As anyone who has read any of my original thread posts knows, they are not typical WBF posts, because while they are definitely based on my lifelong audio experiences and typically about the latest in my life-guiding quest to have my ultimate audio system that will help maximize my daily pleasure during my retirement. This post is woven into one of my life stories that was significantly influenced by my love of audio
If you are looking for the typical WBF post, you will probably not like this description of my latest attempts to merge my happiness with audio. But if, like me, audio is about personal joy and not just loving and listening to music, hopefully you will continue to read this and hopefully end up happier from some of the points within, especially if being enveloped by your system is important to you, as it definitely is for me..
There is no doubt that this post is stimulated by the merger of number of factors in the forefront of my current thinking as I sit home by myself during this lockdown and as I prepare for one of the most life changing events we all will or have already encountered—retirement, which for me will occur at the end of this coming Thursday, 4/30/20, when I formally retire.
Central to this post are several audio and life related things that are about to happen to me simultaneously, or at least will become undeniably carved into my consciousness because of Thursday’s retirement deadline, a true transition point in my life that I started thinking about when I was 10 years old at my first audio show in SF with my hero and dad, who was actually one of the main stimuli for my lifelong devotion to audio, not just listening to music. It was also where the idea of My Bucket List System sprouted. It was also where I promised myself that I would have My Bucket List System by the time I retire, or said another way, Thursday.
The first of these upcoming merged factors was that day in SF at 10 years old when I truly discovered audio and the passion that those of us who have it derive from the hobby. The following three paragraphs are about the first of those life factors that helped shape the balance of my audio love affair and my life that happened to me at that audio show 60 years ago. It was right up there with going with Marty (WBF) to hear Jon Iverson’s Force Field, visiting Mike Lavigne and hearing his system for hours with the other two of the Three Amigos (Marty and Steve Williams) or sitting next to Arnie Nudell in a small room at the Jockey Club with Dave Wilson at his first CES in the early 80’s when Arnie and I heard for the first time what would become the next audio reference system for most for the next 40 years, the first WAMM,, clearly superior to Nudell's IRS's, permanently dethroning Nudell’s various IRS iterations, not to mention meeting David Wilson (who I talked to at length) after Nudell rudely left in the midst of a panic attack triggered by the undeniable end of the IRS reign.
As I have written elsewhere on WBF, the next four days is my last chance to fulfill my childhood dream and deep-seated desire formulated as a 10 year-old at a SF audio show with my dad and listening to a full Marantz system Amp, Preamp and straight tracking turntable all being demo'd by owner and chief designer of Marantz, Saul Marantz, through a JBL Paragon 2 channel speaker, that was audibly respectable and certainly so curious looking that I have quested for one as a piece of furniture that makes sound since that date. Luckily, I do not have room in my house to act on that dream!
Confused and clearly moved by the sound and the overall experience and realizing Saul Marantz was the same guy whose name was on all of the equipment I was newly lusting for, probably my first girlfriend. And then in walks Frank McIntosh whose McIntosh tube pre's, amps and tuners were so highly regarded. His room was across the hall and although I did not know much, I quickly realized that my dad and I just happened to be at the right place and the right time when these two reigning audio powerhouses came together with their mighty egos with an intensity that sparked my nascent desire for audio and the moment that I discovered that audio and passion are linked. Both Marantz and McIntosh commented to my dad that they could see the look in my eyes that proved I would be a lifelong audiophile, and boy they were spot on!
It was then that I started dreaming of my final ultimate audio system created from whatever would be state of the art at the time (BTW I thought that would happen when I was 50, but instead it is happening 2 weeks shy of my 71st birthday) when I would be actually building this system. I also realized this would be expensive because I knew the emotions linked to this idea already = a lot of money (my sense of what a lot of money means has also changed dramatical), and accepted that I had no interest in compromise as long as I could pay for it so that at the time of my retirement, I would own the system outright and could just enjoy it without having to write big monthly checks and constantly be looking for the next big audio thing, rather than listening.
Back to what was the first sentence of this post when I started writing late Friday/early Saturday although this post has become much more important (to me) than it began---I am retiring from my psych and addiction medicine practice on 4/30 and still have a lot to do and am somewhat anxious about my upcoming retirement because of both the positive and negative changes my retirement will have on my life going forward. Up until my formal decision to retire on 4/30/20, made at a dinner in early December, 2019 with my longest and closest friend and partner in audio explorations for more than 50 years, Marty from WBF and his wonderful wife Lisa, just before going to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones for the fourth time during the past 2 decades. At that point April 30 was 5 months away, an eternity or so I thought that night.
Back to Friday-- I made the "mistake" of sitting down to listen to my system at 10 AM for an hour or two Friday (2 days ago) and other than about 2 hours of calls on Friday, as I started writing this post, I was still sitting listening at 1:20 AM Saturday and nowhere ready to go to bed. During the lockdown, I have had more time to listen to music than I did during my way too busy crazy work days. I also received my SGM Extreme from Emile, and finally inserted the amazing MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable connected to a MSB Reference DAC for a sublime and totally believable sound, further enhanced by Center Stage 1.5 Footers (Steve again). Linked to my total VAC system, especially the Statement 450 amp, the sound is not just real good, it is totally enveloping and a great way to get out of my head – something I clearly needed last Friday.
The MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable is so good that inserted into s full MB loom of MB Ultra throughout my entire system, there was still a substantial, if not SEVERAL FOLD sound improvement, especially full spectrum spatial cues and incredibly sense of being totally believable. As I am writing this I am smiling thinking about an earlier comment in this post about the cost of the mental etc’s that are part of putting together a top notch system, because you know whatever they are, they are “must have's”. The true cost of a full loom of MasterBuilt’s Ultra line exemplifies this for me to a T!!!
Back to the original reason for this post, my thorough enjoyment of listening to my Almost Bucket List System. Granted my $225, 000 Ultra 9's should sound good for that amount of money and their truly deserved reputation as one of the best speakers available today regardless of price. Add to that the electronics and cabling driving them, but I keep forgetting that my greatest listening pleasure in my 60 years as an audiophile that is still occurring during this lockdown and pending retirement (very anxiety provoking because it means letting go of what has been my life for the past 45 years) is being wonderfully removed from my thinking by albeit a great multi $100K electronics and cabling system playing through a $9,000/pair of Von Schweikert/ Endeavor 3 Mk2's that are standing in for the Ultra 9's until Leif can get back to my house (NJ) to visit and to install a couple of replacement parts that an unexplainable mega voltage surge took out my Furman Pro 20IT (no easy task) and the 1000 watt plate amp for the 15" subwoofer and the 15" driver on one of my 9's.
One of the key points of this post is how good the Audio DNA of VSA is that one of their entry level speakers is doing just fine as a stand in until its big brother VSA Ultra 9 (costing 24 times as is much as the E3 Mk2’s) are back up and running. Given the same great carefully chosen electronics and cabling playing through Ultra 9's which makes it one of the best systems you may have ever heard, and clearly better than even the VSA, VAC, Audio Company, MB, Kronos, ETC multi "best of show" winner systems, because my system has many of the same components driving it, and in my opinion a few that are better, but most important is it is not in "show conditions", which makes an amazing difference. Said another way, if you have heard the VSA, VAC etc. Mega Show systems and loved them as most do, despite weird rooms and no time to settle in, I can state without hesitation, that once in your home and allowed to settle in and be tweeked as us audio propeller heads are want to do, you'll see that there are at least several levels of even better sound to be had in your home than what you may have heard if you go to shows.
Continued in next post due to length
If you are looking for the typical WBF post, you will probably not like this description of my latest attempts to merge my happiness with audio. But if, like me, audio is about personal joy and not just loving and listening to music, hopefully you will continue to read this and hopefully end up happier from some of the points within, especially if being enveloped by your system is important to you, as it definitely is for me..
There is no doubt that this post is stimulated by the merger of number of factors in the forefront of my current thinking as I sit home by myself during this lockdown and as I prepare for one of the most life changing events we all will or have already encountered—retirement, which for me will occur at the end of this coming Thursday, 4/30/20, when I formally retire.
Central to this post are several audio and life related things that are about to happen to me simultaneously, or at least will become undeniably carved into my consciousness because of Thursday’s retirement deadline, a true transition point in my life that I started thinking about when I was 10 years old at my first audio show in SF with my hero and dad, who was actually one of the main stimuli for my lifelong devotion to audio, not just listening to music. It was also where the idea of My Bucket List System sprouted. It was also where I promised myself that I would have My Bucket List System by the time I retire, or said another way, Thursday.
The first of these upcoming merged factors was that day in SF at 10 years old when I truly discovered audio and the passion that those of us who have it derive from the hobby. The following three paragraphs are about the first of those life factors that helped shape the balance of my audio love affair and my life that happened to me at that audio show 60 years ago. It was right up there with going with Marty (WBF) to hear Jon Iverson’s Force Field, visiting Mike Lavigne and hearing his system for hours with the other two of the Three Amigos (Marty and Steve Williams) or sitting next to Arnie Nudell in a small room at the Jockey Club with Dave Wilson at his first CES in the early 80’s when Arnie and I heard for the first time what would become the next audio reference system for most for the next 40 years, the first WAMM,, clearly superior to Nudell's IRS's, permanently dethroning Nudell’s various IRS iterations, not to mention meeting David Wilson (who I talked to at length) after Nudell rudely left in the midst of a panic attack triggered by the undeniable end of the IRS reign.
As I have written elsewhere on WBF, the next four days is my last chance to fulfill my childhood dream and deep-seated desire formulated as a 10 year-old at a SF audio show with my dad and listening to a full Marantz system Amp, Preamp and straight tracking turntable all being demo'd by owner and chief designer of Marantz, Saul Marantz, through a JBL Paragon 2 channel speaker, that was audibly respectable and certainly so curious looking that I have quested for one as a piece of furniture that makes sound since that date. Luckily, I do not have room in my house to act on that dream!
