The Beaver Kill—a 44-mile-long river that cuts a swath from one side of the Catskills to the other—was the ostensible main attraction of our visit last summer. It is to fly-fishing enthusiasts in the Northeastern states as St. Andrews and Pebble Beach are to golfers, and though I'd fished it before, never before had I gone after trout so close to the river's source, where its banks wind through mostly private property. This time I had a pass.
The outing was memorable for pleasantly warm temperatures, perfectly clear skies, and gorgeous scenery, if not for full creels. Still, I did bag one handsome if less-than-mighty brook trout on a Royal Wulff dry fly (a pattern created in the Catskills by the late Lee Wulff) tied on a No.20 hook (footnote 1). It was an amazing day.
Sasha and I made a good dinner of soup and bread purchased from a local deli, and as a chill descended on the heavily wooded estate, we built a fire in the den of the main Lodge, using some maple that had been aging for God knows how long. Then came the evening's highlight: Sasha uncovered Irving Berlin's personal gramophone—a portable acoustical player that had apparently been made specially for him—and listened to some 78s from his collection. We followed that by listening to some mono LPs of Sasha's, played on an electric portable he'd presciently brought with him.
It was one of the two or three most transcendent listening experiences I've ever had.
It's not enough to say that the listening was enhanced by the setting. Without the setting, the experience I found so memorable simply didn't exist. Without the roomful of books and paintings and well-worn furniture, the experience would not have been the same. Without the fire, it would not have been the same. Without the company of my friend Sasha, it would not have been the same. The experience was a composite of sensory information; as with a good poem, in which the sounds of the words convey at least as much meaning as the words themselves, the ultimate playback experience depends on infinitely more than just the quality of the gear and the acoustical rightness or wrongness of the room.
As people who hope to re-create art every time we drop needle into groove, we forget that at our peril.
After my column in the October issue, in which I described my preference for the idea of keeping my playback system in a comfortable, sunlit part of the house, accessible and enjoyable by all, I received a number of letters from readers who agree with my point of view, and who expressed relief at seeing in our pages so logical yet apparently heretical an idea. But criticizing the manner in which someone else enjoys recorded music goes against everything I stand for, so if you prefer the solitude and freedom from tidiness that come with a person cave, then that's what you should shoot for—and to hell with what I or anyone else thinks.
Socializing with the Elks
Years ago, soon after my wife and I moved to Cherry Valley, New York, one of her coworkers invited us to join her and her husband at a social function in nearby Esperance, an even smaller village on the road between our home and the city of Albany. When it was time to get ready for our evening out, I asked Janet what sort of place we were going to, in order to dress for the occasion. She told me we were going to the Elks Club.
Founded in 1868 as a New York City–based private social club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is associated in the minds of many with conformist ideals and center-right political beliefs—or at least that's the impression I gained as a youngster whose father and stepfather were both Elks, and who was sometimes dragged to the reliably boozy functions at our local Elks Lodge, the front lawn of which featured a life-size bronze elk that local fraternities persisted in decorating with fanciful combinations of jockstraps, football helmets, and lipstick.
But as recently as 1976—well into the Presidency of Gerald Ford, himself a loyal Elk—the BPOE was a whites-only organization, and as recently as 1995, ownership of a penis was also a membership requirement. Those toxic, anti-American rules didn't apply only to Elks membership: Before 1976, if you were black and you wanted to rent the ballroom of your local Elks Lodge for a private event, you were shit out of luck—and before 1995, if you were a woman and you wanted to drink at the bar of your local Elks Lodge, you had to be accompanied by a male, presumably so he could tell you what you wanted.
Now my wife and I were headed not just to an Elks Lodge but to an Elks Lodge in rural upstate New York. I imagined a parking lot full of pickup trucks and empty Skoal tins, and a bar crammed with people with such finely tuned leftie radar that the whole place would go silent the minute I walked in the door. (That's another thing: Until late in the last century, you could not join the BPOE without repudiating communism.) Obviously, the dress code would be camo.
It was still light outside when we got to the place—set way back from Route 20, the Lodge looked as if it might once have been a roadhouse—and I did indeed spot an empty smokeless-tobacco tin in the big graveled parking lot. But that was the only thing I had right: With the possible exception of a Catholic mass I once attended at St. Patrick's Church in Long Island City, New York, I don't think I've ever had a building full of strangers treat me more nicely. My fellow attendees were angels, the bartenders were saints, and the guy who replenished the snack buffet, and who described himself as the head Elk of this particular Lodge, was kind, solicitous, and obviously interested in attracting new members, regardless of political affiliation. I know that because, when I responded to his membership pitch by telling him that I was a registered member of the Green Party, he skipped not a beat, but smiled and assured me that I would not be the only member so affiliated.
On the way home from that unfailingly pleasant time, Janet and I agreed that one thing was clear: In 2005, it was change or die for the BPOE, and someone in the organization, whether local or national, had not only accepted the notion of change but had sincerely and passionately embraced it.
