Seriously tho, let's have some fun!

[E-Stat]

Tough life rw...

a-ha? A-HA??? It's hard for me to even imagine HP playing pop like that! Not that there's anything wrong with it as I actually have that album (not disc, now I'm dating myself) and it's a lot of fun.

While the majority of what he listens to is unquestionably classical in nature, you might be surprised at some of what he plays. The last time I was there, he played The Charlie Daniels Band "Devil Went Down to Georgia" cut ! Sounds awesome on the Alons. I usually bring some CDRs of mine so see what they would sound like. You wouldn't believe how nice Madonna's "Frozen" can sound. It's amazing how that system reveals layers of rhythmic content that I was never aware of before. It is so easy to follow any musical line.

You've referenced HP before and I was curious, how do you know him?

Short answer - dumb luck and fortuitous geography. Long answer starts with the fact that during my teen years, I was completely absorbed into audio. Since the age of 15, I worked summers just to plow back into the system. I went through a fairly steep improvement curve for several years. Even still, I couldn't imagine what the exotic stuff was like. In 1974, I checked out a new audio store. I usually liked to ask a sales guy a couple of questions for which I knew the answers to see what kind of line of BS they would feed me. This guy didn't and I was dumbfounded. He was completely honest and quite frank as to his opinions (we later became good friends). He also carried some nice lines like Magnepan, Audio Research, Crown, Braun, and H-K. While he had a pair of Tympani's upstairs, he invited me along with some guys from the shop to hear his pair after business one Saturday night. They were bi-amped Tympani I-Us using Audio Research electronics, Linn table, SME, and an Ortofon MC cartridge. Although I was never much a Paul Simon fan, I distinctly remember hearing "Kodachrome" on the Maggies. I had never heard a speaker not sound like a speaker in a box. Voices were incredibly natural. Well Julian knew a bunch of Atlanta area audiophiles including Dr. John Cooledge (aka JWC of TAS). I met him over at the store one Saturday afternoon (my usual weekend activity) and the good Doctor invited Julian, Sam, and me to his house for dinner and some listening. This was when I was first exposed to John's Dayton-Wright electrostatics - I've been hooked ever since. I was immediately taken at their pure, coherent sound. Incidentally, it was both Julian and John who really got me into classical since that was what both of them favored. My "freeze frame" musical memory on the Dayton's was an EMI recording of Michel Beroff playing Prokofiev piano concertos. Incredible. Late in '76, Bob Reiman and Jim Strickland had brought JWC a pair of Acoustats to review. Julian soon picked up the line. I had my own pair a year later. About that same time, Harry came to Atlanta to visit JWC. Being the gracious host, JWC had invited some of the guys over to Chez Cooledge to meet him. At age 21, I found him rather bigger than life to say the least. We have been good friends since and he has proven to be a valuable mentor along with Julian and JWC. I made my first trip to Seacliff in '80 when he had the big IRS towers. This was kind of a pivotal point in my audio awareness in that for the first time I could say that I had really heard what the state-of-the-art could do. In one sense, my journey to audio nirvana had ended. There really was no where else to go (at least for 1980). Anyway, he really is a fascinating guy with an infectious laugh - more like a cackle. Boy, can he tell some audio related stories and he is not shy to speak his mind! He also taught me how to listen and what to listen for.

Actually, a better questions is do you need company for your trip .

I truly wish others had the same opportunity. I find that my point of reference as to what an audio system can do gets completely recalibrated when I visit HP. His current system is simply beyond belief. It is so revealing of everything - recordings and components alike. I remember hearing the GamuT CD-1 vs. the Burmester 969/970. The differences were immediately obvious after about twenty minutes of listening. While the GamuT was very nice and the relatively inexpensive underdog, the Burmesters bettered it in several respects. (I bought a GamuT shortly thereafter)

I'd say "Have fun" but that would be understatement of truly epic proportions.

Thanks. Long Island also affords me another treat - absolutely wonderful sushi better than is available in Georgia. My senses go into a bit of sensory overload during those trips.

rw