Another successful DFWAC meet: Brian's House

Usually I can pen my thoughts quite easily and come up with a review or a summary or a synopsis of what I saw, heard, and felt.

But this one.... this one was just out of this world. You had to be there to understand it.

I am giving this one the #1 bar none, most complicated, complex, over the top, well executed system of all time that I have experienced in person.

@Legender was there with me all the way through (from the listening sessions to the dinner) and it appeared that he also enjoyed it.

Great fun, great music, great learning, great room, great gear, great people... and man, I can't believe I ran out lamb chops!

You gonna come out the next time the DFW Audiophile Club meet up, Carlton??
Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
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Comments

  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
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    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    My seat:
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    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • mrbiron
    mrbiron Posts: 5,711
    System Specs?
    The flash looks good reflecting off your hairless arms
    Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!!
  • Legender
    Legender Posts: 478
    I'm also having trouble finding the words to describe this system. Brian has spent a lot of time and obviously money, building a room as well as compiling a system that meets his requirements for 'air and details', which he nailed... and then some.
    Had a great time, learned a lot, met some great guys and looking forward to another opportunity.

    Excuse me while I toss all my audio gear out to the curb, and start over.
    Music: Oppo103 - Parasound JC2 - Parasound A21- SDA 3.1
    Theater: Denon 3808 - B&K 7500/Emotiva XPA-3- RTi12, CSi5, RTiA7x4, PSW505
    Sleeping: Marantz 70005 - Harman Kardon 2400 - SDA 2
    2 Channel: Cary 306 SACD - Canary Audio 906 - Pass Labs x250 - PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, Polk LSiM705, SVS SB13 Ultra
    Office: Dell Optiplex, Emotiva XDA-2, Adcom 5500, LSiM 703
    Spares: Yamaha CA-810; LSi 15; Kenwood Basic M2a, Yamaha M60/M80, Polk Monitor 7, SVS SB13 Ultra
  • Legender
    Legender Posts: 478
    Vivaldi 4 component stack with transport, DAC, power and clock feeding a
    Boulder Preamp - not sure the model into the
    Boulder 3010 Amplifier routed to the
    Wilson Alexandria XLF speakers via
    Transparent Magnum Opus speaker cables.. which alone cost more than all my audio gear combined.

    Simple, yet powerful. I'm confident there was some power conditioning going on there also, but I did not spend much time behind the curtain.

    It was on another level.
    Music: Oppo103 - Parasound JC2 - Parasound A21- SDA 3.1
    Theater: Denon 3808 - B&K 7500/Emotiva XPA-3- RTi12, CSi5, RTiA7x4, PSW505
    Sleeping: Marantz 70005 - Harman Kardon 2400 - SDA 2
    2 Channel: Cary 306 SACD - Canary Audio 906 - Pass Labs x250 - PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, Polk LSiM705, SVS SB13 Ultra
    Office: Dell Optiplex, Emotiva XDA-2, Adcom 5500, LSiM 703
    Spares: Yamaha CA-810; LSi 15; Kenwood Basic M2a, Yamaha M60/M80, Polk Monitor 7, SVS SB13 Ultra
  • Manticore
    Manticore Posts: 408
    Incredible looking...to say the least. It looks like a room at the high end audio dealer that your not allowed in without a deposit! I'm sure the sound was positively exquisite!
    Denon AVR X4200W
    Parasound A23 amplifier
    Parasound A23 amplifier
    LG 65" Ultra HD4k
    LG 4kBR - UP970
    Denon DVM 4800
    Denon DP 3000 turntable
    Saec 308sx tonearm w/
    Dynavector 10x5 cart
    Vincent PHO 701 Phono Preamp
    MIT Avt3 Speaker c's
    Audio Quest Big Sur ic's
    Polk SDA 1C's modded
    Polk LSim 707
    Polk LSiM706c
    Polk RTiA 3's
    Polk 80F/X-RT
    Polk DSW PRO 440wi sub
    Infinity bu2 sub
    "The early Klingon gets the Gagh"
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    WOW!!!!! Nice setup!!! The cylinders, are they room treatments?
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    Great looking listening room! I like those carbon fiber speaker cables.
  • Legender
    Legender Posts: 478
    erniejade wrote: »
    WOW!!!!! Nice setup!!! The cylinders, are they room treatments?

    Yes, additional bass traps.
    Music: Oppo103 - Parasound JC2 - Parasound A21- SDA 3.1
    Theater: Denon 3808 - B&K 7500/Emotiva XPA-3- RTi12, CSi5, RTiA7x4, PSW505
    Sleeping: Marantz 70005 - Harman Kardon 2400 - SDA 2
    2 Channel: Cary 306 SACD - Canary Audio 906 - Pass Labs x250 - PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, Polk LSiM705, SVS SB13 Ultra
    Office: Dell Optiplex, Emotiva XDA-2, Adcom 5500, LSiM 703
    Spares: Yamaha CA-810; LSi 15; Kenwood Basic M2a, Yamaha M60/M80, Polk Monitor 7, SVS SB13 Ultra
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    As Carlton said, it was on another level.

