@kren0006 all equally disadvantaged I suppose. Not entirely, a sealed design loudspeaker floor coupling will be more critical, but yes, all speakers should be given a proper setup. Not giving the products the basic proper setup care is not a serious attempt at a meaningful evaluation. Not everyday one gets a chance to evaluate such an array of fine products, one should at least make the effort of setting them up properly... I am losing interest :( |
According to the op, since the beginning, it’s « the JOURNEY » that drives his choices.
But the reality...It’s really more about the « DEAL OF THE DAY » that drives the op moves.
With that last Focal Stella Evo quick departure, it’s plainly obvious to anyone with common sense.
Not saying that’s bad. Not judging. His hobby. His liberty. Just saying to remember there is « huge part of market opportunities » hovering around the reviews and upgrades... |
Driving factors of MY PERSONAL CHOICES: - Am i interested in the product?
- Do i have the right opportunity to buy it?
- Is it a brand that i can part ways with once i am done?
- If i can’t sell it, am i ok living with it ?
- Is it the right timing?
techno: why are you sore with my choices? is it because i sold the focal? have you ever wondered if i might circle back to focal down the road just like i have done with the M3s YOU SPECIFICALLY asked me about a long time ago? Nothing is impossible here. I can always circle back to product i did not spend enough time with. Here is how my mind operates: " jay is looking to buy a car next year for his wife and so in the meantime he saves money. He knows he wants to buy a car at a particular price point but his wife is not working right now so it makes sense to wait until she is back to work. However, someone knows someone who is selling the same exact car but needs the money right now due to Covid19 and so he offers it to Jay for substantially less money than Jay would pay next year after the pandemic. The result? Jay buys the car NOW by getting a loan at a low APR and forgets about next year" This is how i remain on top... Some of you have to think, measure the room, the ceiling, talk to the skies, your dog, your aunt, your wife and that is all good - nothing wrong, but Jay does not have to do that. While you are deciding what to do, Jay is getting a Uhaul to go pick up the equipment. THIS IS EXACTLY how i keep driving forward. My approach isn't for the faint of heart. It does take cojones, drive, determination and yes finances. |
@whitecamaross
Another great post. Hoping the thread clutterers are paying attention. |
sciencecop,
I absolutely agree that fine products deserve a careful setup. However, I was bitten by the hifi bug at age 12 when my engineer father bought Altec Voice of the Theater drivers, constructed his mono corner 7' tall enclosure, bought parts and built his own tube amp. He didn't have money for fine interconnects and such. His speaker enclosure was not at the level of Focal, Magico, Wilson. He did finish the basement to make a dedicated room, one of the most important things. He later admitted that today's SS amps are better than his tube amp, but he got the basic things right--speakers and room are the most important. His Altec horns were commanding.
He died recently, and I am looking for a good home for his stuff. I don't need the money, and would be rewarded if someone in the Phoenix local area just took them and re-lived the happiness I had with them.
|
Jay,
Your skillful financial management parallels good investing in lots of other areas.
|
WC,
I thought you had mentioned before that you kind of wanted to get something that would be of interest to many folks (for your youtube channel) - perhaps that is another driving factor?
Dave
|
Sorry to hear of your father’s passing Viber. Good story about his kit.
I really wish my 12 year old would catch the audio interest bug but so far not yet ... |
Sorry about your father viber. My condolences |
Tecno, part of the journey is being able to experiment with many different systems and components. I built up a lot of different equipment with that same idea in mind, to hear many things. It seems I’m a bit different that many, I like many sounds. I have spent to be able to do that, and I understand that others may chose to spend their money elsewhere. I’ve done the same thing in the past with guitars and their amps, and am also currently doing it with guns. It’s fun to try different things. While x might be better at this or that than y, it dosnt mean that y can’t also be fun. But just reading reviews dosnt always give the real understanding of what it really is to you. That’s the journey Jay is on. I can’t say it’s really to end up with the last word in a personal system for himself, though it may have started out that way. There a certain pleasure ( some would say fix) you get from trying to next new toy. I’ve found it’s hard to stay happy with what you have, knowing there’s always something new and different out there. Jay has set some parameters for himself, about what he adds or dosnt add, though I’d say he could likely be tempted to do something on a wild hair that maybe dosnt follow his guidelines if something strikes a fancy for him. In a way guys like him ( and I’ll include myself in that) are junkies for the next new toy. The anticipation of it, but once it’s here, it’s no longer new, and hey, my buddy is offering me his Wilson chronosonics for 70k? Hmmmm, bye bye magico, Focal, or whatever happens to be the current flavor, there’s a new flavor coming and I need the room, lol. |
viber, so sorry for your loss....I know how you feel.
