A Fine Sunday in Chicago!

schwarcw

I had the opportunity to meet with a great group of Polkies yesterday during a business trip to Chicago. My first stop was at Normality's (Norm) house to listen to his Innersound Eros MK II's. He's got a breath taking setup using a ModWright SWL 9.0se PreAmp, and a pair of CODA 600 wpc amps. The Sony Modwright 9100ES Platinum Truth SACD sounded exceptional! He's got this nice comfortable chair situated in the sweet spot that made me feel like I was in heaven:D Eventually, he pryed me from the chair and off to Scompracer's (Rich) place.

I've been to Rich's place before so I knew I was in for a great afternoon. Rich's system is very similiar to Norm's (Innersounds, Modwright 9.0 and Sony 9100ES, etc) with the exception of the pair of TAD-60 tube amps in Rich's setup. Rich also has added the Linn LP-12 turntable to his fabulous setup in the family room. I enjoyed listening to the Linn through the tubes as I have heard this table a few weeks ago through a Krell preamp and power amp driving a pair of Carver Amazing Olatinum MK IV's. Rich's setup added a little warmth to the vinyl without loosing any detail from the HF. I couldn't detect even a hint of harshness from the vinyl rig.

I am still in awe of the SQ I heard from Norm and Rich's system. Congrats on a world class setup guys!!!

If the audition of all this fine equipment wan't enough, I had the great pleasure of meeting fellow Polkies Brett22, Halo (Victor) and his brother Greg. It was also good to see Rich's wife Dana again. The Olszta's are always so hospitable when I visit, I feel like family. Even Teddy (Rich's dog) is eager to lick my hand hoping for a little food to fall from the table.

Rich, Dana, Norm, Brett, Victor and Greg, thank you so much for the good time yesterday afternoon. Any and all of you are always welcome to my place to check out some tunes on my modest system. Here ae a few pic's from yesterday.



From left to right: Greg, Norm, Victor (seated) Rich, me, Brett,



Just checking out some tunes!

tonyb

We don't want to see your ugly mugs,:D
pics of the gear man...the gear!!!!

dkg999

If I saw that group in a Chicago alley, I would run away :eek: What's up with the mug shots, we want to see the tubes man!

And I see how you "other" Chicago Polkies are Wouldn't think of inviting us mid-fi trailer trash from the fringes of the metro area would ya :rolleyes:

tonyb

dkg999 wrote:

If I saw that group in a Chicago alley, I would run away :eek: What's up with the mug shots, we want to see the tubes man!

And I see how you "other" Chicago Polkies are Wouldn't think of inviting us mid-fi trailer trash from the fringes of the metro area would ya :rolleyes:

How about it man,I'm just as ugly as any of those mugs.:)

hearingimpared

The Chicago Seven ooooppppss your missing one!!! Didn't you guys have a rock band called Motley Crew???

EDIT: Hey Brett is that a Yankees cap on your Chicago head???

brettw22

I'll tell you the same thing I told a lady at the grocery store that implied I was going to jump all over her if she didn't step aside..........

I bought the hat because I like the way it fit.

As if I need something like a hat to tell someone to get the **** out of my way........lol......

I had fun meeting y'all as well. My visit was semi-accidental as I was in the area picking up a tool and dropping off a few pics for Polk65 to pick up in a few months....Y'all have fun at the Fest........

schwarcw

Good luck and fortune out there in Utah! I wish you the best!

Carl

halo

It was a good time for sure. (I hope you guys can see why I'm following in Norm & Rich's footsteps)

It was also really nice to finaly meet you Carl!

It was a pleasant surprise too meet you too Brett. Best of luck to you! Hope you'll be able to make it back at the end of June

Thanks go out to our gracious hosts for putting together a great day. I couldn't believe how late it was when we left!

halo

tonyb wrote:

We don't want to see your ugly mugs,:D
pics of the gear man...the gear!!!!

Affordable Audio 11-06

brettw22

"Forbidden" link halo.......

halo

Oops - Just click on November 06: linky

danger boy

We wanna see the gear, We wanna seee the gear, WE WANNA SEE THE GEARRRR!

is that rootbeer? No real beer? Something is really wrong there.

