PART ONE:
I recently returned from taking my daughter to Los Angeles to visit a college. I stayed a couple of extra days to spend some time with Ron Resnick, KeithR, and Jeffrey_t. I had met Ron and Jeff before when each of them visited me in Boston. I met Keith for the first time. The four of us have been exchanging emails about audio generally, and analog specifically, for some time now. I am glad to have gotten to know them a little bit better.
The two days started with meeting Ron for a nice breakfast in Beverly Hills and then a tour of his house up in the hills. His thread describing his listening room in no way hints at how extensive this house renovation project really is. I think every surface, both interior and exterior, is being redone, including the kitchen, some bathrooms, and the listening room. Aside from the initial retaining wall rebuild there are not many structural changes, but all walls, floors and ceilings seem to be completely resurfaced.
The listening room, off of the kitchen, is as it appears from the photographs in Ron's thread. (see link: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...able-power-and-room-treatment-upgrades.17901/) It is a nice, large, and dedicated room. The back wall is 90% glass. There are two large openings to either side at the back of the room, one to the kitchen, and one to his equipment room and home theater/office area. The back of the room with these openings and glass may cause some acoustic issues, so Ron is planning to incorporate an acoustic fabric curtain covering the rear wall and back third of each side.
I practiced architecture years ago and touring this house during the construction phase and discussing the design was a real treat for me. Thanks Ron. Your house will be spectacular when it is completed, and I think you will have a very nice listening room. I promise to revisit you to hear your system all set up and playing music again one day.
After the tour, Ron drove me to meet Keith and hear his system. I brought some LPs and looked forward to meeting the guy who started a most interesting thread on WBF about his ongoing search for a new pair of speakers. (See link: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/keithrs-dream-speaker-search.27069/) Keith has a great view of the ocean from his balcony. We met late in the morning and strolled to a nearby restaurant for lunch. When we returned, Keith played some LPs, first his and then mine. After I got a general sense of the sound of his system, we switched to digital. Ron has spoken very highly of Keith’s MSB DAC and how it lacked any sense of “digititis”. He is completely right. There was no brightness, hardness or thinness to the sound at all. Keith’s system was extremely engaging yet relaxing. I rarely thought about the sound of the system and instead just basked in the music which filled the room with an effortless, natural sound.
Keith’s system has a beautiful sense of flow and enveloping sound. There was a similar character from the DD Brinkmann Bardo and the MSB digital. Each had good resolution and a neutral tonal balance. The system had good dynamics and wonderful presence. The speakers disappeared in the room. The only problem I heard is a frequency suck out in the upper bass, so the low frequencies are not continuous. This gap accentuates the lowest bass and it sounded slightly boomy. Keith seems to think it may be both room and speaker related. Each speaker has two side firing woofers on opposite sides. The left front half of the room is open while the right front half is a glass wall. I suspect this asymmetry has much to do with this uneven bass. There was definitely more energy coming from the right corner of the room.
Keith is planning to move and the new home will have a better listening room. Keith is also listening to a lot of different speakers as one can read in his speaker search thread. I really enjoyed the afternoon with Keith, discussing music, listening to his wonderful system, and enjoying digital. It is the kind of system that makes one feel comfortable and relaxed. There is no fatigue and enough resolution to clearly hear differences between recordings. I could have sat there much longer, watching the sailboats go by, the setting sun, and sharing time with such a knowledgeable and passionate music lover. It was a delightful visit.
Later that evening, Ron invited me out to dinner and to meet his wife Tinka. Ron tells me that Tinka has joined him on many of his audio trips and has met quite a few aging audiophiles and manufacturers, but I assumed she did not want to spend the evening discussing her husband’s audio passion. Fortunately for her, the primary reason for my visit was not audio but rather to show my seventeen year old daughter the leading fashion school in LA called FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing. Tinka is a recent graduate of FIDM so we had much to discuss and became quick friends. She is very charming, intelligent, and a delight to be around. We had a wonderful and memorable evening.
