First thing I will apologize as my writings are crude as compared to others here, but I will do my best. 
I just spent a week or so in Seattle to facilitate our relocation to the area, and managed to squeeze in a couple visits while in town.
Visit one was to spend some time with Gary at Genesis Audio. I am here to tell you that Gary has some of the harshest working conditions I have ever witnessed! Poor bugger has to sit there and design/assemble/pack and ship product while listening/breaking in his monolith speakers, TWO weeks at a time per pair! I think I need to call the Union.
I met Gary briefly at THE Show and got a glimpse of what goes on inside his mind. It was a pleasure to spend some time expanding on the knowledge that lies with in.
Gary is a gracious host with a plethora of knowledge of not only of electronics and design, but also, and to the most important, MUSIC!
Gary knows more about music and recording techniques/producers/engineers than anybody I have ever met.
There was one track that I expressed that I really like how the drum kit sounded, specifically the kick drum. He listened for about .00001 seconds and said, what I was hearing was that they had the mic on the back side of the kick instead of in front. This is the album, the song Old Hymn.
http://www.discogs.com/Charlie-Byrd-Direct-Disc-Recording/release/1266615
Mediocre music at best but the drum solo in the middle is very dynamic and really love the sound of the kit. As it is a Direct to Disc one take recording it is really a live performance and very refined raw recording, the drums sound like they are in the room with you. You can hear every nuance of the kit.
I had a stop on the way to Gary's and found a record store near by, stopped in and picked up some black licorice to spin when I got there.
One of them was Axis Bold as Love supposedly Hendrix family approved remix on 180g vinyl. Put it on and it was unlistenable after about 2 minutes, terrible remix, will be looking for an original pressing. The other was Etta James live LP that I thing was more or less a dug up reconstituted forgotten about basement tape on really old not well taken care of tape.
Any how on to the music Session, Gary was breaking in a set of 2.2's that had been upgraded to being 2.3's ad fortunatley for me being a bass adict he had a second pair of bass towers hooked up for breaking in, can you imagine the struggle I endured. Actually he notched them down 6db as there was to much bass.
I grabbed a chair a sat down to listen and was promptley told i was sitting to close and needed to move back about 8 feet, he was right.
The amazing thing about these speakers is we were listening in a big warehouse with the back roll up open, jets taking off from SeaTac and no sound treatments and this system sounded amazing. The 2.3's presurized that much open space with out the slightest bit of effort.
Let me clairify I am a music lover before an equipment lover and while I LOVE to just sit and listen, I also like to get stuff done while I listen. The 2.3's have a very uniform sound as you walk arond the room, something my Maggies suck at in a big way.
I am not big on all the Audiophile terminology that is used but I will say this, all the musicians were where they belonged on the soundstage, they all sounded like they were suposed to convincingly so, on a large scale. I was fully engaged.
So i looked at my watch and 4 hours had gone by with a blink, Gary had actual business to attend to so i started my exit and as we were walking up front i noticed a pair of 7 series speakers in a smaller room and set down for a short listen, HOLY COW these things ar amazing, no compromize in quality because it is a lesser model. They definetily can hold their own against speakers costing much more.
At this point I was invited to the PNAS meeting for the month, more on that in the last section.
Gary and his sister are geniune people and was treated like family, i learned so much about the music industry on an international level from behind the scenes, i feel like i went on a school field trip. All of this while listening to fantastic music.
Thank you Gary for a most enjoyable afternoon.
Stop Two
Mike Lavignes magnificent home. I dont really know how to describe Mikes place other than that. Truly one of the most beautiful properties on the planet hands down, If we just sat outside and puffed a Liga Privada T52 along with the bottle of WhistlePig Rye he has and never listened to a note it would have qualifed as a WhatsBest day, simply stunning.
Speaking of stunning, Mikes listening room is just that on a multitude of levels, from the equipment, to the craftmanship of the room to the mind blowing vinyl/tape/digital collection.
When I visit other peoples listening rooms I like to let the MC make the music choices as they know the system best. This way I get to hear the system shine and also get to learn about new music. So we sat down with a little WhistlePig neat and Mike did this for awhile and I did learn of some new music but then he turned the tables on me and forced me to make selections.
One album that I like is Living Stereo Tchaikovsky Pathetique Boston Symphony Pierre Monteux conducting,
http://www.discogs.com/Tchaikovsky-...e-Monteux-Pathétique-Symphony/release/2838921
I have witnessed some of the passages on this scramble quite a few cartridges in the past (one time embarrasingly so at THE Show), not so with the MC Anna, didnt even think about it. Not to mention his copy of it is dead quiet. Most impressed with that cartridge on many levels.
The new Dean Martin album in 45Rpm, he was there, even with my eyes open, he was there with his smoke and drink in his hand. That is a must own for everybody, even if you dont like his music.
My favorite Zep tune, In My Time of Dying, 45 RPM vinyl left me with my lower jaw unhinged!
