what's your best audio system experience?

SIM, Salone Internazionale della Musica (before it became TopAudio), Milano, 1975. After a morning of ramblings, I enter a pavilion and hear some beautiful Jazz – not live, not reproduced, a third kind of clear and refreshing presentation. It was a TT I don't remember into Quad Electronics and Quad ELSs. I distinctly remember the experience as not aiming at reproducing reality – that I only got with YGAcoustics Anat IIIs, in 2012 at the TopAudio – but at giving a honest, convincing, transparent representation of good music in the home. I think that from this point of view, that experience is still unsurpassed. And I believe that that's all HiFi should still be about.

2 systems at  different pricepoints.
Sometimes in the 90s I walked in at my dealer, and sat down in one of the demo rooms. They played on a small integrated Naim amp and probably Linn speakers, that sounded amazing, and I do not understand why this  did not make me go from Linn to Naim at that time.
In 2013 my current dealer had a Naim Audiovector demo and this is the best sound I have ever heard!
Naim cd 555, nds, Userve, maybe 552 I am not sure, and nap 300, with  Audiovector r11 Aretté.

It took me weeks to stop comparing my active Naim setup with Audiovector sr6 to that system, and go back to just listening to my system again and enjoying the music. 

Last year I heard Statement and Focal at Naim and was  hugely disappointed! Sometimes speakers first works!

Claus
 

Lintone Audio in Gateshead around 1976. A Sony Elcassette, Naim 250 (didn't notice a preamp) and Nightingale NM1 speakers in the middle of the room. Joni Mitchell so solid and tangible like she was there. 3D from Naim, and never heard anything like it since. 

I will cheat and have two:

LP12/32/135s/Linn Isobarik (a very long time ago at Cam Audio - Joes Garage)

secondly 

NDX/XPS/ Devialet 200 / Wilson Bensech Discovery ( after upgrading amp from 282/Hicap/200) - stupendous improvement on everything I played  

Hmmm.....  I will cheat and have several, if I may.

In the original dem room at Naim, at an open day, in the 80's - a series of systems, going from 42/110 to 32/SNAPS/250 (I think....?) - all with LP12 front end and Linn speakers - Kans or Saras. All fabulous. Clannad was particularly memorable. 

In the current dem room at Naim, during a visit last year - the S800 Ovators driven by active 500's - with a CDX2 and 555. Possibly the best party system .... ever. So loud, yet not loud - effortless....? Awesome.

IanM

I agree lp12/32/250/Saras - magical

Back around 1990 in grad school had a friend with huge stack of separates, cables everywhere to big speakers and a separate small tweeter. Bought it all in military and had a specialist in Air Force guide him on Macintosh receiver plus other boxes which he took and matched all the superior  innards (my technical term) to what you'd call an active system.

I only heard it 3 times briefly but the 3dimensional sound and the woman singing,hearing her breath and floating echoes around his living room was mind blowing. But it hasn't been working since.  I think he'd given up on the problems after his house remodel.

My system when I got to s/h 52, 300, Palmer TT, SLH5 was incredible for years near field listening. Now I'm moving on to Herron tube/solid state system with the Palmer and ND5xs streaming, Audience cables. It's so rich, warm and natural it's sinful. But I"ve just moved and waiting for my dealer to set it all up again.  See my storage dilemma in Padded Cell.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Nagual posted:

1981 Lord of the Rings BBC radio, my dads system, Leak tuner? taped on to revox open reel, played through his ancient quad amps and DM70's.  made my skin crawl - in a a good way!

 

That was a cracking radio series.. I remember as a family we (my brothers and my parents) all listened together to the radio ... a somewhat unusual event even in 1981. We recorded onto cassette but it sounded woeful by modern standards.. Our cassette player wasn't upto much..

Simon

Very true. I bought the cassette box set but it wasn't the same as listening on the radio. I think I had a Marantz pm310 amp and matching tuner (ST310 ?) at the time, with Goodmans speakers. Even on that the Lord of the Rings was a terrific experience.

Probably not the best in terms of Hi-Fi type aspects but some time around 1989-90 I had LP12/Ittok/Asak/32.5/HC/250/Isobariks. I still lived at my parents house at the time and being an only child was lucky enough to be able to use the spare bedroom as a dedicated music room. I was good friends with Steve Morris (RIP), who worked at the Sound Organisation in London at the time, and one weekend while my parents were on holiday he stayed over and we moved the system downstairs into the main lounge to see how it would sound in the larger room. It was plonk and play stuff, no elaborate leveling or anything. So about 11am on the Sunday after lugging the Briks downstairs and plugging them in we popped on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. As the last notes faded out we just sat there as the needle hissed into the runout groove. Must have been at least a minute before we could start to express what a fundamental experience we'd just had. Sometimes things just seem to click. It's probably largely psychological but it doesn't matter. Will never forget that particular session. Had a similar experience listening to Vangelis' Mask when I'd upgraded to Ekos/Troika and active 3X250 Briks a couple of years later.

