By Juan C. Ayllon The Waze app is generally reliable, but after it announced I'd arrived, parked outside an iron gated estate at the end of a winding road several digits shy of my destination in the northeastern Illinois sticks, I am forced to thumb through emails on my iPhone to find the invitation's detailed directions. Several minutes later, I pull up to the correct address and, walking in, am greeted by hellos, handshakes and a full-bodied and detailed-rich aural experience. The drive mirrors the shared pain of the majority of guests here; numbering some 15 to 20, our quest for audio Nirvana in our dwellings is fraught with twists, turns and mistakes, as well as successes. The occasion is a Chicago Audio Society meeting held at the sprawling riverside home of Jeffrey Kenton, a lean, tall, and successful retired equipment salesman who maintains a daily regimen of tweaking, updating and perfecting his two channel stereo, audio library and room. There's a sign-in sheet, nametags and catered chicken, pasta and salad in the kitchen, while water, soda and beer reside in labeled coolers on the patio out back. A steady parade of Wave Runners, pontoon and speedboats roar up and down the river just beyond the deck. Meanwhile inside the Irish Green listening room, two towering, highly modified Infinity Ref 4.5 speakers astride blonde oak outriggers with IsoAcoustic Gaia I isolation footers enchant. Painted in the hue of Kenton's alma mater, Notre Dame, the large space sports various room acoustic diffusers, blonde oak tuned resonator boxes, vinyl records and neatly stacked electronics about its exterior.
"His system is sounding so much better!" one guest effuses. "He's really hit the nail on the head this time!" "How can you really tell, seeing that auditory memory is so flawed?" someone scoffs. "Oh, I remember." An updated listing of equipment in the event invitation reads as follows:
tweeters and ribbons-woofers -front baffle partially removed-loaded with 50 pounds of bagged lead shot TeknaSonic vibration dampeners Stephen Merriweather outriggers with IsoAcoustic Gaia I isolation footers.
outboard speed controller, strobe disabled, tonearm damper with silicone bath, rewired with BEL interconnect, steel cones, Sumiko headshell, AudioTechnica 150 MLX cartridge (alignment by Brian Walsh)
playback
ram, powered by Uptone Audio: JS-2 Linear Power Supply
ground shunt power supply > Gregg Straley Reality ribbon I2S or Cardas SPDIF > Denafrips Terminator DAC
An eclectic assortment of jazz, electronic music and other music genres wash over the participants. Some of it is streamed, while other selections are ripped digital files. Speaking up, Kenton introduces Stephen Merriweather, a quiet small-framed man in white hair who smiles and waves in appreciation to the half dozen in the room. Stepping outside of the room, I chat with Mike, a friend of Kenton's who built many of the acoustic diffuser panels. He explains at length the meticulous manner that he compares the impact of a new component like a Digital to Analog Converter, for example, on a system. "You play a portion of a song that you are familiar with. Now you don't play the whole song, but maybe 15 seconds or so," he says. "You listen for how the mid bass sounds. You don't do that just once; you listen for it repeatedly, many times. Then, you listen for the decay of instruments...male vocals, female vocals, and so on. " He also adds that you don't merely swap out between components in A/B fashion, but you listen to one component for a while, get used to its sound signature, then swap in the next one, compare, then go back and forth. And, he says for emphasis, you only add or remove one component at a time (as opposed to introducing several simultaneously). "This is a social event; this isn't serious listening," he asserts. "You can't do serious critical listening with a crowd like this; you can only have maybe two or three people over if you're really serious." He offers to meet up sometime and take me through the paces of his evaluative method. "Just call Jeff and we'll set it up." Good to know, I think as grabbing a plate, I nosh and chat out back with my old friend, Michael, and others. The conversation is edifying, informative, and sometimes annoying, as some very strong opinions are expressed. An elderly guest is asking if anyone knows where he can have his vintage Mark Levinson ML-2 amplifier repaired and hot rodded. A middle aged repairman suggests several services in Chicago, but says that they will bring it back up to spec, but they won't modify it. Michael asks for his card, as he's got some vintage gear, including a pair of Klipsch La Scallas that need servicing. Then, matter take a controversial turn. "If you are using more than four or five watts in your amp, you need a more sensitive pair of speakers!" a tall, dark complexioned man in a polo and shorts bellows. Looking the part of a marketing guy stepping off a corporate golf outing, he builds his own horn loudspeakers, he says, rattling off the long list of drivers, tubes, and parts he employs in his creations. "You don't know who that is?" he asks after dropping the name of some highly renowned transformer coil winder. "He's the best in the business!" A pattern emerges: He mentions boutique parts or designers that I am not familiar with and seems surprised at my ignorance . After five minutes or so of my nodding and "I don't knows," He loses steam. "Well, we all know in parts; I know all about tubes and speaker building, but I don't know digital," he concludes with the satisfaction of a presenter nailing his keynote speech. Let it not be said that audiophiles aren't passionate! An IT specialist shares how he scanned a bunch of family slides, uploaded them to Google Photos, and ran them as a background on his large flat screen TV. Then, it's time to grab another plateful, catch a quick listen of Jeff's wonderful system, and circulate. Rich, the president of Chicago Audio Society, gushes about a very nice large flat screen TV he recently purchased at a bargain price and now sits atop an 18" tall media console. That piques my interest, as Belle and I plan on purchasing a larger TV for our listening and A/V space when we have the basement finished this upcoming season. All too soon, it's time to go. It was a lot of fun listening, exchanging ideas, and connecting with new and old friends. As I'm about to leave, I shake hands with Igor, an audiophile I haven't seen for several years who lives in Chicago. "You've gotten really strong," he says eying my size. "No, it's just fat," I counter, laughing. "We call it the COVID-19," he quips. "With staying indoors with the COVID, we all put on 19 pounds!" That sounds about right. Until next time, stay healthy and safe, my friends.
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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