AudioNervosa
General Hospital => Special Events => Topic started by: eleazar on January 12, 2011, 06:36:40 PM
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Will anyone be attending the Capitol Audiofest
I would sure like to go.....................Eleazar (Bill) (http://www.capitalaudiofest.com/)
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Yes, I'm going. Thanks for the reminder. I already have a mini family reunion scheduled in MD that week.
I want to see North Creek Audio.
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Will anyone be attending the Capitol Audiofest
I would sure like to go.....................Eleazar (Bill) (http://www.capitalaudiofest.com/)
Thinking about.
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Can't say for sure yet, but I'd like to head out there and show some gear.
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That is a NEGATIVE
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We will be arranging a field trip for our club. Hopefully many will attend so we can charter a bus. If we do I'm sure seats will be available for non members in the NY/NJ area. Keep ya posted.
charles
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I live between Baltimore and Annapolis and i plan on Attending. Rich and i might run into each other down there at the Audiofest :thumb:
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I am interested in this,..maybe!
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According to the website only 19/33 rooms (57%) are booked. I hope it fills up.
Rich
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Not able to make this trip, but my local WV buddies are going. Bob, David and Chris are planning on making the trip.
Rob S.
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I was thinking about going down there today but the gridlock after 2:00 pm on a friday will be insane i will be there on saturday and maybe sunday depending on how much i can take in tomorow. so who all will be going this year ?
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My car is full with four guys going tomorrow.
looking foward to this, some very interesting things
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Four AAU basketball games this weekend @ IONA with my oldest daughter...
Regrets,
Pete
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I hope the Capital show is better than the Axpona show in NYC a week or so ago.
Have fun!
SN
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I heard from shek, he made it. My van is new oil, fluids and tires topped, ready to dash tomorrow early.
I'm looking forward to hearing Sonist 4, among other things
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Make sure you report back on these guys sharing the Salk room
http://philharmonicaudio.com/index.html
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Do they come in Bubinga? :duh
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Do they come in Bubinga? :duh
Maybe you should skip that room :rofl:
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actually looking forward to hearing the new soundscapes, and the Tidals and the Gotos and the aspara's..so many cool things to see and hear and touch
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Do they come in Bubinga? :duh
Hey....don't touch those speakers... :rofl:
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WHY THE HELL WERE SO MANY ROOMS SO GAWDAWFULLY LOUD!!!!! :evil:
Seriously, a few rooms I walked into, got hit with the distortion from things too loud, turned on my heel and walked out. I thought I was being a cranky old man, (and I can be), but Pumpkinman was traveling with me, and he said the same thing.
I'd post some thoughts, but too annoyed right now, having the first of what may be 3 quick Scotch and Cokes to unwind.
I will say, definately was smitten by the OB speakers in the diy room on 3rd floor, and the Teres tt they were spinning. And I was finally able to buy a Nipper statute.
Now - drink #2.
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Nipper digging my new Super ScoutMaster. Well, new to me anyway.
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WHY THE HELL WERE SO MANY ROOMS SO GAWDAWFULLY LOUD!!!!!
WHAT? SPEAK UP.... :rofl:
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I just got back from Rockville.I liked the Border Patrol parallel SET 300B power amps with separate tube powered and rectified power supply's. i liked the Living voice loudspeakers with the outboard crossovers.you dont hear alot about Joseph Audio loudspeakers which seems somewhat strange to me because they sound phenominal :drool: i liked the Sonist loudspeakers in the Mapleshade Room.Dan D'Augustino formerly of Krell fame gave a seminar and i am not kidding this guy is like a professor of solid state Amplification :rofl: he had beautiful power amps with copper heat sinks powering Wilson Sasha's. i stayed at the Cafe in the lobby after the show and dined on prime rib while listening to a Jazz Band fronted by the guy who originated the Capitol Audiofest. they played a few numbers and the Bass player was replaced by none other than John Atkinson of Stereophile magazine. i dont mind jazz but i am not a huge fan but i must admit that it sounded excellent live in person
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Make sure you report back on these guys sharing the Salk room
http://philharmonicaudio.com/index.html
I spent more time in this room than any other,Dennis Murphy was running the room and i thought he was a very nice gentleman. he designed the crossovers on every speaker in the room 8) i thought the AVA power and preamplifiers sounded very nice with the SalK and Philharmonic Audio loudspeakers
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Just got back from Capitolfest, four of us. almost 4 hours each way!
