Rodney_gold
R.I.P. 5 June 2018
I visited Achim at NO13 last night , a brief visit , but I left astounded. No pics tho..sorry..
Firstly , I need to get to explain his house .. the visit was worth it just to see the place and the artwork.
The house must have been built in the early 1900's or so , it has massive rooms with high (and I'm talking 4-5m here) ceilings.
On entering you are stopped in your tracks in the "lounge" the first thing you notice is the high ceiling and the magnificent chandelier.
Then your eyes get drawn to the furnishing , a full size carved canoe, huge double balinese style carved doors and the full size alabaster
statue of grandma.
There are all sorts of other furnishing and cupboards there , an eclectic mix that works extremely well with the house. I saw other sections of the house , much in the same style.
And then there is the artwork , Achim explained the story and intent behind each piece. Most of it might not be suitable for the average
calvanistic family .. but the pieces are truly amazing, kind of daliesque but with some photorealism , the subject matter is very controversial and is often very dark .. I cannot adequately describe the artwork , You HAVE to go there and see it.
If I had the moolah , I would love some of those pieces (they start at R150k...)
The treatment and style Achim and his lovely wife have imparted to this majestic building is legendary - it would make an exceptional
feature in any decorating magazine.
There is a surprise , a courtyard with a fountain and amazing plants, statues and other "things" - every one of them a desirable piece
I would swap my house for his , in a heartbeat.
Then the man himself: Achim , despite his protestations to the contrary , his command of english is excellent. He is a little younger than I , has a lot more hair than I (kinda like Fabio style ) and is extremely friendly , his interests are wide ranging and we had a lot in common , we chatted more than we listened to music.. He is passionate about the house , his artwork and more importantly , his hifi and music , not in any overbearing way and there is NO hard sell at all , he is just pleased to have you come over. I got on really well with him and felt real comfortable in his home and in his company.
Now on to the hifi.
He has 3 rooms as far as I can see , dedicated to Hifi I saw a smaller room than the main room , with lots of affordable stuff , I asked for some prices and they were comparable to euro prices and in fact a lot below , bringing in the stuff yourself would cost you substantially more than buying it from him , this even extends to the mega buck stuff.
That room was for the more affordable stuff , on par with the stuff you would buy in any hifi shop .. so it's not all "unobtanium" gear at all , worth a visit if you looking for more modest stuff.
I'm sure Achim can fill in more about what equipment was there.
There are pieces of equipment scattered in the 3 rooms ..I cannot tell you what was what in model numbers etc
The first listening was in the "cigar room" , this is Achims "fun" playground , a long thin room with an impossibly huge set of Tannoy
Westminster Royal SE's stuffed in it , all powered by budget electronics. the speakers are almost as tall as I and were about 1.5 to 2 meters apart.
A total mismatch with the room ..but as I said , this is Achims "fun" room where he puts together some odd stuff...
The midrange that came out of those speakers was amazing , rich , full , bodied , smooth -- coloured as hell , but oh so listenable.. I didn't really listen long enough to evaluate bass etc , but the sound was surprisingly cohesive for the total mismatch of the venue to the speakers. If you are into female vocals and sax type music , these speakers are a wet dream.
The main room is longish and thinish - probably about 12m x 6m , with those high ceilings , it is divided in 2 by a wall nib about 1/2 way. Essentially 1/2 the room is gallery and the other 1/2 is listening room. The gallery sports the complimentary statue of "grandpa" - life size..
Artwork adorns the walls and other collectibles are scattered around. The picture Achim posted does not do justice to the room.
The Gryphon speakers are room dominating , I'm not sure they would get into a house with 2.4m ceiling , the bass towers alone weigh in at 280kgs!!!!
The room is pretty neutral in it's liveliness , but I think the room is compromised for those speakers , IMO they need a room of around
15m x 10m to shine.
It is really impossible to perhaps treat the room acoustically as the artwork dominates and the wood floor has a huge cavity underneath and
does act as a resonator. The walls are partially upholstered , so there is a fair degree of diffusion on the side walls .
