Author Topic: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time  (Read 20505 times)

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2010, 06:46:43 AM »
they're rated -3db at 28Hz... I think they do that... just not an overpowering bottom end... which really works in this room... the other floorstander for today is supposedly -3db ~30Hz or so... but has a more pronounced bottom end...
Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2010, 07:55:33 AM »
Shane, remember that you originally just loaned them to Ken.  They were going to be yours!   :rofl:


Mike:

 :wtf:   ](*,)

Damn tough decision to let them out of my house and this is making it even tougher!

Ken



« Last Edit: February 27, 2010, 09:10:42 AM by Bigfish8 »

Offline mdconnelly

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2010, 08:36:49 AM »
Ken, is that Shane behind the wall?    :rofl:   Not sure if Shane actually got a chance to hear them at his place first but I remember talking with him about the Usher Mini Dancer 2s while they were still in the box in his garage. 

Can't wait to hear them.  See you tonight!

Offline richidoo

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2010, 09:21:11 AM »
Ken, don't worry, Shane will send you home with the new mystery speakers. ;)

Thanks for letting us hear the Minis tonight.

Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2010, 09:31:44 AM »
Ken, don't worry, Shane will send you home with the new mystery speakers. ;)

Thanks for letting us hear the Minis tonight.

Nope, I am just too happy with the match of the Mini II's in this room!

Ken

Offline richidoo

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #20 on: February 27, 2010, 10:25:56 AM »
I'm happy that you love them so much.  :thumb:

Offline richidoo

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #21 on: February 27, 2010, 07:45:30 PM »
I'm sorry I could not make it tonight. My guests' kids did not break down by 7:45 as they usually do, with resulting mass exodus, so wine and laughter flowed freely among the adults until 9:30. But I was thinking about you guys swapping DACs and speakers. I hope you all had fun. Looking forward to seeing you in March.
Rich

Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #22 on: February 27, 2010, 07:58:43 PM »
I just arrived back home from a very fun evening at Shane's and would like to thank him for the wonderful hospitality.  I arrived at approximately 5:45 and the fellas were listening to the top of the line PSB Speakers.  They presented the music with a big sound stage and I remember commenting to myself that they very detailed and lean sounding.  The Usher Mini Dancer II's with a new Diamond Tweeter were switched in place of the PSB's.  The sound was not as lean as the PSB's, the bass was tighter sounding and to me the music was just richer in quality.  I think if I were just sitting down to listen to music for an hour I might enjoy the PSB's but in that I listen for longer periods of time I would definitely prefer the Ushers.  Another comment would be if I primarily used the L&R Mains for HT then I would definitely go with the PSB's.  Shane told us they are available with a matching center and matching rears.  This would make for one dynamite surround system.

Most of the 2 channel listening was done with a Butler 2250 amp providing the power.  Shane was feeding a computer signal to a new DAC and Transport directly into the amp.  Mike Connelly brought along his Oracle DAC 1000 and we ran a comparison to Shane's new DAC.  While we judged the Oracle to be slightly better we felt it should be at over twice the price of Shane's new gear.  Mike, you have one heck of a nice DAC.

One of the highlights of the evening for me was the visit upstairs to experience Shane's HT Projection System.  Anyone in the Raleigh are looking for an amazing, high quality HT System owe it to yourselves to contact Shane.  

Thanks Again Shane for a great evening.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2010, 08:00:53 PM by Bigfish8 »

Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2010, 08:02:34 PM »
I'm sorry I could not make it tonight. My guests' kids did not break down by 7:45 as they usually do, with resulting mass exodus, so wine and laughter flowed freely among the adults until 9:30. But I was thinking about you guys swapping DACs and speakers. I hope you all had fun. Looking forward to seeing you in March.
Rich

Hi Rich:

We missed you!  Steve and I waited around until slightly after 10:00PM thinking you would show any minute.

I hope you had fun but we know you were missed.

Ken

Offline stereofool

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2010, 09:47:36 PM »
Shane,

Thanks, as always, for your wonderful hospitality  :thumb:!

Ken & Mike...great to see you, as well.

No doubt the Ushers bested the PSB's... they gave a smoother, more defined presentation and bass was much tighter and better defined. This was especially noticeable on a deeper male voice...it had more weight, and body.

Ditto, on the fabulous HT upstairs! The JVC projector gives great picture quality, and the sound wasn't bad, either.

The PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC actually sounded pretty good, but the Oracle did sound better.

Rich...you were missed  :(!
Steve
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Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #25 on: February 28, 2010, 05:50:05 AM »
Last night my computer was acting up and it would not allow me to edit my post.  I failed to talk about the new Diamond Tweeter in the Ushers.  Shane switched back to the old standard Beryllium Tweeter around 8:30 PM.  I think we all preferred the detail and smoothness of the Diamond Tweeters.  The Diamonds lacked the edgy sound presented by the Berylliums.  (Shane, I definitely want to upgrade)!

