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 | Back to Basics...2 Channel is alive and well.
Sell the experience. Sell quality. No one has ever regretted buying the best.
| I'll never forget the first time I bought a record. It was on a Thursday night in Walnut Creek at a store called Music Town. It was "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis and was a 78! It was in the mid-fifties, and I had no idea what technology had in store (no pun). Living in Lafayette we had a 40' mast antenna and were only able to receive channel 2 on our B&W TV. I added a Finco FM5 element when FM stated broadcasting in "multiplex" and was able to receive KPEN, which broadcasted in stereo in the evening. The station owner, Jim Gabbert, went on to start KOFY TV. (He was a pioneer in both the audio and video broadcast worlds.)
My first stereo was a portable with the removable speakers hinged over the top. My first FM "stereo" radio was a Magnavox. My first real audio system was a Fisher X-100C tube integrated (I later added a Scott tuner), an AR turntable with a Shure M3D, and AR4 speakers. My first receiver was a Fisher 500C (tube/FM only). It was a re-issue that was available at Pacific Stereo when they first opened store #3 in Walnut Creek. I soon traded up to a Mac1700 and built my first speakers using EV SP-12's and T35's--I couldn't afford JBL. (It was in the late 60's just before the Japanese created the "Consumer Electronic" category.) I remember Yamaha originally entering the US market in 1967 with a speaker with an "ear-shaped" woofer and a receiver (CR-1101) that had a key that could lock the volume control. They quickly pulled out and re-entered in the early 70's with the CR-400, 600, 800, and 1000. Stu Greenberg was their National Sales Manager, and that time they really nailed it. Pioneer was the first to market with a product (SX440?) that was more competitive than the American manufacturers of that era--Sherwood, Scott, Fisher, and HK. What started as a trickle soon became a flood of Japanese products that took us from being a hobbyist to being a consumer. I remember that in 1980 there were 35 plus specialty hi-fi stores in this market- Honker's, Sounding Board, db Audio, Stereo Showcase, Century Music, Hermary's, World of Sound, House of Music, Harmony, The Listening Post, and many others
Fast forward to 2011, and we only have a handful of Specialty Hi-Fi stores (now AV), with the Best Buys and Wal-Marts providing better and more equipment to the general population.
My current system is a Bryston 14B, Bryston DAC, Bryston Digital Player, PS Audio DAC with network card, a Parasound P3, with multiple sources and control platforms. As sources I use a Mac Mini with a 1TB USB attached drive running Pure Music and PS Audio eLyric. I can also stream from a Squeeze Box, Apple Airport, an old Request server, or a Wadia 170 with a 160 Gig iPod docked with 400 albums ripped to Apple Lossless. I have an Oppo shiny disc player, which I rarely use, as well as a good collection of vinyl and a Dual turntable, which I use even less often. I have a folder labeled "Control" on my iPad that allows me to see and control my music from a variety of applications. I also have a Logitch Model One remote with the appropriate control macros (component sequence) and volume control. Everything is plugged into a PS Audio IPC-9000 AC management box that I can see and control from my iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Within minutes I have visibility and control of 400 plus CD's ripped to Lossless through my Mac Mini, as well as high resolution FLAC from a dedicated USB drive connected to my Bryston BDP-1. I'm using Totem Forest speakers, which provide the necessary phase coherency, dynamics, and range to provide excellent imaging and sound quality.
The net result? Goose bumps--just like when I first experienced stereo in the early 60's--just a much different delivery and control method.
 | | Totem Forest |
Bryston Info
Totem Info
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PS Audio power regeneration and AC web management
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Why condition when you can actively regenerate pure power. . . and control and monitor the components plugged in?
PS Audio also has a DAC with an optional network card that allows the streaming of local content and provides access to Internet Radio, including the PS Audio stream from Boulder. PS has identified some current and future needs and is supplying some very cool solutions.
Engineered and manufactured in Boulder, Colorado.
 | | The new look of PS Audio |
More Info
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Rich Jackson
510 523-8560
rcj@rcj.com
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