Confused and clearly moved by the sound and the overall experience and realizing Saul Marantz was the same guy whose name was on all of the equipment I was newly lusting for, probably my first girlfriend. And then in walks Frank McIntosh whose McIntosh tube pre's, amps and tuners were so highly regarded. His room was across the hall and although I did not know much, I quickly realized that my dad and I just happened to be at the right place and the right time when these two reigning audio powerhouses came together with their mighty egos with an intensity that sparked my nascent desire for audio and the moment that I discovered that audio and passion are linked. Both Marantz and McIntosh commented to my dad that they could see the look in my eyes that proved I would be a lifelong audiophile, and boy they were spot on!
It was then that I started dreaming of my final ultimate audio system created from whatever would be state of the art at the time (BTW I thought that would happen when I was 50, but instead it is happening 2 weeks shy of my 71st birthday) when I would be actually building this system. I also realized this would be expensive because I knew the emotions linked to this idea already = a lot of money (my sense of what a lot of money means has also changed dramatical), and accepted that I had no interest in compromise as long as I could pay for it so that at the time of my retirement, I would own the system outright and could just enjoy it without having to write big monthly checks and constantly be looking for the next big audio thing, rather than listening.
Back to what was the first sentence of this post when I started writing late Friday/early Saturday although this post has become much more important (to me) than it began---I am retiring from my psych and addiction medicine practice on 4/30 and still have a lot to do and am somewhat anxious about my upcoming retirement because of both the positive and negative changes my retirement will have on my life going forward. Up until my formal decision to retire on 4/30/20, made at a dinner in early December, 2019 with my longest and closest friend and partner in audio explorations for more than 50 years, Marty from WBF and his wonderful wife Lisa, just before going to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones for the fourth time during the past 2 decades. At that point April 30 was 5 months away, an eternity or so I thought that night.
Back to Friday-- I made the "mistake" of sitting down to listen to my system at 10 AM for an hour or two Friday (2 days ago) and other than about 2 hours of calls on Friday, as I started writing this post, I was still sitting listening at 1:20 AM Saturday and nowhere ready to go to bed. During the lockdown, I have had more time to listen to music than I did during my way too busy crazy work days. I also received my SGM Extreme from Emile, and finally inserted the amazing MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable connected to a MSB Reference DAC for a sublime and totally believable sound, further enhanced by Center Stage 1.5 Footers (Steve again). Linked to my total VAC system, especially the Statement 450 amp, the sound is not just real good, it is totally enveloping and a great way to get out of my head – something I clearly needed last Friday.
The MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable is so good that inserted into s full MB loom of MB Ultra throughout my entire system, there was still a substantial, if not SEVERAL FOLD sound improvement, especially full spectrum spatial cues and incredibly sense of being totally believable. As I am writing this I am smiling thinking about an earlier comment in this post about the cost of the mental etc’s that are part of putting together a top notch system, because you know whatever they are, they are “must have's”. The true cost of a full loom of MasterBuilt’s Ultra line exemplifies this for me to a T!!!
Back to the original reason for this post, my thorough enjoyment of listening to my Almost Bucket List System. Granted my $225, 000 Ultra 9's should sound good for that amount of money and their truly deserved reputation as one of the best speakers available today regardless of price. Add to that the electronics and cabling driving them, but I keep forgetting that my greatest listening pleasure in my 60 years as an audiophile that is still occurring during this lockdown and pending retirement (very anxiety provoking because it means letting go of what has been my life for the past 45 years) is being wonderfully removed from my thinking by albeit a great multi $100K electronics and cabling system playing through a $9,000/pair of Von Schweikert/ Endeavor 3 Mk2's that are standing in for the Ultra 9's until Leif can get back to my house (NJ) to visit and to install a couple of replacement parts that an unexplainable mega voltage surge took out my Furman Pro 20IT (no easy task) and the 1000 watt plate amp for the 15" subwoofer and the 15" driver on one of my 9's.
One of the key points of this post is how good the Audio DNA of VSA is that one of their entry level speakers is doing just fine as a stand in until its big brother VSA Ultra 9 (costing 24 times as is much as the E3 Mk2’s) are back up and running. Given the same great carefully chosen electronics and cabling playing through Ultra 9's which makes it one of the best systems you may have ever heard, and clearly better than even the VSA, VAC, Audio Company, MB, Kronos, ETC multi "best of show" winner systems, because my system has many of the same components driving it, and in my opinion a few that are better, but most important is it is not in "show conditions", which makes an amazing difference. Said another way, if you have heard the VSA, VAC etc. Mega Show systems and loved them as most do, despite weird rooms and no time to settle in, I can state without hesitation, that once in your home and allowed to settle in and be tweeked as us audio propeller heads are want to do, you'll see that there are at least several levels of even better sound to be had in your home than what you may have heard if you go to shows.
Continued in next post due to length
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