Music Talks at Alma Music and Audio

asiufy

asiufy

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Hi guys!

Here's the official invite for our first industry event!
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Alma Music and Audio, San Diego’s new audio emporium, is unveiling today its series of industry events, Music Talks.[FONT=.HelveticaNeueDeskInterface-Regular]
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In an informal setting, some of high end audio’s luminaries will showcase not only their newest products, but also their favorite music and recordings, using anything from original pressings of vinyl up to high resolution files.


For the first Music Talks, the line-up is terrific. Dan D'Agostino will showcase and demonstrate the full Momentum line as well as the new Classic Master amplifier and Mlife integrated amplifier with internal streaming DAC. Yoav Geva will talk about the technology behind the YG Acoustics Sonja 1.3, Hailey, and Carmel 2 loudspeakers. Joe Kubala will show the complete line of Kubala-Sosna cables including the new USB and network cables. Vince Galbo will talk about the entire range of MSB Technology's DACs, and Aurender’s Harry Lee and Sally Jeung will introduce their latest music server, the N10.


Other products on hand for audition will include the Audiopax tube amps from Brazil, the Kronos turntable, Audionet electronics, Auralic streamers and Avantgarde loudspeakers.


You’re welcome to come, bring your music, or shop Alma’ stock of 2000+ LPs.


Refreshments will be served continuously throughout both days. The event hours are Saturday, July 18 from 11am to 8pm, and Sunday, July 19 from noon to 6pm. Don't miss this unique opportunity to experience these products and meet their designers. For more information, please contact Fabio Storelli, at (619) 243 6615.
 
Very nice, Alexendre! Wish I was on the West Coast! Good luck with the event!
 
Thanks, Allen!

This event started just as a spur of the moment thing, when all the parties got together at the Newport show, and thought it'd be great to get together again in the store! So we settled on a date right there and then, and voilà :)

But now we're planning on having these regularly, every couple of months, to showcase different brands and manufacturers. So many next time? :)


cheers,
alex
 
I stopped in yesterday for the first time and met Fabio we hit it off immediately. the store is really nice with at least 6 well-sorted and thoughtfully assembled systems set up and ready to audition. I think anyone within a 100 miles should make the effort to attend next weekend, unfortunately I can't but a few friends of mine will be there.

Alma is smack in So. La Jolla a stones throw from the beach, while you attend the event your significant other/family can roam the village and window shop, people watch or hang out at one of the many outdoor cafes and enjoy the awesome weather we're having

Fabio is putting on more "meet the designers" type events in the future, request to be on their email distribution list for future announcements or follow them on facebook.
 
Rob,

Thanks for stopping by! Shame I wasn't in store, would've loved to meet you!

It's great to see and hear people appreciate all the hard work we put in the store :) It's there for you guys, after all...

And yes, we're definitely planning to have this event be a recurring thing now! Since we have all these rooms, we can put together some very interesting set ups, and mix and match them to taste...

cheers,
alex
 
Hi Alex, I'm bummed I won't hear Dan's new SOTA phono stage (first public showing?) I also heard he'll have his mono blocks there too.

Fabio cued up the big system with the Sonja 1.3s, kronos 'table/new Orotfon A95 cart w/Audionet 2-box phono and D'Agostino amps. to wet my whistle he put on a recent pressing of DSOTM and then the Bolivar Soloists direct-to-disc recording of Astor Piazzolla's music. I'm always impressed when big speakers like the sonja can disappear effortlessly on small ensembles and still project a stage in life-like proportions. I have this record and on my system it sounds nearly as impressive except in 2/3rds scale (that's why the last 10% costs the most).

I also checked out the MSB stack, I hear you'll have their statement pieces in soon. Fabio has planted the seed in my brain with their analog DAC, its a significant upgrade to what i'm used to it and it looks/sounds superb.

Please post pics of the event.
 
Rob,

Yes, one of the things I like about the big YGs is that the image is never exceedingly big, just rightly so, or "life like" as you said!
Our room is quite challenging, and we could've set up the speakers for a different result, but we wanted to prioritize imaging and soundstaging, with lots of depth. I'm glad you liked it!
We're going to have the DAC V stack for the event, but the Analog DAC is a best buy. With it, you're basically leaving that 10% of performance on the table, but at a much lower price point. Since we're going to have both in the store, it'll be easy to compare and see/hear the difference!
Dan is putting the finishing touches on the phono preamp, and we're going to have the first public demonstration of it! It has been shown before, but on silent display... Another firsts, the MLife integrated amp, with DAC/streamer, and the Classic Stereo "budget" 2-ch stereo amp. Very anxious to hear this last one!
Follow this thread, I'm definitely posting some pics of the event!


thanks,
Alex
 
Hey Alex, congrats on all the upcoming events! My son lives in San Clemente, so when I come to visit him I would love to meet you and see your shop.
 
MDP said:
Hey Alex, congrats on all the upcoming events! My son lives in San Clemente, so when I come to visit him I would love to meet you and see your shop.
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Mark,

You're more than welcome! You'll see some familiar "faces" (Hegel, VPI), and some not so!
If you can, let me know when you're coming, and I'll make sure one of us will be there to host you!


cheers,
alexandre
 
Hi!

The event was pretty good, if I may say :)

We started Saturday of nicely, with a full house around noon. Things were pretty busy, but fortunately I had some time to still hang out with KeithR, who drove from LA!
By 2:30, we started the talks, with Dick Diamond and Yoav Geva, from YG Acoustics. Mr. YG explained some of the benefits of his speakers, and showed people how thin, light and stiff his aluminum drivers are! The talk was mixed in with songs that demonstrated each one of these technologies employed in the speaker's construction.

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Then Dan D'Agostino followed, with a brief history of his company so far, and how the Momentum line came to be. Unfortunately, the new phono preamp wasn't ready on time (because of one single part that didn't arrive at his lab on time!), but we had the unit here on display.

IMG_4571.jpg

Dan also brought a HD full of gorgeous DSD files, that we were able to play through the Aurender/MSB DAC V combo, once Vince Galbo, from MSB, installed the Quad USB port on the DAC V.

After a quick break, Vince explained the finer details of ladder DACs, and the modular architecture of MSB DACs. He was followed by Aurender's Harry Lee, who presented the new N10, and explained the differences between the various Aurender products and lines.

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Overall, it was a pretty busy day, and we had folks visiting from as far away as Nebraska!

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really fun afternoon- Dan's presentation was most interesting. He basically said he changed the entire way he designed amplifiers for the Momentums (circuit included, not just the enclosure/form stuff). his final prototype was designed in part with a bunch of audiophiles who had a pot luck amp get together, which included his prior flagship the Evo 1s.

he also admitted his Krell preamps measured spectacular, but must have not sounded very good as people called in and always said they were using other preamps vs his own. i guess the objectivists will be pissed by that one :)

i wish i had a chance to speak to Yoav before I left and ask him about efficiency improvement in his speaker designs (his previous efforts were low 80s measured)
 
Keith,

This topic was brought up with Yoav, I don't remember if during his presentation, or afterwards. But I heard it. He says that the nominal efficiency hasn't changed much from his prior designs. What he did though was minimize the impedance variations across the audio band, as well as keep the minimum above 4 ohms for most of it.

I'm glad you had a good time, and we could hang out for a big, in spite of the bad weather :)
 
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