On to the system itself, once again, stunning both visually and audibly. I have always been a solid state guy and this is no exception.
As I said earlier I am not big on the Jargon, but as before everything and everybody in their places sounding like they were there. The definition, clairity and punch the system delivers is mind bending. That is one cohesive system on every plane. The systems dynamics are off the chart.
The Evolution Acoustics speakers and the Dartzeel equipment is gorgeous to just sit and look at quietly.
At one point one of Mikes friends stopped by and he has the same system. He brought with him his two young adult children and I got a kick out of them. The boy jumped in and started pulling vinyl to spin and the girl just sat in the back of the room and shook her head slowly at us.
Mikes vinyl library is the most impressive stack of plastic I have ever witnessed, there are no standard copies of anything, unless thats the only way it comes, and then its an original pressing. An amazing collection, bar none!
We wound down the afternoon with Comfortably Numb and Riders On The Storm on R2R as the subject of the Tres Amigos adventure came up, and yet another 4 hours had gone by without a blink.
Mike had discussed that he was, on the following day going to make some changes in the bass department to deal with a suck out at about 30Hz. I will have to go back out on a nice day with the T52, enjoy the view for a bit then go ahead and verify the bass situation.
Mike and I have very similar music tastes and we work in the same industry so good conversation was not hard to come by. Another gracious host, I was instantley comfortable at his home.
I do think that verifying the bass suck out might take all day though, just to be sure!
Thank you for making my day, much appreciated.
Stop Three
Pacific Northwest Audio Society
Gary invited me to the meeting when i was at his place so i went. THIS is the way audio society meetings should be. You may recall my rant on another thread about recent bad experiances with my local club in CA.
Every one at this meeting introduced themselves to me, guys had their wives there, BBQ food, liquid nitrogen made ice cream and keg root beer floats. Music was being played, you are encouraged to bring your own music to spin. There were beverages of all strengths there.
You could say there was Wine, Women and Song there! Because there was.
There was people there that are well interwoven into the industry with absolutley no pretentiontiousness at all.
Had a nice conversation with Mr Brown of HD Tracks, had to let him know he has been in my wallet on to many occasions. I am going to try to get out to his place this week, but probably next visit.
What a great group of music nerds, even a chef making root beer floats.
My vision of a audio society!
Gary maybe you can put the names to the faces, to much for me to remember.
So to wrap up i had three great experiances in the great Pacific Northwest, met some fantastic people and had some good food. and got to hear some breathtaking music.
Pictures to follow
I just spent a week or so in Seattle to facilitate our relocation to the area, and managed to squeeze in a couple visits while in town.
Visit one was to spend some time with Gary at Genesis Audio. I am here to tell you that Gary has some of the harshest working conditions I have ever witnessed! Poor bugger has to sit there and design/assemble/pack and ship product while listening/breaking in his monolith speakers, TWO weeks at a time per pair! I think I need to call the Union.
I met Gary briefly at THE Show and got a glimpse of what goes on inside his mind.
It was a pleasure to spend some time expanding on the knowledge that lies with in. Gary is a gracious host with a plethora of knowledge of not only of electronics and design, but also, and to the most important, MUSIC!
Gary knows more about music and recording techniques/producers/engineers than anybody I have ever met.
There was one track that I expressed that I really like how the drum kit sounded, specifically the kick drum. He listened for about .00001 seconds and said, what I was hearing was that they had the mic on the back side of the kick instead of in front. This is the album, the song Old Hymn.
http://www.discogs.com/Charlie-Byrd-Direct-Disc-Recording/release/1266615
Mediocre music at best but the drum solo in the middle is very dynamic and really love the sound of the kit. As it is a Direct to Disc one take recording it is really a live performance and very refined raw recording, the drums sound like they are in the room with you. You can hear every nuance of the kit.
I had a stop on the way to Gary's and found a record store near by, stopped in and picked up some black licorice to spin when I got there.
One of them was Axis Bold as Love supposedly Hendrix family approved remix on 180g vinyl. Put it on and it was unlistenable after about 2 minutes, terrible remix, will be looking for an original pressing. The other was Etta James live LP that I thing was more or less a dug up reconstituted forgotten about basement tape on really old not well taken care of tape.
Any how on to the music Session, Gary was breaking in a set of 2.2's that had been upgraded to being 2.3's ad fortunatley for me being a bass adict he had a second pair of bass towers hooked up for breaking in, can you imagine the struggle I endured. Actually he notched them down 6db as there was to much bass.
I grabbed a chair a sat down to listen and was promptley told i was sitting to close and needed to move back about 8 feet, he was right.
The amazing thing about these speakers is we were listening in a big warehouse with the back roll up open, jets taking off from SeaTac and no sound treatments and this system sounded amazing. The 2.3's presurized that much open space with out the slightest bit of effort.
