Puget Audio Fest

[garylkoh]

Ok, I guess this is the ‘best sound’ of day 1….

Big Band with vocalist on the 14th floor. Thanks to Genesis Loudspeakers and Merrill Audio. Ki Choi is recording this to tape for replay tomorrow in the Genesis room.
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For me, this was definitely the best sound of the show!! I'm also biased because big band is my favorite genre of music. Those of you who have known me for long enough know that this has always been my dream - to have a big band perform at an audio show for all my fellow music lovers.

 

[garylkoh]

The big Genesis at PAF reminds me of the back room with Mike Kay at Lyric HiFi, NYC, many moons ago. Congratulations, Gary, on keeping Arnie's masterpiece moving forward and worthy of that title along the way!

Thanks gleeds. The Genesis Prime+ is the latest iteration of the four-tower line-source dipole loudspeaker since Arnie's masterpiece IRS in 1977. It is effectively IRS X! Arnie did IRS, IRS II, IRS III and IRS V at Infinity. Then Genesis I, Genesis 1.1 in Genesis Technologies. I designed Genesis 1.2 together with Arnie in Genesis Advanced Technologies. Then after he retired, I did the Genesis Dragon, Genesis Prime, and now running out of ideas for names, the Prime+.

 

[garylkoh]

For those of you who were at the show here's the playback.

 

[gleeds]

Thanks gleeds. The Genesis Prime+ is the latest iteration of the four-tower line-source dipole loudspeaker since Arnie's masterpiece IRS in 1977. It is effectively IRS X! Arnie did IRS, IRS II, IRS III and IRS V at Infinity. Then Genesis I, Genesis 1.1 in Genesis Technologies. I designed Genesis 1.2 together with Arnie in Genesis Advanced Technologies. Then after he retired, I did the Genesis Dragon, Genesis Prime, and now running out of ideas for names, the Prime+.

Love it!

 

[marty]

The big Genesis at PAF reminds me of the back room with Mike Kay at Lyric HiFi, NYC, many moons ago. Congratulations, Gary, on keeping Arnie's masterpiece moving forward and worthy of that title along the way!

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Love, love that picture of Mike Kay. Such memories!! Never forgot when he allowed me into the inner "sanctum santorum" to hear a master tape of Itzhak Perlman on the IRS system (event though I couldn't afford squat). But he saw I had the bug and went out of his way for a fellow music lover to fan the flames. RIP Mike. Some things you never forget. I remember when I first got laid, I remember my first Magneplanar experience, and I remember that master tape on the IRS. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[Kingrex]

For me, this was definitely the best sound of the show!! I'm also biased because big band is my favorite genre of music. Those of you who have known me for long enough know that this has always been my dream - to have a big band perform at an audio show for all my fellow music lovers.

When I was in Virginia, I went into a pawn shop and there were hundreds of big band records. They all had a name label affixed by the prior owner. I assume he passed away and the family gave the records to the shop. Must have been 200 plus. If you want the name of the shop, I can get it.

 

[Kingrex]

Folks have no teason to move to Seattle. It rains here all the time

We need a border wall to keep the Californians out.

 

[gleeds]

Love, love that picture of Mike Kay. Such memories!! Never forgot when he allowed me into the inner "sanctum santorum" to hear a master tape of Itzhak Perlman on the IRS system (event though I couldn't afford squat). But he saw I had the bug and went out of his way for a fellow music lover to fan the flames. RIP Mike. Some things you never forget. I remember when I first got laid, I remember my first Magneplanar experience, and I remember that master tape on the IRS. Not necessarily in that order.

Marty, we are forever connected through that experience. Because of Mike's generous spirit I have had a love affair with music and sound my entire life, something that I know we both share. Perhaps many will have had a different experiences with Mike but not us! Now let me guess the order Gary

 

[thomask]

This speaker called Linkwitz looks funny but it sounds clear and holographic.

 

[gleeds]

Siegfreid Linkwitz was a great speaker designer I admired, RIP. Always a fan of open baffle designs, his two-piece Beethoven was Stereophile Loudspeaker Product of the Year in 1988 under the Audio Artistry banner. He was also an early adapter of active amplification for audiophile loudspeakers. It's nice to see his appointed successor is still offering Siegfried's designs to the community.

