Naples Nirvana
 

At long last yesterday, I paid a visit to hkval aka Howard in beautiful Naples. Howards' system has been a work in progress for the last 3 years.

Upon arriving, Val fixed me a scotch/rocks and Howard began to demo his playlist which he so carefully prepared.

First, let me begin by saying the pictures of his room can't begin to show you his painstaking attention to detail, yet alone the entire visual impact of being there.

I have setup and listened to many systems based on the XRT1K's, I can honestly say I have never heard them sound better.

Howard played selected cuts from Ann Sweeten, Jennifer Warnes, Peter White, Larry Carlton, Melody Gardot, Marcus Miller, and many others. The music was so well reproduced without the hint of any issues that I could discern.

We listened for a few hours, mostly music off his new Olive 04 played thru his MCD1100, simply marvelous. His twin F113's were feathered in supporting the bottom octaves just perfectly.

Val had prepared a spectacular dinner for Donna, and I consisting of salad, stuffed beef tenderloin, fresh string beans, and whipped mashed potatoes. This was only after hor deurves & wine. Did I mention the flaming chocolate and strawberry desert? Yummm.

Before long it was time for us to retreat to our bungalow. :)

I will comment much more about HK' system once I get to a real keyboard.

Thanks ever so much for your gracious hospitality Val & Howard, what a treat!

HK and Val are indeed the most gracious and generous hosts.:thumbsup:

Val is truly a gourmet cook, and their home is both tasteful and beautiful.

HK's system doesn't sound too bad, either.:banana::banana:

You're next for a visit John! :thumbsup:

Ivan, Donna, Howard and Val....I have no doubt this was a great time, and judging from the pictures of Howard's system, I can only imagine how it is in person. Paying a visit to Howard has been on my things to do list for some time. Hopefully, I'll get to do that sometime this summer. I've no doubt that Howard and Val are first class hosts...I already know they are first class people! :yes:


Pete

I75 South... just do it ;)

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the experience!

Howard.......I know you were anticipating Ivan and Donna's visit with glee. It sounds like a great time was had by all. It is always a blast to show off your system to someone you know can appreciate the effort it takes to create a top flight high-end sound system. I can clearly see you carefully selecting music to audition, and loving every minute of it. It is times like these that great memories are made.

Ivan.......I can tell you and Donna thoroughly enjoyed yourselves. You have had quite a hand in helping Howard assemble his marvolous sound system, and it must be quite satisfying to share in the final results.

Indeed Dan, it takes an Audiophile to appreciate all the things necessary to assemble a world class system. Isolation feet, room treatments, proper power delivery, cooling, Gold Lion tubes, upgraded & clean installation of cabling are some of the things that come together and exceed the sum of their parts.

How is the book coming?