After the holiday break, it is time to kick off the systems topic with a triple treat. From sound practices issue 3, it is No Stone Unturned by Herb Reichert. In it, Herb recounts a road trip to three friends that each have an ultra-fi system that they (partially) built themselves. Their components are described, but always in the context of the owners personality and the system approach. Also there are schematics of the Loesch phono preamp and a push-pull amplifier.
teaser quote: ‘An individual’s approach to audio communicates a lot about that person to another who understands. Handmade systems are especially fun and enlightening because they communicate the builder’s individuality and distinct view of the art.’
a gift from Joe Roberts, SP editor: from the sound practices CD, here is the original article.
a gift from Joe Roberts, SP editor: from the sound practices CD, here is the original article.
my take
The first thing I noticed, rereading the article for the club, is the topic of influence. It becomes clear that Arthur Loesch had a profound influence on both Herb and jc morrison, whose writing we get to fully enjoy around here. But also the system of Bob Cummings looks quite a lot like Arthur’s. I would not be surprised if Arthur Loesch designed—if not built—most of the electronics in Bob’s system. Bob seems to be the speaker guy.
And suddenly the origin of Herb’s cunning plan for the BLISS system crossover—as outlined 2 issue later—becomes clear.
Now I must admit that over the years I was under the impression that Bob was the race car driver looking for thrill and Jon the romantic. Probably because I was studying the diagrams more than tracking the names in the article. Or the impression of the kevlar cone makes, vs. the Zen system. Well I got that completely the wrong way around. It really proves the point that you cannot stop the hand of the builder of ultra-fi gear from shaping the way the system sounds. Same for the great similarities between Bob’s and Arthur’s system. One architecture, two very different results: one very romantic, the other very scientific.
Now go and read the article, see you next week.
ps: there was an update by Jon in issue 6, Readers’ Forum.
update (4-9-11): seems I was extrapolating in the wrong direction. On the Joelist, Randy, aka ‘bear’ of bearlabs, writes:
“Please let me correct this, add some things, and set the record straight.
“Arthur did have significant influence on both Herb and JC—they can comment on that if they like (does Herb still subscribe?). Art turned me on to MJ magazine… and really made me take notice of triodes.
“However, it’s more like Arthur’s system looked more like Bob’s than the other way around. Though they never really resembled or sounded at all like each others. Bob’s interest and building pre-date’s Arthur’s.
“However they did talk and try a whole lot of things at the same time. Bob built all of his own amps and speakers. Of that I am 100% certain.
“Arthur is/was more of the experimenter, and tried almost everything he could come up with in electronic designs, mostly preamps and power amps, and not limited to tube type—although he built tube type amps and modified solid state ones. I built the solid state amps and only a few tube amps… although Art and Bob knew each other before I knew them or JC and Herb. There was a third person early on, a fellow named Jon Baier who started Art on the path that ended up being his preamp design. Jon dropped out about the time I met Arthur and Bob. …and a fourth person named Phil Fisher whose bent was mostly mechanical was on the scene, and he did wild modifications to Klipshorns and Dynaco ST120 amps, and built a fabulous turntable that I wish I had a photo of. Bob kind of watched what Arthur was doing and when it got to a point where there was an interesting result, Bob then incorporated that into his system in some cases. Bob had modified some Acrosound ULII amps to run ZFB and PP 300B, those ran the bass (iirc) of his 3way speaker—the one with the Focal/ATC mid/Focal tweeters, a SE 2A3 or 300B ran the tweeters, don't recall the mid amp exactly. Joe Levy took many of Phil’s ideas and incorporated them into his own custom made TT… Around 1988 or maybe a year earlier I started the Catskill & Adirondack Audio Society, and Art, Bob & Phil were amongst the earliest members. Joe Levy came along a short while later starting off as a DIY neophyte and joined the club.
“There’s more but the main idea is that Bob is/was his ‘own man’, and built things his way. Bob is/was rather low key and quiet.
“Arthur is/was the experimenter who enthusiastically delved into all manner of things audio. Arthur is/was sort of a preacher of audio.
“Phil (RIP) was a mechanical wizard who was also a builder of custom bicycles, a former GE Schenectady Tube plant employee, and sort of a 50’s cool (pre-beat) personality.
