After hearing Ron's system for several hours, all on my own source material, I feel he's around 75% of the way there. The system is big, and grand sounding and the room wasn't too quiet for my taste despite a rather good amount of treatment. Images didn't have the 8' tall problem that some panels do which surprised me. Vocals definitely sound very pure, and very 3d in his well thought out room. There is so much potential of this system, and knowing Ron's tastes (big, scale, and vocals to die for), he's certainly on a successful path!
While there is a lot of woofage here with the active bass towers, getting the bass to match the panels isn't there yet, and I found myself continuously reducing the output level over the session. There is a very large node at 50-60hz (I'm guessing +10db) that was distracting on electronica and I believe since my visit he's tried to ameliorate this with room treatment devices. I really think the best "upgrade" for Ron is a visit from Gary Kuo who will spend the time to configure the complicated system better (in the room itself as well as the crossover settings) and get the bass towers as close to the panels as possible. Gary also owns the BG ribbon IP iirc so intimately knows the main panel. This would cost less than a fancy cable, so it should be the first priority.
I listened to mainly digital, with a bit of tape thrown in later in the session. Tape, naturally of course, was much better. I suggested some different tubes in the Lampi as the RCAs he's using sound soft on top and aren't articulate in the bass. They are smearing piano arpeggios as well. A more objective tube like a Sylvania will be beneficial. I also feel that Ron's ultimate amps are different - the VTL is more of a hifi tube sound that combined with the BG panel, loses some of the rich harmonics, nuance, and decay that is possible. Some of that "suspension of disbelief" that Ron enjoyed when I had Jadis tubes (or even FirstWatt SIT) in my system isn't there. But candidly, I don't know how much power these speakers really require so cracking a few eggs may be necessary. I've suggested a Jadis 100 watt tube amp to start with, and if that doesn't work no SET or anything similar is even an option.
To conclude, Ron has made a lot of progress over the past few months and I look forward to hearing the system in another 6 months after he further optimizes it (and introduces a high end analog rig) - it's a SOTA system so the bar is very high, but i have utmost confidence that it matches Ron's sonic preferences very well and he will enjoy it for years to come. Cheers
