For the past three years I have been trying to resolve a phono feedback problem that is more than likely being generated by floor vibrations excited by my two JL F113 subs because when I turn the woofs off it goes away. I am now on my fourth turntable, fourth cartridge, second phono stage, fourth interconnects from arm to phono stage, my second vibraplane, a 200 pound piece of granite for under the vibraplane, new racks and three speed controllers and while the feedback has changed in trigger frequency, magnitude and bandwidth, it is still there, although I have not gotten my latest turntable and arm/cartridge up and running yet due to some necessary customization.
During a visit several weeks ago I had a visit from WBF’s phono guru, David Carmelli and his local friend Bobby B, who likes to keep a low profile, but yet seems to know the half of the high end industry that matter to me. David said I need a lot of turntable mass to solve my problem and to get rid of what he calls my Junk Lab subs. While I am not getting rid of my JL’s until I get a better speakers with more low end (currently Vivid G 3’s), I did purchase a new used turntable and arm from Audiogon because they both became available at the same time and the arm is more rare than the already rare tt. I bought a Triangle Arts Reference SE (275 pound piano black powder coated TT and a Rockport Technologies Sirius 600 straight tracking air bearing tone arm. I also bought myself a new ZYX cartridge, the ZYX replacement for my ZYX Ultimate Premium II, the new ZYX flagship, the ZYX Optimum.
At the end of the night Bobby said to me that he lived relatively close by, another state and 90 minutes away, in a CIA protected compound and that I should come for a visit and bring Marty, from WBF and as my partner in audio crime for the past 45 years, to hear his system and so he could go see Marty’s at a later date. Since Bobby is a man of few words and even fewer life facts, essentially no explanation of what the visit would entail was offered.
It had been a long time since Marty and I went on an audio adventure/visit, with the last visit three years ago, including the third of the three amigos, Steve Williams , on a trip to Seattle which included a visit to Genesis Technologies and Shunyata in Poulsbo, WA, Mike Lavigne’s meca, Bruce from Puget Sound Studios and Ki Koi in the “world of Ki”.
Marty and I each set out from roughly equidistant points and met at Bobby’s this past Sunday afternoon. While I already had some sense of mystery man Bobby, Marty went totally blind. I arrived first and entered an interesting and modest appearing house from the outside, but expecting nothing but twists once inside and was able to collect more information from elusive Bobby.
In the entrance foyer there were maybe 30 classic cameras on display. Almost every flat surface of the house had something interesting to make that surface more than a surface. It was like every surface was a frame for what was hanging on it. Essentially everything on the walls, more than most houses have on their floors, was recognizable, yet displayed in a novel and highly artistic manner. I found the roof lines the most involving because each line helped connect the dots of the components of the room to help tell of part of Bobby’s mysterious past.
First, we ate a sumptuous meal that Bobby had catered for us, with Marty eating a rib eye from a dinosaur and me having two filets of Chilean sea bass, both cooked to perfection. As I was sitting at the island I could not help but carefully analyze the kitchen design and marvel at the simplicity of the design while being incredibly functional and yet beyond top of the line. The ceiling was up to at least 30 feet tall in parts, but always playing with one’s mind.
Now that Marty and I had more questions than answers and an infinite list of things to explore, we were suitably primed for THE MUSIC ROOM and its undoubtably many secrets, waiting to be queried. The room itself was clearly custom, being made out of concrete blocks with no windows and 10 foot ceiling shod with rough-hewn tongue and groove cypress run on a 45 degree angle. I had the exact same wood on my last custom music room side walls that deviated outward by 18” for every 10 linear feet. The wall behind the equipment was adorned by the most unusual acoustical treatments I had ever seen, looking almost tribal, but yet adorned with so many Shun Mook Mpingo disks that I think Bobby cornered the world supply. Everything was symmetrical right to left and took most of the 10’ of vertical wall. Due to national security issues, I could not take any pictures for fear of revealing the location and Bobby’s super high tech acoustic devices.
The side walls continued the theme of the front wall, but there were many more acoustical devices, all symmetrical of course, except those that pivot through their vertical axes for fine tuning. Mpingo disks were everywhere. The rear wall and floor had packed and organized shelves and bins of highly select records. There were also cases loaded with records running half way down the side walls which must have been 25-30 feet long, not to mention a cello laying very artistically on its side on the top shelf of the rear wall.
