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In Reply to: RE: A "reference" doesn't require ownership posted by Michael Samra on March 07, 2016 at 12:35:46
I know I've said it before, but my early audiophile life was indeed charmed having met many influential folks who mentored and exposed me to a completely different world than you found in Stereo Review and High Fidelity.
I recall the time Dr. Cooledge (JWC from The Absolute Sound) invited the guys from the shop over to his house. We were to hear his Dayton-Wrights and meet Jim Strickland with a new company called Acoustat to audition his speakers.
This nineteen year old didn't have to be asked twice. :)
Follow Ups:
Would the speakers have been Acoustat X speakers with the built in tube amp? OTL amps directly driving electrostatic speakers always seemed like a very good idea to me. I sold Acoustat in the 80's, but it was too late to hear the X. I have always wondered ...
Dave
The servo amps were located in the back of the cabinet. Following that audition, Julian picked up the product line on the spot.
A funny story involved one of our early customers who was color blind. He fried a panel by confusing the placement of three different leads (still possible to do with my Sound Labs!) Shortly after that, Acoustat made a design change so that one might reverse polarity, but not plug the bias lead into a signal jack. :)
Sometime in '78, Acoustat added a fourth panel and called it the Monitor 4. I purchased the upgrade kit which involved the new cabinet and additional panel. It also raised the panels above the amplifier level and allowed for adjusting the tilt back angle.
I replaced those in '82 when the 2+2 arrived. That also meant moving to the MK121 interface and a Threshold Stasis was purchased to drive them. Here's my bachelor pad circa '85 just having moved into my first house. Yes, I did end up with window treatments other than the sheet and the large tapestry behind the couch was mounted on the back wall.
That took me right back to my days of selling audio! I take it that the 2+2's/Threshold Stasis was a step up from the Model 4. Is that correct? We had 2=2's in the showroom driven by a Nakamichi PA-7 Stasis with a Velodyne UDL-18 handling the lows. It sounded quite good, but I suspect it would have sounded better with a Threshold.
Dave
I found it to be a step up both cosmetically and sonically - especially in terms of imaging. For once, the tall line source provided a lifelike size. Despite the tube OTL concept, the servo amps didn't offer the resolution of the Stasis.
I used subs for a while with mine, but found that they were unnecessary when you put enough power behind them. 500 watt VTL monoblocks did the trick. :)
I kept them for 21 years with a couple of mods: replaced internal wiring (Monster had oxidized pretty badly), bypassed signal fuse and resocked using fine spandex. Now I have what will be my last speaker. The U-1PX is a better performer in every respect if not a bit finicky.
We probably should have tried the big Perreaux amp on them. In the setup as described, I would play the Telarc of Alexander Nevsky and it was spectacular, particularly the Battle on Ice. I have heard the Sound Labs, and they are a step-up from the Acoustats.
Dave
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