FM Acoustics, who knows this company?

Probably the best there is but at what price? And these guys do not believe in dealers and when they do appoint one, it's like take it or get lost. The arrogance level matches or exceeds their price and about the same nonsensical behaviour as that of Mark Levinson and Keith Johnson of Spectral. In fact Keith Johnson thinks his products are like Stradivari violins. Well, I guess then his products must increase in value as it ages. FM supposed to be strong in the recording world.

I have tried their 266 and 611 and it blew me away. Simple design and carry friendly and boy the sound is amazing. Mind you, this combo was about 8 years old. No need for tweaks etc, it is that good. At par with the Burmester 808 Mk V preamp and the 266 is a single chasis.

The 611 is as good as the Joule Rites of Passage which is Harry Pearson's favourite. In fact the 611 had the oomph factor simply because of its 450w power.

I would buy it if the incremental cost is not a factor for the miniscule enhancement in the sound but only when it is available as a 2nd hand peice. Would not pay brand new prices even if I receive dealer price.

Its not Keith Johnson, Hafeez, its Rick Fryer, who is the "impossible one" chez Spectral, but otherwise I liked your piece. Cheers,

Thanks for the correction.

Actually, I remember back in 94 calling Spectral and speaking to a Keith Johnson but Rick Fryer does not come to my mind. Anyways, I got a mouthful whoever he was and all that Stradivari stuff and I said ,well a Stradi does not depreciate and almost every other electronic items does and the phone went dead. So that was my first and last experience with the Spectral crowd.

The other character who has his ego stick out like Mt Everest is Mark Levinson. Phew! This guy is the limit.

Then u take someone like Jud Barber of Joule Electra who is HP's favourite amp today and he is the sweetest guy you can imagine. An absolute gentleman, humble and actually blushes when you praise him. This man oozes with knowledge and it is a real pleasure to speak with him.

I also spoke with Manual Huber of FM Acoustics back in 90 & 91 and he sounded quite refined and impressed me with his passion for audio. Today, he is hardly involved. At least that is the impression.

Another creative genius is Dieter Burmester of Burmester Audiosysteme. And he too is a gentleman, scientist and artist. An amazing designer and one that makes high end such a valued hobby. Again, he too is humble, simple and meticulous. His face shines like a schoolboy when you ask him to explain about his design philosophy and he has the magic touch of emersing his listener into his holistic world of musical truth. No wonder, he is a legend.

Check out their website:www.FMAcoustics.com for some
infor from their dealer, etc as their webpage is under
construction.

Thanks for the kind words, Detlof. Inna: I have listened to FMA on a few occasions, lately (~1yr ago?) playing in a Genesis speakers/SYorke TT/Symphonic Line Reference cdp, system. The sound was more impressively clear and very fast. I mean to stress VERY fast & VERY clear.
There was some small graininess in the beginning that we licked completely through trial & error with cables -- only having three choices (bearlabs, their own, valhalla IC/spm speaker) we settled for their own and bearlabs.
The TT sound was subjectively better than the cdp (the medium & my cdp vs. the Simon Yorke). General impression was of a room full of sounds coming from all points before us -- except the speakers per se!
If I remember the models correctly, it was a 266 pre (there was also another phono pre) and a 611(610?) power amp. Interesting point: the pre's output is huge. Could the pre "accept" the input impedance of a speaker, one could, theoretically, drive the speaker directly at low volume...

BTW, the owner of these nice units quoted a nice price too: in the range of $60-70k? for both pre & power!!!