What's the best sounding system(s) you have ever heard that are not your own.

RBFC said:
1. Apogee Grands with Krell Master Reference amplification chain at Chicago CES many years ago. I sat and talked with Jason Bloom for over an hour, discussing our favorites music selections, etc.

2. Martin-Logan Statements at CES, can't remember the rest!


Lee
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Probably with an all Krell system too.
 
DaveyF said:
One system that sticks in my head, is one I heard years ago featuring stacked original Quads. The TT was a Goldmund Reference and the cartridge was a Kiseki Lapis Lazuli along with all ARC gear. I think a SP10Mk2 preamp and a ARC D250Mk2 servo. The rendition of the midrange was magical.

Another system was a system utilizing the original B&W Nautilus speakers, in a large room with ancillary gear that I don't remember. This system had a purity of sound that was simply spectacular.
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I could die a happy man with that first system. Throw a few Decca Ribbon tweeters into the mix (still got mine) and some big-assed woofers, and 'Bob's your Uncle,' as they say over in Merry Old Englande.
 
whart said:
I could die a happy man with that first system. Throw a few Decca Ribbon tweeters into the mix (still got mine) and some big-assed woofers, and 'Bob's your Uncle,' as they say over in Merry Old Englande.
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I would be willing to bet that that system would be competitive with just about anything today.
 
I know three guys with the Levinson Quad stack. One of them is our own Mullard88. He hasn't set them up yet but I'm waiting for the day :) Raffy O and Tony D are the other two. I've heard Raffy's and yes they are very, very nice to listen to.
 
Hello all. Personally, I haven't heard it yet. I'm talking about the best sounding system(s) I have heard. There are many above mine and I'll be the first to admit it. That said, the "best" one has heard depends much on what one is looking for with regards to reproduction and so far IME there have been what I would consider "different flavors". Each with their own attributes and deficiencies. Each are recording/genre/tone/timing/phase......and I could go on, "dependent".

Until then? I keep listening and exploring the music along the way whilst enjoying my own personal audio journey.

Tom
 
jadis said:
Lloydelee,

Yes, it comes with its own electronic crossover and it needs another power amp for the sub. The 600/6000 system, on the whole, can sound 'veiled' by today's standards. If I recall that tandem, I couldn't fault the sub. It was seamless and it did not get in the way of calling attention to itself. And which was why the 6000 was highly praised when it was paired with the MLogan CLS in the pages on TAS. It's a nice piece of sub, but I think it does not have the air and volume of today's best, say the JL Gothams.
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It would be a lot of fun for (relatively) not much money to assemble a great system only from older gear...Quads, Celestions, Apogees, Krell FPB or MRA...and see how far it could go in comparison to today's SOTA...
 
lloydelee21 said:
It would be a lot of fun for (relatively) not much money to assemble a great system only from older gear...Quads, Celestions, Apogees, Krell FPB or MRA...and see how far it could go in comparison to today's SOTA...
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I second that. For example, how will a NOS Celestion 600Si or 700 sound when driven by ARC Ref 250 or CJ's latest monoblocks? And btw, talking about Quads, I heard the best Quad based system on a Crosby modified Quad ESL 63 in the early 90s. It won't play loud, but the sound of RR's Tafelmusik was so sweet and refined like I never heard it before. Electronics were Spectrals all the way. That was in Sound Chamber HK.
 
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"What's the best sounding system(s) you have ever heard that are not your own."

None. That's why I had to go out and invent my own. I got sick and tired of listening to what other people thought sounded like music. Not only do I have something I built to my own satisfaction, I have the additional satisfaction of knowing I have something nobody else can build or own. In a world where it seems money can buy anything, it's pleasing to know there's at least one thing I own that doesn't fit that mold.
 
jadis said:
i

I second that. For example, how will a NOS Celestion 600Si or 700 sound when driven by ARC Ref 250 or CJ's latest monoblocks? And btw, talking about Quads, I heard the best Quad based system on a Crosby modified Quad ESL 63 in the early 90s. I won't play loud, but the sound of RR's Tafelmusik was so sweet and refined like I never heard it before. Electronics were Spectrals all the way. That was in Sound Chamber HK.
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Ahhh...i have never been to Sound Chamber in HK...i have heard great things about them. Yes, i do think Celestion SL600si or 700SE would sound amazing with today's latest electronics.
 