I recently returned from taking my daughter to Los Angeles to visit a college. I stayed a couple of extra days to spend some time with Ron Resnick, KeithR, and Jeffrey_t. I had met Ron and Jeff before when each of them visited me in Boston. I met Keith for the first time. The four of us have been exchanging emails about audio generally, and analog specifically, for some time now. I am glad to have gotten to know them a little bit better.
The two days started with meeting Ron for a nice breakfast in Beverly Hills and then a tour of his house up in the hills. His thread describing his listening room in no way hints at how extensive this house renovation project really is. I think every surface, both interior and exterior, is being redone, including the kitchen, some bathrooms, and the listening room. Aside from the initial retaining wall rebuild there are not many structural changes, but all walls, floors and ceilings seem to be completely resurfaced.
The listening room, off of the kitchen, is as it appears from the photographs in Ron's thread. (see link: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...able-power-and-room-treatment-upgrades.17901/) It is a nice, large, and dedicated room. The back wall is 90% glass. There are two large openings to either side at the back of the room, one to the kitchen, and one to his equipment room and home theater/office area. The back of the room with these openings and glass may cause some acoustic issues, so Ron is planning to incorporate an acoustic fabric curtain covering the rear wall and back third of each side.
I practiced architecture years ago and touring this house during the construction phase and discussing the design was a real treat for me. Thanks Ron. Your house will be spectacular when it is completed, and I think you will have a very nice listening room. I promise to revisit you to hear your system all set up and playing music again one day.
After the tour, Ron drove me to meet Keith and hear his system. I brought some LPs and looked forward to meeting the guy who started a most interesting thread on WBF about his ongoing search for a new pair of speakers. (See link: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/keithrs-dream-speaker-search.27069/) Keith has a great view of the ocean from his balcony. We met late in the morning and strolled to a nearby restaurant for lunch. When we returned, Keith played some LPs, first his and then mine. After I got a general sense of the sound of his system, we switched to digital. Ron has spoken very highly of Keith’s MSB DAC and how it lacked any sense of “digititis”. He is completely right. There was no brightness, hardness or thinness to the sound at all. Keith’s system was extremely engaging yet relaxing. I rarely thought about the sound of the system and instead just basked in the music which filled the room with an effortless, natural sound.
Keith’s system has a beautiful sense of flow and enveloping sound. There was a similar character from the DD Brinkmann Bardo and the MSB digital. Each had good resolution and a neutral tonal balance. The system had good dynamics and wonderful presence. The speakers disappeared in the room. The only problem I heard is a frequency suck out in the upper bass, so the low frequencies are not continuous. This gap accentuates the lowest bass and it sounded slightly boomy. Keith seems to think it may be both room and speaker related. Each speaker has two side firing woofers on opposite sides. The left front half of the room is open while the right front half is a glass wall. I suspect this asymmetry has much to do with this uneven bass. There was definitely more energy coming from the right corner of the room.
Keith is planning to move and the new home will have a better listening room. Keith is also listening to a lot of different speakers as one can read in his speaker search thread. I really enjoyed the afternoon with Keith, discussing music, listening to his wonderful system, and enjoying digital. It is the kind of system that makes one feel comfortable and relaxed. There is no fatigue and enough resolution to clearly hear differences between recordings. I could have sat there much longer, watching the sailboats go by, the setting sun, and sharing time with such a knowledgeable and passionate music lover. It was a delightful visit.
Later that evening, Ron invited me out to dinner and to meet his wife Tinka. Ron tells me that Tinka has joined him on many of his audio trips and has met quite a few aging audiophiles and manufacturers, but I assumed she did not want to spend the evening discussing her husband’s audio passion. Fortunately for her, the primary reason for my visit was not audio but rather to show my seventeen year old daughter the leading fashion school in LA called FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing. Tinka is a recent graduate of FIDM so we had much to discuss and became quick friends. She is very charming, intelligent, and a delight to be around. We had a wonderful and memorable evening.
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