Gathering at my place on July 29th

zybar · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 Jul 2007, 05:41 pm »

I just received confirmation that we will have some more gear for the gathering.

Boris at Vista Audio is sending me his i84 integrated amp.

John at Black Sand Cable has sent me two of his newest power cords (Statement One) and they are burning in.

Tomorrow I will put together the equipment and system list.

George

zybar · « **Reply #21 on:** 25 Jul 2007, 11:35 pm »

Quote from: zybar on 23 Jul 2007, 05:41 pm

I just received confirmation that we will have some more gear for the gathering.

Boris at Vista Audio is sending me his i84 integrated amp.

John at Black Sand Cable has sent me two of his newest power cords (Statement One) and they are burning in.

Tomorrow I will put together the equipment and system list.

George

Still working on finalizing the equipment list, so you will have to wait one more day.

There is still room, so come on over if you like.

My address and other info will go out tomorrow via PM.

Looking forward to seeing everybody.

George

rayd · « **Reply #22 on:** 26 Jul 2007, 08:59 am »

George, what time would you like us folks over.

Thanks,

- Ray

zybar · « **Reply #23 on:** 26 Jul 2007, 10:20 am »

I am thinking of a noon start time.

George

zybar · « **Reply #24 on:** 26 Jul 2007, 09:57 pm »

Ok, below is the list of equipment and systems that will be available.

One thing you will notice is that I don't own a hi-end CD player - all of my music is ripped to my hard drives and played back through Bolder Cable modified Squeeze Boxes. I have a couple thousand cd's ripped and have music from most genres. Feel free to bring any music you want to hear...if I don't already have it, it just takes a few minutes to rip it.

People have asked about bringing over some of their gear...

If somebody wants to bring over a cd player and compare it to my Bolder Cable modified Squeeze Box, I am fine with that. I don't have any ss amps on hand, so if somebody wanted to bring over something a little beefy to try on the Omega Revelations or AV123 Mini Stratas, that's cool to.

In terms of food and drink, feel free to bring whatever you like. I will have space in the fridges and the grill can be fired up.

People can stay as late as they want (sorry it had to be on a Sunday and not a Saturday).

I will send a PM tonight with my address and parking instuctions (I can only fit so many cars in my driveway).

Any questions? Post it here or send me a PM.

Looking forward to seeing or meeting you.

George

Main System

Vandersteen 5A's
Response Audio Bella Extreme 100's
Bolder Cable modified SB2 (full analog mods + Gold Bybees) or Bolder Cable modified SB3 (new Statement mods)
Bolder Cable Ultimate II Power Supply
Bolder Cable modified Burson Buffer or Bolder Cable/Bent Audio/Burson "preamp"
Running Springs Audio Haley
CI Audio XDC-2
Black Sand Cable Silver Ref MK V, Statement One, and Violet II power cords
Gregg Straley Reality Speaker Cables
VH Audio Spectrum Cu ic's
Boston Audio Design Tune Block SE's under the Bella Extreme 100's
Adona Platforms
RealTraps Products: Mondo, Mini, and Tri-Corner traps + Diffusors

Basement System 1:

Omega Revolutions (single driver - Visaton B200) on Sistrum platforms and Maple blocks
Vista Audio i84 integrated amp (thank you Boris)
Red Wine Audio Sig 30 amp (thank you Vinnie)
Bolder Cable modified SB2 (full analog mods + Gold Bybees)
Bolder Cable modified Elpac Power Supply
VH Audio Pulsars ic's with Silver Nextgen connectors
VH Audio Flavor 4 Power Cord with Furutech connectors
Empirical Design speaker cable (thank you Bill Baker)

Basement System 2:

AV123 Mini Stratas
McAlister Audio PP150 amp
Bolder Cable modified SB2 (full analog mods + Gold Bybees)
Bolder Cable modified Elpac Power Supply
VH Audio Flavor 4 Power Cord on amp
Sonoran Desert Plateau speaker cable

