By Last Tuesday, I returned from seeing some clients in Europe, which is a long way from home. I spent time with Dali Loudspeakers and made a visit to Gryphon in Denmark. I saw a new (new to me, at least) Italian speaker company called Rosso Fiorentino in Tuscany. then I swung home through Amsterdam with a quick train ride to Rotterdam to visit Dutch & Dutch Speakers before they move to new, bigger digs. It was a great and somewhat out of character trip, and I had a great time. Amazingly, I am living up to some of the biggest online dating clichés. I am packing up to go back to Europe to attend the Vienna HIFI show in a few days. I literally just got back from Europe but, compelled by the power of well-used airline and credit card miles, I am going back.
On my way back home, I left Amsterdam (there are so many tall, beautiful women walking the streets, it was hard to not fall in love all day, every day there) at 9:00 AM, with gorgeous service on a KLM 787-9 Dreamliner. I was even able to get a super-cool, very realistic model for my little guy in the duty-free store. He absolutely loves it. When I got back to Los Angeles at 11:45 (the same day) after a 10:30 flight, I knew that I needed to stay awake as long as possible to try to get reacclimated to Pacific Standard Time from Central European Time, which is a big shift. A beyond-smooth trip through Global Entry at the Bradley got me into a Lyft Black (no Uber anymore – they are an evil company, and I deleted the app in protest after a very unsafe ride and them backing the driver over the customer) and made the 10-minute trip home.
After turning on the lights, adjusting the HVAC to 73 and actually opening the sliding doors to let in some ocean air, I powered up my rarely-dormant Pass Labs XA 160.8 power amps (read my review)which, as Class-A power amps, draw ALL of the power from the wall ALL of the time. I don’t normally turn my audiophile amps off (I know, I know – you can “power shame” me in the comments, and I will willingly take the deserved abuse) when I am home, but when I am gone for days, there is no value in leaving them powered up. And I don’t leave my amps powered up for sonic reasons, as I can’t really tell much of a difference. Dr. Sean Olive and his former team at Harman have done the testing on warm-up (there isn’t much of an audible difference), but I just like having the music ready to go whenever the urge hits me to grab my iPad and spin some jams.
Like That First Sip of Coffee (or Diet Coke) in the Morning – the First Notes Back on Your Audiophile System Often Sound Glorious!
Still bleary-eyed from my 7,000-mile trip home, I stumbled upon a past search in the BluOS app for my BlueSound Node ICON streamer (read the review) and cued up some Van Halen for lack of something more thoughtful or considered. Some Van Halen is always a safe bet, but the first song that I fumbled into in a jet-lagged daze was an underrated Van Hagar classic in “Finish What You Started.” Back in the mid-1980s, I didn’t adjust well to the second generation of Van Halen as I was such a big fan of the David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen “Brown Sound” era but decades later, I have found an affinity for this more love-songy, Sammy VH material.
What was shocking was hearing the opening of this mostly acoustic track for the first time in more than a week away from my newly acoustically-treated room and nicely-installed system. Did I hear good audio when I was away? Yes, I did. Dali had some great listening opportunities at their gorgeous factories in rural coastal Denmark. Gryphon also had an insane audiophile listening room setup in the gentle hills kilometers from Aarhus, Denmark, that was beyond sonically impressive. Dutch & Dutch was moving soon, so we didn’t do any listening there, but Rosso Fiorentino was playing speakers in an underground Tuscan recording studio, where they were playing their new $5,000 floorstanding speakers being tweaked for Vienna and making great sound.
Regardless of price, none of these great audiophile experiences were making the sound that I make at home with my reference audiophile system. That was obvious from the first note played.
Familiarity likely has a lot to do with this opinion, and familiarity counts when it comes to your own personal audiophile system. We carefully curate the gear that we love with the budget that we can afford to get the best possible sound that suits our tastes. No wonder we love our stereo systems.
As Alex Van Halen (I think it is him, but it could be Sammy) counts down the opening to this more-acoustic-than-normal track for the boys the first few shimmeringly clean notes of Eddie’s guitar jumped out in front of my Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s (read my review) as if I had my own Abbey Road Studios setup in a condo in Marina del Rey. When the Michael Anthony bass line engaged my SVS SV-4000 subwoofer (read the review), I was officially home. A slight nudge to the volume on the iPad, and things were all good.
Absence Makes the Audiophile Heart Grow Fonder?
It is a true blessing to be able to work from home when you have a super-cool audio system. I am able to listen to my music all day, every day, even if it is often at low levels. It is a true luxury. When I kept offices in Brentwood and Beverly Hills in a past life, I still had audiophile systems that were rarely ever played loudly but provided great background music as I developed and eventually sold my past publications.
