With the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier and X-250.8 amp burning in at the Man Cave for review, I thought it was time to listen to a little house music after work, courtesy of DJ Mark Farina from his album, House of OM. Complemented with the new Torus Power AVR2 ELITE 20 Isolation Transformer (also in review), new Straight Wire Crescendo 3 SC speaker cables, Usher Mini Dancer 2 DMD speakers, Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk2 sub, Lampizator Big 7 DAC and DSD Komputer Music server and more, it's coming in very detailed, full-bodied, and smooth. It's sounding extraordinary and very danceable, indeed!
Pass Labs does House Music very well. Who'd have thunk it?
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By Juan C. Ayllon This morning during a work break, I spotted our Goldendoodle, Liam, surveying our family room (AKA listening/media/listening room). To the right behind him are my Usher Mini Dancer Two DMD Speakers that I reviewed several years ago (you can read it HERE).
Photos and text by Juan C. Ayllon Open grasslands, barns, clusters of cows and fields boasting quarter mile long pivot irrigation pipes off I-80 whizzed by as we drove from Chicagoland to Iowa City to visit Belle's son, Ryan, a senior at the University of Iowa. We'd only been dating a few months and I thought this was the perfect chance to show support and get to know her better. Turns out, the drive was a more revealing than I'd anticipated.
As signals grew faint, we switched from the radio to playing music on her black Camry's CD changer. Not far into our listening session, she asked if I could skip a song. No problem, I thought, pressing a button on the console. A few minutes later, she asked again. And again. Amused at first, I began dreading what would become her music mantra: "Skip." That afternoon, I discovered that she was a very active clicker, voraciously skipping her way through cases of CDs -- sometimes changing mid-song! By Juan C. Ayllon When you step into a Ferrari dealership, you're not shopping for reliable transportation, but a glimmering aluminum, steel and carbon missile that corners like a Grand Prix racer and wows you with its eye-popping, Italian designer looks. When you dine at a five star restaurant, you don't expect basic nutritional roughage that smells and tastes good, you want sublime flavors, textures and a lovely presentation served up in gorgeous environs. And when you are looking to buy relatively expensive audiophile gear, you don't want it to look like they were pulled from someone's Do-It-Yourself workshop, cobbled together with stringy wire, alligator clips and exposed circuits atop breadboards,
By Juan C. Ayllon As some of you know, I recently replaced my center front wall acoustic diffuser panel with an absorption one made of rigid, one inch thick Owens Corning 703 fiberglass insulation (a local custom starlit acoustic cloud installer sold me some inexpensively) , and the results were very satisfying -- a deeper soundstage that Belle and I both noticed immediately whether listening to music or watching an HD movie.
However, after I posted some photos of it on an audiophile Facebook page, Norman Varney sent me an Instant Messenger message suggesting that I add in some extra panels to tame first order reflections on the front wall. For those who aren't familiar with Norm, he runs A/V Room Service, makes EVP Equipment Vibration Protectors (that I used under my DAC and preamplifier) and performs professional A/V room installations. |
Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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