Premier G2G at Carlman's

[mdconnelly]

Carl, a simply amazing and eye-opening G2G last night!  Thank you for sharing your home and the results of your year of hard work on your basement.   Words and pictures cannot do justice to what it is like sitting in that room listening to tunes!  You have conclusively proven just what a difference a well designed room can have.  No amount of audio-components could accomplish what that room does.

Awesome Dude! 

[SteveB]

Carl--your hard work paid off  in spades and it was obvious to everyone last night who had the pleasure to sit in soft leather, gaze upon first class decor  and hear real music!

A beautiful room in every aspect and the first time I have ever heard a music system devoid of room interaction and that is no easy accomplishment. Your attention to detail was obvious as it was a well thought out and executed design.


It was an evening of great food great conversation and great music.Please pass the thanks on to Christine.
You and your wife are very gracious hosts.

[bpape]

Looks like everyone had a great time.  One of these days, I'll make it out to that part of the country.  Maybe after I hit the Powerball, I'll just spend a couple months traveling around to different folks' houses around the country.  That'd be a ball.

Anyway, congrats on your accomplishment Carl.  It's something you'll enjoy for a long time.

Bryan

[richidoo]

Super-Dee-Duper!!



Congrats Carl! You're well on your way to audio bliss.

Nice pictures, Ken, thanks!! It was awesome to see everybody again, especially lonewolf who I haven't seen since last Oct. Thanks for bringing the great tunes Chris, and for the CDs, which I left at Carl's by accident... I liked your new Rave test disk a lot. 

The room does sound great. I like a tad bit livelier, but the midrange clarity was very satisfying and inspiring to start working on mine. Bass was excellent, for the first time I could heard the Fender bass string vibrating on Shane's Stevie Ray track. The McIntosh MC402 was the star of the gear show for me. Great synergy with the Piegas as always, and Bobby's Belles 21 tube preamp and Shane's Oracle DAC took your system to a very high level of musicality and clarity.  JPS SC3 interconnects did their part too, but no wire wire swapping madness this time.... 

Food was great. Lonewolf brought cannolis, and awesome shrimp, thanks Chris.. I haven't had shrimp that fresh and big in a long time. Christine made two fancy salsas. One was mildly spicy, the other was pineapple - cool! I think everyone agrees that the piece de resistance was stereofool's oatmeal cookies. Man that is your ticket to easy street. You could sell a million of those a day.  BBQ beef was delicious, and salad made me feel right at home, thanks Christine and Carl.

We played Sol's i60. It was mildly improved from last time, but twinges of same edgy flavor are still present. I talked to Sol this morning, he has a program of changes and experiments lined up for this week.  I said, man aren't you hungover? As usual Sol was one of the final stragglers.

Another highlight of the evening was when the screen lowered and Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood jammed in Carnegie Hall. I had the sub woofer right under my chair, so I had a unique perspective on the bass drum "sound." When i stood up though, it blended nicely as music. I'm still trying to decide which I like better. But I know that is the chair my wife will sit in when we come fo movie night...

Special Congrats to Hantra, new daddy to Patrick, ~2 months now.  It was great to see him and meet Bobby whom I've heard so much about.

Fun party, and I mean PARTAY when the Parliament vinyl started spinning. Oh yeah...

[stereofool]

DUH!!

Chris...it was good getting to meet you, and thank you for the CD's !

I finally got pics posted... http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album;id=14

[Carlman]

Wow, what a great way to open a new sound room!  Thanks to everyone who brought food, good attitudes, compliments, suggestions, and so on.. I didn't get to hang out with everyone as much as I would've liked.. and I didn't get to do a few things I'd intended (more on that in a minute).. but it was a great party and I was so happy to see so many enjoying themselves. 

Thanks to Ken and Steve for shooting photos.. Excellent shots!

One thing I'd meant to demonstrate was the difference a USB cable can make.. I have the Axis cable on the SN DAC.. and it was in use the entire night... But by the time we'd gotten to DAC-swapping I was exhausted and my mind was slipping a bit... So, I forgot to do the swap for the standard cable.  When we compared the Oracle to the SN most of the folks there seem to prefer the Oracle but I still like the organic, whole sound of the non-oversampling SN.  The SN would've sounded less resolving with the stock cord which would've further widened the gap... but I'll probably write up the differences on that in its own review because it takes the SN to a higher level... and it deserves the praise.

Special Thanks for the 'above and beyond' type help with this room:
Thanks to Rich for all the hands-on help (subs, panels, etc.), advice, analysis, and support throughout the room project.  I learned a lot thanks to you and I know I can test the patience of a teacher.   You really did a lot for me on this project, thank you.
Thanks to Shane, for the help with panels, multiple loaner cables, dacs, and deals.    
Thanks to Bryan Pape for good advice and good deals on the room acoustics, including design principles, and application advice.
Thanks to Chris, you came a long way!  It was greatly appreciated... as well as the nice nice cables you left us to try.
And thanks to my wife, Christine.  If it weren't for her financial skills, this room wouldn't have happened.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing others have a great time, enjoying themselves, getting inspired and learning from something I did.  That was the true joy to me of this meeting.  I think the room sounds great and I'm glad others thought so as well!

Looking forward to more meetings in the future.. whether I host or not.. It's just a nice group of folks to hang out with.