I'm not sure , if I had that room , whether I would bother with treatment as it would require a huge drop in the aesthetics .. the visual aspect of the room is as much a part as its sonics
Apart from the speakers , there are stacks of Gryphon boxes at the source of the sound , a CDP and a TT. I did not see what they were , the speakers and the amp , which is the size of a small substation , just dominated... amp is on a plinth in front of the speakers , a beast of a thing - I didn't see what cables and interconnects were used.
On to the sound....
You really have to dim the lights and close your eyes when you listen , the sheer size of the stuff colours your expectations, you expect this huge wall of sound and a massively tall soundstage and are surprised and shocked when you hear it in actuality - it's imagery and soundstage is "normal" . Easy to pinpoint instruments and they do sound lifelike , rather than "huge". I felt the soundstage could do with a little more width. In terms of the speaker disappearing , you have to cut yourself off from the visuals to get a good sense of this.
The speakers are not run in and I feel for the ultimate disappearing act , maybe some experimentation is needed re positioning or the position of the listening chair , not an easy task with these!!!
Tonality wise , the mids were a lot cleaner than the Westminsters and sounded very very good , very natural.
The treble has sparkle and detail without being at all harsh or sibilant. I loved that aspect
The midbass and low bass was not as good as the rest however , there were some resonance that could be heard , the bass towers need to be relocated and decoupled from the hollow wood floor , I'm not sure where I would put them , but the bass lacked some slam and some depth and sometimes masked the mids and treble
Evidently they can be equalised and fettled and fiddled with. Either that or some acoustic treatment (as I said , almost a non option) or some DSP room correction for them.
Moving those towers around is not like getting up off your chair , tweaking and then sitting down , you need 3-4 hefty front rank rugby players to aid you.
Ultimately , the main system was very listenable and an enjoyable experience , it was easy to hear the potential of them.
I would have loved to stay longer .. there was other hifi scattered around that can best be described as audio porn - the Absolute 845 Integrated from Unison Research is a piece of art and the Brinkman "Vollverst?rker" (Integrated) with the see thru top is a thing of beauty.
I repeat , Achim is passionate about hifi and music , not some pushy salesperson , he welcomes his visitors and whether you are they to buy , to audition , to look or chat or whatever , you just feel comfortable. You owe it to yourself to go visit....
Welcome to the Cape Town Audio scene Achim.
Firstly , I need to get to explain his house .. the visit was worth it just to see the place and the artwork.
The house must have been built in the early 1900's or so , it has massive rooms with high (and I'm talking 4-5m here) ceilings.
On entering you are stopped in your tracks in the "lounge" the first thing you notice is the high ceiling and the magnificent chandelier.
Then your eyes get drawn to the furnishing , a full size carved canoe, huge double balinese style carved doors and the full size alabaster
statue of grandma.
There are all sorts of other furnishing and cupboards there , an eclectic mix that works extremely well with the house. I saw other sections of the house , much in the same style.
And then there is the artwork , Achim explained the story and intent behind each piece. Most of it might not be suitable for the average
calvanistic family .. but the pieces are truly amazing, kind of daliesque but with some photorealism , the subject matter is very controversial and is often very dark .. I cannot adequately describe the artwork , You HAVE to go there and see it.
If I had the moolah , I would love some of those pieces (they start at R150k...)
The treatment and style Achim and his lovely wife have imparted to this majestic building is legendary - it would make an exceptional
feature in any decorating magazine.
There is a surprise , a courtyard with a fountain and amazing plants, statues and other "things" - every one of them a desirable piece
I would swap my house for his , in a heartbeat.
Then the man himself: Achim , despite his protestations to the contrary , his command of english is excellent. He is a little younger than I , has a lot more hair than I (kinda like Fabio style ) and is extremely friendly , his interests are wide ranging and we had a lot in common , we chatted more than we listened to music.. He is passionate about the house , his artwork and more importantly , his hifi and music , not in any overbearing way and there is NO hard sell at all , he is just pleased to have you come over. I got on really well with him and felt real comfortable in his home and in his company.
Now on to the hifi.
He has 3 rooms as far as I can see , dedicated to Hifi I saw a smaller room than the main room , with lots of affordable stuff , I asked for some prices and they were comparable to euro prices and in fact a lot below , bringing in the stuff yourself would cost you substantially more than buying it from him , this even extends to the mega buck stuff.
