Joey_V
Well-known member
I wrote a review about his Strata Mini speakers and referenced them to the Martin Logan Summits a while back. Apparently, I did something for his business (cant go into it) that he invited me out to dinner last night at a posh place in Chicago (Keefer is the name of the steakhouse, you can google it) with a few other audiophiles.
This man knows everyone, from Gayle Sanders of ML, David Wilson of Wilson Audio, Albert VS of Von Schweikert, Franco Serbin of Sonus Faber, Matt Polk of Polk Audio, Dennis Had of Cary Audio, Peter Thomson of Plinius (lookie here Papa Dave!), Ed Villchur and Henry Kloss of ARC electronics, JMlabs, Velodyne, Infinity, Marantz, Yamaha, Genesis project, I lost count... etc... etc...
This guy made the Genesis loudspeakers of yesteryore, those $150,000 behemoths. This guy worked for Infinity Audio back when it was a $50,000,000 company since he was 15yo. He headed Audio Alchemy a few years back, he designs speakers for a number of manufacturers (I cant mention).
This guy forgets more about audio than I will ever know!
This guy was amazing in every way! What an awe inspiring man to meet! To watch him in action doing his thing and working it with people was just awesome. If I could be 1/1000 as successful as this guy at life, I would be more than set.
Things of note during the night:
1. He has VERY high regards for Martin Logan speakers. He is a dear friend of Gayle and he has been over at his house and listened to the Statement e2s several times. MLS owns several pairs of ML speakers, I think even the Summits.
2. I asked him what the best speaker on the planet was; he said most probably the VR11 beats out the Alexandria X2.
3. I asked him what was the best tube preamp that was affordable to me.... he said, "ARC LS26 bar none." but he also said, "The Cary 98 is a close second."
4. When asked what are the best deals in amplification under $10K, he said "bar none, Plinius for SS Class A. I've talked to Peter of Plinius and what they do is amazing with their SA103/Ref amps."
5. When asked about my system, what's next? (He knows my system inside and out... apparently MLS follows all my posts) He told me that a PowerPlant should be next, and then a CDP/DAC.
6. He taught me about crossovers, speaker design, driver matching, materials used, tubes vs ss, subwoofers, we talked about the ML subs, the Velodyne DD subs, the new JL Audio Gotham subwoofer.
7. I asked him what his favorite combo was... he answered, "I like tubes in the preamp and SS Class A in the amp section. My favorite combo for almost all speakers. Although some speakers benefit from a full tube system."
The guy is amazing and I had an amazing night. He treated us to an awesome dinner that I wouldnt have normally afforded. I think the bill per person had to be about $300-$400 PER person. There was a total of 6 of us. We had 3 bottles of wine (probably $300-400/bottle), we had Lobster bisque soup with real lobster... drool, we had crab cakes with REAL crab (never had that before), we had Ahi Tuna/Filet Mignon x2 for appetizers... drooool, we had a $70 Delmonico Ribeye bone-in...... best steak ever in my life!
Geez... amazing amazing night. I wish you all were with me that night. You guys would've had fun with this particular audiophile!
Picture:
Mark Seaton (bass expert, google him) - Danny (my audiophile friend) - Me - Mark Schifter - Eric (audiophile) and wife
Truly humbled,
Joey
This man knows everyone, from Gayle Sanders of ML, David Wilson of Wilson Audio, Albert VS of Von Schweikert, Franco Serbin of Sonus Faber, Matt Polk of Polk Audio, Dennis Had of Cary Audio, Peter Thomson of Plinius (lookie here Papa Dave!), Ed Villchur and Henry Kloss of ARC electronics, JMlabs, Velodyne, Infinity, Marantz, Yamaha, Genesis project, I lost count... etc... etc...
This guy made the Genesis loudspeakers of yesteryore, those $150,000 behemoths. This guy worked for Infinity Audio back when it was a $50,000,000 company since he was 15yo. He headed Audio Alchemy a few years back, he designs speakers for a number of manufacturers (I cant mention).
This guy forgets more about audio than I will ever know!
This guy was amazing in every way! What an awe inspiring man to meet! To watch him in action doing his thing and working it with people was just awesome. If I could be 1/1000 as successful as this guy at life, I would be more than set.
Things of note during the night:
1. He has VERY high regards for Martin Logan speakers. He is a dear friend of Gayle and he has been over at his house and listened to the Statement e2s several times. MLS owns several pairs of ML speakers, I think even the Summits.
2. I asked him what the best speaker on the planet was; he said most probably the VR11 beats out the Alexandria X2.
3. I asked him what was the best tube preamp that was affordable to me.... he said, "ARC LS26 bar none." but he also said, "The Cary 98 is a close second."
4. When asked what are the best deals in amplification under $10K, he said "bar none, Plinius for SS Class A. I've talked to Peter of Plinius and what they do is amazing with their SA103/Ref amps."
5. When asked about my system, what's next? (He knows my system inside and out... apparently MLS follows all my posts) He told me that a PowerPlant should be next, and then a CDP/DAC.
6. He taught me about crossovers, speaker design, driver matching, materials used, tubes vs ss, subwoofers, we talked about the ML subs, the Velodyne DD subs, the new JL Audio Gotham subwoofer.
7. I asked him what his favorite combo was... he answered, "I like tubes in the preamp and SS Class A in the amp section. My favorite combo for almost all speakers. Although some speakers benefit from a full tube system."
The guy is amazing and I had an amazing night. He treated us to an awesome dinner that I wouldnt have normally afforded. I think the bill per person had to be about $300-$400 PER person. There was a total of 6 of us. We had 3 bottles of wine (probably $300-400/bottle), we had Lobster bisque soup with real lobster... drool, we had crab cakes with REAL crab (never had that before), we had Ahi Tuna/Filet Mignon x2 for appetizers... drooool, we had a $70 Delmonico Ribeye bone-in...... best steak ever in my life!
Geez... amazing amazing night. I wish you all were with me that night. You guys would've had fun with this particular audiophile!
Picture:
Mark Seaton (bass expert, google him) - Danny (my audiophile friend) - Me - Mark Schifter - Eric (audiophile) and wife
Truly humbled,
Joey
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