Polk65

It could be an AA meeting. Looks like you guys had a great time talking shop, at least enough to keep Brett awake.

cmy330go

I didn't realize there were that many polkies in the Chicago area. Maybe we should try to arrange a mid-west meet sometime.?.?

I too was in chi-town this past week. Mainly for the auto-show, and so the wife and friends could do some shopping on Michigan. It was 5 days of much needed fun. What a great town!!! I meant to make it to Saturday Audio on Sunday afternoon but just ran out of steam. Must have had one too many at the Signature Lounge.:rolleyes: Oh well, there's always next time.

Anyway....Glad to hear you all had a good time!

Polk65

There's one in the works. June 29th, 30th, and July 1st I think.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45956

SCompRacer

Thanks for the kind words Carl. It was great having you back and you are welcome anytime you are in the area. I appreciate the invite out that way. Dana would like to get a grafting off that Yellow Azalea so we can add the 686th plant specimen to the landscaping. Thanks again for the Linn hookup so I can dust off the old records and get that nostalgic vinyl spinning thing going. Dana thanks you again for the gardening book and would like to know how that charter company works out for you. She has never used them, but remembered the guy was pleasant to speak with. Norm’s system does rock, doesn’t it? At 100dB, you just want to say, why stop here?

It was great meeting you too Brett. I appreciate you dropping off the prints for Steve and we were glad you could hang around and take a break from packing.

Doug, you or anyone in the area have a standing invite to come on over to hear this decent bang for the buck system. I have an elder living here and just have to watch group size and noise levels. She is cool with it being 85 years young, and has even liked some of the music played. I am just being considerate of her. It turned out the weather was pretty decent so the women went out shopping. Gotta crank some stuff up to 95+dB, ya know?

Not many drinkers in this bunch but I know with one, there was a time....

It was good having the regulars of The Eros Triad back, along with Victor’s brother, Greg.

Normanality

Carl, it was a real pleasure! I'm glad you got a chance to sit in the throne
It's always fun having these little gatherings. As you saw, it would be impossible to have with my setup. It's a one chair room designed just for the sweetspot.

This is the best I've ever heard Rich's setup. The 9100 really adds to the dynamics. I'm not a vinyl buff, but I really enjoyed hearing some vintage Chicago on vinyl.

Bret, glad you were able to stop by and Victor too! The Eros Triad LOL.

Here's a couple pics of my setup and a closeup of the amazing Modwright Sony 9100ES.

SCompRacer

Ok, the gear. Nothing has changed, yet…LOL

The first pic shows older gear but the speakers are the same. A rack section was recently added for a turntable and phono pre amp. For serious listening and groups, some tables/chairs are moved and the speakers are moved 15-16 feet apart.

The speakers are InnerSound Eros MK II. I prefer these speakers over ones that would cost me 5 times more due to their focus and excellent bass integration with the 8’ folded transmission line woofer. The transmission line allows close placement to a back wall.

The Active Crossover at the lower right of rack is a Marchand XM44-3. Roger Sanders, the designer of the InnerSound speaker, was kind enough to provide the Eros crossover specs so Phil Marchand could build one. The second design active crossover in the InnerSound bass amp just controlled bass and mid bass. Phil added a third control for the highs making it highly tunable.

Two Tad-60 tube amps drive the woofers and the panels. The bass amp has TungSol 6550’s, the panel amp has JJ KT77’s.

The pre amp is a ModWright SWL 9.0SE in Blue with Sylvania GB5687’s.

The SACD/CD player is a Platinum Level ModWright Sony 9100ES with tubed power supply and copper power supply umbilical cord. I use MU 6900 tubes in the Sony, which are rebranded Bendix 6900’s. They are highly detailed and the most dynamic of the 5687 tube family. MU Engineering bought the Bendix Red Bank Division in the ‘60’s and rebranded their remaining stock of 6900 tubes. They cost less than half of what Red Bank branded 6900 tubes go for with the same sonics. In the tube power supply for the ModWright Sony, I prefer the stock Sovtek 5AR4 over a Mullard GZ 34.

The turntable is a Linn Sondek LP12 with Ittock arm and Sumiko Blackbird MC cartridge. The table has an early ’87 manufacture date so it has many of the desirable Linn upgrades. The Linn hasn’t lived up to all the negative things I read about it and actually sounds pretty good for an old table. I completely disassembled the Linn and restored the stainless top plate to its former glory.