Attendance was light, perhaps a reminder of our economy, but for us it was great, plenty of seats in rooms.
Sound was generally pretty good.
Two rooms stood out above the rest.
Tidal
These are some of the finest speakers made, you can check out their website to see what they are made of....all I can say is they are very fast, natural and refined, they sort of make you understand the problems with the others speakers that are not Tidal.
Classic Audio Reproductions. This guy makes his own field coils. He was using 2 15 inch field coils, a field coil horn with berrylium diaphram, and fostex alnico tweeter, powered by an Atmasphere preamp and Allnic 300B integrtaed.
Perhaps the best sound I have ever heard in my life...not even the mighty Tidals could do what these speakers did, a whole nother level as they say.
Best of show by a long shot!! We were laughing it was so good.
Pretty good show and we got to me Richidoo!
Mike
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I thought the Soundscapes sounded pretty good myself.
Unfortunately(and I know I will get abused for this) I think the only thing holding them back was the AVA electronics. They truly deserve better gear at their price point.
I know Jim and Frank are friends, but I know myself and my friends were all thinking the same thing.
Just food for thought, not trying to start trouble.
I really was looking foward to the Goto horns and man did they disappoint. $150K and they sounded pretty bad. I saw one guy with a hat drooling with pleasure over their sound.
The battery in his hearing aid must have died :duh
I wish people could just be honest and not fake it so much.
I liked the Living Voice speakers also, they were playing them way too loud and chased us out of the room, but I heard their potential.
MBL room was just good, not the usual great.
Bought some records and a antistatic brush from Pierre of Mapleshade who promised me it would make a world of difference :o
time to sleep...............................
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Some photos.... :thumb:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ponTaM0WEZY/ThjWIPy2ehI/AAAAAAAACqw/8KNAoswghn0/s720/P1000785.JPG)
Tidal
These are some of the finest speakers made, you can check out their website to see what they are made of....all I can say is they are very fast, natural and refined, they sort of make you understand the problems with the others speakers that are not Tidal.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IPs-DSf5Jno/ThjWn0so12I/AAAAAAAACr0/EIHdfAUKG7s/s720/P1000820.JPG)
Classic Audio Reproductions. This guy makes his own field coils. He was using 2 15 inch field coils, a field coil horn with berrylium diaphram, and fostex alnico tweeter, powered by an Atmasphere preamp and Allnic 300B integrtaed.
Perhaps the best sound I have ever heard in my life...not even the mighty Tidals could do what these speakers did, a whole nother level as they say.
Best of show by a long shot!! We were laughing it was so good.
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It's late but I just got back to the room, well about 30 minutes ago, it took that long to get the hotel internet connection.
After dinner we prowled a little and found the Texas distributor for Polk in the room playing music. We sauntered in and sat down and enjoyed 2 hours of him spinning his fav rock folk and blues CDs. The Polks were something I wanted to hear since all the ads and hype. They just came out and only heard hear and Lone star audio fest so far. I heard them at 12:30PM when I first arrived, they were tight and constricted, poor dynamics, muffled. 8 hours later they were open and dynamic and alive. So weird!! That was fun. You know how we occasionally discuss high value speakers like GoldenEar or whatever, well the new polks are an incredible value for $4000. They had $25000 of AR electronics, but still, they stepped up to the challenge. Very musical and refined. I'd consider these. The tiny little crossovers were a bit scary though, but thats what you get for $4k. Compared to my Jantzen DIY parts it makes me wonder if I'll ever buy a commercial speaker again.
After that we sat in the lobby with the designer of Klipsch clone speaker maker Volti Audio. Soon the designer of Border Patrol joined us and we talked about audio and assorted minutia for 3 hours. That's the part I love the most about the audio shows - who you meet and the memories from after hours. Gary of Border Patrol has been in hifi biz for 30 years and has a lot of stories to tell, and a lot of technical insight into good sound. It was very funto listen to him.
I heard one song on D'Agostino /Wilson room, some sax tune so poorly recorded it was impossible to listen. Peter McGrath should give up doing the show demos. I'll try again tomorrow.
