At Nineteen Seventy-five I'll take two!!!
Last weekend I went to a small audio show put on by some vacume tube
hobbyists. I love these small shows because there is always some really exotic eye candy. Even though I am over the whole low wattage, set, horn speaker, Lowther speaker thing, I love to look at the beautiful low powered amps and people's efforts to make a speaker to go with them.
I went with two friends, one used to be the lighting director for Pink Floyd and now works for me, the other is one of the head electrical engineers for TRW. I love how a hobby can bring people from very different backgrounds together. Between the three of us we are trying to put together a phono stage the equals Walker's at the price of a DIY project and were in the search of some special parts. After knowing him for almost 10 years, my engineering friend finally let go with stories about what goes on inside the imense TRW complex in Manhattan Beach. I would tell you but, you know how it goes, I'd have to kill you. But, that's another story.
We arrived at the show and first hit the main floor going to the different tube and electronic parts vendors looking for parts for the phono stage and some old tubes for a ancient Mac tuner Larry is carefully rebuilding. Then we went upstairs to go from suite to suite to listen to different setups and have a look at some cables and such. You gotta love the people trying to start up some sort of audio company. Audio buffs that have taken the next step from DIYers to trying to convince people that they have discovered a better way, be it electronics, speakers, cables. Like start up resturaunts most don't have a chance. While I would be proud to say that I built any of the speakers I saw there, I wouldn't pay $0.10 for any of them.
The Chinese were everywhere looking for dealers for speakers, pre amps, amps, cables, exotic tweaks, etc. Their rooms were by far the best in every way.
We stepped into a suite for a company called Audio Space. The only room where I would consider "real music" playing. I didn't catch the name of the speakers playing, they looked like a knock off of Eidolon Diamond's. But, what really cought my attention were the CD transport/DAC combo and the amps. I asked about the CD/DAC and was told it was nothing special and wasn't their brand. They were just using it for demo. I persisted asking about it and found out the two together cost $Twenty-two hundred, and the incredible looking integrated pre amp was $Thirty-two hundred. The rep in the room was apologetic about the price but, pointed out that it was a transport and seperate DAC. He also said that they weren't using the amps in the integrated, they were using the mono blocks.
I then went over to a table where they had a set of mono blocks sitting, plus one with a plastic top so you could see the build quality. The mono blocks were stunning. My guess is they were about 17" wide and about 24" deep and probably weighed in at about 90 to 100lbs each. The machine work for the thick face plate was gorgious. The stainless steel top shined like a mirror and tranformers had flawless highgloss paint jobs. I have seen a lot of tube amps but, this was the most beautiful piece of art I have yet to encounter. And, the sound matched the looks.
My friends were in the back room sorting through a bunch of silly isolation tweaks laid out on the bed. I went and got Larry and asked him to come take a look at the workmanship of the mono blocks. His eyes came out of his head. "Look at the point to point wiring, the soldering!", he was really drooling.
I then asked the rep what the cost was. "Nineteen Seventy-five", says he. "Usually Nineteen Ninety-five but, this price is because they are here as demo." I looked at Larry in surprise. Larry asks,"That must be for one, right?". "No", says the rep. "Buy one, get one free, Nineteen Seventy-five." he says with a smile. This can't be right, thinks I, must be a salesman that doesn't really know the product, happens all time at theese little shows.
I go find another rep and ask him, "How much for the demo amps?" "Nineteen Seventy-five", he says. I go find Larry and tell him I need to borrow some money. I didn't have my check book with me and only brought a thousand dollars with me to cover the parts I thought I would find there. Larry asks me what I would want another pair of mono blocks for. I tell him that at that price I would set them on the floor and stare at the tubes. He laughs and gives me a handfull of hundreds.
I searched out one of the reps, fearful that another buyer would grab the amps before me. I pull out the money and give him 20, one hundred dollar bills. He then gets this strange look and wants to know if I plan on writing a check for the rest. "What rest?", I said, "You owe me change". "No, the amps are Nineteen Seventy-five", he says. Then it dawns on me. "Write the amount on a piece of paper." I ask. $19,750.00, he writes.
