[[email protected]]

The best system I ever heard was at circa mid-1980s Audio One store in West Hollywood.

A pair of Hill Plasmatronic loudspeakers powered by Tim de Parvicini tube mono amplifiers, playing a vinyl jazz recording of Ella Fitzgerald.

With the lights turned down low, the playback system just disappeared, and Ella was RIGHT THERE there in the room with you.

Gave me goose bumps.

[Peter Wieck]

Not bad for something posted 11 years ago.

I am highly prejudiced - I think the coolest systems are the ones that are most accessible to their users.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[[email protected]]

On Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 8:21:57 AM UTC-8, Peter Wieck wrote:
Not bad for something posted 11 years ago.=20
=20
I am highly prejudiced - I think the coolest systems are the ones that ar=
e most accessible to their users.=20
=20
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA
_____________________________
I think the coolest systems are at both extremes- stratospherically expensi=
ve and demanding of resources, and inexpensive but cleverly designed to off=
er most of what the expensive systems delivered at 1% of the cost and vast=
ly reduced demands of the room and ancillary equipment and bank account. th=
at said, I was most impressed with [on the cheap end] a Bose SR-1 Cinemate =
that painted the whole front half of the room with seamless and mellow soun=
d and with non-position-dependent imaging. but on the sky-high end [circa 1=
982], at Definitive Audio in Seattle, I heard a pair of Magnapan Tympani mu=
lti-panel speakers that dominated one end of the acoustically correct liste=
ning room, on the other end were a pair of dorm- refrigerator-sized class-A=
monoblocks that put out 50 watts each [barely enough to drive the Magnapan=
s beyond background level] and heated the room past the limit of comfort. i=
t also did the "disappearing speaker" bit regardless of listener position, =
but also offered a degree of transparency [compared to the Bose] where one =
felt transported to the original recording venue, in this case a direct-to-=
disc record of a Bach organ performance. one could "feel" the ambience of t=
he church where the recording was made, one could "feel" the presence of th=
e organ and its interaction with the room, and the phonographic surface noi=
se, curiously enough, seemed to float mid-room, almost palpably cloud-like.=
it had absolutely no fatigue to its sound quality, I could have listened t=
o it for weeks. to this day, I consider that a mental reference of what "go=
od and accurate sound" is all about.=20

[Peter Wieck]

There is some fascination with the exotic. And a well-tuned system in a well designed listening are with signal that supports it will sound ethereal if nothing else.

Most of us, however, listen in venues that include 'other things' - such as kits, cats, sacks and wives, dogs, grand kids and more. Systems that can perform and transport under those conditions are "Way Cool".

I keep big Maggies, AR and, recently, a pair of Dynaco A35s. An interesting study in contrasts - as well as some pretty remarkable sound.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[[email protected]]

wrote:

The best system I ever heard was at circa mid-1980s Audio One store
in West Hollywood.

B&W's Nautilus system, in their demo room, playing a very simple
acoustic guitar recording.

Andrew.