 

[thomask]

This system sound very musical.

The most notable thing is the cost of amplifiers is modest compared with that of speaker.

Raidaho speaker cost 70k$ while Margules power amp and pre amp cost 10k$ and 7k$ only.

I got the feeling that Margules pre is good.

Thus I bought it at show discount price of 6k$.

After installing in my system, I am happy with it.

It use 4 12AU7(ECC82) and one 6922(6jd8) tubes.

Thus lot of room for tube rolling.

I replaced the stock Elextro harmonic tubes with NOS Amperex.

It really sound gracious.

 

[Kingrex]

I thought the Linkwitz were good. I also liked the Alsyvox. I must really like a more open and airy sound than most. Most all the boxed speakers while sounding linear and clean with solid bass, also sounded a bit confined to me. Like they were trying to escape their enclosure. I got home after the show and listened to my system. I was actually very happy. My only hindrance is my room at this time. I would not go trying to change amps or speakers or components as such as I know I am not anywhere near the performance potential they offer at this time. I might add another Dartzeel to biamp.

I am still looking for a phono stage. I have heard a lot more magic than what I am getting now with demo units at my home. I am just struggling to understand the proper way to get there. And at a price. I did not notice any phono equipment at the show. I was not really looking either. I got about 1 hour per day to run to a few rooms my friends said sounded good. Then I was back to my booth. I got maybe a half song in at each room I visited.

A friend of mine tried to purchase the Focal. He said, here is the cash, I want to pick it up Monday. They handled it really bad and said, well we have a customer that wants to come hear them Tuesday so we can't let you have them. He then said, ask the Focal rep if I can take the show pieces that were fresh out of the box. The Hawthorn Stereo manager only responded, I'm not sure I can do that. My friend hung up, canceled his CC charge at the store and said he was going to use a different dealer and pay full price. Not worth getting in bed with someone who does not seem able to handle not a very complex situation. I think I'm as perturbed as he. I like the Hawthorn guys, but how do you drop the ball like that.

 

[thomask]

I thought the Linkwitz were good. I also liked the Alsyvox. I must really like a more open and airy sound than most. Most all the boxed speakers while sounding linear and clean with solid bass, also sounded a bit confined to me. Like they were trying to escape their enclosure. I got home after the show and listened to my system. I was actually very happy. My only hindrance is my room at this time. I would not go trying to change amps or speakers or components as such as I know I am not anywhere near the performance potential they offer at this time. I might add another Dartzeel to biamp.

I am still looking for a phono stage. I have heard a lot more magic than what I am getting now with demo units at my home. I am just struggling to understand the proper way to get there. And at a price. I did not notice any phono equipment at the show. I was not really looking either. I got about 1 hour per day to run to a few rooms my friends said sounded good. Then I was back to my booth. I got maybe a half song in at each room I visited.

A friend of mine tried to purchase the Focal. He said, here is the cash, I want to pick it up Monday. They handled it really bad and said, well we have a customer that wants to come hear them Tuesday so we can't let you have them. He then said, ask the Focal rep if I can take the show pieces that were fresh out of the box. The Hawthorn Stereo manager only responded, I'm not sure I can do that. My friend hung up, canceled his CC charge at the store and said he was going to use a different dealer and pay full price. Not worth getting in bed with someone who does not seem able to handle not a very complex situation. I think I'm as perturbed as he. I like the Hawthorn guys, but how do you drop the ball like that.

I was rather disappinted with the sound of Focal in Pacific Audiofest.

While it sounds dynamic with clean treble , its bass is boomy.

I agree with you that boxy speaker has some limitation in reproducing live sound.

That is why I am happy with Scaena 3.2 which is a line source speaker.

 

[Kingrex]

Boxy can sound clean, articulate, forceful bass. They have a sound. And lots of people like it. They probably say my open baffle have less precision and slamb. They do present different. There is no doubt about it. We could start a thread and spend 40 pages arguing the exact terminology to differentiate the two.

My friend tried to get the Focal Casandra?. The white ones to the side. Not the Utopia.

