rlrct
04-27-2007, 07:17 PM
About a year ago, I was the first of what has become a long line of AK'rs to visit Ivan and see/hear his Home Theater system. Here's a link (http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=659744#post659744) to that post from a year ago. On Wednesday, I went back to visit Ivan and his family - this time my wife went with me. We had a nice visit and had a chance to chat about stuff other than McIntosh. The time we spent just reaffirmed my recollection that Ivan and his family are really "normal" folks. Ivan, please pass on our thanks for your hospitality. Yeah, they have a level of disposable income that’s significantly higher than most of us, but they are still real people and gracious ones at that. We had an interesting discussion about old vs. new vs. “really new” money. Remember that South Florida has things like drug money flowing in which has created a group of folks with lots of money and who really don’t care about societal norms. As an example of this, I was rather shocked to learn that a growing number of girls are getting boob jobs as a 16th birthday present. 16? Gimme a break.
Anyway, I feel it’s great to have someone who is (a) basically insensitive to the prices on high-end audio/video equipment; (b) wants to push the limits of what can be done with a home theater system; (c) is willing to and has the time to invest in building/fine-tuning such a system; and, (d) is willing to share the experience with the rest of us of lesser means. After awhile Ivan and I headed into the "Dungeon" to see what sort of changes had been made to the system over the past year. FYI, I’m not sure who coined the moniker of The Dungeon for the home theater room, whether Ivan or his wife, but I’m sure it has to do with the many hours he spent building and tweaking the system, sealed off from the rest of the world.
Walking into the room, there were few visible changes and even those were subtle. Last year, there was nothing stacked on top of the MC2KWs which are squeezed in back of the XRT2Ks. This year, there's a piece of gear on top of each stack of MC2KWs. With the entertainment center doors open, there's not any more room to double-stack equipment. Ivan admitted that he's basically out of room for more gear. The ceiling is a drop ceiling, so conceivably he could hide some equipment up there depending on clearance - perhaps some of the Richard Grays because they don't put out much heat - and that would free up space for more McIntosh stuff. We all know that space will be an issue. Once the AP1000/VP1000 pair become available, a set of those will have to find a home somewhere in the custom entertainment center.
In the meantime, Ivan will just have to put up with the crappy sound and video that the existing system puts out. :thmbsp:
I had ordered and had shipped directly to Ivan, a CD with my wife’s favorite tune – The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens. Ivan had preloaded that onto one of his MS300s. I also picked up the Telarc SACD recording of Saint Saens Organ Symphony #3 as an example of a full-blown orchestral piece for Ivan’s system (his music library isn’t as deep in classical as it is in other genres). We played a particularly huge part of that symphony (full orchestra, organ, etc.) – my wife asked me later if we had played the THX sound clip that’s played in the beginning of THX-processed movies. I remember seeing the meters on the 1201s for the top of the XRT2Ks peaking about halfway between 120 and 1200 watts. My better half joined us and Ivan started the demo with a couple of my wife’s favorites – Gaelic Storm, the Tokens track - and then started through some of Ivan’s cuts that really show what the system can do. There was jazz - Hunting Wabbits!; lots of classic rock - Elton John, Billy Joel, The Who, The Beatles Love tracks, Michael Jackson (Thriller – wow!) just to name a few. My wife spent most of the listening session rockin’ and boppin’ in the back row and that included the segment from The Incredibles that he played through the video system. While we listened at louder than normal levels, Ivan was pretty careful about keeping the decibel level below 115 (we were generally way below that). On the Philadelphia Freedom track, I remembered Ivan’s post about running at 129 db – I’ve no doubt that the system would do it and do it cleanly. At one point he commented that the on demand power available from the Richard Grays was about 500,000 watts of power. With that sort of power on demand to feed the massive number of McIntosh amps, it’s no wonder that the system is capable of recreating live performance decibel levels and can do so without clipping. I’d say it’s a fair guess that clipping isn’t even in the vocabulary for this system.
One interesting thing is that the sound changes depending on where you're sitting. Ivan is very up front about where the "sweet spot" is - front row, center seats. The back row is what he calls "death row" because it's between the subs and is on a raised platform - there is definitely enhanced bass in that row. My wife did comment that the sound and video quality far surpassed anything else she had ever heard or seen, and it was obvious as to why Ivan’s family didn't bother going to the movie theater anymore. The popcorn cart is stationed right outside the home theater room, so even that’s not a draw to the commercial theatres anymore. She also commented that it was louder than she would have preferred. I remember a similar comment from Ivan’s wife – it must be a gender-based genetic abnormality.
It's a little difficult for me to make a comparison of how the system sounds this year to what it was last year. It would sort of be like comparing going 200 miles per hour in a Ferrari to going 225 miles per hour in a Ferrari. Either experience is so far beyond what you're used to that it's hard to make a rational comparison.
One change that is already planned (Ivan has the wiring already in place) is for the new XCS2K center channel. While he'd love to use XCS2K's for the surround speakers - in all honesty the system isn't lacking in the surround sound area and the XCS2Ks would really stick out (physically) and ruin what is currently a very nice looking and discrete installation. Right now you can't tell that there are speakers in the walls because the fabric columns look like they should be there. The XCS2Ks would physically intrude into what is an elegant installation.
Other than the XCS2K upgrade, there's really not much one could imagine upgrading in the system. The sound quality is so far beyond anything most of us have heard, that even my non-audiophile wife was impressed by the system's performance. Does that mean Ivan will stop tweaking the system? Doubtful! :no: I'll be interested to see what he's done with the system a year from now.
For those who haven't had the chance to visit Ivan - it's well worth your time to make it possible. This time we even looked at what's parked in the garages. With the whole family home, the place rather looks like an exotic car showroom.