Tidal was good, slightly too etched for me with Tidal electronics, but the midrange detail is awesome with accuton drivers. Pass class A or Manley tubes would be a perfect match, imo.
Manley / Joseph room was interesting. They were playing the Manley Snappers, amps I used to own and loved. They had the unmistakable snappiness, and sounded excellent with the Jumbo Shrimp preamp. I'd auditioned the Shrimp many times and each time it was a dud. But the Jumbo seems to have the life and dynamics restored with an added gain stage to power the volume control.
Another room with Carnegie Speakers had Manley Mahis driven by their 300B preamp. Now that sounded gorgeous! Tiny little amps drove the tall arrays easily. As in AXPONA the Carnegies make a lot of good sound, full range, punchy and dynamic.
The Salk / Phil / AVA room had gritty and harsh unrefined tone and incoherent music. I assume it was the electronics, or poor quality power or whatever. Salk or Murphy should be able to hear how bad it was if they are audio designers. Disappointing considering all the hype on AC about these Salk flagship speakers. I think the Phils sounded more of a piece and musical with the rough signal than the Salks.
The Volti room was excellent, with clone Klipsch speakers driven by Border Patrol 300B PP amps. Great bass from a 300B amp, sounded similarly punchy in the Border Patrol's own room.
MBL bass modes were horrendous. But it was the most dynamic speaker by far. Tone was a little off this time. Confidence and refinement. Played some nice tracks when i was in there. No drum beat film scores this time.
Audience had two speakers and electronics. The 2+ is in production now, with 4 full range drivers and one passive radiator. Sounded big, natural. The tiny speakers against the way had a single 2.5" full range driver with a 4" passive radiator on the back of a 8" cube box. It played Charnett moffett solo bass and it was gigantic, accurate and full and rich. I thought it was the bigger speakers. These will sell soon for $1000/pair. Also 4+4 floorstander is coming in 5 months. The electronics are class D, and they sounded pretty good. They had the best tone of any full range driver I've heard, not quite as extended as a separate tweter, but natural and accurate up to that point. Sounded like a SET amp with a little roll off above 12-15kHz.
A DIYer from Florida drove up just to get some feedback and opinions from listeners for his speakers. They are not for sale. Was it called Soundfield? something like that. It was very interesting design. 12" BMS coax on top in dipole, 18" peavey woofer for lower midrange 50- 200, then a sealed sub under that. Great integration. Some issues with tone and phase between the drivers were revealled in my torture test Mile harmon mute track, but on regular upbeat modern jazz stuff that he was playing it did the job nicely. Super nice guy. I learned a lot from talking to him. The speakers had incredible tone density, tactile midrange and bass. Acoustic issues were minimal. All passive crossover. Tablet PC fed a tiny NuForce DAC/headpohone preamp which sounded pretty good.
Nothing at this show sounds as good as the Tannoy Definition T8 speakers with Linn DS player and amp that I heard at AXPONA atlanta. Still my best show experience ever.
I picked up my new used TT from a local audiophile. Looking forward to getting it home to see how it sounds. It's gonna be a tough drive home tomorrow after the late night, but worth it to talk to Gary Dew of Border Patrol Electronics.
http://www.borderpatrol.net/
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1 final point - the Audio Note speakers were very nice, I couldn't believe the sound coming from relatively small boxes, though the Xovers were in seperate boxes, I think the guy said the xover box has 18lbs of copper in each, but I may have mis-heard.
Have the multi-colored MacIntosh brochure sitting here on my desk, that may be a mistake. I tried to get the rep to power up the tubed amp, but he said only at closing time - it made the room look 'messy'.
What the Hell does that mean??? :duh
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1 final point - the Audio Note speakers were very nice, I couldn't believe the sound coming from relatively small boxes, though the Xovers were in seperate boxes, I think the guy said the xover box has 18lbs of copper in each, but I may have mis-heard.
Have the multi-colored MacIntosh brochure sitting here on my desk, that may be a mistake. I tried to get the rep to power up the tubed amp, but he said only at closing time - it made the room look 'messy'.
