Audio Enthusiast from Panama living in Missouri

[cma29]

Hi, everyone. I'm new to AA, but I've been pursuing audio nirvana since my Virginia college days in the 1990s. My first introduction to a high fidelity system was through a Denon integrated amplifier, KEF speakers and a CD player I cannot remember. Before then I thought everyone heard music through a "boom box" and that all recordings basically sounded the same. Boy, was I wrong. My friend played for me some of his Telarc CDs and I was smitten. I did not know music could sound like that.

Before long I bought his system and upgraded it with a Counterpoint amplifier and drove it directly from the CD player's variable output. I was on my way. I kept salivating over all the great gear being in reviewed in Stereophile and Audio magazines. There were so many things out there that I did not know existed, but now I needed to have! (sound familiar?). As a college student in 1991, a $5,000 amp seemed way out of reach, but somehow I made things happen. With my graduate student stipend I was able to get a pair of PBS Stratus Golds (the "10,000 W speaker!" claimed the cover of Audio magazine). The Strats along with the Counterpoint had me on my way to where I am today. Of course, the Counterpoint was too small to drive the low impedance Strats, so it kept shutting off. I needed a bigger boat! (sound familiar?)

After getting my degrees, I got a job at the Panama Canal, so I now had the chance to upgrade my system with a proper amplifier and preamplifier. Enter the Aragon 4004 Mk II amp and the Audio Research LS3 preamp. I purchased them a few days before moving to Panama to start my new job. The new gear along with the PSBs gave me that best sound I had ever heard from my system. I got lucky how it all came together. That was in 1994. Between then and 2009 I lived in other people's homes and small apartments in New York City, Washington DC and Chicago that did not have the room for my gear or the privacy to listen to it properly.

After 10 years of marriage my wife and I finally decided to have our first kid. Since I travel for work and do not have to come into the office, I told her that if we were going to have a kid we better move close to her parents who live in Columbia, MO. That’s how an audio enthusiast from Panama ended up in Missouri. I miss Chicago, but the upside is that I could actually own a home in Missouri, with a basement and a listening room. The possibilities...

While on a business trip in Chicago I walked into Audio Consultants to see what was the "latest and greatest" in terms of audio gear. The sales consultant took me right to big room where he had a pair of large Magnepan 20.1s hooked up to Classe monoblocks. That system sounded awesome, but it was a big jump, at least in my mind, to go from the old PBS and Aragon gear to the flagship Maggies and two huge monoblocks. He then showed me another room with the 3.6R Maggies. I had never heard Magnepans before, but I liked their sound and the technology behind it. A year later the 3.7s came out and I pulled the trigger. This is when things sped up for me.

Was the Aragon 4004 amp up to the job of driving the 3.7s? Then I discovered AudiogoN. It was like a candy store. They had all the gear I had lusted after when I was in college, like a recently refurbished Krell KSA-300S. I had always wanted a Krell and I was going to get one now! Long story short, the Krell was a disappointment driving the PSB Stratus Golds and the Maggie 3.7s. It sounded like a sports car stuck in third gear. I loved looking at that monster amp sitting there between the speakers, but it did not sound good to me. To "fix" the problem I started chasing my tail by getting an XLR-equipped preamp, new cables, a better SACD/CD player, and yet another preamp. Still the sound was not what I was expecting. I had to finally admit that the Krell sound, at least from that amp, was not for me so I sold it to get Bryston monoblocks. What a huge difference that made. So glad I trusted my own ears. So the system at the time was: Maggie 3.7s, ARC LS5 Mk II, Bryston 7BSTs, Krell SACD Standard Mk III and Oppo BDP-95.

