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Witnessing somebody else reach their cutting edge.

J

JohnVF

Lunatic Member
Banned
I was hanging out in the audio store downstairs last night (narrowly escaped with only a alignment protractor and stylus cleaner) and witnessed something fantastic. The audio store exists in the underground walkway between my building and the Hyatt hotel next door. While I was there, a gentleman came in, he was on a trip here from England. Very nice, polite man. And he was looking for a better headphone rig. So he was set up with a Cary audio headphone amp and a pair of Grado Reference headphones. He carefully unwrapped the CDs that he had brought from upstairs, and went about listening to them on this system. And for about 45 minutes he just sat there, listening with the biggest smile on his face. Pure contentment. "Its so smooth and defined" were about the only words I remember him saying. I can't remember the last time I've seen somebody so happy to hear something. No debating. No "well, the highs are a bit etched but I love the body of the sound". Just pure contentment. That is, until today when the store gets in the Audeze LCD-3s'phones :)...can't wait to hear them myself.

But no, the man was truly happy. I love watching somebody who's largely outside of the hobby's nastier habits just sitting down to appreciate great sound, and being blown away by it. And happy.
 
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Adda said:
I just don't know, does the Joker like Grado's?
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He reminded me of Sidney Poitier more than anybody. Really nice fellow. And there really isn't a store clerk at this place, just the owner. Younger guy who's really into audio, which is why he started selling it. Certainly a man who practices what he preaches. I just hang out there sometimes if they're still open when I get off work, as its on my walk home and about 100 feet from my apartment.

I hope the Audeze headphones are there next time I swing by. I've been really wanting to hear those, even though I'm not really into headphones.
 
JohnVF said:
He reminded me of Sidney Poitier more than anybody. Really nice fellow. And there really isn't a store clerk at this place, just the owner. Younger guy who's really into audio, which is why he started selling it. Certainly a man who practices what he preaches. I just hang out there sometimes if they're still open when I get off work, as its on my walk home and about 100 feet from my apartment.

I hope the Audeze headphones are there next time I swing by. I've been really wanting to hear those, even though I'm not really into headphones.
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Just the way an audio store should be, run by people who like and listen to what they sell.

Should be interesting, if hearing a good set of cans can spark your interest in headphones, then the Audeze's should do it.
 
You just reminded me of the time I sold one of those TOTL Sony portable cassette recorders, WMD6. We never sold them, but an old guy came in(a relative of a relative) and wanted to buy a recorder. I let him try it out beside the cheaper one. All he wanted to buy was something to record his voice, but he decided on the TOTL one after sitting in one our sound rooms reciting Frost poems into it for over an hour, and listening back. My regional manager was in the store at the time, and he was pushing me to "close the sale", but I left him alone. And he walked out with that recorder, and a nice mic, and a nice set of headphones. He was happy.
Sadly, he wasn't a cheapskate, but some of his family were. They pushed him to return it a couple of days later.
 
KrisM said:
You just reminded me of the time I sold one of those TOTL Sony portable cassette recorders, WMD6. We never sold them, but an old guy came in(a relative of a relative) and wanted to buy a recorder. I let him try it out beside the cheaper one. All he wanted to buy was something to record his voice, but he decided on the TOTL one after sitting in one our sound rooms reciting Frost poems into it for over an hour, and listening back. My regional manager was in the store at the time, and he was pushing me to "close the sale", but I left him alone. And he walked out with that recorder, and a nice mic, and a nice set of headphones. He was happy.
Sadly, he wasn't a cheapskate, but some of his family were. They pushed him to return it a couple of days later.
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Great story. Not really related but it reminds me of this high school friend of mine that came to visit me and another friend in college. I had a very basic recording setup for guitar and voice, and it had reverb. Well, my friend discovered this and was endlessly curious about it. He stayed up all night talking into my 4-track using the various settings on my early digital reverb, monitoring it with headphones. I later found tapes of him just talking to himself, saying things like "racketball court. Sounds like a....racketball court" and "coliseum. Sounds like a coliseum!". It's like his mind was totally blown.
 
I know exactly how that feels. Bobby Palkovic invited me over to his shop (next door to my home) to listen to his Ars-Sonum amp and a pair of his VSM's ...I must have looked exactly like the Joker ...smiling from ear to ear...I wish there were more of those moments...:)
 
JohnVF said:
Great story. Not really related but it reminds me of this high school friend of mine that came to visit me and another friend in college. I had a very basic recording setup for guitar and voice, and it had reverb. Well, my friend discovered this and was endlessly curious about it. He stayed up all night talking into my 4-track using the various settings on my early digital reverb, monitoring it with headphones. I later found tapes of him just talking to himself, saying things like "racketball court. Sounds like a....racketball court" and "coliseum. Sounds like a coliseum!". It's like his mind was totally blown.
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That's pretty funny. It's strange what different people are fascinated with. We had some company over a couple of years ago, and the kid(who was about 12) was just stunned with my kid's Fisher Price player. She just stared at it with amazement while it played Sesame Street records, like it was from a different planet.

The more I think about it, the more short-sighted those people were for pushing the return of that recorder. That guy died a few years later, and they could have had some priceless recordings of him. Oh, well. I'm sure the $1000 was put to better use once his estate was divided up.:rolleyes:
 
JohnVF said:
...... And for about 45 minutes he just sat there, listening with the biggest smile on his face. Pure contentment. "Its so smooth and defined" were about the only words I remember him saying. I can't remember the last time I've seen somebody so happy to hear something. No debating. No "well, the highs are a bit etched but I love the body of the sound". Just pure contentment. ........

