Stereo Haven

Welcome aboard Origin Live. Shown below, the Resolution turntable, sporting an Enterprise tonearm. So pleased to finally add another great table line to the stable already here. And arms! So many to investigate. This will be fun.
And I get accused of smiling too much- well. I can tell you I’m literally beaming.
(Thanks, Scotty, you were right! Hugs)

Jadis phono stages sing… on top the DPMC, mid to bottom the JPS3…

My new Danish friend in the background.
Apparently way more brains than yours truly, and sounds a hell of a lot better.
The Grimm MU2- now at the Haven.
(If you hear anyone squealing within 5 miles of Pin Oak you’ll know it’s me)

New Dynavector XX-2A, coming in @$2250.

www.dropbox.com

Saturday morning show warm up.
System today is already even more tasty than yesterday. More, you ask? Come in for a listen and hear for yourself

Introducing the new Dynavector XX-2A cartridge , a world debut

getting closer to showtime…Room 624

the Well Tempered Lab Amadeus Jr, getting tweaked for its Axpona Hifi show debut next week. It will be featuring a new Dynavector cartridge, so stop in for a listen. Room 624.
Or on demo at the Haven anytime.

a gaggle of Lacks has worked it’s way in here.

Under the Lejonklou gear it’s super cheap and super effective. Maybe it’s super crazy. Come have a listen and you decide.

the mighty JMR Bliss Jubilee on matching JMR Magic stands..

back today with the Reynaud Voce Grandes.. eeewwweeeee they’re good… that’s local farmer talk for yes, sir, indubility, the Reynaud Voce Grandes are an exceptional speaker, worthy of the finest systems money can buy.

does anyone have a favorite record brush they use before playing?

the Voce Grandes are fitting seamlessly in my pain of a front listening room I call Studio A. So many speakers don’t play well in here, like they do next door in, yes, you guessed it, Studio B. Lots of you I talk to seem to have the same issue- weird shaped rooms, too high of ceilings, etc. You might give these a try. Did you remember to sing out a bit yesterday? Hope you threw your head back and really gave it a go.

a bit of sweet soundtrack fun for the afternoon, inspired by another sweet one. These series of RCA Red Seal recordings, conducted by Charles Gerhardt, cover the golden age of Hollywood movie composers- Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, among others. Recorded in Kingsway Hall, engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson, there are 12 in total. Naturally I have them all. They’re out there, and cheap. Probably only for us old movie geeks. Besides this one of Alfred Newman (Randy’s uncle), which I’ll be playing loudly at Axpona, I also recommend the Bride of Frankenstein with Franz Waxman. Sounding great on my new pr of DeVore OBabys, which by the way go lovely with the Fezz 2A3.

if you were attending a hifi show, is there any particular music you would like to hear? Many exhibitors play horrendous stuff, and deservedly there’s a lot of after show negatives. So what would you play, or expect to hear?

got the whole Lejonklou family visiting today.. the Kalla streamer/dac is in play, now that for the very first time this country boy has unlimited internet due to T-Mobile and their magic black box. I’ve always had something with file storage, like an Aurender, so I could do an in-house network and not immediately run out of data. Now I’m almost normal! The Kalla has no file storage, no nas connecting capability (thank god, I’ve always hated that anyway), yet it’ll play music like the rest of the Lejonklou family. YeeeeeHawwww! Who knew digital could sound this good. Come and get it.

an old friend is back, the now discontinued Line Magnetic 300B. This model was in the first hammer tone finish group to come from LM. The new model comes out soon. There are many new 300B’s out now in this price range, yet most I wouldn’t give ten cents for. They’re boring. The LM’s are anything but. Rich and colorful and fun, with lots of punch. Of course it depends on having the right speaker, like any amp type, to unleash that 300B sound. Hey, the fog has finally lifted, so come soon for a listen.

apparently this odd shape allows one to fully enjoy their espresso, much like the Riedel Grand Cru Sommelier wine glass does for almost any beverage, even chocolate milk. This is the Little Tipsy, from Decent, a newer espresso machine company, brought to my attention by a recent visit from none other than longtime audio writer/reviewer Jules Coleman. Jules recently gave the Lejonklou Boazu integrated amp a very thorough going over in Enjoy the Music. Have a read then come have a listen.

very winterlicious out here today, temp wise. At least the storm doors haven’t froze shut, yet

Meet this year’s Axpona challenger. In this corner, the Well Tempered Lab Amadeus Jr turntable, King of affordable tables, peerless in its ability to ring more music out of your records. And, in the opposite corner, the others. Come have a ringside seat at Axpona or an in-person local bout at the Haven.

sibling rivalry going on today in Studio A, the smaller Cantabile up against bigger sister Orfeo Jubilees.. it’s a Reynaud day to bring on the snow, or as they say in St Louis a wintry mix. Sounds like a cocktail, maybe something with cranberry and ginger beer. Cheers!

the weather outside is frightful, yet the hifi inside delightful come hear the amazing Dynavector 10X5 low output cartridge, dazzling good sound for $800

from my Secret Santa, who I adore for gifting me this DGG Originals Reissue. Which begs the question for all you streamer-only people out there- What do you put on your Santa list? Power cords? Digital cables? Isolation footers? My parents and grandparents gave me and my sister records since I can remember, and I can’t think of a Xmas I haven’t received one. This year’s Berlioz reissue is a doozy, so come strap in and have a hair raising listen. A Haven Staff Pick!

Merry Christmas! (pssst… and if Santa got you the wrong hifi piece than these two little jewels are easy to slip in your system when no one’s looking.) Guaranteed to put a smile on your face- affordable, too! See you soon!

hard to get to bed when everything sounds so good coming out of this Ayre CX-8 cd player. I’ve played Hipster’s Holiday and Cool Yule a zillion times thru the years and nothing like this. If you have a barnful of cds like I do and haven’t touched most of them since Bush left office you might just need to check out this cd player. The holidays are off to a great start… tell Santa you need this, and a good interconnect to go with it, and a 5 pound box of money!

ok, so this is here. Haven’t played it yet. Working up the courage. Yes, some are calling it possibly(and arguably) the best sounding reissue of anything. Dunno about all that. My friends have been laughing about all this- inside joke- I hate Steely Dan, and this album represents the pinnacle of my ire. When the album came out in ‘77 I didn’t have to hear it too much. But once it came out on cd in ‘84 it was everywhere. Working at a midfi hifi chain at the time- anyone remember the Tommy Hopkins art of selling?- I was subjected to this album daily. And at employee parties it was always Aja, played on that Bob Carver The Cube amp and Dahlquist DQ10 speakers. Eeek! So down memory lane I go.. but I still hate Steely Dan overall, and we can’t even mention DF. Happy listening indeed