AudioAficionado.org - Long-awaited visit to Ivan's will finally happen today...

My visit to Ivan's came in the middle of very hectic period in work life with a multi-city business trip up north
to hunt and close business for Q4/FY2017 in RI, CT and MA in a very compressed period of time coupled
with time with my son in MA. who is in his senior year as a university in MA.

The time with my son and the time with Ivan and his family were a very welcome respite from the demands of
work and personal life over the past few months/this entire year and from a truly crazy 6 day schedule
with work!

To further enhance the day, I started driving before sun-up from much further up in Massachussets and spent
a couple of hours on the road reminiscing about the 7.5 years I lived in MA., the 5 following I lived in CT and
the many trips I made to the Cape over the years with my son when he was MUCH smaller and as he grew
and how much I loved the feeling of 'heading south to the Cape'. Combine those great memories and feelings
with the excitement of visiting someone who has in a short period of time become a great friend and trusted
advisor for all things audio and further someone who when I speak with him over the last year is one of those
people who feel like I've known him for 20-30 years! Put all this together and it was one hell of an 'audiophile
adrenaline shot' to finally be making this trip that has been on-again/off-again a couple of times this year due
to work and personal life circumstance and pressures......

Ivan's home and family: As written many times before, Ivan and his wonderful family opened their home to
me early in the morning until early evening on what was clearly a busy day for them and pre-holidays; with the
welcome I received from Ivan/all, complete with morning coffee repeated whenever I wanted, and the fun of
meeting Ivan and Donna's new grandson (8-month old baby Jacob) and his mother, with the baby wide awake
playing and enjoying life from the early morning hours and again, I felt like I had been there before and was being
taken in as family! The family, the house, the property, the surrounding area, the setting, the cars, and everything was
as so many have already written, the stuff that people dream about and was truly impressive. Add to that Richard,
MasterLuJr, rolling later that day for the 3 of us to go out to lunch and then subsequently giving me a great tour
of every aspect of his new, beautiful and very unique custom home and this all itself would have been a complete
and amazing day! One last word on Ivan's home....the 1st floor was as noted absolutely beautiful and felt like a
wonderful home,....the basement was the most lovingly built out home for audio and video with attention to every
detail that I think I've ever seen! Not enough space here to write all I thought or observed but you get the idea!

Ivan: The man is a fellow careeer Sales Executive and audiophile as we all know. We had a nice chat in the living
room after meeting all who were home early in the morning and heading downstairs, to talk about our common love
of sales, business and audio. His passion for all things home theater and audio is awe inspiring. Even with dedicating
the day to the visit, he still managed to close no less than 3 deals from 'the office' at discrete breaks during the day,....
Amazing :-) !!!

Note on photos: Many have taken outstanding photos of every aspect of each system, the utility rooms, etc....I
did not want to take time away from listening to repeat the same photos posted multiple times this year alone so
this will be a text-only rendition of a visit to Audiophile Nirvana :-)

Utility Closets: The most seriously organized workshop and parts storage for audio/video/in general I've seen in a
very, very long time.....everything organized, labelled stored with a meticulous approach that stopped me dead in
my tracks; many of us aspire to this level of organization despite the business of life but few achieve it and only
1 or 2 people I've ever met in my life do that at the level Ivan has achieeved in the entire home! Same for disc
and video storage of his collection that either is or soon totally will be on his Kaleidoscape and Silenzio servers
and attendant NAS arrays (complete with RAID and secure backup OF COURSE!!!)...

Power Supply to the home: While I was not surprised knowing Ivan and his quest for the decidely best in every
aspect, I will say my reaction to his power setup was of the form "OMFG!!!"....the man has 2 dedicated transformers,
brand new at their time of installation dedicated to his home, went through process and approval hell apparently to
convince the local power company that he did not intend to power some underground clandestine hydroponics or
other lab :-) and has executed the concept of "Dedicated Lines" in an audio and video setup to it's most extreme
extent! The power setup inside the home was even more impressive; every single wire run down to regular Romex
for all house circuits was meticulously laid out...the array of Richard Gray, PS Audio and other power conditioners
centralized in the main electrical closets was awe-inspiring. Ivan has this ingenious idea that allows him to keep
huge bulky power conditioners out of sight but still enjoy their function in every audio system...if I understood
what I heard and saw correctly,...he has conduit coming out of his main house and other dedicated panels directly
feeding a given power conditioner and then in the utility closet running the output of each needed outlet on each
power conditioner back into the house panel to power the dedicated circuits to his various rooms. The only exception
to this is the Burmester power conditioner in his Burmester-Grandioso-SonusFaber monster system where the
Burmester conditioner looks like the audiophile jewelry that it is in its riteful place at the core of the system!

