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1: General Asylum, RE: my Solid State system is more liquid than my tube system - makes me rethink "liquid" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-10-22, 10:22:06 (24.91.31.211)
Is live music liquid? Don't mean this to be a dumb question. Smooth, clear, fulsome, sometimes raucous, bright, and percussive. Liquid?? I have always considered liquidity in audio to be a pleasing ar .......
2: General Asylum, Amen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-08-25, 07:42:31 (24.91.31.211)
If your goal is capturing what's on recordings, absolutely. If you want it coddled, manipulated, and otherwise 'improved,' maybe not. .......
3: Speaker Asylum, RE: Please elaborate, Bob - what's "the most important thing?"...nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-08-02, 11:30:37 (24.91.31.211)
If you want to hear my opinion of what represents the Sixes and Advents in the current market, you'll have to ask me, I'm not allowed to say anything that directly otherwise. .......
4: Speaker Asylum, RE: Please elaborate, Bob - what's "the most important thing?"...nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-08-02, 11:27:37 (24.91.31.211)
Making us care. Or as the humanists would say, speaking to our hearts. JMR once said he did not want us to be able to cook while listening to his speakers. I couldn't tell you what this means technica .......
5: Speaker Asylum, RE: Has anyone heard the newish KLH Model 5's? Supposedly all the rage now, at $2,500/pair. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-08-02, 10:31:07 (24.91.31.211)
Years ago when both were current, I compared the Fives and Sixes in an audio store in Baltimore. The Fives were more objective sounding, the Sixes more solicitous. There was a detachment to the Fives .......
6: General Asylum, So does mine. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-06-30, 08:42:33 (24.91.31.211)
n.t. .......
7: Speaker Asylum, RE: Looking for suggestions for new speakers under $3k. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-05-17, 06:24:54 (24.91.31.211)
Vive la france! .......
8: General Asylum, RE: An open letter and appeal for this forum (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-05-02, 06:40:26 (24.91.31.211)
Hefferdust .......
9: General Asylum, RE: Life is an illusion. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-03-16, 14:00:32 (24.91.31.211)
Groan. What the quark actually said to the electron, having just read the latest Chalmers, is that since it's all likely an illusion but bits down there beneath us all, I'd rather live up there with t .......
10: General Asylum, RE: Life is an illusion. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-03-15, 13:30:18 (24.91.31.211)
That's what the quark said to the electron. .......
11: General Asylum, RE: Life is an illusion. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2022-03-14, 03:28:51 (24.91.31.211)
If both Peter Qvortrup & Andy Grove on one hand and Geoff Kait, Gilbert Yeung, and Jean Claude Reynaud on another believe they are in pursuit of reality and the results of their work sound nothing lik .......
12: Speaker Asylum, RE: Suggestions for shipping 50lb AR-1 speakers (carrier and packing) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2021-03-06, 10:14:57 (24.91.31.211)
USPS Priority/Special Handling. .......
13: General Asylum, RE: Got any examples? Most high end cable companies don't make power conditioners. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2021-03-03, 08:03:39 (24.91.31.211)
Me neither. All of those I've tried change the sound, which is not what I'm looking for. Exception is Jeff's Black Jack which makes his Cantata 3.0 simply sound like a better version of itself. All of .......
14: General Asylum, Maybe time for you all to listen to some of Jeff Kait's machines. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2021-02-05, 12:22:49 (24.91.31.211)
That's Geoff, sorry. .......
15: General Asylum, RE: New Eva Cassidy Documentary & (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2021-02-02, 11:32:39 (24.91.31.211)
Thank you. .......
16: Speaker Asylum, RE: Giving up on Harbeth speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-11-22, 09:45:35 (24.91.31.211)
Yup .......
17: Speaker Asylum, RE: Giving up on Harbeth speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-11-22, 09:44:21 (24.91.31.211)
Yup. .......
18: General Asylum, RE: OK, That's IT! I'm not asking that Midas guy over here again! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-07-14, 11:09:06 (24.91.31.211)
Love it. .......
19: Speaker Asylum, RE: A question about JMR Speakers to Bob Neill. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-29, 14:35:56 (24.91.31.211)
Happy to. My affection for them grows, almost from recording to recording, day to day, to the point where I barely listen to anything else. What has grown on me most noticeably has been a sense of spa .......
20: General Asylum, Creston Funk, the elder (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-29, 11:11:40 (24.91.31.211)
Word has just been received from his long-time business partner, Mark Heaston, that we have lost one of the most colorful, beloved, and personable figures in the audio world, Creston Funk of Austin Hi .......
21: Classical Court, RE: Violins too bright? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-23, 15:47:34 (24.91.31.211)
Sorry, you were talking about vinyl, not tubes. But solid state need not be too bright... .......
22: Classical Court, RE: Violins too bright? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-23, 14:38:54 (24.91.31.211)
If violins are too bright, there is an issue in your system that tubes can't fix, they'll just cover it up. Or, as someone says in another asylum today, they'll take you to heaven, which is not where .......
23: General Asylum, RE: FM Table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-21, 09:41:53 (24.91.31.211)
Many, many thanks to all. .......
24: General Asylum, RE: FM Table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-11, 11:19:14 (24.91.31.211)
Made good TV's too! .......
25: General Asylum, RE: FM Table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-11, 10:54:20 (24.91.31.211)
Looks promising, thanks. .......
26: Radio Road, FM table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-11, 10:53:14 (24.91.31.211)
I had an Eight, also the one-piece KLH radio, which I still have. The Eight had tubes. Solid it to a restorer. My daughter's looking for new... .......
27: General Asylum, FM Table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-11, 09:26:10 (24.91.31.211)
Tried posting this on Radio Road but he won't go. My daughter has had Tivoli FM radios for a long time but feels they look better than they sound. Any recommendations for a good one for around $300? S .......
28: Radio Road, FM table radio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-06-11, 09:23:06 (24.91.31.211)
My daughter has had Tivoli radios for a long time and says they look better than they sound. Any recommendations for a decent one for $300 or less? .......
29: General Asylum, RE: Clark Johnsen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-16, 06:10:11 (24.91.31.211)
Thanks so much for this. And I thought I knew him pretty well! .......
30: General Asylum, RE: Art Dudley RIP (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-15, 09:19:42 (24.91.31.211)
Very sorry when he closed Listener. Maybe it's our fault, not enough subscribers. .......
31: Speaker Asylum, RE: Looks like Aurum Cantus AST25120 Aero Striction Tweeter in Voce Grande (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-10, 05:19:38 (24.91.31.211)
from the JMR website: Medium / AST tweeter (aerostriction) diaphragm 120mm long (2x longer than that usually used on the ABSCISSE Jubilé and ORFEO Jubilé) allowing a low cutoff frequency in 12db / oc .......
32: General Asylum, RE: Always appreciated his posts here on audio... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-09, 09:34:48 (24.91.31.211)
He has achieved absolute polarity, we must assume. He was the guy. who introduced me to Blue Circle and Naim. A great pair of ears he had, so good he could hear things most of us could not. ::: TOPIC: .......
33: General Asylum, Clark Johnsen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-09, 07:10:19 (24.91.31.211)
I've just received news that Clark died peacefully yesterday around 5:30pm. He had been in a care facility for around two weeks. A wonderful, rare bird in our world. .......
34: Speaker Asylum, RE: Hey Bob Neill! New JM Reynaud speakers Voce Grande... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-08, 12:30:14 (24.91.31.211)
Offie fans have already found Heaven, no need to look elsewhere! Voces and Offies occupy different planets but both planets are Reynaud planets. And please don't ask me to explain that because I can't .......
35: Speaker Asylum, RE: Hey Bob Neill! New JM Reynaud speakers Voce Grande... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-04-08, 11:09:42 (24.91.31.211)
Credibility is everything is writing and talking about things audio, so yes, you read me right when you say I've been holding back a little. But it's been a while since these speakers arrived and they .......
36: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Knowing that the Chinese will sell ripoffs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-10, 11:25:58 (24.91.31.211)
Another note: Some people feel that designers who pursue ultimate designs which yield nearly unaffordable gear are merely self-indulgent. What they don't realize is that in audio, though clearly not .......
37: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Knowing that the Chinese will sell ripoffs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-10, 10:24:41 (24.91.31.211)
Notes from tour: Native Dane PQ who has sunk deep personal and business roots in England plans for Brexit, giving us a hint of how his and other UK businesses may be affected by it. Always fascinati .......
38: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Knowing that the Chinese will sell ripoffs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-10, 08:50:56 (24.91.31.211)
Tour is a gas, especially (only?) for Audlo Note fans. Nellie and MIke, thanks for doing this. .......
39: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: 4300E Tubes Arrive (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-09, 10:25:27 (24.91.31.211)
I have tried half a dozen times to edit this post and the edit simply won't take. So I'm trying to post my edited version here as a new post. I think that with the arrival of these new 4300E tubes, my .......
40: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: 4300E Tubes Arrive (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-09, 08:08:42 (24.91.31.211)
I had an email from Andy summarizing the process he went through to design and produce this marvel. Even in summary form, it sounds like an epic quest. We are fortunate that Peter can afford to invest .......
41: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: 4300E Tubes Arrive (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-08, 16:57:58 (24.91.31.211)
I think that with the arrival of these new 4300E tubes, my Tonmeister/K/SPx SE system has become a true Audio Note system. As much as I've enjoyed it up to now, it's hovered around the edges of the Au .......
42: Amp/Preamp Asylum, 4300E Tubes Arrive (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2020-01-08, 14:42:36 (24.91.31.211)
It would be prudent for me to wait a few days on this but I'm an impulsive guy and need to get this out: with these new Audio Note 4300E 300B tubes in my Meishu Tonmeister Silver Signature I would say .......
43: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Meishu Tonmaster, Take Two (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-12-31, 15:55:15 (24.91.31.211)
Fifty hours? Nelsens's Shostakovich Syms 6 & 7 on DG with the BSO, Hogwood's Haydn Symphonies 1-5 with Academy of Ancient Music on Decca's L'oiseua lyre, and brand spanking new Complete Hank Mobley Bl .......
44: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Just for the record... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-12-20, 13:56:47 (24.91.31.211)
I was just offering the info because several posters were denying me my proper l. .......
45: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Just for the record... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-12-20, 06:04:32 (24.91.31.211)
Neill has two l's in it! .......
46: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: To Bob Neil on the Audio Note (UK) Tonemesiter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-12-19, 08:06:57 (24.91.31.211)
I'll be interested to hear what the 4300E's add. Im also eager to hear what the amp does with the K/SPx SE's, which are truly remarkable little beasts. Sounds like we're hearing pretty much the same .......
47: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: To Bob Neil on the Audio Note (UK) Tonemesiter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-12-19, 07:55:36 (24.91.31.211)
The JMR Voce Grande isn't due here until early 2020 but I can talk about the new Meishu Tonmeister. I am in the process of writing some 'notes in progress' on the amp for those I consider friends of A .......
48: Speaker Asylum, RE: Linn Isobariks -ummm (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-11-26, 14:14:59 (24.91.31.211)
My favorite speakers for several years, especially driven Linn LK 280 power amps. I moved into much smaller quarters and had to give 'em up. Not a happy day. .......
49: General Asylum, RE: Ask me why I prefer the Abscissas to the Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-24, 12:23:04 (24.91.31.211)
No, the Twins weren't technically better than the much larger and several times more expensive Harbeths, but the comparison did reveal a principal characteristic of the M40's I hadn't been aware of un .......
50: General Asylum, RE: Ask me why I prefer the Abscissas to the Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-24, 12:01:20 (24.91.31.211)
You should go back and dig up what i said about Harbeth 40's! That was before I heard the little JMR Twins. Audio opinions are usually snapshots. All you should expect from reviewers is an honest desc .......
51: General Asylum, RE: Ask me why I prefer the Abscissas to the Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-24, 08:26:59 (24.91.31.211)
The Offrandes are gone. If I were a true audiophile, they would still be here, along with Linn Isobariks, Meridian M2's and KLH Fours. But having Offies around now would simply encourage 'critical lis .......
52: General Asylum, Ask me why I prefer the Abscissas to the Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-23, 14:37:59 (24.91.31.211)
Make me think further about that. .......
53: General Asylum, RE: Hey Bob Neill, what's going on with BC/Reynaud? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-23, 13:03:48 (24.91.31.211)
The news out of JMR and Audio Note these days is the debut of a premier stand-mount called the Voce Grande, spawn of Jean Claude's ultra expensive reference Aldara; and of a new Meishu (nine watt 300B .......
54: Digital Drive, RE: Blue Circle 501 OB/515 Vs DCS Elgar+ and purcell upsampler (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-02, 13:57:45 (24.91.31.211)
Didn't realize you were Tidycat! .......
55: Digital Drive, RE: Blue Circle 501 OB/515 Vs DCS Elgar+ and purcell upsampler (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-10-02, 11:29:09 (24.91.31.211)
Blue Circle is still trading (and designing and building)...under the flag of Gilbert Yeung Designs, distributed by Amherst Audio. .......
56: General Asylum, RE: UPS doesn't cover damage unless they pack it (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-09-11, 12:37:11 (24.91.31.211)
You establish an account with them and they charge the checking account you associate with your UPS account. .......
57: General Asylum, RE: UPS doesn't cover damage unless they pack it (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-09-11, 12:22:12 (24.91.31.211)
What you need to know is that UPS and UPS store are only loosely affiliated. I found that out the hard way when after UPS destroyed an amplifier I'd insured for several thousand dollars I'd shipped th .......
58: General Asylum, RE: Are shipping costs killing the resale of audio components? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-09-11, 09:56:14 (24.91.31.211)
If we could count on shippers not to damage goods, I could live with high shipping costs. Hard thing is to send something fairly fragile, insure the hell out of it, and then be told, when damage is do .......
59: Speaker Asylum, RE: Welcome Back My Little Friends - Audio Note K/SPe (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-28, 15:20:37 (24.91.31.211)
I was going to paraphrase this for the sake of propriety, but what the hell. I think the K/SPe's are unique and, forgive the ugly usage, I think the K/SPx SE's are more so. While there are speakers, ( .......
60: Jazz Alley, RE: Is he a Chicagoan or former? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-26, 14:59:26 (24.91.31.211)
Just got mine, absolutely wonderful. http://emmetcohen.com/shop/pre-order-dirty-in-detroit-cd .......
61: Digital Drive, RE: Generally speaking - a separate preamplifier and a se (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-22, 10:08:29 (24.91.31.211)
Audio Note separates better than their integrateds, agreed, based mainly on the quality of the preamp stages in the integratreds. And separate power supplies figure largely in the quality of the best .......
62: Jazz Alley, RE: Christian McBride and Tip City (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-20, 09:37:38 (24.91.31.211)
McBride and Tip City start at Dizzys in NYC tonight, according to Emmet Cohen. .......
63: Jazz Alley, RE: Christian McBride and Tip City (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-18, 07:40:48 (24.91.31.211)
Agree, he's amazing. Have got to track him down. .......
