Audio Aficionado to invade Monroe, LA this weekend (trip report)

[Timobi]

Just now saw this thread! Had no idea..until Steve linked it to me.

We did have a great time and yah my cartridge was a casualty of war! GRRR. Turned out to be a very expensive Cleaning service The good news is I wanted a new one anyway BUT was going to wait a bit.

Got to finally meet Buck who drove in from ATL. Both Steve & Mike had been down here before but like most of us here, my system has evolved each time. Much more of the Nordost Odin cabling; a new Shunyata Triton V3 power conditioner; and added room treatments. Can't really say enough good about room treatments to those who are on the fence about them.

We ate some GREAT food; had GREAT fellowship...and some laughs too! Thanks to Mike's wife & my fiancé to bring some class to the setting

Both the Bricasti DACs and the dCS dac are really terrific and a nice jump up from the Cary Audio. The Cary is a fine dac and great value. BUT with each price category one can hear the differences.

The new speaker cables were barely broken in and one of the DACS was brand new. Actually the system sounded the best on Sunday & Monday.

Mike brought along his Nordost Q Points & Q Source & I must say I was skeptical. BUT....its real They did make an audible impression and for the best. They are probably system dependent as are a lot of our Audio Toys. But they brought more weight to the instruments and vocals. A bit more centered but not closed in...In fact I ordered some after this meet up.

One of the sad things about these kind of meet ups is the highs are so good and the fellowship...then its over. Lets face it we are all in such a small minority..a minority of audio freaks who just get it! But when it's over; its kind of sad to not have friends close by to share this hobby with.

Oh, I almost forgot. BIG BIG thanks to Buck who had a nice system software thingy to measure bass response. My bass was not good. And we did some cable swapping & dummy me connected one of the subs wrong. Sounded Horrid for about 2 hours. So we all got our heads together and actually turned OFF the Martin Logan custom filters. And some other things that I can't remember But the bass was now really good and tight. Sounded pretty amazing.

Looking forward to the next time these guys come down and whoever else wants to come to!..

Jason, I totally forgot about you! We are just 3 hours apart.

One thing I will say; I think each of us have some really special systems. And I think they all sound different. But all good. Some of us may like a bit more bass than others; or a slightly different soundstage. But all in all; many here have fabulous audio systems that we can be proud of.

[Timobi]

I have some video but don't think I can attach those on a thread...

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by SL1800

Hi guys sorry for the slow response to this thread. We all had a blast hanging out at Tim’s even without analog. Tim has a new cartridge on order.

We did a lot of comparisons with Tim’s Cary Audio dac and the loners we had, Dcs Bartok, Bricasti M1 and M21.

I was impressed enough with the Bricasti M21 I talked the dealer into letting me hijack it and take it home to Oklahoma to hear it against my PS Audio DirectStream in my own system. To say the least I bought the loner M21 which is actually a brand new unit just built a few weeks ago.

Mike also brought along some Nordost qPoints and QSource power supply for them. I have no idea how those things work but they do. Not sure Mike will ever try taking all that through airport security again!!!

All in all it was a great weekend even if Tim lost a cartridge to the cleaning lady.

Could you share more thoughts on your listening time with the M21?

Are using the M21 as your PreAmp as well?

[SL1800]

Originally Posted by crwilli

Could you share more thoughts on your listening time with the M21?

Are using the M21 as your PreAmp as well?

I have tried the M21 direct to my Audio Research GS150 bypassing my Ref6 preamp. M21 direct to amp most certainly has deeper tighter bass but maybe a little less air on top and misses some of the tube magic midrange which the Ref6 brings to the table. I had a local friend listen and he actually preferred the M21 direct to the amp in every way, he described it as cleaner and of course the bass was better.

As for comparing the M21 to the PS Audio.......well there really isn’t a comparison at all, the M21 is better in any aspect you want to compare. Of course it should be it is more expensive.

[crwilli]

Thank you.

[Timobi]

When I get the M21 I am going to connect as a preamp as well to compare vs the McIntosh C1100...

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Timobi

When I get the M21 I am going to connect as a preamp as well to compare vs the McIntosh C1100...

Perfect. I look forward to your impressions.

