanks
Marcus

[MONKEYWICKEDMONKEY]

This would be something I would like to do but I'd be an outlier musically.

 After a few of my records I'm sure the place would empty out and I'd be tossed (or both).