64: Jazz Alley, Christian McBride and Tip City (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-17, 15:12:30 (24.91.31.211)
Heard them at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts two weeks ago and was made very, very happy. Great musicians, all three and great synergy among them. McBride on bass of course, with pianist .......
65: Digital Drive, Generally speaking - a separate preamplifier and a se (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-17, 15:06:16 (24.91.31.211)
"Generally speaking - a separate preamplifier and a separate power amplifier sound better than integrated amplifier. " Gilbert Yeung has always felt the opposite is true. Having mainly to do with the .......
66: Classical Court, RE: Based on what I've heard from BSO and Berlin Phil I'd nominate... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-15, 05:18:18 (24.91.31.211)
Can't argue with Petrenko. His Shostakovich cycle was a revelation to me. He finds the poetry in it, which I had not known was there. .......
67: Speaker Asylum, Second attempt at repost of truncated post (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-13, 13:08:15 (24.91.31.211)
You are poking at the tip of an interesting ice berg, so if you don't mind, I'm going to talk about the whole berg. Yes, Jean Claude is re-doing the whole line. All done but one, the Blisses, which ar .......
68: Speaker Asylum, RE: JMR Jubile Models? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-06-05, 13:33:51 (24.91.31.211)
You are poking at the tip of an interesting ice berg, so if you don't mind, I'm going to talk about the whole berg. Yes, Jean Claude is re-doing the whole line. All done but one, the Blisses, which ar .......
69: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Yes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-05-12, 15:17:36 (24.91.31.211)
no text .......
70: Jazz Alley, My two favorites (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-04-27, 10:19:01 (174.63.121.156)
The Montreal Tapes: Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo by Gonzalo Rubalcaba (2006-05-03) .......
71: Jazz Alley, RE: Re-visited 2 cd's I'd only listened to once. Wow for both, and I do mean WOW!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-04-27, 10:15:00 (174.63.121.156)
Rubalcaba is a great musician. I sometimes hear him as a Karrett with soul. Simple minded observation but I can't get past it. .......
72: General Asylum, RE: Tech in NYC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-04-27, 10:03:09 (174.63.121.156)
USA - NEW YORK High End Audio Repair Brooklyn, New York Tel: 718-377-8010 Contacts: Ben Jacoby email here: http://www.highendaudiorepair.com/ website: http://www.highendaudiorepair.com/ ::: .......
73: General Asylum, Would you be willing to stretch across the northern border? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-04-21, 09:48:41 (174.63.121.156)
no text .......
74: General Asylum, As Walter hath thrice said... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-28, 07:43:54 (174.63.121.156)
Yes, it's back. Slightly different rules, I think. All made clear on site. http://tlp-audio.classicpumps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1980&sid=c259e235f45f978712e08b230baf4693 More detail in my fi .......
75: Digital Drive, RE: You first have to define "stream".... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-25, 08:40:07 (174.63.121.156)
"Streaming' from an online music service to this DAC." .......
76: Digital Drive, RE: Streaming using a dac that has no USB input (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-25, 08:38:17 (174.63.121.156)
THANK YOU, said the dinosaur to the live and viable audio inmates!! .......
77: Digital Drive, RE: Streaming using a dac that has no USB input (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-24, 16:51:39 (174.63.121.156)
Yeah, I knew the Dac Zero has a USB input but my customer wants something more ambitious. As we both know, PQ is not a fan of streaming (or anything else digital!), so there is no USB above the Zero. .......
78: Digital Drive, Streaming using a dac that has no USB input (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-24, 11:18:07 (174.63.121.156)
So what do you all do? One of my customers wants to buy a dac I sell that has no USB input but he wants to stream. Is there some magic box that can download stuff and then output it into an amp's line .......
79: Classical Court, RE: ADES (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-07, 15:31:17 (174.63.121.156)
Going to Boston tomorrow to hear debut of his piano concerto with the BSO. .......
80: Classical Court, ADES (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-04, 09:04:03 (174.63.121.156)
Now all he needs is a record label! Since EMI disappeared, DG would seem the obvious choice, what with his relationship with the BSO. Please... .......
81: Classical Court, RE: Presto Classical, Europadisc (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-04, 09:01:38 (174.63.121.156)
Thank you! .......
82: Music Lane, MDT in the UK Gone (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-04, 07:22:51 (174.63.121.156)
Now that my main source of classical music CD's has folded, I'm stuck. Not only did they make available CD's from small European companies and for prices, including shipping that were competitive, the .......
83: Classical Court, MDT in the UK Gone (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-03-04, 07:22:51 (174.63.121.156)
Now that my main source of classical music CD's has folded, I'm stuck. Not only did they make available CD's from small European companies and for prices, including shipping that were competitive, the .......
84: General Asylum, RE: Chasing the audio dragon. What made you stop? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-19, 07:11:55 (174.63.121.156)
Glad you're happy...er. I'm not there yet. I still want more than a domestic sound but I can also see around that want. What I don't need is a large scale sound: which is more of what I meant by a dom .......
85: General Asylum, RE: Chasing the audio dragon. What made you stop? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-18, 10:22:11 (174.63.121.156)
My cliché on this subject is that some 'philes feel a need to change when they stop hearing their gear. Because no matter how much they believe it's about the music it's never entirely about the music .......
86: General Asylum, Correction (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-17, 10:11:35 (174.63.121.156)
Gilbert has advised me that service work on older Blue Circle gear will be handled by DTS Audio Electronics. Dan Santoni, the owner of DTS Audio Electronics, is a well known technician in Ontario and .......
87: General Asylum, RE: And service? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-17, 07:51:05 (174.63.121.156)
Service won't change. Gilbert will stand behind all of his products, old and new. Warranty process will go through me and I'll handle the communication and paperwork on other repairs. But Gilbert will .......
88: General Asylum, Are more pics, prices, information coming to your site? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-16, 14:07:54 (174.63.121.156)
Hope so, we're only a couple of weeks in, still making adjustments to my website to present the new arrangement. .......
89: General Asylum, Every bit as good and progressive. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-16, 12:23:53 (174.63.121.156)
Yes, and now that he can focus on specific projects, special orders and new ideas, I'm expecting some subtle, quiet but real upgrades here and there, and perhaps even faster turnarounds -- though of c .......
90: General Asylum, BC 3 Series (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-16, 06:57:05 (174.63.121.156)
Gilbert says yes, he can build BC 3 series preamps if there is a demand for them. .......
91: General Asylum, RE: Model 107-GY Preamplifier (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-16, 06:56:08 (174.63.121.156)
From GY: "The 107 has very low output impedance which is designed to drive just about anything out there. SET power usually has high impedance input and of course, SE input. The 107 has both SE output .......
92: General Asylum, RE: Looks like Blue Circle is back!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-15, 14:26:18 (174.63.121.156)
My guess he'll be willing to do just about anything. I've featured the stuff that interests me most. Will refer that question to Gilbert. .......
93: General Asylum, RE: Who's doing the building? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-15, 14:24:35 (174.63.121.156)
Not sure about that stuff, will check with Gillbert. He has a former BC dealer in Illinois who used to sell a lot of it, so he's the most likely. .......
94: General Asylum, Who's doing the building? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-15, 12:15:06 (174.63.121.156)
In anticipation of this logical follow-up question, Gilbert has assured me, as a condition of my joining this venture, that he would continue to be the builder as well as the designer of this gear. He .......
95: General Asylum, Headaches (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-15, 09:17:28 (174.63.121.156)
Well Gilbert's stuff tends not to break, so the headaches should be minimal given the reward of salvaging his imagination from the land of the lost. We'll see. .......
96: General Asylum, RE: Looks like Blue Circle is back!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-02-15, 08:15:59 (174.63.121.156)
You've been to my website...!. So yes sort of. Yes and No. Not as Blue Circle. Gilbert doesn't want all that goes with that: shows, emails & phone calls, being polite to impolite people, the daily gri .......
97: Rocky Road, RE: Who was the greatest American rock band of all time? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-10, 10:59:55 (174.63.121.156)
Definitely The Archies. .......
98: General Asylum, RE: Blue Circle (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-09, 10:33:39 (174.63.121.156)
Gilbert will be expanding the notice on the Blue Circle website soon. Even he realizes it's a bit too cryptic! He's got a lot on his plate just now. .......
99: General Asylum, RE: Thank you for proving my point (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-07, 18:08:31 (174.63.121.156)
Oh wait, I see. You just don't like silliness and irreverence in audio. So it's his style that gets you. He's a bad businessman because he thinks we shouldn't be stuffy and adult about audio. Well, I' .......
100: General Asylum, RE: Thank you for proving my point (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-07, 16:51:53 (174.63.121.156)
Blue Circle has been a successful enterprise for 30 years. Its owner got tired of running the business and so has closed it. That's the entire story. The rest is bull crap. I don't remember the dog cr .......
101: General Asylum, RE: it was inevitable (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-07, 16:19:12 (174.63.121.156)
Whatever the hell do you mean by that? He kissed no butt, if that's what you mean. He made no products simply because he could make money on them, if that's what you mean. This is a stupid remark. ::: .......
102: General Asylum, RE: Curious......is Gilbert gonna continue servicing Blue Circle products? nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-07, 08:49:59 (174.63.121.156)
We have been assured service on Blue Circle gear will ALWAYS be available and not to worry about that. He says he is taking a break and needs some time to figure out what directions he will be going i .......
103: General Asylum, RE: Blue Circle (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-07, 08:18:32 (174.63.121.156)
Hello Budrew -- love my Cantata 3.0. Can't believe your boyz have grown, I remember everybody at the age I met them. Can be startling. I'm happy for Gilbert, less so for the rest of us. I wouldn't be .......
104: General Asylum, Mindi Abair (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-06, 07:26:37 (174.63.121.156)
Thanks for this .......
105: General Asylum, Blue Circle section of the Amherst Audio website (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-05, 15:17:37 (174.63.121.156)
I have taken down the content of the Blue Circle section of my website but have saved it and can send a link to anyone who wants/needs what I offered there. .......
106: General Asylum, RE: Blue Circle (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-05, 15:13:31 (174.63.121.156)
Gilbert has been doing some design work for Saturn for quite a while. It is owned by one of his (former) Blue Circle dealers. This is a side-gig with no relation to his decision to close Blue Circle a .......
107: General Asylum, Blue Circle (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2019-01-05, 12:28:20 (174.63.121.156)
It is with great personal regret that I have to share the news that Blue Circle Audio, an essential and original piece of the audio world since 1988, has closed. As many of you have doubtless noticed, .......
108: General Asylum, Another Follow Up Note (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-15, 04:59:32 (174.63.121.156)
The tube control is not an on/off switch: you can dial in as much or as little 'tube' as you like...and there is a complementary solid state switch enabling you reduce or increase the amount of solid .......
109: General Asylum, RE: New Blue Circle Integrated: the Truth vs SET (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-14, 13:57:31 (174.63.121.156)
In general, I don't think the solid state I've heard over the years is superior to the best tube gear, especially SET's. But I do think whatever it is that Gilbert does with solid state is. He's a mag .......
110: General Asylum, RE: Truthful vs involving... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-14, 10:10:43 (174.63.121.156)
Those were special amps, the Manley's. .......
111: General Asylum, Yes. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-14, 08:00:53 (174.63.121.156)
Agree totally. But all our agreement does is get us to the starting line! .......
112: General Asylum, Follow Up Note (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-14, 07:04:32 (174.63.121.156)
For those non-BC folks reading my review on the BC Forum, the tube in the new Blue Circle NSI (6SN7) can be switched out of the circuit. It is there an optional, primarily to "save" old recordings tha .......
113: General Asylum, RE: New Blue Circle Integrated: the Truth vs SET (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-11-14, 06:39:03 (174.63.121.156)
My trip is not the typical one around here. I went from Krell to Meridian actives to Linn, at which point the light shown from above (or rather, from Hove) and I arrived at a version of classic audiop .......
114: Speaker Asylum, Price of Audio Note E/SPe HE's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-10-19, 20:06:32 (174.63.121.156)
I'm told there were some price increases between the price you know of (and that I knew of too) and this latest one. I had them at $7471 and have been charging that for a year or two. Guess some of my .......
115: Speaker Asylum, RE: Advice wanted-speaker shopping (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-10-19, 14:15:05 (174.63.121.156)
Audio Note E/SPe HE's are now $10,233. Price List effective 10/18. Alas. .......
116: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Artist at Work (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-22, 14:59:57 (174.63.121.156)
I do wish, for their sakes, that more people knew what is happening in Innerkip. An artist is one who works alone and progresses toward the perfection proper to his art. No one I know is achieving wha .......
117: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-20, 06:20:29 (174.63.121.156)
Based on the fact that Gilbert always gives absolute value, I find this even stronger evidence than Taylor's post that this thing must be an extraordinary. Frightening. Gilbert is reaching the peak of .......
118: Amp/Preamp Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-19, 19:17:05 (174.63.121.156)
Actually, despite what Taylor says, I will be curious to hear how the NSI compares with the NSC/NSL on JMR Offrandes. I consider that combination of electronics the natural mate for the Offies, which .......
119: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: What's up with Blue Circle? Bob Neill? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-19, 19:07:43 (174.63.121.156)
The only informed opinion of the forthcoming NSI has just appeared on the Blue Circle Forum, posted by the first beta tester, George Taylor, long time student of and friend of Blue Circle. I've been e .......
120: Music Lane, Nate Chinen, Playing Changes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-08, 06:22:09 (174.63.121.156)
https://slate.com/culture/2018/09/playing-changes-nate-chinen-review.html I apologize if someone has already posted this. .......
121: Speaker Asylum, RE: Acoustic suspension design speakers.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-07, 06:51:26 (174.63.121.156)
Thanks for catching me up on RGA. I have ended up, by listening choice, with mainly niche/word-of-mouth gear here, though I guess we can't call AN/UK niche unless we mean a large niche! I had to figh .......
122: Speaker Asylum, RE: Acoustic suspension design speakers.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-07, 05:22:17 (174.63.121.156)
I bought K/SPx SE's for my own amusement and edification. I knew I'd never be able to sell such a product. Nobody will pay $10K for little stand-mounts of limited range these days. Too precious. I lov .......
123: General Asylum, Difference (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-06, 16:09:08 (174.63.121.156)
Oh they can make a very big difference, that's how they attract buyers. But the difference is, at least in my experience, seldom for the better. They add stuff. .......
124: Speaker Asylum, RE: Acoustic suspension design speakers.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-06, 08:12:09 (174.63.121.156)
K/SPx SE is the most expensive version of the Audio Note K speaker. PQ is Peter Qvortrup, president of Audio Note/UK. AG is Andy Grove, chief (only?) designer for Audio Note/UK. .......
125: General Asylum, RE: My experience as well. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-06, 08:08:37 (174.63.121.156)
What I've found is that most such power cords will change the sound of a system. What the listener has to assess is whether this is a change for the better. I remember a prime case: Peter Q of Audio N .......