And there's another lesson: Perfectionist audio can survive, perhaps thrive, even at a time when our core members are all being fitted with stents and pacemakers and artificial joints—and hearing aids. But to survive, we must face some tough decisions and make some difficult changes. Perhaps, with luck, the time is finally upon us when the thick faceplates, outsize cables, and absurd prices that make our pastime so repulsive to the young will start to show up in our collective rear-view mirror. I can but hope.
I never joined the Elks Club—just as, after reading Umberto Ecco's Foucault's Pendulum, I never joined the Masons, and after listening to the first three Leonard Cohen albums, I never joined the Rosicrucians. But before writing this, I poked around the Internet in an effort to learn more about the BPOE. And there, among the list of famous Elks—next to FDR, JFK, Ben Affleck, Gail Edwards, Zelma Wyche, and Lawrence Welk—was none other than Irving Berlin, an immigrant turned artist turned philanthropist from whose cup I have figuratively and literally drunk. So I guess I haven't given up on the idea altogether.
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COMMENTS
Thank you for not cooperating with the desire to put ignorable music in every room.
The company with the ads in the New York Times magazine was Boulton Music Systems, Inc. I remembered their odd trademarked name for a feature:
https://www.trademarkia.com/selectronic-73053621.html
The Boulton ads appeared around the same time someone wrote to High Fidelity magazine a letter that began, "I have a The Fisher receiver...".
Looks good. Plus I did a quick search (no luck) but found some interesting articles on how to listen to classical music, which I will read to help me appreciate more the music I do enjoy.
These two companies incorporated intercoms into their systems and I remember when they added CD players as options, and even though I sold them. I wondered by anyone would think this is a good way to listen to music. The intercom made sense, but music through terrible speakers...NO.
In my apt. there's a hallway that runs parallel to the main living/dining area with an archway entrance (9' ceiling in rooms, 8' in hallway). I noticed a very strong resonance in the arch that extended perpendicular to the hall - basically the hall w/ its bedrooms et. al. on either end was a tuned chamber and I can change the bass response in the listening position by opening/closing various doors and changing the tuning frequency of the chamber. I think this is something most people overlook when setting up their audio system.
... a set of Tannoy SuperTweeter-Gold to go with his Altec speakers?
https://www.tannoy.com/Categories/Tannoy/Loudspeaker-Systems/Lifestyle-Speakers/SUPERTWEETER-GO/p/P0DEW
Is that an Ortofon box atop the left-hand speaker?
As a store owner who specializes in state of the art two channel as well as home theaters and multi room installations, quite frankly could not disagree with you more.
Today more than ever you can actually construct a very high end music system that can function to provide real high end music throughout a house it all depends on how you do it and what components you use.
That company is Naim and to a lower level NAD.
The issue is by centrally locating equipment and having to run long runs of speaker cable, yes I would agree with you that your multi room system will not sound that good, and yes the Sonos world isn't very good either.
With that being said, Naim makes the Muso a $899 streaming speaker that sounds very musical,
http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/naim-mu-so-qb-wireless-sound-system
and you can then upgrade to a Uniti Atom a $3,000.00 all in one amp/streamer
https://www.whathifi.com/naim/uniti-atom/review
and locate that in another room, you can even go up to a $13k stack of Naim streaming preamp the NAC 272 with a 250DR amplifier
https://www.naimaudio.com/product/nac-n-272
and run a set of $10k speakers and you have a real audio system.
Everything in the above scenario can be controlled by one Naim app and you can listen to high quality Tidal music in any room.
Art go to a Naim dealer and listen to a Uniti Atom with a pair of good bookshelf speakers and now imagine that your friends can have a system which may not be as esoteric as a system with tubes and vinyl but very few people in the high end would not consider Naim to deliver anything other than really fantastic sound.
The issue with your friends might be that they are enamourued with the low cost to do wireless systems throughout their home for many rooms which is Sonos's strong point.
We like to educate our clients into doing one good streaming speaker amp for $900 use that in your Kitchen and get a higher end Naim Atom or an even better system for your Living Room.
NAD makes Blue Sound which offers a less expensive but still good sounding echo system with steaming speakers, stereamp amp/dacs including a $4,500.00 M32 which is a very powerful integrated amp/streamer, and you can even get Blue Sound in the companies Suround sound receivers.
We need to embrace and educate anyone who wants to listen to real music there are more than one way to do it and to make happy newly minted audiophiles.
Dave Lalin, Audio Doctor
www.audiodoctor.com
https://www.facebook.com/audiodoctor1/
"Perhaps, with luck, the time is finally upon us when the thick faceplates, outsize cables, and absurd prices that make our pastime so repulsive to the young will start to show up in our collective rear-view mirror. I can but hope."
Amen. Stereophile desperately needs new editorial direction. Too much of the equipment reviews are obscure and\or ridiculously expensive products whose unit sales volume is miniscule; too much of the music coverage often focuses on weird artists few people listens to, and the technical discussions, while presumably interesting to engineers, are of little interest and beyond the comprehension of most of the magazines readership.
Hopefully someone in charge at The Enthusiast Network agrees with me and has the guts to make significant changes to the magazine and its contributors.
Too much of the equipment reviews are obscure and\or ridiculously expensive products whose unit sales volume is minuscule...
