FREE HIGH-END AUDIO SETUP CONSULTATIONS


Hello everyone,

My name is Paul Gerbert (professional name). My real name is Pavel Sanaev. I’m a writer and film director from Russia who moved to Los Angeles about a year and a half ago.

About ten years ago, after directing several films in Russia, I became obsessed with the idea of making my next film in America. Very quickly, I realized that the most realistic way to achieve that goal was to finance the film myself. Since filmmaking itself could not realistically provide those resources, I started several different businesses outside the film industry.

One of them — built around my lifelong passion for music and audio systems — gradually evolved over more than ten years into a major high-end audio business.

I started with the restoration of vintage loudspeakers and building systems around carefully selected vintage components. Over time, I moved toward more advanced high-end brands, and within several years became a dealer for companies such as Blumenhofer Acoustics, Dan D'Agostino, dCS, Stenheim, Mastersound, EAR Yoshino and others. Later, our company became one of the leading high-end dealers in Russia, participated in many audio exhibitions, and received numerous awards at local high-end audio shows.

Then came the well-known events surrounding the war in Ukraine. Besides seriously affecting the business, those events also became a signal that it was finally time to move to the United States and pursue my original goal more directly.

I recently completed production of my first feature film in America and am currently deeply involved in post-production. In fact, the success of the high-end audio business made this film financially possible.

Here is the trailer, in case anyone would like to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMxE74GzsNI

At the same time, the experience accumulated over more than a decade — system building, component matching, analog setup, vinyl calibration, speaker placement, system synergy and overall sound optimization — remains something I genuinely value and enjoy sharing.

I’m not here to sell anything. I simply enjoy staying connected to the world of music and audio that was a major part of my life for many years.

If anyone would like advice regarding:

  • building a home audio system

  • component synergy

  • analog turntable setup

  • speaker placement

  • achieving better sound for a reasonable budget

  • general high-end audio questions

Feel free to ask here. I’ll check this thread periodically and help whenever I can.

You can also see some of my past work and system portfolio here:

https://colossalsound.pro/portfolio/

One important note: I’m no longer an active dealer, which is why the website intentionally contains very little brand-focused information. It mainly serves as a portfolio of some of the systems and projects I worked on over the years.

 

colossalsound

Hey Pavel welcome to the forums and while I realize the name Pavel is quite common in Russia I do need to ask any chance you briefly worked in Virginia at Deja Vu audio in VA? I run a preamp and amp both designed and built by a gentleman named Pavel who moved back to Russia in the early 2000s. 

I doubt you are the same person but had to ask as his gear sounds fantastic. 

Cheers,

Jon

 

@colossalsound Thank you for that very cogent explanation. Qobuz still features a large catalogue of primitive digital, much of it in the 70s-80s pop rock range. Revealing streamers/dacs simply magnify the deficiencies of the source material as presented in this format. If it's something I really want to hear, I play the LP. Pending some newly resurrected digital version.

I wish it was me, Jon, since you like your amp, but I am not that Pavel )

Hickamore, I'm glad that your personal experience confirms my article.

 

Thank you Pavel. And welcome. Your insights are refreshing to read. Logical. Thought provoking. I plan to ping you off line regarding my system given your offer!

Thank you for that informative post colossalsound, could you expand on why you would first invest in upgrading a steamer vs the DAC? 

For example I'm running a Blue sound Node 2i. Compared to the rest of my system it is certainly the weak link by a fair margin. I'm considering options to slowly upgrade it . My first thought was to get a DAC and use the Node as the streamer. That seems like the "conventional" approach to getting the most noticable improvement?

My listening for digital comes primarily from Qobuz. I do occasionally listen to CD's but that's another story and another week link in my system! Lol. 

Thanks, 

E.