126: Speaker Asylum, RE: Acoustic suspension design speakers.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-06, 05:54:11 (174.63.121.156)
The K/SPx SE's are $9961 in the U.S. Originally designed for PQ by AG pretty much for fun, I remember being told, they turned out so well they ended up in the line. Almost impossible to believe they a .......
127: General Asylum, RE: What Gear Brought the Lowest Return on Investment in your System ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-09-06, 05:44:56 (174.63.121.156)
Most after-market power cords. Subbing in a $5 Volex can be a real shocker. .......
128: Speaker Asylum, manufacturers can work with the driver manufacturer to custom design the drivers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-08-20, 08:57:01 (174.63.121.156)
Yes. .......
129: General Asylum, RE: Any good stereo shops in Ft. Lauderdale (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-26, 07:36:53 (174.63.121.156)
If you're willing to drive an hour north to West Palm Beach, try Wellington Audio. http://www.wellingtonaudio.com/ .......
130: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-25, 12:14:24 (174.63.121.156)
I was assuming that judgments are made here with amps and speakers matched appropriately. I listen to my Audio Note OTO Sig and Empress Silver Signatures on Audio Note E/SPe HE's and K/SPx SE's; and m .......
131: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-24, 14:28:10 (174.63.121.156)
Nah, it's just that "Tubes Just Sound Better" sounds like a tee shirt. I had hope we could do better than that, and in some cases we did. .......
132: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-24, 10:56:51 (174.63.121.156)
Well thank god, you've settled it. Why did we all waste so much time trying to say something more...interesting? thoughtful? useful? Oh well, follow your bliss, etc. .......
133: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-23, 08:36:23 (174.63.121.156)
Irony is that Gilbert Yeung is from Hong Kong. He goes back from time to time but without any gear in tow. So can't help you there. I once owned a Krell KSA50S and liked it fine. Based on what I list .......
134: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-23, 05:10:28 (174.63.121.156)
"SS all more or less exhibits the same sound. While there are difference it os kind of like the difference between the colour grey . All SS amplifiers whether you compare Bryston or Krell or Levinson .......
135: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-20, 06:27:02 (174.63.121.156)
Like a Keats ode. We wouldn't be without Keats odes, though they are not everything. .......
136: General Asylum, RE: Excellent point! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-19, 14:04:54 (174.63.121.156)
It leaves us, or at least me, listening to live music and to audio and deciding what topology, if it comes down to that, gets the two sources closest together. In the end, the audio physics notwithsta .......
137: General Asylum, Reichert (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-19, 13:15:37 (174.63.121.156)
Thanks for this. Plenty of good stuff in here along with usual myths. If I remember right, Herb used to import Audio Note. I take him seriously but I don't feel any closer to The Answer. .......
138: General Asylum, RE: Context (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-18, 13:25:11 (174.63.121.156)
As usual, you're too gracious. I did not open this whole thread with the intent of promoting a point of view but I suppose it has turned into one. I was just growing tired of what I considered sentime .......
139: General Asylum, RE: Context (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-18, 10:58:53 (174.63.121.156)
I agree that my context is important -- and as far as Blue Circle electronics go -- probably unique. BC gear is often described as having all of the virtues of tubes without their defects. I know what .......
140: General Asylum, Vinyl (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-17, 15:00:35 (174.63.121.156)
Was waiting for the V word to enter the conversation! .......
141: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-17, 13:30:27 (174.63.121.156)
Don't mean to stand on the sidelines here for too long. Personally, I think the best tube amps prioritize a group of qualities that a fair number of audiophiles like very much. In varying degrees and .......
142: General Asylum, Context (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-17, 10:01:09 (174.63.121.156)
Just to be fair, the context in which I pose this question includes: Audio Note OTO Signature (EL 84's) and Empress Silver Signatures (2A3's); and Blue Circle NSC/NSL, and 002i/EPS (solid state). The .......
143: General Asylum, RE: Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-17, 09:37:29 (174.63.121.156)
Can you say what your satisfaction consisted of? What got better and how did it get better? .......
144: General Asylum, Loving Tubes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-17, 08:38:12 (174.63.121.156)
What is it that audiophiles love when they say they love the sound of tubes? I intend this as a serious question, which is the world of audio, it is. And I'm hoping for some thoughtful responses. ::: .......
145: General Asylum, RE: What is your main source? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-07-13, 09:50:44 (174.63.121.156)
http://www.resolutionaudio.com/?page_id=869 .......
146: Speaker Asylum, RE: Not Always the Case... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-06-21, 10:06:46 (174.63.121.156)
"So no single solution is appropriate for every loudspeaker." .......
147: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill: Tocaros and Reynauds (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-04-20, 15:06:45 (174.63.121.156)
I think they seem to dissect because of their stunning retrieval of surfaces. Their overall balance features the presence range where surfaces seem to be most clearly defined. That works wonders on st .......
148: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill: Tocaros and Reynauds (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-04-20, 13:20:18 (174.63.121.156)
I don't believe any truly great speaker can be too truthful. To me the Tocaros are not too truthful. I hear them as incompletely truthful; but of course I am speaking personally when I say that. Those .......
149: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill: Tocaros and Reynauds (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-04-20, 08:15:08 (174.63.121.156)
Tocaros are, as we both know, a special case. If one is a Tocaro fan and, unlike you, doesn't gravitate among your Reynauds and Audio Notes as well, they can become sufficiently complete to make you v .......
150: Speaker Asylum, Room to Move (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-28, 10:08:50 (174.63.121.156)
I think I've found the right expression to distinguish the new jMR sound from the older one, at least as evidenced in the new Abscissa Jubilees. It's taken me a week of writing here (which I thank you .......
151: Speaker Asylum, RE: To be more boring and long-winded about it. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-27, 08:48:36 (174.63.121.156)
When most people talk about the old Reynaud sound, they are thinking of JMR's distinctive iteration of the long tradition of speakers characterized by their fans with the face-saving oxymoran, "warmth .......
152: Speaker Asylum, To be more boring and long-winded about it. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-25, 08:30:20 (174.63.121.156)
As you well know, we can adapt to and be pleased by any truly well-designed speaker, even if it sounds different from another that's equally well designed. It's when we compare them directly that the .......
153: Speaker Asylum, RE: They may have been voiced towards classical... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-25, 06:49:12 (174.63.121.156)
JMR got nothing wrong. JCR is getting nothing wrong. In audio, that kind of thing is possible, as websites like this one demonstrate every day. .......
154: Speaker Asylum, RE: P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-22, 14:30:48 (174.63.121.156)
"Comfort" is the right word for the Offrande Supreme V2's and for some of their kin to greater and lesser degrees. It is what has always drawn a certain group of music lovers to the line, to these las .......
155: Speaker Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-22, 09:06:16 (174.63.121.156)
I knew I should have taken a couple more days on this before posting. Here a couple more notes. 1. Blending. One of the keys to the older JMR speakers is their characteristic tendency to blend the dif .......
156: Speaker Asylum, RE: For JMR Speaker Experts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-22, 06:55:49 (174.63.121.156)
I like the older speakers on pop and jazz as well as classical but the Jean Claude Reynauds are definitely more versatile. Faster, clearer, more impactful. I'll be interested to see if my clientele ch .......
157: Speaker Asylum, RE: For JMR Speaker Experts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-21, 11:59:33 (174.63.121.156)
If it aint' broke..... .......
158: Speaker Asylum, RE: For JMR Speaker Experts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-21, 06:27:43 (174.63.121.156)
Okay, picking up where I left off: What is the difference between the sound of the old Reynaud sound and the new one, now that it's Jean Claude's company? The easiest place to hear it is in a direct .......
159: Speaker Asylum, RE: For JMR Speaker Experts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-20, 11:41:22 (174.63.121.156)
Don't listen to headphones and haven't read JA in years -- actually haven't read anyone in years, which is not a criticism of either. I'm just one of those guys increasingly set in his ways. Will have .......
160: Speaker Asylum, RE: For JMR Speaker Experts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-03-20, 10:43:27 (174.63.121.156)
This is an important subject, which I need to think more about and address. Let me get back to you in a day or so. There was an evolution during Jean Marie's last couple of years when he and Jean Clau .......
161: General Asylum, RE: Random musings on improvements in audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2018-02-02, 05:37:02 (174.63.121.156)
Bingo. .......
162: Speaker Asylum, Amps for Jubilees (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-12-02, 04:58:51 (174.63.121.156)
Tried both the new and newish Blue Circle integrateds, the 022i (125 watts) and 002i (80 watts). The new 002i is available with or without an external power supply, so there are really three options h .......
163: Speaker Asylum, RE: In Praise of ... J M Reynaud Cantabile Jubilee Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-12-01, 09:03:07 (174.63.121.156)
Reynauds don't sound much like Harbeths! It would take a supremely open mind to enjoy both equally. I tried that years ago but like two male mocking birds in the same yard, one drove the other out wit .......
164: Speaker Asylum, RE: In Praise of ... J M Reynaud Cantabile Jubilee Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-12-01, 08:56:51 (174.63.121.156)
My Cantabile Jubilees have continued to settle in but their sound as you describe it and as I wrote about it remains essentially what it was in their first week or so here. Jean Claude Reynaud tells m .......
165: General Asylum, RE: Do I need a good power cord for my turntable? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-11-26, 14:17:37 (174.63.121.156)
No. .......
166: Speaker Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-10-27, 09:03:01 (174.63.121.156)
Just as a p.s., I do not consider the demise of the Offrandes a tragic event, just one deserving of an elegy. I do have at least one of my two feet in Jean Claude's sound world, especially that corner .......
167: Speaker Asylum, RE: The Passing of the JMR Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-10-25, 05:54:28 (174.63.121.156)
Many thanks, but they're coming fewer and fewer of late because....well because I find I have less to say these days. Talk about audio strikes me as sillier than it used to. But this was something tha .......
168: Speaker Asylum, RE: The Passing of the JMR Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-10-24, 15:36:16 (174.63.121.156)
Yes, they're gone. Reynaud sold the last five pairs this week, one pair to me as insurance should mine ever get taken out by lightening, a burglar, or global climate change. The passing of these speak .......
169: Speaker Asylum, Dudley on the LX Sigs and Spe HE's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-10-04, 18:31:05 (174.63.121.156)
https://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/506an/index.html https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-note-e-lexus-signature-loudspeaker-audio-note-espe-he-august-2008 Art Dudley has had both of th .......
170: General Asylum, RE: That's a weak recording... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-09-13, 14:24:38 (174.63.121.156)
I remember the one that came in a burlap bag...was that the first one? Love it. .......
171: General Asylum, RE: Sounds to me like he is closing the doors. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-07-25, 18:44:31 (174.63.121.156)
I doubt there would be many buyers for a bricks and mortar high end audio shop these days, especially in this fairly frugal neighborhood. Older folks don't have the dough any longer, younger folks cou .......
172: General Asylum, RE: Ralph Spear is Retiring (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-07-24, 07:10:31 (174.63.121.156)
Can't argue with that. .......
173: General Asylum, RE: Ralph Spear is Retiring (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-07-24, 06:51:12 (174.63.121.156)
They have some really good ones...employees...been there since Dick Moulding owned the business. .......
174: Speaker Asylum, RE: New JMR Line? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-06-04, 14:47:14 (174.63.121.156)
If Bob were a younger dude and could scurry around the country to shows and send out demos for review, Reynauds would get the press they deserve. As it is, they flourish in their modest way by word of .......
175: Speaker Asylum, "NO substitutes for Large cones, Compression drivers and Huge Magnet motors.. Period" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-06-03, 14:40:25 (174.63.121.156)
Never make judgments based on audio theories, even if they seem obvious. I owned a huge Altec Voice of Theatre rig when I was a college kid. Impressive but now that I've been to a good many live conce .......
176: Speaker Asylum, Neill Speaks (compulsively) in metaphors (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-06-03, 07:57:35 (174.63.121.156)
I am a (strictly) amateur photographer. My normal lens is a portrait lens, a 100 mm. If Jean Marie were a photographer, I think he'd also favor a portrait lens. Jean Claude's normal lens would more li .......
177: Speaker Asylum, RE: New JMR Line? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-06-03, 07:07:23 (174.63.121.156)
This is the first time I've ever used the word "romantic" to describe JMR speakers, so that should give you a clue. The Reynaud sound has been my norm for so long now that I have come to consider it r .......
178: Speaker Asylum, RE: New JMR Line? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-06-01, 07:57:25 (174.63.121.156)
No one is the U.S. has heard them yet, as the first two pairs just arrived here. To my ears, two weeks in, they're very good news. Jean Claude (son of the late Jean Marie) has definitely turned a corn .......
179: Speaker Asylum, RE: Thiel CS 2.2 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-04-20, 07:43:31 (174.63.121.156)
Only Thiel I could ever listen to, very nice speaker. .......
180: Speaker Asylum, RE: Just realized the effect of bass on clarity (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-04-20, 07:41:49 (174.63.121.156)
What you need is a stand that uses the Helmholtz resonator principle. Can clean up both bass and midrange. .......
181: General Asylum, More Important Things to Pray For (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2017-01-27, 12:19:23 (174.63.121.156)
Only cure is to remember that it's about the music, not the quest for ever more superb equipment and marginally better sound. Really great gear makes an audible difference, I'll concede. It keeps me i .......
182: General Asylum, RE: I believe what The Dill meant, is (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-12-23, 14:14:14 (174.63.121.156)
Never noticed that and have been here for...well years. So apologies to Mr. Dill, if that's what he meant. .......
183: General Asylum, RE: A long but valuable read (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-12-23, 12:24:38 (174.63.121.156)
I don't find it scary, just not very satisfying. Reading Boulez, who Scruton rightly names the Chairman, can be informative. He's a wonderful conductor/interpreter of nineteenth century music, at leas .......
184: General Asylum, RE: A long but valuable read (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-12-23, 11:04:47 (174.63.121.156)
But the fact is, it is simple. The Avant Gard misunderstands what art is. They take the techniques the modernists mixed with traditional forms to revitalize tradition and try to make an aesthetic out .......
185: General Asylum, RE: A long but valuable read (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-12-23, 10:29:21 (174.63.121.156)
Clarity can often come across as easy. .......
186: General Asylum, A long but valuable read (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-12-23, 09:49:15 (174.63.121.156)
http://www.futuresymphony.org/the-music-of-the-future/ .......
187: General Asylum, Bingo (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-09-30, 06:43:20 (24.91.31.181)
"...concentrate on making the music you love best sound the best." Corollary: Just going after maximum information (as a buyer or a designer) will bring you up short because the easiest to retrieve i .......
188: Critic's Corner, Samson Equipment rack. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-08-29, 14:18:37 (24.91.31.181)
Swear by mine, seems to take the tension out. .......
189: Speaker Asylum, Amen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-06-01, 14:22:35 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
190: General Asylum, RE: FedEx Follies (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-06-01, 08:16:50 (24.91.31.181)
"My question is what is the likelihood of lodging a complaint with the FedEx location manager to try to recover that cell phone charge? No laughing please. I am serious." About the same as it would b .......
