hi Mike,
i am glad you enjoyed the patty g. song. one more artist i've heard of but never had a friend who sat me down to listen to one of her alblums. powerful stuff to say the least.
the philosophical comment about "your system" was meant to be half serious and half humorous. as i think i've mentioned to you before, i can't understand or explain why you do what you do. it all seems rather eccentric at times, but OTOH you seem to be quite happy when you're sharing your ideas (and your house) with your friends as well as the greater audio community, which is more than i can honestly say. i just want to share something else here- connecting. to great art.
and i don't give a damn if it's with a boom box from "brands mart" (which is all some folks have), or fiddling around and experimenting at wilson audio with DW and his switch box, trying to improve his $150k speakers. btw, have you heard the alexandria 2.2's? WHAT, YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THEM YET??!! relax, 'cause i haven't either. but i probably will someday if the local dealer gets a pair in. okay, but THEN, will i buy them?? at the rate i'm going, uh, no. but my stellavox sp8 is on its way to me as we speak. that's pretty crazy, given i already have 5 reel to reels. so when i laugh at audiophilia, it's a bar-room laugh with a guiness in my hand. i'm buying the next round, so don't get your back up on me dude...

french_fries August 13, 2008 05:55

hi Mike,

i'm excited for you.....and excited that you're excited. the Grand Prix will be a wonderful addition to your system and now you get to listen to all your favorite music again like it's fresh.....i love it when that happens. the 'notes seem longer' because the GP rack lowers the noise floor and allows the note decay to jump free of the noise.....you are hearing farther into the music.

i'll e-mail you my phone number and look forward to speaking to you soon.

btw; nothing wrong with the DV50s and the Bryston.....but just think....when you upgrade those you get to have fresh music again.....the fun never ends...

mikelavigne August 13, 2008 03:26

Hey Mike,
I got the Grand Prix installed this past SAT. OMFG. I can not believe the change. It is like I am hearing my system for the first time. There is a song that is strait up acoustic. Just two guitars and vocals for most of the song. When I listened to it with my gear on the GP I heard things I never heard before. But also, notes seem longer. Vocals don't just die. And that is with my Bryston amp and Esoteric DV50s :).
If you can, email me your number again. I must have lost it. You can do it here by going to my profile.

mikeduke August 12, 2008 16:49

French Fries....i did enjoy 'Up To The Mountain'...thanks.....and as i listened i watched the sun come up (actually i watched the sunshine decend the steep tree covered mountain ridge as it came up thru the windows of my listening room).

enjoy.

mikelavigne August 12, 2008 13:10

has it ever occurred to you that what you are "really" doing is in a cyclical manner, screwing up the sound, then putting it back into focus, in perpetuity...? not that it can't be alot of fun to do that, but everything sounded perfect before, and then before that, and again before that, and...

in theory.....the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. in the real world however.....getting to where you are going is an adventure. i'm enjoying the adventure. it's not like there is a 12 step plan. i'm not solving a problem, i'm experiencing a process and hopefully enjoying the music and the discovery points along the way.

have i truely, confidently, objectively come to a higher point than any i have previously attained in terms of system performance and musical enjoyment?

who knows?

if had to answer that question right now i would say.....yes, and by more than a little.

OTOH experience has taught me to be humble and keep an open mind. it would actually be sad if the quest was over.

mikelavigne August 12, 2008 12:51

"UP TO THE MOUNTAIN"- Patti Griffith-
go to prairie home companion.com and "last week's show" for an MP3 of the (entire) song. check it out- you won't be disappointed...

french_fries August 12, 2008 12:20

Mike, just a thought, but with all of the tweaking and upgrading you've done over the years, has it ever occurred to you that what you are "really" doing is in a cyclical manner, screwing up the sound, then putting it back into focus, in perpetuity...? not that it can't be alot of fun to do that, but everything sounded perfect before, and then before that, and again before that, and...
did anyone listen to prairie home companion which aired on saturday (8/9/08)? the last song (title?) before the show ended was sung so beautifully by (??) with an amazing guitar accompaniment i almost lost it. something about hoping to someday get to the promised land- maybe not in this lifetime, but perhaps in the next... i am not particularly religious, but the feeling the woman sang with was so authentic, i momentarily forgot about all of my problems, my worries, and just sang along with her in my mind. music can really do some awesome things, and sweep you away to the same place where she was.