[GW1800]

I was there also and it was a great experience!! It’s one of those things you wonder why we did not do this earlier? It actually all came by a bit of by accident so not even sure if planned it could have been done better. It was my first time to meet Steve/ Buck and my 2nd time at Tim’s place. This time I brought my wife, Diane so her and Alicia could spend some time together with the group and then by themselves. Probably comparing rings right Tim? I think Diane came out on the short side of that one which I’m sure I will pay for at some time. Thanks Tim!!

First off Tim feed us all well with a great selection of southern food. Buck took a liking to the crawdads (or crayfish not sure what is right) much more than the rest of us but the chicken, pizza, catfish and especially the steak were all great! I’m sure Alicia had her hand in some of that so we do thank her also. I think we all put on a few pounds. Tim even went so far as special liquids – Steve with green tea, Buc with real Coke w/sugar, Diane with peach tea and me with a great bottle of Scotch!! Tim you set a pretty high bar for the next visit!!

Just so you know how this all came about. Originally Steve was to visit Tim to help him setup his new tone arm. Tim and Steve had been planning this for a bit eventually decided on a date. I have been promising Tim a visit for the last few months and was interested in also seeing Steve setup a TT. I do not have one but I was just curious to see the process in action. Around that time Tim was getting more and more frustrated in his Cary DAC and was trying to get a dCS on loan to demo. He mentioned it to me on a phone conversation that he was serious and I said why not give Bricasti a try? Long story short Bricasti sent to Tim two loaner DAC’s a M1 and M21 after he requested it. The dCS dealer would not but eventually Buc was able to convince him to do so. Buck also had an interest in seeing Steve setup a TT so he asked to join in. Buck drove a similar distance to Steve 7 hours with the dCS DAC in tow to join the group. As discussed earlier in the thread the stylus was broken off by the cleaning service so this was a big disappointment all around. However as a group we quickly turned our attention to reviewing all the DAC’s and compare. I’ll leave it up to Tim, Steve and Buck to explain what they did or did not hear but what I will say is we all enjoyed each other’s music and company. Maybe not so much Buck’s classical but even some of those were interesting to listen too on a great system like Tim’s. I left with a SoundHound list of 62 tracks, yes even a few classical ones I will admit, that I’m first starting to go through last night. I’m thinking 40-50ish or so I will end up on one of my playlists.

There are pictures earlier in the string how Tim’s system looked. To me the visual look of Tim’s system is just outstanding with the Mac colors, tubes, black racks, shiny wire and all his special room treatments it’s a great look!! Nice job Tim!! Beyond the obvious I really like his front wall treatments and color they complement his whole system and did a great job controlling sound.
I helped with the CLX speaker placement with Buck helping out to vastly improve Tim’s bass. In the end we all agreed the whole system sound was much improved after the adjustments. In addition I brought down in a carry-on a set of Nordost QPoints and a QSource with the premium wires. As the time flew by they were not hooked up until after Buck left but both Tim and Steve were impressed. So much so they actually ordered a set for themselves which they should have shortly if not already. Not sure I would do that again as at security I had a bit of a hassle going and coming. Lots of strange looks and odd questions if you know what I mean. I did not want to ship them or check them as I don’t trust UPS or airline baggage handling. But I’m glad I did so they could hear for themselves what these new products can do. Steve heard them at a show and was not all that impressed but that changed at Tim’s. All I know is Ron from Liquid HiFI seems to come out ahead on things like this!!

It was in the high 60’s the whole time we were there which was a nice break from Wisconsin weather. Diane and I left for home and returned to 3” of fresh snow the morning after returning – go figure. In thinking about the trip and all the good times if we waited just another week this trip would of never happened because of the virus.

[Timobi]

Very nice summary Mike! I'm glad you had a nice time. I think we all did. Wish Buck could have stayed another day as seriously the system sounded better with each day. Maybe the best was on Monday. A few of the cables I had were brand new too and not broken in. By Monday we had about 36 hours on them!

I appreciate the kind words! Its still not quite perfect tho. The big box on the bottom is the Triton power conditioner and didn't really have time to find the right spot before everyone arrived. I'll update this thread when its all just right.

And of course the big Clearaudio TT isn't in the picture.

I want my room to look First Class. ( We all do!) ..want it to look good, be comfy and sound great!

[GW1800]

Just a quick note I have corrected the spelling of Buc to Buck sorry about that Buck.