One of the last cuts we heard during the listening session was Pink Floyd's Money in 5.1 surround. On the way home, my wife asked if that was one of Ivan's favorite demo tracks because of the awesome surround effects. I commented that the last time, Pink Floyd's Money had come over the car radio shortly after leaving Ivan's and that it just didn't quite sound the same anymore. Her comment was that it wouldn't sound the same to her either after hearing it on Ivan's system.
Rob
Anyway, I feel it’s great to have someone who is (a) basically insensitive to the prices on high-end audio/video equipment; (b) wants to push the limits of what can be done with a home theater system; (c) is willing to and has the time to invest in building/fine-tuning such a system; and, (d) is willing to share the experience with the rest of us of lesser means. After awhile Ivan and I headed into the "Dungeon" to see what sort of changes had been made to the system over the past year. FYI, I’m not sure who coined the moniker of The Dungeon for the home theater room, whether Ivan or his wife, but I’m sure it has to do with the many hours he spent building and tweaking the system, sealed off from the rest of the world.
Walking into the room, there were few visible changes and even those were subtle. Last year, there was nothing stacked on top of the MC2KWs which are squeezed in back of the XRT2Ks. This year, there's a piece of gear on top of each stack of MC2KWs. With the entertainment center doors open, there's not any more room to double-stack equipment. Ivan admitted that he's basically out of room for more gear. The ceiling is a drop ceiling, so conceivably he could hide some equipment up there depending on clearance - perhaps some of the Richard Grays because they don't put out much heat - and that would free up space for more McIntosh stuff. We all know that space will be an issue. Once the AP1000/VP1000 pair become available, a set of those will have to find a home somewhere in the custom entertainment center.
In the meantime, Ivan will just have to put up with the crappy sound and video that the existing system puts out. :thmbsp:
I had ordered and had shipped directly to Ivan, a CD with my wife’s favorite tune – The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens. Ivan had preloaded that onto one of his MS300s. I also picked up the Telarc SACD recording of Saint Saens Organ Symphony #3 as an example of a full-blown orchestral piece for Ivan’s system (his music library isn’t as deep in classical as it is in other genres). We played a particularly huge part of that symphony (full orchestra, organ, etc.) – my wife asked me later if we had played the THX sound clip that’s played in the beginning of THX-processed movies. I remember seeing the meters on the 1201s for the top of the XRT2Ks peaking about halfway between 120 and 1200 watts. My better half joined us and Ivan started the demo with a couple of my wife’s favorites – Gaelic Storm, the Tokens track - and then started through some of Ivan’s cuts that really show what the system can do. There was jazz - Hunting Wabbits!; lots of classic rock - Elton John, Billy Joel, The Who, The Beatles Love tracks, Michael Jackson (Thriller – wow!) just to name a few. My wife spent most of the listening session rockin’ and boppin’ in the back row and that included the segment from The Incredibles that he played through the video system. While we listened at louder than normal levels, Ivan was pretty careful about keeping the decibel level below 115 (we were generally way below that). On the Philadelphia Freedom track, I remembered Ivan’s post about running at 129 db – I’ve no doubt that the system would do it and do it cleanly. At one point he commented that the on demand power available from the Richard Grays was about 500,000 watts of power. With that sort of power on demand to feed the massive number of McIntosh amps, it’s no wonder that the system is capable of recreating live performance decibel levels and can do so without clipping. I’d say it’s a fair guess that clipping isn’t even in the vocabulary for this system.
One interesting thing is that the sound changes depending on where you're sitting. Ivan is very up front about where the "sweet spot" is - front row, center seats. The back row is what he calls "death row" because it's between the subs and is on a raised platform - there is definitely enhanced bass in that row. My wife did comment that the sound and video quality far surpassed anything else she had ever heard or seen, and it was obvious as to why Ivan’s family didn't bother going to the movie theater anymore. The popcorn cart is stationed right outside the home theater room, so even that’s not a draw to the commercial theatres anymore. She also commented that it was louder than she would have preferred. I remember a similar comment from Ivan’s wife – it must be a gender-based genetic abnormality.
It's a little difficult for me to make a comparison of how the system sounds this year to what it was last year. It would sort of be like comparing going 200 miles per hour in a Ferrari to going 225 miles per hour in a Ferrari. Either experience is so far beyond what you're used to that it's hard to make a rational comparison.
One change that is already planned (Ivan has the wiring already in place) is for the new XCS2K center channel. While he'd love to use XCS2K's for the surround speakers - in all honesty the system isn't lacking in the surround sound area and the XCS2Ks would really stick out (physically) and ruin what is currently a very nice looking and discrete installation. Right now you can't tell that there are speakers in the walls because the fabric columns look like they should be there. The XCS2Ks would physically intrude into what is an elegant installation.
Other than the XCS2K upgrade, there's really not much one could imagine upgrading in the system. The sound quality is so far beyond anything most of us have heard, that even my non-audiophile wife was impressed by the system's performance. Does that mean Ivan will stop tweaking the system? Doubtful! :no: I'll be interested to see what he's done with the system a year from now.
For those who haven't had the chance to visit Ivan - it's well worth your time to make it possible. This time we even looked at what's parked in the garages. With the whole family home, the place rather looks like an exotic car showroom.
One of the last cuts we heard during the listening session was Pink Floyd's Money in 5.1 surround. On the way home, my wife asked if that was one of Ivan's favorite demo tracks because of the awesome surround effects. I commented that the last time, Pink Floyd's Money had come over the car radio shortly after leaving Ivan's and that it just didn't quite sound the same anymore. Her comment was that it wouldn't sound the same to her either after hearing it on Ivan's system.
Rob