Adelaide's Shed, Beemer Taxis,Heat,Depression,Mumm(thank God)

[Luc]

Christmas was spent in Adelaide this year with our central base being the Hilton instead of previous years at Glenelg amidst the hordes that congregate down there.

The Hilton has a great bar in the foyer so that was first port of call while the numerically challenged porter had a stab at getting the luggage to the right room; 16 floors, rooms 614/615 off you go then. Big cases to 614/smaller to 615 I'll be at the bar.

 

I found this local brew(to the left of the Stella somewhere, Lobethal PA

Actually I think it might of been on the otherside of the bar...

Nevermind.

 

It looked like this

 

Note the rack of Moet on the top shelf...very tempting but not at the Hilton's prices. I sniffed out a Dan's later in the trip and grabbed a 6 pack of Mumm. Mention French bubbles and the Handbrake's smile becomes beatific and I'm cut some slack usually.

 

A few days of absolute gluttony followed as various rellies hosted the Luc clan as Adelaide sweltered through a fairly normal hot dry Chrissy.

We don't actually mind the heat because it's nothing like heat that has 95% humidity attached to it like up here.

Another 6 pack of Mumm was demolished and sadly another over the next couple of days or perhaps afternoons as well. The Handbrake's clan likes it as much as me.

Fresh provender flown in from Streaky Bay was fallen upon with gusto and crayfish the size of a front rowers calf muscle appeared and went as did those curiously huge oysters from Streaky and King George whiting the length of your forearm dusted in an Indian spice mix went the same way.

Various Rieslings and Grigios went the same way and then some idiot introduced sparkling Burgundy...that's where my memory of events enters fiction; I think I was polite and very quiet from most reports.

 

 

In between the eating and drinking I was able to sneak away to a record shop and picked up>>>

 

and ordered a couple more on the sly

 

Now I had a previous Adelaide thread from a few years ago where I managed to meet a long term member who has since removed to Perth for  his career path and I'm sure a few of the Croweaters here know @adrocks  and he came down to Glenelg and took me back to his place somewhere twenty minutes away  and I was introduced to his wife and the largest collection of speakers/amps/cables/ect ect I've yet seen, a system in every room and then some(A set amp on a shelf in the Loo ffs! ).

So Adelaide had nice memories for me and they were added too yet again by the SNA community on this trip.

 

I was staring out this window wondering what to do in Adelaide the day before my last.

And I remembered to check in here and sure enough there was a PM or two from the locals. I took up @@Tony M 's long standing offer to go up into the hills and sit in 'The Shed' it could be my one and only chance to do this as trips to Adelaide are not on the radar in the near future, at least with all of us.( I though could certainly avail myself of the hospitality of Adeladians and sneak down for a weekend if everything lined up...)

 

So pickup times were arranged and drop back times were talked about. Tony is unable to do much before 10am(his words not mine) and I mentioned I'd be ready at 6-7-8-9 whenever. It was these time frames that led to his admission that he does not do anything before 10

 

So right on time I get a call that he's out the front, we both must like to be punctual as I was waiting for the sensor doors to open as he rang/texted. Out the front and slip the suitcase into the coupe's boot and off we go to Hahndorf in the Adelaide hills.

 

Tony was apologetic about the speeds the Beemer and driver were doing and explained that he has a slight shortage of points and is mindful of the short distance between driving a nice car and public transport. We both kept an eye out for the HWP and sneaky cameras.

Despite that the Beemer was still able to elicit a rather nice growl from it's powerplant as a heavy foot went from zero to legal speeds in seconds. 

Was an enjoyable drive up into the hills.

 

 

We headed first to @@Bear72 's place and were welcomed by a fantastic ball of happy bull terrier who was very happy to see us all and a quick intro to Ant's missus(did I detect a rolling of the eye as she smiled and said "Well you'd better get downstairs to your room then) and downstairs to his den with lots of Audio goodies.

 

This was my first introduction to Gales and there was a lazy easiness about the music issuing forth, nice depth but I didn't really have long enough to form a strong impression of them and the same went for the @@cheekyboy Wyndham Ch2's[?] in the back of the next pic.

 

Here's the Ch2's

My ph's knackered. Tony called it a tradies ph, he's right, it's got a cracked screen and the viewfinder is buggered so these pics are the best I can do at the moment.

 

The boys looking at Ant's zebrano shelf he's building for someone, that's it leaning against the wall on the left.

Rubbish pic.

 

I said that I'll need some smiles for the inevitable blog post back on SNA...Tony looked edgy, he was right to feel that way, Antobviously thought it'll never see the light of day.

Picked up an intro to some new music at Ant's and I'll be grabbing this LP

 

Excuse the feet.

 

So off we headed to Tony's place but we stopped in the Xmas mayhem that is a tourist spot on the days after Xmas, which was Hahndorf and bumper to bumper traffic and lots of people but we managed to get a seat at what passes as Hahndorf's McDonalds and the fries were great but bigger than I remembered from the last time I was under the Golden Arches.

