jafant - I’m sorry I couldn’t really ’tour’ his capabilities. I took a few hours of his time for our focused business. His bench seemed to have a pretty big bank of gear: oscilloscope, signal generator, etc. I don’t know whether he has an audio analyzer, etc. but he seems to use tech along with his ears, instincts and accumulated experience. .
The entire space is concrete floor / concrete block / steel ceiling at about 16’ high at 2500 square foot rectangle (40x60?) with about 1/3 having an 8’-9’ mezzanine ceiling covering the playback and customer interface areas. The playback area’s front wall behind the speakers is an overhead garage door. The left wall is solid (drywall on studs) with display shelves of equipment for sale, including various clasic speakers. Ditto the back wall. The right side is open to the sales area which adds about 10-12’. No treatment beyond a carpet.(?) Ceiling is plywood above 16" 2x12 joists parallel to the front wall. Area size is 16’ wide by about 18’ long (plus the openings to adjacent areas.) For all its industrial simplicity and eccentricity, it sounds quite neutral and without problems. We could readily and easily distinguish between EQ iterations in mono or stereo. Sounds like Bill has a well-developed home hi fi system, but this set-up is pretty minimal.
We used the hot-rotted Classe DR6 preamp which sounded clean and pristine. His power amp is a pro piece I didn’t recognize and therefore don’t remember. He had thoroughly hot-rodded it. Tight, clean, broadband. wow. Disc player was an OPPO 105 for which he offers a thorough ($2400) audiophile upgrade. I want one. Turntable is an Oracle Delphi VI - which I covet. We listened exclusively to / through Thiel CS3.5 to handle the EQd bass. I had moved the crossovers into the cabinet bottoms, but otherwise they are stock. UPS had shattered the grille frames which are part of the anti-diffraction scheme, but we survived anyhow. Next visit I’ll take upgraded frames with me. I didn’t notice what cabling was used, but it looked audiophile.
The only real new ground we covered was to cross-check our interpretations of the different iterations of the 3.5 EQ, which I would describe as identical between us. We’re on the same page. We’re farther down the path toward various levels of much cleaner, firmer, clearer sound from the EQ. Granted that higher performance costs more. But for those who love the sealed bass and true to 20Hz extension, this EQ is a fine way to get it while keeping the enclosure quite compact, stiff and inexpensive. I think you know that I am more enamored with this sealed / EQd bass solution than the baked in compromises of reflex bass.
