By Stelios Mitsionis
It was around 9:30 pm when a bunch of us fanatic audiophiles left Tony Pothitos' house and headed for the next scheduled meeting at Max Goodman's.
The atmosphere...
We found Max along with John Vlahos enmeshed in a serious conversation about some deep audiophile subject, I' sure. The atmosphere at Max's house is warm, inviting and easygoing. So, we let our savage instincts loose and immediately guided ourselves to the kitchen, where a full array of delightful delicacies was waiting for us. As you understand we tested all of them and concluded that they were of top-notch quality.
Hi-end sex...
When our basic needs were adequately satisfied, our minds were set mechanically to the next most favorite subject/need which is... you guessed it... no, not hi-end, but sex, of course. So, we stirred the conversation accordingly... to hi-end sex, as defined by one of our esteemed members. At this point please allow me to withhold the full context of our conversation for we are running the risk of being misunderstood by various interest groups out there.
The system...
Max's system is set up in a sort of loose manner when viewed through our rigid hi-end standards. The speakers are very close to the back wall, on top of furniture and they have large sacred figures standing on top of them. It really looks very impressive. Does it work? I can't really say. Generally speaking the system sounded good for the amount invested on it.
The high frequencies were well extended. Mid and lows were adequate, thanks to the addition of the REL subwoofer. The soundstage is not clearly defined but this is because of speaker placement. Finally, presentation of instruments and voices is towards the weak side of substance, space and definition. But before we cast our spells we have to consider the system cost here. And for the cost this system plays very well.
The sound...
So, when one steps away from the confined audiophile perspective the system is very enjoyable. We found ourselves enjoying music anywhere in the room, especially in the kitchen... We listened to lots of very interesting albums from Rock, to Jazz, to classical. Max has a very interesting record collection and a committed habit of searching for underground stores and digging new, old and vintage vinyl. We had a long conversation about the good sources of vinyl in the city of Athens.
The first-rate music and engaging conversations captivated our sense of time and it was very late when we finally realized that we had to slowly take our way home.
Thank you Max, it was a very entertaining evening.
Music Program Highlights(only vinyl...)
- Bert Kaempfert 'Africaan Beat' ('Living Stereo' recording 1962)
- Rossini 'Barber of Seville' (180 gr)
- 'Blue Train' (Blue Note recording)
- Pink Floyd 'Dark Side of the Moon' (Greek recording)
- Pink Floyd 'The Wall' (German recording)
- Dave Bruebeck 'Take Five' (180gr)
- Janis Joplin 'Pearl' (Greek recording)
- Beethoven '5th Piano Concerto' (mono recording - Montreaux)
- Wagner 'Extracts from the Ring of the Neibelungen' (mono recording, RCA)
- The Animals 'Greatest Hits' (Greek recording, ANT1)
- Marvin Gaye 'What's Going On?' (180gr)
- Stevie Ray Vaughan 'In Step' (180gr)
System Description
- Sansui SP 2500 (abandon Klipsch 'Heresys') + REL strata 3 sub, driven by [2 x Tsakiridis Devices 'Artemis' (KT 88's) & Accuphase E211, rear channel only], DECWARE ZT pre.
- Analogue source: Pro-ject RPM-4 turntable w/Pro-ject 6 cartridge on a Pro-ject 9 arm and Pro-ject phono box.
- Interconnects: Mogami + Sakiotis (their best, name unknown).
- Speaker cables: Synergistic 'silver'.
Max Goodman' Member Page
