...whoah! Has that really happened to you? That is amazing. I would regret I have no place to hide a body that would go undetected.
When you invite someone over to listen...
- Thread starter treitz3
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I ask them what they want to hear but, most often, they ask me to choose.
I don't invite people like that.
Audiophiles do invite themselves but, if they are not friends, I decline. My friends are another story...............
Never happened (even when I had such gear). Now, all they see are the speakers and my iPad.
I have a firm policy of not playing "demo" tracks or any particular repertoire myself. I insist that the guest comes upstairs and selects records and/or tapes himself/herself.
If he/she does not find anything in the record/tape storage cabinet, then I hand him/her the iPad for Qobuz.
I think it's more fun for the guest to play tracks he/she is very familiar with.
If he/she does not find anything in the record/tape storage cabinet, then I hand him/her the iPad for Qobuz.
I think it's more fun for the guest to play tracks he/she is very familiar with.
Sure. I don't care.
both
Sure! They also are welcome to bring over their own components to compare with what I have in-house.
When somebody comes over to listen, the first thing I do is show them this picture and say "this is what happened to the last guy that touched something"
The second thing I do is them them to please turn off their cell phone. First, I think it's beyond rude to answer phone alerts during a listening session just because you have a dopamine addiction and second, lord knows I abhor taking cell phone videos of a system to try and capture sonic information. Unless someone you know is having a heart attack, turn the damn phone off or leave it on the next room where I can't hear it beep, vibrate, ring, flash or (these days, you never know) explode. As far as music, I'll generally play a few tunes, LP and digital, and then give them free rein using their own material if they wish.
The second thing I do is them them to please turn off their cell phone. First, I think it's beyond rude to answer phone alerts during a listening session just because you have a dopamine addiction and second, lord knows I abhor taking cell phone videos of a system to try and capture sonic information. Unless someone you know is having a heart attack, turn the damn phone off or leave it on the next room where I can't hear it beep, vibrate, ring, flash or (these days, you never know) explode. As far as music, I'll generally play a few tunes, LP and digital, and then give them free rein using their own material if they wish.
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Handprints on the speaker don't lie. Fortunately I was not in the room (went to get more wine).
Hands off was an unspoken rule, at least I thought it was...
Tom
Tom
I give my guests the tablet (digital) and remote control (volume) and then they can choose the music they want to listen to. Only I operate the turntable unless it's my best friends. I like to wash any records you bring with me because my cartridges only see clean lps.
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I believe it's legal in 21 states to break the arm of someone who touches your system without your permission.
no, I will allow them to touch everything, the turntables, the cd players, the records, all the works, except the loudspeaker cables snaking on the floor, or the interconnect cables at the back of the system.
The problem is bare human skin touching the dielectric of the cables always end up imparting some adverse sound changes to the system's sound.
This is an issue repeatable again and again.
The only solution is to power down everything, unplug all the cables and let them whatever gremlins there is dissipate over 48 hours before plugging them back in and re-powering them up again.
If advanced notice, I usually invite them to bring music they're familiar with, and/or they feel is good critical listening material.
Otherwise, it depends...
If the point of the listening session is to identify specifics (system, music, etc.,) I'd likely pick some things that I think highlight our target. I'd then offer them up but not be attached to them being played first and negotiate that real-time.
If the listen is more casual and/or impromptu, I'll usually ask if there's anything they'd like to hear. Their requests get played first - which may be as broad as a genre (meaning I still might be responsible to select the actual material,) or as narrow as a specific song.
About half the time, they shrug and ask me to get things started.
Otherwise, it depends...
If the point of the listening session is to identify specifics (system, music, etc.,) I'd likely pick some things that I think highlight our target. I'd then offer them up but not be attached to them being played first and negotiate that real-time.
If the listen is more casual and/or impromptu, I'll usually ask if there's anything they'd like to hear. Their requests get played first - which may be as broad as a genre (meaning I still might be responsible to select the actual material,) or as narrow as a specific song.
About half the time, they shrug and ask me to get things started.
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Not really...
When friends come over to listen to music, it is most often to compare and discuss various performances of classical pieces and enjoy a symphony or two with the appropriate (energising) drink.
On the rare occasion a pure audiophile comes along, I will usually play a well-known, well-recorded piece (e.g. Mercy Street, Jazz @ the Pawnshop, etc) and then move on to whatever they want. I have a small selection of audiophile recordings to play with.
The comments are generally complementary: my sound is impressive in that the room is very small, the speakers thereby look big-ish and the sound comes from well behind the speakers (often far outside a window behind them), and stretches outside the visual boundaries on either side of both speakers.
3 little treats I usually do for my guests:
1. Remove the piece of passive loudspeaker that sits between the 2 loudspeakers that are playing at the moment and watch their eyes lit up as the soundstaging height now reach as high as the ceiling.
2. Wash their CDs under tap water and dab dry with tissue paper and watch their incredulous reaction when the central image that was skewed to the left side previously gradually move to the centre.
3. Do the power refresh to clear playback memory on the cd player, play the same cd again and watch their jaws drop.
1. Remove the piece of passive loudspeaker that sits between the 2 loudspeakers that are playing at the moment and watch their eyes lit up as the soundstaging height now reach as high as the ceiling.
2. Wash their CDs under tap water and dab dry with tissue paper and watch their incredulous reaction when the central image that was skewed to the left side previously gradually move to the centre.
3. Do the power refresh to clear playback memory on the cd player, play the same cd again and watch their jaws drop.
Help me understand how tap water essentially rearranges the sound-staging in-bedded in the CD recording?
Usually people ask to hear one or both of my setups rather than me inviting them over for a listen. I honestly could care less if anyone likes either of my setups or of my music collections.
People are welcome to select any recording from my music collections for a listen.
I've 8000 LP's, 600 analog tapes, 1000 or so CD's, a Bluetooth streaming device, and 6 different tuners for radio...
People are welcome to select any recording from my music collections for a listen.
I've 8000 LP's, 600 analog tapes, 1000 or so CD's, a Bluetooth streaming device, and 6 different tuners for radio...
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That unexpected knock on your front door is Ked, coming over for a little unannounced food and cartridge comparisons.
No worries for me. I don’t provide food. The listening room is a crumb-free zone.That unexpected knock on your front door is Ked, coming over for a little unannounced food and cartridge comparisons.
That unexpected knock on your front door is Ked, coming over for a little unannounced food and cartridge comparisons.
Oh oh, but unlikely. Bonzo does not like back loaded horns. I don’t have enough gear for comparisons. And I post my own videos.
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