191: Speaker Asylum, RE: Harbeth Compact 7es Sound - Congested? Question (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-05-05, 09:00:48 (24.91.31.181)
When I reviewed the 7's years ago, I heard the same boxiness...in a large room (16 x 30 x 10). In a smaller room (12 x 24 x 8), it disappeared and they sounded very fine. My hypothesis at the time was .......
192: General Asylum, Nothing wrong with charm, but..... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-04-25, 14:34:04 (24.91.31.181)
My guess, without reading dutifully through this thread to avoid repeating something someone else has said better, is that you're not really looking for the real sound of instruments and voices but so .......
193: General Asylum, RE: Tallis Scholars (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-04-20, 14:24:48 (24.91.31.181)
They have been singing since 'analog days.' I wonder how many of the original singers are still among them. I prefer them (at least in the old recordings I have) to Stile Antico, but so what?!! Enough .......
194: General Asylum, Real vs. recorded (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-03-12, 06:46:11 (24.91.31.181)
I know what you're talking about...but I've had people walk by my house during the summer and swear they were hearing a 'live' piano coming out of my front windows. That said, a lot of it, I think, ha .......
195: General Asylum, In her prime... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-02-28, 11:36:59 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
196: General Asylum, Correctamondo (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-02-28, 11:34:36 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
197: General Asylum, Chrissie Hynde (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-02-26, 09:23:49 (24.91.31.181)
Pretenders.... .......
198: Speaker Asylum, RE: Filling speaker stands... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-02-19, 13:28:58 (24.91.31.181)
Weight: I settled on 4.5 pounds...2 K's. JMR recommended a little less. Orfeos are around 4212 cubic inches...39 x 9 x 12. .......
199: Speaker Asylum, RE: Filling speaker stands... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2016-02-19, 13:21:31 (24.91.31.181)
I used a mixture of very small lead shot and masonry sand. The effect is to tighten the bass, so you sort of have to add a bit at a time and listen...tune them. Because yes, once it's in there it can .......
200: General Asylum, 77/59 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-31, 11:00:30 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
201: General Asylum, One Last Thought (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-22, 07:30:49 (24.91.31.181)
This is not to say that the NSL IS the best amp in the world, it is to say that it FEELS like it is to me. It feels like my last amp. It will have to compete over the next few years with the entirely .......
202: General Asylum, RE: One of these days... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-21, 15:21:06 (24.91.31.181)
Crimson from stem to stern. .......
203: General Asylum, Frihed89's post annotated with CAPS. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-21, 14:56:39 (24.91.31.181)
ONE OF ... Bob's main system consists of Crimson Electronics CS-710 preamp, CS-640 monoblocs, Resolution Audio Cantata Music Center Digital front end. I'm not sure just what his favorite speakers are .......
204: General Asylum, RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-21, 12:18:24 (24.91.31.181)
Well it is hard having been a long-winded, opinionated reviewer to adjust to being a dealer with a sort-of muzzle on. I can sound off over on the Blue Circle Forum, but that's a home game. Here, where .......
205: General Asylum, RE: 'Tis The Season... I'll bite... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-21, 11:54:56 (24.91.31.181)
Don't think I'm allowed to say or my post becomes a set-up, which it wasn't designed to be. Mediochre detectives could probably figure it out. If The Bored says I can say, I will. But they've been ver .......
206: General Asylum, One of these days... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-12-21, 10:20:55 (24.91.31.181)
...I'm going to close my business just so I can talk about the best sounding amplifier in the world. It might be worth it. Listening to Britten's "Rejoice in the Lamb"on the Argo LP with the Choir of .......
207: Speaker Asylum, RE: What's the deal with Harbeth?... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-09-22, 13:35:31 (24.91.31.181)
They did, probably still do. .......
208: General Asylum, RE: A New Integrated from Blue Circle Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-09-22, 06:57:32 (24.91.31.181)
What interests me about the review, aside from the fact that the O22i deserves that kind of praise, is that Campbell seems to get Gilbert, making the review more informative than most reviews tend to .......
209: Speaker Asylum, Save the posts of the nay sayers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-09-09, 14:45:23 (24.91.31.181)
They'll be fun to quote later on, I expect. Last speakers I heard that seemed even remotely like these was a generation ago, Meridian M2's. Gangbusters. Never heard the later Meridian stuff. Anyway, y .......
210: SET Asylum, Huzzah! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-09-03, 14:24:44 (24.91.31.181)
Great to hear The Man speak of what he knows. .......
211: SET Asylum, RE: House Sound (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-29, 11:32:37 (24.91.31.181)
Of course, as I wrote above, no one in Peter's (or or Andy Grove's or Jean Claude's or Gilbert Yeung's or Peter More's or Miguel Herrero's) position thinks he has a house sound. Their gear has the sou .......
212: SET Asylum, "in a lot of cases, a "house sound" can get tiresome over extended periods." (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-27, 09:20:15 (24.91.31.181)
Of course. But in the few best cases, it is the reason we love them. .......
213: SET Asylum, House Sound (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-24, 13:27:46 (24.91.31.181)
Any line of gear designed by someone who is an artist as well as an engineer will have a house sound. Which is the sound he hears when he listens to music. He will not hear it as a house sound but the .......
214: SET Asylum, RE: Attended dozens of Audio Shows over the years... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-24, 08:54:53 (24.91.31.181)
OK, sounds sensible. $20K to $40K is a big spread but probably covers the range for a good number of 'philes. With AN, it's always tempting to cheat a little on cable and the front end, and that can t .......
215: SET Asylum, RE: Attended dozens of Audio Shows over the years... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-24, 07:42:06 (24.91.31.181)
Actually, if memory serves, AN usually has two rooms, the expensive room and Cope's room, which uses only moderately expensive stuff...E/SPe HE's, etc. Maybe things have changed but I somehow doubt th .......
216: SET Asylum, RE: I'm tired of people running down Audio Note (UK) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-23, 07:38:35 (24.91.31.181)
Happy to be corrected. My ears tell me it's "Top" Level Two for sure. I know your levels are defined specifically by their technical components/attributes. But when we don't know the defining details, .......
217: SET Asylum, Audio Note's entry level is better than anyone's SS amplifiers. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-22, 18:28:51 (24.91.31.181)
Heifer dust. .......
218: SET Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-22, 05:17:30 (24.91.31.181)
Actually, there is a point to the AN Level system. It is designed to enable us to put together systems of components that are of comparable...sophistication. A system made up of all Level 3 components .......
219: SET Asylum, RE: It is human nature, they kind of invite the problem (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-22, 04:57:16 (24.91.31.181)
But you sort have to admire their sense of humor about it. For example, the Level Zero digital transport is really good. I'll bet they invented Level Zero with a twinkle in their corporate eye. As in, .......
220: SET Asylum, RE: I'm tired of people running down Audio Note (UK) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-22, 04:29:42 (24.91.31.181)
The new OTO Signature is one of the best integrated amplifiers around and also one of the best amplifier values. It can even drive JMR Bliss Silvers happily, though it would prefer.... The K/SPe, whic .......
221: Digital Drive, Sounds of Silence, Nashual, NH (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-14, 05:43:58 (24.91.31.181)
http://www.soundsofsilence.com/ .......
222: Digital Drive, RE: Nanotec 8500 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-09, 08:25:17 (24.91.31.181)
Wouldn't be without it. .......
223: General Asylum, I love USPS (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-08-05, 07:38:31 (24.91.31.181)
After what UPS put me through, I find USPS heaven itself. .......
224: Speaker Asylum, RE: "Better" speaker stands sound less good? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-07-31, 09:33:37 (24.91.31.181)
Different stands definitely change how speakers sound and I've found that listeners tend to follow taste rather than some semblance of objective judgment, at least in the short run. A very popular des .......
225: Music Lane, RE: Britten (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-07-25, 09:34:44 (24.91.31.181)
"Saturday Afternoons" Britten "Rejoice in the Lamb" George Guest "Cello Symphony" Rostropovich, Muller-Schott, Walton "String Quartet No. 3" Sorrel Qt, Endellion Qt, Amodeus qt "Cello Suites" Walton, .......
226: General Asylum, Imaginative Listening Indeed (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-07-21, 16:11:47 (24.91.31.181)
I took a musically intelligent good friend to an audio store in Baltimore back in the late 1960's to listen to KLH Sixes and KLH Fives. I wanted him to hear their fascinating (to me) sonic differences .......
227: Vinyl Asylum, TT 2 Prices in the U.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-06-28, 14:25:30 (24.91.31.181)
TT2, $2062. TT2 Deluxe, $3520 External P.S., $2400 Arm 3/Vx, $2024 (w/Vx cable) IO1 MC cartridge, $4128 .......
228: Music Lane, Not Vasily, unfortunately. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-06-23, 12:48:31 (24.91.31.181)
Though I guess Liverpudlians would disagree because they get to keep him. Maybe not him because the BPO didn't want to return to the nest for the next fledgling. .......
229: General Asylum, Masochism (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-06-09, 06:18:16 (24.91.31.181)
If you're the kind of person who likes to bushwhack, why not? But I can think of few things more painful than listening to gear (or if you like, ears) break in. .......
230: General Asylum, Crimson cable (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-06-01, 07:07:11 (24.91.31.181)
Not new, just quietly upgraded a bit. Lots of companies do that, some on a continuing basis. When the change is dramatic, they make a big fuss over it and give it a new name, as in Supreme, V2. ::: TO .......
231: General Asylum, Solution... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-05-26, 11:39:16 (24.91.31.181)
Why not go to your local record shop and....oh year I forgot. Gone gone. .......
232: Speaker Asylum, Nah (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-05-23, 07:30:26 (24.91.31.181)
The Classic Spendors are more appealing, ingratiating, charming than any Harbeths. Harbeths are more transparent, stand-off-ish, 'objective' than Classic Spendors. If you really hear both, the choice .......
233: General Asylum, RE: dilemma: Keeping or selling off vinyl & turntable (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-05-20, 06:24:31 (24.91.31.181)
Somewhere around 2002, I sat down with a friend and did what we considered a serious A/B between an LP and CD of the same recording. CDP was a decent Sony for the time, vinyl rig was an LP12/Itok/Karm .......
234: Speaker Asylum, RE: And you are one of - what is it - two remaining Blue Circle dealers? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-04-09, 10:25:45 (24.91.31.181)
I feel free to offer advice about the gear I sell if somebody is asking us for it. I know a great deal about Blue Circle amps and who else is going to give him this advice/information? I truly don't c .......
235: Speaker Asylum, RE: Blue Circle CS for Harbeth P3ESR? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-04-09, 05:20:48 (24.91.31.181)
Price better be extremely good because Blue Circle has come a long way since the original CS. There's even a better CS! http://www.bluecircle.com/page127.html Harbeths like power and as clean a signal .......
236: Speaker Asylum, Phone number's on my website (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-04-03, 07:50:25 (24.91.31.181)
www.amherstaudio.com 413-549-6171 .......
237: Speaker Asylum, JMR Offrande Supreme, V2's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-04-01, 15:18:48 (24.91.31.181)
$7500 including stands. .......
238: Music Lane, RE: Would you... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-03-26, 09:05:45 (24.91.31.181)
It would have helped to include the addressee! I'm trying to reach George, the jazz man. .......
239: Music Lane, Would you... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-03-26, 09:04:45 (24.91.31.181)
...please email me at: rlneill@comcast.net I have something I'd like your counsel on. Bob Neill .......
240: General Asylum, RE: USPS is faster! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-02-17, 06:18:10 (24.91.31.181)
I use it for everything, no matter the size. All I can say is that it works, which is more than I can about the competition. .......
241: Music Lane, RE: Christian McBride in Northampton, Mass; Finckel and Wu Han in Amherst (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-02-07, 06:52:38 (24.91.31.181)
Sign of how good Finckel and Wu Han were last night: their Rachmaninoff was good. I thought I hated Rachmaninoff. Guess not. .......
242: Music Lane, Christian McBride in Northampton, Mass; Finckel and Wu Han in Amherst (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-02-06, 15:06:28 (24.91.31.181)
McBrides's new trio, McBride (bass), Ulysses Owens, Jr (percussion), and Christian Sands (piano) rocked the Iron Horse in Northampton last night. Sands is truly wonderful. David Finckel and Wu Han pla .......
243: Music Lane, RE: Haydn on Forte piano (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-28, 10:13:34 (24.91.31.181)
It is. And then listen to CPE Bach on tangent piano for dessert! Spanyi on BIS. .......
244: Music Lane, RE: Integrated Amp for bedroom System (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-28, 10:12:42 (24.91.31.181)
Very good. .......
245: Music Lane, At least for now is the key here. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-28, 06:55:16 (24.91.31.181)
Many of us got so much mid and late 18th century and nineteenth century music growing up (it still dominates most concert halls) that it's lost its ability to surprise and please us. It'll be back. Th .......
246: Music Lane, RE: Was your comment directed personally at me? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-27, 14:08:34 (24.91.31.181)
No was I dittoing your recommendation and responding to Evans. .......
247: Music Lane, Ditto (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-27, 07:23:58 (24.91.31.181)
There are at least a dozen exciting modernists you likely haven't heard yet, Babbit, Fernyhough, Auerbach, Rochberg, Schnittke...get your butt out of the nineteenth century for a while. .......
248: Music Lane, Penderecki, Buxtehude, CPE Bach n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-27, 07:18:16 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
249: General Asylum, Burma Shave (n.t.) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-15, 07:06:35 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
250: Music Lane, RE: Just saw over on SA-CD.net that Vänskä is resuming his Sibelius cycle. . . (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-12, 13:41:22 (24.91.31.181)
My comments refer to the Lahti Orchestral recordings. .......
251: Music Lane, Third Vanska (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-12, 09:55:10 (24.91.31.181)
Only one who can do magic with him w/o being romantic. .......
252: Music Lane, Best hour I've spent in a long time. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-07, 09:26:59 (24.91.31.181)
thanks, MG .......
253: General Asylum, Rubalcaba, Tristano... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2015-01-01, 08:37:35 (24.91.31.181)
These two separate themselves from the rest for me. .......
254: Music Lane, RE: Jumping the gun just a bit: My faves from 2014 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-12-24, 10:04:52 (24.91.31.181)
I love these lists, always turn up something we missed. I usually run my list on PF but have a feeling it won't get run this year, so here it is for fun. Lutoslawski. Symphonies, Concertos, Choral an .......
255: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note Ks, you should be able to get a pair for a little under 2K somewhere if you look. . . NT (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-12-15, 16:58:37 (24.91.31.181)
I measured mine...but I measured the wrong speakers! So yeah, 7 1/2 inches. .......
256: Music Lane, RE: Complete Scarlatti Sonatas by Scott Ross (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-12-15, 09:32:58 (24.91.31.181)
That's a LOT of Scarlatti. Ross's are the ones everyone points to but there's a new 3 CD set from Hantai on Mirare that's probably very fine. And 555 is a LOT of Scarlatti. .......
