Hello

K

Kramer64

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Joined
Jan 19, 2026
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I've been in the hobby for a while, but joined the forum a few days ago. I live in Kentucky and am a lawyer by trade, retired twice, but keep failing at that job. I spent about half my career in private practice and the other half in government-US Attorney in Kentucky, state court prosecutor and most recently running the executive branch cabinet that houses our state police, prison system, law enforcement training-all the fun stuff.

My system now consists of Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Burmester 218 amp, Burmester 808 Mk. 5 pre, Reed Muse 3c turntable, My sonic Labs cart, dcs Bartok Apex DAC, Schnerzinger Resolution cables, AQ Niagra 3000 power conditioner, Roon Nucleus, and Artnovian room treatments. No fancy switches, fuses, etc., although curious.

I like lots of music-streaming and Roon have introduced me to artists I would never have discovered on my own-incredible to have access to millions of tunes for a few dollars a month. I particularly enjoy blues, jazz vocals, classic rock and country, but open to exploration. I'm about 50-50 on vinyl and streaming-don't get why the vinyl/digital debate is so emotional-both are great, just different.

I enjoy learning about all things audio, although when I go to a show I see a hundred things I want to buy, but can't. I appreciate the art that goes into making this stuff we buy and appreciate the expertise of good dealers, just sad that very, very few dealers are anywhere close to my home-they were once on every corner. Thanks for the chance to participate in this forum and to learn from you all. I apologize in advance for burdening your discussions with the slow witted views of a garden variety consumer, not blessed with golden ears or an electrical engineering degree.

Cheers.
 
Welcome! Where in Kentucky? I go to Bowling Green to see my buddy Rance and his lovely wife all the time.
 
Kramer64 said:
Where in Kentucky? I'm in Lexington. There is bound to be an audio community here, but I haven't found it.
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I'm in Bowling Green. Been here the past 32 years. Haven't found anything close to an audio community around here. I'm like a man on an island. :confused:
 
rrwmd said:
I'm in Bowling Green. Been here the past 32 years. Haven't found anything close to an audio community around here. I'm like a man on an island. :confused:
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Same here. Surprising to me that a city of 300,000 like Lexington and no real high end audio stores. I grew up in Marshall County-daughter is a WKU grad.
 
Kramer64 said:
I've been in the hobby for a while, but joined the forum a few days ago. I live in Kentucky and am a lawyer by trade, retired twice, but keep failing at that job. I spent about half my career in private practice and the other half in government-US Attorney in Kentucky, state court prosecutor and most recently running the executive branch cabinet that houses our state police, prison system, law enforcement training-all the fun stuff.

My system now consists of Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Burmester 218 amp, Burmester 808 Mk. 5 pre, Reed Muse 3c turntable, My sonic Labs cart, dcs Bartok Apex DAC, Schnerzinger Resolution cables, AQ Niagra 3000 power conditioner, Roon Nucleus, and Artnovian room treatments. No fancy switches, fuses, etc., although curious.

I like lots of music-streaming and Roon have introduced me to artists I would never have discovered on my own-incredible to have access to millions of tunes for a few dollars a month. I particularly enjoy blues, jazz vocals, classic rock and country, but open to exploration. I'm about 50-50 on vinyl and streaming-don't get why the vinyl/digital debate is so emotional-both are great, just different.

I enjoy learning about all things audio, although when I go to a show I see a hundred things I want to buy, but can't. I appreciate the art that goes into making this stuff we buy and appreciate the expertise of good dealers, just sad that very, very few dealers are anywhere close to my home-they were once on every corner. Thanks for the chance to participate in this forum and to learn from you all. I apologize in advance for burdening your discussions with the slow witted views of a garden variety consumer, not blessed with golden ears or an electrical engineering degree.

Cheers.
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Can you please explain why you have this gear. Please reverse engineer why & when.....
 
I'll try. Before this setup, I had Sonus Faber Il Cremonese speakers, Octave Jubilee pre and Michi S5 amp. I wanted to upgrade the amp, and my dealer at the time was brand limited, so I was amp shopping. Never thought I would leave Sonus Faber-beautiful speakers, very mellow, easy listening. I thought they lost a little in bass control and attack, but alternatives I'd heard were too analytical for my taste and I assumed that was the tradeoff.

So, I went to SWAF intending to focus on amps. Almost accidentally, I visited the room with Zellaton Plural Evo, Soulution amplification and Reed TT. The room was huge and untreated, but I loved the sound. The Zells, to my ears, did what I found lacking in the SFs, more speed, great bass control, better transient attack and imaging, but still produced a very natural sound, not tiring or artificially bright. So, I spent a lot of time in that room over the next 3 days and also seriously listened to other speakers in the same price range and maybe up to 30-40% more. For me, the Zells checked the most boxes although there are many wonderful choices in that price range. So, I ended up buying the pair that was at the show.

Burmester makes good stuff that pairs well with Zellaton. Very dynamic and revealing to my ears, but not quite as dry, to my ears, as something like Boulder or CH Precision. I think transducers make by far the biggest impact on a system and I suspect I could have been happy with any number of amplification options for both more or a little less money, but Burmester is a good match and has earned its reputation.

All of this is subjective, there is not an objective "best." In the range of my investment I think I get a great soundstage, pinpoint imaging, speed and resolution, while maintaining a natural, non-fatiguing sound. Very few dealers close to me, so shows are the only option to see a range of gear.

Considering replacing my DAC, but I'm not in the six figure market and the dcs Bartok is pretty good.

Probably more than you wanted to know.
 
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