Kaleidoscape and Silenzio w/NAS farms: Outrageous attention to detail and focus on these 2 technologies to almost
entirely abrogate the need to spin discs and allow for a RBCD or DSD native streaming setup (or DVD-V for
the Kaleidoscape). This allowed Ivan the ability throughout the house to show off his best and most favorite
material throughout the day on all the systems we visited.

The wiring closet and audio/video component closet between the home theater room and the McIntosh Sonus Faber
Strad room: Absolutely insane level of detail and attention paid to the single most beautiful wiring and planned
installation job I have EVER seen....no detail was too small or not included,...the triggers, the aux-fans, the climate
control in the room, the faux-floor to hide power / other cables, the faux backing board so that you don't see through
into the machine room as it were were all installed and organized in absolutely perfect (IMHO) detail...sitting in the
rooms on either side of this machine room, there is no hint of the complexity that lies within except to extrapolate
from the sheer mass and quantity of high-end McIntosh and Esoteric/other equipment. Simply outstanding
in every way!!!

TAD R1 Mk2, Bryston Amps, Pre-Amp, Esoteric D-02X, G-02X clock system: owing the R1s myself I was extremely eager
to hear this system and very happy that it was the first on the tour....seeing the layout with the system in the corner centered on
a fireplace with a wide-open left hand stage, I was circumspect as to how the R1s would sound. Also, the D-02X is
used for a fraction of its vast capabilities being a streaming target/DAC from the Silenzio as the P-02X is not present
(yet) in this system. What comes out of this system is very musical, deep bass, beautiful mids and highs and especially
when streaming DSD 2.8 material natively from the Silenzio, with rock solid center-stage imaging and ability to fill
the room with wonderful music. Knowing the R1s and 02X separates as I do, I would love to hear this system
with the addition of a P-02X coupled to the D-02X to unlock the full potential of the D-02X upper ES-Link (x)
functions and also pivot the system such that the R1s were along a long wall but that stated, the system sounded
wonderful, full and very satisfying. No subs here and absolutely no need for them with the expert placement
of the R1s close to the wall to counteract the corner placement effect!

McIntosh monster amps, Esoteric K-01X, Sonus Faber Stradivarius, dual JL Audio subs room: Streaming from the
Silenzio again here for RBCD and more DSD 2.8 of which my favorite sound quality was again the DSD 2.8
through the K-01X's external input,...I was extremely impressed with how musically satsifying and amazing
this system sounded. Extremely good imaging and top-bottom frequency coherency and very good dynamics.
I say all this unsurpised given the components and speakers involved but due to the fact that the massive
wall of gear with the huge amps, huge pockets to hold them and so much gear, wood and compartmentalized
space across the whole front stage and the MDF/XDF faux-backing wall mentioned above "should" have resulted
in much loss of detail, too much reflection off all the shiny McIntosh glass faceplates and too many installation
shelves/pockets to muck up the sound of that fine list of gear and a world-renowned wondeful pair of speakers.
I don't know how Ivan pulled it off in this room but the sound and enjoyment level was stunning in this room!
The blending of the subs into the Strads was absolutely 1st rate as well!

Note: Ivan's custom-designed "Ivan Messer Subwoofer stands" are amazing and exactly what one would expect
from someone who focuses every idea on getting the most out of every component....these were arrayed throughout
every system and are something I would look at more intently in the future. Two words "Get Them!"

Note: Ivan has some of the most beautiful turntables any could ever lust over. Regrettably, no vinyl was spun
that day. All I can say is "NEXT TRIP!!!"

Next stop,...."the" Home Theater,...monster McIntosh amps, XR2K speakers, monster center , god knows how many
other speakers for surround and how many subwoofers, one of the best high-def projectors I've ever seen short
of an IMAX projector, great video screen, seating, absolutely insanely thick walls and overall I believe THE BEST
home theater install I've ever seen. The sound and video quality in this room still have me nearly speechless. After
watching a Phil Collins dual drum solo as a concert opener and then some great computer animation scenes in a
movie, I was simple awe-struck at the video and audio quality/the entire experience. Of all Ivan's systems, this is
definitely 1 of the 2 "stars of the show" in that house. Words don't really do it justice; you have to EXPERIENCE IT
for yourself! After 30+minutes in here, we opened the door and it was like stepping out of a NASA Vacuum chamber
(no kidding!!!). I experienced the most clear and immersive SPLs of my life in that room I think and it was without
ear fatigue of any kind. The way Ivan 'lights up' that video and pushes their XRT2K, center, etc...to their absolute
best outputs is beyond words and so totally immersive that I had to decompress my audiotory system for about 15
minutes outside (while having a coffee and smoke of course :-) !!!) just to clear the baffles as it were and get
ready for the next evolution! I could write pages upon pages about every visceral aspect of this room,....
STUNNING, STUNNING STUNNING!!!

