I spent this past weekend at John Fairchild’s home in East Hampton, NY (Long Island). John is DT member Sattothestars. He is a dealer and happens to have a 2 channel setup that retails about 80 grand 
The room is 20x14, with the speakers on the 14 ft wall. A lot of acoustic treatments, and all the windows were covered with some tapestry. There are no unnecessary objects, just the gear and one chair. I got to try all 3 preamps.
The first was the $8k solid state Orpheus. The sound was sweet, warm, and with lots of detail. Since the amp’s left channel was not outputting properly (and also starting to slightly distort) and the Orpheus does not have balance control, the “stronger” right amp pulled the soundstage 1-2 feet to the right. Therefore, the soundstage was not wall to wall.
The second was the $8k Blue Circle tube preamp, with balance control and no remote. After centering the soundstage, we did some listening (first time for John with this preamp). I thought the sound was nice, but not as sweet or even as warm as with the Orpheus. Strange considering the Blue Circle has tubes. And the soundstage had very little depth, or almost no front to back imaging. At this point, I thought my own NHT 3.3 based system was “in the ballpark”….haha!
The last was the $5k prototype solid state Spectron; also with a balance control, but no remote (what’s up with that!). The sound was very good. Huge soundstage, wall to wall, front to back. Vocals are to die for. The imaging was superb. This sound has it all, except for maybe dance club-like bass (you can turn up the bass by tweaking the sub, which was integrated at 35hz). The rooms at the recent NYC show would be jealous
Here is John’s system (from his DT profile). I’m sure John will comment and also answer questions in the duplicate thread in digitaltheater.com. Maybe which other speakers, CD players, amps, etc he has tried in his never ending quest for sonic perfection.
PREAMP
Orpheus Lab Preamplifier
Spectron premp(prototype)
Blue Circle tube preamp
AMPLIFICATION
Audio Aero Capitole Amplifier --- left channel not outputting as much as right
FRONT END
Audiomeca Mephisto II
Philips SACD 1000(modified) --- not hooked up
Pioneer 555CDR
SPEAKERS
Von Schweikert VR7s(upgraded to MKII)
1 Von Schweikert S3 subwoofer
ANALOG --- not hooked up
AuidoMeca Romeo/Romance TT with Dynavector
Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 Signature phono preamp
PCs/CONDITIONING
(6)Stealth MC7 PCs
Richard Grey 1200(3 of them)
Furman 1520 AC line stabilizer
Vansevers lens and window system
The room is 20x14, with the speakers on the 14 ft wall. A lot of acoustic treatments, and all the windows were covered with some tapestry. There are no unnecessary objects, just the gear and one chair. I got to try all 3 preamps.
The first was the $8k solid state Orpheus. The sound was sweet, warm, and with lots of detail. Since the amp’s left channel was not outputting properly (and also starting to slightly distort) and the Orpheus does not have balance control, the “stronger” right amp pulled the soundstage 1-2 feet to the right. Therefore, the soundstage was not wall to wall.
The second was the $8k Blue Circle tube preamp, with balance control and no remote. After centering the soundstage, we did some listening (first time for John with this preamp). I thought the sound was nice, but not as sweet or even as warm as with the Orpheus. Strange considering the Blue Circle has tubes. And the soundstage had very little depth, or almost no front to back imaging. At this point, I thought my own NHT 3.3 based system was “in the ballpark”….haha!
The last was the $5k prototype solid state Spectron; also with a balance control, but no remote (what’s up with that!). The sound was very good. Huge soundstage, wall to wall, front to back. Vocals are to die for. The imaging was superb. This sound has it all, except for maybe dance club-like bass (you can turn up the bass by tweaking the sub, which was integrated at 35hz). The rooms at the recent NYC show would be jealous
Here is John’s system (from his DT profile). I’m sure John will comment and also answer questions in the duplicate thread in digitaltheater.com. Maybe which other speakers, CD players, amps, etc he has tried in his never ending quest for sonic perfection.
PREAMP
Orpheus Lab Preamplifier
Spectron premp(prototype)
Blue Circle tube preamp
AMPLIFICATION
Audio Aero Capitole Amplifier --- left channel not outputting as much as right
FRONT END
Audiomeca Mephisto II
Philips SACD 1000(modified) --- not hooked up
Pioneer 555CDR
SPEAKERS
Von Schweikert VR7s(upgraded to MKII)
1 Von Schweikert S3 subwoofer
ANALOG --- not hooked up
AuidoMeca Romeo/Romance TT with Dynavector
Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 Signature phono preamp
PCs/CONDITIONING
(6)Stealth MC7 PCs
Richard Grey 1200(3 of them)
Furman 1520 AC line stabilizer
Vansevers lens and window system
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