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Any Google hits this site gets from my post is a gift from me to The Home of the Cat.
Can't imagine anybody searching "Silbatone & Penderecki"..a rather odd combination of terms stemming out of a unique event.

Or how about "Silbatone & Penderecki & WECO"??

I find it quite strange to view the world as a web of potential Google hits, but any hits will go straight to Romy's account, as deserved.

We have had this conversation before and I believe that what some might see as "empty" in my approach is the space I leave for the unique experience of listening to audio and space for others to arrive at their own conclusions.

Listening is really never exactly the same, but when I describe these experiences, they become similar on the page, fitting into slots.  I always felt weird talking about how systems sound and I am ever more hesitant to do so. Beyond the easy ones, like Corian slant front box with 6" woofer and titanium dome tweeter, generalized notions and scientific predictions block my way to what I am looking for, which is something new or something that will move me beyond what I think I already know.

Same with manifestos and listening analysis programs...what if you want something you have not discovered yet? What if it comes from a speaker you thought was stupid and misinformed?

For example, Jean Hiraga had some fantastic Altec coaxes at the Munich show. I played with 604s and 605s a lot and could never get them to work. Hiraga had them singing. When I saw his speakers I kind of chuckled but the first tune changed my mind fast. They were fantastic for Altec coaxials, and extremely good regardless of what they were.  I wanted to go back and learn more but sadly the room caught on fire overnight and they were gone the next day

This kind of surprise, unexpected learning experience is what I am looking for in life and in audio. If somebody makes 604s work for music, when I failed so miserably,  I need to learn from that accomplishment.

Penderecki/Silbatone/WECO is a social example of the kind of strange but evocative juxtaposition that life hands us to ponder for a few minutes before the next wacky experience comes along. Try to grab something from the passing opportunity.

I have numerous agendas, but the least of these is equipment sales.  Silbatone is already selling as much as they can comfortably make. The company is not set up as a for-profit business, but as a creative outlet and avocational venture.  The goal is to possibly break even someday, but that might take some years. In any case,  I don't expect anybody here to buy.

Actually, I would be the first to argue that buying anything audio in the Silbatone price range is insane, unless you have truly excess resources, as some few have.  In fact, I argue for DIY as the educated choice at any price level.  I personally would rather use my own homebuilt stuff over anything of manufactured high-end nature, because that is the big fun for me.  I could not figure out how to spend Silbatone money on a system if I won the budget on a game show.

My foremost agenda, I like to celebrate and promote creative pairings of people and technology to do interesting and rewarding things with music listening and equipment.  Romy the Cat Home fits within  this broad area of concern, although a bit prone to tunnel vision. I don't always like the sound from some"interesting"  projects, but as long as they are having a good time with the creative process, that is cool with me. The world is not only about what "I" like.

Secondly, I like to share my experiences, like hanging out at Camerata or listening to some of those big WE systems. This was quite an interesting and educational experience for me, and and I thought I would share some pics with other people who might agree that these are interesting attempts at system design. Who else can I tell about it? My wife? This is a forum so I'm sharing info, such as to initially identify the pictured system and add some relevant comments about the accomplishment.

I have heard a lot of audio gear of various levels of performance. My perception that WE gear accesses another realm of music listening continually surprises me, even though I have been playing with WE odds and ends for 25 years, starting with a pair of 755As in the early 80s. The complete theater systems are remarkably engaging and frankly blew my socks off.

Behind the constant, tedious drone of me talking up WE theater speakers, maybe there is  good reason for the enthusiasm.  In short, I am arguing to keep an open mind until (and if ever) you actually hear some,  because otherwise it is nothing but speculating out the ass. 

Also, I am selling the idea of listening before critique. And I am still encouraging people, as I always have as an audio persona, to try something different, especially if it clashes with common sense and received practices, because that is where fun and discoveries lurk.  

So, in view of this agenda, one can see how dismissive comments about "those kind of people," certain kinds of never-heard equipment,  the old Romy lines "you don't get it" or Your 're not there yet" and so on appear to me as precisely the kind of head in the sand, self-focused ignorance I am out stumping against.  Without relevant experience and direct knowledge, I don't see where the authority for these speculative, self-aggrandizing positions arises.

The smart people in any field, and certainly the happiest ones, are those who realize that there is too much to learn for one lifetime.  Note how those who believe they already have the answer, spend their lives fighting off "challengers" and progressively boxing themselves into a corner and eventually become ignored, crazy, and out of touch.

So, I say "Listen!"  Hiraga's Altecs, WECO, Silbatone, Feastrex in a back horn made out of frozen porkchops, whatever... maybe you can learn something where you least expect it.

That is my core agenda.  I never made more than nickels and dimes from audio and doubt that I ever will, but I have learned a little bit and had good times.

Have fun,

Joe Roberts

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