I just don't understand why people still question Jay's choices. He has always been straight up with his intentions and has explained them many many times. How hard is it to just enjoy the ride?
|
|
I certainly enjoy it. If someone does not, no one is forcing them to watch. There’s plenty of YouTube channels out there for all tastes. Jay is filling in an area that very few others do. At best you see short videos of higher end product with one song, which is great, but no commentary involved with most of those. I can’t buy a Bugatti, didn’t mean I’m not interested in them anyways. The best news for those whose budgets wouldn’t allow these products is that you get to hear and see them in action on someone else’s dime. I feel guilty if I spend a dealer’s time listening to something I would never buy, so it’s guilt free and Jay seems to like it when you like it too, so everyone has a good time. Some of the lessons he’s learned from all this can help any of us. System matching and how important that can be is a good example. There are some good ideas on where spending your money gets you the best results, and where the results are minimal is another one. |
@czarivey, great to have you back! |
Thanks to all for their condolences. My father's greatness inspired me to continue on, both in music and in medicine. After he built his Altec Voice of the Theater pretty wooden cabinet, he showed me the 1964 cover of the Audio Engineering Society issue picturing stereo Altec horn speakers with concrete cabinets, headlined, "a ton of sound." Jay's knuckle raps on his new Magico M3 reminds me of that.
Kren0006, did you try having your son play his music on your system?
|
@ron17
"How hard is it to just enjoy the ride?" Agreed. |
You should keep his audio gear. You may later regret it if you give it away. |
|
That ´s car music. And it do sound better in my car. Thanks to iPad.
Carbon fibre speakers. Remember the Performance 6 from Mordaunt Short ?...
|
I think your comment above went right over everyone's head...say what? |
Jay would you please characterise the current sound versus say the glory days of ARC6se and Merrill Audio. I'm not asking which is "better". Just how it is different for you. Or is it not a different thing but just the same thing and more of it / better now with Gryphon etc. |
haha i do think there are trends depending on what time people post. very excited for the next reveals. still digesting the boulder vs pandora video. so many insights. thanks again |
@mr_gray: ARC6SE/MERRIL AUDIO: - musical
- engaging
- fast (thanks to merrill amps)
- great bass
- beautiful mids
Mephisto/Pandora: - Ultra revealing
- Neutral -nothing but facts
- Tsunami-sized soundstage
- AK47 attack
- Grenade -launcher-like explosiveness
- Huge dynamics
|
Looks like some people on my youtube channel loved the Linkin Park video. I was trying to have fun yesterday with the speakers so i decided to share it with you all.
This new set up is a ton of fun i must say.
On a different note, i have been getting some messages in regards to the equipment i have been presenting. Some are a little bitter/salty with the fact that i am for the most part only displaying the ultra-high end and not so much of the affordable products out there. I try to present every once in a while something affordable (not often, but think 20.7, 13a logans, dynaudio c4s, parasound, luxman, simaudio, etc,etc) and to be totally sincere here, i just don't want to steer in the same direction as others. There are soooooo many channels with affordable gear to the point that it is just TOO MUCH. You don't really see many channels with ultra-high end gear other than the typical videos from the different shows so i want to fill in that particular gap of the ultra high end with actual ownership. |
Well as crude as techno's post was, I think I agree with him. I enjoyed the last video because the music was so different and well, errrrr ah refreshing. Like I posted a few months ago, there is some music that I really enjoy that doesn't sound great on my system but sounds good in my car with the windows down going 85 mph....or on a PA system with a little buzz going on...lol. Thanks Jay for the change of pace.
|
don't forget the $2k hybrid integrated amp McIntosh video |
OK, a change of pace with low fi recordings. You could have a million dollar MSRP system and they would still sound lousy and ultra processed. But even the Wilson Chronosonic system video you recently posted played a mediocre processed recording and sounded ho-hum. The voice was bloated which has nothing to do with the intimate reality of hearing the voice live in a real space, unamplified. This relates to the issue of why someone who has plenty of money and a love of music would spend lots of money to hear mediocre recordings. Music lovers want to hear live, unamplified music, and 2nd choice, natural, unprocessed recordings. If the recording is artificial, the experience doesn't rise to the level of reality, but remains in the pastime category, so there is a limit to the amount of money one would spend for this mere "virtual" reality.
On the other hand, even though I am not into high performance cars, I can respect the thrilling REAL experience someone gets from that. That REAL thrill is greater than the virtual enjoyment from a video showing it. I had a great experience in a hot air balloon years ago. The 3D changing panorama in the Colorado mountains was on another level from watching a 3D movie in a great theater. The $300 balloon ride was well worth it. |
WC
What you Buy and Demo is so far up the food chain for me but,I really enjoy the journey with you.
Keep it up..
flip and sell what you need to and keep this ride goin!
In my mind you are the Lewis Hamilton of the"Gon"
|
|
WC,
For your videos and for this thread, you should be able to do whatever you want - I just don't get why others get so ramped up because you're not doing what they want. Agreed, you're hitting a unique niche.
Regarding the consulting, however, I guess it depends upon the customers you wish to have - high end or mid/lower end.
Dave
|
I think music lovers want to hear music that interests them played at the highest fidelity possible, whether it is amplified or unamplified, processed or unprocessed, regardless of genre.
Unamplified music, unprocessed music, live or not, that sucks, still.......well,......still sucks, regardless of the fidelity.