Let me clairify I am a music lover before an equipment lover and while I LOVE to just sit and listen, I also like to get stuff done while I listen. The 2.3's have a very uniform sound as you walk arond the room, something my Maggies suck at in a big way.
I am not big on all the Audiophile terminology that is used but I will say this, all the musicians were where they belonged on the soundstage, they all sounded like they were suposed to convincingly so, on a large scale. I was fully engaged.
So i looked at my watch and 4 hours had gone by with a blink, Gary had actual business to attend to so i started my exit and as we were walking up front i noticed a pair of 7 series speakers in a smaller room and set down for a short listen, HOLY COW these things ar amazing, no compromize in quality because it is a lesser model. They definetily can hold their own against speakers costing much more.
At this point I was invited to the PNAS meeting for the month, more on that in the last section.
Gary and his sister are geniune people and was treated like family, i learned so much about the music industry on an international level from behind the scenes, i feel like i went on a school field trip. All of this while listening to fantastic music.
Thank you Gary for a most enjoyable afternoon.
Stop Two
Mike Lavignes magnificent home. I dont really know how to describe Mikes place other than that. Truly one of the most beautiful properties on the planet hands down, If we just sat outside and puffed a Liga Privada T52 along with the bottle of WhistlePig Rye he has and never listened to a note it would have qualifed as a WhatsBest day, simply stunning.
Speaking of stunning, Mikes listening room is just that on a multitude of levels, from the equipment, to the craftmanship of the room to the mind blowing vinyl/tape/digital collection.
When I visit other peoples listening rooms I like to let the MC make the music choices as they know the system best. This way I get to hear the system shine and also get to learn about new music. So we sat down with a little WhistlePig neat and Mike did this for awhile and I did learn of some new music but then he turned the tables on me and forced me to make selections.
One album that I like is Living Stereo Tchaikovsky Pathetique Boston Symphony Pierre Monteux conducting,
http://www.discogs.com/Tchaikovsky-...e-Monteux-Pathétique-Symphony/release/2838921
I have witnessed some of the passages on this scramble quite a few cartridges in the past (one time embarrasingly so at THE Show), not so with the MC Anna, didnt even think about it. Not to mention his copy of it is dead quiet. Most impressed with that cartridge on many levels.
The new Dean Martin album in 45Rpm, he was there, even with my eyes open, he was there with his smoke and drink in his hand. That is a must own for everybody, even if you dont like his music.
My favorite Zep tune, In My Time of Dying, 45 RPM vinyl left me with my lower jaw unhinged!
On to the system itself, once again, stunning both visually and audibly. I have always been a solid state guy and this is no exception.
As I said earlier I am not big on the Jargon, but as before everything and everybody in their places sounding like they were there. The definition, clairity and punch the system delivers is mind bending. That is one cohesive system on every plane. The systems dynamics are off the chart.
The Evolution Acoustics speakers and the Dartzeel equipment is gorgeous to just sit and look at quietly.
At one point one of Mikes friends stopped by and he has the same system. He brought with him his two young adult children and I got a kick out of them. The boy jumped in and started pulling vinyl to spin and the girl just sat in the back of the room and shook her head slowly at us.
Mikes vinyl library is the most impressive stack of plastic I have ever witnessed, there are no standard copies of anything, unless thats the only way it comes, and then its an original pressing. An amazing collection, bar none!
We wound down the afternoon with Comfortably Numb and Riders On The Storm on R2R as the subject of the Tres Amigos adventure came up, and yet another 4 hours had gone by without a blink.
Mike had discussed that he was, on the following day going to make some changes in the bass department to deal with a suck out at about 30Hz. I will have to go back out on a nice day with the T52, enjoy the view for a bit then go ahead and verify the bass situation.
Mike and I have very similar music tastes and we work in the same industry so good conversation was not hard to come by. Another gracious host, I was instantley comfortable at his home.
I do think that verifying the bass suck out might take all day though, just to be sure!
Thank you for making my day, much appreciated.
Stop Three
Pacific Northwest Audio Society
Gary invited me to the meeting when i was at his place so i went. THIS is the way audio society meetings should be. You may recall my rant on another thread about recent bad experiances with my local club in CA.
Every one at this meeting introduced themselves to me, guys had their wives there, BBQ food, liquid nitrogen made ice cream and keg root beer floats. Music was being played, you are encouraged to bring your own music to spin. There were beverages of all strengths there.
You could say there was Wine, Women and Song there!
Because there was.There was people there that are well interwoven into the industry with absolutley no pretentiontiousness at all.
Had a nice conversation with Mr Brown of HD Tracks, had to let him know he has been in my wallet on to many occasions. I am going to try to get out to his place this week, but probably next visit.
What a great group of music nerds, even a chef making root beer floats.
My vision of a audio society!
Gary maybe you can put the names to the faces, to much for me to remember.
So to wrap up i had three great experiances in the great Pacific Northwest, met some fantastic people and had some good food. and got to hear some breathtaking music.
Pictures to follow
