By Tony Pothitos
Inroduction...
Every year, most countries worldwide, celebrate Christmas, or Easter or some kind of ritualistic holiday and most people of the world celebrate New Year’s Eve together. During Christmas though, people get the blues and ex lovers feel alone. During Easter the weather puts things back sometimes and in some religions it is celebrated at a different date.
But in reality, how many people in the world celebrate something all together. I mean at the exact same time, the same moment that the person next to you does? I mean, where no one wants to commit suicide, no one is sleeping or alone or unhappy or even bored?
Is there an event or celebration that everyone can enjoy, no matter what religion, creed or color they are?
Probably none. But I just found out there might be something close!
Costas...
Let me start by introducing our host, Costa. Costa is a lawyer, a judge, or something infinitely difficult to do for a living, and when he decided to have fun, I know very few people alive that can actually put fun into a philosophy of its own as he does. He takes the most infinitesimal things in life, makes them look simple and then turns them into pure pleasure. He starts with a piece of wood for example, he then carves it into a round hollow ball, he will cover it with melted mettles then carve it to make it into the most beautiful globe I have seen. The best part though is when you touch a country, it actually pronounces the countries name in the original language!!
When Costa then one day says he wants to have a party, you can only imagine how much work and love he puts into planning absolutely EVERYTHING, for all of the ACA members he is so fond of, as we are of him. Costa’s meetings are not an event, they are nothing less than the ultimate celebration where everyone is cared for, and I mean EVERYONE. You could be from Nunavut in the North West Territories in the tundra or from Russia with love. One thing though is guaranteed. You will enjoy yourself at Costas’s ACA celebration!
The House...
I don’t know where to start. The waterfalls in the garden, the remote controlled lights and outdoor A/C? Or from the fact that music stems from three systems, and not just one. Could it be the home made culinary specialties or the Indian spices burning? Could it be the ten people taking care of your every whim, the live band? Or simply put, could it simply be the total integration of music, food and hospitality, coupled with an aura unlike anything you have seen before? Seriously, I really don’t know. So in reality no matter where you start. You end up in the same place you began. How does he do it?
I asked him outright and his answer was rather laconic but honest. “ Just do whatever you do, with love”.
But let us start with the music. We know he loves music, but then again so do I, and as a matter of fact, I don’t know many people that actually hate it. Here at ACA we are renown for our passion, but we still can’t get things right despite our love for our hobby.
Costa can though. He found out much earlier than any of us that there is no one system which can satisfy a true high end lover. If you try to get everything into one you will fail. Costa then created 3 systems to convey his point, not including his live band of course.
The Systems...
System one, my favorite, is a set of ATC 150’s, numbered serial number 1 and 2 accordingly. They play with a simple Theta Casa Nova pre and a Lexicon RT10 digital source. You can sit on his double Lazy-boys which are placed in front of the speakers, not at a far distance I might add, and never have to move again in your life. You might have to move for nature’s calling, but he even thought of that and placed the appropriate dwelling close to the listening room!
It is very hard to describe a system you cannot hear. You cannot comment on it because it simply does not exist. It has no intervention between the CD and its reproduction. It is so LIFE LIKE it simply astonishes you to the point of always looking to find the musicians where the speakers stand. I have felt dizzy a few times in my life, and it has always been with this speaker. This time it was no different. I simply adore them. If you must know the truth, I cannot hear music again after that night, and as I write these words, my wife and I agree that our next speakers are going to be ATC’s.
His second system is what I call the bedroom invitation. He has a pair of Quads with the Gradient subs playing and here is where you body is transformed into matter of nothing but brain cells. You are bathed in silk and satin while lying on velvet as you hear every mid the way it should be. Simply the most romantic and most realistic guitar I have lived. It is not by luck that every musician in the world in the day had a pair of these Quads to replay his music.
System three is a pair of Dunlavy’s SC IV, which are behind his office. Connected with an Audio Analogue Maestro amplifier. The immediacy and black background leave you with the impression there is no one in the world but you and the music. It is an experience worth living if you have a chance to.
The band...
System four is his live band, which blew our minds away. Costa not only beats the drums like a pro year old, but with the pizzazz of a conductor. He seems to talk with his kit and you have to hear how they talk back to them. If you couple that with his team band members your going to experience your world to be rocked to the point of no return.
So if I say that no one could ever be unhappy at Costa’s celebration, could I be exaggerating? Probably not! Everyone there, and I do mean a lot of people, never left the party. They just had to go home to get some rest so they could wake up to think and enjoy what they lived the night before.
And finally...
I cannot thank Costa for his hospitality and care. I cannot even begin to say thank you to the man behind such an evening, but I can say something else. Costa, I love you. Believe me when I say, I think everyone agrees with me by saying the same thing over and over again..
I don’t know how many people will have the blues this Christmas, but I do know, that tonight, at Costa’s, no one could have felt better.
That alone is an accomplishment I have never seen properly done by anyone. Including myself.
So on behalf of Costa and ACA. I wish everyone to have the experience we have every year at his home and wish everyone a happy Costa Day, worldwide.
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