Family Room HT:

Sony KDS-62A2000 60" SXRD 1080p professionally calibrated by Jim Doolittle
Denon 3805
Oppo 971 dvd player
DirecTV HD Reciever
(2) AV123 X-LS speakers (upgraded by Bolder Cable) for L/R duties
(1) AV123 X-CS center channel
(2) AV123 X-Sub
(2) AV123 Swan Diva R300 dipole surrounds
(2) Unknown brand in-wall speakers for surrounds
Gregg Straley Reality speaker cables
Wireworld and Bluejeans Cable ic's
BPT and VH Audio power cords

Bill Baker · « **Reply #25 on:** 26 Jul 2007, 10:03 pm »

Quote

Element Cable speaker cable (thanks Bill Baker)

Actually, it's Empirical Design speaker cable

No problem George. Sounds like a great time.

zybar · « **Reply #26 on:** 27 Jul 2007, 02:21 pm »

My address and other info has been sent out via PM.

Send me a PM if you want to come and I missed you.

We will start around noon (you can come a little earlier if you want to).

See you on Sunday.

George

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #27 on:** 28 Jul 2007, 06:46 pm »

George....

Have fun tomorrow....some good "looking" systems there....

Take a few photo's...thanks....

Chris

zybar · « **Reply #28 on:** 28 Jul 2007, 06:47 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 28 Jul 2007, 06:46 pm

George....

Have fun tomorrow....some good "looking" systems there....
Take a few photo's...thanks....

Chris

Will do my best Chris.

I'll try and snap off a few preview pics this afternoon.

Right now I am trying to quickly learn how to use the Velodyne SMS-1 so that I can tweak the bass of the 5A's and the Mini Stratas.

George

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #29 on:** 28 Jul 2007, 06:50 pm »

Good luck....and thanks again !!!

Philistine · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jul 2007, 11:32 pm »

Unfortunately my wife is in Italy, so I'm playing Mr Mom. If not I would have loved to meet you guys and have fun listening to some great equipment.
Have a great day tomorrow, and the rest of us will just have to take solace by reading the feedback.

john1970 · « **Reply #31 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 12:12 am »

George,

Thank you for having everyone over at your place on Sunday. Your main rig with the Vandersteen 5A is absolutely superb in sound. I will have to have a gathering at my place in the fall. However, I will need your help since I am still relatively new to the New England / Northeastern US.

Thank you again,

John

stereocilia · « **Reply #32 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 12:29 am »

George, you are a fantastic host and it was great to meet you and all the fellow audiophiles at your place.

The main system sounds stunning. Geez, how to describe the sound...to my ears it just seems to have a sound that is exceptionally well-balanced and doesn’t need to make trade-offs. I mean, it gets away from trading detail for smoothness, it has more of both than most any I’ve heard. The bass is somehow enveloping yet tight. It really makes music; and it makes me both reconsider and appreciate characteristics of my own system.

Thanks again

zybar · « **Reply #33 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 01:02 am »

First off, I want to thank everybody who made it over today:

jermmd
rayd
john1970
stereocillia and his wife
tf121682
Bob Wilcox
Alex
John

It was a lot of fun meeting some new people and seeing some old friends.

While we ran into technical difficulties with some of the gear, it was still a blast!!

I didn't get that many pics (I forgot how busy you get hosting...PhilNYC makes it looks so easy!), but I will get the ones that were taken, up later tonight or tomorrow.

The main system was firing on all cylinders due to the recent additions from Wayne at Bolder Cable (Statement SB3, Bolder/Bent/Burson Control Center) and John at Black Sand Cable (Statement One Power Cords), as well as some bass tweaking yesterday done very early today with a Velodyne SMS-1 (thanks go out to Alex and Tyler for helping out

).

I'll post comments on everything later.

Right now I need to clean up a bit and call the wife and kids.

George

Bob Wilcox · « **Reply #34 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 11:11 am »

Thanks for hosting George - your system just keeps getting better.

