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    The Computer Audiophile

    Meet The Audiophile Style Community | Volume 2

    Welcome to the second installment of our Meet the Audiophile Style Community series. All installments can be found here, in the series index.

     

    Please send me a message or email if you'd like to participate. The response so far has been wonderful. It ranges from hardcore audiophiles to those who are more interested in numbers and graphs. None of that matters much because this is all about getting to know everyone and sharing a bit about yourself that others will find interesting. 

     

    Thanks for participating. I look forward to publishing more of these in the coming weeks. 

     

     

     

     

    Thanks to Audiophile Style community member @calloway for participating in volume two of this series. 

     

     

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    1. General area of the world in which you live?

     

    I live in Danville, Va. I have been married to the same beautiful woman for 40 years. Danville is a great small rural community of ~ 70,000 population. It is within an hour of Durham, NC and Greensboro, NC, both of which my wife and i frequent for great food and entertainment.

     

     

    2. General description of what you do or did for a living?

     

    I am a Physician Assistant and have been for 45 years. I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and went to junior college there and then transferred to U of Florida. I was drafted after my junior year and enlisted in the Air Force where i spent 4 years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan working in the ER / operating room. After my d/c i enrolled in Duke University’s PA Program where I graduated,Magna Cum Laude,1976, with my BS in Health Science with a grad degree as a PA.


    I currently work in a Pulmonary Clinic with 3 MDs and 2 NPs, but have worked in orthopedics and Primary Care previously.

     

    I also started a home health agency/ medicaid personal care business that i ran for 20 years and gave both businesses to my director about 11 years ago.
     

     

    3. What are your hobbies?

     

    Besides music, I love shade perennial gardening and have thousands of hellebores, hostas, ferns and other plants. I am also an avid golfer having grown up playing in Ft.Lauderdale.

     

     

    4. When did you start this wonderful journey into music listening?

     

    I have always loved music. My mom got me started with Peter, Paul, and Mary albums. I had every one of their records. I liked folk music primarily but mom played a lot of classical music which probably sparked my love for the genre.

     

     

    5. What was your first “album?”

     

    Peter, Paul, and Mary albums.

     


    6. What does your music collection look like, number of physical records, CDs, etc… and number of “favorited” albums streamed?

     

    My music collection is all on my computer and external hard drive in the form of downloaded CDs, SACD and HD discs purchased off the internet from various HiRes sites. I have about 500 SACDs and about 1500 cds downloaded and about 100 or so HiRez discs bought from various internet sites. I have hundreds of added streamed albums from Tidal and Qobuz.

     


    7. What was your first audio component / stereo?

     

    My first audio set up was a cheap Westinghouse 2 speaker and radio turntable combo. I thought it special at the time.

     

     

    8. Is there one component that you no longer have that you wish you wouldn’t have sold or that you wish you still had?

     

    I do not wish to have any of my previous audio equipment back. 

     


    9. Is there one current component that you wish you had in your system?

     

    The only component i will possibly be adding in the future would be a Lumin X1. I recently upgraded from A1 to S1 and love the new player. If i won the lottery i would upgrade my Tidal Contriva Diacera SE to the Akira model but that probably won’t be happening.  

     

     

    10. How much time do you spend listening to music each week and on which systems does this listening take place (main system, car system, mobile system, office system, etc…)

     

    I listen to music most every night for about 1-2 hours and about 2-3 hours both days on the weekend. My wife loves to read but loves the music too.

     

     

    11. What’s the first concert you ever attended, best concert you’ve ever attended, most interesting concert venue you’ve ever attended?

     

    My first concert was Iron Butterfly’s first concert in Miami. One of my U of F classmates and I went. It was great.

     

     

    12. What components are in your current audio systems and can you provide a photo?

     

    My system is composed of, back to front, TIDAL Contriva Diacera SE loudspeakers, REL 212-SE subs x 2, Lumin S1 Network Player, Chalice Audio ‘Grail’ SET monoblocks, Silent Source ‘Music Reference’ power cords/speaker cables /interconnects. AV RoomService isolation devices under all components. I also have a digital filter for my ethernet cable from router to Lumin PSU. My SET amps are absolutely superb. I have had many audiophiles journey from around the country to hear them. The original prototypes were taken to an AudioNote Japan dealer who thought they were possibly ‘the best amps i have ever heard’. There is one other pair in existence in Vermont. That gentleman, who also has Tidal speakers, T1 Sunrays, thinks they ‘are the best’. They have been reviewed in the Positive Feedback Magazine, by Adam Goldfine. Long sad story with regard to the company however.

     

    Anyway, I would not trade my system for any other system. Anywhere.

     

     

    13. Anything else you’d like to say?

     

     

    No.

     

     

    Calloway-Chalice-Grail.jpg




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    I went to school in Danville Virginia! Spent more than two years there getting an AA degree in electronics engineering at Danville Technical Institute (do they even still exist?). Lockheed Missile and Space Company hired me out of DTI, and paid me to get an EE, and eventually a master’s degree.

    DTI was on South Main Street, within walking distance of the city limit/ Carolina state line (and, in those years, walking distance for legal beer for eighteen year-olds in NC). Across S. Main from the campus was a restaurant called C.E.s. They had, what I recall to be, the best pizza I’ve ever had anywhere (but that might be nostalgia talking). I know that they closed after the owner, a wonderful lady named Connie, passed on in the ‘eighties. If you never got to experience Connie’s pizza, then you really missed out on something. While attending school, I worked as an announcer on both radio stations WBTM, and WYPR, and served on the engineering staff of WBTM (I already had my First Phone). Both stations were AM in those days and there were no FM stations or TV stations in Danville in those days, but WBTM’s lavish studio building was set up to serve as studios for AM, an FM outlet, and there was a TV studio in the building! Are they still operating in Danville? WYPR (called themselves “Whipper”) was a top-40 station, and I know they’re gone. When I was there, the city library was housed in an ancient building that was touted as the “Last White-House of the Confederacy”. That building was on Main Street north of where the street split into South and West Main. If you were heading south, it would have been on your left. Is that still there?

