Interesting. I thought the von Schweikert room was totally unlistenable and left after 3 minutes. Thenagain, I don't do this for a living so what do I know.
I thought they sounded unrealistic - they played some piano music and the high notes were fired out of the speaker like a machine gun. I remember literally bracing myself for the "attack". Very fatiguing. Just one man's opinion.
I totally second your call on Elac and Audio Solutions setting the price / performance reference. I made and posted the same observation. It is reassuring to know that if I ever go broke and have to liquidate my system, I can get phenomenal sound from a $2,500 pair of Elacs.
Few highlights to report at opposite ends of the price spectrum.
During my first visit, I though the Verity Room (total setup $1.1M) was the best audio I heard in any showroom, show, home EVER. When I went back the 2nd day, it occurred to me the sound was maybe projecting a magnified image (too...
Very smart guy. Really liked him. High integrity. To his credit he was appalled by Trumpism (like George Will). I suspect he would be equally appalled by Fox turning into a Trump propaganda outlet. May he RIP. Full disclose, I'm a lefty.
I just took possession of my new top of the line Pink Faun 2.16 server, and it is an absolute revelation. I had been using their earlier model for a few years and while it worked fine, I was never in love with it - it did not blow the earlier multi media servers I had been using out of the...
I would always buy used. If you spend just a little more (they sell for $3,500 - $4,000), you can get yourself used original Revel Studio's which is a screaming bargain. I tried a lot of speakers and my pair of $4K studios were the best value for money I owned. There is currently a pair listed...
Selling my beloved MM3s. Love them to death and best speaker I ever owned, but I am physically downsizing in anticipation of moved to smaller residence and they have to go. Asking $25K. I also have the stillpoints ultra V optionally. Check out my audiogon ad...
He played one show in the Met in NYC this January. I was tempted to fly out and go see him -you never know what will be his last. Regrettably, I did not execute.
How could I forget. Close second after Brahem. The incompable Charles Lloyd / Passin' through. A must have.
https://www.amazon.com/Passin-Thru-Charles-Lloyd-Quartet/dp/B072BBMVPL/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1518821701&sr=1-1&keywords=charles+lloyd
Not sure if this technically qualifies as Jazz (I think it does), but my favorite 2017 album by a mile:
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Maqams-Anouar-Brahem/dp/B074STB1Y1
Somewhat analogous to walking into a casino and buying chips with the credit card. It baffles me people would actually do this, but apparently there are plenty.
I bought Bitcoin cash at the absolute peak of $4K and am down 70% in a month. Sheer genius. Did well on some others, but overall portfolio is down 15% (I was up 50% at some point). Oh well...