This past weekend, To Fast for Driving, Marc and I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Lavigne at his home about 30 miles east of Seattle in the foothills of the Great Cascade Mountain Range to hear what he has assembled using his experience over several decades.
Upon introduction, it was clear above his system, Mike is a genuine person; selfless in sharing his efforts, his home and his time for people who appreciate this so called crazy hobby of ours.
Mike immediately offered us cold beverages and then took us on an eager tour on what he assembled. Mikes approach to getting the room right is nothing short of spectacular, especially when you realize this once emanated originally as an actual barn housing horses.
As we listened to Mike explain the construction, room tuning, his system choices and the catalog of albums and music, we eagerly awaited the system to warm up. Mikes choices of equipment seemed to come from outside the State and included the amazing dartTZeel’s battery powered preamp and solid state mono blocks (these monos are crafted as things of beauty taking 160 hours of just machining and finishing) along with the complimenting speaker towers by Evolution, there are 3 Studar tape reels, and a heck of lot more - Mikes commitment to both the analog and digital was simply unwavering, no shortcuts.
Attachment 59638
The room acoustics were carefully thought out. Mike’s room was so tuned to support playback, even when you spoke your voice sounded better.
Electrical and passive grounding was paramount that incorporates a massive dedicated panel for power and his use of Tripoint and Entreq devices supporting many, if not, all the components, including the powered speakers. And something I never heard of or seen was “active isolation” platforms. Just the description alone was draw dropping and when Mike had me clap my hands in front of one that supported a mono amp the screen displayed real time vibrational noise emitting from my hands. All these tweaks and efforts purpose is to get to as neutral in sound as possible, and it clearly can be heard.
Attachment 59639
We started out first listening to albums, and it was clearly evident once the needle dropped that the dynamics of sound were at a captivating level. The midrange was so controlled and natural. It was so good that I was afraid of standing up without being embarrassed. The sound emitting from the Evolution speaker system was simply amazing, it easily made me think on several live tracks that I was at the venue and I know this a virtual impossibility, but it did. Nothing in the sound was exaggerated, the amps gripped those towers and allowed them to emit a non-assaulting wave of timbre harmony that was so open, real and pure. The sound literally drew you in probably like a bug light does to insects except, we were only zapped with one hell of a listening afternoon.
Attachment 59640
Interesting enough, Mike’s center chair was located near field, and I must admit it was intimidating at first as the speakers are massive, but you became used to the scale very quickly and undoubtedly it is the best seat in the house leaving you relaxed to enjoy all to be had.
I now better understand curating a music collection one will never fully get to hear is for everyone to enjoy. Collecting is half the fun, and having a collection of this magnitude allows visitors a good chance to hear their specific requests. Mikes album collection is not only extensive, it is cataloged equal to his version of a Dewey system proven by finding our requests lightening fast. To give you an idea, assuming I estimated correctly, there are enough albums to support 24/7 listening for over a year, and forget about how many of hours of playback from the server, and streaming.
Moving on, we got to the digital setup where the MSB Select is serving duty along with its two power supplies; one for the digital and the other for the analog. Feeding the MSB is an over the top Taiko Audio 34tb server that has a catalog of roughly 17tb of music. The MSB allows streaming of Quboz and Tidal which are all controlled by Roon. It clearly showed off how beautiful Mikes efforts were placed on the digital side of things.
While there is so much more to write about, what struck me most was having versatility with analog and digital which allows one to select the best playback of a particular recording.
Mike is a believer in Native playback, and it was easily heard why and it too makes sense to me. I'm taking the position Mike invokes, not as a follower but as a believer; native source first then the quality of recording - it’s all about choices and I also realize despite being native doesn’t guarantee a good recording. IMO, nothing is more discouraging then to have bad recordings playing from these great systems we all assemble, no matter analog or digital. I only want to hear the best, and now this visit begins my analog journey.
We plan on quickly getting back to Mikes home as we have original Led Zeppelin master tapes that need listening to on the R2R systems, and probably a Scotch to add in the sweetness of sound and that’s no joke!
Here is Mike and I
Attachment 59642
And this is Marc and I.
Attachment 59641
Thanks Mike!