    We were in a room full of seasoned audiophiles but none of us had a set up of that magnitude. We talked amongst ourselves afterwards and it was utter pure luxury. To create a room like that requires some serious dedication to the craft.

    Just think about it: you ain’t gonna walk into a home and expect a 20x35 room just dedicated to a stereo. That’s 700sq feet of an addition that will be earmarked for property tax, requires its own AC, the power draw, etc.

    It’s totally not a realistic endeavor.

    But Brian had this. And then some. What you don’t see are multiple other speaker capable rooms. I forget now but Carlton, he had what, like 5 other media or viewing rooms??

    The set up was exquisite. Here are the specs:

    Studer reel to reel
    Vivaldi DCS transport + dac + clock + upsampler
    Boulder 2110 preamplifier
    Boulder 3060 amplifier
    Dual JLAudio F113 subs
    Wilson X2s2
    Tara Omega (? This one I’m not sure about) top of the line power cords x10??
    Transparent Magnum Opus speaker wire and interconnects

    He had a stash of gear in the closet that he was wanting to get rid off... he was like oh I have a Nordost Odin and Valhalla sitting right there...

    It was truly epic.

    The room is the best part. 30 feet deep, 5 feet of closet space behind the front wall with hidden door, the room had angled walls about 18ft up front and 20 ft down back. Absorbers up front including clouds.

    Diffusion to the rear.

    And we needed a guide to get from the front door to the room... the house was humongous and spectacular.

    Brian was legit.

    Oh and for Jesse, his digital
    Cable was MIT.
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    I think the best part of the night that stuck in my head was Brian gave me the remote to the Boulder.

    I asked him can I turn it up and down just to check the soundstage effect, if the singer walks forward or not like on my Boulder system.

    He says, “Just don’t break anything.”

    I just about pooped in my pants while everyone was laughing. I couldn’t afford to reimburse him for the gear he was running.

    I was very careful with the volume control
    Thereafter.
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    And that whole room is treated, it’s hard to see but floor to ceiling, all the walls are treated but it was done with stealth. It truly is amazing.

    Normal humans buy treatments from GIK and put up panels etc. Brian has it all in there, it’s all planned prior to construction of the room.

    I wanted to learn from this guy prior to building my next room.

    It’s too bad the $$ is pretty much insurmountable to do it perfectly

    Compromises have to be made somewhere
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    I see a rare copy of The Peter Malick Group "New York City" with Norah Jones SACD just tossed on the floor........tsk tsk.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    When I saw the MIT I thought of you Jesse

    @F1nut
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Joey_V wrote: »
    When I saw the MIT I thought of you Jesse

    @F1nut

    B)
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    How do you know it's a SACD?
    F1nut wrote: »
    Norah Jones SACD just tossed on the floor........tsk tsk.

  • mikeyb128
    mikeyb128 Posts: 2,885
    That certainly is a huge room! Those speakers are huge as well. :sunglasses:
    2 channel:
    Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
    Theater:
    Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables.

  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    mikeyb128 wrote: »
    That certainly is a huge room! Those speakers are huge as well. :sunglasses:

    While the room was impressive, the whole house was even MORE impressive.

    I swear, I was out of breath going from the front door to the stereo room and I think we would pass through like 6 gamerooms along the way.

    We needed a second delivery man to take pizza from the delivery man at the front door to deliver to the listening room/wing.
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • mpitogo
    mpitogo Posts: 475
    Thanks for sharing. Agree that is one sweet room. I would probably lock myself in there and never leave.

    The Wilson X2 dwarfs those JL subs.
    • Living Room Music-2.0 Polk Legend L800 | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Air USB to DAC
    • Media Room Ht-7.2.6/13.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x4], height LSiM703 [x6], HSU VTF-15H MK2 Dual | Marantz AV8805A | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Sony UBP-X800 | AppleTV 4K | JVC RS2100
    • Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
    • Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
    • Office-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX, DSW microPRO3000 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz HD-CD1
    • Daughter's Bedroom 1-2.0 TBD Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
    • Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Topping DX7s | Sansui FR-1080 | TV
    • Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    He is awaiting the next gen of the XLF... he doesn’t want to move just one generation up, but two
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • dolbyd
    dolbyd Posts: 430
    edited April 2018
    The dedication and attention to detail is awesome. Pair that with crazy good disposable income and WOW!
    Main room- RTiA9 x4, CSiA6, in ceiling Atmos RT-70 x4, SVS PC 4000 x2, Marantz 8805A, OPPO 203, Emotiva DR3 G3, Emotiva XPA-2 G3, Emotiva XPA-5 G3, Emotiva X300, Sony 75" 940E, Panasonic Plasma VT50, PS Audio Power Port X2, PS Audio AC-5 x8, AQ Rocket 33 Biwire speaker cables, AQ King Cobra XLR IC, Furman PFi20 W/Cullen cable, SoildSteel S4-4 rack, Gik room treatments

    Office- Legend L600, in ceiling Polk RC80i, Marantz 7704, OPPO 203, Pioneer Elite PDF-59 CD, PSA Stellar 300, Sony 55" 800B, Gik room treatment

    Master BR- Signature ES60, Signature S35 Center, Signature S15 Dolby Height, LSI700 in ceiling, SVS-SB4000, Marantz 5012, Emotiva XPA5 G2, OPPO 203, Pioneer DVL-919 Laser Disc, Sony 55" OLED

    Patio- SDI Atrium8 x3, Emotiva A-100 amps x3
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    Crazy good disposable income?

