17 Sep 2016: Kyriakos Kougioumtzoglou

Comments by Tony Pothitos

Monthly Meeting ACA at Kyriakos Kougioumtzoglou

A smorgasbord of ingredients, including, the softest butter, the hardest coconut, the impossible to find seasoning, the hottest peppers, and yet the sweetest sugar cane in the world could not make up our 3rd President of ACA, Kyriakos Kougioumtzoglou.

A fanatic of not just music, but of love, of life and of the moments which make our world a better place!

If he were a rhythm, he would be Latin, if he were a note, he would be ROCK hard, and if he had it his way, they would be music in every corner of every road in every corner of our globe.

A skilled technician of ultra-high end, who envisions not only love for the music but implants his own body and soul into creating life out of machines forgotten, or mends the ones that are broken hearten, as any surgeon would, with ultimate precision and professionalism.

He is a friend, a brother, a Godfather, and he was there when I needed him most both in my personal life, when my mother passed, and in my music life, when saving me a multitude of times with his stunning work on my equipment and setup.

Don’t let his looks betray the fact that he is the most loving of us all in ACA. His heart would make Buddha jealous and his passion for ACA would make Hitler look like a NOVICE anteater.

I don’t have much other to say, or rather would not like to, since his he makes me look like a nugget of gold, compared to a giant diamond mine. Which means, it is men like this that even I look up to.

Something I thought couldn’t be done after our first president of ACA, then George Heropoulos, and currently about tonight’s host.

I had once given a quote to our previous president, and thus the current will also get one. From the same maestro.

Brutal with the truth, sympathetic only until he makes it better. That’s Kyriakos.

I will only include the obvious to everyone in our club.

If it were not for him, ACA would SIMPLY NOT EXIST in the format or beauty and grace it does today. Period!

Comments by Alex Dalkalitsis

Intro

I think it's the fifth so time I visit Kyriakos place. No many words are necessary for Kyriakos, I think we all know him. Kyriakos is the new president of the ACA, he is the head of www.aca.gr site and he’s got a great knowledge about turntables and tubes. I do not know if there is a turntable that he has not been set up more than once by him, while his tubes collection is probably of the rarest in the world..

I also think that whoever deals with hi fi and visit Kyriakos system will feel an awe. If someone is not familiar, will feel awe of the weird speakers, of the tubes and the turntable. If he’s familiar will feel comfortable by regarding a system consisting of top of the tops equipment, been in the top of the hi-end pyramid.

Surely everyone will be satisfied. From subjective listener as the lover electro mathematically side.

The site visit

It’s been many times I have auditioned that system with tubes, transistors, switching amplifiers, a turntable, a cd, with many kind of DACs. It could eventually be felt familiar with this system, the place and with Kyriakos himself. So, maybe not me the one feels the same awe with that a newcomer feels when first visiting and audition that system (regardless of what sound school is derived).

But again I felt awe. Because in a lifetime it ain't so many times the given chance to audition such a system either in a house place or in a hi-end exhibition..

Therefore, each time a little more “something” complements the previous excellent performance of the system. This time was the room treatment. Kyriakos had made effort regarding the room. I heard things about other upgrades but I will stay in the room domain. Last period Kyriakos have done enough "playing game" with the room and the space.

The audition

So starting from the music I heard it was limited to rock influences, classical music, opera and jazz. What kept aside as memory - although there may be - it is a small jazz ensemble (Kyriakos put the figure here).

The conclusion

If I could dwell in a first memory the word I would use is “energy”. The big amounts of energy coming out from the electromechanical speakers units. Such a large speakers units is quite reasonable to force so much power in the medium that brings the sound in any room.

The second word is “synergy”. Because unregulated gain energy without synergy is meaningless. The bass tightening in the stomach is something impressive. The harmonically matching with the rest of the system is something rare. "Synergy". I cannot say I have many samples of such systems. In most of them, something apart from the whole, something somewhere is missing.

The next word that comes to mind is the “point of view”. Both cartridge / arm combos were playing well. And with much beauty, they also played different. I do not know what was right. I liked both. Each combo had a "point of view" of the things read. Also a point of view is that multitude of combinations that someone can hear in this system in that place, digital, analog, transistors, tubes etc. Kyriakos usually selects the combinations for what will be heard at any meeting.

Epilogue

In closing, I would like to mention the fact that we all have limitations and do restrictions when selecting of any object we use, whether it is a hi-fi sound speaker or a mobile phone. It is very worthy when someone can see a system that is not defined under any restriction or model series and can also audition it.

I was very glad I saw all those friends, a very tied and live club and Nontas to enjoy good health.

The Tracks...

Files

Lars Danielsson - Liberetto

Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio - Misty

Oscar Peterson Trio - Bag's Groove

Patricia Barber - Ode to Billy Joe

Nina Simone - Golden Earrings

CD's

G. Verdi La Traviata - Jose Carreras/Agnes Baltsa: Brindisi

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms

Charis Alexiou & Socratis Malamas - Ximeroni (Dawns)

Charis Alexiou - Mi ton rotas ton ourano (Don't ask the sky)

Vinyls

Chabrier / Ataulfo Argenta - Espana Rhapsody

Sonny Boy Williamson - Keep it to Yourself

Dire Straits - Private Investigations

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - It Don't Mean A Thing

Peggy Lee - Here's That Rainy Day

Ben Webster - Caravan

Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá - Sambalero

Ten Years After - I'd Love To Change The World

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Suzie Q

Comments by Vagelis Issichopoulos

I was wondering of how many times we get fooled by evaluating an Hi-End sound system by focusing in the individual characteristics of the music program that impress us, thus forgetting one major key factor, the live music...

That thing, live music, remains our elusive dream by considering the fact that recording and production procedures for publishing the final product will deprive from us the pleasure and the magic of the live...

So listening to the president's Kyriakos Kougioumtzoglou system (Kyriakos is also a good friend), in the monthly A.C.A meeting on 17/09/2016, I have discovered that particular sense of the actual event, bringing me the interest to continue listening...

The sound was solid and simultaneously flowing, whenever that was required by the program, the same moment that music and harmony were spread in the place rich and balanced... That feeling was present in Rock & Jazz program we've heard!

In the other hand, two classical music's old recordings revealed personalized characteristics and recording issues...

Generally speaking after the audition, I think that after the room treatment that Kyriakos has applied in his place, the system became in a higher level and will lead its owner clearly for some pointed future improvements...

Hobby, thus hi-end, never stops and should never do so...

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Kyriakos Kougioumtzoglou' Member Page