257: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note Ks, you should be able to get a pair for a little under 2K somewhere if you look. . . NT (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-12-15, 09:29:22 (24.91.31.181)
'cept they're 10.25" deep.... .......
258: General Asylum, not giving away the farm. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-27, 07:51:55 (24.91.31.181)
I suspect this is it...meaning why the published blurb above from 8500 is so...unsatisfying. Something else is going on. Whatever goes on is limited to the plastic coating, I assume, so I can't imagin .......
259: General Asylum, RE: The Fab Four (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-27, 07:45:49 (24.91.31.181)
Intron 8500 "consists of highly purified water & 50-Nano-meter sized organic conductive polimer + 8-Nano meter sized ultra-micro pure silver particles. These particles are dispersed as a high density .......
260: General Asylum, RE: The Fab Four (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-27, 05:33:06 (24.91.31.181)
Nanotech 8500 here. I remember Clark Johnsen found it insufficiently attractive in his shootout and then sort of changed his mind when I pressed him a bit. I moved from Auric Illuminator to the Nanote .......
261: General Asylum, RE: Sentimental in a tactile way?... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-24, 11:01:55 (24.91.31.181)
I still do vinyl. Sold 'em all (c. 2000) a long time ago, then heard PQ's vinyl rig in Hove, and went on EBay to buy 'em all back! Dumbest and then smartest thing I ever did. I don't know how much I p .......
262: General Asylum, RE: 'don't trust themselves'...thank you for reply.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-24, 07:23:35 (24.91.31.181)
Google Sven Berkerts, one of the best known contemporary Luddites. He's a very good writer but sentimental at the center. Just reading him helps to understand that state of mind. .......
263: General Asylum, RE: 'don't trust themselves'...thank you for reply.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-24, 07:13:25 (24.91.31.181)
My sense is that believing that humanity is something especially noble that machines can/will infect with their...well inhumanity (of course they can but they needn't) is a form of superstition. Human .......
264: General Asylum, RE: 'don't trust themselves'... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-23, 06:30:38 (24.91.31.181)
Of course not. They would say that "superstition" is a word materialists apply to anyone who believes materialism does not exhaust the possibilities. And they would go on to say that every step we tak .......
265: General Asylum, 'Evil' (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-22, 10:17:37 (24.91.31.181)
I put evil in quotes to suggest the point of view of the Luddite I was inventing here. I hate telephones too but Modern Technology now flashes the caller's number/name on my TV screen and phone and al .......
266: General Asylum, Luddites (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-22, 09:28:34 (24.91.31.181)
Luddites are people who don't trust themselves to make use of what's useful in new technologies without being contaminated by what's 'evil' in them. I see that as a kind of superstition masquerading a .......
267: Speaker Asylum, RE: Speakers as Venues (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-14, 19:49:43 (24.91.31.181)
Resolution Audio, Audio Note, JMR, Crimson, Blue Circle, Tocaro. .......
268: Speaker Asylum, RE: Speakers as Venues (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-14, 12:15:39 (24.91.31.181)
I'm waiting for someone to call me a simple minded idiot! .......
269: Speaker Asylum, Speakers as Venues (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-14, 10:12:39 (24.91.31.181)
In my earliest days as ‘one of us,’ an audio salesman who was in it mainly for the music and so less the salesman than his boss might have preferred, said to me that he was more critical of amplifiers .......
270: Music Lane, Even 80% of Bonnie is better than most anyone else. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-11-11, 09:09:26 (24.91.31.181)
"I Can't Make You Love Me" is still my single favorite recording by anyone not named God. .......
271: Music Lane, RE: New Pierre Boulez CD box set on Sony (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-27, 10:15:13 (24.91.31.181)
Ah, separate box set. http://www.amazon.com/Boulez-Conducts-Mahler-Pierre/dp/B004NO5HLG .......
272: Music Lane, RE: New Pierre Boulez CD box set on Sony (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-27, 10:10:57 (24.91.31.181)
Where are his Mahler Symphonies 1-9? .......
273: Music Lane, His Mozart Symphonies (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-27, 10:07:00 (24.91.31.181)
Sounded all wrong to lots of people when it came out. Now it sounds great. He did a number on us but at least in the case of the Mozart, it took some time. .......
274: Speaker Asylum, Amen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-14, 14:21:30 (24.91.31.181)
I'll just second your motion. It's the reason I (representing JMR) don't go any longer, though I do feel some guilt about it. .......
275: Speaker Asylum, RE: MDF vs. Plywood ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-11, 07:45:17 (24.91.31.181)
This piece of the conversation no longer pertains, as it's pretty obvious these are not the earlier MDF versions. But to answer your question, the Russian plywood versions introduced some years back s .......
276: Speaker Asylum, RE: "AN speakers rely very heavily on the cabinet" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-11, 07:42:20 (24.91.31.181)
Based on what you're saying, these are not the earlier versions, so disregard all my talk about MDF vs. Russian plywood. .......
277: Speaker Asylum, "we havent insured them for the full amount" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-10, 14:21:58 (24.91.31.181)
Seller/shipper is responsible for insurance, not you. He sold you whole speakers and you paid for that. If they're damaged, it's his responsibility to cover it. Unless you two made other arrangements. .......
278: Speaker Asylum, "AN speakers rely very heavily on the cabinet" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-10-10, 14:19:11 (24.91.31.181)
Indeed they do, and the MDF cabinets really can't compare with the Russian plywood models. If you've never heard an AN speaker, you'll enjoy the MDF versions. But once you've heard one of the plywood .......
279: Speaker Asylum, RE: Harbeth P3ESR vs.Harbeth C7ES-3 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-30, 13:53:03 (24.91.31.181)
In my note below about C7's not sounding boxy in my smaller room, I was speaking of a room that's 12 x 24 x 8, so we agree about this. My larger room in which they did sound a bit boxy is 16 x 29 x 10 .......
280: Speaker Asylum, RE: They are not floor standers, so why might they be boxy? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-29, 09:26:39 (24.91.31.181)
The 7's can sound a tad boxy in a large room -- which likely has to do with the slight dip in their upper mids. Put those same speakers in a room with sidewalls closer by (and a lower ceiling in my ca .......
281: General Asylum, Rolling (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-13, 05:54:18 (24.91.31.181)
Put a pair of expensive NOS Siemens 6922's in my Blue Circle FtTH (years ago) and everything got better. Came back a few weeks later and put the stock Sovteks back in to remind myself of how brilliant .......
282: General Asylum, RE: "it's possible to have both things going on at once".. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-09, 06:32:05 (24.91.31.181)
Putting people (like me) in boxes is how you start a conversation. I have no problem with that if you have no problem with my wriggling out of it! If you are the kind of dealer I am, who only sells wh .......
283: General Asylum, "it's possible to have both things going on at once".. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-08, 14:10:29 (24.91.31.181)
Sure, which is like giving peace a chance and finding the golden mean, etc etc. Which is another way of saying what I said to Mac, which is that the "camps" can "overlap." But. But if you want beauty .......
284: General Asylum, RE: Bob Neill made the same point about systems in general a year or so ago (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-07, 07:12:39 (24.91.31.181)
I'm not ready to be in a camp yet and the camps you are describing involve a lot of overlap. Let's just say that some dacs (amps, speakers) interpret the information more than some others, yielding va .......
285: Music Lane, RE: Judging from this forum composition is long dead. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-03, 04:16:15 (24.91.31.181)
Barry, Auerbach. Johnston, Ferneyhough, Kanchelli, D. Matthews, Ades, Golijov, Picker, Rihm, Rochberg, Ustvolskya, Vasks, Tower, Wuorinen... .......
286: Speaker Asylum, RE: Looking over the AN speaker catalog... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-02, 18:02:47 (24.91.31.181)
You didn't like what I said? Should I change it? (=: If you're looking for an excuse to spend less money, don't let me stand in your way. They sound like siblings but they don't sound the same. ::: T .......
287: Speaker Asylum, RE: Looking over the AN speaker catalog... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-09-02, 13:42:32 (24.91.31.181)
When it's apples and apples, the J's will sound a bit faster and more spirited, probably because of their different overall balance of bass and treble. .......
288: Speaker Asylum, Very Slight Differences (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-31, 09:36:31 (24.91.31.181)
This is high end audio, meaning "very slight" differences will strike some as not so slight. Sticking with the E's, for the sake of simplicity, having heard around a half dozen different ones, I have .......
289: Speaker Asylum, RE: Lx vs. SPe (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-31, 07:59:20 (24.91.31.181)
OK, all of this makes sense. E/SPe's in a normal room on AN electronics has always been my preference ("cleaner, smoother" and more open) but given your situation and plans, you appear to be on the ri .......
290: Speaker Asylum, Lx vs. SPe (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-31, 06:46:28 (24.91.31.181)
Did you have a choice between the LX's and SPe's or was this a specific deal? If you had the choice, tell us a little about why you made it, if you would. I have heard both J/Lx's and J/SPe's in a 'li .......
291: Speaker Asylum, RE: You impressions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-26, 09:34:38 (24.91.31.181)
Tocaro promotes them as jazz speakers, which I understand. They do have a lot of jump and impact. But that's not how I'd characterize them - as a jazz speaker. I'd say they are very realistic sounding .......
292: Speaker Asylum, RE: You impressions of single-driver speakers? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-26, 08:46:41 (24.91.31.181)
The only single driver or crossover-less speakers I've heard in recent years that don't have the downsides you speak of are the Tocaros. The 40's have a single 10-inch driver; the 42's have the same d .......
293: General Asylum, RE: How can tubes get us closer to music? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-14, 12:20:37 (24.91.31.181)
What do we mean by "the music" ? The sounds of the instruments and voices or how we feel when we hear them? Both, of course. But they are not the same thing. At the moment, I think my SS gear is getti .......
294: General Asylum, RE: That was Bob Neill's point (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-12, 13:19:56 (24.91.31.181)
EVERYBODY wants to feel it, but not everybody wants their gear to create some sort of sexy analogue of feeling. If a system gets the voices and instruments right, we'll get the feeling -- along with o .......
295: General Asylum, How can tubes get us closer to music? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-11, 18:12:01 (24.91.31.181)
They can get some people closer to how they FEEL when they listen to music. That's where some tube amps excel. They are less about voices and instruments than about our feelings toward them, which the .......
296: General Asylum, Yeah, pretty much. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-11, 14:50:24 (24.91.31.181)
I pretty much have. Staying there as a listener, probably. But as a critic/dealer/advisor, I will keep my Audio Note rig because I understand and appreciate what it does. When you get used to extremel .......
297: Speaker Asylum, RE: hi-rez acoustic suspension minimonitors? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-08, 16:29:25 (24.91.31.181)
Budget Minded, You don't have to buy Audio Note K's but you really should hear them. They are some Audio Note fans' favorite AN speaker. .......
298: General Asylum, RE: Resentment Toward Wealth or Wealthy Lifestyles....... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-08-04, 11:43:44 (24.91.31.181)
Which is a mixture of envy and moral judgment not to be easily sorted out. .......
299: General Asylum, An Amateur Explanation (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-29, 06:49:57 (24.91.31.181)
They are unmeasurable because they are interpretations, descriptions, metaphors for effects of causes that I expect are ultimately quantifiable, though some of the effects are the result of more than .......
300: Music Lane, Favorite (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-25, 14:25:34 (24.91.31.181)
The Montreal Tapes with Rubalcaba and Motion on Verve .......
301: General Asylum, What "sins of omission" will you not miss. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-22, 13:59:12 (24.91.31.181)
Indeed. .......
302: General Asylum, how we quantify things is purely subjective (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-22, 13:57:49 (24.91.31.181)
Indeed. .......
303: General Asylum, RE: Wouldn’t it be great to measure overall system improvement? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-22, 13:55:52 (24.91.31.181)
A problem here is that some "improvements" matter more to us than others. A bit more clarity and coherence can affect us more than additional range, for example. I say this having spent a week or so l .......
304: Speaker Asylum, RE: KLH Fives are also Boomerang (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-13, 18:24:06 (24.91.31.181)
In their day the Fives were too flat for most folks' taste, hence the high frequency switch. In the high position, called "extended highs" I believe, they were remarkably transparent, especially along .......
305: Speaker Asylum, RE: Outvoted no.. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-03, 05:29:49 (24.91.31.181)
I pointed you all to the review because it sounded interesting, sort of like a FaceBook post. Probably a dumb thing to do but what the hell. .......
306: Speaker Asylum, Out voted. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-02, 10:58:50 (24.91.31.181)
Well it would seem the majority feels it's not worth a read. Maybe I'm just gullible. .......
307: Speaker Asylum, RE: because.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-01, 15:05:30 (24.91.31.181)
"Maggie 3.6 speakers cost five times what the sneaky-good small footprint Audience monitors cost. While there are differences in the presentation each makes, the truth of our mutual experience was tha .......
308: Speaker Asylum, RE: because.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-01, 13:00:30 (24.91.31.181)
Sorry to make you sigh. .......
309: Speaker Asylum, Worth a read. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-07-01, 04:53:33 (24.91.31.181)
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue74/audience_one.htm I have no financial interest in this product though I confess to some affection for John McDonald and admiration for his work. .......
310: Speaker Asylum, No intention of being a smart ass. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-29, 11:14:01 (24.91.31.181)
I meant it as a serious response. Most people's listening rooms are not much like studios so studio monitors don't tend to sound good in them. Studio monitors tend to have a very flat response which c .......
311: Speaker Asylum, RE: Why not studio monitors? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-29, 04:19:56 (24.91.31.181)
Because you don've live in a studio? .......
312: General Asylum, RE: Tocaro/Crimson room at Newport (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-26, 14:15:07 (24.91.31.181)
Ah, thank god you're back. With your credibility around here you probably just sold a dozen pairs of Tocaros and a few hundred yards of Crimson cable. Keep up the good work and we'll cut you in. ::: T .......
313: Speaker Asylum, RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-24, 11:26:22 (24.91.31.181)
You know ...if there were a public demo room, something like the old Acoustic Research room in Cambridge way back when, that just showed off restored 57 or 63 Quads, perhaps funded by some well-to-do .......
314: Speaker Asylum, RE: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-24, 09:28:34 (24.91.31.181)
Okay. I guess I made meaning where none was intended. Habits of a former English professor! .......
315: Speaker Asylum, RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-24, 06:49:41 (24.91.31.181)
Maybe mounting the speakers from the inside helps give Harbeths their laid back sound! (=: My comparison of Spendors and Harbeths would not sit well with fans of both. I suspect Paul finds it odd and .......
316: General Asylum, RE: Further... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-24, 06:25:47 (24.91.31.181)
"So in the case of the Crimson preamp - would you say outperform the M6 in the All AN set-up above or would it be more of an all rounder reviewer tool with non AN gear. " You are married to Audio Note .......
317: General Asylum, RE: In that setting and that system, the speakers were not overly impressive. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-23, 10:54:07 (24.91.31.181)
That doesn't sound like any Tocaros I've ever heard. When they are faulted, they are called too lean and direct, insufficiently appealing. What are those speakers pictured with your post? Let's not le .......