    Carlton and I agreed, it’s lottery level money. Insurmountable disposable income.

    We all had a laugh when Brian said he had a budget.

    Carlton and I looked at each other and said “what kind of budget is that?”

    :D:D
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • Legender
    Legender Posts: 478
    If that's a budget... then the rest of us are only dealing with an allowance.
    Music: Oppo103 - Parasound JC2 - Parasound A21- SDA 3.1
    Theater: Denon 3808 - B&K 7500/Emotiva XPA-3- RTi12, CSi5, RTiA7x4, PSW505
    Sleeping: Marantz 70005 - Harman Kardon 2400 - SDA 2
    2 Channel: Cary 306 SACD - Canary Audio 906 - Pass Labs x250 - PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, Polk LSiM705, SVS SB13 Ultra
    Office: Dell Optiplex, Emotiva XDA-2, Adcom 5500, LSiM 703
    Spares: Yamaha CA-810; LSi 15; Kenwood Basic M2a, Yamaha M60/M80, Polk Monitor 7, SVS SB13 Ultra
  • dolbyd
    dolbyd Posts: 430
    It’s the MONEY ain’t a thing budget!
    Would love to have been there.
    Main room- RTiA9 x4, CSiA6, in ceiling Atmos RT-70 x4, SVS PC 4000 x2, Marantz 8805A, OPPO 203, Emotiva DR3 G3, Emotiva XPA-2 G3, Emotiva XPA-5 G3, Emotiva X300, Sony 75" 940E, Panasonic Plasma VT50, PS Audio Power Port X2, PS Audio AC-5 x8, AQ Rocket 33 Biwire speaker cables, AQ King Cobra XLR IC, Furman PFi20 W/Cullen cable, SoildSteel S4-4 rack, Gik room treatments

    Office- Legend L600, in ceiling Polk RC80i, Marantz 7704, OPPO 203, Pioneer Elite PDF-59 CD, PSA Stellar 300, Sony 55" 800B, Gik room treatment

    Master BR- Signature ES60, Signature S35 Center, Signature S15 Dolby Height, LSI700 in ceiling, SVS-SB4000, Marantz 5012, Emotiva XPA5 G2, OPPO 203, Pioneer DVL-919 Laser Disc, Sony 55" OLED

    Patio- SDI Atrium8 x3, Emotiva A-100 amps x3
  • WLDock
    WLDock Posts: 3,073
    Wow man, that room is impressive. Is the owner the bald gent standing? Are these your fellow audiophile medical field buds or well to do , etc? Pretty cool that you got a chance to listen to such a system in such a dedicated room at someone's home, and not a show.
    2.2 Office Setup | LG 29UB55 21:9 UltraWide | HP Probook 630 G8 | Dell Latitude | Cabasse Stream Amp 100 | Boston Acoustics VS 240 | AUDIORAX Desk Stands | Mirage Omni S8 sub1 | Mirage Omni S8 Sub2
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    The man with the boulder remote is the owner.

    The crew we have is a good crew, Carlton got to meet most of them but not all.

    Er/trauma doctor
    Family doctor
    Cardiologist doctor
    CIO of an oil company
    President of a finance company
    Sales director of oracle
    GM of a car dealership

    Brian the owner is an ophthalmology doctor and his wife is obgyne doctor.

    But I suspect he won the lottery or something similar.
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
  • mpitogo
    mpitogo Posts: 475
    What does a boulder remote look like? OK sorry I don’t even know what a Boulder looks like, unless it made out of schist. House spanning two zip codes is out of my league, I’m only a CTO.
    • Living Room Music-2.0 Polk Legend L800 | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Air USB to DAC
    • Media Room Ht-7.2.6/13.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x4], height LSiM703 [x6], HSU VTF-15H MK2 Dual | Marantz AV8805A | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Sony UBP-X800 | AppleTV 4K | JVC RS2100
    • Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
    • Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
    • Office-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX, DSW microPRO3000 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz HD-CD1
    • Daughter's Bedroom 1-2.0 TBD Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
    • Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Topping DX7s | Sansui FR-1080 | TV
    • Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,505
    8vizrxxr14xy.png

    Hahaha... that's what I was thinking too when I walked in.

    ".... fudge me..."
    :o
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound