Visit to Marc C.'s (SpiritOfMusic's) House in England

[NorthStar]

I know Ked, you and Marc have your style.

Without style we are not worthy.
_____

 

[cjfrbw]

Sound quality or audacious, expensive, outlandishly huge status symbol? Hmmm, let me think about that.

Screw the sound.

 

[PeterA]

Better have a system than no system ...

Ked might prefer no system to a system with Magico speakers.

 

[NorthStar]

Ked might prefer no system to a system with Magico speakers.

Ked listened to a lot of systems, to a lot of music which is the essence...the music.
Having a system or multiple, Magico speakers, a state-of-the-art turntable, the best music pressings, some acoustical room treatment, natural sounding music cables, ...are all part of that jazz band playing live in our living room...spooky music reproduction.

It's everything, including the music listeners who make a system like Marc its true mark value.
Because music matters and everything else.

* Ked is a big Magico speaker's fan?

 

[KeithR]

Hi Mani, tbh your point should be posted LOUD AND CLEAR on every post or thread where audiophiles are contemplating change.

Applies as much to Mike Lavigne or Gian, as it does to me and other more lowly LOL members here.

Just why do we change our gear, often even when we're pretty happy w things? Or when we're unhappy w stuff before we've analysed what we're unhappy with?

if you spent less time on the forums, you'd stop contemplating change.

honestly, after a dozen+ demos of various horns over the years you should know by now. Seriously. You are either influenced by other audiophiles or just can't make a decision. although sometimes I feel you get caught defending Zu just to defend the speaker. but if Zu is the last speaker for you, move on and enjoy!

meanwhile, i expect to make a horn decision in two weeks. i give myself deadlines and it tends to work.

 

[spiritofmusic]

if you spent less time on the forums, you'd stop contemplating change.

honestly, after a dozen+ demos of various horns over the years you should know by now. Seriously. You are either influenced by other audiophiles or just can't make a decision. although sometimes I feel you get caught defending Zu just to defend the speaker. but if Zu is the last speaker for you, move on and enjoy!

meanwhile, i expect to make a horn decision in two weeks. i give myself deadlines and it tends to work.

Yes, dad.

 

[NorthStar]

Is Keith truly your father Marc? That, I didn't know...every single day I'm learning something brand new.

Worth living and having fun all together. I love this planet so much, everything is beautiful.

 

[spiritofmusic]

NS, we don't deserve one another.

 

[NorthStar]

I was simply surprised by Keith's comment. That wasn't very sweet IMHO
It's a forum of friends, a family, and friends and family come in all diversified diversity and colored characters. It is that respect that makes us an advanced society, the best there is. ...Here and everywhere else.

* What's Best Forum /// Price of Admission: Respect

 

[spiritofmusic]

NS, that's ok. I totally get what Keith is trying to say. I guess I have an annoying tendency to think out loud, and appear to argue for opposite points in an argument.

If you think he's agitated, you should talk to my GF, lol.

 

[NorthStar]

Marc, this is not the first time I've read negative comments towards you.
It is absolutely unnecessary.

Call me Bob (real name) please, unless you speak French (Robert).

You have a beautiful home in a beautiful country side. You love music, you love nature, you love good people. This is your thread with everything life's good in it.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Bob, that's very sweet of you. And yes, that's all true. Thanks for the pat on the back.

 

[NorthStar]

I know it's all true; I've been reading your posts and many more for years.
I'm smart enough to see extremely clear in people and music.
I know passionate people from investment people and designers and artists and all between.

Because music matters.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Bob, the support is appreciated. Keith's bark is worse than his bite. And I'm down to Earth enough to admit that it can often sound like I'm arguing at cross purposes. Against myself.

So I guess if I resolutely fight the good fight for the deeply unfashionable (on WBF at least) Zus and at the same time talk about shopping for horns, but coming up w contrary reasons for both, I'm gonna sound unsure/undecided. And a bit nuts in Keith's eyes.

To put the record straight, my room, system optimisation etc, has taken my Zus to a v special place (in my estimation if not others), and I have new found respect for their all-round goodness and ability to weave a spell across genres and critically w less than stellar sounding lps and cds.

But I've also been fortunate enough to strike up a really positive friendship w Barry/Blue58, and have had the privilege of regularly sitting in on his exemplary horns-based system, heard it evolve over 5 years, and have gotten repeat exposure to what makes horns so seductive.

I remain 100% committed to Zus, but am guilty of dallying w the concept of a switch to horns.

Hey, I had a GF in the 90s AND hankered after FBI Special Agent Dana Scully as well. I'm only a human being.

 

[NorthStar]

If it wasn't for few very very very nice people here I wouldn't be talking to you right now and exchanging thoughts on audio, gear, room, music characters.

I take great example by your coordination in balance control and sublime patience.
You feed the values I believe in.

What's Best is also what's best in people, because without music listeners of high caliber there wouldn't be high end audio, zero. It's people who also play music, not just recording it and reproducing it for their one leasure listening level.

Patience is the recipe of higher learning and understanding ... living in a better world for all.
Yes Marc, we're all humans ...