The front wall had all of the equipment for the system except for the Kharma Exquisite Mini Grand Speakers. As you probably guessed, all of the electronics are Lamm Reference level with no digital equipment in the system. There are a pair of JL Gotham V2 behind the Midi Grand Kharma’s, to my taste, set way too low, but nevertheless there. The interconnects and speaker wire were top of the line Audio Purist with AC by Carmelli.
Sitting front and center is one of the three original American Sound turntables sitting on a painted lab table, truly the main reason I went to Bobby’s. The AS is an inherent anomaly – it is fairly compact with regard to footprint, but yet can accommodate four arms, especially the SME 3012R with the pinnacle of Tech Das cartridge. The plinth design is so dead when you thump the base and you get essentially nothing back. However, it is what you do NOT hear that is so impressive. They could have called it the Black Hole because it is so lacking in unwanted mechanical sound.
As the listening began, Bobby continued to answer my many questions about his room and some from Marty, which after 45 years of sharing this experience, I could decode better than anyone else, as he can do with me. He also offered unsolicited tidbits of info about him and his room, always maintaining his low key persona. I must say at this point that I like Bobby because I believe he is honest, highly talented in many areas with a need for perfection from his perspective with regard to almost everything he is engaged in.
He truly wanted our visit to be special and he wanted us to share the enjoyment he derives from his system and listening to music. He played a number of cuts from a wide range of music, much of which neither Marty nor I had heard. Since there are so many variables to Bobby’s room, it was hard to sort out what was contributing to what.
I want to be diplomatic, but also share what I heard without too much political correctedness. Bobby and I listen differently. He quieter across the board and with a focus on the midrange, whereas I listen louder for a cohesive midrange/high’s, but need a tight bass and an extended top for sparkle, sometimes to immersive levels. I kept wanting to turn up the volume to get more life, but said nothing since I was the guest. Ironically my favorite piece that we listened to at Bobby’s was Chris Isaak’s Blue Hotel, which sounded in another class compared to much of the other cuts we listened to.
This difference in listening preferences limited my personal involvement, especially on classical and greatly confused me because my friend Steve Williams has the same reference Lamm electronics and the same speakers as Marty, which I know well. What I did notice more than anything was total absence of many sounds I associated with analog or said another way was I noticed what I was not hearing and totally loved it. If I could afford it I would buy an A S tt. I do like my ZYX Ultimate Premium II better than the Tech DAS because I think it is more musical and thus to my taste real.
So in summary, if you can decode who Bobby is and get an offer to listen---accept because it will be a very diverse experience, well beyond his listening room. I look forward to expanding my friendship with Bobby and am eager to hear his ideas about.
However, one warning, expect to leave with more questions than when you entered.
During a visit several weeks ago I had a visit from WBF’s phono guru, David Carmelli and his local friend Bobby B, who likes to keep a low profile, but yet seems to know the half of the high end industry that matter to me. David said I need a lot of turntable mass to solve my problem and to get rid of what he calls my Junk Lab subs. While I am not getting rid of my JL’s until I get a better speakers with more low end (currently Vivid G 3’s), I did purchase a new used turntable and arm from Audiogon because they both became available at the same time and the arm is more rare than the already rare tt. I bought a Triangle Arts Reference SE (275 pound piano black powder coated TT and a Rockport Technologies Sirius 600 straight tracking air bearing tone arm. I also bought myself a new ZYX cartridge, the ZYX replacement for my ZYX Ultimate Premium II, the new ZYX flagship, the ZYX Optimum.
At the end of the night Bobby said to me that he lived relatively close by, another state and 90 minutes away, in a CIA protected compound and that I should come for a visit and bring Marty, from WBF and as my partner in audio crime for the past 45 years, to hear his system and so he could go see Marty’s at a later date. Since Bobby is a man of few words and even fewer life facts, essentially no explanation of what the visit would entail was offered.
It had been a long time since Marty and I went on an audio adventure/visit, with the last visit three years ago, including the third of the three amigos, Steve Williams , on a trip to Seattle which included a visit to Genesis Technologies and Shunyata in Poulsbo, WA, Mike Lavigne’s meca, Bruce from Puget Sound Studios and Ki Koi in the “world of Ki”.
Marty and I each set out from roughly equidistant points and met at Bobby’s this past Sunday afternoon. While I already had some sense of mystery man Bobby, Marty went totally blind. I arrived first and entered an interesting and modest appearing house from the outside, but expecting nothing but twists once inside and was able to collect more information from elusive Bobby.
