By Vagelis Issichopoulos
Monthly Meeting ACA at Konstantinos Dalkalitsis
This afternoon we were greeted by Konstantinos Dalkalitsis, an old member of the club, at his home in Athens for the customary meeting and presentation of his system.
Our host’s first contact with "high-end" systems began, as he told us, many years ago. He actually maintains to this day a museum-quality 1920’s phonograph model!
Throughout these years he frequently upgraded the models of the brands he has maintained until today. This way he has achieved the best result through involvement and correct matching.
The Listening...
The first sounds of Eva Cassidy’s guitar fill the air and soon you are captivated by her pure, sensual voice.
Then on to a more complicated Massenet piece:” Le Cid” stretches in correct proportions between the two speakers, revealing the dimensions of the recording ambient!
In Simone Kermes’ record "Drama, it is performance that has the first word, while the cheerful, groovy and explosive "Bang Baaroom" is performed realistically with dynamism and precision.
In the famous Sara K. record, the rhythmic presence of the percussion set and the harmonic richness of the singer’s voice stand out.
The same, and more, applies to the amazing audioquest production with Joe Beard. Here the sound stage has been captured in full scale!
Then on to the Greek repertoire with a Xarhakos – Parios ballad and Chatzidaki’s "Peribanou", taken from the "Roman agora" album. Both songs were performed excellently, highlighting the expressiveness and timbre of human voices!
The basic program ended with what I would call a tour de force, with the Dire Straits amply confirming the speaker's reputation as one of the best monitors in the world!
The System...
- Source: S.M.E 20/3
– Tonearm: SME V
– cartridge: Van Del Hul Condor
- Phono preamplifier: Audio Research : Ref.II
- Line preamplifier: Audio Research : Ref. 5
- Power amplifier: Krell evolution 400E monoblocks
- Loudspeakers: B&W 800D.
- Speaker Cables: Synergistic research
- Interconnects: Cardas Golden Reference XLR
- Power cables: Transparent MM2-Nordost Valhalla
- Rack: Finite Elemente Pagode
Ending up...
So bravo to the system’s owner; after so many years, his labors and choices have paid off for both him and me in the best possible way!
A truly balanced system is my verdict!
We thank him very much for the interesting music program he provided and of course for the… delicious snacks that followed!
Konstantinos Dalkalitsis' Member Page