Meet a couple Polkies yesterday
heiney9
Posts: 25,193
I spent a great afternoon with a couple of real nice forum members yesterday. a-mattison(Aaron) and dkg999(Doug). We all live in the same area and Doug and I have talked about getting together before but it just never happened. Aaron is looking to complete his HT rig and he was wondering if seperate amps would make a difference. Doug was nice enough to bring over a Parasound HCA1000 and a pair Outlaw Mono blocks as well as an assortment of cables and demo music.
I was kindly invited to come on over as well and I brought a couple of Adcom pieces as Aaron said he was really interested in hearing the Adcom as well. Aaron's wife Michelle was there and she was just as interested in hearing the difference's as the rest of us so that was really cool.
We spent some time talking about ourselves, our interest in music and audio and what got us started in this hobby. One other thing is Aaron brews his own beer and Doug and I got to taste some truely awesome Bock Aaron had made.
Aaron has recently purchased an H/K 630 which he says is a big improvement over his old JVC unit. I must say as far as reciever's go I was a bit impressed with the H/K. I'm not a reciever kind of guy but it sounded damn nice for a reciever. I think the swap is what made him realize that there can be significant differences in components.
For the first series of demo's we used his H/K as the pre-amp to run the Parasound, Adcom and Outlaws. Doug brought along some signal cable speaker cable with spades on one end and bannana's on the other for quick swapping. We did mostly 2-channel listening with the sub off as well as some HT.
All 3 amps sound very different and Aaron was really able to hear an instant difference and he even admitted that he doubted there would be a difference. (where's JohnK I wish he were there to hear the difference
) I'll let Aaron tell you his impressions, but even for me I heard a marked difference in the amps and I'm not letting my Adcom go anytime soon 
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Doug had a surprise in the car he brought a tube preamp he purchased from RuSsman I believe it was the Audcom (the name excapes me right now). Modified by Gary Dodd and we hooked that up to my Adcom and WOW did that sound good. It's been a few years since I have given tubes a listen and I was impressed.
I'll let Aaron tell you his impressions and what his set-up is, but he's got the full blown audio bug now, and I think his wife Michelle does too. They are working on finishing their basement and turning it into nice HT set-up. My guess is it won't be long before Aaron moves the HT downstairs and then starts assembling a nice 2 channel system .
All in all a great afternoon, both Aaron and Michelle are great people and it was very nice of them to open their home up to complete strangers. Doug is one hellvua nice guy too. He offered to let me borrow any of his unused equipment anytime. Once I get my 9's set-up properly he said I could borrow the tube pre and also try out some of the various interconnects and speaker cables he's not currently using. :cool:
This is what it's all about people, I think Aaron & Michelle had a great time(I know I did) and he is well on his way to getting the sound he is looking for. We are all going to get together again. We want to hear Doug's Magnepans and I'd like them to come over and hear my 9's (which I'm still having issue's with, damn this hobby). Plus I wouldn't mind seeing Aaron's completed HT room and having more of his wonderful home brewed beer.
H9
P.s. We also talked about how cool it would be to meet up with some of the other local (within 100 miles or so) members. So maybe that's an option for next time. Who says you have to be on the East coast to have a gathering
I was kindly invited to come on over as well and I brought a couple of Adcom pieces as Aaron said he was really interested in hearing the Adcom as well. Aaron's wife Michelle was there and she was just as interested in hearing the difference's as the rest of us so that was really cool.
We spent some time talking about ourselves, our interest in music and audio and what got us started in this hobby. One other thing is Aaron brews his own beer and Doug and I got to taste some truely awesome Bock Aaron had made.
Aaron has recently purchased an H/K 630 which he says is a big improvement over his old JVC unit. I must say as far as reciever's go I was a bit impressed with the H/K. I'm not a reciever kind of guy but it sounded damn nice for a reciever. I think the swap is what made him realize that there can be significant differences in components.
For the first series of demo's we used his H/K as the pre-amp to run the Parasound, Adcom and Outlaws. Doug brought along some signal cable speaker cable with spades on one end and bannana's on the other for quick swapping. We did mostly 2-channel listening with the sub off as well as some HT.
All 3 amps sound very different and Aaron was really able to hear an instant difference and he even admitted that he doubted there would be a difference. (where's JohnK I wish he were there to hear the difference
) I'll let Aaron tell you his impressions, but even for me I heard a marked difference in the amps and I'm not letting my Adcom go anytime soon .Doug had a surprise in the car he brought a tube preamp he purchased from RuSsman I believe it was the Audcom (the name excapes me right now). Modified by Gary Dodd and we hooked that up to my Adcom and WOW did that sound good. It's been a few years since I have given tubes a listen and I was impressed.
