My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Jay, I'm glad you met this older gentleman who introduced you to the music of Grieg. Which piece did he play? Grieg is a very popular classical composer, although his music is at the height of the romantic, rather than classical period. His melodies speak to the heart, and they are not complicated or hard to grasp. I recommend the Piano Concerto, which starts with a highly dynamic piano flourish from high to low notes, and back again and again. The 2nd movement is a soft string mood piece. The whole piece has lots of macro and micro dynamics, and is great for system testing. Another great piece is the Peer Gynt suite no. 1. Another exciting piece with every sonic treat you could want. The advantage of classical music recordings is that most of them are natural, without any processing, except for some mixing of spot mikes on certain instruments, for balance and intelligent emphasis only. The intent is to have the recording reflect the experience in the concert hall. You will want to have the most detailed electronics like Boulder bring out all the beauty in the details. There will be nothing unpleasant so there is no need for euphonic electronics to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Even the cheaper Boulder components are dedicated to neutrality, so the $20 something grand 1160 will bring out more detail than the euphonic more expensive stuff from Constellation, D'ag, etc. |
jafant, There are so many recordings of the Grieg Piano Concerto, because everyone loves to perform it. Just listen on YT which is good enough to make a selection based on sound and performance. If you like more subtle Grieg, I love The Last Spring, Holberg Suite, the 3 violin/piano sonatas, especially the popular no.3, op. 45. The string quartet is big scale romantic. My favorite recording of that is by the Guarneri Quartet from 1965. The sound is too mellow RCA, but the performance is of utmost beauty. |
Jay, That Grieg Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, 4th track is full tilt dynamics in the last minute, with a big wallop at the end. At the beginning, keep the volume low, otherwise you will blow out your woofer again. A piece like this has MUCH more dynamic range than you are used to. A proper level is 30 dB in the beginning, rising to sustained 90-100 dB in the last minute, with maybe 120 dB peak at the very end. |
@viber6, Is the Grieg Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, 4th track also known as In the Hall of the Mountain King? I have the Berlin and San Diego versions. |
Hi @jays_audio_lab , I must say I've been following your YT channel since the beginning, listening to all your changes through my main living room 2 channel only w/TV rig. Thank you for sharing your journey via this thread & your channel, so educational! This is the very 1st time I heard something really special come through, (takes 1, 2 &3), the emotion, artistry, musicality of the performances and coherence of all your gear in front is now coming through! This is definitely next level up. I found myself moving my head, body & feet to the music and replaying those videos more than once.. Such a superb music making rig! Can't wait to find out what your new speakers are, I think this is the best yet that music has come through from your channel.. Including when you used your iphone to record lol. |
Thank you for the feedback back. Apparently nobody else cared gave theirs on here. Here's mine so far:
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klh007 and jafant, Yes, the 4th movement of Peer Gynt Suite 1 is the Mountain King. For harmonic beauty, listen to the 1st and 2nd movements. After you're done impressing your friends with sonic spectaculars, turn to chamber music. Search YT for Grieg violin/piano sonata, op 45, recording by Fritz Kreisler, violinist and Rachmaninoff, pianist. It is remarkable how much passion/intensity/beauty there is in this 1928 recording. (Sorry it is not posting here--fault of YT). In particular, listen at 10:07, 17:28, 21:25 for the utmost in tonal beauty from Kreisler, one of the very top violinists who ever lived. Next best is the 1949 recording of Leonid Kogan. But the recordings of modern violinists are mediocre--they have lost the art of romanticism, so who cares about the superior audio quality. |
WC, Where did kren0006 and his fairly accurate guessing of equipment go? You've been indicating that you will be more about YT and less about this thread, so maybe he decided to drop off? "Apparently nobody else cared gave theirs on here." Maybe folks are dropping off from this thread, based upon what you've been saying. Not sure. Dave |
If you want to get someone's attention, you can post their user name using this format @kren0006, and they will get a notification and they can then choose to respond or not to. Works good when you quote someone too. I apologize if you already knew this.
