I live within 15 minutes of Pete and over the years have had various oppertunities to visit him and check out his gear. I touched base with him last week asking his assistance to help repair and solder a mishap I had with one of my mono amps. Of course Pete was more than willing to put his know how to use and fixed me up in no time (he even had the part needed in his inventory). Thanks again Pete!
After the repair, we both had time to kill and I was anxious to see/hear his latest incarnation so off we went to the two channel room. I'm not a very handy (DIY) guy but can certainly appreciate those that are and am always baffled to see the DIY work that Pete is capable of and the transitions his gear has undergone over the years
I spent a few hours listening to tunes Pete had ready to roll and took the liberty to choose some tunes I wanted to hear too (for comparison sakes).
For reference purposes - I have a pair of Jim's Salk HT3's (with many extra's), Loaded up Odyssey Extreme mono amps, Dodd battery pre amp and a Slimdevice Transporter.
I don't have the ability to write a stellar review as my ability to choose appropriate wording/phrases is sub-par at best. I'll keep it short and simply give a quick personal take.
I've listened to my personal rig for years and have been MORE than happy with it. Because I already own the HT3's and knew Pete was running the HT2's, I assumed the combo would sound very good but honestly wasn't expecting anything "groundbreaking" so to speak. I knew he had the new TRL amps/pre amp and was curious if it would make that much of a difference.
It did.
When I chose tunes from Pete's library that were my personal go to (at home) demo tunes, I heard nuances I hadn't heard before. As an example, bass slap - Not only could you hear where the bass was being played on stage... when the musician would "slap" the string you could hear the slap inside the air of the note played (if that makes sense).
Width and depth of the stage was stunning and impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated what I heard. Interestingly, I noticed a touch more "hiss" in the background of a "few tunes" I knew very well which tells me how much more revealing his pre/amps are than mine.
Pete really has done an amazing job with his two channel room. Room treatment is amazing within itself, let alone the upgraded receptacles, wiring and countless other DIY upgrades.
I've got to give a shout out to Jim/Dennis too. I was impressed how low the HT2's could reach and keep singing without any hint of distorting. I won't even get into how revealing and awesome the HT2's are as plenty of threads already discuss the obvious.
With all the changes we have witnessed Pete make over the years, I'm thinking he may have finally found his own personal "audio nirvana". I'm not taking bets but I'm thinking TRL will have a home for a long time in Pete's listening room.
Although I must say I'll be curious as to what you do if you decided to purchase of the Soundscapes.
