My visit to Dan's today

[Vintage Pete]

Good evening all...

....and what a great day today was, as I reflect on my visit today to our good friend Dan's (jdandy) home today. It was a really good time, a "blast", as Dan would say! I'm sure everyone will be interested, but before I begin I'd like to thank Dan and Marlene for their great hospitality, my only regret about having made the trip was that the time went by much too fast!

After a visit like this, one has to reflect a bit and digest it all. And it's a lot to digest, after seeing and hearing so much incredible gear, assembled with great talent in three separate areas. It's much like the feeling one has after leaving Ivan's...did I really see and hear all this?

Before the main events Dan showed me his very sweet Vintage system, built around a McIntosh MA5100 Integrated amp, MR74 Tuner and JBL 4312A Control monitors. Dan, This system is actually located in Dan's travel trailer, a road system, if you will. Dan said he wanted something a little better than the stock system that was supplied. Uhm, let me just say he succeeded! (Dan, we looked at so much gear today...you'll have to help me on the source..we also looked at the HK CD player/burner, the Tandberg preamp and the Carver tuner, I'm trying to remember the source for the vintage system). At any rate, a very sweet setup.

Next, it was on to the main attractions. First it was upstairs to see that absolutely gorgeous main system of Dan's. If there was ever a case of the photos not doing a system justice, this is it. (and the photos looked gorgeous!). As soon as you walk in, you're immediately taken back by the incredible, gorgeous stack of Mac gear-starting with the MC501's at the bottom, each with a Power plant premier atop of it, which in itself is a sight to behold. The blue lighting from the PPP's compliment the 501's perfectly, as if they were made to be with each other. The MC501's look absolutely stunning with the handles, and I was taken back by this again and again. As we continue up the stack we have the C1000 C/P, the MCD500CD player, the MS750 Music Server, and finally the MR88 Tuner. This is one system to feast one's eyes upon!

Next, Dan fixed us a bite to eat and we chatted a bit before getting started. (Actually, we did a LOT of chatting... )

We started with some Whitney Houston, from her "I'm your baby tonight" CD that I brought. Let me tell you, this system sings with amazing clarity, dynamics, and realism. The PMC speakers are truly superb, and I can see why they get such stellar reviews here and throughout the industry. The dynamics, the clarity of the voice and horns on the track All the man that I need were spine-tingling. After we got done with Whitney, we played Elton John's Nikita, one of my favorites that I frequently use for auditions. Once again, the performance was flawless. Dan let me have the remotes, and I was pushing the 501's up near 500 watts toward the climax of the song (I think I was around 70% on the volume readout?) The sound was simply magnificent. Dan played some material of his own as well, I can't recall the artists at the moment, but the performance level was impeccable at all times. Dan also sent me home with a compilation CD that he's put together specifically to demonstrate the capabilities of PMC speakers. The trouble is, there is never a pair of PMC speakers around here when I need them!

We did some fiddling in general with the system; I was impressed with the functional operation of the MR88 tuner with its manual/preset tuning operations and its flouroscan dial pointer. Dan gave me a SONOS 101 course; I'm a total novice on this, but my take on it was that one can play music via the internet from it through the MCD500 DAC, and also any and all media stored on the MS750 drive, on all of the home audio systems via the MS750's ethernet connection to the home network. It's impressive indeed...and I know Dan can explain it much better than I can. But, I think I have the basic idea. Before we knew it, between listening and talking, we'd already killed acouple of hours, so downstairs we went. What a system Dan's main system is. Wow.

By now, I think most of us have seen pictures of Dan's dowstairs systems, and we pretty much know what the systems are basically comprised of, and we know it has to be impressive in person. However, since we are talking about not only two superb audio systems, (either of which would be a MOST enviable "Main system") we're talking about a full-fledged recording studio, built by Dan, inside the home. Our first stop downstairs was the control room. Wow again...this is an incredible creation, there is more pro gear here than one can shake a stick at! I couldn't begin to recite all the gear in this room, there is simply too much of it, and only a very small portion of it that I really understand. Right off, I spotted the legendary Revox B77 Reel to Reel machine, and next to it an Akai machine. Dan explained that the B77 is a half-track machine, meaning that the recordings made on it occupy the entire width of the tape. (More tape particles equal greater fidelity. Dan, is the Akai half-track as well?) We didn't spend a lot of time in the control room, we had much more ground to cover in the adjacent room, where musicians are recorded, and where Dan has his Tube system and Home Theater system. This was our next stop.

I have to preface my impressions of the systems themselves on a similar note as I did on Dan's main system: that is, that while we can see pictures of this part of Dan's Audio world, we cannot (or at least I could not) understand it until we see it. One doesn't really get the grasp of the relationship of the two (studio) rooms, and moreover, the intimacy of the room in which the tube system and 5.1 surround systems are set up. It is very, very intimate in its presentation, tastefully executed, and very performance effective. The acoustics in the room are truly excellent.

