Jaw-dropping experiences - post them

So many with 57s as their wow moment! And no different here. Heard them at a hi-fi show about 5 years ago, spent three years after that hunting for the perfect pair, which I'll never let go now. Another moment, hearing the new Spendor STs. Sat in that room for way too long.

 

Easy:

At 17 - Oxygene played on a Garrard SP? Mk2 with an Ortofon cartridge. I was lying on the floor in my bedroom listening to my recently homebuilt loudspeakers and the sound crossed the speakers panning L->R and R->L. It went straight through my brain - I was hooked.

At 21 - My first real TT, Ariston RD80, Linn LVX, Ortofon VMS 30 MK2e, Quad 34, 405-2, Tangent XLRs. My bedroom at college. First record on the deck Making Movies and when the drums came in on the first track the attack was incredible - bang!

At 22 - PT, Zeta, Koetsu Black into a big Meridian system with active M3s(?). Wow! It was the PT/Zeta/Koetsu sound - but can't remember the music.

At 23 - Townshend Elite Rock 2, Excalibur arm, London Decca cartridge into EAR pre-amp and, what I think were EAR 509s, into Decca Ribbon speakers. Unbelievable - I spent 2.5 hours in the shop and missed all my appointments for the afternoon. Some smoky jazz club type music.

The other night - Rock III, rewired Zeta, Koetsu Rosewood, Icon Audio PS1, modified Naim 102, hand build Naim based monoblocks, Shahinian Obelisks. Hang on, I own this - yes! An audio epiphany every time I listen!

I just realised everyone of those is analogue based. It's easy to see the influence of the PT, Zeta, Koetsu and the Townshend Rock experiences, which were well over 20 years ago, on my audio aspirations.

 

First time I heard Shahinian OBELISK speaker was one such moment having never heard any speakers like this before, the room was suddenly flooded with sound that seemed to come from everywhere inc the ceiling I still can't decide whether they are incredable world beating speakers or just odd sounding speakers
Without a doub't the shows at both london Penta and my home show at the last drop ( I live in Bolton) have both delivered jaw dropping moments although once i had a jaw dropper at the penta show, one room (a large one) with speakers as big as a bloody house and Ognaku (sp) valve amps with a top or the range wadia or summat cd player, the sound was bloody awful to my ears but the jaw drop was the price of around 1/4 of a million £'s I could have bought a new system, a house, a boat and a new car and been happier

 

I was just browsing the Parts Express website and I saw an Eminence driver on there which reminded me.. I think the best sound I have ever heard was from a pair of top of the range 12" Eminence mid/bass drivers in a chipboard open baffle with an Audax 1.3" dome tweeter above. 48db/oct DSP crossover at 1500Hz. There are many things wrong with this setup, mainly dispersion not matching from the two drivers, but the result it produced in that room just happened to be amazing!

It makes me very curious about a speaker like Ged Lee's with a similar woofer and quality compression driver. http://www.gedlee.com/abbey.htm

 

1981 - My Decca Gold after it came back from the Garrott Brothers in Australia
Mid 1980s - my two TD124/IIs
Early Noughties - hearing a full set of Avantgarde Trios plus TRON amps
2004 - buying my Avantgarde Duos
2011 - a rebuilt Decca C4E - unbelievably good

Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk

 

Yes I agree buying my horns would have to be the biggest improvement in sound quality.
Keith.

 

Nice photos Charlie.

 

Thank you very much!

 

Maybe not considered HIFI,but the k array KR200 amazed me with the quality of sound and volume being produced by such a small "stick" only had single vox,keys and electric quitar going through it but bugger me it rocked,

 

I have just two jaw on the floor experiences:

1 . Magnepan MMG driven by an old Pioneer solid state amplifier - my first planar

2. Tannoy System 15" coaxial monitor, the ugly pro version - my first real speaker

 

MMM Paloma Faith!

 

Easy. Frankie goes to Hollywood beating down the corridor at Bristol in about 1992 or 3. Show rooms were closing but I had to get to what was making this sound. Force my way in.
Ongaku on the floor, AN-E's in space. Fast fluid voice in the room. Everything changed.