[steve k]

Made the trip up to God's country yesterday for a visit with MarkTwain. Mark, his wife and family were frantically cleaning the house for a visit from potential home buyers so I got to see the place at its best. This is a beautiful home that Mark and his family built themselves. Every stick of trim in the house is solid oak milled by Mr. Twain himself. I hope the new owners appreciate that level of craftsfmanship!  

I was treated to Mark's Fostex/EL84 system. Once again, I was amazed at the sound 4 watts can produce!  We started out with some CD's and SACD's (Keb Mo's new one)mcomparing my $115 Pioneer DV-588A Multiplayer and Mark's Yamaha Multiplayer (sorry Mark, forgot the model number). They were close but I'd have to give the nod to the Yammie on SACD playback.

Once the homebuyers left, we cranked! There was enough bass for that system and a few more.   The ports finally got the "pillow treatment." We found the Mapletree/EL84 combo to be quite sweet. I was particularly impressed with how the Peter Daniels DAC smoothed out the edges of the Pioneer and added punch and dynamics. Must be those Blackgates! This is definitely one of the best values in DAC's these days, in my opinion, at $290 in kit form ($1200 assembled).

We then dusted off Mark's vintage AR which acquitted itself quite well with some classic Command Classics (35mm film) LP's and some Dire Straights. We ran it through his Gram Slee 2 phono pre and then my Seduction. These were very different in character--the Gram was fast, detailed with lots of PRAT, the Seduction was more rounded with lots of body and richer texture. Once again, yin and yang.

I was really impressed with the sound of the AR--very evenly balanced and musical. The Shure cartridge cost 5 times what the TT cost him!  aa This whole system is all about maximum value for minimal investment. Mark has definitely found the key to getting the most sound value per dollar by doing things DIY and finding the best synergy between components.

Here's a link to a few pics.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=844

steve k

[Scott F.]

Wish I could have made it

Heres the pics

[bpape]

Sounds like you had a good time.  Wish I could have made it up.  Another time for sure.

Bryan

[MerRev]

yes, great stuff Mark.  I had a chance to make it out to MarkTwain's on Friday and truely enjoyed my time listening to the horn loaded Fostex 166's.  They were incredibly dynamic and the bass was unreal.  
Keb Mo never sounded better and drum sets sounded huge.   
The pillow treatment worked quite well on some cuts but stole the thunder on others.  Mark and I agreed remote controlled pillows would be nice. 
Mark does amazing woodwork as can be seen on his Dynaco ST35 with the inset copper face and copper top. 

SteveK, I can't agree more- the Peter Daniels dac is a terrific bargain and really does a nice job smoothing out the edges.  Yet another must have component on my long Christmas list.   

Thanks for having us out Mark.  When you get settled in to your new home and the alnico Fostex's are broken in please give me a shout- I'll be more than happy to make the trek again. 

                                    MerRev

[Blackmore]

One minor correction...THAT'S MY GRAHAM SLEE PHONO!!!!!
I'm hoping it comes home for Christmas.    Hope to see all of you at Scott's in December.  I'll be done with marching band by then and will be looking forward to hearing some good stereo again.

[steve k]

I stand corrected.
steve

[Scott F.]

Hey Mark,

Guess where your CAL DAC is going?
Jamie is swapping me one of his SB's for it Its a good trade, Jamie is actually coming out a bit ahead but thats OK. I've been dying to get another SB to use as a floater and for the systems upstairs. I told him that I'd hot rod it for him after he listens to it for a while and decides how he wants it voiced.

Just talked to the girls and it sounds like we are coming out next Saturday for your marching band competition. Hey, can you PM or email me with the times you, Mike D and that band from Tenn are competing?

[mark@marktwain]

Hey feller's I was kinda off the radar yesterday as I am on most sundays. Thanks for the kind words Steve and Chris. I had a great time and I really enjoyed listening to both of your new pre amps in my rig. Thanks for making the trek up north and yes it is God's country up here as I live out in the middle of no where! Good company, cold brew and tasty tunes what else could ya want, Oh did I mention there was chili too. I guess I have a decision to make on what direction I want to go with for my new pre amp. The mapletree and the chameleon both sounded so sweet and both have switchable topologys pretty cool.

My rig is being built on a very limited budget so as Steve mentioned bang for the buck and diy are the top priorties. I am a believer that you don't have to lay out tons of cash to get excellent sound. My goal is to have a complete diy rig and I have almost gathered all the goods to make it happen. I just need to find the time to get everything built. I need to build a pre-amp, phono amp, my cd-pro2 transport, turntable, SET amp, subs and cables. The el84 amp will be moved to sub duty.

Yep, the AR XA turntable is simplicity at it's finest and a true gem. I think it sounds pretty darned good for under a hundred clams invested including the Shure M97XE cartridge.

On the dac, I really like this NOS dac and I've listened to quite a few dacs. Anyone looking for a dac really needs to consider this one. It's pretty amazing!

Anyone have any ideas on the remote controlled horn mouth pillows??

Corrections:
The Yamaha DVD multi player is their flagship model DVD-S2300.
Yes, the Gram phono is Blackmore's. I get the hint Blackmore. I guess I need to get busy and get my seduction built huh.
The EL84 amp is actually 18 watts per channel but at the levels we were listening we were probably only using 2 or maybe 3!

FYI Steve, all the work paid off. The couple that looked at the house Saturday are gonna make an offer today. Oh, and thanks for the goodies!

Mark