Yesterday during a thoroughly enjoyable visit with our fearless leader oneobgyn a.k.a. Steve Williams, I had one of those audio store experiences, that sadly occur all to rarely these days, at least for me.
First of all, it is hard to find an audio store that one can get excited about visiting. Either it does not exist locally, the proprietor is a new form of obnoxious, equipment is is so outrageously expensive that it is not even dreamable and/or great equipment, but lousy set-up. Another issue is that while the visit might be fun, it is frequently sandwiched into an otherwise hectic day.
Well, let me take you through my June 10 and share in my joy. I woke at Casa Williams, was greeted by Steve and his lovely wife Cathy. Then Steve made me an incredible cappuccino with his no doubt best in category cappuccino machine (ask him about it! We then jumped into his amazing Mercedes SL 55 AMG, an everyday Ferrari roadster and blasted to Berkeley, top down, to Music Lover's audio store, where we had called ahead for a demo of the newest Spectral equipment, playing through some Wilson Sasha's.
A little context is necessary here so that you will understand just how impressive this audio demo was. Steve has Wilson Alexandria X-2's Series 2 powered by Lamm ML-3's with twin Gothams, which produces the best sound I have ever heard from a Wilson or a Lamm set-up. We had also heard a megabuck Rockport analog system, immaculately set-up 36 hours earlier.
I consider myself a fairly accomplished listener, having had my share of superb equipment, many friends with equal or better systems, a veteran of 40+ CES's and other audio shows and a very rare pinnacle audio experience, actually hearing, at length, the fabled John Iverson Force Field speakers/transducers.
Back to the purpose of this post the equipment and sound. Naturally both Steve and I were excited, especially Steve who had heard and been wowed by the Spectral DMA 260, whose topology is the basis of the newly available bigger sib the Spectral DMA 360 Series 2, several months earlier. I have owned 3 Spectral pieces and loved them, but always felt that a full Spectral system was bit too dry, so always put some tubes somewhere in the system for that warmth. Steve is a tube guy and thus a bit skeptical about microwave solid state technology as amplification.
Other than Steve's system, I am not a huge Wilson fan, especially considering the price. While I have heard Sasha's on about 10 occasions and felt that they are probably the best value in the Wilson line, they generate no urges within my audio lobes.
Now for the system--latest Reference equipment from Spectral, the DMC 30 SL preamp, a brand new CD player that is not even on the web site, but allegedly the pinnacle of Keith Johnson's digital efforts, AND the newly released, and I believe the only pair of new DMA 360 Series monoblocks, only 3 days old and thus not broken in. They were connected to Wilson Sasha's via MIT's top of the line single ended connectors, leaving the XLR outputs and inputs for the less informed.
Within one bar, both Steve and I had to scrape our skeptical jaws off of the floor. The imaging was so dramatic, pristine and believable. We listened to some special recordings of kettle drums where I swear I could see the molecules of bronze dancing with each wack of the drum skin. What amazed me the most was listening to Bela Fleck's Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, a piece I know, but I could not identify it because I was so immersed in the sound and experience that I could not put the total together.
In reality, I do not know what contributed to what in the audio chain, but in this case even the weakest link was incredible. The people at Music Lover's true gentlemen and Steve a wonderful companion.
Oh yeah, this experience occurred on one of the best days of my life, being reunited with both of my daughters, meeting their significant others and getting together for my younger daughters graduation from the Stanford Business School.
An excellent day indeed.
