I have the classic Bill Evans early Scott LaFaro stuff on vinyl (and some on CD) and am a huge LaFaro fan...the vinyl is the re-issued Fantasy stuff (stereo versions) so nothing special there (except great sound), and LaFaro sounds fine on my Klipsch Heresy IIIs and 2 REL subs with tubes driving ’em. I worked with Peter Washington (one most respected of the current first call NYC jazz bassists...a great musician) mixing live shows a few times in different settings and he’s an audio geek with Tannoy speakers, a Cary SLP 98 tube preamp, and some esoteric Brooklyn made tube power amps the names of which I can’t remember...All recordings sound different of course, but acoustic jazz is mostly what I listen to these days and I cherish great sounding stuff...a current fave is the Bill Stewart "Band Menu" trio CD with Bill on drums, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Walter Smith III on tenor sax...just a beautiful clear and superbly performed recording.
If you listen to anything other than Classic Jazz, don't read this.
:) I'm a Jazz only intermediate audiophile looking to improve my system. i ONLY listen to jazz, and i think that matters. If you are of the opinion that great speakers make all music sound good then move on to the next post, because the premise here is that speakers for Acoustic Jazz ( Big Band to Post Bop) have different requirements. My jazz audiophile buddies and i hav A/B'd lots of different speaker/amp/turntable/cartridge combinations as a fun hobby for the last 3 years. i've gone through at least 3 whole systems to get where i am now:
All Rega System - Rega Exex-R, Rega P3, with upgrades, Rega MC Phono Pre, Rega Apheta 2 Cartridge, Rega RX5 Speakers.
It sounds really great, but want to get to amazing if possible, and have recently done some speaker comparisons with some Paradigms and Harbeths that show the RX5's could have a tighter, deeper bass and bit more high frequency...
The challenge is threefold -
1 )information out there is hard to come by, often confusing and i haven't found much information specifically on what speakers jazz heads prefer.
2) I want to be able to put them up against my current system in my room, which seems a difficult task
3) They have to look good. Aesthetics matter to me. Tektons and Magnapans are cool But Ugly AF, and not going to work for me.
i want someone to tell me this is the best my system is going to get and just enjoy it (which i do 82.5% of the time), or recommend a few things to try, hopefully with recommendation for speakers to try, but i'm open to other suggestions.
I look forward to your comments :)
sincerely,
Eric the Jazz Snob
All Rega System - Rega Exex-R, Rega P3, with upgrades, Rega MC Phono Pre, Rega Apheta 2 Cartridge, Rega RX5 Speakers.
It sounds really great, but want to get to amazing if possible, and have recently done some speaker comparisons with some Paradigms and Harbeths that show the RX5's could have a tighter, deeper bass and bit more high frequency...
The challenge is threefold -
1 )information out there is hard to come by, often confusing and i haven't found much information specifically on what speakers jazz heads prefer.
2) I want to be able to put them up against my current system in my room, which seems a difficult task
3) They have to look good. Aesthetics matter to me. Tektons and Magnapans are cool But Ugly AF, and not going to work for me.
i want someone to tell me this is the best my system is going to get and just enjoy it (which i do 82.5% of the time), or recommend a few things to try, hopefully with recommendation for speakers to try, but i'm open to other suggestions.
I look forward to your comments :)
sincerely,
Eric the Jazz Snob