.... I love watching somebody who's largely outside of the hobby's nastier habits just sitting down to appreciate great sound, and being blown away by it. And happy........
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There's no mistaking that look. It's a joy for the person that owns it, and for those around them.

Ditto the thought about just enjoying and not nitpicking the details.
 
I remember those revelation type experiences from earlier in my audio journey, I miss them dearly too. Seems I was always happier and more content with things back then.
 
Back in college I hung out at a local HiFi store (Glenn Poor's Audio Video in Champaign, IL) quite a bit. I remember walking up to the front door one day and hearing Metallica out on the sidewalk. I thought that was pretty loud for a normally sedate joint. Upon entering I found that it wasn't coming from the lobby room (mid level stuff arranged on shelves) but from the high zoot room and the door was closed. So it was loud enough in that room that it was leaking out through the lobby and front door to the street outside.

While I was wondering what they were up to, the door opened and one of the sales guys came out. When the door opened it was like being kicked in the face. When it closed it seemed silent by comparison. The sales guy took a few seconds to clear his ears (hold his nose and blow) and then grinned at me. I asked what was up and he said they had a client who wanted some Mirage M1's but wanted to make sure they could play Metallica at 120dB. They hooked it all up (I think it was Revox/Levinson on the front end) and let 'er rip. He got his 120dB. When he came out of the room he had "that look" on his face. He had arrived.
 
RayW said:
Back in college I hung out at a local HiFi store (Glenn Poor's Audio Video in Champaign, IL) quite a bit. I remember walking up to the front door one day and hearing Metallica out on the sidewalk. I thought that was pretty loud for a normally sedate joint. Upon entering I found that it wasn't coming from the lobby room (mid level stuff arranged on shelves) but from the high zoot room and the door was closed. So it was loud enough in that room that it was leaking out through the lobby and front door to the street outside.

While I was wondering what they were up to, the door opened and one of the sales guys came out. When the door opened it was like being kicked in the face. When it closed it seemed silent by comparison. The sales guy took a few seconds to clear his ears (hold his nose and blow) and then grinned at me. I asked what was up and he said they had a client who wanted some Mirage M1's but wanted to make sure they could play Metallica at 120dB. They hooked it all up (I think it was Revox/Levinson on the front end) and let 'er rip. He got his 120dB. When he came out of the room he had "that look" on his face. He had arrived.
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Ouch he won't be enjoying those for long.
 
botrytis said:
I used to go to Quintescense (I think that is how it is spelled) Audio in Naperville, IL when I lived there. It was great to walk in and just listen and the salesmen were all about that. Usually eneded up walking out with some CD's or something else small.
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I used to go to Quintessence too! Nice place, great staff. Right downtown too, before Naperville went through the big change. I bought my Rogers speakers there, and 20' of Audioquest F14, both of which I still have some 20+ years later.

I miss that place. :tears:
 
Everytime I've been by Quintessence (the one in Skokie), they're closed. I've heard nothing but positive remarks about the place, though. Friend of mine went a few months ago and couldn't stop talking about the speakers he'd heard. I think they were Avalon and Focal.

My first exposure to 'that look', on myself, was a pair of smaller Magnepans. I was a poor recent college grad who'd been into hi-fi for awhile but didn't have much exposure to it, and I was in this shop to look at NHT SuperZeros that I'd read about. While there I was just roaming around and the owner suggested I step into this one room they had. It was just an empty room with a small system, nice wall treatments, and a pair of Magnepans playing what I remember as Yo-Yo Ma. It stunned me how much more realistic it sounded than what I had at home, which was a pretty big pair of speakers. Odd that now I don't like Magnepans much, but back then it wasn't about different flavors of great gear. It was about hearing great gear for the first time at all.
 
If it were not for my love of music I could leave this hobby. Sometimes I feel like the hobby part is sucking all the fun out of the music. I miss that feeling the gentleman was experiencing.

cubdog
 
Many times when hanging out at VanL Speakerworks I've seen guys bring in some old cheap speaker for repair, and John invites them to sit down for a few minutes and listen to his stuff, regardless of how they are dressed or what they are driving.

I've heard a variety of expressions of amazement from these guys (well, all guys that I've seen), accompanied by a kind of a dazed look. It's pretty clear they didn't even know a stereo could sound like that.

Fun stuff.
 
kirk57 said:
Many times when hanging out at VanL Speakerworks I've seen guys bring in some old cheap speaker for repair, and John invites them to sit down for a few minutes and listen to his stuff, regardless of how they are dressed or what they are driving.

I've heard a variety of expressions of amazement from these guys (well, all guys that I've seen), accompanied by a kind of a dazed look. It's pretty clear they didn't even know a stereo could sound like that.

Fun stuff.
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It was after a visit to Van L, and hearing his Quartet, that I began looking for new speakers. While I ended up with Harbeths, I would have been just as happy had I bought his speakers. I believe my words were "Holy crap". I need to get back there. I hang out at Saturday Audio and know them well enough that I can just sit back and relax and sample whatever's come in. Those are some of my best memories of the hobby. None of the endless debate about what's what and how to do things. Just listening to a variety of great ways to reproduce music.
 
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