The same went for the Big Macs.

Ant & I ordered them thinking it'd be quick an easy.

Stupid South Australians haven't quite got their heads around the minimalist ethos of the McDonald's Corporate model yet, so we had to munch through their version...

 

Part one. 

Two is on it's way.

[christosd]

Hifi, good food, good company, good drive, good wine, good beer, more good hifi and 20 minutes between all of 'em. I hope you enjoyed the same reasons I stayed in Adelaide when I had the choice to further my career elsewhere.

[Luc]

Part Two.

 

We knocked back a beer and the Big Macs and scooted off to Tony's ranch(for that's actually what it is) with the knowledge that Ant had to be gone by three due to a prior engagement. Mentally I was telling myself there wont be enough time to take it all in, I was right.

 

Met Tony's lovely wife and she sported that same enigmatic smile that every SNA members wife I've ever met wears...you guys know the one. (my daughter just calls you "Speaker Nerds"  'I don't want to know about your speaker nerd friends Dad. Bu...But..."  'Stop it Dad! )

 

Tony's house is a thing of beauty, the setting, the structure,  the decor is considered and bears witness to a keen eye and taste, I'd of loved to have looked right through it but 'The Shed' called.

 

I knew my ph was taking crap pics so stopped at Tony's mostly as they wouldn't do justice to his house and it's surrounds.

 

'The Shed' is the ultimate understatement. Build your sound room, your listening room(like I did), your theatre room, convert your garage(like more than a few here have), your bedroom, your loft, build a room and incorporate it in your house new or old. Whatever way you do it it's not the same as having a room separate from your house. Separated by distance and big enough to be classed as a small house in overall area.

 

This kind of separation and this kind of size means you can listen to your music at serious volume, fiddle, play, muck around, sleep, drink and make merry and...play with some serious gear at serious volumes and lose yourself. Envious? Yes, yes indeed, but also appreciative of the chance to be in on it, enjoy someone else's passion and to listen and see just how far you can go if you want to.

This was a peek inside another person's very personal space and I felt privileged to be able to enjoy a few hours immersed in it. I'm surprised Tony hasn't got guard dogs and alarms to keep other 'Speaker Nerds' from camping out and begging entry.

 

Housed inside the Shed is Tony's endgame speakers, the Duo's.

 

Ant and I sat down after suitably wandering around Ewwing and Arrring at the bling hidden here and there; 'Oh look! Accuphase 300 something. Look! Klipsche, Gales! Stacks of the buggers, Yammies 1000's used as beer coasters and on and on it goes but centre most were those Duo's.

Tony is still settling them in and the fiddling is at it's early stage so he apologetically said that we might not be hearing them at their best.

 

He's not playing his TT if I have it right as he finds the delights of streaming and Deezer more to his taste at this stage of his journey . If I was living down there I'd be at his door with certain bits of vinyl and assorted 'Speaker Nerd' stuff and try and turn him back to the darkside though.

 

Unfortunately he was having IP address issues with his NAS ect and so was off a fair part of our visit trying to get it sorted...he was shattered. But Ant and I picked out some CD's and chucked them on.

 

First track was off Graceland, Diamonds or whatever it's called. The African chants came out of those improbable looking speakers  and there was an odd noise as our collective jaws hit the floor, we both turned and looked at each other. Yep, we knew, we knew we were listening to the best set up we've heard.

 

The depth the detail the immediacy the grip...my F/ing god! The grip these things have and displayed in this huge room. No way, no way in the world could you get that sound in a small room, however well designed.

I came away from it depressed(if you follow me), I was chatting to a well respected member here with a very very good system still in it's infancy and he's well up the food chain but his words, after I told him of my listening experience were: "We're kidding ourselves aren't we?"  Yes...yes we are.

When you listen to something like these you can get depressed like me(jokingly) or you can file it away and aspire to either getting something similar or trying to get your system to that level of enjoyment(not finesse, I don't think that is what this is about).

 

We didn't have time to listen to the HE speakers with the 30W Ming-Da or the other possible alternatives at Tony's disposal, we didn't have our music(bar Poison Season via Deezer for the five minutes it worked) to let us judge by and I can only imagine how much fun that would be.

 

They are the best speakers I've listened to. It possibly isn't the best system(yet), as Tony's engagement with them is still in it's infancy and there is tweaking to do yet, lots of it.

I eagerly await updates from 'The Shed' and it's new tenants the amazing Avantegarde duo's

 

Here are some of my crappy pics from the afternoon.

 

Some rather larges billets of aluminium.

 

Shi.tty pics :emot-bang:

 

So later that afternoon Tony took a very subdued Luc back to a rellies place and we said adieu and I can't speak highly enough of his hospitality or Ant's. Well above the call of duty. Thank you Tony and Ant.

 

# Tony and I were chatting about rain and how bloody dry it is in the hills, indeed all over Adelaide and it's surrounds(Not the Eyre basin though) and I came home to this..

Got a whole week of it starting tomorrow.

 

 

Cheers guys once again!

 

The sun came out.

[Tony M]

Hi Lee

 

Thanks for that very generous write up of your Adelaide trip - I'm sure Ant will agree it was really great to have you visit the Hills, even if it was all too brief.

 

I'm still pissed off that the streaming network thingy spat the dummy just like it did years ago when Rantan came around to check out the Sonos system.  After you left I found the router had allocated 192.168.1.2 to the shed Sonos and that address was already taken by the NAS!  The fix was easy then, but too late to save the day.  And the worst aspect was that the fiddling around with the network diverted me from remembering to serve dessert which makes me feel like a crap host.

 

Yeah, I love the AG's and I know there's so much more to get from them, but I'm enjoying them so much as it is that seeking the nth degree of audio finesse is taking a back seat.  The darkside may well be revisited eventually too.

 

But, for me the overall message is that it's an absolute delight to have visitors from interstate (local drop-ins are great too  ) and it's nice to have SNA friends in all corners of Oz and further.

 

Edit:  I have to say that 8 to 5 hands position on the steering wheel looks truly weird -  I think it's atypical.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Tony M

[steve u]

Great yarn, thanks for sharing Lee.

Cheers

Steve

[Newman]

Good to see that you were so nicely looked after by our boys down south. You obviously got a kick out of the experience. That's when a hifi community is so rewarding.

 

cheers and come back some day.  

[mondie]

Great write-up Luc and good to see some old friends and read about your shenanigans in my old local area. Tony sure has any amazing 'shed' system/s that's for sure. I can only imagine the AV's have elvated the sound in the shed to a new benchmark, fantastic!

 

I haven't spoken to Adrocks for a couple of years now but we had some fun times listening at my place in Bridgewater.

 

Cheers

[Guest]

Yep, all too brief Mr Luc. Would have been great to make a full day of it but we do the best we can. Twas a true pleasure to meet and share some tunes. Ironically after saying that gales dont image well I decided, on a whim, to upend them on some different stands and pull them about 6 feet into the room..... What a difference!! Possibly the borrowed dac helped a bit as well but the sound gave me goose bumps.[emoji7]

Have to concur with your assessment of the Avantgardes as well. The most vivid and lasting impression for me was dynamics. Its like they can go from zero to 100 and back again in minus time!!!

Have to get up there again real soon.

Anyway Mr Luc, anytime you happen to be in our fair, dry state again give me a yell.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[jt301]

Thanks for the write up Luc. As a tradie, you make a pretty good story teller.

It sounds like you all had a great time, if all too short.

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Great write up Lee.

BTW , The Gales become a whole different speaker when you put them on modern ie rigid stands. The original stands look beautiful but they tend to make the speakers sound tooooooooo 'nice'.

Tony , love the new speakers

[Luc]

@Ozcall  Good observation Gordon I reckon Bear could make a pair of stands for his and test that theory out. Like I said, way to short a time to critically listen to them and of course Tony's set up as well.

 

We need to do a 'Bathurst' at Hahndorf I think.Plenty of room for a tent or two amongst the roos at Tony's.

[Tony M]

I was downloading some photos from the camera tonight and I remembered that I did take a couple of pics of the reprobates despite being preoccupied fussing over a sick computer network:

 

 

[waricle]

The spirit of hifi lives in SA!!!

Come to QLD sometime

[joz]

Omg, the shed has a kitchen with fridge ,if it had a dunny and bathroom I would move in.

Great read there Luc, you really made me want to be there with you guys.

[Guest]

Dunny and bathroom confirmed :-)

[Darren69]

What a great story and what an amazing holiday, some memorable stuff there for sure. Thanks for sharing Lee and guys, what gorgeous systems.

[Guest]

Great write up Lee.

BTW , The Gales become a whole different speaker when you put them on modern ie rigid stands. The original stands look beautiful but they tend to make the speakers sound tooooooooo 'nice'.

Tony , love the new speakers

 

Oddly enough Gordon, I upended them onto some other stands I made and pulled them about 6 feet into the room and...... to coined a hackneyed and mildly irritating acronym, OMG.

[Benje]

Joz

 

the shed has everyThing.  there is even a small TV/video system at the other end of the shed.

And, it is clean.  Not a Thing out of place.  You can argue whether there are too many Things in the shed, but they are all impeccably maintained and kept in order.

 

Benje

ps I managed to remove one item from 'The Shed', for a fee.

[Darren69]

The Shed sounds heaps better than the mildly condescending 'Man Cave' label.

...and sound good I imagine it does.

[Guest]

Joz

 

the shed has everyThing.  there is even a small TV/video system at the other end of the shed.

And, it is clean.  Not a Thiing out of place.  You can argue whether there are too many Thiings in the shed, but they are all impeccably maintained and kept in order.

 

Benje

ps I managed to remove one item from 'The Shed', for a fee.

 

Just fixed your misspellings James....

[Benje]

thanks Bear72.  By the way, I removed a black Thiing, not a red Thiing.  Pity.

[Guest]

Apparently thiings get quite loud at times....