french_fries August 12, 2008 12:07

Henry, yes; we must always stay connected to the ultimate reference which is live music......and Cassandra Wilson is certainly a good choice for it.

in honor of Cassandra, i am listening to my favorite Cassandra Wilson track 'Love is Blindness'.

i need to make time for more live music......but after working it seems i just want to be a hermit and listen.....or have friends over to listen. going out to crowds of people seems like work too much. then the music is too loud or the sound is poor.

i guess i'm just getting old.....

mikelavigne August 12, 2008 06:25

Hi Mike..something different and i guess a reminder: I went a concert at Blue Note Tokyo to catch Cassandra Wilson...great concert...and a humbling experience at the same time. Got a long way to go to mimic that live sound.

henryhk August 11, 2008 13:50

Mike,

I'll shoot you an email and we'll find a time to get together.

I have gotten the Stelvio and it has proven to be a great choice for me.

Look forward to speaking soon!

jazdoc August 11, 2008 06:14

Jazdoc; no reason to just think about it.....come on out and listen for yourself again when you have time. i'd love to get your feedback to make sure i'm not dreaming. yesterday i had a couple of friends over to see what my raves were about. one of them, who has been over many times, is always quite critical.....which i appreciate. he was quite blown away by what he heard which is a first for him.......in our 8 year friendship.

BTW, did you get the new Galibier Stelvio tt?

and, thanks for the nice comments.

mikelavigne August 11, 2008 04:01

hi Gary, yes.....those JT calls are fun and i'm sure we'll have more......

thanks for the kind words. the MM3's are such a wonderful window to the music.....and when one finds a way to make them better.....

BTW, i love your system and wonderful pictures.....it looks like a great place to enjoy the music. congrats.

mikelavigne August 11, 2008 03:49

Steve, thanks for the kind comments. i suppose my reaction is more about feeling 'i should have recognized the problem' and what not realizing it means in terms of my listening objectivity.

a little helping of humble pie on a regular basis is probably a good thing and keeps one's mind and ears open.

mikelavigne August 11, 2008 03:38

Mike,

Having had the pleasure of listening to your system the thought that

"the system now is more musical, involving, and alive. the dynamics are so effortless and the system has much more energy at lower volume levels. it really just disappears. when i get over my sheepishness from not doing this sooner i know it will be hard to stop smiling about it"

brings a smile to my face and runs chills down my spine.

Enjoy!

jazdoc August 10, 2008 23:57

Hi Mike,
Always enjoy reading your post / always very good insight.
We have talked a few times on conference calls with JT. Always a pleasure.
I too have played with the speaker placement on the MM3's.
They, as with most all speakers benefit from proper setup.
I can't tell you how many times I have moved mine, each time I have made different adjustments. A few time I didn't like the move & went back to the original spot.
I have charted most of the placements & finally settled one the one that gives ( in my opinion ) the best results.
Thats the fun of this great hobby > make a discovery that gives you the wow factor.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
By the way fantastic room. Your room was a insperation when I finally did mine.

grr6001 August 09, 2008 21:32

Hello Mike!
I believe you need not be embarrassed about discovering your newfound better speaker position. I believe we all have to really spend a LOT of time getting to know how our systems sound. Only then one can fully appreciate the change(changes), good or bad.
Also- I'm so glad your posting again! You were surely missed!

srwooten August 09, 2008 20:51

added note to the above post (there is no edit feature on system pages once you post);

when listing my source changes and system additions i forgot to include the recent change in my digital source from the EMM Labs to the Playback Designs.

mikelavigne August 09, 2008 15:52

"The best upgrade".....is one that has always been sitting there waiting to be discovered.

over the last year or so i've been pursueing different sources. early last year i added multi-channel hi-rez to my system. my room had been designed to be multi-channel friendly. i added the various pieces to make that happen and purchased additional multi-channel SACD's. then i got into the reel to reel tape. i have purchased 4 RTR decks and subscribed to 'The Tape Project'. then a few months ago i got turned on to vintage tt's; and i have purchased three of those. i also got into the Tourmaline Hair Dryer tweak.

the only system performance upgrades i've done in the last few years is upgrading my Transparent Opus MM cables to MM2 status and adding the center RPG triple stack Skyline diffusers. i have been satisfied about my system performance and so had been working on other things.

in the last week or so i've been playing around with my speaker placement and settings. last night i made a break-thru that has made a huge difference in my system performance. this is one of those times where i am embarrased to admit that what i thought was optimal system performance......was....in fact....not that at all.

