Join Us For ‘Classic Rock Saturday’ - March 21st!

[HiFi Lounge]

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/Mikawen/Open%20Days/banner-hfl-classicrock_zpsxn86tbge.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/user/Mikawen/media/Open%20Days/banner-hfl-classicrock_zpsxn86tbge.jpg.html)

Hi Everyone,

To start our open days off for 2015 we thought we’d start with a bang, after the success of last years Led Zeppelin day with Dave Lewis from ‘Tight But Loose’ Dave will be back again but this year we are widening the bands we will be playing to those classic rock bands that we all love, so expect loads of Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Some Led Zeppelin of course, David Bowie, The Who, Rolling Stones, Yes, Eagles, I will definitely sneak some Springsteen in, but basically any rock from the 70’s is welcome, I may even slip in some Guns & Roses, not strictly 70’s but it was over 20 years ago that they shook the rock world so that makes them a classic rock band in my book.

Dave Lewis will be in attendance with the TBL crew and there will also be a variety of TBL products on offer including TBL magazines, books and T-shirts. He will also be staging a fun Zep/Classic Rock quiz with prizes to be won.

We will be running the fantastic PMC MB2 SE speakers with a full Bryston rig comprising of their awesome 1000 watt 28B SST2 Monoblocks, if anything can rock then this system is it :-) We will use a mix of CD and vinyl, for vinyl we will be using our new Well Tempered Versalex Turntable with the amazing Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua MC Cartridge fitted and for any video footage we can fire up the JVC X500 projector on our 120” screen.

Get your records cleaned!

To offer something a little different on the day, Barry from Grade1 Records - the Cherished Music Store will be on hand to clean any records that you’d like to get the best from, either give your old favourites a new lease of life or even if you have got any brand new pressings they really do benefit from a clean as it will remove the releasing agent used when pressing the album, this really does greatly improve dynamics so I would definitely recommend you give it a try if you love your vinyl, priced at £3 per vinyl so definitely worth a try.

We will supply refreshments throughout the day with Wendy making sure that everyone is got ample tea and coffee, so please put March 21st in your calendar for a day that is just to enjoy some classic rock music on some great equipment and to have some fun.

Let’s Rock and raise the HiFi Lounge roof!

Cheers,

Paul.

[HiFi Lounge]

Hi all,

As the weekend is now fast approaching, we are looking forward to rocking out with some Classic Rock with Dave Lewis from the Led Zeppelin Tight But Loose fan club, I thought I would just say that we will be starting from around 10am with muffins and coffee with nibbles throughout the day.

The awesome Bryston 28B SST2 1000 watts per channel mono blocs will be here from tomorrow then I just need to wheel out the excellent PMC MB2 SE speakers to really get our rock system warmed up in readiness.

Don’t forget that Barry will also be here with a selection of used vinyl for sale along with his record cleaning machine which I’m sure will be very busy indeed.

Below you will see a timetable that Dave has put together to give some structure to the day although this will be flexible as I am quite keen on everyone bringing any classic rock albums that they’d like to hear on our reference system.

HIFI LOUNGE/CLASSIC ROCK CLASSIC ROCK SATURDAY TIMETABLE:

Here is something of a timetable for the day - timings subject to change.

10 am to 12 noon:

Welcome/Introduction:

Audio and DVD Playback: Let’s rock the morning with Led Zep/The Who/Rolling Stones/David Bowie/Bad Company/Jimi Hendrix/Cream/Sabbath/Purple and more.

12 to 1pm:

Audio and DVD Playback: The American Factor – Bruce Springsteen/The Eagles/Lynyrd Skynyrd, Crosby Stills & Nash and more.

1pm to 2pm:

Audio and DVD Playback: Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti .The new reissue -here it like never before…

2pm to 3pm:

Classic Rock Quiz: Your Classic Rock knowledge tested!

3pm to 4pm

Audio and DVD Playback : The afternoon prog rock and chill out zone – Pink Floyd/Yes/ ELP/JethroTull and more

4pm to 6pm:

Audio and DVD Playback: Your requests

Look forward to seeing everyone at the weekend :-)

Cheers,

Paul.

[The Barbarian]

You gonna give a clue where it is? :D

[HiFi Lounge]

Sorry, it is at our shop, in Bedfordshire :-)

[HiFi Lounge]

Hi All,

Well its been a busy day but we are now all set for our Classic Rock Day tomorrow, the Bryston amps are warming up nicely to some Led Zeppelin as I just bought the last 3 box sets that were remastered and they are sounding great.

Barry dropped a few boxes of vinyl in today, starting from £1 up to £6′ish, there is a great selection there, so this could be a great opportunity to pick some vinyl at sensible prices, he will also be offering his vinyl cleaning service, I will be getting my recently released Bruce Springsteen Vinyl remasters cleaned that’s for sure.

Dave Lewis from the Led Zeppelin Fan Club will be bringing along a selection of vinyl and DVD’s to play, he has also put together a Classic Rock quiz which will be fun, I may have a go this year as I was well out of my depth last year with the Led Zeppelin quiz.

