A great day with Mike and a huge thank you!

**Tedtag** · May 7, 2016, 11:22 PM

By some stroke of incredible good fortune, I had planned a trip to St. Pete for this weekend and also recently went to Axpona and loved the Magico room. I subsequently found out Mike lives in the next town to St. Pete and that he's a Magico dealer, and the rest is now about to be recorded history. First a little background information.......

I'm about to build a dedicated listening room over a new 2 car garage with dimensions of about 15'x24'. I went to Axpona fully intent on auditioning a lot of gear for the new system to go in this room. At the show I was absolutely taken by the CAT electronics and ordered a Legend preamp and a pair of their new JL7 mono blocks that are being built now. The CAT gear sounded fantastic with the S5's at the show and also in the Marten/vandenHul room. I was eager to hear a pair of S7's as those were on my short list of speakers for the system. Other contenders are the Vandy 7 MK II's, and now the new Duo's described below.

I contacted Mike and he graciously asked Howard (The Sandman), who also lives nearby and has S7's with Pass electronics, if we could stop over for a listen. Just this morning, thanks to Mike and Howard, I was provided with an incredible listening session where Howard clicked one great track after another and the system and the music sounded fantastic. The S7's are one hell of a great speaker and thanks to this forum and the kindness and generosity of Mike and Howard I was able to hear them. Then I rode with Mike over to his place for some more listening.

First we listened to his downstairs system with VAC electronics driving S1's; an absolutely spectacular combination. Next we went upstairs where Mike had the Avantgarde Mezzo Duo XD's driven by Triode gear and the Kronos pro TT in his dedicated and immaculately set up room that Jim Smith helped dial in. We played several records including the fantastic Eva Cassidy album Mike just recommended in a separate thread.

I guess here's the part where I could gush on endlessly with all kinds of descriptive adjectives, but the bottom line is this; Mike's system is unquestionably one of the most real sounding, organic, and fulfilling conduits for a musical experience I've ever had or even imagined. The music flowed so effortlessly and naturally from the Duos that it was almost as if there was no system at all. As the components warmed up, the sound expanded and filled the room with gorgeous layers of textures, tone, dynamics, and presence that was so pure and all consuming that I'd forget we were listening to a recording. As we ran out of time, it was difficult to leave, and we played a couple of just one more's before I had to tear myself away.

So now I've got a tough decision with speakers but will report back as my new system comes together in the next couple of months. The good news is that my room is almost the exact dimensions as Mike's, plus I've got Jim Smith ready to help me with set up. All I can say is if I can get close to what Mike has created, I'll be in audio nirvana. I'd like to thank Mike and Howard again plus give a huge shout out to this entire fantastic forum for helping me make today happen and enrich my experience and connection to the music. Its a great example of how we can continue to help each other in our pursuit of excellence in audio.

**Paul** · May 7, 2016, 11:37 PM

Wow. Thanks for share.
I guess it's time to decide what Color combination of Mezzo XD that you gonna order now

A great day with Mike and a huge thank you!

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**stereopal** · May 7, 2016, 11:48 PM

I'm planning to fly down to see Mike, ..... Soon ! We should go together Paul !

**KeithR** · May 8, 2016, 12:10 AM

Sounds like you need AGs

Thanks for the write-up.

**Ritmo** · May 8, 2016, 09:08 AM

Sounds like a fantastic day Ted! Keep us posted on your new system decisions.

**joeinid** · May 8, 2016, 09:36 AM

Glad you had a blast Ted, Mike is a great host. I need to hear his system as well.

**Tedtag** · May 8, 2016, 10:06 AM

I woke up sort of haunted by the sound in a really good way. There is a feeling I have come to recognize when I walk away from listening to an incredible system that is hard to describe. Its not about the notes or the physical exercise of hearing sound, even though we need to use lots of terms to explain all of that. To me its a very deep sensation of fulfillment and even joy. (not to get too esoteric.....) And that feeling can last for hours, or in this case even into the next day. Maybe even until tomorrow. Seems like its about time to start looking at colors!

**joeinid** · May 8, 2016, 10:23 AM

Ruined by Avantgarde !!!! Love it.

I have a tiny taste of horns with my JBL's but would love to hear a properly set up AG speaker.

Originally Posted by Tedtag

I woke up sort of haunted by the sound in a really good way. There is a feeling I have come to recognize when I walk away from listening to an incredible system that is hard to describe. Its not about the notes or the physical exercise of hearing sound, even though we need to use lots of terms to explain all of that. To me its a very deep sensation of fulfillment and even joy. (not to get too esoteric.....) And that feeling can last for hours, or in this case even into the next day. Maybe even until tomorrow. Seems like its about time to start looking at colors!

**Tedtag** · May 8, 2016, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by joeinid

Ruined by Avantgarde !!!! Love it.

I have a tiny taste of horns with my JBL's but would love to hear a properly set up AG speaker.