-Carl
 

[mdconnelly]

Chris, it was a pleasure to finally meet you at Carl's and great to hear a New York accent again!   Thanks for the NY Audio Rave CDs - great stuff!   Hope to see you again!

[Hantra]

Fantastic g2g in a first class venue!  Awesome food, AND surprise females?  It's all just too much!  Ohh, the sound was great too.   

The room is amazing man.  I absolutely loved the extreme imaging, and the way subtleties weren't lost at all.  The freaking projector rocks too!  Thanks to you and the misses for the hospitality.  Very nice to finally meet the WOLF. 

It was good seeing everyone, even though I'm an audio heathen at the moment, since I'm pushing 110 badass Denon receiver watts through my Piegas now.     I didn't catch too much hell for that, and I appreciate it. 

Wish we could have stayed longer.  That's going to be the danger for you Carl with that room.  At least it keeps you off the streets, and Christine knows where to find you. 

Looking forward to next time already! 

[Carlman]

Glad to see you here, Hantra.. It's been too long.. and I appreciated you making the long drive, glad to hear it was worth it.    BTW, that Belles pre is growing on me!
-C

[lonewolfny42]

             
           

A big THANK YOU to both Christine and Carl for hosting the "Grand Opening" of your new Audio/HT room.

What an event....very glad I could make it your lovely home....and thanks for being such wonderful hosts...

I had a ball....my 30 hours went quick....but well worth the trip !!!

The room....the food...the guests...the equipment....all top shelf !!!

Your future get-together's are gonna be a blast in there....it's the perfect room....NICE !!!

For those that couldn't make it...you really have something to look forward to at Carl's next gathering.

And Bryan.....try to make a date when you can visit Carl....you really have to see this room !!!


Some comments....

I was very happy to meet the the group....some new...and some old friends...
.....it was fun....and thanks for the photo's....enjoy the tunes...

Finally got to hear a pair of Piega's ... nice speakers....worked well with the McCormack and MAC amps.

Enjoyed Sol's amp, and Rich's Altmann DAC....and Shane to the rescue for a good DAC and the JPS wires....your the man.

Computer audio files....Cd's....Lp's....a nice mix...pick your favorite....

Carl has two Kaplan power cords...he's checking them out (one I borrowed from Occam/Paul -thank you Paul)....

If any of the group wishes to "give them a spin"....just contact Carl.

It was smooth sailing going down....but the return flight was delayed (hour and a half)...bad weather somewhere...but I did make it back....and thanks Carl for everything.

What a room....what a room !!!!

                                      Chris



PS......Christine....Have a HAPPY Birthday !!!

[Black Sand Cable]

You guys all need to take some fashion tips from Rich. From the looks of those pictures he is clearly the only one who knows how to dress properly! 

[hometheaterdoc]

Many thanks to Carl for hosting.... I have a funny feeling that we'll spend a few more evenings down in the basement of his house comparing gear...  I have the perk of living up the street so I can harrass him to try out stuff and compare it directly with my own evolving rooms.  His room, in its current state, shows up even the most minute of differences between things.  Last night when I stopped by to pick up all my wires and gear that I just left there on Saturday, it took all of 10 minutes to compare 3 power cords on the Belles preamp and hear a dramatic difference between all three.

It was great to see everyone and catch up, if only for a few minutes.  Also, it was great to finally officially meet you Chris, even though we've passed each other multiple times in the halls at RMAF.  Thanks for the tunes.

Sol,  I don't know if you read this forum.  But I'm looking forward to the 30 watter becoming a more powerful unit.  I give you oodles and oodles of credit for sticking with the transisters in the 60 watter as long as you have and trying to make them sing with numerous circuit changes.  I really liked that 30 watter at the last meet and am curious as to how it will sound with more devices paralleled and a beefier power supply and driver to run them.

[richidoo]

You guys all need to take some fashion tips from Rich. From the looks of those pictures he is clearly the only one who knows how to dress properly! 

branché         I have some unused (XL) BSA T-shirts to give away, but they eluded me moments before departure. Next time...

Inspiring is right! I went to Depot today and bought wood and supplies to build the retractable sound proofing walls. I want that sound in MY house!!!

[lonewolfny42]

Carl....

Tried the "Gabriel Test" at home last night....
 ....no where near the distance your getting in your room....

Oh well....you have a great room and it shows.....

[Carlman]

Carl....

Tried the "Gabriel Test" at home last night....
 ....no where near the distance your getting in your room....

Oh well....you have a great room and it shows.....

That's a great test track. His voice is kind of grainy and it's easy to hear variations of grain in different setups. Plus there's a lot of processing that's applied, removed, and/or changed during the song.. fun to listen and hear in different systems.  The swirly-surround effects were pretty big in my last house, in a small room about the size of yours.. It could be that your speakers aren't perfectly centered/toed.  That was the issue for me anyway.
(BTW, this is the Peter Gabriel album 'Up', 2nd track, 'Growing Up'.. which has become a test favorite for me.)

Next time I'm in NY we'll do some tweaking if you'd like.

Thanks for all the compliments! 

-Carl

PS I did the same test with Shane on the Power Cords that I did with you.. Very interesting to hear that a power cord on a preamp can change things like it does.  Just blows my mind.