My weekend visit with Dan, aka jdandy...

[bakerman]

I agree with everyone else Pete, great thread and thanks for sharing your visit with us. It's nice to take little adventures like that.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by prepress

Those are nice photos. But in the first photo, the C2300 looks to be a bit squeezed. How tall is that shelf? It looks to be about 9".

Charles.......You were close. The opening for the C2300 is 8-1/2". The preamp fits in the space nicely, and with the back of the Salamander rack being open it has pleanty of air flow so there's no heat issues.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Jérôme W

Pete,
Thanks for the report.
Obviously you had a great time. Dan is a wonderful host and I was very unfortunate not being able to visit him again when I was in Orlando this summer.
Dan's ability to build extremely musical systems and finely tune them is a work of art and must be heard to be believed. And this is only matched by his kindness and generosity. Being a friend of Dan is a honor and a blessing.
With G's will, I won't miss my next occasion !
G. Bless you Dan, with Marlène and all your beloved ones and Friends ( ) !

Jérôme.......Thank you so much for your kind words. I was hoping you would be able to visit again this past summer, but I understood your schedule and obligations. Maybe the next time you are in Florida. I think the studio system will impress you. It is totally different than when you were here the first time. You and your family are welcome anytime.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jérôme.......Thank you so much for your kind words. I was hoping you would be able to visit again this past summer, but I understood your schedule and obligations. Maybe the next time you are in Florida. I think the studio system will impress you. It is totally different than when you were here the first time. You and your family are welcome anytime.

Thanks a lot Dan !
I will make it next time !

[Toobs]

Pete
Thank you for posting and all the wonderful pics. Sounds like you had a great time

Dan
You are a gentleman and a scholar If I ever had the chance to visit, you would probably have to adopt me I think I would never want to leave.

[Vintage Pete]

I'm bumping this thread to add a few more thoughts and impressions. There was (and still is) a lot to digest from this visit. What a great time it was.... When I started this thread last night, there were a lot of photos to go through, uploading, etc...a lot of thoughts to process, and composing the thread itself. In addition, I had impatient members here anxious to hear details of the visit. I was tired as well, from all the driving, and from follow up chores upon my return. So, I was kind of in a hurry myself, to get the thread started and the discussion rolling.

Most of what I'd like to add pertains to the system Dan has assembled in the studio. In a nutshell, this is, without a doubt, a world-class system. I don't know when, if ever, I have heard a system like this, assembled in such a tasteful way, in a very ideal and intimate environment. The studio is like an acoutic vacuum, totally dead quiet with no spurious reflections whatsoever. You can clap your hands in there and there is no echo whatsoever. There is virtually no outside light coming into his studio, and his remote controlled lighting allows one to bring the lights down for a great ambience any time of the day. When those lights go down, and you see all that McIntosh gear all lit up, it is really mesmerizing.

The McIntosh MC2301 amplifiers are, quite simply, incredible performers and are works of art in their own right. Gorgeous to look at, they are huge, and one cannot help but to be awed by them. I had seen one on static display at Ivan's 2008 party, but this was the first time I had listened to a pair. Dan made the comment that he believes these are the finest amplifiers made by McIntosh to date. I really don't know if that is true, and of course being the subjective topic that this is, would of course be open to debate. There are more expensive and more powerful McIntosh amplifiers (the epitome of the line being the prodigious MC-2KW, which are simply amazing as well). My only opportunity to hear the MC-2KW's has been at Ivan's, but he only uses these to power the bottom end of his XRT2K's. So, I've nver had the opportunity to hear those monsters full range. But the MC2301 has to be, at least, one of the finest amplifiers on the planet. And I know of no amplifier, except perhaps the MC2KW, that is more impressive to look at. Anyone thinking of owning either of these flagship products had best be sure they have the room for them!

Equally impressive is the Sonus Faber Anniversario. At the time of my last visit, Dan was using the Guarneri Mementos, driven by a pair of McIntosh MC275 Mk V amps running in mono. At the time, he was augmenting the GM's with a pair of McIntosh XLS112 subwoofers. Now that he has the Anniversarios, the XLS112's have been re-purposed to the theater, as the Anniversarios really need no sub. If anyone thinks that a pair of 8-1/2" woofers cannot produce deep bass, think again! When called upon to do so, these loudspeaker systems were producing VERY deep bass, in spades, and without the slightest hint of stress or strain. These are absolute, first-rate loudspeaker systems. They are also gorgeous, with their stunning graphite finish (available of course in the violin finish as well) and luxurious leather coated baffle.

I wanted to expand a bit on my impressions since I really felt like my initial post of last evening was incomplete.

I had mentioned in the other thread Dan started on my visit, while I was still en route home, that this visit represented a number of firsts for me:

This was the first time I had an opportunity to audition a pair of McIntosh MC2301 monoblock tube amps;

This was the first opportunity I'd had to audition any Esoteric product;

Although we listened the majority of the time to the Esoteric K-03 SACD/CD player/DAC, this was the first opportunity I'd had to listen to the very well known McIntosh MCD1100; and

this was the first opportunity I'd had to listen a pair of Amati Anniversario loudspeakers.


The McIntosh C1000C/P I had heard previously when it was in Dan's upstairs system.


I also mentioned in the other thread that this was also, in a certain way, a first for Dan. What I meant by that was, I was the first AA'er to visit his home since all of these very significant upgrades were implemented. I feel very priveliged to say that, and I feel very priveliged to have friends like Dan, Ivan, and to me a member of the great group we fondly refer to as "AA".


Dan, thank you again my friend.....


Pete

[Pyro]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Pete.......I was starting to think you might try hugging one of those MC2301's.

What do you think he did to keep warm after you went to sleep?

[Still-One]

Pete
Thanks for taking the time to detail your visit to Dan's place. These are the type of visits that we all wish could happen more often but there is always something that comes up.

Great photos too.

[Vintage Pete]

As I said, there is just so much to digest. I would be remiss to not mention that Dan's Michell turntable, with its SME 309 arm and Ortofon Cadenza black cartridge was also very impressive. The vinyl demonstrations were superb, and one would be hard pressed to discern a vinyl track from a CD track from the noise floor standpoint-dead silent. Make me think of spinning vinyl again....


Pete

[mbovaird]

I saw a turntable like Dan's in a movie the other day. The movie was called Looper I think. Decent movie too.

Mike