That room was for the more affordable stuff , on par with the stuff you would buy in any hifi shop .. so it's not all "unobtanium" gear at all , worth a visit if you looking for more modest stuff.
I'm sure Achim can fill in more about what equipment was there.
There are pieces of equipment scattered in the 3 rooms ..I cannot tell you what was what in model numbers etc
The first listening was in the "cigar room" , this is Achims "fun" playground , a long thin room with an impossibly huge set of Tannoy
Westminster Royal SE's stuffed in it , all powered by budget electronics. the speakers are almost as tall as I and were about 1.5 to 2 meters apart.
A total mismatch with the room ..but as I said , this is Achims "fun" room where he puts together some odd stuff...
The midrange that came out of those speakers was amazing , rich , full , bodied , smooth -- coloured as hell , but oh so listenable.. I didn't really listen long enough to evaluate bass etc , but the sound was surprisingly cohesive for the total mismatch of the venue to the speakers. If you are into female vocals and sax type music , these speakers are a wet dream.
The main room is longish and thinish - probably about 12m x 6m , with those high ceilings , it is divided in 2 by a wall nib about 1/2 way. Essentially 1/2 the room is gallery and the other 1/2 is listening room. The gallery sports the complimentary statue of "grandpa" - life size..
Artwork adorns the walls and other collectibles are scattered around. The picture Achim posted does not do justice to the room.
The Gryphon speakers are room dominating , I'm not sure they would get into a house with 2.4m ceiling , the bass towers alone weigh in at 280kgs!!!!
The room is pretty neutral in it's liveliness , but I think the room is compromised for those speakers , IMO they need a room of around
15m x 10m to shine.
It is really impossible to perhaps treat the room acoustically as the artwork dominates and the wood floor has a huge cavity underneath and
does act as a resonator. The walls are partially upholstered , so there is a fair degree of diffusion on the side walls .
I'm not sure , if I had that room , whether I would bother with treatment as it would require a huge drop in the aesthetics .. the visual aspect of the room is as much a part as its sonics
Apart from the speakers , there are stacks of Gryphon boxes at the source of the sound , a CDP and a TT. I did not see what they were , the speakers and the amp , which is the size of a small substation , just dominated... amp is on a plinth in front of the speakers , a beast of a thing - I didn't see what cables and interconnects were used.
On to the sound....
You really have to dim the lights and close your eyes when you listen , the sheer size of the stuff colours your expectations, you expect this huge wall of sound and a massively tall soundstage and are surprised and shocked when you hear it in actuality - it's imagery and soundstage is "normal" . Easy to pinpoint instruments and they do sound lifelike , rather than "huge". I felt the soundstage could do with a little more width. In terms of the speaker disappearing , you have to cut yourself off from the visuals to get a good sense of this.
The speakers are not run in and I feel for the ultimate disappearing act , maybe some experimentation is needed re positioning or the position of the listening chair , not an easy task with these!!!
Tonality wise , the mids were a lot cleaner than the Westminsters and sounded very very good , very natural.
The treble has sparkle and detail without being at all harsh or sibilant. I loved that aspect
The midbass and low bass was not as good as the rest however , there were some resonance that could be heard , the bass towers need to be relocated and decoupled from the hollow wood floor , I'm not sure where I would put them , but the bass lacked some slam and some depth and sometimes masked the mids and treble
Evidently they can be equalised and fettled and fiddled with. Either that or some acoustic treatment (as I said , almost a non option) or some DSP room correction for them.
Moving those towers around is not like getting up off your chair , tweaking and then sitting down , you need 3-4 hefty front rank rugby players to aid you.
Ultimately , the main system was very listenable and an enjoyable experience , it was easy to hear the potential of them.
I would have loved to stay longer .. there was other hifi scattered around that can best be described as audio porn - the Absolute 845 Integrated from Unison Research is a piece of art and the Brinkman "Vollverst?rker" (Integrated) with the see thru top is a thing of beauty.
I repeat , Achim is passionate about hifi and music , not some pushy salesperson , he welcomes his visitors and whether you are they to buy , to audition , to look or chat or whatever , you just feel comfortable. You owe it to yourself to go visit....
Welcome to the Cape Town Audio scene Achim.