I try to avoid listening to things I really can't afford so at this point it's either that or my current set up.

Dealer friend, Chris Thomas, played me Kans on his LP12/Ittok/Asak 'T', 32.5/Hi/250, then 135's some years ago in his basement demo room in London......  

A year later he installed a new Asak 'T' cartridge into my own system of LP12/Ittok, 32/Snaps/250/Saras. 

Doubt i've ever heard better than these two systems in their respective rooms.

I still remember my first DBL encounter.  The shock of seeing them at Grahams HIFi - until that time they had only been pictures - I was amazed at how big they were.  Later I go to hear them, playing a piano recording - they actually sounded like a piano!  It was hard to go back and listen to my SBLs.

Richard Dane posted:

Plenty of audio experiences stick in the memory.  There was the first time I heard a Linn Sondek (the system was Sondek, Quantum pre+power and Heybrook HB2s) playing Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm on the day of release, ////.........

Yeh Richard you brought back some memories, It was Grace jones, what a tune! Oddly enough it wasn't the Briks, but the Keltics I think, With 4 Klouts and of Course the LP 12, at Overture Audio Ann Arbor MI, USA, the good old days. Never heard the the 135's and the Briks, but that is the System I'm trying to put back together. I did manage the Full Blown Linn Aktiv with 3 LK 280's and Karin, with Linn XO, Bingo Card, with Dirak PS, fronted with LP 12, but didn't sound like those Keltics and Klouts, I think they were Keltics not sure now, getting old, this was early 90's I guess.

Cdx2>282>HCDR>3 x 250.2>Briks>Fraimlite

Next stop SCDR>Snaxo

I think I will look for some Grace Jones Thanks!

Another one for grace Jones      This time for me seeing her live at Lovebox festival on the Sunday night legacy slot".  These people know how to put a big system together and get the mix perfect for what is a difficult vocalist, with her music as clear as I will ever hope to have heard it.

Much as I like the Naim sound, I'd have to say it was listening to two tube-based systems, both with an Audio Note Ongaku amp and an AN CD player as the source. The first had AN speakers and the second used Avantgardes (horns). 

Best? Difficult to answer, I suppose the memorable experiences are the surprise ones, where the results are unexpected. First for me was hearing an active SBL/250/52/ Sondek setup at Raleigh Hi-Fi in Chelmsford. I went with a colleague & hadn't intended to buy anything myself. Oh well.

Being rather busy workwise I kept away from hi-fi magazines, shops and shows for many years. Then started on an upgrade path. The next surprise was hearing Jon Honeyball's active DBLs. Gosh! I wandered into one of the demo rooms at the Signals show with a fellow forum member, not meaning to listen to anything particular, where they had a pair of PMC Fact 12s playing. Amazingly good.

The latest surprise I suppose was how good the Melco disk player was in my system. One now sits in my Fraim, and I'm very pleased with it.

I had the opportunity to bundle up some of my system and reassemble it in a nearby village hall. Group of friends and 100 or so lps, and my 500gb of flacs. System was: friend's project turntable, probably a debut, nothing fancy but easy to set up, into my kit - stageline to nait xs to my little rega r3s, and diy pc streamer to dac v1 to nait xs/regas.

My r3s aren't normally on the end of my nait (r7s in the "hifi" room at home but less portable), and with zero space restrictions, and zero volume restrictions - this being in a village hall a few miles south of Salisbury and no neighbours etc to worry about - honestly they sounded nothing like they do at home, I've never heard them like that ever. Played a wide range of music including St Vincent and Antony & the Johnsons "hope there's someone" - just wow!

Now thinking about a repeat event and the logistics of shifting the R7's over for the evening.

The experience of Paul Stephensons activ DBL set up at his home won't be forgotten....epic!

First ever I listened to a LP12, Naim amps and Linn Kans, a totally game changer that has proven itself to be quite expensive now 30 years later. Extraordinary sound!

I still hope I have the best ever in front of me, Kudos are showing activ Titans with Naim electronic at the Hifi show tomorrow, could be something. Maybe...

//Jonas

Jonas Olofsson posted:

The experience of Paul Stephensons activ DBL set up at his home won't be forgotten....epic!

First ever I listened to a LP12, Naim amps and Linn Kans, a totally game changer that has proven itself to be quite expensive now 30 years later. Extraordinary sound!.......

//Jonas

I know what you mean, Maybe not the first time I heard the Briks, but it was Linn, A walk across the Rooftops, Blue Nile, showing off how low those Briks could go!  

