I had a talk once with a couple of engineers at McIntosh. Well, it
wasn't _at_ the Binghamton plant, it was on what would be Dave
O'Brien's final tech tour and a couple of engineers accompanied him to
several of the better retailers at which he ran his Clinic. This was at
a shop owned by a guy who was probably the biggest prick I've ever
met in the hi-fi business. There was a small demo room in back where a
big McIntosh amp-this was before the 1-KW monoblock, but it was then
the biggest they made-was connected to a pair of Klipschhorns. The room
was about half as wide and long as would be suited for K-horns anyway,
and it was a bone of minor contention, I detected, why he didn't have
large Mac speakers there rather than Klipsches. Anyway I got to talking
to these engineers-they had nametags, it wasn't any of the big guns
like Nestorovic, Rimo, Corderman or fish, I would have remembered
those-and i asked them in that room, If I had a room like this size and
the discussed big Mac speakers and I wanted to use regular amps with no
Power Guard (essentially an internal limiter/compressor) and be assured
of never clipping or "running out of current", how big of an amp I
would need.

They himmed and hawed a little but looked the room over and eventually
allowed that, as long as we were talking about music reproduction, and
not including the 1812 Overture, about 3500 watts per channel would do
nicely.

I realized then and there we were talking about a dead end concept and
the efficient speaker and small "good first watt" amplifier was the
only really valid concept for quality reproduction.

wrote:


snipped


This was at
a shop owned by a guy who was probably the biggest prick I've ever
met in the hi-fi business.


Did this guy bear more than a passing resemblance to Yoda, sans the big
ears and green skin?

wrote:
wrote:

((snip))

Did this guy bear more than a passing resemblance to Yoda, sans the
big
ears and green skin?

Not really.

He was about 6'4" or 6'5" and had a humongous grey-black afro (he was
white) and was substantially but not morbidly overweight. He would
loudly discuss the fact that he had $40,000 of test equipment (most of
it Sound Tech ****) and that any dealer without such a bench-and a
$5,000 stereo microscope to examine phono cartridges-was a fraud.(CD
was out there but hadn't totally displaced vinyl and they still did a
semi-high-end turntable business.) Audio Amateur magazine and all its
authors ( a couple of them lived in his town, which is a pretty dismal
city that hasn't mattered nationally since a notorious gangster was its
mayor) were frauds. In fact everyone else was a fraud. He was loud, he
was obnoxious and he was notoriously rude and curt if you disagreed
with him in any way. If two customers were having a discussion in some
part of the store, he'd go over, listen in and if the subject was in
his purview he would throw one or both out (even if neither were loud
or disruptive.)

He's still there (although the municipality where he is located is now
trying to kick him out to widen a road) and apparently-I last was in
the place in 2002 or so,while visiting a friend- he's just as much of a
cocksucker as ever. My guess is he'll retire when the city has its way,
unless he entertains most of the city's (and surrounding several-state
area) hardcore tweak community by having a masssive myocardial
infarction on the showroom floor first.

wrote:
wrote:
wrote:

((snip))

Did this guy bear more than a passing resemblance to Yoda, sans the
big
ears and green skin?

Not really.

He was about 6'4" or 6'5" and had a humongous grey-black afro (he
was
white) and was substantially but not morbidly overweight.


Clearly, not the guy I was thinking of.


He would
loudly discuss the fact that he had $40,000 of test equipment (most
of
it Sound Tech ****) and that any dealer without such a bench-and a
$5,000 stereo microscope to examine phono cartridges-was a fraud.(CD
was out there but hadn't totally displaced vinyl and they still did a
semi-high-end turntable business.)


Wasn't that kinda the standard Mac(/Thorens/Tandberg/Klipsch,
etc.)dealer line from the 60's-70's? I think the late Gordon Gow had
alot to do with that approach.

Yeah that's exactly what he sold, althiough this was late 80s or early
90s if memory serves. I spent a fair amount of time in that city and
real audio guys would just go ballistic at mention of his name. He did
have (presumably still does) a dedicated customer base of affluent
swells and trendies that liked that sort of dominatrix approach,
though.

wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
wrote:

((snip))

Did this guy bear more than a passing resemblance to Yoda, sans the
big
ears and green skin?

Not really.

He was about 6'4" or 6'5" and had a humongous grey-black afro (he was
white) and was substantially but not morbidly overweight. He would
loudly discuss the fact that he had $40,000 of test equipment (most of
it Sound Tech ****) and that any dealer without such a bench-and a
$5,000 stereo microscope to examine phono cartridges-was a fraud.(CD
was out there but hadn't totally displaced vinyl and they still did a
semi-high-end turntable business.) Audio Amateur magazine and all its
authors ( a couple of them lived in his town, which is a pretty dismal
city that hasn't mattered nationally since a notorious gangster was its
mayor) were frauds. In fact everyone else was a fraud. He was loud, he
was obnoxious and he was notoriously rude and curt if you disagreed
with him in any way. If two customers were having a discussion in some
part of the store, he'd go over, listen in and if the subject was in
his purview he would throw one or both out (even if neither were loud
or disruptive.)

He's still there (although the municipality where he is located is now
trying to kick him out to widen a road)

may I offer my assistance?



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wrote:
Yeah that's exactly what he sold, althiough this was late 80s or
early
90s if memory serves. I spent a fair amount of time in that city and
real audio guys would just go ballistic at mention of his name.


IME, most Mac(/Tandberg/Thorens/Klipsch, etc.) dealers were not trying
to appeal to "real audio guys", especially as they evolved (or devolved
;-)in the '70s. Their customer base was (and may still be for those
still extant) the well-heeled: the guys who drove a Benz, wore a Rolex,
drank Grand Cru wine, etc. The "real audio guys" didn't buy Mac, etc.


He did
have (presumably still does) a dedicated customer base of affluent
swells and trendies that liked that sort of dominatrix approach,
though.

Or, more kindly, the "The Authority" approach, per the "Gospel of
Gordon Gow".

PS-what city?

That I better not reveal. My sister lives there, the old ******* might
have a contract put out on her. You can't be too careful these days.

wrote:
That I better not reveal. My sister lives there, the old *******
might
have a contract put out on her. You can't be too careful these days.


I understand.... ;-)

Richie McSweatski writes:

wrote:
That I better not reveal. My sister lives there, the old *******
might
have a contract put out on her. You can't be too careful these days.


I understand.... ;-)


I'm sure you do, ozark.... ;-)