I love to listen to a wide variety of music. This likely stems from childhood listening to my grandfather play guitar and sing. In high school and college, I played trumpet & euphonium in the symphonic band. I can still remember when we played Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri. I frequently listen to that piece on my system at home and brings back really great memories. That piece, like many of Rossini’s, has a huge dynamic range and can really shine on a full range speaker. It starts off so softly that you have to really listen hard to hear the strings. By the end, it is in full-tilt fortissimo. 

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While in college, I was listening to a Sears all in one system that really wasn’t doing much for me other than background sound while I did my homework. In graduate school, my uncle gave me an integrated amplifier and decided I wanted a little better pair of speakers. I still remember that cool October Saturday when I looked up "stereo stores" in the Yellow Pages (remember that?).  My soon-to-be wife and I visited several stores and stumbled into one that carried Paradigm and B&W.  The super-patient salesperson allowed us to listen to several speakers in my price range. At that time, I didn’t speak any audiophile language - I only knew what I heard and tried to tell him what I liked and didn’t like. The two-way with the 6” mid & woofer had great vocals but the one with the 8” mid & woofer had much fuller sounding bass. Both were a shock to me as I had never heard a speaker sound so clear and articulate. When I asked how to get both the clear vocals AND the full bass, he said "Give me just a few minutes". Out came a 3-way pair of B&W 640i’s with the Kevlar midrange and two 8” woofers. WOW!  Blown away! The obvious next question is “How much are those?”  "Just listen", he said. "We can discuss price in a bit". After several different tracks, I had to have these. The pair was $1500 ($500 over our budget), but they had exactly what I wanted.

 

Thus started my quest for greater and greater sound. For the first 10 to 15 years of my journey, I really meandered around. I read lots of reviews; visited stores wherever we traveled; and would buy this or that piece of gear based on magazine reviews or store display. I started hearing differences in gear - VERY COOL. I had what I though was good sound, but it certainly wasn’t as good as a live concert. I was really dissatisfied with what I had at home even though I spent a substantial amount of money. Mostly I hopped from track to track, never listening to the entire piece.  The music was not engaging!

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With no plan or direction on how to get the music to happen, the vast majority of audio dealers were not helpful. Most want to sell the latest box, which was supposed to be "THE solution". I was determined to figure this out. How hard could it be?

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In graduate school I studied mathematical and computational fluid dynamics, so I certainly have the background necessary to understand sound. Reading textbooks on acoustics, and eventually building a dedicated audio room. I learned how to take and interpret acoustic measurements. Most importantly I spent 300+ hours training how to correctly integrate a pair of loudspeakers into a room.

 

At this point I finally have a true in-home experience including huge dynamics; wall-to-wall soundstage with depth; and imaging. For those of us who have studied and played musical instruments, I have timing and tone. I HAVE MUSIC!

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If some of this describes your experience, I am here to help. Vibrant HiFi is not a dealer that wants to “sling” boxes. I am here to show you what can be achieved with two-channel stereo. Most importantly I am here to help you establish a road map - how to systematically improve the sound of your system. If you are tired of going sideways or in circles, please reach out and let's talk.

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All the best on your journey,

Todd