Next stop: The Bonus Room/loft with Esoteric Grandio M1s, C1, K1, G1, Aerial 20t with subs, Canton 3K (no subs)
and miscellaneous other 'toys' around the room...started with Silenzio-based material here at RBCD resolution then
quickly moved to DSD 2.8 again,...did a quick A/B on the Aerial 20t with subs versus the Canton 3K. The Aerials
in their day were fine speakers, but the Canton 3Ks eclipsed them in this fine system easily and displayed some
amazing levels of dead center-stage imaging, resounding and musical bass that had me standing up to see if
the Aerial subs were still somehow active (they weren't) and very good mids and top-end extension. All that
top-line Esoteric gear stood tall in this room and drove the Canton's to the maximum capability with the
expected sound quality of the Grandioso level Esoteric is world-renowned for. The K1 is the best and
most ultimate one-box player I've EVER heard....very enjoyable, natural and musical portrayal of
whatever is put through it be it disc or USB/other inputs. Truly astounding also with respect to
its (not low but very fair) $27K USD price point. If I was constrained in the future to scale
down from separates to a single-box player, the K1 would be "it" for a lifetime I believe. The G1
10 mHz master clock is of course making its presence known in the room via how it helps
the K1 perform; overall a truly impressive system with many surprises from the Canton 3Ks
themselves. I was able to spin some tracks on several of the large binder of discs I brought
and they sounded even better to me than even the Silenzio DSD 2.8 rendered music as they
allowed the true potential of the K1-G1 combo to shine IMHO. I would love to see
Ivan have an elevator installed and put the TAD R1s up in this room but that won't be
happening for obvious logistical reasons :-) having to do with hernias and staircases :-) !

And Finally...

Burmester 911 Mk3 Tri-amped Sonus Faber Aidas, dual JL Audio Subs, Burmester Pre-amp, Burmester
CD player, beautiful turntable, Burmester power conditioner and Esoteric Grandiso 4-box stack with
G-01X clock system: this and the Home Theater mentioned above are Ivan's pride and joy all with
very good reason. To say this system was insanely good to my ears and I wanted to pack it up
and take it home while Ivan was not looking is the consummate understatement <LOL>! In
researching speaker choices, talking with other Aida owners plus Ivan 1-1.5 years ago, the common
theme emerged that in order to truly get the potential out of the Aidas, you had to use tri-amping
with at least 1000W per side to throw at these beautiful monster speakers and throw in the
proper application of just the right amount of musical dual-subs for good measure. Further
the reports were that the amplification had to be SOTA in its own regard and solid state of
the high quality. Based upon all these facts I pulled the trigger on TAD R1s instead of Aidas due to
their well-deserved reputation and their ability to sound world class without spending $100K-$150K+
in amplification to drive them and cable them in a tri-amped system. All that stated, I am here to
tell you that if money were no object for me and room size allowed, i would without a doubt
look at the Aidas driven by the best Burmester, Esoteric or Karan amplification to be able
to experience daily what I heard out of this system whether driven by the Silenzio DSD 2.8
outputs into the Esoteric D1 mono DACs or natively using RBCD or SACD through the
full capabilities of the Grandioso stack. This system was absolutely earth-shattering in
terms of how it imaging, staged the musical experience and "moved the walls" with it
sheer power and dynamics for pipe organ, new age, rock, etc...that we thew at it. Absolutely
STUNNING, STUNNING, STUNNING system!!! Words alone don't suffice for this
just like the home theater but from a 2-channel point of view.

It is very difficult to cull threw all the emotions, thoughts and impressions I had of that entire
day. One thing is clear,...I should have had more time and come back another day or so to
truly drive out more and different listening with each and every system! That home theater
alone would have me asking Ivan to adopt me and let me live in the basement so I could
spin movies, jump over to the Aida-Burmester-Esoteric Grandioso system over and over
again!

I also look forward to see the finished product(s) of the home theater rebuild at Richard's new
house and whatever else he does to make that beautiful home his own. Next trip for sure :-)

Many thanks to Ivan and his entire family for the entire day. Ivan, Rich and I also had a great
lunch over at "The Lanes" with a great pastrami sandwich taking center stage on my plate.

Most journey to the Cape, Most journey back to the Cape, Must.....:-) !!!

Note; Any omissions here are not intentional but only the function of a blurred brain due to
work goings on and having to be up at 2:30am tomorrow and back on the road by 5am....