Please excuse crappy cellphone pics
Tea at Philip Guttentag's today.
A little taster 1st with 1.5's just plonked down and with some tickie-line Monster cable, then onto the big boys.
I had listened before, but they were brand new then, with the Devialet 400's and a relatively cheap cdp.
This time the 800's and the DCS Vivaldi stack...
1st time I've heard the 1.5s. KK is the fanboy and I agree with him. if you haven't heard the others you won't be left wanting much. Once you have however you are very aware of their limits.
We were meant to have G4's- Philip reckons they are the Vivid Audio "bargain"/surprise package- but he couldn't get his hands on a pair (next time).
On to the G1's, with Crystal cable.
Nice to be able to listen to music I know well, which isn't always the case. What better way to reference stuff?
Dead Can Dance, Rakim, from Toward The Within and Natalie Merchant, Ophelia, from Live In Concert were the 2 cd tracks I chose.
Fab.
But 1 of the reasons for my return was an unnamed piece of pipe organ music that Philip has previously played. He wasn't happy 1st time round because the G1's were a little tight and cos he reckoned the smaller Devialet's ran out of puff.
Not this time- and the DCS kit must have had something to do with it too.
I battled to sit still/ contain myself. Grin factor and the urge to do something in response to the music. I honestly thought the speakers might give, but they just dished up gobs of sustained sub-30hz grunge, outstanding detail, finesse and enveloping sound.
I'm no Francois, Alley Cat, Eben, Colonel, Guillaume, Rodney et al and haven't heard that many quality systems but it compared very favourably with those I have heard.
I would love to have another listen to the Gryphons since Achim sorted the electricity etc. at 13 Hof.
I would also love to do a side by side with the Vandersteen Model 7's, with the same sources and amps. The 'Steens were an all-valve affair.
I mentioned that to Philip- and liked his response. He was full of praise for the Model 7's and, more particularly, Richard Vandersteen.
A real gent in my book.