Highly recommend a trip down here to listen to Mikes AG's. Plus, the gulf coast is gorgeous with some of the best beaches in the country. Found a fantastic hotel with terrific amenities and service. Here's a picture from the room.

**fxe02** · May 8, 2016, 12:16 PM

Mike is an AUDIO ENIGMA .he can speak to any issue regarding sound reproduction.Its nice to have him as a resource in our audio club.A trip to hows house is like going to disney.
Glad you got to go there!

**Kuoppis** · May 8, 2016, 02:25 PM

Thanks for sharing, trust your ears

.

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**Mike** · May 8, 2016, 06:00 PM

Thank you for your kind words everyone. Spence, I really enjoyed our time together as well. I was glad you got to hear the two speakers you wanted to. Both are incredible in their own right. It was a fun day together and I appreciate hanging out with you and your son. We have the same taste in music so it made for such an enjoyable day.

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**Ritmo** · May 8, 2016, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Thank you for your kind words everyone. Spence, I really enjoyed our time together as well. I was glad you got to hear the two speakers you wanted to. Both are incredible in their own right. It was a fun day together and I appreciate hanging out with you and your son. We have the same taste in music so it made for such an enjoyable day.

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Mike - See you in a few weeks. We need to finalize a date for a get together. I get to Tampa on June 1st.

Apologize for hijacking the thread...

**Mike** · May 8, 2016, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Mike - See you in a few weeks. We need to finalize a date for a get together. I get to Tampa on June 1st.

Apologize for hijacking the thread...

Looking forward to it!

**bzr** · May 8, 2016, 09:42 PM

Congrats on a great day. Every time I have sat in front of a system & involuntarily started laughing from sheer joy, I knew then & there. Goosebumps, shivers, laughter, we all react differently but the emotion is the same, your on a winner

**MDP** · May 9, 2016, 09:53 AM

Mike's system is indeed fantastic, I love sitting and listening in his chair.

.........of course with a Martini in hand!

**a.wayne** · May 9, 2016, 01:01 PM

Is the magic in the horns, or is it the combination of tubes and horns , does the AG perform as well with SS ..?

**Mike** · May 9, 2016, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Is the magic in the horns, or is it the combination of tubes and horns , does the AG perform as well with SS ..?

Who are you asking?

**KeithR** · May 9, 2016, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Is the magic in the horns, or is it the combination of tubes and horns , does the AG perform as well with SS ..?

they only work well with Class D i hear

**Mike** · May 9, 2016, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by KeithR

they only work well with Class D i hear

LOL. Don't start!

**a.wayne** · May 9, 2016, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Who are you asking?

Seeing you are the AG guy , please ....

**a.wayne** · May 9, 2016, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by KeithR

they only work well with Class D i hear

I had a hunch ..

**Kuoppis** · May 9, 2016, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by KeithR

they only work well with Class D i hear

Nope, that's the very point. They are semi-active with a class D sub.

In case of the Duo XD it has a 1000W class D sub, which hands over at 270 Hz. The rest works perfectly fine with a 3W SET.

I am sceptical because I do not like class D and I do not like subs. Nevertheless, Today I agreed an auditioning.

**Mike** · May 9, 2016, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Is the magic in the horns, or is it the combination of tubes and horns , does the AG perform as well with SS ..?

The AG sounds terrific with my Pass amp as well. However, you're typically not going to see a lot of SS with AG - outside of the AG amps or perhaps Pass or a few others. What the AG's are, is a great testing ground for what an amp REALLY sounds like. The biggest surprise was how good the VAC 200iQ's - especially with the KT150's were on the AG's. INCREDIBLE! YUUUUGE soundstage. Amazing mids. So good, that I'm thinking about a 211/845 SET. The added power (my amps have 8 watts), was a significant improvement in dynamics and "ease".

**KeithR** · May 9, 2016, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

What the AG's are, is a great testing ground for what an amp REALLY sounds like.

+1. I have found high efficiency speakers in general to really be much better at this. I'm a bit worried that moving down to a 92db speaker is even going to make this difficult- they arrive this week

re: AG, I'm looking forward to hearing the Uno XD in a few weeks at Newport - last year I thought the Duos overloaded the room, but I hear someone jacked with placement/settings and screwed things up. One amp I'd love to hear on AGs is the latest version of the Jadis JA30.

**Mike** · May 9, 2016, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by KeithR

+1. I have found high efficiency speakers in general to really be much better at this. I'm a bit worried that moving down to a 92db speaker is even going to make this difficult- they arrive this week

re: AG, I'm looking forward to hearing the Uno XD in a few weeks at Newport - last year I thought the Duos overloaded the room, but I hear someone jacked with placement/settings and screwed things up. One amp I'd love to hear on AGs is the latest version of the Jadis JA30.

I was looking at the JA30 this morning. With XD - they will never overload the room.

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