Steve Schell Visit

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Had the pleasure of having Steve Schell stop by this afternoon. We enjoyed a nice visit and listened to some tunes for a couple of hours. I had not seen Steve since him and Don had dropped by a show to visit a couple of years ago in LA.

Thanks for coming by Steve, it was a pleasure. Next time plan to stay longer!

Ken

[Steve Schell]

Thanks Ken, it was fun to visit and gab about audio, and to have a listen to your he-man rig.

For those that don't know, Ken has a pair of very large, horizontally oriented four way Westlake studio monitors. He has refinished the cabinets beautifully and built matching stands (housing his electronics) underneath. We listened to a variety of DVD and CD cuts for a couple of hours.

Although I was expecting to get pounded by these big bass reflex bruisers, they gave no indication of their size except when big bass signals came along. The overall sound was accurate, punchy as all get out, and smooth and extended from top to bottom. The direct radiator low end seemed to keep up dynamically with the two high frequency horn sections quite well, another surprise. Although quad-amped and driven by huge steaming SS amps, I heard barely a trace of the usual (IME) dynamically constricted, glaring and tizzy-highs transistor sound. Ken has EQed the system carefully from his listening position, and I would say the operation is a success. Imaging in both lateral placement and depth is quite good, much better than I expected from a four way system listened to in the nearfield. Male and female voices sound true in timbre, no doubt partly due to the careful EQ job. The system passed the Diana Krall test!

It would be fun to hear the system sometime with a minimal signal path and triode amplification- I suspect it might bloom even a bit more given this treatment. Ken has recently bought a tube preamp, so maybe in a year or so he will be a full blown tube freak... time will tell. In the meantime, Ken has a world class ultra-fi system to enjoy daily. Nice job Ken!

[Ken Pachkowsky]

I am pleased you enjoyed the visit. It's always nice to have a fellow audio buff confirm that your system is up to snuff.

I only wish you could have been around for the debut of the TAD 150. It simply made 20% improvement in the overall system performance. Bass extention that astonished me.

It was great to see you again and please feel free to drop in any time. You have to hear this preamp!

Ken

[Steve Schell]

Ken, sorry I missed the debut of the new preamp- I'll bet it sounds terrific. Just wait until you catch a whiff of transformer coupled directly heated triode power amps!

[Mr. Widget]

Ken, sorry I missed the debut of the new preamp- I'll bet it sounds terrific. Just wait until you catch a whiff of transformer coupled directly heated triode power amps!

Uh Oh... I see what's coming next.... ;)

Widget

[boputnam]

Ken has recently bought a tube preamp, so maybe in a year or so he will be a full blown tube freak... time will tell. A prophet... ;)