As for the systems themselves, let me just say !!
We started out with the tube system, playing a few tracks from my Bryan Adams MTV Unpugged CD. It is an excellent live recording, with lots of ambiance that I thought would be excellent on Dan's Tube setup. And it was beyond that...it's difficult to describe how this system sounds. Utterly smooth, musical, and awe-inspiring. And the Sonus faber Guarnero Mementos? These speakers are amazing. The soundstaging and overall presentation is simply superb. Dan switched out the McIntosh XLS112 Sub, and even then you'd swear that there was a large woofer hidded somewhere in those gorgeous stands. These speakers do disappear completely, or as nearly completely as one could imagine. I've heard some of the Sonus line in the past-but always in a showroom, not set up properly like this. And though I've always repected the line, I came away today with a heightened admiration for this company and their products. This tube system of Dan's is one to die for!!

Next, we moved on to the surround system. Before we listened to any of my material, Dan demo'd the surround capabilities with a surround track from Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Wenyukela (Raise Your Spirit Higher). As Dan mentioned in another post, these guys use voices only, not instruments, and create an incredible sound. The effect was very impressive, and the overall quality of this system was immediately apparent.

We then played three choice tracks from Loreena McKennitt's Nights from the Alhambra DVD that I brought along. The opening track, The Mystics Dream, gave me goose bumps. Caravanserai and Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance were equally impressive. Dan's complement of superb JBL speakers in this setup are up to the task, and more. These powered speakers produce beautiful, full bodied sound that is incredibly clean, powerful, and simply loaded with great ambiance and air. Loreena's angelic voice sounded magnificent on these JBL speakers. As many of you know, Dan and I are both longtime JBL fans. This was my first experience with the LSR series, and I was very, very impressed.

Before we knew it, we were running out of time. This was a truly enjoyable experience, and worth every mile driven. Dan has put together a truly amazing ensemble that has to be seen and heard in person to be truly appreciated. Yes...I brought my camera, but I never retrieved it from the trunk of my car, we were too busy yakking and listening. But it really matters not...as I said, the pictures help, but they only tell part of the story. The day went all too fast...we barely touched all the material I brought!

It was way cool to finally meet and get together with Dan, whom I consider to be a great friend.

Dan and Marlene are great people...this is a great forum and a great place to be.

Thanks again for a great time Dan...I hope we can do it again soon!

Happy listening to all!

Pete

[hkval]

Pete: Reading your post was ALMOST like being there. This is what is so great about this forum. You know you are friends even before you actually meet someone. Thanks for sharing this very special day.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by hkval

Pete: Reading your post was ALMOST like being there. Thanks for sharing this very special day.

Howard...it was my pleasure, every bit of it!

Originally Posted by hkval

This is what is so great about this forum. You know you are friends even before you actually meet someone.

That's a fact, Howard!

Pete

[Masterlu]

Indeed, thanks for the wonderful review Pete.

Maybe I need a "Control Room"

[Waboman]

Thanks for the excellent write-up, Pete. When you were "pegging" Dan's 501s, I swear I could hear a faint Elton, singing in the wind. Sounds like you guys were livin' la vida loca!

[jdandy]

Pete.......Wow. Thank you so much for an awesome review. I'm still smiling. I could have kept us tied up with the main system for hours more. I had so much music I wanted you to hear. And the same goes for the studio. I had some great music cued up on the DAT tape machine in the control room that is fiber connected to the MX120, and more music cued up on the Revox B77, as well as on the Akai GX-636 reel to reel machines. We ran out of time before I was able to switch the JBL LSR6332's, and the LSR6312SP sub over to the gear in the control room racks. I wanted you to hear that Crown K1 amp on those JBL's. Man, oh man can that amp rock those speakers. I would like to have played some high-rez 96kHz digital tracks off the hard drive in the 16 track digital mixing console, too. I had enough material to show you, and audition for you, I probably could have held your attention until midnight. I wanted to view some of the new Yellow Jackets jazz DVD in Blu-ray, and some of Eric Clapton's Cross Roads DVD concert, too. But, alas the time just wizzed by, and you had to return home.

To answer a few questions, the Akai GX-636 reel to reel is a quarter track machine, and as you know the Revox B77 Mk2 is a half track machine. I have to have both machines to be able to audition tapes recorded in both fashions. Sometimes I'll get a project where the owner of tapes wants them transcribed to CD. I have to be able to handle what ever comes in.

The vintage system's MA5100 and MR74 includes the very nice K2 decoding JVC CD player. The other gear in the travel trailer is just being stored, and includes the Harman Kardon CDR2, A Tandberg 3008A preamp, a Carver tuner, and a Yamaha P2100 power amp. That's the gear I am selling in the Sell It thread.

I had a most enjoyable visit with you, Pete. We can chat here, and have a good time, but a face to face visit, sharing our interests, especially with one as knowledgeable as you, was a great joy. I hope to do it again.

[PHC1]

Great way to spend a day! Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Great way to spend a day! Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.

Serge....yes, we did. And I do hope to do it again.

Pete

[JSCC]

Now there's 4 places I would visit IF I would ever come to the US again.

1. Ivan's
2. Jim's
3. Serge's
4. Dan's

Alas, money not enough! Sigh!

[two dot]

Pete,

Very nice write up...

I felt like I was right there with you.

Wish that I had been...