318: General Asylum, RE: Surprised that they were running a Sondek as a front end.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-23, 07:30:25 (24.91.31.181)
I think that TT is Creston III's, the son's, rather than Creston, the father. C III and his father's partner, Mark Heaston (and wife) ran this room. Papa stayed home to mind the dog and the shop. ::: .......
319: General Asylum, RE: I didn't hear a hint of "tubiness" in your ss gear (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-23, 07:28:26 (24.91.31.181)
" SS preamps are generally an even bigger let down than tube integrated amps perhaps we view SS a little bit worse than they really are. A tube integrated may have an overly warm preamp stage but that .......
320: Speaker Asylum, RE: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 18:44:24 (24.91.31.181)
I know you as a long-time Harbeth lover or at least admirer and I understand that, having lived with 7's, 30's, and 40's myself for quite a while and visited with P3's. And it is interesting to know t .......
321: Speaker Asylum, RE: I like Spendor AND Harbeth (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 11:43:44 (24.91.31.181)
I find their differences more striking than their similarities. I guess that makes me weirder than I thought. Or it makes you and all of your audiophile friends weird. Less likely in terms of numbers, .......
322: General Asylum, RE: The UPS Store is not. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 10:34:19 (24.91.31.181)
I suspect that if you read the fine print and follow directions (fill out papers making it explicit that the goods are worth more than $1000), things might go differently. Perhaps, when and if my ange .......
323: General Asylum, RE: ".... Sound of Sand, as we used to call it, has really changed...as in disappeared...." (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 09:55:09 (24.91.31.181)
"Can you provide some examples of ss amps/preamps that you are referring to? I'm wondering how much $$$ is required to get ss that doesn't sound like ss - especially when BOTH amp and preamp are ss." .......
324: Speaker Asylum, Not at all a pedantic point... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 07:17:21 (24.91.31.181)
Yes about Harbeth's patented Radial driver. Also, it's really not true that if you like either a Harbeth or a Spendor you'll like the other. Harbeths are more factual, Spendors more solicitous. The o .......
325: General Asylum, RE: Tocaro/Crimson room at Newport (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-22, 07:09:58 (24.91.31.181)
Some press for Crimson/Tocaro! Interesting read. What I am curious about is whether the hint of a solid state atmosphere the commentator refers to is the result of his (our?) having become used to a .......
326: General Asylum, Insurance (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-20, 12:04:02 (24.91.31.181)
On my receipt it says that for a declared value of $6000, I am charged $54, which I pay when Im invoiced. If you pay an amount in addition to the transportation charge, fuel charge, and additional han .......
327: General Asylum, RE: The UPS Store is not. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-20, 10:44:18 (24.91.31.181)
I spoke with my local UPS Store owner. He said that these "stores" used to be Mail Boxes, etc. They UPS bought them, sort of, meaning they "franchised" them and put their name on them, but kept carefu .......
328: General Asylum, RE: they are incredible liars (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-20, 09:49:50 (24.91.31.181)
But it has your name on it, doesn't it?! So why do you allow that? Do they pay you for it? Hmmm. Do you pay them?. Hmmmm. .......
329: General Asylum, RE: The UPS Store is not. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-20, 09:48:22 (24.91.31.181)
"The amount of the Declared Value for a package is the responsibility of the shipper. UPS does not review each Declared Value amount that is paid when a label is created and see if there are any possi .......
330: General Asylum, The UPS Store is not. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-19, 16:33:06 (24.91.31.181)
I had one of those experiences today that need to be shared, perhaps only for the catharsis involved. A business that calls itself The UPS Stores is not. It is loosely affiliated with UPS, mainly to a .......
331: General Asylum, Artifacts (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-07, 09:40:52 (24.91.31.181)
"Hi i am not completely sure on this point of added artifacts. Maybe other electronics are subtracting something or add other artifacts more detrimental for sound quality ?" Nobody is sure about this. .......
332: General Asylum, RE: Single Ended amplifiers seem to do the *palpability* thing much easier.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-07, 08:05:11 (24.91.31.181)
Agree but it may be an artifact, an effect that successfully imitates the real thing, suspect it is. But a delicious one, no doubt about that. .......
333: General Asylum, RE: Looking for a "palpable" sound on CD. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-07, 06:58:48 (24.91.31.181)
The Blue Coast CD's are really good. Studio is equipped with JMR Offrandes, of course. Jean Claude Reyanud collaborates with Cooky Marenko on all of their recordings. I last time I get MAJOR palpabil .......
334: General Asylum, RE: Pics from THE Show 2014 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-06-04, 11:38:47 (24.91.31.181)
Tocaro 42's look nice. Anybody hear 'em? .......
335: General Asylum, RE: parking is full!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-30, 13:30:13 (24.91.31.181)
I suspect a rather large percentage of the audiophile population live in California, though I do understand, that on a Northeast scale, that's like naming an area from Boston to Cape Hatteras! Have fu .......
336: General Asylum, Newport Beach Audio Show (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-30, 06:11:18 (24.91.31.181)
Point of Information for the innocent: the Creston Funk demoing Crimson and Tocaro at the Newport Beach show this weekend is Creston Funk, JUNIOR. Actually CF III. He knows a LOT about blues, rock, so .......
337: Music Lane, RE: Béla Bartók (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-27, 08:16:10 (24.91.31.181)
Alain Planès is a wonderful musician. His Schubert and Debussy are terrific. The Bagatelles on this CD are the best I know of. .......
338: Speaker Asylum, The Ultra Niche (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-27, 08:11:41 (24.91.31.181)
Jane Moncrief Remingtons are great, I'm told. (=: .......
339: General Asylum, Much better. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-19, 06:38:18 (24.91.31.181)
Nice turn out. .......
340: General Asylum, RE: Nobody seems to be amused by this on the Music Asylum so I'll try it here. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-18, 17:56:24 (24.91.31.181)
Moo. .......
341: General Asylum, Nobody seems to be amused by this on the Music Asylum so I'll try it here. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-18, 07:48:17 (24.91.31.181)
http://blog.petflow.com/they-pulled-over-and-started-playing-for-the-cows-i-cant-believe-what-happened-next/#QLIfiVdStTPF5KmQ.01 .......
342: Music Lane, Dixieland Buskers Find Their Proper Audience (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-15, 07:57:04 (24.91.31.181)
http://blog.petflow.com/they-pulled-over-and-started-playing-for-the-cows-i-cant-believe-what-happened-next/#QLIfiVdStTPF5KmQ.01 .......
343: General Asylum, RE: Violins and Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-13, 14:31:31 (24.91.31.181)
When you get way up the line, resolution increases, bloom decreases. When I talk about Audio Note, I'm thinking of the two OTOs, three Meishus and Quests, M3-M6 preamps, K, J. and E /SPes, which is th .......
344: General Asylum, Violins and Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-13, 05:30:12 (24.91.31.181)
This has fascinating reference to audiophilia. Some of us, designers and customers, though we're not likely to admit it, fall in love with the personality of some gear, its uniqueness. Others doggedly .......
345: Speaker Asylum, RE: hardwood floors? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-13, 05:08:46 (24.91.31.181)
Not if you not move 'em around. Just plop them into position, set the speakers on them, and leave everything where it is. I suppose if you move them around a lot they might scuff. Never had that probl .......
346: Speaker Asylum, RE: Speaker 'feet' for hardwood floors ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-12, 08:03:46 (24.91.31.181)
Symposium Sveltes. Never heard them on Thiels but they're great on JM Reynaud floorstanders. .......
347: Speaker Asylum, RE: Who crosses speakers in front of listening position? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-04, 16:36:48 (24.91.31.181)
Audio Note speakers are intended to be heard that way, so that their sight-lines cross about a meter in front of you. Since in my room my E's are 15 feet apart, I cross them more than that. ::: TOPIC: .......
348: Speaker Asylum, Gone. n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-01, 13:44:25 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
349: Speaker Asylum, Last Call n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-05-01, 04:55:09 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
350: Speaker Asylum, Free Concorde Driver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-27, 13:31:04 (24.91.31.181)
Customer in Rhode Island has an unused driver from the original JMR Concorde he's willing to give away for the cost of shipping. Email me if you're interested. Nobody's making money on this, it's just .......
351: General Asylum, RE: I think you mis-read (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-24, 06:53:14 (24.91.31.181)
Asylum readers need to put this on their bulletin boards: "Many pieces of gear lean out sound, other pieces of gear fatten it up. One engineer told me that even if Plangent Processes was totally 100% .......
352: Music Lane, Monty Python (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-18, 07:21:29 (24.91.31.181)
And as you imply, bad for traditional novels, though Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies tell us it ain't over yet. "I'm not dead yet." .......
353: Music Lane, RE: Death of the Grown-up (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-18, 07:16:48 (24.91.31.181)
The title alone says most of what needs saying. .......
354: Music Lane, RE: Arthur Fiedler (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-18, 07:14:08 (24.91.31.181)
If the Boston Pops truly does fade into obscurity, classical music will have lost very little, saith Bob the Snob. The bad drives out the good, etc. I think, as Krieger says, the media are part of the .......
355: Music Lane, Yup (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-18, 06:50:17 (24.91.31.181)
Bingo. .......
356: Speaker Asylum, Or. n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-17, 11:33:08 (24.91.31.181)
Or... .......
357: Speaker Asylum, RE: "personality" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-11, 10:21:32 (24.91.31.181)
"I cant think of any more noble a pursuit for a speaker manufacturer than neutrality." Noble is the word. Nobility is good stuff. "Please explain to me how a speaker that isn't neutral can do more .......
358: Speaker Asylum, RE: North American Importer? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-11, 10:13:37 (24.91.31.181)
http://www.simplyanalog.com/about-graham-audio.html .......
359: Speaker Asylum, RE: Hmm, so Bob ...... What do you think of Mangers. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-10, 18:12:09 (24.91.31.181)
Haven't heard Mangers. I don't get around much anymore, by intention. John Geisen and Creston Funk bullied me into listening to Tocaros and look where that got me! I'm toying with auditioning the Gra .......
360: Speaker Asylum, Quads? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-07, 08:53:13 (24.91.31.181)
Technology aside and considering sound alone, don't the Quads belong in this family? I had a customer here once who said my Harbeth M40s sounded like Quads to him. I found that curious but my experien .......
361: Speaker Asylum, RE: Derek Hughes comments (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-07, 07:57:14 (24.91.31.181)
Yes, I understand that. Alan Shaw of Harbeth reiterated that view as did long-time Harbeth fan Robert Greene. Greene also insisted on the accuracy of M40's in reproducing his violin. Getting a human v .......
362: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ironic (nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-06, 15:19:25 (24.91.31.181)
It's a punishment for trying to be god. It's Audio's version of falling into the Icarian Sea and so yes, ironic rather than tragic since the result is boredom. We've always known that the truest line .......
363: Speaker Asylum, RE: "personality" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-06, 12:56:59 (24.91.31.181)
Not really. I think some speakers that strive conspicuously for neutrality end up having a signature we can also identify. What I hear from these speakers is the sound of cowardice: a lack of identifi .......
364: Speaker Asylum, RE: BBC speakers have "...personalities within the overall personality." ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-06, 10:45:50 (24.91.31.181)
This is my favorite audio subject. I’ve gone on about it too often and will likely continue to do so because I find its issues fascinating and believe them probably unresolvable. The subject probably .......
365: Speaker Asylum, RE: Interview with Derek Hughes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-06, 08:22:44 (24.91.31.181)
What's interesting to me is that despite Derek's talk about neutrality, the BBC family of British speakers (Spendors, Harbeths, etc.) have a personality -- actually personalities within the overall pe .......
366: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Yes and No! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-05, 12:53:23 (24.91.31.181)
"Speaking of Crimson; is the smaller amp (50w?) being sold yet? Do you know anything about it?" http://www.crimsonelectronics.com/amplifiers.html#620 I heard it once hear briefly and it was .......
367: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Yes and No! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-03, 12:28:30 (24.91.31.181)
As always with Gilbert. He goes in many directions at the same time. In my response earlier today to a very flattering little thread on the Critics Corner a month or so ago (that you were a part of an .......
368: Critic's Corner, RE: Bob Neill ... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-04-03, 05:11:40 (24.91.31.181)
Whole thread very flattering. Note: It's not a journey that leaves stuff behind (or not much) but that just moves around in a privileged (because as a reviewer I could and as a dealer I can) circle, s .......
369: Speaker Asylum, RE: DeVore 3XL or JMR Bliss Silver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-24, 05:21:54 (24.91.31.181)
I drive mine with a 10 watt Audio Note OTO SE Signature or a 100 watt Blue Circle FtTH2. It's more appealing on the OTO, more robust on the FtTH2. Both sound great. I've driven earlier K's with a 40 w .......
370: Speaker Asylum, RE: DeVore 3XL or JMR Bliss Silver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-23, 14:27:39 (24.91.31.181)
K/Lx, $3096. Unless you've got a really 'live' room, I'd say the difference is worth it. .......
371: Speaker Asylum, RE: DeVore 3XL or JMR Bliss Silver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-23, 09:35:52 (24.91.31.181)
If you mean the K/SPe's, they're $3715 plus stands from any AN dealer. Stands are $640. They will sound a bit smoother than Reynauds, be a bit less transparent and less earthy. .......
372: Speaker Asylum, RE: DeVore 3XL or JMR Bliss Silver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-22, 06:07:52 (24.91.31.181)
I'm assuming you listen to your Twins with grills off? (=: If not, there's your clarity problem. The Bliss Silvers have more clarity than the Blisses which have more clarity than the Twins. Essentiall .......
373: General Asylum, RE: Hi Fi for the 1%? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-13, 10:14:21 (24.91.31.181)
Mebbe, but that '70's system I had sounded awfully good. The larger Advents were the cream of Henry's crop if it's great sound per dollar you're considering. That would be a fun show to run, comparing .......
374: General Asylum, RE: "dedicated and acoustically treated listening room is absolutely mandatory " (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-13, 07:20:45 (24.91.31.181)
Agree totally. And dedicated rooms where you take yourself and your music off to...well never mind. Any room of decent size with some area rugs, books on shelves, and upholstered furniture should do y .......
375: General Asylum, RE: Hi Fi for the 1%? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-13, 06:09:22 (24.91.31.181)
In 1970, my very good McIntosh 6100 & Advent based system cost around $1200-1500 and my Volvo 122 S station wagon cost $3,000. My current Volvo wagon V70 cost $37,000. Doing the dubious extrapolation, .......
376: Speaker Asylum, RE: Reynaud Twin binding post size (5/16"?) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-10, 09:22:32 (24.91.31.181)
Posts on current versions of Twin, Bliss and Bliss Silver, are 1/4 inch. Spades on my Crimson cable are 5/8 inch. Don't know if earlier JMR's had larger posts. As the taps on the binding posts don't c .......
377: Music Lane, Schnittke, Gubaidulina...n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-03, 14:33:10 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
378: Music Lane, RE: R. Strauss operas - favourites? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-03, 14:23:53 (24.91.31.181)
Another vote for Capriccio. .......