It was either RMAF 2004 or 2005 when I discovered Magico. Never heard Magico sound as good since, and I can still remember how I felt - I was startled by the most beautiful sound in the world.
If I am sounding overly dramatic, sorry:), but it was a memorable experience.

The other was the Audio Note system the Capital Audio Fest, 2012. Dave spinning Anne Bisson's "September in Montreal". I wanted to take the entire system home with me!
 
Terry E. said:
It was either RMAF 2004 or 2005 when I discovered Magico. Never heard Magico sound as good since, and I can still remember how I felt - I was startled by the most beautiful sound in the world.
If I am sounding overly dramatic, sorry:), but it was a memorable experience.

The other was the Audio Note system the Capital Audio Fest, 2012. Dave spinning Anne Bisson's "September in Montreal". I wanted to take the entire system home with me!
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Welcome aboard Terry!
 
Terry E. said:
It was either RMAF 2004 or 2005 when I discovered Magico. Never heard Magico sound as good since, and I can still remember how I felt - I was startled by the most beautiful sound in the world.
If I am sounding overly dramatic, sorry:), but it was a memorable experience.

The other was the Audio Note system the Capital Audio Fest, 2012. Dave spinning Anne Bisson's "September in Montreal". I wanted to take the entire system home with me!
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Hi Terry...do u remember what they were playing with the Magicos? And with the Audio Note? Was it an all Audio Note system?
 

Thanks guys.

lloydelee 21, I am sorry to say I do not know what they were playing with the Magicos, but I'd like to. Maybe somebody who knows will chime in.

All Audio Note system. I don't think Audio Note's rooms ever have anything but Audio Note equipment.
 
Thanks, Terry!
 
I have to admit that sounded pretty damn good even through youtube.
 
---Hi Terry, and Welcome! -
welcome2.gif


Bob
 
I heard the MBL X'Tremes on several occasions at Coherence in Singapore. This was a properly set up, fully bi-amped (2 X 9011 & 2 X 9008) system. Nothing including XLF's, Aida's or Magico has since come close to those experiences since. It was an audio epiphany. All four of those large speakers disappeared and I felt the room was energized by the music.

Jim
 
DaveyF said:
One system that sticks in my head, is one I heard years ago featuring stacked original Quads. The TT was a Goldmund Reference and the cartridge was a Kiseki Lapis Lazuli along with all ARC gear. I think a SP10Mk2 preamp and a ARC D250Mk2 servo. The rendition of the midrange was magical.

Another system was a system utilizing the original B&W Nautilus speakers, in a large room with ancillary gear that I don't remember. This system had a purity of sound that was simply spectacular.
Click to expand...

I must support your propositions - I posted in another thread a similar impression about the quad amplified original Nautilus playing in a large room, and at some time I owned the Kiseki Lapis Lazuli with the SP10. Magical midrange as you say. Unhappily my sample of the Lapis Lazuli suffered from mistracking at the last inner grooves of the LP if they were heavily modulated.
 
microstrip said:
I must support your propositions - I posted in another thread a similar impression about the quad amplified original Nautilus playing in a large room, and at some time I owned the Kiseki Lapis Lazuli with the SP10. Magical midrange as you say. Unhappily my sample of the Lapis Lazuli suffered from mistracking at the last inner grooves of the LP if they were heavily modulated.
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Since a cartridge doesn't know if it is at the first groove on a record or the last groove on a record, don't you mean the arm didn't track the inner grooves so well? That is where 9" and 10" pivoted arms are at their worst. If a cartridge is going to mistrack with heavily modulated grooves, it will do that on every cut that contains them.
 
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