A first


I have a newer system that I assembled earlier this year.  It includes the Luxman D-10X CD/SACD player, a Constellation Audio Integrated, Perlisten S7t speakers, and an older Music Hall MMF-7.1 tt with a Grade Sonata.

I had two friends over Saturday, and they love music but could not care less about sound.  They often hook up their phone to my system and play MP3 files.  Truly horrible sound, but they never cared.

I asked them to sit on the sofa and I played music, some they knew, some they did not.

The woman said it seemed like they were at a live concert.  The man said (and he is very cynical about nearly everything) that he never cared about "this audiophile thing", but he has never heard anything this great.

I doubt they will ever change what they listen on at their home, but I was so pleased that they were open enough to drop the cynicism and listen.

 

By the way, this system is in a big room, and it sounds spectacular.  

rpeluso

I have a friend from college who still has a Radio Shack receiver and speakers and is still very happy with his rig.  He also thinks I’m nuts for the amount of money I’ve spent on hifi. I’ve been telling him forever, that as long as it makes him happy, great, but I’m sure he doesn’t believe me.

@rpeluso , judging by your last post you have a lot to discover. If a system does not have an obvious optimized listening position there is something or a lot of things wrong. The better the system (I include the room in this) the more obvious is the "sweet spot" which is really a sweet Line perpendicular to the speakers. It is impossible for a stereo to image everywhere. It can sound nice everywhere but it can only image on that line. People who think they have a wide "sweet spot" usually have a very poor one due to phase and amplitude irregularities. Most of these problems can be solved but there are rooms/situations that will never perform well. 

 

mijostyn, I might have misled you.  There is a definite sweet spot, and pin-point imaging when it exists on the recording.  Best I've ever heard.  I had the speakers set up by a pro, someone trained in doing this.   They were good where I had them positioned, but definitely improved with the moves and small changed he made.  We used a song with deep bass first, got that sounding great, then focused on a simple female voice, and move the speakers until her head size went from about 8 feet to about 8 inches.  It was a revelation to me to hear that change in presentation with small changes in tow in.

 

I am more than happy with this system's performance, and have zero desire to "discover" more from it.  I'm past that phase of audiophilia, and now simply enjoying what I have, what I hear.  

All I can say is time has changed.   Back in the 70's, going to friends' houses to listen to their sound systems and album collections was a pretty common social event.   These days everyone has access to music in his/her pocket via a wireless headphone.   @ghdprentice said it right, audiophilia is very much a solitary pursuit.

These days when I have friends over,  I just put on some easy listening music like Diana Krall or Norah Jones playing at very low volume in the background.  I never want to draw anyone's attention to my sound system.  Music sharing is done very differently now.

Congrats OP on your system.  I've never heard of Perlisten speakers, but they sure look cool!

Well, my neighbors were having a pool party this past weekend. Playing their portable really loud, using their phone as a source. Lots of distortion. Metal, hip-hop, rap. 
 

I wheeled out my old DIY speakers from 1992, my spare receiver in it’s hard case (fan cooled), and my little Denon DP15F table. I used to use this system in my glassed/screened in area years ago in another house. Another life. The speakers are quite good, ribbon MR and Tweets, 2-12” woofers. 
 

Started playing The Drifters, Beach Boys, The Ventures. Using an old ADC QLM36 cartridge. 
 

I shut them down using a paltry 40W/ch. Not a loudness war. An SQ war! They all came to the fence to see what they were hearing. Robert came over an hour later to try some phone music plugged into the AUX jack. Simple. But he was blown away. SQ got his attention. He came in and saw/listened to my main system with the Ghost Grey FR30s. He’s a convert!