BTW, @jays_audio_lab, great Meet My New Speaker! video. |
OK, got it. I appreciate the clarity, no pun intended. I hope that the value of this thread is not dwindling. I see it as the foundation of Jay's Audio Lab and it is a great place to discuss the videos he makes, hope you hear/read this Jay @jays_audio_lab. BTW, I think this thread ebbs and flows. Seems sometimes there's just a post or two a day, then all of a sudden, there's many posts, often brought on by the videos over on YT that stimulate the conversation. |
Jay, It would be helpful to do a video of the same song on both speakers using whatever electronics you want. Ideally, use the same ancillary components so we are doing a fair comparison of speakers, but the speaker differences will be greater than the electronics differences. I think I like the new S7, but the music has been unfamiliar so I have no opinion so far. In general, bass porting increases the quantity and extension of bass, but it is less accurate than sealed boxes. The S7 needs 3 drivers to get the bass quantity of the 2 drivers with porting in the Focal, but it makes sense that accuracy of bass is better in the S7. I remember your S5 from a few years ago. You didn't like it because its sound field was too small for you, but I liked its clarity or tonal balance better than the M3 and M6. I could be wrong, because it was all an apples/oranges comparison over a long time. |
This is gonna sound really dumb and unconvincing but I was actually gonna predict a Magico. Over weekend WC said he wouldn’t be revealing til late in week so I thought I had some time. Oh well, I always support earlier reveals. I’ll say that the one thing that was giving me pause was the claim of best bass. Didn’t think a cheaper but still non ported Magico would beat the M models, let alone some of the others he’s had. I am definitely much more of a forum person than YT, but respect WC’s chosen path and wish him success |
Best mid-bass, deep bass, etc - you name it (in my room) If anyone came into my room and heard the impact of this speaker, I’d have to shut your jaw. Could this be my favorite Magico? Time will answer this question, but make no mistake this speaker needs POWER. This leads me to my next point: why do manufacturers build big amps with huge power? Well, this speaker answers that question. It should go without saying that being able to afford this speaker doesn't mean you are good to go. Make sure you have your ducks in a row when it comes to your electronics. If you expect to climb mountain Everest wearing flip flops, sweat pants and a sweat shirt because you don't want to spend the money in the proper gear to suit up, you should stay away from the S7.
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I think we all respect Jay's path. But I also think it would be good if others shared their opinion on the use of this thread; Jay of course is the one in charge, so whether he changes or stays the course is up to him. And I stand with those that are wishing him continued and increasing success. He works hard and it is apparent, I like go-getters like Jay. We need more like him in this world, realizing that success is not given but earned. |
I have followed WC's / Jay's Audiolab from the beginning. It has been a source of information for me. Jay has worked hard and has a definitive path he wants to take and that is cool. However, for me and I would imagine most who follow Jay are not in his price league. Consequently, it does not have the same panache it once had. I choose not to afford the components Jay now tests. Therefore it is not as relevant for ME. I wish there was a Jay Jr who would do the same thing with mid-level equipment. This in no way shape or form is a criticism. It is just my opinion of the relevance for ME. I still check it out from time to time and I would say Jay has a set of brass balls to do what he does. To that, I say enjoy your journey Jay and thanks!
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Thanks everyone for the comments above. I understand I’m not really appealing to everyone but how doesn’t someone do that? The big channels certainly don’t appeal to the ultra high end either so many folks won’t watch reviews on 599 dollar bookshelf speakers. I think it’s important to identify what floats your boat but not be close minded. I think I’ve had flexibility by adding brands like tekton, Martin Logan, Amazon prime cables and the krell integrated which i haven’t reviewed yet. I can’t afford a 2000HP Calvo Dodge Viper but I LOVE WATCHING videos about that monster. Some people don’t want to watch or follow things they can’t afford and others simply enjoy watching and touching things they may never be able to afford. That said, we are all different and i respect that 100%. Folks, pretty soon I’ll do a comparison of QOBUZ VS Tidal. I need to find songs that can show the differences and let you all hear these. Lastly, this weekend I’ll host a private LIVESTREAM for those who want to donate to the channel. The purpose of this is to talk about products that i have never showcased on my channel or talked about openly plus answer questions. I will have no more than 25 seats available for this in order to dedicate my attention to those folks who want to be part of this experience. If you are interested in being part of this, send me a private message. The link will be sent via email and the livestream will not be available after it ends. Thanks for the support! |
Impressive sound, but no meaningful statements can be made. Too many variables, the recording being the largest unknown. If you present the Focal speakers with the same components and recording, then a proper assessment can be made. You know the best positions for each speaker, and neither speaker is too heavy, so you can do the swap in little time. |
Magico S7 is 300 lbs...front heavy...you can’t lift it alone or you’ll find yourself in the same position as the idiot who did exactly that and the speaker fell forward while he attempted to stop it from falling on the ground so he stuck his hand and it broke his arm plus the speaker was destroyed. You can’t fool around with this type of gear. Everything is expensive to repair. |
