by Michael

Nice CDs we get with our dinners

We;ve been playing these CDs that are really pretty well-recorded…

Kind of surprising because they come with our microwavable too-lazy-to-cook Indian-food-in-five-minutes solution. Well, one of our solutions. Whole Foods has at least 3 of these brands of packets… Tasty Bite, something else I forget which is frozen and tastes the best, and this one.

But this comes with a free CD!

And for $299 for dinner AND a CD, that is a decent price don’t you think?

We’ve bought two dinners and got two different CDs so far.

The music is surprisingly well-recorded and is mellow, somewhat like New Age music, except of course, it is supposed to be old age, classical music.

And it has the sitar and other familiar instruments associated with Indian music.

Anyway, I just got the 3rd dinner and am hoping that we get the 3rd CD. I can only assume they put the CDs into the dinners at random, so the odds are somewhat low. But I bought a completely different flavor anyway, hoping to increase my chances 🙂

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo 0 comments
 by Michael

The Marten Coltrane Supremes

Just saw a copy of the review in HiFi+ of these speakers by Roy Gregory. Thanks mystery friend 🙂

Haven’t read the whole thing, but I like where he pointed out the intimate presentation (my words) of these speakers.

The Triolons were larger-than-life, which is not necessarily speaking about the soundstage size, but the overall ‘feeling’ of the presentation. A kind of impersonal presentation. I always felt like an honored guest at the musical event.

The Supremes presentation is more intimate, like the musicians are playing for ME. Much more personal.

I do not think this has to do with their relative size. There are many small speakers that are very impersonal. Some of them make one feel like an unwelcome intruder… 🙂

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Marten Design 0 comments
 by Michael

Preparing for RMAF 2007

The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest here in Denver is just around the corner. October 12th I think. I hope. Better go look I guess.

Anyway…

We are planning on taking the Coltrane Supremes, like last year. But this time using the Audio Note Ongaku integrated amplifier to drive them. ‘How Sweet it Is!’

We were using the Edge Reference ‘pyramid’ amps you see there in the photo, but not any more, so just delete them somehow with your visual cortex.

The sound is quite sweet and beautiful, the first time we’ve really achieved this with the Supremes (they are finally breaking in, hurray!), which are, to put it simply, the only competent speaker made today. All other speakers have serious flaws in comparison. Not that people don’t LIKE some of the flaws in those other speakers, and they’ve certainly got used to them, but, well, there you have it.

The source equipment consists of the Meitner CDSA and the Audio Note M10 preamplifier. We’re thinking the system may be a little too laid back and are planning on replacing the Shunyata Anaconda Helix Vx with Nordost Valhalla power cords, something closer to the Belden OEM cords the factory recommends :-), to try to get the system to lively up itself a little bit.

I mean, it is close, but people at shows… its hard to figure them out. Some want rooms to be LOUD and IMPRESSIVE (esp. in this price range :-)) some want it to be REAL, … etc. just like they do with their own systems. And our goal, and I think we can achieve this, is to make it excel in all categories.

The problem is in the subject flavor – how to flavor the system right… down… the…middle.

To please as many people as possible. And us too! 🙂

And then there is the let’s just take the EMM Labs CDSD and DCC2 and the Ongaku and be done with it. No preamps, no second rack. No turntable. No second digital source. … Mt arms feel better already 🙂

Of course, there is our second room, the Audio Note room. But that is a small room, a decent-sized system, and adds only a few gray hairs to the noggin.

in Audio Note / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Marten Design / Nordost / RMAF 2007 / Show Reports 0 comments