David Matz
Well-known member
McGrath is a recording engineer. He believes that digital is getting a bad rep because the red book cd just doesn’t hold enough information. He played some of his original recordings from a hard drive, and the sound had so much information that was missing from the cd’s of the exact same material, it was astonishing. (Anyone who does not believe it all starts with the source should get out more.)
Also, he is a big believer in 4 channel, as A LOT of musical information from the back of the hall/ club is missing. He is hoping the Blue Ray format can be the digital panacea. The recording engineers still do an excellent job of capturing the stuff, it just needs to be transferred to a worthy new media.
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According to McGrath, one needs Sophias and $1K of electronics to get started with "great sound". The speakers matter the most. One could ramp up on the electronics later. ( Sounds self serving to me.)
The Ayre monoblocks and the new KXR preamp were superb. I am not sure if anyone makes better solid state stuff than Ayre at the higher end.
He owned the CLS for 9 years. He did not argue when I mentioned that Martin Logans have much better transparency than Wilson, and only the <st1:city><st1>Alexandria</st1></st1:city> at $100k+ may approach or match Martin Logan’s transparency, a speaker of only a few $K. He does believe that the Sophia has better imaging than the CLS. It would be interesting to compare the imaging of <st1:city><st1>Summit</st1></st1:city> to Sophia.
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He likes subwoofers, but the (expensive) ones from <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city>. He thinks that although the speakers (even Sophias) can go pretty low, some of the information about the original venue cannot be reproduced without a sub. He thinks only the <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> subs are good because they are passive, and never go out phase. Other brands can be phase adjusted only at the crossover point, but not below that point, which results in some “garbage” being mixed in with the recording. I do not have enough experience with subs, but I would guess the $6K <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> sub is pretty good.
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<st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> sources its parts from Focal and others. They do not care about cost, but just pass it on to the consumer. Their profit margin is the same % on all of their speakers. (I think speakers should be priced on value not on cost, but this is an economic argument.)
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<st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> barters their speakers with other manufacturers such as Lamm, Audio Research, Transparent, VTL, etc. Transparent wire is used inside all of <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city>’s speakers. I guess it takes a lot of wire to barter for the entire line of speakers.
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The <st1:city><st1>Wilsons</st1></st1:city> are designed for the living room, not the "crazy audiophile’s" room. <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> is anal about placement, though. He thought they sounded excellent in a congested room in an audio store, compared with what he has to deal with on an every day basis with Wilson’s customers and dealers. To me the room was just ok but not great. I wonder how they would sound in my moderately treated room, or in JonFo’s ultimate room.
He thinks it is best to listen to music at 80-90db.
Most of the recorded music is missing the dynamic range because engineers make the soft end louder and the loud end softer so it would sound good in car radios
Also, he is a big believer in 4 channel, as A LOT of musical information from the back of the hall/ club is missing. He is hoping the Blue Ray format can be the digital panacea. The recording engineers still do an excellent job of capturing the stuff, it just needs to be transferred to a worthy new media.
<o></o>
According to McGrath, one needs Sophias and $1K of electronics to get started with "great sound". The speakers matter the most. One could ramp up on the electronics later. ( Sounds self serving to me.)
The Ayre monoblocks and the new KXR preamp were superb. I am not sure if anyone makes better solid state stuff than Ayre at the higher end.
He owned the CLS for 9 years. He did not argue when I mentioned that Martin Logans have much better transparency than Wilson, and only the <st1:city><st1>Alexandria</st1></st1:city> at $100k+ may approach or match Martin Logan’s transparency, a speaker of only a few $K. He does believe that the Sophia has better imaging than the CLS. It would be interesting to compare the imaging of <st1:city><st1>Summit</st1></st1:city> to Sophia.
<o></o>
He likes subwoofers, but the (expensive) ones from <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city>. He thinks that although the speakers (even Sophias) can go pretty low, some of the information about the original venue cannot be reproduced without a sub. He thinks only the <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> subs are good because they are passive, and never go out phase. Other brands can be phase adjusted only at the crossover point, but not below that point, which results in some “garbage” being mixed in with the recording. I do not have enough experience with subs, but I would guess the $6K <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> sub is pretty good.
<o></o>
<st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> sources its parts from Focal and others. They do not care about cost, but just pass it on to the consumer. Their profit margin is the same % on all of their speakers. (I think speakers should be priced on value not on cost, but this is an economic argument.)
<o></o>
<st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> barters their speakers with other manufacturers such as Lamm, Audio Research, Transparent, VTL, etc. Transparent wire is used inside all of <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city>’s speakers. I guess it takes a lot of wire to barter for the entire line of speakers.
<o></o>
The <st1:city><st1>Wilsons</st1></st1:city> are designed for the living room, not the "crazy audiophile’s" room. <st1:city><st1>Wilson</st1></st1:city> is anal about placement, though. He thought they sounded excellent in a congested room in an audio store, compared with what he has to deal with on an every day basis with Wilson’s customers and dealers. To me the room was just ok but not great. I wonder how they would sound in my moderately treated room, or in JonFo’s ultimate room.
He thinks it is best to listen to music at 80-90db.
Most of the recorded music is missing the dynamic range because engineers make the soft end louder and the loud end softer so it would sound good in car radios
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