Music Matters In Fort Collins Colo. 1

I am sure that most have heard of the "Music Matters" events that are held at different audio dealers around the country. Allow me to share the experience that I had at the first Music Matters Event ever held at The Audio Alternative in Ft.Collins Colo.,this past Monday evening. Although I have attended a few of these in the past, I must point out that this was the owners first foray in this type of event,and his presentation was first rate. Joe Harley, the common thread of the Music Matters events gave a educational, stimulating presentation that whet my appetite for better music and cableing in my system. Then Richard Vandersteen was there to answer questions about the 7's auditioning upstairs with a fuller understanding and greater appreciation for the development of these magnificent speakers. After spending 30 minutes of listening to these speakers and Vandersteen's talk, calling them "speakers" seems to be an understatement of definition. In addition the Treos and Quattros were auditioned as well. Also on hand was Dave Gordon from Audio Research, as the Vandersteen 7's were connected to a REF 5-SE, REF 150's, DAC 8, to name a few. Mr.Gordon as always took time to answer any questions about the fine line of Audio Research equipment, as well advice for my own system's issues. In addition Mr.Vandersteen took the time to answer my questions as well in very un-bias manner as I don't own any Vandersteen products..yet! But I think the highlight of the evening was the presentation by Michael Fremer. I preface this with dispelling my mis-preconceptions of this man. I found him to be very down to earth and friendly and extremely entertaining in his presentation of audio fact vs. myth amidst his own style of humor. Using Audio Alterative's fully loaded LP12 (and I do mean FULLY loaded) he made a prefect demonstration of analog vs. digital. On the analog side he presented us with some sampling of the upcoming Paul Simons Graceland re-master release and made comparisons with digital versions of the same recording he had transferred on a $150,000 turntable and the comparison was astounding. I must give credit to the Audio Research DAC and again the 7's for reflecting even the most minute differences that would have been lost on any other system. Mr.Fremer made a number of positive comments about the sound of the system assembled by this dealer. The after most had left I was able to sit and converse with Mr.Fremer as he continued to play more of the music he had brought with him as he seemed to want to take advantage of this opportunity to listen to this system. At the end of the evening my impression of Mr.Fremer is that he LOVES music, even more than I do! My final notes are this; I have done business with Rick for well over 20 years and I would never let anyone else touch my LP12. And much of my system has come from him. So yes,I have heard this system before, but for some reason that night it just sounded better. Maybe it was the comfortable and relaxing venue for this event, his store which is in his home. I would be re-mis if I failed to encourage anyone within driving distance to take time and listen to this system as it truely is the best I have heard. And that night with the gathering of audio industry notables as well as many many customers, I am not alone in this opinion. So check out audioalternative.com and see what this little audio store tucked away against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains has to offer. Let me say thank you for reading my rambling but I felt compelled to share a special experience that doesn't come often enough for lovers of audio and music. It's true Music Matters and it's is nice to have a local dealer that shares in this passion and affords his customers and evening of appreciation such as this. I hope he does it again....soon!