“Subsequent to that system in SP, Bob went with the upstairs system that jc mentioned a short while ago, with the MLS & 211 parallel amps, and then a set of Altec 203s that I modified and a pair of unobtainium compression drivers that he acquired from me… afaik that is/was the last system he put together…”
to which jc morrison adds:
“jazz is the teacher, funk is the preacher!
“bear got it right. jon baier was a bigger part of the relationship earlier on. friend of bob’s, somehow, i think. he’s the guy that got everyone into specialist parts… teflon caps and the trivia of industrial/war surplus was jon. also GE schenechtady… great altec 604 system, maybe the only great one i’ve ever heard (threw away the crossover). although i’ve since heard that the As are the ones with the good mids…?
“arthur’s mind is a treat for me. has a way of turning complex relationships between physical processes into stories. good stories! it’s a practice i try to continue to this day… always looking for interrelationships. connections. but not bullshitting himself or you when none exist. he changed my relationship with the science of audio reproduction. he’s my other mentor, besides tricky dicky sequerra.
“bob cummings. hmmm… he is the master. the numero uno in my book. best ears
of any audiophile i’ve met. funny thing is that chung is weirdly similar. his systems are always like real. they aren’t always perfect or don’t have problems… but he pulls the best out of what ever is there. and he engineers things slowly and meticulously. dietmar and cummings are also a cut from a similar cloth… all of them have systems in the first class. i have built things that have gone into first rate systems, but i have never (in my view) owned anything complete that matched bob’s best (or dietmar or chung). ram ghoshal’s big room is also a candidate… and ram was also a part of that upstate scene. all audiomart junkies too.
“bob sometimes had money to blow on audio, unlike many of us, and i do remember him buying a spectral amp that he and arthur promptly gutted!!! some friend had a quantec and they matched noise balanced fets from siliconix. the amp was completely different. you could actually listen to it. i don’t think he stuck with it but he tried it! what didn’t he try? he had those martin logans too. gutted the bass out right away. he came over to herb’s place, screwed around with his crossover on the WE26/altec288 and the audax tweeter. it was outrageous. herb kept it that way until he had to sell audio note.
“rilke said that love was something old people alone could do well… mainly because we don’t teach young people what love is or act as good role models. forget about pop culture. there’s no love there, only commerce. the key was to love the questions more than the answers (his words, not mine). that is what bob and arthur mean for me.”
For completeness, a final exchange about Bob’s speakers:
jc: “One tiny detail… The midbass was an Eton 11" and not a focal. Arthur had a focal 10" paper woofer in his system for a bit.”
bear: “He then changed to a 12" or 15" I don't recall ‘W’ cone Focal... :D Glad we could get together on this…”
jc: “oh yeah, bear, you are right about that… the W cone. i really loved his system when it had the eton. it was more of a dance music/classical impact kind of thing with the focal. more boogie factor. but it was so delicate and right with the eton. so much little stuff there…
“thanks for reminding me!”
[quoted with bear’s and jc’s permission —ps]
update (4-9-11): seems I was extrapolating in the wrong direction. On the Joelist, Randy, aka ‘bear’ of bearlabs, writes:
“Please let me correct this, add some things, and set the record straight.
“Arthur did have significant influence on both Herb and JC—they can comment on that if they like (does Herb still subscribe?). Art turned me on to MJ magazine… and really made me take notice of triodes.
“However, it’s more like Arthur’s system looked more like Bob’s than the other way around. Though they never really resembled or sounded at all like each others. Bob’s interest and building pre-date’s Arthur’s.
“However they did talk and try a whole lot of things at the same time. Bob built all of his own amps and speakers. Of that I am 100% certain.
