Audio Systems/demos that made a profound impact on you

Grayson Dere · Feb 14, 2019

Sometimes during rare occassions we come across an audio system demo that impresses us so much that it becomes forever engrained in our memory. I wanted to open up the floor and invite you all to comment on what systems from your memory made such a profound impact on you that you almost swore it came close to the holy grail in audio you've been searching for. You can list anything from whole system setups or just single component pieces, ie: speakers, amp, turntable, etc...

Let's have fun! : )

Tony V. · Feb 14, 2019

For me it was the recording studio at my home church, I became involved with the media department at church when I was 14 and spent a lot of Sundays in the studio mixing the live sound to tape and for the television broadcast we did in those days (way to costly to do now)
The studio had these amazing sounding speakers in it (EV Sentry 500 studio monitors) and I would come in during the week just to listen to music on theme when the studio was not in use. Little did I know that 30 years later I would inherit this exact same speakers after the church moved to a new building and decided to not build a studio.
Music has always been a part of me (can't play an instrument) but love listening to live and recorded jazz and a lot of other types. So having the very speakers in my theater room to hear music as close to what the sound engineer intended is awesome. I will say though a poor recording sure shows on these also.

Grayson Dere · Feb 14, 2019

That's a wonderful story, Tony! It's always great to hear when folks are enjoying systems not just comprised of household audiophile brand names : )

By any chance are you still using those EV speakers today in your theater? What amplification are you/were you driving them with?

Tony V. · Feb 14, 2019

Yes, they are in my theater across the front. I bought a third matching EV on eBay so I have all three the same.

For amplification I have a Samson Servo 600 (300 watts per side) that drives them without issue and I just use my receiver (Onkyo RZ 920) to drive the centre and soround channels

Grayson Dere · Feb 14, 2019

Tony V. said:
Yes, they are in my theater across the front. I bought a third matching EV on eBay so I have all three the same.

View attachment 12276
For amplification I have a Samson Servo 600 (300 watts per side) that drives them without issue and I just use my receiver (Onkyo RZ 920) to drive the centre and soround channels

That's a fantastic theater setup you have! Thanks for sharing : )

And those speakers are WAY larger than what I was originally thinking, haha.

Tony V. · Feb 14, 2019

Thanks Grayson, yup they are big but sound awesome even for 35 year old speakers. I just had to re do the 12" drivers foam surrounds and they were good to go.

Jack · Feb 14, 2019

I used to live in Chicago for the best part of my life and having entered the audio hobby, every year I went downtown to the CES. Back then the rooms were a bit less crowded, well except for the car audio parts and we could spend a good deal of time listening and speaking to the owners of companies about products.
The best for me came as an accident in that my friend and I were walking the lower floors of McCormick place looking for something, I dont remember what and we came across this demo room for the Infinity Reference Standard. 7 1/2' tall in 4 parts, twelve 12" subwoofers in 2 towers and then a million or so emit midrange ribbons and emin tweeters. Our collective jaws dropped and we quickly took our seats directly in front of this massive wall of sound. The main speakers were being driven by Audio Research tube gear while the 12 woofers were being driven by a solid state amp that came with the speakers, I think it was some 1500 watts or so. The music was stored on reel to reel tapes that were provided by the Telarc company. Orchestra music had a you are there feeling and was full of goose bumps. The tape that caught me and held on was a rock and roll recording that Telarc did, maybe the only one, not sure, by the California Project and it was called Papa Do Run Run Run. The did Beach Boys music that was so good, it made the Beach Boys almost sound bad. The kick drums in these first few cuts about moved our chars back a couple of inches.....well it felt like it anyway.

This album is out on cd and I highly recommend it. Whoa.
So there you have it....I have never been the same since.