my MM3's had been 9'6" into my 29' long room. they were 10'6' apart center to center.....and i sat at the top of the equalateral triangle with the MM3's pointed at my outside shoulders. my crossover was set at 116hz and my bass gain and tweeter gain were both set to flat. i had been considering moving my speakers farther back for awhile but did not want to lose the intimacy and energy.

i moved them 16" closer to the back wall and out 3" each.....so now they are 8' into the room and 11' apart. i adjusted the crossover first 116hz to 100hz and left everything else the same.

things were better; better soundstage balance and better bass energy. but i lost some center focus and a degree of intimacy.

so i lowered the crossover to 90hz.

BAM! everything locked in. i was in a whole new ball game. i listened to maybe 20 different reference discs into late last night and this morning. the increased clarity allowed me to tweak both my bass and tweeter gain a bit since i no longer had that mid-bass cloudyness that i had had with the higher crossover settings. i tried 1 db of gain on my bass volume; which was great but just a slight bit prominent......i ended up with about plus 2/3rds of a db of bass gain. it's more punchy but still quick and clear. i ended up with an additional 1/3rd db of tweeter gain for just a bit more air and clarity.

the system now is more musical, involving, and alive. the dynamics are so effortless and the system has much more energy at lower volume levels. it really just disappears. when i get over my sheepishness from not doing this sooner i know it will be hard to stop smiling about it.

the toe-in is now about 6 inches outside my shoulders; i may still toe them in a bit more to fine tune soundstage height and depth. i may also try a few more crossover settings just to make sure there are no more easy upgrades i have missed.

i am embarrased that i had not 'found' this sooner.....but thought i should share my experience in case others might want to consider trying this.

mikelavigne August 09, 2008 15:43

Grandizer,

sorry; but i have not had any experience with MM's for such a long time that i can't give you a confident answer. i will comment on my perspective but others likely have better real recent listening experiences.

if you are talking used prices; there are some pretty wonderful used $1500 MC cartridges.

my perception is that generally i like the clarity and soundstageing of a high-output MC over the typical attributes (fullness and pace) of a MM. the MM does not need as refined (read expensive) a phono stage as a MC.

this might come down to system synergy. a more modest system may be more musical with a MM; the 'truth' of a MC may not be 'right' for that more modest system. as you go up the food chain of system resolution the MC becomes more of a clear asset. also; the turntable and arm quality will be important issues. again; the MC is more particular about everything.

these thoughts are general in nature. i have not spent much time for quite a few years with mid-priced vinyl gear.

i hope this helps.

mikelavigne July 28, 2008 21:04

Mike,

Any thoughs on MM vs high output MC in the 700$ to 1500$ range. Which do you prefer if you had to choose? & what are the major trade offs of these two compared to the better low output MC in general.

thanks\
grandizer

grandizer33 July 28, 2008 20:16

thanks Glen, for the kind comments.

mikelavigne July 28, 2008 20:05

You are da man!!!!! Really enjoyed reading your comments and seeing your pics.

glenfihi July 28, 2008 18:53

Alex; thanks for reminding me about this....it had been considered but i forgot to go further with it.

a few weeks ago i looked around for the 12" jumpers i used when i used the dual stereo darts with the VR9's. i was going to try those between the dart pre and PBD. alas; i think i loaned them to someone so i don't have the correct cables to try that. i do have some rat-shack BNC's i could try to see what happens.

i will pursue this and report......it would be great if this interface was better than my $4k Valhalla or $12k Opus MM2. that would be a further rationalization for a dart pre for those on the fence.

if someone is doing this please report what IC's you comopared the BNC 'zeel' link to.

mikelavigne July 26, 2008 16:25

Robert,

two months ago i got my Opus speaker cable and interconnects back from Transparent from the upgrade from MM to MM2. they are definitely better.

i've been so busy with other things (RTR, new tt's, tweaks, work, life) that i've 'back-burnered' the Odin-Opus MM2 issue. as it is the burning question of the new millenium......i will do my best to do it as soon as i can.

seriously; i am also anxious to know the answer to this question and will try to set in motion the forces required and post the answer......soon.

mikelavigne July 26, 2008 16:18

Hi Mike,I am curious if you are going to get a hold of some odin speaker cable or interconnect to a/b with the opus.I also own opus so I would be very interested in the outcome.All the best.
Robert

strapper211 July 25, 2008 17:01