Welder
23-03-2012, 14:33
My mate Stef rang me a couple of evenings ago to tell me he had arranged a meeting with the guy who has shown some interest in our music server orientated MOB and we had been invited to the guys home to discuss the project and try the server out in his stereo system.
Frankly, I hate going round to most peoples houses to listen to their Hi Fi.
Almost invariably it’s the same; you’re presented with “kit” usually arranged in alter fashion, carefully displayed between two speakers dominating more often than not totally unsuitable domestic living space.
You then get subjected to deafening renditions of music you wouldn’t allow into your home and when you ask how much they’ve spent on the impressive component display they go all coy and mutter telephone numbers.
Then comes the really awkward bit; they ask you what you think. :doh:
Strangely and it took me a while to grasp this, not having the most polished social skills, what one is supposed to do is lie. Comments like “you wuz robbed” as you roll around the floor and “well actually I think mine sounds a lot better and it didn’t cost anything like that” tend to leave that awkward feet staring moment and a foreshortened visit.
Add to this I can’t seem to manage the intense and serious Hi Fi discussion bit and need reminding not to spit on the floor and you’ll understand my feeling that me accompanying Stef on this outing might not be the greatest marketing strategy. :eyebrows:
Anyway, a normal guy greeted us on arrival, no pipe smoking jazz vinyl clutching earnestness apparent and we got shown into what I mistakenly took to be a greenhouse minus most of the glass.
I was further stymied by not being able to instantly locate “The Hi Fi”. :scratch:
What I did notice was a couple of rather unusual, what one might take to be decorative screens showing a couple of trees and an Apple laptop sitting on a small cabinet.
On being asked what we fancied listening too (me still not even sure we were in the right room yet and half expecting a set of ear buds connected to the laptop to be passed over) I pipe up “got any funk!” :D
Oh boy! Those tastefully decorated screen thingies were in fact speakers. Not that it was obvious the sound was emanating from them.
I didn’t think panel speakers did bass tbh. I’ve pretty much been a box man since my first listen to a mates dads Quad ESls way back in the.......well a long time ago. Great for nearfield monitors, lovely midrange but speakers with grunt and driving bass, well perhaps not.
These had bass alright, all the way down to 40Hz if you get them set up right apparently and FAST just doesn’t describe it.
Well, we worked our way through my favourite Parliament tracks, flowers blossomed on the plants, went on to some Goldfrapp and new shoots grew all around and by the time we got to Mediski Martin and Wood the greenery was leaving their pots and swaying to the beat.
I really like my stereo. I’ve put ridiculous amounts of time and money into it over the years and I’ve heard quite a lot of the competition in all price bands and tbh walked away from most with a contented grin on my face at the thought of getting back to listen to mine.
When this guys complete vision of the music listening experience and the type and quality of sound he had within his price band is taken into account I reckon I could happily live with it and not feel the need to tweak or tinker and just listen to the tunes.
I did ask how much and what I got told was completely at odds with the quality of sound I was listening to and his vision of how he integrated the sound system into the environment.
If you’re think of starting from scratch (or even if I started from scratch at some point) and had the money this system would be very high on my want list.
The stuff.
As a couple they decided to convert their dinning room which was a house extension with a conservatory style roof into a greenhouse/music room and set a budget of £10000 for everything.
A German made Pro Studio balanced power transformer fed from a dedicated mains, “acquired” from work apparently. There are no other electrics in the room, no lights, TV, sockets, nothing. Apparently at night the roof lets in enough light and they use a couple of battery powered lanterns for atmosphere.
Apple Macbook Pro with various players (already owned) with various software including Pure Music, Audiravna.
NAD M2 amplifier/Dac. £4650
Magnepan 1.7 panel speakers. £1900 + £460 for the tree art covers.
Approximately £2500 spent on acoustic room treatment and plants. There were a lot of plants! They make for excellent acoustic treatment and they dig the music.
All audio cables acquired from work but nothing exotic. A pair of speaker cables underfloor and a single optical connection from laptop to NAD.
I would have loved to have been able to post some pictures of the room but if you think of sitting on sofa in a jungle listening to music with no apparent source, you’ve got it.
What really impressed me about this setup was the combination of environment, simplicity and sound. The presentation of the sound was completely different to the point source I’m used to from conventional speakers and I liked it....a lot. I thought I would miss the deep bass I get from my speakers but the better imaging more than made up for it.
Of course I was delighted to find the NAD M2 hidden in the cabinet feeding the speakers, 300 watts easily capable of driving the not so efficient panels with grip and speed.
£10000 may seem a lot of money but I’ve heard systems costing an awful lot more not sound anything like as good and of course, you’ve got all that “pray to the Hi Fi set up” which doesn’t do it for me.
A very interesting integration of music and life and despite being a whinging miserable old bastard I really enjoyed myself.
Did our server with the “special” MOB sound any better than his laptop etc? Unfortunately not by much was the agreed result but as usual when it comes to this type of stuff its all about cost and less components means cheaper to make so he’s still interested, an especially good result given I remembered not to spit on the floor and didn’t feel like rolling around the floor laughing at his kit once.
