Johnny J.

Online Store Buyer

October 17, 2015

I haven't spent much time on your playlist.  I have a massive CD 

collection that I am working through.

Now I'll give you a little more detail on how I audition the speakers 

with friends and family.

I tell them to bring some of their favorite CDs so they can hear the 

music on them for the first time in their life.

Ordinary people have never heard real stereo imaging.  When they hear 

them on these speakers, I say something like "We never knew this was on 

our CDs all these years."

I start the audition the same way each time.

I play the first three tracks I played when I got the speakers.

I play them at a soft volume level.  I ask them to close their eyes.  I 

find that I can concentrate and hear the music much better with my eyes 

closed.

The first song is "First Time Every I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack.

First I go over what you covered in the blog about the cocktail party 

effect, explaining that they can focus on any specific detail in the 

music, and ask them to focus on the sounds coming from her lips.  A 

close friend of mine asked me if it was a special CD.  I assured him if 

was a very old CD.  Everyone is blown away by this song.

Next I play the first two tracks on Santana's Abraxas. I tell them the 

first track we usually just "endure" waiting for the next one or just 

skip it and wonder why it is even on the CD.  But with these speakers we 

find that it is a beautiful stereo instrumental.  Next is Black Magic 

Woman, which everyone has heard, but have never really "heard" it.

By the end of these three tracks everyone is blown away.

I then play their CDs or any requests from my collection.  One person 

brought a lot of new music and most of it wasn't even stereo.  He was 

very disappointed.  (These speakers let you know if the music isn't good 

quality!)  I told him it was probably made for the modern, ear-bud 

wearing market.

(However, I recently found a pair of ear-buds with amazing stereo imaging.)

After the audition, everyone agrees the speakers are worth ten times 

what they cost.  They all want them.

Working through my CD collection, I am pleasantly surprised at how much 

of it is really good stereo music, even for back in the day.

I had the speakers for several weeks before I got to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida 

by Iron Butterfly, and it sounds great!

Some CDs are a mixed bag, and some are poor quality.  On the Roberta 

Flack CD, that is the only song with decent quality.

I am enjoying rediscovering my music collection.

One last thought.  Listening with eyes closed, the speakers disappear, 

and you hear the stereo image of the performance.