Our 22nd Meeting

Ok, fellow audiophiles in the Las Vegas area and everywhere really (this is the world wide web after all,) the first official audio society ever in Sin City, has now completed its 22nd meeting! We're fast approaching our 2nd anniversary!

We had our 22nd meeting on 6-25-15.

This time LVAC member Roy hosted. This was Roy's second time hosting in just 3 months. And I'm sure the pressure was on to not perform a rehash of the previous event! Don't worry, it wasn't.

We had a great time listening to a variety of tunes (mostly LP, which is a good thing) on all of Roy's 3 (count 'em 3) systems. And neither of them disappointed. Of course each system had its combination of strengths (mostly strengths,) weaknesses (a few,) with differences between each component and components easy to discern. And each system had a knack for grabbing your attention completely. It was never boring or "just ok."

And it was the best the systems have sounded to date. Everything said about these systems in our previous post was that and then some. It was truly better as opposed to just different.

Why you ask? Well, we'll let Roy tell you, in his own words:

"Mostly it was fine tuning of the arms, cartridges by adjusting vertical tracking force and azimuth. I also time aligned tweeters on the Vmps RM/X and adjusted phasing on upstair system and fixed the SME 3009 Series III. That arm was not in service the time before..."

It just goes to show you that small adjustments in a high end audio system can yield big results. This was the case over at Roy's place.

So, there you have it, yet another successful LVAC meeting. Thanks again to Roy for hosting, the various members for showing up, and you for your support. Every piece to the puzzle is an important one, because without that one (or more than one) piece, the puzzle never gets completed. Food for thought.

For a list of equipment, and a previous post on the last meeting at Roy's, click on the link below:

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2015/04/our-20th-meeting.html

Now for the photos. Photos are below. Photos courtesy of LVAC member Barry.

July meeting place and time set

Ok, fellow audiophiles from Las Vegas (and Southern Nevada in general,) we have determined where and when our next meeting will be at. And let me tell ya, it was a daunting task! All kidding aside, below are the details and whatnot. Thanks as always for looking.

The July LVAC meeting will be on Saturday, 7-25-15, from 2-5 pm.

The meeting will be at LVAC member Kirk's place. This is Kirk's 3rd time hosting since the club began in August of 2013.

Kirk has a great system with a nice big room, and features ATC speakers. So don't miss this!

For a list of other equipment (minus the B&W speakers,) click on the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2013/09/our-second-meeting.html

For more information about the LVAC and how to become a member (you must be a member to attend meetings,) follow the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html

June meeting place and time set

Once again, by popular demand, we will have our June meeting at LVAC member Roy's place! This will be Roy's second time hosting.

The meeting date and time is; Saturday, 6-27-15 from 2-5 pm.

If you weren't there when Roy hosted last time (back in April,) this is what you missed:

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2015/04/our-20th-meeting.html

So, don't miss this! Become a member of the LVAC now!

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html

LVAC member Mike featured in Stereophile magazine!

This is regarding Stereophile's report on the T.H.E. Show 2015. Congrats Mike! And thanks Stereophile!

http://www.stereophile.com/content/show-newport-2015-thats-wrap

T.H.E. Show Newport Beach, CA 2015

http://theshownewport.com/

First, a show wrap-up by LVAC member, Nick:

For me (Terry-fellow LVAC member-was doing his thing for a while) the most pleasant surprise at the show was the Stein Music room. Holger Stein and his wife, who are from Germany, were demoing their system and the sound was very natural and engaging. The soundstage was excellent with lots of detail. I was only able to listen to a few orchestral cuts as well as a little Bob Dylan and a female artist named Youn Sun Nah. I can't speak regarding the bass response, the the midrange and top end were spot on. What's also interesting is that Mr Stein designed all of the components including the speakers. It was digital only, but he also showed me a 2 box phono stage that I believe will retail for under $2,000. He also has a cartridge. I can't say that I recall any other designer who "does it all".

The Odyssey room was interesting as the sound was good and Klaus at Odyssey did a great job making it sound as good as it did as it was the strangest shaped room I recall seeing at any show. It was the second time I've met Klaus and he's a fun and engaging guy. He also makes a stand for a great price so my equipment will finally have a good home.  

I've always been interested in the Sonus Faber speakers and this time they were paired together with McIntosh. There was also a single piece from Audio Research which may have been a music server. The sound was good, but it was a rectangular room and we were seated too close to the speakers and that didn't allow the speakers to shine as I've heard great sound from Sonus Faber at other shows. 

This was the first time I've ever been at the Newport Show and I was only there Saturday and Sunday, but I truly had a great time. Terry was lots of fun and I may go back next year as my brother lives very close by...and I love free room and board.

As I was in California, I bought some lotto tickets so I might be able to buy my dream system. But I didn't quite win anything. My dream system might well consist of DartZeel with Sonus Faber speakers or maybe Magico or. I can't say that I've ever demoed any reference speakers in my home although I love my SP Tech Timepiece speakers and my modded McCormack DNA 1.0 amp as well. That's it for now.

Photos by LVAC members Terry, Nick and Mike. Additional photos by unknown.

Our 21st Meeting

Ok, fellow audiophiles in the Las Vegas area and everywhere really (this is the world wide web after all,) the first audio club ever in Sin City, has now completed its 21st meeting! Can you believe it? We sure can't!

We had our 21st meeting on 5-16-15.

This time LVAC Founder and President Dave once again hosted the affair, with his modest 2 channel system.

We had a wonderful time listening to a variety of tunes (CD and LP) on Dave's system. It was a very laid-back casual affair reminiscent of our early meetings close to 2 years ago. But, something was remiss in the system though! Dave says: "The system always sounded good, but something was missing, and I couldn't figure out exactly what that was. I couldn't put my finger on it" So, what was the problem? Well, after a curious glance at an audiophile forum (audioaficionado.org) Dave found out that the FM Acoustics cables he uses, uses pin 2 on the XLR connectors as minus instead of plus, which is what the Bryston amp uses. What this means is that the system was out of phase, and that can and will compromise performance unless a particular recording is out of phase, among other things. With time running out to get a pair of high end high quality (UP-OCC copper or silver) RCA to RCA interconnects from preamp to amp (which will also be featured in Dave's upgraded system,) we came up with a quick fix which was to reverse the speaker cable leads. What happened was a very big surprise! Everything came into focus, the sound was more transparent and dynamic, and the bass was really powerful. To everyone's surprise, the system had plenty of that good ol' "midrange magic," much like most of the systems we've heard here at the LVAC! It was mesmerizing and grabbed your attention completely. The best the system has sounded to date. Everything said about this system in previous posts is that and then some. As par for the course, good food in the form of submarine sandwiches (courtesy of Port of Subs) potato chips, and soft drinks were served. And yes, once again a good time was had by everyone. No one left disappointed on many different levels.

A list of equipment is here: http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2013/08/ok-fellow-audiophiles-in-las-vegas-area.html

Photos of the system are below. Photos were taken by LVAC member Les.

May meeting place and time set

Ok fellow audiophiles, after much deliberation, everything is set for May!

This time around, LVAC President and Founder Dave will host at his place. This is Dave's 5th time hosting!

The meeting date and time is Saturday, May 16th from 2-5 pm PST.

Dave's list of equipment (plus some photos) can be seen via the following link below:

 http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2013/08/ok-fellow-audiophiles-in-las-vegas-area.html

There are more photos of Dave's system throughout this blog.

And as always, to become a member of the LVAC, click on the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html