- Thread Author
- #1
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.
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.