Frankly, I hate going round to most peoples houses to listen to their Hi Fi.
Almost invariably it’s the same; you’re presented with “kit” usually arranged in alter fashion, carefully displayed between two speakers dominating more often than not totally unsuitable domestic living space.
You then get subjected to deafening renditions of music you wouldn’t allow into your home and when you ask how much they’ve spent on the impressive component display they go all coy and mutter telephone numbers.
Then comes the really awkward bit; they ask you what you think. :doh:
Strangely and it took me a while to grasp this, not having the most polished social skills, what one is supposed to do is lie. Comments like “you wuz robbed” as you roll around the floor and “well actually I think mine sounds a lot better and it didn’t cost anything like that” tend to leave that awkward feet staring moment and a foreshortened visit.
Add to this I can’t seem to manage the intense and serious Hi Fi discussion bit and need reminding not to spit on the floor and you’ll understand my feeling that me accompanying Stef on this outing might not be the greatest marketing strategy. :eyebrows:
Anyway, a normal guy greeted us on arrival, no pipe smoking jazz vinyl clutching earnestness apparent and we got shown into what I mistakenly took to be a greenhouse minus most of the glass.
I was further stymied by not being able to instantly locate “The Hi Fi”. :scratch:
What I did notice was a couple of rather unusual, what one might take to be decorative screens showing a couple of trees and an Apple laptop sitting on a small cabinet.
On being asked what we fancied listening too (me still not even sure we were in the right room yet and half expecting a set of ear buds connected to the laptop to be passed over) I pipe up “got any funk!” :D
Oh boy! Those tastefully decorated screen thingies were in fact speakers. Not that it was obvious the sound was emanating from them.
I didn’t think panel speakers did bass tbh. I’ve pretty much been a box man since my first listen to a mates dads Quad ESls way back in the.......well a long time ago. Great for nearfield monitors, lovely midrange but speakers with grunt and driving bass, well perhaps not.
These had bass alright, all the way down to 40Hz if you get them set up right apparently and FAST just doesn’t describe it.
Well, we worked our way through my favourite Parliament tracks, flowers blossomed on the plants, went on to some Goldfrapp and new shoots grew all around and by the time we got to Mediski Martin and Wood the greenery was leaving their pots and swaying to the beat.
I really like my stereo. I’ve put ridiculous amounts of time and money into it over the years and I’ve heard quite a lot of the competition in all price bands and tbh walked away from most with a contented grin on my face at the thought of getting back to listen to mine.
When this guys complete vision of the music listening experience and the type and quality of sound he had within his price band is taken into account I reckon I could happily live with it and not feel the need to tweak or tinker and just listen to the tunes.
I did ask how much and what I got told was completely at odds with the quality of sound I was listening to and his vision of how he integrated the sound system into the environment.
If you’re think of starting from scratch (or even if I started from scratch at some point) and had the money this system would be very high on my want list.
The stuff.
As a couple they decided to convert their dinning room which was a house extension with a conservatory style roof into a greenhouse/music room and set a budget of £10000 for everything.
A German made Pro Studio balanced power transformer fed from a dedicated mains, “acquired” from work apparently. There are no other electrics in the room, no lights, TV, sockets, nothing. Apparently at night the roof lets in enough light and they use a couple of battery powered lanterns for atmosphere.
Apple Macbook Pro with various players (already owned) with various software including Pure Music, Audiravna.
NAD M2 amplifier/Dac. £4650
Magnepan 1.7 panel speakers. £1900 + £460 for the tree art covers.
Approximately £2500 spent on acoustic room treatment and plants. There were a lot of plants! They make for excellent acoustic treatment and they dig the music.
All audio cables acquired from work but nothing exotic. A pair of speaker cables underfloor and a single optical connection from laptop to NAD.
I would have loved to have been able to post some pictures of the room but if you think of sitting on sofa in a jungle listening to music with no apparent source, you’ve got it.
What really impressed me about this setup was the combination of environment, simplicity and sound. The presentation of the sound was completely different to the point source I’m used to from conventional speakers and I liked it....a lot. I thought I would miss the deep bass I get from my speakers but the better imaging more than made up for it.
Of course I was delighted to find the NAD M2 hidden in the cabinet feeding the speakers, 300 watts easily capable of driving the not so efficient panels with grip and speed.
£10000 may seem a lot of money but I’ve heard systems costing an awful lot more not sound anything like as good and of course, you’ve got all that “pray to the Hi Fi set up” which doesn’t do it for me.
A very interesting integration of music and life and despite being a whinging miserable old bastard I really enjoyed myself.
Did our server with the “special” MOB sound any better than his laptop etc? Unfortunately not by much was the agreed result but as usual when it comes to this type of stuff its all about cost and less components means cheaper to make so he’s still interested, an especially good result given I remembered not to spit on the floor and didn’t feel like rolling around the floor laughing at his kit once.