Back Then it was Linn & Naim.  Linn Took care of the front and Rear, Naim filled up the Middle! 

30 years latter, I'm still chasing that sound!

Cdx2>282>HCDR>3 x 250.2>Fraimlite>Briks

Next Stop SCDR >Snaxo362!

Let us know how those Active Titans go! 

Allanate93!

ChrisSU posted:

For me it was the Kudos room at last years Acoustica show in Chester. They were showing off their Titans using an NDS/552/300 system - I could have stayed there all day....even in a hotel room. (The nearby Statement dem room was mighty impressive, but too in-your-face to relax and listen to.) 

It was sounding great by Sunday afternoon, but not good on Saturday with brand new amps (Derek wasn't a happy chappy).

The room Kudos use is the best room in the show - its sensible proportions and they always achieve a good sound in that room with X2, S20 and T-808 so far.

I'm going to cheat with a couple too.

1: first experience of the importance of a real hifi.  Gilson Audio in Middlesborough, very early 80s, went in for a listen to a NAD 3020 (which I bought, of course), but when we went in they were demoing an LP12 / Lingo / Ittok (and I guess an Asak?) into a Naim pre and power driving Heybrook HB3s.  I can't really remember what it sounded like, but I do remember thinking wow, something to aspire to eventually - I suppose this was the inspiration for this crazy hobby.

2. Linn Klimax Exakt System with 8 Solos into Komris.  Completely immersive, powerful, delicate, tuneful etc. etc.  Just magic.

Interesting, thats 4 for Naxo/ 2 x250/ Active Saras....make that 5, and mine are still singing in the room next door!

JBGWild posted:

Interesting, thats 4 for Naxo/ 2 x250/ Active Saras....make that 5, and mine are still singing in the room next door!

Not bad, have you had the opportunity to give Snaxo/Briks a listen?

Anto68 posted:

An audio system that you have tested at your friends house or a some audio shop, show or similar, the top of the top,  unsurpassed even by yours system?

Mine was "simple" system

Audio Research separate pre and power amp in pure class A (I don't remember the model)

Marantz CD (I don't remember the model but was the Top of the range)

Wilson Sabrina Speakers .....Love them.. just a dream (sexy speakers too)

I had this wonderful experience last weekend it will be hard to forget

 

That's good to hear.  My new Audio Research is on its way to me.

But up till now, a set up in the dealership that I worked in 25 years ago;

LP12/Ittok/Troika, 32- 250s into active SBLs.  Playing the Mravinsky/Leningrad  recording of Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony. Such energy. Mind you, that recording is pretty special anywhere you hear it.

Always difficult to be sure how accurate a memory of sound is to actually compare one with another, but the occasion that left the greatest impression on me was the occasion I set up my speakers in the garden, the sound quality primarily due to the excellent speakers for once being free to 'sing' in what they would have seen as an open space, with minimal 'room' interactions.

System itself was IMF Ref Standard Prof Monitor speakers - a large transmission line design - fed by Shearne Audio Phase 7 CD player or Thorens TD150 in custom plinth/ Rega RB300 arm and an ATC mc cartridge, through Musical Fidelity The Preamp 2 and Musical Fidelity P170 power amp, and about 40-50m of mixed, partly nondescript cable (2.5-6mm2).

Speakers placed on crates of some sort to raise a little, on front edge of a patio at rear of garden, facing towards the house, about 5 or 6m apart. Distance to house rear wall about 25-30m.  Garden width between high thick hedges about 8-9m. Thick high hedge at back of garden 3m behind speakers. Main 'listening' area from about half of distance between speakers and house. Area between speakers and listening area flower/veg beds and lawn, listening area lawn.  The music sounded stunningly real, clear, sharply focused but with huge soundstage, really deep, smooth detailed and well controlled bass: simply out of this world. Something that is my yardstick for music reproduction, but I know is unlikely ever to be achievable indoors... Those speakers always sounded great indoors, improved a little when I got the MF P270, and tad further with Mac Mini/AudirvanaHugo source, and a overall the soud improved even further with my now Bryston amp + PMC EB1is, but still that outdoor memory lives on.

My Dad always had hifi separates Whardale speakers, Rotel receiver and an Aiwa tape deck, when I got my job at 16 I bought a Nad 3020b amp, Heybrook HB1 speakers and an AR EB101 turntable which was audio perfection, until......

After a conversation with a work colleague he told me he was into hifi and had a Linn/Naim set up, I'd never heard of it and just nodded politely. A further conversation was had and he invited me to his house to listen to it, I've never been so blown away by music, it was a real revelation.It was a Linn Sondek/Ittok/Troika feeding a Nac 32 with a pair of 135s driving Isobariks, it started a lifetime friendship and my subsequent journey into a very expensive hobby.

Nick