I'll let Aaron tell you his impressions and what his set-up is, but he's got the full blown audio bug now, and I think his wife Michelle does too. They are working on finishing their basement and turning it into nice HT set-up. My guess is it won't be long before Aaron moves the HT downstairs and then starts assembling a nice 2 channel system
.All in all a great afternoon, both Aaron and Michelle are great people and it was very nice of them to open their home up to complete strangers. Doug is one hellvua nice guy too. He offered to let me borrow any of his unused equipment anytime. Once I get my 9's set-up properly he said I could borrow the tube pre and also try out some of the various interconnects and speaker cables he's not currently using. :cool:
This is what it's all about people, I think Aaron & Michelle had a great time(I know I did) and he is well on his way to getting the sound he is looking for. We are all going to get together again. We want to hear Doug's Magnepans and I'd like them to come over and hear my 9's (which I'm still having issue's with, damn this hobby). Plus I wouldn't mind seeing Aaron's completed HT room and having more of his wonderful home brewed beer.
H9
P.s. We also talked about how cool it would be to meet up with some of the other local (within 100 miles or so) members. So maybe that's an option for next time. Who says you have to be on the East coast to have a gathering
"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
Comments
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"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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H9 summed it up well! Aaron and Michelle were great hosts, and we had a really fun time! Getting groups together and doing some listening and comparison gives you an experience it's hard to get at the fewer and fewer remaining real audio/HT stores. It was an eye opening experience for me as well because I didn't expect some of the differences we heard in the amps. I was also really amazed at how good the Rti70's sounded with the Adcom amp and the little Audcom 110 pre (Thanks Russman!). Very fun afternoon, it would be great if we could organize a little Chicago area get together! Doug.DKG999
HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED
Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC -
Great stuff guys. . . we had our own little powwow here on the east coast. It's so much fun to share this obsession, isn't it.
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Awesome. It's great that people can come together around such a fun hobby. The friends I've made are worth more than any rig I could ever dream of.
Cheers,
RussCheck your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service. -
Great story H9. Man I am envious that you folks are able to share experiences with others. The search continues. Hell, I have the forum.Michael
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60° -
Sounds like you guys had a blast. It's great to make new friends that share the same interests. Don't let it stop there, keep meeting & expanding. Hopefully you'll find others in your area from other forums also. It just keeps getting better & better!!!"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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H9, Thanks for the props on the beer. The one you had is actually one of the better beers I have made in a long time. They all come put pretty good though.
Michele and I had a great time. You guys really opened Michele's eyes (or, ears I guess). She is all about an audiophile 2-channel system in the living room now.
It was very nice to meet you and Doug.HT
RTi70 mains
CSi30 center
RTi28 Rears
Velodyne CHT-12
H/K AVR-247
ADCOM GFA-7000
Samsung PN58B860
Playstation 3
2-Channel
Polk Audio LSi15's
Rotel RCD-1072
Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
ADCOM GFA-555
Signal Cable Analog II IC's
Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables -
Excellent!
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Very cool guys! This forum is filled with lots of goodness!No excuses!
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I did promise, but nearly can't contain myself.......uh...oh.... I'm not to start another "Interconnects make a difference" thread......... OK...the crappy 12 ft. "Gold Series" interconnects that I bought from Radio Shack 1/2 an hour before the guys arrival buzzed like hell on the Parasound!!!!! Doug rescued us from Audio hell with his Blue Jeans cables.HT
RTi70 mains
CSi30 center
RTi28 Rears
Velodyne CHT-12
H/K AVR-247
ADCOM GFA-7000
Samsung PN58B860
Playstation 3
2-Channel
Polk Audio LSi15's
Rotel RCD-1072
Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
ADCOM GFA-555
Signal Cable Analog II IC's
Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables -
Nice write up,would like to get together with fellow members also in the northern Illinois area.Sounds like you guys had a blast.Maybe it was the home made brew!HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
a_mattison wrote:I did promise, but nearly can't contain myself.......uh...oh.... I'm not to start another "Interconnects make a difference" thread......... OK...the crappy 12 ft. "Gold Series" interconnects that I bought from Radio Shack 1/2 an hour before the guys arrival buzzed like hell on the Parasound!!!!! Doug rescued us from Audio hell with his Blue Jeans cables.
Aaron you promised....... no more cable's make a diffenece talk . I will say I heard a definte difference between the 2 cables. One buzzed loudly the other didn't. Pretty conclusive evidence I think 
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