And that choice of music that is of interest will be different for all, as will one’s opinion of music that sucks. |
That's my point...can't please everyone since everyone likes different components and music. |
Dave, WC doesn’t like when we write about his new consulting offered services. Somehow he talked to mods into deleting everything that relates to this matter. Why, I don’t have a clue.
|
As far as CONSULTING goes I would rather CONSULT with someone that has owned the component I'm interested in. CONSULTING with a dealer for the most part would yield a referral to products offered by them. CONSULTING with someone who won't make any money on your purchase takes the bias out of the CONSULTING. Jay has owned so many components, speakers and cables and has mixed and matched them to determine best and most musical combos. A very modest CONSULTING fee goes a long way to musical bliss and financial savings. In fact we all enjoy free CONSULTING just by reading this thread and watching the YouTube channel provided by him.
|
I didn't say it .... But of course there are a few that always frown upon such things.
|
Stop writing the words consulting and fees, last time I knew it was forbidden guys.
Well maybe it’s not anymore. Maybe it just depends on WC’s mood of the day.
Seems like he is agreeing to talk about it. What’s the exact fee WC to use your services ?
—— Complaint mode to mod enabled ——
|
It’s free. I am with my phone in my hand waiting to answers calls 24/7 to help others make a sale on my watch because I don’t have bills to pay and I don’t want to spend time with my family. It’s more amusing to take calls free of charge throughout the night. I should get a job with crutchfield. Maybe they are hiring?
I should be able to sell a denon receiver, polk audio speakers, sony blu ray players. I have owned them so I should be able to know how to. |
Tecno, you seem to get upset about product you can’t afford and Jay can. You get upset at services he might offer to interested parties. It just seems that it bother you that people can afford things you cannot. I have never understood that thinking. Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, there’s someone out there who can afford more than you. Why let it bother you. Maybe we should all be driving Yugos and living in single wides. Have to keep everyone equal at the lowest common denominator? What a boring world that would be. |
|
Techno won’t answer...haven’t you noticed he vanishes when he doesn’t have an answer for people and then he resurfaces when he can insert or drop a bomb ? It’s easy to see what he does...not hard... When he has no comeback then he remains silent and then after a day or two he enters again hoping people forgot what he was asked.... |
As I, Ron and viber said, your last video sounded like radio shack...
Using it as « deluxe » background music in the kitchen right now.
Who knew 150k of Gryphon and Magico could assist so well in making spaghetti sauce. |
That’s kinda funny (sorry WC but sometimes Techno comes up with a good one).
Here’s my theory on Techno: he really isn’t anti-WC or this journey everyone else seems to be enjoying. And at times like this (given current room state), he is borderline agreeable.
But see, he has this deep-seated hatred of Wilson Audio, and when WC is featuring Wilson (as has been the case most of last year), it really chaps Techno. But since Wilson’s been gone, much less irascible. Almost makes me wish my Alexx prediction is wrong....
so WC, what’s taking so long? When those bad boys showing up??
|
taking so long? i just got the magico m3s 3 days ago... |
I know but Thanksgiving is just 6 days! haha |
Hey, the Focals only lasted 2 weeks, so you never know.
Dave
|
Maybe the magicos already left ? Lol. |
I guess we'll find out if we have our Friday video today :-)
Dave
|
@kren0006
"Here’s my theory on Techno: he really isn’t anti-WC or this journey everyone else seems to be enjoying. And at times like this (given current room state), he is borderline agreeable."
Well kren, I think he's borderline something.
Come on techno....Radio Shack....really? I think you're putting words in my mouth. I said " Like I posted a few months ago, there is some music that I really enjoy that doesn't sound great on my system but sounds good in my car with the windows down going 85 mph....or on a PA system with a little buzz going on...lol."
I thought the last video was refreshing and sounded good but it definitely wasn't the kind of music that sounds great on an audiophile system. I think we as audiophiles and music lovers want the music we listen to, to sound great played back on our home systems. Sometimes the music we love doesn't sound great on our rig because of many factors....poor recording, compression etc...
Playing Led Zep Black Dog on a 200k system probably isn't going to sound that great. The system will expose the age, recording limitations, compression etc. But play that song on a 1k system and it just might be easier to listen to by not exposing the limitations of the recording as much.
I think the OP was bold in playing those cuts on his rig. Try playing those songs on your system techno and get back to us on that.
|
I remember in my youth they had these “hifi” systems that were a piece of furniture. We had one that had the turntable, eight track, and radio all built in with red crushed velvet covering the speakers with what appeared to be Spanish inspired iron work. That was my first sound system, it was gifted to me when I got my first place of my own. Maybe tecno was gifted one also and is still making use of it. |
I played that music to prove that i am not afraid and to also show that I DO enjoy more mainstream music. i do not sit at home listening to Diana Krall, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits all day long. I do throw in some Creed, Rick Ross, Limp Bizkit and Van Halen too. I do not understand the point of having a great system and you forbid yourself from playing tunes that you enjoy? yes they wont sound too good (if you blast them) but that does not mean you can’t listen to them at low to moderate volumes.
This is one reason why i don’t really judge systems at shows. Funeral music and elevator music is what they play in most systems. You walk into a room and then you hear this symphony or dark music and you wonder if they have a casket somewhere in the room ? should i bring flowers to the ceremony? did anybody write a Eulogy? |