FWIW, I will give a bit of a pass to any speakers bass response at a show. I feel the general flavor of what they are can be heard. But tuning to your room will shape the bass.

I had an interesting conversation last night with an audiophile. He had powerfull box speakers with powerful amps and could never control the bass in his room. He had to change to a planer magnetic to get proper response. And he won't go back. I almost wonder if the cutting edge box brand manufacturer aren't getting a little ahead of themselves. As in too good for where they seem to typically land.

 

[Elliot G.]

The big Genesis at PAF reminds me of the back room with Mike Kay at Lyric HiFi, NYC, many moons ago. Congratulations, Gary, on keeping Arnie's masterpiece moving forward and worthy of that title along the way!

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the back story behind this picture and article is truly funny. After saying that Lyric "sold with scorn a la Gucci" New York magazine single handedly increased our business by way over a million dollars. Mike was my boss, a mentor and a second father, he was a truly generous man with a huge heart. RIP my friend!

 

[thomask]

This room also gave very musical sound.

Well Audio is making excellent amps and dac.

I almost pulled the trigger for its new tube Dac called Cipher.

Cipher DAC — Wells Audio

www.wellsaudio.com

 

[gleeds]

the back story behind this picture and article is truly funny. After saying that Lyric "sold with scorn a la Gucci" New York magazine single handedly increased our business by way over a million dollars. Mike was my boss, a mentor and a second father, he was a truly generous man with a huge heart. RIP my friend!

As he was all those things to me, Elliot! Next time I am in South Florida, we must meet and reminisce. For all the WBF Members, here is a photo of Mike looking dapper in front of Levinson's HQD system!

 

[cjfrbw]

We need a border wall to keep the Californians out.

I need a border wall to keep the rest of the Californians out in California.

Great reports, very nice setups, thanks to posters.

I'll be going to hear Burwell and Sons speakers at their facility in San Mateo (Altec vintage drivers in artisan cabinets) to get some horn. San Francisco Audiophile Society is hosting.

One of my first major shock and awe audiophile experiences was with Altec Voice of The Theater speakers that a guy had set up in Turlock. I was staying in a boarding house at UC Berkeley (19yo) and Altec guy was a friend of one of the guys in the house. We went out to visit. I had zip for dough then, but all his friends were crazy and into audio and motorcycles, all pretty young at the time.

 

[gleeds]

This system sound very musical.

The most notable thing is the cost of amplifiers is modest compared with that of speaker.

Raidaho speaker cost 70k$ while Margules power amp and pre amp cost 10k$ and 7k$ only.

I got the feeling that Margules pre is good.

Thus I bought it at show discount price of 6k$.

After installing in my system, I am happy with it.

It use 4 12AU7(ECC82) and one 6922(6jd8) tubes.

Thus lot of room for tube rolling.

I replaced the stock Elextro harmonic tubes with NOS Amperex.

It really sound gracious.

Congratulations on your new pre-amplifier Thomask!

I have listened to the Margules electronics on three occasions. 1) Florida Audio Expo with Margules top line speakers, 2) the recent Long Beach show, and 3) my home listening room with the beautiful Raihdo 3.2s. In all cases, the sound was exceptional, and I know of very few pairings of electronics that can compete at the price point. I also like that the amplifiers are bridgeable and have user-selectable tetrode or triode modes.
Senor' Margules is also one of the most refined gentlemen I have met and of considerable skill and intelligence. IMHO this is a unique line of high-value, hand-built products worth seeking!

Bruce Ball, the US importers number is: (818) 927-7553

 

[garylkoh]

the back story behind this picture and article is truly funny. After saying that Lyric "sold with scorn a la Gucci" New York magazine single handedly increased our business by way over a million dollars. Mike was my boss, a mentor and a second father, he was a truly generous man with a huge heart. RIP my friend!

Mike was absolutely instrumental in creating the high-end. If it weren't for him, the Genesis you know today would not exist. I was bidding for the company against someone who wanted to take the brand, and make cheap speakers in China. Mike convinced me to take on the challenge, hire Arnie and continue to make high-end products and he would support my efforts. Unfortunately, he passed and Lyric stopped selling Genesis.