Just prior to the end of the evening Shane switched from the Butler 2250 over to a new Moscode Amp.  Shane had rolled in NOS RCA Tubes earlier in the day.  I preferred the Moscode to the Butler but I think it may have been due to the tubes as there no other tubes in the system.  The Moscode is a beautiful amp and I hope Steve can post his pictures so you can see how beautiful this amp is with tubes a glowing.

I will try to repeat my comments about the HT Room upstairs.  Shane played a BluRay Demo disk that contains live performances of several artists.  The quality of the video and music on Shane's system is just amazing.  Anyone in the area considering a top tier HT System should contact Shane and make arrangements to see a demo of this system. 

I always learn more at all of the G2G's and this one was no exception.  Thanks again Shane!

Offline mdconnelly

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #26 on: February 28, 2010, 06:19:16 AM »
A great time - wish I could have stayed longer!   I echo what Steve and Ken said about the Mini Dancer IIs vs the PSB speakers.  But, the PSBs were fast and dynamic - on some music, startling so, so I can see why many really like them.  But, when all said and done, I'd far rather listen to the Ushers - more relaxed and musically engaging.

One minor experiment that was interesting.... I brought along my .6m Pangea AC-9.  While we did not attempt to compare power cords, I did ask Shane to swap the JPS Digital AC cord with the Pangea.  Can't remember which of the PS Audio components it was driving, but it was the only one within .6m of an outlet.    I think we were all amazed at the immediate difference we heard... with the Pangea, the sound stage collapsed and, well, we all thought that the volume was lower - even tho it was set exactly the same.  It may be a great bang-for-the-buck power cord for certain applications, but this wasn't one of them.
 
I also was totally blown away by Shane's upstairs HT setup - the ability to achieve that quality in such a small space is eye-opening.  I'm already measuring my daughter's room for when she goes to college  :pop

Shane, thanks for hosting another great G2G!

Offline tmazz

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #27 on: February 28, 2010, 10:26:21 PM »
Sounds like you guys had another great G2G. If only RTP was a little more commutable from NYC.......


I think we were all amazed at the immediate difference we heard... with the Pangea, the sound stage collapsed and, well, we all thought that the volume was lower - even tho it was set exactly the same.  It may be a great bang-for-the-buck power cord for certain applications, but this wasn't one of them.

In addition to the fact that there is a 10 to 1 price difference between the cords, for what it's worth,  keep in mind that Pangea recommends the AC-9 for high current applications such as power amps. For digital components they recommend using the AC-14 which in addition to using lower gauge conductors also has a higher degree of shielding.  I can't say that the 14 would have sounded any better in this particular situation, but it is what the manufacturer recommends

Just prior to the end of the evening Shane switched from the Butler 2250 over to a new Moscode Amp.  Shane had rolled in NOS RCA Tubes earlier in the day.  I preferred the Moscode to the Butler but I think it may have been due to the tubes as there no other tubes in the system.  The Moscode is a beautiful amp and I hope Steve can post his pictures so you can see how beautiful this amp is with tubes a glowing.

As a twenty year Moscode owner (Moscode 600 with all of the George Kaye upgrades) I would have loved to heard George's latest creation. I briefly got to listen to one of the earlier versions of the current Moscode series, but not the newest. There is a reason why the original NYAL Mosscodes are still highly sought after two decades after the company closed its doors. And George has spent many years modernizing and refining the original designs, so I have no doubt that this is one knockout of an amp.
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Bigfish8

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #28 on: March 01, 2010, 04:07:25 AM »
I would like to make a comment about the Panega AC-9 that Mike brought to the G2G.  The cord reminded me of myself when I get to the golf course.  I look great in the 19th hole but can't play worth a hoot.  The AC-9 has the appearance of a kick-butt power cord, I mean this thing looks awesome.  I know we all hope to find giant killers but in all honesty when the Panega was connected, with no other changes, the music died!  The four of us were actually asking what was wrong, it made that much of a change.  The volume setting on the DAC was digitally set to the same level so it was not a volume related issue.  Maybe it would have been better connected to the amp???

Ken
« Last Edit: March 01, 2010, 04:44:46 AM by Bigfish8 »

Offline mdconnelly

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Re: Official Open House - February 27th - 4-5PM start time
« Reply #29 on: March 01, 2010, 05:10:59 AM »
Re: Pangea - all we can say with certainty is that the AC-9 did not work that night as a PC for the digital component.  Unfortunately, given it's length we didn't try it on the amp and that would have been more enlightening.  Others have claimed great things for the cord.   On my home rig, feeding a PS Audio Juicebar II which, in turn, feeds the rest of the system, I do not find the dramatic difference that we heard at Shane's, but I do find a softening of the detail and slight increase in bass although I think it is less defined.   

I bought it for a bedroom system (and, in truth, to see what all the buzz was about).  Since my amp has a 20a IEC, I can't easily try it there so I suspect it will remain in the bedroom system.  But Ken is right - the thing is a monster of a cord.