Saturday listening session at Klaus' Gotorama lasted, unsurprisingly, from about 10 A.M. to 11.37 P.M. - non considering the couple of hours pleasantly spent at table, it counted about 9/10 hours listening to music: something which matched with Jean Hiraga's five hours or so in awe, always listening at Klaus' system, on last June...
Listening fatigue? ... naaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
Enjoyment? Yeahhhhh!!! Plenty: 100/100, five stars, *****, Hooooraaayyy, WOWOWOW, yiiiiiaaaahhhh!
This, like a pix tells more than 1.000 words, would say ALL, bar none.
Last Sunday morning, after a too brief, last adieu-listen at Klaus' - he and his young nephew accompanied me at the nearby Bahnhof/station to take my train to Koln Hauptbahnhof...
A cold, shiny, sunny morning waiting for the train, joking with the lucky kid who's, quite uncommonly, able to "enter" a 6,30 m long low-bass straight horn (look at one of pixes in previous post)... sure nicest voice-coil I ever knew: astonishingly "efficient" at about 120 db with 1/2W at 6m with a scream,;-)))
After a relaxing trip in the countryside, following a river and villages from the train-window, listening to my iPod (...) changing train but not track in Koln Central station, I arrived at Reinhard's place after about one hour trip.
Met his family and, after having a pleasant, joyful and chatful brunch, as well, we went upstairs to his under-the-roof Gotorama.
More normally sized, his room was, anyway busy and full of booksDVDdisksVHScomputersampshornsdriverscables... a very relaxed, lively atmophere reigned and I was in the best mood for enjoying music through his system: Reinhard's Gotorama is really "The very Best" - i.e. only top-of-the-line Goto Berillyum, four digits drivers: SG-1880BL tweeter, SG-3880BL/S-600 mid, SG-5880BL/S-150 mid-low... and SG-146LD, multiamped with ONLY handmade Class A solid-state amps and 4-ways active crossover!!!
This INCREDIBLE combo was about seven years in the buying process ("Hey Stephano, I'm NOT a billionaire!" told me Reinhard...).
... and that's the point, folks: NO paper cones, also of highest quality, in Reinhard's system!
He cleverly and wisely choose the lesser evil - i.e. is it better a relentless, at best, yet impressive 20-30 hz woofer, always someway clouding upper ways beauty and zest... OR, being content and conscious of "perfect", musical, true 80 hz as made by a straight horn about 2,20 long with a single SG-146LD and its speedy-as-light, 5 inches diam. Titanium diaphragm, per side?
... he choose the less no-compromise of compromises... and the result proved he was right.
Using his thousands titles FLAC/computer-based "discotheque" as the one and only source, with Doede Douma's 120 DAC using Philips 1543 Mk II chips, it was like a tennis match: I quoted a title or an artist and... Reinhard found, flawlessly, on the computer screen, virtually ANY title and/or artist... not the typical audiophile stuff, never!!!
... but Grateful Dead, Jaki Liebezeit & Burnt Friedman, Donovan, Grisman & Garcia, Tim Hardin, Beach Boys, Tim Buckley, Neil Young... NEIL YOUNG!!!
On "Live at Massey Hall", from Neil's archives series, I had wet panties from copious, multiple ejaculations (talking about my very own orgasms, Reinhard;-))))
It's a record - I primitively own and "use" 200 grams vinyl at home, of course... -I appreciate and know well... well: a new layer of veiling GONE!... audience noises and whistlings and handclapping, a young Young;-) joking about his newly acquired ranch... and the musician is so "there", you can touch him, feeling the slightly detuned piano, the pre-war Martin's strings tiny buzzing when fretted by left hand... and nobody cares about the lows stopping at about 80 hz or so...
It's satisfying, natural low-end, nonetheless... enough to suggest the foundation of one of most pellucid and beautiful sounds I ever listened from any system at any price...
... and Klaus' system, only few hours before?
Similar and different... like my own, as when I've back home, I modified levels in my own Gotorama, as well, thanking both Reinhard's and Klaus' balance.
What's sure is... those guys, thanking, maybe... Eau de Cologne;-) are soooo vastly ahead the average audio buffs, myself and virtually ALL my friends, in Japan, Italy or Germany - as well - included...
Reinhard spent years saving to afford those hand-made stuff from Japan... but, as usual, money spending isn't enough and wouldn't have been sufficient to justify "that" result: only the love for music and never loosing the target and ALL the care for detail while keeping eyes on both tiny and huge "ameliorations" like Reinhard says, down to the using old transformer enamelled 50 years old copper as speakers wire... search and chance, trial and error: any improvement is a gem, searched, reached and made a value for life... a no-return adventure, "per aspera ad astra".
Once everyone, the proud owner included, seat for a listen in "this" beauty of a music machine... like Reinhard said to me, only few days ago "I feel me in Heaven!".
It's Reinhold Messner's on-top-of-Everest feeling.
Bravo for unshakingly persuing the goal, while humbly - like only great people does - giving greatest merits to Klaus and his sort-of "opening" the route with Japan and those shy, elusive artisans and workshop, back in 1978.
I sincerely thanks Reinhard for his great hosting and translating and sharing his knowledge and kindness and friendship...
... so: Arigato gozaimashita, Reinhard-Sensei san: Klaus and you really got "the" Path.
.jpg)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment