By Tony Pothitos
Monthly Meeting ACA at Stamatis Giannoulis
Intro...
During the Spring days in the suburban areas of Athens there is much difference between day and night... On the day time along with the sunshine, someone can have a walk by the sea or by the park, but when the night comes there is not a better idea than get inside home, grab a glass of whiskey, put a record on the turntable, and sit comfortable on the sofa to enjoy the music... That’s exactly what ACA members do on monthly meetings... That exactly we did on Saturday the 29 of March...
System Philosophy...
Stamatis setup is the absolute expression of the single ended triode tube amplification, analogue source, tube cd player and horn speakers... He has long journey in the audiophile community so he has give much care in any point of system setup... From the dedicated rigid floor to the independent power supply and earthling and from the cables material to the tubes of the amps... One point that hasn’t fixed yet is that of the huge square room, that has been left “as is” without any treatment and that has obviously effect on the system’s sound.. But even this will be fixed soon...
Audition..
The friends were gathered and the music started to play... The first part of the audition as always happens was to determine and reveal the system’s performance... So several tracks were selected from the audiophile pool, stepping from vinyl to CD and vice versa... Latin, Jazz, Blues, Vocal and classical music were the highlights of that first part... After that, the second and more important part was to take place, that of the free listening with lovely everyday music and much more joy...
System in Detail...
There were two hi-class Power Amps equipped wearing the best available tubes driving the sculpture-like Avantgarde Duo Omega. The first one a great facet of the pure power set, Greek TLA’s Satin with GE 211’s... The second, Art Audio Diavolo, wearing also 2 hi-end legends, the WE 300B’s.. Those angels were feed pure and clean low signal from a glorious pre amp, the First Sound Presence Deluxe.. Cd source the Ayon CD5, turntable Acoustic Solid Royal, Phono Stage the Art Audio Vinyl one...
Music...
There was plenty of detail coming out of the big horns... Also musicality and good scenic presence.. Phrases and voices were given with warmth and clarity...
Rock music performed hard and tight while jazz had the feeling and emotional essence.. The timing in rhythmic Latin grooves was given right, the percussions were in time with attack and punch, the classical music has that strict and mellow atmosphere.. The difference between power amps was a more bodied and real sound with the 211’a and more thin and silky with the 300B’s... Personally I preferred the 211’s...
At the end...
I believe by saying a simple ‘thanks’ to Stamatis and his wife is so little thing to express that night’s feelings.. So many good friends, so nice atmosphere, so good hospitality, so good... so good... so many thanks...
Stamatis Giannoulis ' Member Page