379: General Asylum, RE: It's not the box. It's the protection that you pay for (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-03, 08:04:44 (24.91.31.181)
Agree, Blue Circle is the gold standard. Gear thoroughly encased in soft foam. .......
380: Speaker Asylum, RE: "Excellent Gear" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-03-01, 06:13:21 (24.91.31.181)
Notes: AN-K/SPes with the new foam surrounds are much better speakers than the earlier ones with rubber surrounds, I agree. Tocaro 42's don't worry about rear walls. I'd say a couple of feet would be .......
381: Speaker Asylum, RE: "Happy" speakers that "love" to play music: words that even Bob Neill wouldnt' use.. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-28, 15:52:14 (24.91.31.181)
Makes you wonder what sad speakers would sound like. What would the spectrum be for someone comfortable with such an adjective? Tragic....depressed...melancholy...indifferent...diplomatic...mildly amu .......
382: Speaker Asylum, "Excellent Gear" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-28, 05:19:38 (24.91.31.181)
A $300K front end is not just excellent gear, it's absurdly excellent gear. Excellent gear ahead of AX2's, likely getting from them ALL that they have, would include a CDT 3, a Dac 2.1 Signature, and .......
383: Speaker Asylum, Yes, but. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-27, 06:14:07 (24.91.31.181)
I guess my only problem with this approach is that at some point, as you suggest, it can be misleading if the dealer is not upfront about what's going on. Yes, some speakers are better than we genera .......
384: Speaker Asylum, RE: Should be easy to figure out... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-26, 08:05:24 (24.91.31.181)
The price says you're right. .......
385: Speaker Asylum, RE: Speakers for Manley Snappers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-26, 08:04:25 (24.91.31.181)
I heard them driving Harbeths a few years ago at RMAF. Can't remember WHICH Harbeths but probably 40.2's. Harbeths are generally fed all solid state electronics but presumably Walter heard something h .......
386: Speaker Asylum, RE: Should be easy to figure out... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-26, 07:54:29 (24.91.31.181)
My guess is the AX Signatures, no longer made. They were so good AN couldn't make a profit on them at that price! Designed, if memory serves, by PQ's father. .......
387: General Asylum, RE: Ordering from Non Domestic amazon? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-21, 05:43:21 (24.91.31.181)
Amazon.co.uk...all the time. .......
388: General Asylum, RE: With the 1000% mark-up... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-17, 05:55:07 (24.91.31.181)
They don't have to be. Look around a bit more. Best cables I know of cost a fraction of the luxury stuff and sound better. .......
389: General Asylum, RE: How About A Master List of Online Audio Dealers With A 30-Day MB Guarantee? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-16, 16:10:51 (24.91.31.181)
Would you be willing to pay full price for an amplifier that someone else had used for 30 days and then returned? I am not an entirely online/phone dealer but most of my sales are made that way. If I .......
390: Speaker Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-14, 14:35:00 (24.91.31.181)
That doesn't tell you much about what the 40E's sound like, does it? Especially if you don't know the 42's. Let's use more widely known references. The KLH SIX, Advents, Celestion SL's, and Audio Note .......
391: Speaker Asylum, RE: How long does it take to break in the new driver on the Tocaro 40s? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-14, 12:02:13 (24.91.31.181)
My new 40E drivers sounded good out of the box, progressively better as the day wore on. The prognosis is that they will get continually better on a long slowly rising curve, which describes the break .......
392: Speaker Asylum, RE: Please let us know how they sound (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-12, 14:42:05 (24.91.31.181)
Hard to imagine 40s sounding like that. I had the original 40's. Then they were 40.5's. I wonder if the fixed ones you heard were 40.6's or some such. The original 40's were fine, no need to change th .......
393: Speaker Asylum, John Shuster rules. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-12, 13:45:08 (24.91.31.181)
It would be fun someday to sit down with our favorite speakers to see what we could...see. As I've often said, speakers change what other speakers sound like. I know how you feel about the Audio Note .......
394: Speaker Asylum, RE: Please let us know how they sound (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-12, 13:03:14 (24.91.31.181)
They sounded good out of the box, unlike the earlier 40's with the "D" drivers, and are sounding better by the hour. I'll give them a few more days before saying more. They are in the high 90's in sen .......
395: Speaker Asylum, RE: Muzzled (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-12, 06:32:23 (24.91.31.181)
How nice of you to ask? Truly. I've written to Miguel to ask about distribution in the Far East. Yes, small rooms, at least for the 40's and 42's. 45's could be iffy. Just got the new upgraded "E" dri .......
396: Speaker Asylum, Muzzled (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-12, 05:27:30 (24.91.31.181)
To..Toc...Toca...oh well. .......
397: General Asylum, RE: These are the tests that really make me wonder ... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-07, 10:13:54 (24.91.31.181)
Well...really good speakers can reveal the shortcomings of lesser electronics too. Overall balance is the best way to go. And this is not an original idea! .......
398: General Asylum, RE: These are the tests that really make me wonder ... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-07, 07:52:50 (24.91.31.181)
Just speculating. I don't know the speakers at first hand but my experience tells me that $1700 or so speakers have their limitations. .......
399: General Asylum, RE: These are the tests that really make me wonder ... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-07, 05:56:20 (24.91.31.181)
It's possible the speakers used aren't good enough to let the advantages of the more expensive gear come through. Spend another $1000-1500 there and the test might come out differently. In other words .......
400: General Asylum, RE: Have you ever heard a completely solid state system that sounded truly exceptional with analogue ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-06, 08:07:28 (24.91.31.181)
As I say, there is ss gear out there that can do what you're asking for. Also, I would guess that most folks used to the softening of leading edges would find accurate reproduction of those edges exag .......
401: Music Lane, One More: Apponyi on Ars Musici (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-05, 07:45:18 (24.91.31.181)
Opus 33...truly wonderful. http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Haydn-Streichquartette-String-Quartets/dp/B002S3BHGI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391615249&sr=8-3&keywords=Apponyi+Quartet .......
402: Music Lane, They even come through on You Tub (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-05, 05:43:23 (24.91.31.181)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZU3GWYZE0A .......
403: Music Lane, Carmina on Denon (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-05, 05:40:43 (24.91.31.181)
I heard them play the "Sunrise" on FM radio yesterday and was knocked out. Never heard of them. They're Swiss, been around as a group for 30 years! There are a lot of good performances around, as thi .......
404: General Asylum, RE: Have you ever heard a completely solid state system that sounded truly exceptional with analogue ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-05, 05:34:10 (24.91.31.181)
The problem with posting what I did is that I really can't follow it up with an example. We can only speak from experience, so I can't argue with your examples. But in my house I get somewhat more imm .......
405: General Asylum, RE: Have you ever heard a completely solid state system that sounded truly exceptional with analogue ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-04, 08:08:37 (24.91.31.181)
I'm limited here in what I'm permitted to say but I do understand your concern. Tubes have been associated with analogue for a long time, reinforced by the idea that somehow analogue (and musical real .......
406: General Asylum, RE: Have you ever heard a completely solid state system that sounded truly exceptional with analogue ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-02-03, 13:42:33 (24.91.31.181)
YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! .......
407: Music Lane, RE: I'm voting for a link... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-27, 09:13:39 (24.91.31.181)
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Penderecki+LP+Naxos&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3APenderecki+LP+Naxos 2 LP's .......
408: Music Lane, Let's Vote for Vinyl. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-27, 08:37:40 (24.91.31.181)
It's something new. I got one and it sounds great. CD sounds good too but this is special. So if we all buy it, maybe they'll make some more. Somebody at Naxos convinced somebody else this might be a .......
409: Music Lane, Speaking of NAXOS... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-27, 04:27:46 (24.91.31.181)
Krzysztof Penderecki, Works. Warsaw Philharmonic, Polish National Symphony. Antoni Wit. Naxos. (2 LP's). NAC-LP 002-03. VINYL, my friends, VINYL. .......
410: Music Lane, Geraldine Walther (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-24, 11:15:49 (24.91.31.181)
They have a new violist, Geraldine Walther, who joined in 2005. She has played a lot at the Music@Menlo summer program with Finckel, Wu Han & Company, and if memory serves, she's a bit less analytic t .......
411: General Asylum, Simplify, Simplify. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-24, 10:07:25 (24.91.31.181)
As you may or may not know, Thoreau eventually moved back to town. .......
412: Music Lane, Takacs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-24, 10:00:18 (24.91.31.181)
There is a time to blend and a time to remain distinct, a matter that is generally dictated by the composer. Some string quartets go their own way on this. I have always found that the Takacs tend to .......
413: General Asylum, RE: A very wise man once said (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-24, 09:43:05 (24.91.31.181)
Does a Porsche make you happier than a Civic? YES Does a Leica make you happier than a Panasonic pocket camera? YES Does an expensive, complex audio system make you happier than a small, inexpensive o .......
414: General Asylum, Another Question (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-24, 09:37:01 (24.91.31.181)
I always begin that reflection with the question, What leads us to believe that giving things away, purifying our lives, moving away from civilization, reducing, reducing, reducing -- all negative mov .......
415: General Asylum, RE: Most hyped Audio Manufacterer (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-10, 09:48:23 (24.91.31.181)
Hyped here or in the audio world at large? .......
416: General Asylum, RE: had the Super HL5's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-10, 09:46:18 (24.91.31.181)
Harbeths are not about love. .......
417: Speaker Asylum, RE: I bought a Harbeth Compact 7 ES3 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-06, 13:53:48 (24.91.31.181)
I Harbethed my Merlins, then Merlined my Harbeths, then Harlined my Merbeths, then Merbethed my Harlens. Exhausted and looking for some fresh air, I tried Harbething ProAcs and Merlining Reference 3A' .......
418: Music Lane, So, anyone heard the Gardiner? (n.t.) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-06, 13:13:05 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
419: Speaker Asylum, RE: Dang FedEx!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-06, 07:05:21 (24.91.31.181)
Well at least they're not broken, yet. .......
420: Music Lane, Yes RCA... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-06, 04:15:53 (24.91.31.181)
Sorry.... .......
421: Music Lane, RE: Schumann Symphonies (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-04, 09:12:19 (24.91.31.181)
Goodman on Hyperion. I understand Gardiner's on DG are also good. Both are leaner than versions played on modern instruments, which seems to clarify and toughen them up a bit. .......
422: Music Lane, Music Education isn't the basic problem. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-04, 05:16:35 (24.91.31.181)
I don't think it's about music education. I have listened to classical music since I was around 12 and never took a music course in my life. I think it's a matter of receptiveness and curiosity. FM ra .......
423: Speaker Asylum, RE: A little silly question - a good speaker must be good with everything ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 11:54:47 (24.91.31.181)
When I was in college, my roommate had a Janzen 130 electrostatic tweeter atop an AR-1W, a very popular rig in those (1956-60) days. I had an Altec Lansing sectoral horn atop a 15-inch Altec woofer. N .......
424: Speaker Asylum, RE: The thing lost most often in a larger set of speakers I found is coherence (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 11:49:49 (24.91.31.181)
Thiels are what remind me that coherence isn't everything. .......
425: Speaker Asylum, RE: Small vs. Large (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 09:36:55 (24.91.31.181)
My room is 15' x 28' x 12' (tapering to 9 28 feet away) and JMR Bliss Silvers, Audio Note K/SPe's, and Tocaro 42's sound fine here. .......
426: Music Lane, RE: May be some nice performances/recordings, but musical necrophilia. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 08:08:44 (24.91.31.181)
See below. .......
427: Speaker Asylum, The thing lost most often in a larger set of speakers I found is coherence (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 07:09:12 (24.91.31.181)
Yes, and coherence can surprise you with the degree of its importance. Live music has many qualities and no speaker I know of can get them all. So choices come down to priorities -- which qualities ma .......
428: Music Lane, Back at Ya (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 05:57:46 (24.91.31.181)
Dimitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 4, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Petrenko, conductor, Naxos 8.573188. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue70/amateur3.htm Shostakovich, String Quartets .......
429: Speaker Asylum, Small vs. Large (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2014-01-02, 05:54:38 (24.91.31.181)
Some small speakers do things that large ones cannot. While you can get more range and scale moving to larger ones, something is invariably lost. Small speakers can be near perfect on a wide range of .......
430: Music Lane, Stile Antico (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-28, 09:08:35 (24.91.31.181)
I have mixed feelings about Stile Antico. They are lively and have become very popular (nothing wrong with that); but in the end, at least to me, not very moving. I know a lot of folks find the Tallis .......
431: Music Lane, RE: New Favorite? Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 - Leningrad (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-28, 09:04:11 (24.91.31.181)
One of the best recordings of the year -- at any price. Whole cycle is great. .......
432: Critic's Corner, Would it be better for each reviewer to name their top 3 components of the past year...that each actually revi (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-24, 05:30:13 (24.91.31.181)
Which is what Positive Feedback does. .......
433: Music Lane, Andrew Rangell n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-05, 11:31:22 (24.91.31.181)
n.t. .......
434: General Asylum, RE: What do you call someone (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-03, 05:51:51 (24.91.31.181)
The real evidence that you're cured is when you stop posting here, assuming you've already canceled your subscriptions to audio mags. .......
435: Music Lane, RE: Rachel Podger (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-01, 07:42:12 (24.91.31.181)
Agree but he's limited us to Chandos.... .......
436: Music Lane, RE: I will co-opt this thread (slightly) to ask... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-12-01, 06:34:38 (24.91.31.181)
Buxtehude: Sacred Cantatas, Vol 1 /Kirkby * Leblanc * Harvey * Purcell Quartet by Purcell Quartet, Dietrich Buxtehude, Peter Harvey and Richard Boothby .......
437: Music Lane, Petrenko's Shostakovich 4 n.t. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-30, 07:22:57 (24.91.31.181)
no next .......
438: Speaker Asylum, Update (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-27, 14:21:51 (24.91.31.181)
I wrote here a while back that John Geisen of Wellington Audio in West Palm Beach and I would be going to Austin Hifi later in the fall at the beck of Creston Funk, importer of Tocaros. We were summon .......
439: General Asylum, RE: Does Steve Hoffman analyze music, or sound for a living? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-26, 05:38:00 (24.91.31.181)
Well you'd like to think this is the case but who knows? I love to make your case by saying that composers often prefer scores to performances. But in my experience if the system really is more accur .......
440: General Asylum, Goes with the Territory (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-26, 05:32:23 (24.91.31.181)
Agree totally. It is easier when the speaker or system has no personality of its own, no 'character,' as we say, which is rare. But it's always there. And, of course, there is a whole group of 'philes .......
441: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ping Bob Neill - Jean-Marie Reynaud - Gaillarde (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-24, 11:43:51 (24.91.31.181)
Jean Claude thinks it's from the late '60's, yes, one of theirs but before he was born! .......