Grayson Dere · Feb 14, 2019

Jack said:
I used to live in Chicago for the best part of my life and having entered the audio hobby, every year I went downtown to the CES. Back then the rooms were a bit less crowded, well except for the car audio parts and we could spend a good deal of time listening and speaking to the owners of companies about products.
The best for me came as an accident in that my friend and I were walking the lower floors of McCormick place looking for something, I dont remember what and we came across this demo room for the Infinity Reference Standard. 7 1/2' tall in 4 parts, twelve 12" subwoofers in 2 towers and then a million or so emit midrange ribbons and emin tweeters. Our collective jaws dropped and we quickly took our seats directly in front of this massive wall of sound. The main speakers were being driven by Audio Research tube gear while the 12 woofers were being driven by a solid state amp that came with the speakers, I think it was some 1500 watts or so. The music was stored on reel to reel tapes that were provided by the Telarc company. Orchestra music had a you are there feeling and was full of goose bumps. The tape that caught me and held on was a rock and roll recording that Telarc did, maybe the only one, not sure, by the California Project and it was called Papa Do Run Run Run. The did Beach Boys music that was so good, it made the Beach Boys almost sound bad. The kick drums in these first few cuts about moved our chars back a couple of inches.....well it felt like it anyway.

This album is out on cd and I highly recommend it. Whoa.
So there you have it....I have never been the same since.

View attachment 12283

Wow, Jack! Your experience with the Infinity Ref. Standard system seems to be at a whole other level of audio fidelity! By the description of that system I wouldn't doubt it, either : )
I'll check out the CD you recommended. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

flat4 · Feb 17, 2019

Thanks Jack! Just ordered the disc!

Jack · Feb 18, 2019

I hope you gents enjoy the disc. It’s pure Beach Boys Sonya that are done with incredible talent as well as an almost perfect recording. It seems to have been recorded at a lower that usual volume level, so turn it up. Wait till you hear “Good Vibrations”, wherein about 2/3rds of the way in you will hear a 16hz note really impacting the dynamics which are awesome to begin with.

flat4 · Feb 18, 2019

Jack said:
I hope you gents enjoy the disc. It’s pure Beach Boys Sonya that are done with incredible talent as well as an almost perfect recording. It seems to have been recorded at a lower that usual volume level, so turn it up. Wait till you hear “Good Vibrations”, wherein about 2/3rds of the way in you will hear a 16hz note really impacting the dynamics which are awesome to begin with.

It will be a nice way to put the JTR215RT's to work. Better yet good test for the PSA S7201's when I get them.

Jack · Feb 18, 2019

Oh yeah flat4, it will tell you a good deal about your system.

Dan Barham · Feb 21, 2019

Okay, I'll admit it! Everyone hates Bose 901s now but back in the 70s I loved mine. They gave me a couple years of real listening pleasure. Until, that is, I walked into a stereo shop in Bethesda, Maryland, and listened to the new AR9s. Wow! I'd never heard anything like them - beautiful sound and dynamic! The Berlin Philharmonic was in the hall! I couldn't afford them - $1,400! Are you kidding me? I only paid $2,500 for my Chevy. None-the-less, I bought them! Let the wife complain. I had to have them! And they stayed happily with me for nearly 30 years and 4 homes. I look back now and wonder, "Hey stupid! Why did you sell them?" :crying:

old arkiedan :olddude:

Grayson Dere · Feb 21, 2019

Dan Barham said:
Okay, I'll admit it! Everyone hates Bose 901s now but back in the 70s I loved mine. They gave me a couple years of real listening pleasure. Until, that is, I walked into a stereo shop in Bethesda, Maryland, and listened to the new AR9s. Wow! I'd never heard anything like them - beautiful sound and dynamic! The Berlin Philharmonic was in the hall! I couldn't afford them - $1,400! Are you kidding me? I only paid $2,500 for my Chevy. None-the-less, I bought them! Let the wife complain. I had to have them! And they stayed happily with me for nearly 30 years and 4 homes. I look back now and wonder, "Hey stupid! Why did you sell them?"

old arkiedan

Thank you for your thoughts, Dan. Never in a million years would I have thought to hear someone say they actually truly enjoyed Bose speakers : ) You proved me wrong! Just out of curiosity...was Bose considered a Hi-Fi brand when they were first introduced? or were they always marketed as Lifestyle Consumer Electronics as it seems they are today?