:E :E :E :E :E :E
Oddly enough, the amps aren't sitting in my room so I can watch the tubes glow.
ops:
hobbyists. I love these small shows because there is always some really exotic eye candy. Even though I am over the whole low wattage, set, horn speaker, Lowther speaker thing, I love to look at the beautiful low powered amps and people's efforts to make a speaker to go with them.
I went with two friends, one used to be the lighting director for Pink Floyd and now works for me, the other is one of the head electrical engineers for TRW. I love how a hobby can bring people from very different backgrounds together. Between the three of us we are trying to put together a phono stage the equals Walker's at the price of a DIY project and were in the search of some special parts. After knowing him for almost 10 years, my engineering friend finally let go with stories about what goes on inside the imense TRW complex in Manhattan Beach. I would tell you but, you know how it goes, I'd have to kill you. But, that's another story.
We arrived at the show and first hit the main floor going to the different tube and electronic parts vendors looking for parts for the phono stage and some old tubes for a ancient Mac tuner Larry is carefully rebuilding. Then we went upstairs to go from suite to suite to listen to different setups and have a look at some cables and such. You gotta love the people trying to start up some sort of audio company. Audio buffs that have taken the next step from DIYers to trying to convince people that they have discovered a better way, be it electronics, speakers, cables. Like start up resturaunts most don't have a chance. While I would be proud to say that I built any of the speakers I saw there, I wouldn't pay $0.10 for any of them.
The Chinese were everywhere looking for dealers for speakers, pre amps, amps, cables, exotic tweaks, etc. Their rooms were by far the best in every way.
We stepped into a suite for a company called Audio Space. The only room where I would consider "real music" playing. I didn't catch the name of the speakers playing, they looked like a knock off of Eidolon Diamond's. But, what really cought my attention were the CD transport/DAC combo and the amps. I asked about the CD/DAC and was told it was nothing special and wasn't their brand. They were just using it for demo. I persisted asking about it and found out the two together cost $Twenty-two hundred, and the incredible looking integrated pre amp was $Thirty-two hundred. The rep in the room was apologetic about the price but, pointed out that it was a transport and seperate DAC. He also said that they weren't using the amps in the integrated, they were using the mono blocks.
I then went over to a table where they had a set of mono blocks sitting, plus one with a plastic top so you could see the build quality. The mono blocks were stunning. My guess is they were about 17" wide and about 24" deep and probably weighed in at about 90 to 100lbs each. The machine work for the thick face plate was gorgious. The stainless steel top shined like a mirror and tranformers had flawless highgloss paint jobs. I have seen a lot of tube amps but, this was the most beautiful piece of art I have yet to encounter. And, the sound matched the looks.
My friends were in the back room sorting through a bunch of silly isolation tweaks laid out on the bed. I went and got Larry and asked him to come take a look at the workmanship of the mono blocks. His eyes came out of his head. "Look at the point to point wiring, the soldering!", he was really drooling.
I then asked the rep what the cost was. "Nineteen Seventy-five", says he. "Usually Nineteen Ninety-five but, this price is because they are here as demo." I looked at Larry in surprise. Larry asks,"That must be for one, right?". "No", says the rep. "Buy one, get one free, Nineteen Seventy-five." he says with a smile. This can't be right, thinks I, must be a salesman that doesn't really know the product, happens all time at theese little shows.
I go find another rep and ask him, "How much for the demo amps?" "Nineteen Seventy-five", he says. I go find Larry and tell him I need to borrow some money. I didn't have my check book with me and only brought a thousand dollars with me to cover the parts I thought I would find there. Larry asks me what I would want another pair of mono blocks for. I tell him that at that price I would set them on the floor and stare at the tubes. He laughs and gives me a handfull of hundreds.
I searched out one of the reps, fearful that another buyer would grab the amps before me. I pull out the money and give him 20, one hundred dollar bills. He then gets this strange look and wants to know if I plan on writing a check for the rest. "What rest?", I said, "You owe me change". "No, the amps are Nineteen Seventy-five", he says. Then it dawns on me. "Write the amount on a piece of paper." I ask. $19,750.00, he writes.
:E :E :E :E :E :E
Oddly enough, the amps aren't sitting in my room so I can watch the tubes glow.
ops:
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