Perhaps you should take a look at what product is currently featured at the top of our home page.
Hopefully someone in charge at The Enthusiast Network agrees with me and has the guts to make significant changes to the magazine and its contributors.
:-)
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
The Nova, a review of which is forthcoming, is absolutely state of the art as a powerful 80Wpc network player, able to play in every room of the home, includes excellent internet radio, Tidal, Roon-coming, a terrific DAC--and is, might I say, a bargain when it comes to sound, design and build. Naim is hardly esoteric; it's a global brand with deep roots in high-end. Editorial direction--spot-on!
... who could easily afford to spend $7K for a Nova would never do so. Their idea of a multi-room music system is a couple of Bose radios. Yet, they wouldn't hesitate to spend ten times as much on a home theater.
Gosh the new room seems cramped (but cozy). Good thing Art's not running big maggies in there! Sure would be interesting read a "trading places" piece where Art spends some time in a bleeding-edge system while the other aficionado listens to Art's setup. Perhaps mutual torture, but ya never know.
I only have two systems - the main one (extremely modest compared to yours) and the small system in the back room where I am typing. The small system (Pioneer SP-BS22 speakers driven by a class D amp) is to supply some music while I tie flies! I find that some Bach piano sonatas really helps me concentrate on filling the fly boxes back up this time of year.
So could it be an aesthetic of the fly tiers - that of having one system rather "music for every room"? More importantly, do you listen to music while you tie flies?
I'm also curious if you know or could find out if Ernie Schwiebert enjoyed music? I don't recall him mentioning it in his many articles in Flyfisherman but being an architect I suspect he must have had some appreciation for high fidelity sound...
Thanks and happy new year!
Happy New Year in your new house. Looks like a set up that emulates most "real" peoples experience. This gives greater veracity to your reviews. My nephew in law in Vancouver has just acquired Valencias and I am aiding him through the birthing pangs!
Thanks for being such a voice of civilised reason in this audio minefield of ours!
Thanks Art for asking me personally to take a look at your room and help you with the acoustics.
The basic physical arrangement is rather reflective and cramped however with a little sweat equity you should be able to elevate it sonically and get fine results without too much effort.
As it stands your speakers are no doubt sounding quite woofy jammed against the back wall and reflecting on hard surfaces into every angle.
I imagine they don't sound awful there as the location has some redeeming qualities (it is symettrical, at the long end of the room and has little in the way of junk in between the speakers except for what can't be helped---the fireplace and stove!).
Anyway I doubt there is much room for alternative considerations as you just can't fight the basic archetecture at times. And it is nice to have some windows in your view to add interest in being oriented towards that end of the room. Nice windows, Art.
Though the fireplace will reflect hard it is of some use as it is nice to have a hard surface in the middle where it adds a center phantom channel.
Frankly I would add a TV/Monitor on your mantel since that space is crying for one. I am sure you are hooked up to the internet to listen to MQA and thus it is handy to have a nice big display for navigating around.
A TV/Monitor won't screw things up anymore than they already are (yes I would rather "tune the space" here with something anti reflective but that might fight the looks of the room too much as after all it is multi purpose).
Your windows are the wrong kind as they are hard reflecting and not adding anything helpful to the sonic soundstage above the speakers.
Replace them with double hung and you get the bonus of being able to install blinds which DO add something when partially open as they break up the standing waves nicely.
And finish the window area with heavy acoustic drapes floor to ceiling behind the speakers but stopping at the fireplace. These will help soak up mud behind the boxes.
Add white fireproof Sonex coming out from either wall to about your heater register on the right and the same distance to match on the left. Floor to ceiling Sonex here will really kill first reflections AND dry up the front of the room quite well.
White will look acceptable as after all your windows and fireplace are all that color.
Following my design you wind up with a nice usable niche for whatever speakers are in use and will be able to move them around in the niche looking for least boxy midrange coloration and best tightest bass. All without any more of the nasty echo reflections from the cramped quarters they operate within.
I would rather imagine once the work is done you will be able to use it on a regular basis for speaker evaluations as the "throat" of the room should be clearly located at the apex of where your current "boxes" are emanating. Won't it be great to hear just the speakers output without all the noise added by your current set up?
If this all sounds practical and simple common sense once submitted---then good show.
Your constant attention to the nuances which make our hobby so interesting have yielded more than a few conceptual upgrade ideas in my personal cranium. Ideas for which I will be eternally grateful, Art.
I am so glad you asked me for some advice and I was able to return the favor.
Doctor Fine
Thank you Art for sharing your digs with your followers. I've been a long time reader since the early days of Listener. I recently scored a very nice pair of Flamencos with beautiful drivers and even the original sales receipt from 1971. Only problem is the owner painted the cabinets white for his beach house so I have a stripping job ahead of me. I would like to know if you still use the original Altec crossovers or something new and better?
Regards,
Jim Dudley
Art, sorry for the delay, just getting to this in my feed reader (ah, the joys and pains of digital).
I love your new digs. And confess that I was touched to see such a huge book on your coffee table. I'm told it helps a great deal taming wayward acoustics as well.
Keep making this magic.
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