While I was chasing my tail trying to make the Krell amp sound good to my ears, Magnepan had announced the 20.7 as the replacement to the 20.1. I was already impressed with the 3.7s coherence, midrange and musicality, so why not look into the 20.7s? The key was that my dealer offered a one-year full credit trade up and the timing was perfect for me. I placed the order for the 20.7s in January 2013 and got them in March. Now the older 7 ST Bryston monoblocks did not seemed as well matched with the 20.7s. I needed an upgrade and found the Pass Labs X250.5 amplifier perfect for my system. The bass was much better. Pizzicatos in orchestral music had more definition and I could tell the subtle difference in instrumental timbers with a lot more ease. To finance the purchase of the Pass, I sold the Brystons and the very good, but now-getting-old Krell SACD Standard. The gap now was a high-quality source. Don't get me wrong. The Oppo is a fine machine, but in my opinion is not up to the level of the rest of the system. That's when I looked into a quality SACD spinner and settled on the Esoteric K-03. Ivan helped me get one on Friday. I think this will be it for me for a while (sound familiar?), but stand by...

[AudioNut]

Carlos, You have had quite a trip, audio-wise, in a relatively short period of time. Congratulations and welcome to AA.

My gosh, you have wound up with some mighty good stuff and the K-03 can only make it better.

One of the great things about traveling for a living, is the opportunity to visit the world's best audio stores (I traveled and did just that for many years) and to see and hear the best equipment and find the best "demo quality" recordings.

Please keep us informed as you continue your journey, and please tell us what you listen to. There are a variety of music threads here and we hope you will post in several, in accordance with your musical interests.

Julian

[Pyro]

Hi Carlos.

[Still-One]

Welcome Carlos

That is a nice collection of gear that you have put together.

[Josquin des Prez]

Hi Carlos. Welcome to AA from another Missourian. I'm in the St. Louis area.

Do you deal at all with Jim Pendleton at Osage Audio in Hallsville? I have talked to him a few times and use his Audio Intelligent products for record cleaning, but I have never met him nor visited. I mostly deal with Music For Pleasure in St. Louis.

[Stereo-head]

Carlos thanks for sharing your journey with us. Welcome!

[tweet]

Carlos... Welcome to AA!

[jdandy]

Carlos.......Reading your post sounded like a chapter out of my book. After much searching, cycling equipment through my two systems, and a boat load of cash, I have finally discovered the sound I absolutely love. The journey is half the fun and keeps the adrenalin flowing, but when I finally hit the synergistic jackpot it has become a little piece of heaven right here in my home.

Good to see you discovered Audio Aficionado where you can share your experiences with us and vice versa.

[Toobs]

to AA Carlos

[cma29]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. I feel like I belong already.

In terms of music, I favor orchestral classical music from the Baroque through the late 19th century (bonus points for the fellow who can identify the building in my avatar picture). A good audio system is not much without great music, so I have tried to educate myself in terms of the repertoire, interpretation and, of course, sound. A good resource for this has been Gramophone magazine out of the UK. I have a monthly subscription and I complement that with their annual “"Music Guide,"” a 1300-page encyclopedia of the best recording and interpretations available by composer. Their focus is mostly European, but they produce pretty good music across the pond. An example of a favorite recording I found through Gramophone is Beethoven’'s Eroica symphony as performed by Jordi Savall’'s Le Concert des Nations on the 1997 Auvidis Fontalis release. It's a period performance, but what really strikes me is the sound signature of the performance. For example, for the Marcia Funebre there is a tympani that comes through the right hand side that accompanies the opening chords. I had never heard a tympani used in this part of the symphony before and it sounds extraordinary. The fugue in the same movement is intense and soon thereafter the brass during what sounds like a Final Judgment call pierces through the orchestra like it should. Bottom line: this symphony, interpretation and recording are extraordinary. It's not a SACD, but it sounds better than many SACDs I've heard. Every other Eroica lets me down now even though I would say Harnoncourt gets close to the spirit of the piece as well. I also enjoy recordings from the Scottish label Linn and, of course, Reference Recordings. I can’t wait to hear some of these favorite recordings through the K-03.

Josquin des Prez – I have not had contact with Jim Pendleton at Osage Audio in Hallsville, but maybe I should pay a visit. Thanks for the tip. Maybe you and I can get together for a listening session sometime when I am in St. Louis.