Visit to Marc C.'s (SpiritOfMusic's) House in England
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
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Tang, my aim on a visit is to get to know the owner, why he settled on his system and sound, get to know some of his music.
Then take in his overall experience. I mean if he wants to swap out stuff, fine. But if that interrupts the flow, maybe not.
Swaps and ABs to somehow gain data points is not me.
So I'm hoping Bill DOESN'T have 3 carts on 3 arms, multiple tubes options, cables piled up ready to be plugged in and out.
A recent demo I went to was tbh scuppered by constant ins and outs of gear. I so wanted to absorb an experience, which didn't quite happen.
If Bill can take me thru a spectrum of good to great to stellar, plus my music as a counterpoint, I'll be v happy.
Then take in his overall experience. I mean if he wants to swap out stuff, fine. But if that interrupts the flow, maybe not.
Swaps and ABs to somehow gain data points is not me.
So I'm hoping Bill DOESN'T have 3 carts on 3 arms, multiple tubes options, cables piled up ready to be plugged in and out.
A recent demo I went to was tbh scuppered by constant ins and outs of gear. I so wanted to absorb an experience, which didn't quite happen.
If Bill can take me thru a spectrum of good to great to stellar, plus my music as a counterpoint, I'll be v happy.
Start a new thread; I’d be happy to contribute my nominees!
For me a “bad recording” typically is a multi-track rock/pop recording from the 1980s: a tangled mush of instrument sounds which cannot be separated; thin, reedy, bleached vocals; actual musical instruments which do not sound like the instruments they purport to be; overall bright/fatiguing/irritating/unnatural/thin frequency balance devoid of natural mid-bass or natural mid-range sounds.
Example: Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell.
So Ron, on your soon to be installed AS2000/VTLs/Pendragons, do you expect this lp to be unlistenable? Do you expect every negative characteristic to be revealed ruthlessly? Indeed, do you expect it to be so stark, you'll end up despising it?
Unlistenable? Where above did I say “bad recording = unlistenable”? Why do you jump from measured statement to exaggeration or over-generalization?
Sadly I consider many if not most of my favorite rock/pop recordings to be bad or poor recordings.
Bat Out of Hell is one of my very favorite AOR albums. I have listened to it many scores of times.
I would prefer listening to it if it were well-recorded.
To answer your question I hope the hatched new system makes bad recordings sound as good as they can sound.
For me personally “ruthlessly revealing” would require AS-2000 and original SAT tonearm and Lyra Atlas and Soulution electronics driving Magico Q7.
Don't hold back Ron. What cables would you through into that system? And don't forget a clean sounding room like MikeL's.
I always thought a "revealing" system was a good thing. Somehow "ruthlessly revealing" seems to be not a good thing. What is wrong with the term "ruthless"? What if someone describes a system as "ruthlessly natural or musical"?
I've personally never auditioned speakers thinking of bad recordings. Although apparently the high end MSB dacs make those processed 80s albums much more listenable.
I'd venture Zu doesn't make them more listenable than others - rather that its strengths are on rock music (electric guitars specifically) vs. classical.
I'd venture Zu doesn't make them more listenable than others - rather that its strengths are on rock music (electric guitars specifically) vs. classical.
Ron, I'm just running w one train of thought that says the more open window a system, the more that crap is revealed as crap.
That's not my mindset, FWIW.
The Elton John and U2 we listened to is pretty lo fi in the grand scheme of things, some high end systems would crucify on playback.
Not the Zus.
That's not my mindset, FWIW.
The Elton John and U2 we listened to is pretty lo fi in the grand scheme of things, some high end systems would crucify on playback.
Not the Zus.
Now THAT's how to approach things, and how I personally view this whole hobby. The pursuit of making our recordings, any one, good or bad, sound as good as they possibly can.
Funny, I have excellent recordings of both Elton John and U2. May have to put on Joshua Tree when I get home just for you
Keith, more relevant than that, take some good and average recordings to yr Animas demo, and report back.
I am very curious to learn what Keith thinks of the Animas.
Several of our members, including me, have such wildly different impressions of the Animas in Munich that I’m tempted to throw out (for me personally in my own mind) all of those data points (including my negative impression) and go only by Anima home systems such as Mani’s.
(Except I know I loved the Avatons last year in Munich!)
Well Ron, if you remember the Liszts demo we went to, the Animas at Mani are a little more forward and immediate. I personally think they'd benefit from SETs and good analog, despite Mani finding most triodes don't work as well as his SS First Watts. Despite them being v immediate, overly warm tubes are not called for, fast and precise SETs might work best. But that's just my taste. Mani has for good reason settled on his SS.
All in all, the Animas work in many different levels across many genres.
All in all, the Animas work in many different levels across many genres.
... I always thought a "revealing" system was a good thing. Somehow "ruthlessly revealing" seems to be not a good thing. What is wrong with the term "ruthless"? What if someone describes a system as "ruthlessly natural or musical"?
If someone described a system as "ruthlessly musical" I'd gauge them ruthlessly clumsy in the art of description.
So often a better system will make a bad recording sound worse as it ruthlessly lays bare the fully glory of its badness.
Which neither of you two are... I’d go as far as saying both clearly write in delightfully considered ways.
Ruthless musicality... unsure... the minimalists perhaps at a stretch.
Indeed music without any ruth is a bit like a fish without a bicycle.
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Bad recording sounds worse or not I don't know. But I certainly can hear what was going on on the record. For example when I listen Billy Idol sings Eye Without a Face I hear it as if he was singing to a mic in an empty room. And hear each individual instrument as if they were recorded in different time then cut and pasted into a song. Sound effects too. You hear it and you know it was "manufactured." Patch work. May be some people call this ruthlessly revealing.
Tang
Yes, with a fair amount of rock - at least those I've heard - it is not infrequent to hear the singer in a booth - the venue context or its absence is different for different singers and instruments. And then you get a nice duet, their heads so close together - each in his/her own booth. Try the Simon/Ronstadt duet on Graceland.
But the good thing I find from my 80's Brit pop rock techno records is they are very transparent, no veil.