In the entrance foyer there were maybe 30 classic cameras on display. Almost every flat surface of the house had something interesting to make that surface more than a surface. It was like every surface was a frame for what was hanging on it. Essentially everything on the walls, more than most houses have on their floors, was recognizable, yet displayed in a novel and highly artistic manner. I found the roof lines the most involving because each line helped connect the dots of the components of the room to help tell of part of Bobby’s mysterious past.
First, we ate a sumptuous meal that Bobby had catered for us, with Marty eating a rib eye from a dinosaur and me having two filets of Chilean sea bass, both cooked to perfection. As I was sitting at the island I could not help but carefully analyze the kitchen design and marvel at the simplicity of the design while being incredibly functional and yet beyond top of the line. The ceiling was up to at least 30 feet tall in parts, but always playing with one’s mind.
Now that Marty and I had more questions than answers and an infinite list of things to explore, we were suitably primed for THE MUSIC ROOM and its undoubtably many secrets, waiting to be queried. The room itself was clearly custom, being made out of concrete blocks with no windows and 10 foot ceiling shod with rough-hewn tongue and groove cypress run on a 45 degree angle. I had the exact same wood on my last custom music room side walls that deviated outward by 18” for every 10 linear feet. The wall behind the equipment was adorned by the most unusual acoustical treatments I had ever seen, looking almost tribal, but yet adorned with so many Shun Mook Mpingo disks that I think Bobby cornered the world supply. Everything was symmetrical right to left and took most of the 10’ of vertical wall. Due to national security issues, I could not take any pictures for fear of revealing the location and Bobby’s super high tech acoustic devices.
The side walls continued the theme of the front wall, but there were many more acoustical devices, all symmetrical of course, except those that pivot through their vertical axes for fine tuning. Mpingo disks were everywhere. The rear wall and floor had packed and organized shelves and bins of highly select records. There were also cases loaded with records running half way down the side walls which must have been 25-30 feet long, not to mention a cello laying very artistically on its side on the top shelf of the rear wall.
The front wall had all of the equipment for the system except for the Kharma Exquisite Mini Grand Speakers. As you probably guessed, all of the electronics are Lamm Reference level with no digital equipment in the system. There are a pair of JL Gotham V2 behind the Midi Grand Kharma’s, to my taste, set way too low, but nevertheless there. The interconnects and speaker wire were top of the line Audio Purist with AC by Carmelli.
Sitting front and center is one of the three original American Sound turntables sitting on a painted lab table, truly the main reason I went to Bobby’s. The AS is an inherent anomaly – it is fairly compact with regard to footprint, but yet can accommodate four arms, especially the SME 3012R with the pinnacle of Tech Das cartridge. The plinth design is so dead when you thump the base and you get essentially nothing back. However, it is what you do NOT hear that is so impressive. They could have called it the Black Hole because it is so lacking in unwanted mechanical sound.
As the listening began, Bobby continued to answer my many questions about his room and some from Marty, which after 45 years of sharing this experience, I could decode better than anyone else, as he can do with me. He also offered unsolicited tidbits of info about him and his room, always maintaining his low key persona. I must say at this point that I like Bobby because I believe he is honest, highly talented in many areas with a need for perfection from his perspective with regard to almost everything he is engaged in.
He truly wanted our visit to be special and he wanted us to share the enjoyment he derives from his system and listening to music. He played a number of cuts from a wide range of music, much of which neither Marty nor I had heard. Since there are so many variables to Bobby’s room, it was hard to sort out what was contributing to what.
I want to be diplomatic, but also share what I heard without too much political correctedness. Bobby and I listen differently. He quieter across the board and with a focus on the midrange, whereas I listen louder for a cohesive midrange/high’s, but need a tight bass and an extended top for sparkle, sometimes to immersive levels. I kept wanting to turn up the volume to get more life, but said nothing since I was the guest. Ironically my favorite piece that we listened to at Bobby’s was Chris Isaak’s Blue Hotel, which sounded in another class compared to much of the other cuts we listened to.
This difference in listening preferences limited my personal involvement, especially on classical and greatly confused me because my friend Steve Williams has the same reference Lamm electronics and the same speakers as Marty, which I know well. What I did notice more than anything was total absence of many sounds I associated with analog or said another way was I noticed what I was not hearing and totally loved it. If I could afford it I would buy an A S tt. I do like my ZYX Ultimate Premium II better than the Tech DAS because I think it is more musical and thus to my taste real.
So in summary, if you can decode who Bobby is and get an offer to listen---accept because it will be a very diverse experience, well beyond his listening room. I look forward to expanding my friendship with Bobby and am eager to hear his ideas about.
However, one warning, expect to leave with more questions than when you entered.
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