Basically it will be a relaxed day so please feel free to bring some music along, I have got the classics on vinyl but anything out of the ordinary will be great to hear also if we have the time, Wendy has also been busy sorting out the nibbles and coffee.

I have updated our Art Vinyl wall to get in with the mood, look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/Mikawen/Open%20Days/IMG_1215_zpshybr6dh9.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/user/Mikawen/media/Open%20Days/IMG_1215_zpshybr6dh9.jpg.html)

The big guns are ready :-)

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/Mikawen/Open%20Days/DSCF4095_zpsfymnr8lr.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/user/Mikawen/media/Open%20Days/DSCF4095_zpsfymnr8lr.jpg.html)

Cheers,
Paul.

[mikeyb]

Hi,

Looking good just a pity I can't attend
Mike.

[Audio Al]

Hi

How many people are you expecting roughly ?

Will it be packed or comfortable ;)

Thanks

[HiFi Lounge]

Sorry for the slow reply, it was all a little manic, we ended up getting a lot of people in, I think it was reasonably comfortable though.

[HiFi Lounge]

Hi All,

Both Wendy and myself just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who came along on Saturday and helped make our Classic Rock day so much fun, it was great to see so many familiar faces and a few new ones.

Also thanks for Barry for bringing along a great and varied selection of vinyl which proved very popular along with his record cleaning services, this also proved to be very popular indeed with many people trying the before and after experience and being quite surprised at the improvement the cleaning bought.

Also a big thanks to Dave Lewis for helping run the event, I stayed away from his quiz though as I think I really would have showed myself up, I didn’t even know one of the Bruce Springsteen questions so I wouldn’t have stood a chance with some of the more obscure questions but fair play to everyone who participated, there were some very impressive scores.

So all in all a great day that proved to be lots of fun, so thanks again and please find Dave Lewis’s review below and a picture that he took and a link to his Facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/tightbutloose.loose

HiFi Lounge/TBL Classic Rock Saturday – Dunton, Bedfordshire – March 21, 2015:

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/Mikawen/Open%20Days/035_zpsbwbvn649.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/user/Mikawen/media/Open%20Days/035_zpsbwbvn649.jpg.html)

It was great to be back at the farm buildings in Dunton yesterday - the home of HiFi Lounge,the highly reputable hi- fi dealership run by Paul Clark. We teamed up with Paul for a Zep day last year and we were back this time extending the theme to classic rock artusts and it worked a treat.

It was good to TBL crew members Gary Foy and Ian Avey –Richard Grubb and his mate Bill over from Wales (Richard wrote that superb Led Zep Remastered feature in TBL 38) plus Martyn Vail and wife Jean. There were also plenty of Paul’s Hi-Fi enthusiasts in attendance. I’m no hi fi buff but I am fascinated at the knowledge and passion these guys have and boy is there some money to be spent.

There was also the added bonus of a record stall present run by Barry from Grade 1 Records Stevenage. Barry also offered a record cleaning service and those that took up that option were amazed at the results – Richard Grubb had new life breathed into an old copy of Led Zep II he brought along -Tom had a similar result with his Wild Turkey album. The stall did some brisk business and of course I succumbed to a couple namely The Yes Album on original UK plum and orange Atlantic and Canned Heat.

After lunch (a superb spread - thank you Wendy!) I also ran a fun quiz of 50 questions surrounding classic rock artists – the lyric round foxed a few (that’s you Phil H!). The winners were Gary and Ian.

The main attraction was of course the playing of vinyl on amazing kit.

For that treat we were listening in the main room on a hi-fi set up with the following specs and the price it retails at:

PMC MB2 Se’s speakers (£16,100)

Bryston 28B SST x2 amps (£10,000 each)

Bryston SP3 pre amp (£10,000)

Well tempered Vesaleax Turntable (£3,400)

Dynavector Te Kaitora cartridge (£2199)

Atlas Asimi Cables Throughout

Phew!

There was an excellent cross section of albums and choice cuts on the playlist throughout the day – here’s some highlights:

The Who - Who’s Next Baba O Reilly/Bargain – amazingly clear.

Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon – as expected, pretty awesome. attraction was of course the playing of vinyl on amazing kit.

Deep Purple Speed King/Black Sabbath Paranoid -Tom’s faves.

Frank Zappa Hot Rats (Richard and Bill were at a Frank Zappa Convention the previous night and got this one in!)

David Bowie - the recent best of set.

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti – absolutely stunning!

Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven from the 02 Celebration Day album this sounded so clear and it was a real thrill to hear Robert’ ‘’Hey Ahmet’’ comment loud and proud.

Fleetwood Mac Rumours – winding down at the close of the day this sounded magnificent - particularly The Chain and You make Loving Fun.

I sold a few bits and spread the TBL word throughout the day – overall another splendid HIFi Lounge/TBL event and many thanks to Paul and Wendy for opening the doors to the HiFi Lounge – if you are need of quality h-fi –be sure to check in with Paul.

DL - March 22, 2015

Thanks again,

Paul & Wendy