Author Archives: Jim Lee

Connie Takes A Vacation

ConnieFor the next two weeks our beloved Office Manager, Connie, is on a well deserved vacation. If you are in the mood to buy a new system or upgrade your existing one,  you could not possibly choose a better time. You see when she is here she tries very hard to keep us in line as far as pricing goes.

So come in before she gets back and let’s make a deal!

Introducing MOOO MAT

Moo Mat

This wonderfully unique turntable mat  is made with original Cow Hide which is then laminated to vibration absorbing cork. It naturally neutralizes static electricity and is dust and lint repellent. It will instantly improve the sound quality of your records.

It is also important to note that no cattle were harmed during the manufacturing process. They were already dead.

Dedication to the Art of Music

Adam Matthew and John

Adam Matthew and John

I often think about how fortunate we are to have such wonderful people in our lives. Customers who truly understand what we do and will invest their time and hard earned money to create something that is nothing short of an awe inspiring.

John and Kathryn started buying home entertainment products from us about three years ago. They were in the  process of an extensive remodel of a beautiful home on Hood Canal which in another life was once a Bed & Breakfast. Because of their love of movies, we first helped them buy and install a JVC, Focal and Integra home theater system.  As their remodel progressed,  we integrated some very nice music components including Focal Chorus speakers and a Sooloos music server to provide quality  background music for their living room, library and outdoor sitting areas.

From time to time John stops into our showroom to audition music systems in our main listening room.  Needless to say  he became intrigued with what was possible in stereo reproduction and decided to upgrade the home theater to approach a level of performance  he now desired for stereo listening. He quickly fell in love with our Focal Stella Utopia Speakers and decided he had to have them.

Stella Utopia - Crated

1200 lbs of Stella Utopia speakers still in their crates

Our only problem was is that they were a bit too big physically to fit the theater room. To fix this awful problem…. what does this man do? He decides to add  a dedicated music room to this already extensive remodel project. I checked my notes, we first sat down at his kitchen table to start designing this room 443 days ago. Because of the lengthly county permitting process and other unforeseen delays, we are finally here unpacking and setting up this amazing system.

Matthew Unpacking Turntable

Matthew unpacking the Master Innovation Turntable

Here is a list of the  products carefully selected to create this system:

Stay tuned for an update along with more photos as we need to finish setting up everything and allow it to break in and do some fine tuning with acoustic treatment.

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UPDATE 9-9-13
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Some new photos:

Matthew apparently enjoying this installation.

Matthew apparently enjoying this installation.


Stella and Adam

Stella and Adam

Breathtaking Media Room

Breathtaking Media Room

These last two days we have been busy upgrading the media room of one of our favorite customers. As you can see from the photos, this is truly an inspirational system.

Atlas Mono Block Amps

Two weeks ago,  Matt and I were there installing two new pair of custom made Aesthetix Atlas mono block amplifiers which replaced a vintage pair of Krell KAS mono blocks. Jim White from Aesthetix personally designed and crafted these amplifiers using all Nordost internal wiring and specific crossovers to match the Focal Grand Utopia loudspeakers.

Clearaudio Statement Turntable

For the benefit of our fellow “Hi Fi Nuts,”  the rest of the components in this system include Clearaudio’s Limited Edition Statement Turntable fitted with with the flagship Goldfinger Statement Cartridge. The phono preamp is an  Aesthetix IO Eclipse Reference Signature.

Sooloos Music Server

For our digital music playback we use the Meridian / Sooloos music server loaded with over 8000 full resolution compact discs. The Krell 707 does a beautiful job as the main stereo preamp and audio processor. For movie and concert presentations we installed a pair of matching sidewall mounted Focal Electra 1000 be surround speakers which are being  driven by a vintage pair of Krell  KAS 2 mono block amplifiers. To add even more visceral bass impact, we incorporated JL Audio’s Gotham subwoofer. All the cabling and interconnects are from our friends at Nordost and the electrical outlets and line conditioning are from PS Audio.

Now for the reason we were there this week…
Our client has always wanted an exceptional video presentation. Something good enough to keep up with the sound in this room. Until recently there really hasn’t been a combination of products that we felt would fit this level of expectation. And the size, not to mention the noise of a commercial system was out of the question. So for a place holder  we have been using a beautiful older Pioneer Elite 60 inch plasma screen.  It is still in great shape and now makes  for a  killer garage TV.

Garage TV

Enter stage left Sony. Sony adapted some exciting technology from their commercial theater projectors and has brought to market a projection system that can actually produce an amazing image, over 4 times the resolution of Blu-ray Disc: the Sony VW1000ES. And now with the advancements in projection screen technology by Screen Innovations, we are able to drop a trap door style, motorized  92 inch black diamond screen in between our Grand Utopia speakers. Even in broad daylight with the rooms lights on, this picture will absolutely take your breath away. My camera didn’t capture near the stunning experience we all saw in his room today. However we can show you a demonstration of this in our showroom if you would like to see it.

Breathtaking Media Room

Thanks Matthew, Adam and Grant for a beautiful (as always) installation. A special thanks to Mr. Chris  Brunhaver from Sony for his assistance and expertise in video calibration. And mostly a huge thanks to our very good friend and client, Scott. We all love what we do. And we sincerely appreciate you for allowing us to do it.

Lots of fun to say the least.

Music Hall MMF 2.2 – Vinyl without breaking the bank!

Music Hall - MMF 2.2

Music Hall MMF 2.2 – $449.00 – complete with cartridge

This year we have helped more customers buy turntables than I can ever remember, Including the late 1970’s. It’s interesting to see our customers in all age groups returning to this format.  Now  with the availability of new-release, exceptional quality recordings, a nice sounding turntable can maximize  the presentation of any good audio system. One of our customers commented recently that when she pops on one of her older favorite albums it makes her feel like  she is a kid again. There is definitely  a warm musical feeling  from vinyl that’s difficult to get from digital recordings.

So  in the end is vinyl really better? Let me give you another quick example and you can decide:

Another one of our customers who has seriously gone back into vinyl now owns a Clearaudio Master Innovation with 2 tone arms, one for mono recordings and the other for stereo. He uses an Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono preamp to feed his system. When I asked him which format he prefers he said, “Let me put it this way, when I go to treat myself to a wonderful meal,  like say an excellent steak, I cook it on my gas stove and pay close attention to how it simmers.  But when I’m just hungry for a quick bite,  I usually just pop something in the microwave because its fast and simple. This is how I feel about vinyl verses my digital music server. My phono system is my gas cooktop,and my music server is my microwave.” And this is from a guy who only a couple of years ago told me he would never own another turntable.

So if you have been thinking about recapturing your childhood or treating yourself to a good meal, come in and give this a listen.