“Arthur is/was more of the experimenter, and tried almost everything he could come up with in electronic designs, mostly preamps and power amps, and not limited to tube type—although he built tube type amps and modified solid state ones. I built the solid state amps and only a few tube amps… although Art and Bob knew each other before I knew them or JC and Herb. There was a third person early on, a fellow named Jon Baier who started Art on the path that ended up being his preamp design. Jon dropped out about the time I met Arthur and Bob. …and a fourth person named Phil Fisher whose bent was mostly mechanical was on the scene, and he did wild modifications to Klipshorns and Dynaco ST120 amps, and built a fabulous turntable that I wish I had a photo of. Bob kind of watched what Arthur was doing and when it got to a point where there was an interesting result, Bob then incorporated that into his system in some cases. Bob had modified some Acrosound ULII amps to run ZFB and PP 300B, those ran the bass (iirc) of his 3way speaker—the one with the Focal/ATC mid/Focal tweeters, a SE 2A3 or 300B ran the tweeters, don't recall the mid amp exactly. Joe Levy took many of Phil’s ideas and incorporated them into his own custom made TT… Around 1988 or maybe a year earlier I started the Catskill & Adirondack Audio Society, and Art, Bob & Phil were amongst the earliest members. Joe Levy came along a short while later starting off as a DIY neophyte and joined the club.
“There’s more but the main idea is that Bob is/was his ‘own man’, and built things his way. Bob is/was rather low key and quiet.
“Arthur is/was the experimenter who enthusiastically delved into all manner of things audio. Arthur is/was sort of a preacher of audio.
“Phil (RIP) was a mechanical wizard who was also a builder of custom bicycles, a former GE Schenectady Tube plant employee, and sort of a 50’s cool (pre-beat) personality.
“Subsequent to that system in SP, Bob went with the upstairs system that jc mentioned a short while ago, with the MLS & 211 parallel amps, and then a set of Altec 203s that I modified and a pair of unobtainium compression drivers that he acquired from me… afaik that is/was the last system he put together…”
to which jc morrison adds:
“jazz is the teacher, funk is the preacher!
“bear got it right. jon baier was a bigger part of the relationship earlier on. friend of bob’s, somehow, i think. he’s the guy that got everyone into specialist parts… teflon caps and the trivia of industrial/war surplus was jon. also GE schenechtady… great altec 604 system, maybe the only great one i’ve ever heard (threw away the crossover). although i’ve since heard that the As are the ones with the good mids…?
“arthur’s mind is a treat for me. has a way of turning complex relationships between physical processes into stories. good stories! it’s a practice i try to continue to this day… always looking for interrelationships. connections. but not bullshitting himself or you when none exist. he changed my relationship with the science of audio reproduction. he’s my other mentor, besides tricky dicky sequerra.
“bob cummings. hmmm… he is the master. the numero uno in my book. best ears
of any audiophile i’ve met. funny thing is that chung is weirdly similar. his systems are always like real. they aren’t always perfect or don’t have problems… but he pulls the best out of what ever is there. and he engineers things slowly and meticulously. dietmar and cummings are also a cut from a similar cloth… all of them have systems in the first class. i have built things that have gone into first rate systems, but i have never (in my view) owned anything complete that matched bob’s best (or dietmar or chung). ram ghoshal’s big room is also a candidate… and ram was also a part of that upstate scene. all audiomart junkies too.
“bob sometimes had money to blow on audio, unlike many of us, and i do remember him buying a spectral amp that he and arthur promptly gutted!!! some friend had a quantec and they matched noise balanced fets from siliconix. the amp was completely different. you could actually listen to it. i don’t think he stuck with it but he tried it! what didn’t he try? he had those martin logans too. gutted the bass out right away. he came over to herb’s place, screwed around with his crossover on the WE26/altec288 and the audax tweeter. it was outrageous. herb kept it that way until he had to sell audio note.
“rilke said that love was something old people alone could do well… mainly because we don’t teach young people what love is or act as good role models. forget about pop culture. there’s no love there, only commerce. the key was to love the questions more than the answers (his words, not mine). that is what bob and arthur mean for me.”
For completeness, a final exchange about Bob’s speakers:
jc: “One tiny detail… The midbass was an Eton 11" and not a focal. Arthur had a focal 10" paper woofer in his system for a bit.”
bear: “He then changed to a 12" or 15" I don't recall ‘W’ cone Focal... :D Glad we could get together on this…”
jc: “oh yeah, bear, you are right about that… the W cone. i really loved his system when it had the eton. it was more of a dance music/classical impact kind of thing with the focal. more boogie factor. but it was so delicate and right with the eton. so much little stuff there…
“thanks for reminding me!”
[quoted with bear’s and jc’s permission —ps]
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