News

John Marks at the Connecticut Audio Society

Stereophile Staff  |  Dec 13, 2011

Photo: Andy Henriques, CAS

The same weekend John Atkinson was serenading the Los Angeles/Orange County Audio Society, John Marks was showing the flag in Southern New England at the annual Holiday Meeting of the Connecticut Audio Society. JM brought with him to Connecticut not only Sooloos' Control:15 music server, into which he had loaded the playlist for his presentation, but also a Bricasti M1 DAC and Nordost Silver Shadow S/PDIF cable and Bricasti's Brian Zolner to answer questions about his M1 DAC. (JA's full review of the Bricasti will appear in the February 2012 issue of Stereophile, with a Follow-Up by JM in the March issue.)

John started off by playing Julie London's "Cry Me a River." He then treated the host's system with the 5-minute Glide Tone from Ayre's Irrational! But Efficacious System Enhancement CD, and then played "Cry Me a River" again. At the end of his presentation, he played the same track from the aluminum and 24-Kt. gold CDs of Arturo Delmoni's solo recital of violin works by Ysaÿe, Kreisler, and Bach. Both of those "tweak" demos proved somewhat controversial.

In between, John played 15 music tracks ranging from Kenny Rankin singing Randy Newman's "Marie" to Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter's "Easy to Love" to Ivan Moravec playing Brahms' piano Intermezzo Op.118, No.2. Following John's segment, members quizzed Brian Zolner about the inner workings of the M1, and listened to more music.

CAS's Holiday Meeting also featured an abundant buffet lunch, courtesy of hosts Dean and Sue, and a bazaar of donated audio gear, CDs, and back issues of audio magazines, with the sale proceeds to be donated to a local food bank.

The Connecticut Audio Society's next meeting will be Saturday, February 4 at 11:00am, a road trip to Providence, Rhode Island's First Baptist Church in America, where John will speak on microphone theory and stereo-recording techniques. Members will get a chance to record the Church's 1834-vintage pipe organ with their own equipment, and John will also make hi-res recordings for later distribution to the members. More details will follow closer to that event, which will be open to all interested regional audiophiles, and not just CAS members.

COMMENTS
Metalhead's picture
Submitted by Metalhead on December 13, 2011 - 12:27pm

John not only talks the talk, he also walks the walk.

Wish I could have been there. Those speakers look interesting? What are they and what is behind them?

 

MacProCT's picture
Submitted by MacProCT on December 13, 2011 - 9:50pm

 

Hi,

I wish I could remember the exact brand of the speakers, but here's what I do know about them:

They were produced by a very low volume maker of line array speakers.  These particular speakers were one of their prototypes.  The driver complement is four 15" woofers and about two dozen ~3" midranges per speaker.  They have no cabinet and are open backed dipoles.

They are complemented by Magnepan tweeters (for which custom stands were made).  The detail that the combination provides is wonderful.  The benefits of the M1 DAC were clearly audible on this system.

The other components are Blue Circle mono amps, and dual mono preamp (I believe they are tube/solid state hybrids).  Plus two B&K solid state amps (they drive the woofers, everything is driven by blue circle).  The CDP is Philps -- not sure of model.  The cabling is a variety of brands and I'm not sure of any of it, so I won't even venture to offer my guesses.

I enjoyed spending time with Brian Zolner after the formal meeting, when we talked and listened to the various "filters" that the M1 DAC offers to tailor the sound to your liking and/or system (or room).

If you're a CT resident and a hi-fi enthusiast, you should be a member of CAS.  We have great meetings (approximately 6 times a year) and our dues are cheap.  To find out more: http://ctaudio.org

Chris 

Secretary, Connecticut Audio Society

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