A little time away from your audiophile system can give you new perspective on the work that you’ve done to date. I don’t care where you are in your audiophile journey, or even where you might be going, as the moment that we are in right now is as good as any to enjoy. That first stunningly good blast of music is a pleasantly eye-opening musical experience that can remind you why you made all the key decisions that you did to get to this moment.
Take a few minutes to become acclimated with your current system and enjoy all the benefits of what you’ve built. Be present. Live in the now and sonically bathe in the moment, if only for a little while. You have earned this joy.
Vacations For Audiophiles
Us Californians forget that every day doesn’t come with perfect weather by birthright or simple locale. It is arrogant on our part, and inexcusable for me, as I grew up in Philadelphia and I know what “shore traffic” is and exactly why it is a very real summer phenomenon. I’ve also suffered through Friday morning “Trade Parade” trying to get to golf in The Hamptons in Long Island. In the fall, this isn’t an issue and the weather (and golf) is better then, but I digress.
Many audiophiles need to get their vacations in while the summer is in full swing, and more power to them. I know as a veteran of this industry that from Fourth of July to Labor Day (or the first week of college football games) that pretty much nothing happens in the audiophile world. The deep summer is a great time to take on longer-term projects for the publication for me. Our readers do the same thing, and we see a seasonal dip in traffic, which is perfectly OK. We rock hardest at the holidays and around the Super Bowl. Decades of data back up this statement.
A little time away from our audiophile systems often makes for a greater appreciation for what we have. As soon as the kids are back in school and a little cool fall weather is headed our way, the old tube amps can get glowing again in earnest.
Protecting Your Stereo System While You Are Away
Longtime audiophile reviewer Paul Wilson lives in North Carolina, and there are massive thunderstorms in the summer in his area. These powerful storms roll in with dark clouds and change the weather quickly and dramatically, often in just 30 minutes. If you get us to be honest, us Californians are actually jealous of these crazy storms, as we often go nine months without rain and look at what that did for my neighborhood in Pacific Palisades. It all burned down. A little rain is a good thing, but a lot of lightning is a whole other thing.
Paul learned the hard way years ago that a lightning strike – even nearby – can be massively destructive to an audiophile system. He had a very expensive Japanese amp damaged by a surge in a thunderstorm, and the amp was not doing well. It needed a massive, months-long repair that took a lot of fun out of the hobby for Paul back in that era.
If you live in an area where big electrical storms are common, you might do as Paul does when he travels in the summer. Paul physically unplugs his system before he calls the alarm company to let him know that’s he’s headed to Bora Bora, Detroit or where he and Holli might be headed. That’s right – he unplugs it from the wall, so that if a big surge were to come, other appliances might take a beating, but not his sensitive audiophile gear. Turning off your amps is one level, but it likely only takes 30 to 60 seconds longer to unplug your power conditioner and other items from the wall. It takes not much longer to plug them back in when you return from your trip with tan lines and a few extra pounds that you (can you say “projection” on my part, as I ate incredible French fries twice a day when in The Netherlands last week) packed on.
Final Thoughts on Taking a Summer Break from Your Audiophile System
I love my current car. There is nothing like driving a big-ass Mercedes SUV – especially an EV with its low “fuel” cost and super-fast 0-60 numbers. It is a very heavy vehicle at almost 7,500 pounds yet handles responsively, thanks to the mark’s race heritage and design sensibilities. The Mercedes EQS has every luxury known to man and safety features that other companies haven’t even thought about. Sometimes when I travel, I can justify a nice rental car (German company SIXT is a good option, I have learned) but I can’t always be driving behind the Star and the Laurel in a Benz. And that is totally OK, as there is nothing wrong with a Ford Explorer from Hertz when you are bouncing around Philly, seeing the parents. It isn’t trying to be an S-Class, and you are not paying for that, either, but when you get back to LAX and your chariot awaits, it is a good feeling. A very good feeling.
Returning to your audiophile system when you have taken a little time off can have the same intoxicating effect.
Traditional audiophile media promotes some seriously lame concepts that we enthusiastically reject here at FutureAudiophile.com. Your system isn’t good unless it is expensive? Bullshit. Your aren’t “in the club” if you aren’t constantly changing out gear? More bullshit. Your system IS good – likely great. Is there room to improve? Of course there is, but perhaps the summer is a perfect time to take a moment to step aside from our lifelong (and never-ending) journey towards audio perfection, and settle back to realize the fruits of our sonic labor. When fall hits, we can audition some new DACs or try out a new, sexy turntable but for now – let’s take a moment to appreciate the audiophile blessings that we have today.
Do you ever take time away from your system? Do you ever seasonally change out your components just for a change of sound/experience? Does your system sound good to you when you return from a trip? Share with us your comments and we will post ASAP.