Bob

jermmd · « **Reply #35 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 01:13 pm »

This was a really nice audio gathering. What a nice group of people. Everyone was enthusiastic about the hobby (how could you not be with the equipment George has?!). And the group had pretty diverse equipment and musical tastes. We even had an audiologist who led a little Q & A session on sound. He also brought some neat ear plugs for concert going that supposedly block the entire frequency range more evenly than typical ear plugs. Hearing aids for demoing are promised for the next gathering.

There was plenty of beer, chips, and burgers/sausages and I think everyone had a good time.

George had 4 systems set up! It's insane the amount of equipment he has. And rumor has it that more is on the way.

The main system is spectacular-it better be because it would probably cost $50k+ to put together. The other systems were inferior to the main but very good none the less. They offer different styles that were nice to compare. Ribbon panels integrated with a sub using cheap digital amplification, single driver speakers with moderately powered tube amplification, and relatively cheap surround sound for home theater that was surprisingly good on the DVD "Master and Commander." Other than the unfinished monster DIY sub, all the equipment looked really nice. I was particularly surprised at how nice the Omega speakers were. They are a really attractive, well built speaker. I'll try and comment later about my impressions of the sound and the comparison between the APL modded Philips CD/SACD player that Bob brought and the new Bolder super modded SB3 player. I'm no golden ear (but I know what I like) so I'll let others comment first.

Thanks for hosting George.

zybar · « **Reply #36 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 01:37 pm »

Quote from: jermmd on 30 Jul 2007, 01:13 pm

This was a really nice audio gathering. What a nice group of people. Everyone was enthusiastic about the hobby (how could you not be with the equipment George has?!). And the group had pretty diverse equipment and musical tastes. We even had an audiologist who led a little Q & A session on sound. He also brought some neat ear plugs for concert going that supposedly block the entire frequency range more evenly than typical ear plugs. Hearing aids for demoing are promised for the next gathering. There was plenty of beer, chips, and burgers/sausages and I think everyone had a good time.

George had 4 systems set up! It's insane the amount of equipment he has. And rumor has it that more is on the way. The main system is spectacular-it better be because it would probably cost $50k+ to put together. The other systems were inferior to the main but very good none the less. They offer different styles that were nice to compare. Ribbon panels integrated with a sub using cheap digital amplification, single driver speakers with moderately powered tube amplification, and relatively cheap surround sound for home theater that was surprisingly good on the DVD "Master and Commander." Other than the unfinished monster DIY sub, all the equipment looked really nice. I was particularly surprised at how nice the Omega speakers were. They are a really attractive, well built speaker. I'll try and comment later about my impressions of the sound and the comparison between the APL modded Philips CD/SACD player that Bob brought and the new Bolder super modded SB3 player. I'm no golden ear (but I know what I like) so I'll let others comment first.

Thanks for hosting George.

Joe,

While the main system is quite expensive, I can assure you that it doesn't come close to a $50k price tag (even at list!!).

George

Dan_ed · « **Reply #37 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 01:40 pm »

Sorry to be a "no show" For me this ended up being the weekend that wasn't.

At least I finally got to listen to music an hour or two last night.

Glad you all had a great time!

zybar · « **Reply #38 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 07:08 pm »

Ok, below are some pics from the gathering.

Please keep in mind that I stink as a photographer.

A couple shots of the NEAR Gang:

A couple of wanna be lonewolfny42's:

Omega Revolutions + Vista Audio i84:

AV123 Mini Strata's + Panny Receiver + DIY sub/Crown K2:

The main system:

George

rayd · « **Reply #39 on:** 30 Jul 2007, 09:19 pm »

George, thanks so much for having us over! I had a very enjoyable time and it was great meeting all you folks. Lot's of nice equipment, music, and people. (Oh and food too!) Nice job with the main system and room treatments. Excellent!

Hope we can get together again sometime. Looking forward to it.

Be well,

- Ray

Poll

So do you want to come over?

Gathering at my place on July 29th