Jack · Feb 21, 2019

Many of my friends back in the “Day” bought the 901’s as they were the party speaker. Easy on the eyes and loud as a most unique idea. I chose a different path but I did understand what it made some folks happy.

Dan Barham · Feb 21, 2019

Grayson Dere said:
Thank you for your thoughts, Dan. Never in a million years would I have thought to hear someone say they actually truly enjoyed Bose speakers : ) You proved me wrong! Just out of curiosity...was Bose considered a Hi-Fi brand when they were first introduced? or were they always marketed as Lifestyle Consumer Electronics as it seems they are today?

Mercy, Grayson, you must be a young fellow. The Bose 901s were considered to be legitimate high fidelity speakers back in the 70s and were usually highly reviewed. That was back when Dr. Bose engineered that 9-driver beast, aimed at serious audiophiles. Only later did critics and owners begin to hear the deficiencies in them. Now, it appears, Bose Corp. is only expert on marketing.

old arkiedan :olddude:

Dan Barham · Mar 2, 2019

Jack said:
I used to live in Chicago for the best part of my life and having entered the audio hobby, every year I went downtown to the CES. Back then the rooms were a bit less crowded, well except for the car audio parts and we could spend a good deal of time listening and speaking to the owners of companies about products.
The best for me came as an accident in that my friend and I were walking the lower floors of McCormick place looking for something, I dont remember what and we came across this demo room for the Infinity Reference Standard. 7 1/2' tall in 4 parts, twelve 12" subwoofers in 2 towers and then a million or so emit midrange ribbons and emin tweeters. Our collective jaws dropped and we quickly took our seats directly in front of this massive wall of sound. The main speakers were being driven by Audio Research tube gear while the 12 woofers were being driven by a solid state amp that came with the speakers, I think it was some 1500 watts or so. The music was stored on reel to reel tapes that were provided by the Telarc company. Orchestra music had a you are there feeling and was full of goose bumps. The tape that caught me and held on was a rock and roll recording that Telarc did, maybe the only one, not sure, by the California Project and it was called Papa Do Run Run Run. The did Beach Boys music that was so good, it made the Beach Boys almost sound bad. The kick drums in these first few cuts about moved our chars back a couple of inches.....well it felt like it anyway.

This album is out on cd and I highly recommend it. Whoa.
So there you have it....I have never been the same since.

View attachment 12283

Hey jack,

Paul McGowan, the Pres of PS Audio has a restored set of those Infinity Reference Standard speakers in one of his listening rooms. You can see them in several of his videos on YouTube and, while you can't listen to them, mercy they are impressive.

By the way; I have that Telarc CD of the California Project. The critical knock against that recording at the time were those drums. I had to agree because after four or five tunes I wanted to scream, "Stop hitting me in the head!" Nonetheless, it's a great demo disk. Well, it Telarc. For me Telard has always been special in producing record albums.

old arkiedan :olddude:

flat4 · Mar 3, 2019

Jack, received the disc last Monday and just finally had a chance to listen. Great fun! Really gives a nice workout to the dynamics of the big JTR215's. Will have the PSA S7201's in the next two weeks. Will be a great test disc for setting them up.

Thanks again!

Mike-48 · Aug 8, 2019

The transforming experience came for me back around the late 1990s when I was, briefly, a member of an audio club in San Franscico. The club put on a traveling open house, with various members opening their listening rooms. I heard Quad electrostatics playing in a glass-faced room -- terrible. Then I went to a mastering studio where you could hardly walk around because of all the bass traps along the floor-wall boundaries. The sound was natural and non-irritating, and I never forgot what a difference acoustics could make.

NBPK402 · Aug 9, 2019

The best setup I ever heard demoed was at a Audio show in the 1990s. It was a $100k pair of Martin Logan's powered by a stack of Threshold class a amps. I cannot remember what the rest of the setup was, but it blew me away!

Audio Systems/demos that made a profound impact on you

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