    Small world, is it not?

     

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    3 hours ago, Nikhil said:

    @calloway

     

    Thanks for sharing your audio profile with us.   

    UF grad from the 90's here.  Nice to see the connection to Gainesville. 

     

    That is a beautiful listening space.  I remember reading that PF review of the Chalice Audio Grail SET amplifiers.  That diamond tweeter on TIDAL speakers is something else.  You are so lucky to have such a nice large space with that high ceiling. I am sure the sound must be glorious. Congratulations on putting together an exquisite setup.   Would be nice to know what kind of music you listen to most.  Or put another way, what kind of music do you listen to that led you towards your choice of gear? 

     

    Regards

     

     

    .

    Nikhil..thanks for the reply..I listen to most genres but love classical ...60s,70s,and 80s rock.I also have learned to love jazz  through two great friends Doug White of 'thevoicethatis' and Bill Wells of Stereotimes.

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    1 hour ago, gmgraves said:

    I went to school in Danville Virginia! Spent more than two years there getting an AA degree in electronics engineering at Danville Technical Institute (do they even still exist?). Lockheed Missile and Space Company hired me out of DTI, and paid me to get an EE, and eventually a master’s degree.

    DTI was on South Main Street, within walking distance of the city limit/ Carolina state line (and, in those years, walking distance for legal beer for eighteen year-olds in NC). Across S. Main from the campus was a restaurant called C.E.s. They had, what I recall to be, the best pizza I’ve ever had anywhere (but that might be nostalgia talking). I know that they closed after the owner, a wonderful lady named Connie, passed on in the ‘eighties. If you never got to experience Connie’s pizza, then you really missed out on something. While attending school, I worked as an announcer on both radio stations WBTM, and WYPR, and served on the engineering staff of WBTM (I already had my First Phone). Both stations were AM in those days and there were no FM stations or TV stations in Danville in those days, but WBTM’s lavish studio building was set up to serve as studios for AM, an FM outlet, and there was a TV studio in the building! Are they still operating in Danville? WYPR (called themselves “Whipper”) was a top-40 station, and I know they’re gone. When I was there, the city library was housed in an ancient building that was touted as the “Last White-House of the Confederacy”. That building was on Main Street north of where the street split into South and West Main. If you were heading south, it would have been on your left. Is that still there?

    Small world, is it not?

     

    gmgraves..Yes..CEs...had many a great meal there. It is, sadly, gone now. If you worked at WBTM then you have to know Alex Vardavas...!..Yes..he and WBTM are still operating.The Last Confederacy' building is still there also.Very 'small world..!Thats for the reply

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    Doug White is a friend as well. A decent golfer too.

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    4 hours ago, calloway said:

    gmgraves..Yes..CEs...had many a great meal there. It is, sadly, gone now. If you worked at WBTM then you have to know Alex Vardavas...!..Yes..he and WBTM are still operating.The Last Confederacy' building is still there also.Very 'small world..!Thats for the reply

    Well, I worked at WBTM in 1965-1967, 55 years ago. I don’t remember Alex Vardavas, he must have started after I graduated. Yes, a fellow classmate of mine sent me the obituary of Connie (the C in CEs). She was great. She let us students run a tab and pay when our parents sent us money. Is it true that Dan River Mills closed down? What do people do for jobs there these days?

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    Beautiful system--I love your subwoofer investment (2x2!) and so much fun to read about your unique amps.  Can we have the Reader's Digest version of the long sad story about the company?

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    8 hours ago, PeterG said:

    Beautiful system--I love your subwoofer investment (2x2!) and so much fun to read about your unique amps.  Can we have the Reader's Digest version of the long sad story about the company?

    Peter..the two principals are very good friends and i would not wish to say anything that might affect our relationship.I'm sure you can respect that..

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    19 hours ago, gmgraves said:

    Well, I worked at WBTM in 1965-1967, 55 years ago. I don’t remember Alex Vardavas, he must have started after I graduated. Yes, a fellow classmate of mine sent me the obituary of Connie (the C in CEs). She was great. She let us students run a tab and pay when our parents sent us money. Is it true that Dan River Mills closed down? What do people do for jobs there these days?

     

    19 hours ago, gmgraves said:

    Well, I worked at WBTM in 1965-1967, 55 years ago. I don’t remember Alex Vardavas, he must have started after I graduated. Yes, a fellow classmate of mine sent me the obituary of Connie (the C in CEs). She was great. She let us students run a tab and pay when our parents sent us money. Is it true that Dan River Mills closed down? What do people do for jobs there these days?

    Dan River Mills went the way of almost all textile mills in the states did about 20+ years ago. All the buildings on the main area on S.Main have been removed..Sad. GoodYear Tire is the main employer in Danville employing about 3000. It is their largest truck and airplane tire plant in the USA.

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    Wow man, congratulations thats a dream system, enjoy it for years to come. 

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    4 hours ago, calloway said:

     

    Dan River Mills went the way of almost all textile mills in the states did about 20+ years ago. All the buildings on the main area on S.Main have been removed..Sad. GoodYear Tire is the main employer in Danville employing about 3000. It is their largest truck and airplane tire plant in the USA.

    Thanks for the info.

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    @calloway  Very nice!  Hope all is well with you, your family and your colleagues at this time.

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    very nice.  I bought something big like a set of speakers or something from you years ago.  I remember the user name.  We talked many times about hifi on the phone.  Looks like you have found your holy grail.  Nice.  

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