[richidoo]

I dropped into Audio Advice today to check out the Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack stand. It was very nice They had it loaded with Audio Research Reference 3 pre, Reference 110 amp, and Reference CD7 player. I thought it was a little silly to "listen" to a rack stand, but what the heck? I'm glad I did.

I had heard the Wilson Watt Puppys and ARC electronics in other systems at the store on previous occasions, but they never sounded like this. I guess it is true that system synergy is everything. It was very musical, very engaging and mostly accurate apart from the usual Wilson spin. A little short on top, considering the pre and amp stretch well past 100kHz, and a little light in the bottom too, but that is typical with the puppys. Nevertheless, the overall presentation was incredible and it sounded excellent in the well treated room. The reviews of the new AR Reference equipment are not all hype! They breath life into the music. It is an intensely emotional experience. Don't bring your Barry Manilow CDs or you will bawl your eyes out. 

I hope all that beauty and power was due to the rack stands I was "auditioning" 'cause they were by far the cheapest part of that rig!

Try to check it out if you can get over there. It is a great way to kill an hour. I found new respect for Audio Research. Wow!
Rich

[richidoo]

I went to listen to it again today. It was nice, but it didn't impress me as much this time. I brought different music this time. It was not as wonderful as I thought the first time. Nothing changed in the system or setup. I guess the stars were all lined up right the first time.
Rich

[jtwrace]

I listened to that system as well and was blown away at how BAD it sounded.  For the money it should be great but it sucked IMO.

[richidoo]

I have been thinking about this because it was puzzling and disappointing how different it sounded second time, when my salesman Brandon told me nothing had changed since last time. But when we arrived (I wanted my wife to "hear this" to hear what a sound system "should" sound like) the right Wilson speaker was moved out of the way. The B&W/Musical Fidelity system on the adjacent wall was being demoed the night before, and the Wilson speaker was directly in front of the B&W so someone moved it. When we showed up someone helped us get going, and picked it up and plopped it down on the tape marks without being too picky. Knowing Brandon Lauer who set up the ARC rig, I bet he measured placement down to the mm. I will ask him about the sensitivity of the setup to that kind of switching back and forth. I am open minded to this or any other explanation to account for the incredible change in sound for the worse. I still want those electronics BAD!!!!! But it would be nice to hear them sounding good again before deciding on something like that....
Rich