Hi Jerry,

Yes I was very impressed with your room, too, and would rate it as one of the best, perhaps in no small amount due to those superb Lancasters, which TBH, are one of the best pairs of Tannoys I've heard - you had real synergy going on there, dude!

Perhaps now you've warmed just a teensy-weensy bit to the vintage Tannoy DC sound? There's a reason, you know, why so many people loved their musical presentation

Also, I was glad to have been of assistance to Robin on Friday night when he was considering buying the Lancasters, and he asked for my advice, and invited Nick, John and me over to his room to have a listen to them. It only took about 5 mins of listening for me to say "Buy 'em!", so I'm glad he did - enjoy Rob!

I will comment later on my thoughts of the few rooms I managed to visit.

As an exhibitor, it's impossible to get round all the rooms, and I think if this excellent show could be bettered in any significant way, it would be for it to be extended to a two-day event. You need one day to be in your own room to talk to people, and another full day to visit everyone else's room and have a proper listen.

Perhaps someone who's also a member of Wigwam could put this suggestion forward?

I know it would make it more expensive, but I think it would ultimately result in people enjoying themselves more, being less tired, and probably even better sounds being produced, as folks would have more time to get their systems gelling with the rooms they've been given.

A big thanks, though, to James and everyone else at Wigwam for the superb effort they put in to making the show once again a success - roll on next year indeed!

One thing I'd like to do next year is put together an AoS system with less of my gear in it (for a change - lol), and showcase other people's kit. I'd love to use some of Martin T's equipment, for example, particularly his Techy, and there are others too who could provide some good stuff (e.g. Clive, with his superb Salvation T/T), so let's work towards that aim for next year, chaps....!

Anyway, until I can get my own thoughts together, here are a smattering of the comments we've received from elsewhere on the AoS room (we had loads more very positive remarks from visitors, many of whom don't contribute to forums, with the Celestions in particular going down a treat):


From Wigwam:

"Art of Sound's was as amazing as ever and those old Celestions are staggeringly good."


"We both thought the Ditton 66 system was great, considering they are as old as my son! They sounded clean and controlled and easily showed the difference between the sources that were used during our brief listening session."


"Really glad it worked out for you in the end Jerry. Now some people might think me biased, but I would say this anyway-your room with Robins' Tannoys was the best sounding of the show by a country mile, barring The AOS room who were close behind, particularly when the Nagra open-reel was in use..."


"The Art of Sound room was very impressive. A lot of electronica being played on my first visit. I was walking past later in the day when Jeff Buckley’s was playing and stopped dead in my tracks at the door and had to go back in. It was awesome."


"The few rooms that I poke my head in to were all very positive, the ART of sound's room was rather good..."


"The final system that stood out for me was one that I think was on the first floor and used monitor speakers that were quite widely spaced, so going by the programme, I think it must have been SYndicate 5's system with Celestion Ditton 66 Studio Monitors. Pretty detailed, but not in your face. Reminded me a bit of my Spendor Sp1's."


"AOS's room was very loud as usual! My first visit was a dissapointment due to excess treble but a second visit was jawdropping with the Nagra playing."


"The AOS room, with the Celestion Ditton 66. Sounded good on CD, but then I asked for the Nagra reel-to-reel to be played ... OMG . Fabulous."


"I loved the Celestion 66s. My brother used to own 25s, and maybe that's why I liked them so much. Cool copper KT88 based amp, lovely Nagra tape deck. I'm not sure this wasn't my fave system. Loved the way the 66s looked, ahem, so knackered, yet sang so bloody well. The 66s ooze detail, can pack serious, serious bass. They also image really well. Brilliant!"


"The Celestion 66 sound was also very good - impressive clean and deep bass in a relatively large room."


From James Palmer (owner): "Only one FUCK ME THAT'S UGLY, OH MY GO I WANT IT moment: I thought Marco's speakers were the ugliest things I have ever seen while being the most sublime speakers I have ever heard. Quite astonishingly good."


And from pfm:


"[Best rooms] Marco/Art of Sound - Insane amounts of deep bass from some vintage Celestion 66s. Good sound and just goes to show how good some old speakers are."


"AoS's Dittons 66 are both fabulous and stupendously ugly at the same time..."


[Indeed they ain't purdy with the grilles off, but unfortunately that's how they sound best! ]


"It really is a great show, where else can you hear ,Quads ,Tannoys ,Horns, Apogees, those fantastic Dittons, in a 25 metre radius".


And from Tony L:

"Marco's Ditton 66s. These were the speaker that kicked me into audio in first place. I heard a friend's dad's pair and was hooked, I can even remember the track (A Question Of Balance by the Moody Blues). Not heard a pair since about 1976 until today. You know what? They sound how I remember them: big, ballsy, tons of deep fun bass. I like."


It was certainly good at long last to meet Tony and have a chat with him in Jerry (Jandl's) room, whilst listening to those superb Lancasters. Based on the comments we were both making, I suspect that Tony and I share similar priorities on how music is best reproduced


Some nice pics from the gear used in the AoS room:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/6028228...7626214821530/ - SPU doing the biz on the Techy, with nice shot of Mike New platter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6028228...7626214821530/
- Nick's wonderful Nagra.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6028228...7626214821530/ - MusicWorks mains block and Mark Grant Furutech-modded DSP.2.5s (both were essential to how the system sounded, speakers aside! )

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6028228...7626214821530/ - Copper amp, Croft preamp, TD mains filter (also essential, for an 'ancillary item', to how the system sounded) and the superb SR5 PSU, for the Techy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6028228...7626214821530/ - Tweeter and midrange unit of Celestions.


Nice YouTube vid here, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRLunWK_bE


Right, I'm off to empty the car, reassemble my system, and once I've finished all that, I'll offer my thoughts on some of the rooms I visited

Marco.