What the Hell does that mean??? :duh
it means he was a Dick :rofl: i was in the room early in the day and he asked me if i had ever heard of MacIntosh before :duh
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i was steered to the Volti Room by Gary Dew of Border Patrol.the Border Patrol amp in the Volti room was a Dual mono 300B parallel SET making 18WPC. this was my 1st audio show ever and i had never heard horn speakers before. I really liked the Volti ,Classic Audio and DejaVu rooms and the guy who drove for 50 hrs up from Tampa with his Soundfield Acoustics prototype open baffle speakers was sounding really good too, Gary Dew lives in Waldorf Md and is a electrical engineer and told me that he and his wife are both British. he met his wife who had lived in the US for ten years here, married her and moved back to England and he told me after two years of living there she could not stand the bad weather in the UK anymore so they decided to move back to the states. he also mods stereo equipment and i may have him do work for me in the future.
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Bunky, he is a very smart, very high vibration person. I would be proud to have his work in my system. You picked some nice horn speakers to hear for your first horn audition!! They might be the best I've ever heard. They can be a LOT worse! Sorry we didn't meet up William. Hopefully next time.
A highlight of the trip for me was meeting topround, jbtrio, Karl and Jim. We only had a few minutes to hang out before they left, but it was fun. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys at an upcoming Rave!
The AudioNotes on demo had 8 pound external crossovers, but there is a top of the line version of that speaker available with 18 pound external crossovers. They sounded sweet but tame with the Audio Note 50W 211 amp. Classic British sound, done to perfection.
Good to be home!
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How about thoughts on the Philharmonic speakers ?
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I liked the Philharmonics. The Neo drivers always sound sweet and detailed, but also that sweetness hides more of the faults that the accuton reveal. The Phils were musical and balanced overall, and more listenable than the Salks in the CAF demo. If the rest of the system was as resolving as the Salks I believe they might inch ahead of the Philharmonics, but for most people the Philharmonics would be more enjoyable because they don't require as refined amplification as the Salks require.
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after going to the CAF show and then coming home to my livingroom rig with the Silverline Sonata III's,Modded EE DAC and the 6C33-B SET integrated i am happy to say that my rig still sounds great after a comparison from memory with the majority of the rigs at the show :drool: on a whim i called Frank Dai at Signal Cable a few weeks ago and ordered a 3' pair of his Reference Silver Resolution ic's and a 6' pair of his Reference Silver Resolution bi wire speaker cables. they use several strands of both silver and copper wire in teflon and work extremely well in my system and they did not cost a fortune either :thumb:
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1 final point - the Audio Note speakers were very nice, I couldn't believe the sound coming from relatively small boxes, though the Xovers were in seperate boxes, I think the guy said the xover box has 18lbs of copper in each, but I may have mis-heard.
Have the multi-colored MacIntosh brochure sitting here on my desk, that may be a mistake. I tried to get the rep to power up the tubed amp, but he said only at closing time - it made the room look 'messy'.
What the Hell does that mean??? :duh
Maybe this was rep speak for they would show up the SS stuff he was trying to push????
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I picked up my new used TT from a local audiophile. Looking forward to getting it home to see how it sounds.
OK Rich - spill the beans, what kind of TT did you pick up?
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Clearaudio Concept with Maestro Wood cart. Should be a step up from what I have now. Got a super nice deal on it.
Special thanks to shek for the vinyl!
Speaking of vinyl, a couple weeks ago Gene was playing Milestones, and I commented that I want to get another copy of that on vinyl. There was a guy selling one in the audio fest flea market this morning, $7. I had it in my hand, but I didn't get it. Too much for a used LP full of noise. I'm not spending big money on records.
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Hey Rich - do you steam your used vinyl? Bill was here prior to our going to CAF, he brought his steamer. I pulled out a Stanley Turrentine/Shirley Scott album I bought in Chicago last month - used - for $25. I really like it, but even after treating it on the 16.5 rcm, it was still noisy.
Bill steam cleaned it, then back through the 16.5, SILENT!!!
I ordered my steamer last night.
PS - Was hoping to bump into you at CAF, even had my tan AN tee on to help, sorry we couldn't connect.
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Thanks Gene, no I haven't tried steaming yet, but I want to. I think I have improved my wet cleaning ritual as good as it can get, but some records still have noise.