442: Critic's Corner, the massive cycles of church cantatas, which have been (relatively) neglected during the Bach revival of recen (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-11-07, 07:38:08 (24.91.31.181)
Not really. Ton Koopman, Challenge Classics JEG himself, SDG Suzuki, BIS Rilling, Hannsler Harnoncourt, Telefunken .......
443: Music Lane, RE: Petrenko, Petrenko, Petrenko! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-10-05, 06:28:10 (24.91.31.181)
Of course. So listen to Petrenko. .......
444: Music Lane, Petrenko, Petrenko, Petrenko! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-10-04, 07:40:20 (24.91.31.181)
Best around these days, maybe best period, if that matters. He lets the inside out. A lot of people don't think Shostakovich's symphonies have an inside. .......
445: General Asylum, MS/PHD (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-26, 16:04:11 (24.91.31.181)
Well sometimes it costs 10x (to use the factor given) to get a 2x improvement. You're not just adding more of the same parts piled higher and deeper. .......
446: Music Lane, Alexander String Quartet (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-20, 10:22:05 (71.234.177.231)
We're not answering your question, I know. But that said, the Alexander Quartet's may be the best of the bunch. .......
447: General Asylum, RE: I'm going to Rocky Mountain Audio Fest! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-20, 10:18:23 (71.234.177.231)
Not I, he said with some guilt. I'm very fond of that show and the folks who run it but it has become too expensive for a small business over time. And the wear and tear on my gear is becoming hard to .......
448: Speaker Asylum, RE: Contact Bob Neill at Amherst Audio, a dealer nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-19, 18:04:28 (71.234.177.231)
But surely there must be some Inmates in L.A. (where Creston's son has moved and now demos Tocaros) and in Austin who can get to hear these speakers. One pair of New England ears are not exactly defin .......
449: Speaker Asylum, RE: Contact Bob Neill at Amherst Audio, a dealer nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-19, 14:09:28 (71.234.177.231)
I am going to pay a visit to Creston and Mark at Austin Hifi with John Geisen of Wellington Audio in West Palm Beach, the other prospective Tocaro dealer (who also sells jMR, Harbeth, Naim, Audio Note .......
450: Speaker Asylum, RE: Contact Bob Neill at Amherst Audio, a dealer nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-19, 07:00:53 (71.234.177.231)
He already has. Will be visiting later this fall when 40's are back in stock. No reviews that I know of. I could write one if you like...! Creston Funk could write one two but you wouldn't believe it: .......
451: Speaker Asylum, Lack of Attention (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-10, 11:37:33 (71.234.177.231)
The lack of attention can be attributed in part to the importer's reluctance to push the brand on reviewers, travel around the country drumming up dealers, and going to shows. He took on the job out o .......
452: General Asylum, RE: Just the opposite, once engineers stopped mastering CDs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-10, 08:28:20 (71.234.177.231)
Beauty maybe. Superiority of sound debatable. Meaning it's still being debated, always will be. Because neither medium does everything, so debaters choose which virtues matter most to them. ::: TOPIC: .......
453: Speaker Asylum, Fullness (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-06, 09:20:07 (71.234.177.231)
I mean to add a comment to Geisen's on fullness, but I was typing too fast. I agree with him, should probably have said fulsomeness. Tocaros do not sound fulsome. They get the whole orchestra, they ge .......
454: Speaker Asylum, RE: Question of age? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-06, 08:59:33 (71.234.177.231)
I agree that hearing tapers with age but the responses to Reynauds, Audio Notes, and Tocaros here don't seem to follow any age lines. And to tell the truth, the Tocaros don't go higher or emphasize tr .......
455: Speaker Asylum, That can be a shock. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-06, 07:32:58 (71.234.177.231)
One last word and I do apologize for Tocaro having taken over this thread: you can blame a little of that on Frihed if you like. The nature of the shock on returning to more traditional sounding speak .......
456: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ask him about his new favorite. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-06, 06:24:39 (71.234.177.231)
Two things. Long break-in on the 40's, which discourages some folks and makes RMAF planning essential: as in Don't take unbroken-in speakers to RMAF! The 42's break in much faster. The other thing is .......
457: Speaker Asylum, RE: Who's heard them? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-06, 06:08:05 (71.234.177.231)
Only two dealers at the moment. That'll show things down a bit. Supply is limited, which is, I assume, the main reason for their being just two of us. They've been to Rocky Mtn Audio Fest twice, both .......
458: Speaker Asylum, RE: As an alternative... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-04, 10:09:37 (71.234.177.231)
I predict a hardening of the sound, which you will either welcome or send packing!~ Mapleshade's brass footers work some places, 'fail' in others. Should be interesting. .......
459: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note AN-E Speaker Stand Suggestions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-04, 08:29:53 (71.234.177.231)
So you're home! Actually, I did my stands eons ago and can't really remember what the change was. I sort of remember a modest overall tightening, clarifying, speeding up. But as I said below, I can't .......
460: Speaker Asylum, RE: LOL! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:53:49 (71.234.177.231)
I hear you laughin' but I don't hear you confessin.' .......
461: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note AN-E Speaker Stand Suggestions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:39:38 (71.234.177.231)
A ding, a dong, a boing...yes. Professionally called a ringing. When I loaded mine, the difference was fairly dramatic...from a ringing to a thuck, as I say. Did the speakers sound different. Yeah, I .......
462: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note AN-E Speaker Stand Suggestions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:22:22 (71.234.177.231)
Don't know what the lead adds, just that the recipe I was given was half masonry sand, half small lead shot. Are you getting the 'thuck"? (=: .......
463: Speaker Asylum, Harbeth I's and II's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:20:27 (71.234.177.231)
I should say that I have not heard the latest generation of Harbeths. The ones I had here were MK I's, I guess they'd be called now. I don't know what the changes implemented in the MK II's amounted t .......
464: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ask him about his new favorite. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:07:17 (71.234.177.231)
No...but I hear 'something' is afoot with the 40's. I'll report whatever it is whenever I hear...more. .......
465: Speaker Asylum, RE: Audio Note AN-E Speaker Stand Suggestions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 14:03:07 (71.234.177.231)
Did you fill them with half masonry sand and half lead shot? Do they go thuck when you tap them? I have never used anything but AN stands filled thusly and have no complaints. But probably somebody so .......
466: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ask him about his new favorite. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 06:30:10 (71.234.177.231)
Don't take me too literally on the concert halls...that was off the top of my early morning head. Maybe Tocaros are the Regatta Bar in Cambridge! .......
467: Speaker Asylum, RE: Ask him about his new favorite. Nt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-03, 05:15:38 (71.234.177.231)
Yeah but so what. They're all good. Taste evolves for many of us, generally toward the more accurate -- provided it truly is. But that's not what everyone wants in his house. I moved from Harbeth (7' .......
468: Speaker Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-02, 16:33:35 (71.234.177.231)
And it very unlikely you'll like both! .......
469: Speaker Asylum, RE: Harbeth Compact 7 and Reynaud Bliss Silver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-02, 14:41:14 (71.234.177.231)
Compact 7 is a bit more reserved, civilized, smoother. Bliss Silver is more than a bit more expressive and images better. Absolutely a matter of taste. All Harbeths are more reserved than all Reynauds .......
470: General Asylum, Audiophiles, otoh, are much more interested in the gear than the music, (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-02, 09:33:23 (71.234.177.231)
Respectfully disagree, though you may call me a picker of nits. It's the sound of instruments they're crave, verisimilitude. The music isn't quite enough for them. Us. .......
471: Music Lane, Nothing we haven't heard but still worth reading (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-02, 06:08:34 (71.234.177.231)
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114221/orchestras-crisis-outreach-ruining-them .......
472: General Asylum, RE: Do you really need the latest and the greatest to enjoy your music immensely? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-09-02, 05:39:05 (71.234.177.231)
The most unacknowledged truth about audio is that you can get truly enjoyable music from an FM radio if it's just the music you care about. I was driving the other day, listening to my good but far fr .......
473: Speaker Asylum, Everything costs more (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-08-13, 10:30:50 (71.234.177.231)
My wife paid $16-17K a year for her Haverford College education in 1988; it now costs over $50K. Her Acura Integra cost $14K in 1990; its current iteration, ILX, costs around $27K. My 1988 house was s .......
474: Speaker Asylum, overpriced audiophile crap. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-08-13, 06:15:38 (71.234.177.231)
LIke the wonderful OTO Signature at $5520 and K/SPe's at $3715? People who fuss about AN pricing by looking at the fancy show gear up the line slay me. You can put together a wonderful AN system for a .......
475: Speaker Asylum, RE: Seems there is a love/hate aspect going on with these... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-08-08, 16:44:44 (71.234.177.231)
Don't listen to what anyone says when they slam Audio Note or Harbeth (on the latter, including me). All it means is that they don't like what these speakers do...and do well. .......
476: Speaker Asylum, RE: Which Audio Notes are the sweet spot? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-08-08, 09:33:00 (71.234.177.231)
AN E/SPe HE's. .......
477: Speaker Asylum, RE: Yes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-08-02, 07:56:52 (71.234.177.231)
Very good dealer...who also has Audio Note, JM Reynaud, and a few others. Great place to do some comparisons, may be take your Mac with you. Dealer's name is John Geisen ..jgeisen@mac.com ::: TOPIC:: .......
478: Speaker Asylum, RE: "There's still no cross over" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-24, 09:39:14 (71.234.177.231)
Not sure that this adds anything essential but the tweeters are not passive radiators. Tocaro tweeters have the same magnet/voice coil assembly as do the large drivers. .......
479: Speaker Asylum, RE: "There's still no cross over" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-24, 09:22:25 (71.234.177.231)
Well fortunately (?), the transition is a smooth one. Both drivers are designed and built by MIguel, so it probably isn't a matter of fortune! .......
480: Speaker Asylum, RE: "There's still no cross over" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-24, 07:57:33 (71.234.177.231)
A fair question which I put to Creston myself a while back. According to him, both drivers get all of the information and the natural roll-off of each takes care of 'things.' He'd be happy to post a f .......
481: Speaker Asylum, RE: For Bob Neill, re: your new Tocaro 42s (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-21, 06:52:23 (71.234.177.231)
The 42’s have only been here about two weeks and I was planning on waiting a bit longer before reporting out. But okay. Break in on these seems waaaay faster than on the 40’s, so I guess I’m ready for .......
482: Speaker Asylum, Austin Hifi (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-15, 06:03:26 (71.234.177.231)
Creston has 40's, 42's, and 45's in stock for demo. Don't know whether or not he still has Harbeths for comparison. Big difference but one worth hearing for perspective. To anybody else listening in, .......
483: General Asylum, RE: An audiophile is like a golfer (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-10, 13:26:31 (71.234.177.231)
It's an act of will. You just decide and move on. When I'm comparing two pieces of gear that are pretty close, somewhere along the way I decide to vote for A or B and never look back. Same with a whol .......
484: Speaker Asylum, RE: P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-07, 16:10:50 (71.234.177.231)
But it's the only I've got here to play with! .......
485: Speaker Asylum, P.S. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-07, 09:49:16 (71.234.177.231)
A more promising avenue for exploration for the Tocaros might well be the newish 28 watt all solid state Blue Circle NSL stereo amp. Gilbert has gravitating toward this kind of thing for a few years n .......
486: Speaker Asylum, RE: TOCARO (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-07, 09:01:02 (71.234.177.231)
The synergy between the Tocaros and the Crimson amps sounds so good I haven't messed with it. But with a 9 watt Audio Note P3 Silver Signature sitting here, I should try that someday. I already know p .......
487: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill about yourTocara speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-06, 05:14:03 (71.234.177.231)
That's a delicate question for a dealer here, perhaps even an improper one, though I did bring it up. Let's just say that Reynauds (and even more so Audio Notes) brought out a percussive quality in t .......
488: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill about yourTocara speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-05, 13:18:22 (71.234.177.231)
Unless they're well broken in, they don't make a very good first impression! The single drivers are apparently realllllly stiff. I've heard three different personalities from them and am just glad I h .......
489: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill about yourTocara speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-05, 12:23:40 (71.234.177.231)
Do a search on Tocaro and you'll find my two earlier reports on the Tocaros. They've been within my sight for quite a while now. .......
490: Speaker Asylum, RE: Calling Bob Neill about yourTocara speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-05, 12:22:31 (71.234.177.231)
Developments, yes. And to be honest, somewhere around 300 (!) hours they made me wish I’d waited longer to report on them. Now that the Tocaro 40D’s are close to fully broken in (Tocaro importer Crest .......
491: Speaker Asylum, Judge by Ear, alas (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-07-03, 07:09:51 (71.234.177.231)
I'm too lazy to read this whole thread, so I'm writing from personal experience. On JM Reynaud floorstanders, spikes seem to harden the sound when used on a wood floor, so I have always used Symposium .......
492: SET Asylum, I don't like the Quest's sound as much as the Meishu's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-23, 07:10:17 (71.234.177.231)
A Quest with what preamp? The only wrong with the Meishus is the preamp section. .......
493: General Asylum, RE: mainstream music is rubbish (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-20, 11:17:15 (71.234.177.231)
Whew, I'm glad it's not uncool to like Cold Play. I could listen to them all night, and I don't even know why. .......
494: General Asylum, RE: Great post, Bob! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-19, 12:18:33 (71.234.177.231)
Perhaps, but I seem only to have opened the same old can of worms. I had a narrower idea to set out, mainly the beginning of an explanation for why we lot remain so unsettled, which points to the ongo .......
495: General Asylum, RE: What a Crock. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 14:19:24 (71.234.177.231)
Again, what I'm talking about is the inability of any system to truly capture all aspects of live sound and so our tendency to be attracted to one that gets those that we feel are most important. And .......
496: General Asylum, Mincing Words (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 14:02:12 (71.234.177.231)
A fiction does not propose to be a copy of reality (read the disclaimer at the front of virtually every novel); audio systems do propose exactly that. We judge them -- some of us anyway --by how well .......
497: General Asylum, RE: Accuracy is a fiction....... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 12:44:37 (71.234.177.231)
No accuracy, or rather accurate, is a comparative adjective when used among audiophiles meaning that what we're listening to sounds most like what we hear in the concert hall or jazz club. Measurement .......
498: General Asylum, RE: I reject live music as some type of ideal......... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 11:52:23 (71.234.177.231)
I think this is too cynical, though I'll concede a lot of people probably agree with you. I prefer to think of the process as picking the accuracies you find. This speaker is more accurate than others .......
499: General Asylum, RE: What a Crock. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 10:51:54 (71.234.177.231)
Used to play piano, go to around eight live concerts a year. Offering an opinion more than a couple of sentences long will usually get you accused of having a big head, goes with the territory. Glad t .......
500: General Asylum, " But things will never become perfect.... Maybe closer and closer, but never totally there." (0.00)
Posted by Bob Neill on 2013-06-18, 10:11:21 (71.234.177.231)
Because "there" keeps moving. Because no one system can keep enough of what you thought was important before and add what you've discovered and so decided is important now. I think one mistake some pe .......
Found total of 500 records, Query: , Author: Bob Neill in All Forums, Time: 1 sec.