Workin' Man Audio
Dave Duvall
May 1996
On Sunday, April 28th, members of The Audiophile Network (aka TAN) held their first meeting ever, at TAN headquarters in Van Nuys, California. The founder of TAN, Guy Hickey, hosted the event; and provided a wonderful day of fellowship for some of TAN's West Coast members.
TAN meetings are held throughout the country (possibly the world), with local gatherings, usually enjoying one members system in their home. At this meeting we were privileged to listen to two systems. One setup was in the big buck range, and one on the affordable side of life. The smaller room was comprised of AMC electronics (CDM7 cd player, AMC balanced interconnect, 3030a integrated amp, an AMC outboard DAC-not in use), Silver Sonics speaker cable, and three pairs of mini-monitors (N.E.A.R Ten, JMlabs Micron, and Gallos Nucleus Minor). Ballparking the value of any of these configurations, would probably be around $3,000.
In the larger room, we were treated to a progressively changing demonstration of high quality components, from Michael Broughton and The Audiophiles Source (408-336-5079). The estimated value of the big rig was $30,000, when setup in it's final stage of metamorphosis. The demo featured the Electrostatic Research Illusions speaker (hybrid electrostatic mid and tweeter panel/bass woofer; $8,500 the pair), solid state amplification from SAC (SACP50, 50 watt monoblocks), VTL 750 tube amps (750 watt tubed monoblocks!), VTL PR-9 tubed preamp, SAC Epsilon (tubed and battery powered preamp), CEC Transport, Crosby Entec "Number Cruncher" DAC (with a reclocking switch! ), VTL TDAC2 dual 20 bit tube DAC, all strung together with Hi-Wire cabling. I know I'm forgetting something; this was quite a demo! TAN brother (and yes, we have TAN sisters too!) Barry Kohan provided the final touches with a full complement of his Bright Star Audio isolation components; including his new Air Mass pneumatic platform, as well as Big Rock bases, and Little Rock mass loading pods. If you haven't heard the effects of proper isolation, you really should give Barry's products a try.
A general concensus of the two setups indicated that the big rig never really did the trick, until it reached it's final stage of all tube electronics. At that point, there was some magic going on in the soundstage and depth departments, and a pretty good transition between the woofer and panel. The room was not big enough for this system, and therefore we probably didn't hear all it's capable of doing. I will say that once there were tubes galore, I found myself listening for an hour straight. A great demo, and thanks to Michael and the folks from Electrostatic Research for a fantastic demonstration!
The smaller room was where the TAN gang spent most of it's time, however. The AMC system seemed to present more of a musical sound, than did the analytical sound of the bigger room. That's an important area of concern. A system must deliver you to the music; not prompt you into critical listening in non-critical listening times. With some disagreement, the JMlabs Micron appeared the winner, in the shoot out of mini-monitors. While this system was for from perfect, it did have us tapping our feet and listening to music for a good portion of the afternoon.
Several members traveled hundreds of miles (it's a six CD trip, one way, for me), to join in an afternoon of Audiophile happenings. Longtime TAN member and writer for Stereophile, Lonnie Brownell, provided us with some of the days most interesting music, and a lot of laughs. Kinhluan (Luan) Nguyennoc gave us insight from the "spiritual" side of music, and Guy Hickey gave us all a guided tour of the TAN facilities. Guy showed us a lot of new computer equipment, that will soon allow us to dial into TAN from the internet, saving many of us on our long distance phone bill. A lot of other TAN folks found fun and entertainment; enjoying the company of those who share this great hobby.
Those of you interested in joining the TAN clan, should contact TAN at 818-782-1676 (voice), 818-988-0452 (modem), or e-mail TANINFO@tanet.com. Our thanks to Guy Hickey for a great afternoon, and for giving those of us who really love music, a place in cyberspace to interact and join together.
See Ya....Dave Duvall