The phono pre amp is an InnerSound iPhono. Roger Sanders worked with Coda to design gear for InnerSound. Some share the same design and parts. The ESL and bass amps with active crossover have the most differences. The iPhono is similar to a Coda 03p phono pre amp. It is a very quiet phono stage with great sonics. The only drawback to the iPhono/Coda 03p is it was designed and built prior to sub-mV MC cartridges. This was later addressed with the Coda 06p which had additional gain. The iPhono has both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. Gain is 37dB for unbalanced outputs and 47dB for balanced. There is an internal DIP switch for an additional 20dB of gain, and DIP switches for cartridge loading.

Ricardo

Looks like you guys had a great time. Always good to see that this forum is a lot more than just people behind a keyboard.

SCompRacer

Normanality wrote:

Carl, it was a real pleasure! I'm glad you got a chance to sit in the throne

Carl, did he charge you $1 to turn the massage function on in the recliner too?:D

halo

Hey Rich, don't you think a black 9100 would look nice with all your other black gear & the black rack? (OK Norm...pay up!) J/K

MikeC78

Hello Victor!

Now I have a better idea on who you are.:cool:

Must of been a joy to hear all that gear, I'm jealous...

Funny thing is, I have no idea what a good 2 channel system even sounds like!:eek: Looking forward to his summer...

Mike

EDIT: BTW, WTF is up with you guys sitting around drinking Diet Coke and Root Beer??:p

halo

Hi Mike!

Your free to pay me a visit anytime your in Chicago. My rig isn't up to par w/ Rich and Norm's but it'll give you a taste of what they have. Same speaks but everything else is different. Heck if you could make a day of it (I can't speak for Rich & Norm) you could probably get your ears on all three!

MikeC78

Also...You guys are all some old ****'s! I thought I was getting aged at 28??:)

halo

MikeC78 wrote:

EDIT: BTW, WTF is up with you guys sitting around drinking Diet Coke and Root Beer??:p

I can drink alcohol (but it doesn't always like to jive with the vertigo) so I chose not to.

MikeC78 wrote:

Also...You guys are all some old ****'s! I thought I was getting aged at 28??

I'm only 32 Mike!

MikeC78

Halo wrote:

Hi Mike!

Your free to pay me a visit anytime your in Chicago. My rig isn't up to par w/ Rich and Norm's but it'll give you a taste of what they have. Same speaks but everything else is different. Heck if you could make a day of it (I can't speak for Rich & Norm) you could probably get your ears on all three!

Thank you for the invite Victor!

I was actually up toward Chicago a few days ago, I was at Costco in Oakbrook picking up some furniture.:o When I swing back up that way, I'll give you a yell for sure. I'm sure the Wifey would love it!:rolleyes:

Mike

MikeC78

Halo wrote:

I can drink alcohol (but it doesn't always like to jive with the vertigo) so I chose not to.I'm only 32 Mike!

Besides you Victor!:D I knew you were 32...

halo

Sometimes I feel like "Sid the Kid"! LOL!!

I'm very fortunate to have hooked up with this group

danger boy

MikeC78 wrote:

Also...You guys are all some old ****'s! I thought I was getting aged at 28??:)

this hobby adds 20 yrs to your life.. those guys are all only 22 or 23 yrs old.

tonyb

Reminds me of when I was a kid.....
Smoke filled room...round table with a bottle of wine in the middle....
a deck of cards,lots of cussing and in the corner..........
A record was spinning...usually Dean Martin,Bing Crosby,or Frank.
I thought to myself...how boreing,RAN OUTSIDE,to play football.

Wonder if out kids today look at us the same way.:)

hearingimpared

RE: Post 18, really cool Rich. I showed my wife, she loved it too. Of course the first thing she noticed on the turntable was the clamp. Your speaker must sound glorious. The first thing I noticed on the turntable was the Sumiko Blackbird (covetous) and then the old Discwasher record cleaning brush box!!! LOL I have the brush but not the box. The rack layout and postioning of equipment is very nice.

I'm glad you guys had a great time and I can only wish that someday you and I will get together to share the experience.