* I'm listening to Jethro Tull right now ... Songs from the Wood (1977)
I just finished listening to Stand Up (1969)
Huge Tull's fan; in heavy rotation later on ... Heavy Horses (1978) and A Passion Play (1973)

 

[spiritofmusic]

Bob, now you're talking. In the turbulent period that is 2019, I'm looking more and more at the pure comfort blanket that is 70s music (and movies). And no chat from that era can ignore Tull.

Youve picked three stellar albums. "A Passion Play" will take the most time to contemplate and appreciate. A little like the Bartok thread here, it doesn't have that instant endorphin hit the other Tull albums give you. Indeed it's only when you take in the whole experience a few times over that it's sheer genius becomes apparent.

A little like Yes "Tales From Topographic Oceans" and the mid 70s Miles Davis albums, this album is really the epitome of the art in prog rock and fusion, and as w all mountain peaks, once youve reached the top, and you've taken the view and air in, it's time to head down to base camp (ie the pub LOL), and contemplate less drastic targets ("Heavy Horses").

 

[spiritofmusic]

Thanks again Bob for such kind words. My sticking to Zu guns, despite the plethora of "better" spkrs out there, is that in the situation of being adamant in wanting to run medium power triodes in a very large room, you are pretty much restricted to genuine high efficiency spkrs.

Horns were vaguely on my mind in 2008, but those Sjraen Ebaen articles on Zu in 6Moons around that time piqued my interest, meaning I could seriously consider 30W to fully energise a 1000 sq ft/13,000 cub ft space.

I guess had he been featuring AG Duos, I might have ended up w them.

Zus went on to be a good choice for my particular situation, and demonstrated to me, or convinced me, that the attributes of tonal density and saturation, were more critical than pin point imaging or ultra resolution. Some negatives too, my room being a bitch on harsh reflections and a devil to easily sort sub bass integration.

But something in the sound re mids density fleshing out of instruments always sounded closer to the real thing compared to SOTA spkrs I heard in the 2000s (Wilson, Rockport, Kharma, ML).

And despite a very close call on nearly going Apogee upon moving into the chapel here, I decided to stick it out w the Zus, provide them potentially with a way better acoustic, and go the extra mile on system optimisation.

And how glad I did. The Zus maintain all their winning properties of tonal density and shove, energy and room saturation even at low levels, and maybe the best spkr out there to excel on tough recordings like my beloved 60s-80s prog/fusion/electric jazz. But now have bloomed into really sophisticated transducers of the music that admittedly never convinced in my old room.

So the Zus fully optimised in a great space are suprisingly good now at timbral accuracy, transparency and soundstaging. Critically, tonal discrimination is way better, closer to what I hear in the very best spkrs like Rockport and AG, in that I can fully engage w acoustic music ie jazz and classical.

Zus still struggle w that last degree of true neutrality and subtlety that marks out the most brilliant spkrs for classical. And dynamics can never replicate what I hear from Barry's AG Duos. And it's these two latter areas that are the only fly in the ointment pushing me to investigate horns here. But I also know the very same Duos can't do what my Zus do on the majority of my sonically challenging genres.

And this is where I am. Chilled out w my system that took shape ten years ago, the core gear not swapped out for six years now, furiously modded and optimised in a brilliant sounding room in the last three years.

But w some daydreaming on the horns concept. As things stand, that concept just stays as a "what if...?" mental exercise.

 

[NorthStar]

Right on Marc.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Bob, get back to me and let me know what you thought of those three Tull albums. I love 'em.

 

[NorthStar]

Before I get back to Tull and Benefit and Aqualung and Thick As A Brick and ...
You mentioned Yes...Tales From Topographic Oceans.

First, any fan of Tull and Yes is my friend. And anyone who make a negative (if serious) comment about my friends they'd better meet my Mom first. They had it coming.
My Mom was a model, a beautiful woman and still is. She has an IQ level above Einstein and can melt any human being to Timbuktu.

Ok, with that now being said let's get down to real business...Music.

I agree with you on what you've said about A Passion Play. It's not for the faint of heart, you need a listening of deeper understanding in music evolution with brain made of titanium and chrome steel and carbon fiber to even start comprehending what a Tull Opera is.
It's for truly serious deep music fans with a head above the waters ...

Thick As A Brick is much more a rolling ballad. It's easier to be gently rocked.
I know very very very little about ZU speakers, I know a little bit more about Jethro Tull and Yes.

I think that most of us we are all on a similar wavelength when referencing to Aqualung.
Before it was Benefit.

Yes is also from familiar universal territories...Fragile, Close To The Edge, ...
And Tales From Topographic Oceans is like the apotheosis of all music rock operas from a higher spiritual plane. The expérience is time travelling (noticed that French word?).

And by the way, when talking about music from these two great bands it's all analog vinyls.
I want to be clear here as we are in the late sixties early seventies of the music we Pink Floyd grew up with. It's important to be faithful to our roots in time and space.

Today I still love those albums immensely, and they guided me through my musical journey to where I'm @ now...Opera, Tango and Flamenco...plus plus plus. They're my influences in my Classical music Jazz evolutionary Blues alley; right in my alley.

Without content we are nothing, without valuable content we are nothing, without each other's values we are nothing and lost in an ocean of broken dreams. Hold on ...