Sorry to miss you at CAF too. Next year we'll have to make a special time/place for ANers to meet up, since it is pretty central to many members.
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Ok, since I am likely in the market for new speakers if the LS6 sell. I was reading the CAF stuff on audio circle and was reading the good comments about the speakers from the guy in Florida.
Anyone have additional information on those. Looking at the bookshelf provided they can handle the large basement area.
http://soundfieldaudio.net/Products.html
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Deepak,
Tell us your budget and you will get TONS of advice :rofl:
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Ok, since I am likely in the market for new speakers if the LS6 sell.
I think you need something from Selah Audio... How about:
http://www.selahaudio.com/id237.html
http://www.selahaudio.com/id241.html
A shameless plug for a local speaker builder... Besides wanting to migrate NJ $$$ into the NC economy, Rick's a nice guy who makes some really nice speakers.
Dave
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Deepak,
Tell us your budget and you will get TONS of advice :rofl:
It all depends on the LS6 sale. For now like to keep it around 2k or so. Preference is to purchase used speakers which I think has better value :)
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Ok, since I am likely in the market for new speakers if the LS6 sell.
I think you need something from Selah Audio... How about:
http://www.selahaudio.com/id237.html
http://www.selahaudio.com/id241.html
A shameless plug for a local speaker builder... Besides wanting to migrate NJ $$$ into the NC economy, Rick's a nice guy who makes some really nice speakers.
Dave
Thanks Dave. Bit out of the range, but if I come across a used one will definitely consider it.
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There's a sudden glut of Legacy Focuses for sale on Agon this week. It's a supremely musical, very satisfying speaker. ~$2500. 2020 version is better. Also Legacy Signature III is a nice speaker, with not as much low end as Focus, but less expensive. There's a nice 2020 for sale in NJ!! :drool:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1318895841&/Legacy-Audio-Focus-20/20-Speak
The only vulnerability of these speakers is the Japanese Foster planar ribbon tweeter which is out of production now. Fortunately, there are still new tweeters available from the old organ factory where Legacy built these speakers. http://www.allenorgan.com/store/aostore.html
Rich
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I don't even remember the Soundfield product. There were smallish speakers from England that I really liked, I'll have to find my notes.
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There's a sudden glut of Legacy Focuses for sale on Agon this week. It's a supremely musical, very satisfying speaker. ~$2500. 2020 version is better. Also Legacy Signature III is a nice speaker, with not as much low end as Focus, but less expensive. There's a nice 2020 for sale in NJ!! :drool:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1318895841&/Legacy-Audio-Focus-20/20-Speak
The only vulnerability of these speakers is the Japanese Foster planar ribbon tweeter which is out of production now. Fortunately, there are still new tweeters available from the old organ factory where Legacy built these speakers. http://www.allenorgan.com/store/aostore.html
Rich
Thanks Rich, but they are heavy and look just as hard to move around as ls6
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You are right, sorry I forgot the reason for your change.
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There's a sudden glut of Legacy Focuses for sale on Agon this week. It's a supremely musical, very satisfying speaker. ~$2500. 2020 version is better. Also Legacy Signature III is a nice speaker, with not as much low end as Focus, but less expensive. There's a nice 2020 for sale in NJ!! :drool:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1318895841&/Legacy-Audio-Focus-20/20-Speak
The only vulnerability of these speakers is the Japanese Foster planar ribbon tweeter which is out of production now. Fortunately, there are still new tweeters available from the old organ factory where Legacy built these speakers. http://www.allenorgan.com/store/aostore.html
Rich
Thanks Rich, but they are heavy and look just as hard to move around as ls6
Songtowers and your Rythmik are an explosive combo
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Deepak I can certainly lend you some speakers so can take your time in deciding what you might want to buy.
I can even deliver buddy boy............Bill
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Deepak I can certainly lend you some speakers so can take your time in deciding what you might want to buy.
I can even deliver buddy boy............Bill
Thanks Bill.
I am going to take my time and might even wait until after RMAF and see if I can pickup something from the demo sale perspective provided the ls6 are sold before that. No chance in me bring any new speakers in house if I still have the ls6. For now, I plan to use the x-statik that are in the family room downstairs.