Those who keep a closer eye on this Forum than is probably healthy, may have picked up that Mac was planning a visit to Belfast...and we formulated a cunning plan to meet up and listen to stuff at Lyric Hifi. This plan, which was hatched many months ago, finally came to fruition today.
The idea was to Tee-Up a system which consisted of Linn Akurate DS -> AMS35i -> Kef Ref 3s and then pick up Mac and spend the morning doing what HiFi enthusiasts do best....Drink Coffee, talk endlessly about HiFi and listen to each other's taste in music.
This system was of particular interest to Mac, as he has heard me bang on endlessly about Linn DSssses and Kef Reference Speakers for more than a few years...neither of which he has heard before.....and Michael of Lyric was good enough to oblige, giving us a room to ourselves on a busy Saturday morning, for 4 Hours.
The long suffering Lady Cno goodly came for company, on the 180 mile round trip. I entered the address of his accomodation into the Sat Nav and off we set.
Just under 2 hours later, we were pulling up outside Mac's establishment, only to find that you could have thrown a stone and hit Lyric HiFi (potentially handy if Mac plans future trips to Belfast).
I was pleased to see that the delightful Mrs. Mac was also joining in the fun...at least it gave Mrs. C somebody to commiserate with, as myself and Mac started talking HiFi.
Two minutes later, I dropped off Mac and the 2 Ladies outside Lyric while I found a Parking space. I then made my way back into the shop (which is one floor up), only to find my three passangers seemed to have disappeared. They weren't on the street, or in the main demo area. Anyway, I went to have a much needed Pee on the next floor up (Storage Area), only to find they had taken the Lift and got off at the wrong floor.
Now, all together again, we went down to meet Michael....who met us in Shorts and a light T Shirt (Belfast is only 12 deg today)....saying that the 35i, which he had goodly been running for a couple of days, had not only heated up the demo room, but the whole bl**dy building! He wasn't wrong. The room was like a sauna...and would have been intolerable, if we'd had the sort of temperatures the rest of the UK has been experiencing.
We got Mac and his Lady Wife seated, while myself and Mrs. Cno sorted the coffee.
Finally, refreshments sorted, we started the listening session. We came to the amicable arrangement, where we chose track about. Mac chose stuff that was gentle and lyrical and pleasantly soporific.....and I chose the sort of stuff that was the musical equivalent of a Defibrillator. This worked well and sort of averaged out our musical taste.
I have written endlessly about how this system sounds....so hopefully Mac will see this thread and pen his own impressions and thoughts....which are probably more interesting anyway, as they are a fresh perspective, from somebody coming from a very musical system.
Once again, a big thank you to Michael of Lyric, who made this possible.
The idea was to Tee-Up a system which consisted of Linn Akurate DS -> AMS35i -> Kef Ref 3s and then pick up Mac and spend the morning doing what HiFi enthusiasts do best....Drink Coffee, talk endlessly about HiFi and listen to each other's taste in music.
This system was of particular interest to Mac, as he has heard me bang on endlessly about Linn DSssses and Kef Reference Speakers for more than a few years...neither of which he has heard before.....and Michael of Lyric was good enough to oblige, giving us a room to ourselves on a busy Saturday morning, for 4 Hours.
The long suffering Lady Cno goodly came for company, on the 180 mile round trip. I entered the address of his accomodation into the Sat Nav and off we set.
Just under 2 hours later, we were pulling up outside Mac's establishment, only to find that you could have thrown a stone and hit Lyric HiFi (potentially handy if Mac plans future trips to Belfast).
I was pleased to see that the delightful Mrs. Mac was also joining in the fun...at least it gave Mrs. C somebody to commiserate with, as myself and Mac started talking HiFi.
Two minutes later, I dropped off Mac and the 2 Ladies outside Lyric while I found a Parking space. I then made my way back into the shop (which is one floor up), only to find my three passangers seemed to have disappeared. They weren't on the street, or in the main demo area. Anyway, I went to have a much needed Pee on the next floor up (Storage Area), only to find they had taken the Lift and got off at the wrong floor.
Now, all together again, we went down to meet Michael....who met us in Shorts and a light T Shirt (Belfast is only 12 deg today)....saying that the 35i, which he had goodly been running for a couple of days, had not only heated up the demo room, but the whole bl**dy building! He wasn't wrong. The room was like a sauna...and would have been intolerable, if we'd had the sort of temperatures the rest of the UK has been experiencing.
We got Mac and his Lady Wife seated, while myself and Mrs. Cno sorted the coffee.
Finally, refreshments sorted, we started the listening session. We came to the amicable arrangement, where we chose track about. Mac chose stuff that was gentle and lyrical and pleasantly soporific.....and I chose the sort of stuff that was the musical equivalent of a Defibrillator. This worked well and sort of averaged out our musical taste.
I have written endlessly about how this system sounds....so hopefully Mac will see this thread and pen his own impressions and thoughts....which are probably more interesting anyway, as they are a fresh perspective, from somebody coming from a very musical system.
Once again, a big thank you to Michael of Lyric, who made this possible.
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