Tres Amigos Visit The Pacific Northwest For A Weekend Of Listening Bliss

What could be better than spending a weekend in Seattle with my long time friends and audiophile buddies who also hang out here, marty and Russ (mobiusman). We have traveled the country together attending all of the audio shows as well as visiting and listening to great systems around the country as well.I saw Gary and Carol's bon voyage party for the Genesis Dragon. I have always wanted to see these and given an opportunity to hear them gave me reason to say that I was going. Also I had wanted to tour the Shunyata factory and to see how these wonderful products are made. Caelin was not only agreeable but looked forward to our visit.

So who better to go with a retired obstetrician/gynecologist than a research scientist (and eye surgeon), and a psychiatrist to keep us sane.For me it was a short 2 hour flight up the coast whereas Marty was coming from New Jersey and Russ from Philadelphia on a close to 6 hour flight for each. Are we crazy or what? Hats off to my good friends. We arrived the night before Gary's event Friday all within 20 minutes of one another. The following morning we got up at 0630 to catch an early morning ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island where we would be met by Richard from Shunyata and be transported another 25 miles to Poulsbo where both the factory is and Caelin resides.

The 35 minute ferry ride in the brisk air sitting with Marty and Russ reminiscing about all of these fun times like this we have enjoyed together was also fun. Richard was waiting for us and got us back to Shunyata after a short 25 mile drive. Richard is a wonderful spokesperson for not only Shunyata but so also the state of Washington. We were immediately greeted by Caelin who introduced us to

Cassandra who is the lovely voice that greets you when you call Shunyata

Meeno, who I met at CES several years ago when Caelin introduced the Zitron technology. Thank you for again playing the guitar with several of Caelin's cables through a guitar amp so that we could all hear the difference between these cables.

Nicole, the voice behind the lady in accounting who has taken a lot of my money this past 18 months

Caelin, the President and founder of Shunyata Research


We were escorted into the conference room where we all had breakfast with always amazing Seattle coffee. During breakfast Caelin gave us insight into himself and how Shunyata Research was born. Who better than an audiophile who has extensive knowledge in electronics, an inquisitive mind and a desire to make something better. Having gotten out of the military and with a love of music Caelin began listening and felt he could make better products than with what he was using. He took them to the owner of a local audio store who not only loved them but asked Caelin if he would make them for this man to sell. These quickly received international accolade and hence Shunyata Research

the best of the morning was spent not only touring the factory but also several of Caelin's labs where he develops an idea, brings it through countless experiments and testing before even deciding if it should be brought to market. We saw shelves full of Shunyata prototypes and variations thereof. Not all of these reach market but all are thoroughly researched and investigated. We saw walls full of awards to Shunyata for countless Products of the Year and there were other walls filled with Shunyata patents.

The factory BTW is not only beautifully decorated but huge with IIRC 19 employees. The cryo part of the business was in the same industrial center but a short drive away. We followed the production of a product from beginning to end and saw the strict quality control exercised by employees. We were educated as to the different types of Shunyata cables as well as the Hydras by Rick Sanchez, Production Mgr at Shunyata who has been with Shunyata from its inception.


At each stop there were different parts of that aspect of the business that Caelin made us aware of.

Next stop an amazing lunch by Shunyata with all the staff again and then a brief look at Caelin's listening room where every product is tested before coming to market.We also saw his new Vivid Giya G3 and Luxman 900 amp. We planned to end the day there so we knew we would be back.

Here are a few of the photos from the factory before we went back to Caelin's house

Starting at the left and going clockwise is me, mobiusman (Russ), Meeno, Caelin and Marty

Richard changing cable and Meeno playing the guitar

Caelin lives but a short drive from the factory in a beautiful doghouse where the walls of his listening room serve as a diffuser

In the room was a pair go Maggie 20.7 where the main speakers were a wonderful Speaker called the Wave 40 by Sound Kaos. This was built of maple and was not stuffed but elicited a beautiful timbre presumably from the wood. The top end was to die for as we could have listened for hours. The Kronos likewise performed flawlessly. I have heard it several times at shows but never under such controlled conditions

Used a ZYX cartridge with a Black Beauty arm
Audio Research Ref 2SE phono stage
First Sound Pre Mk lV
Ayon Cross Fire tube amp

The sound was amazing

A few photos

View from Caelin's living room

Finally back to Shunyata to spend some time in the listening room and to hear the new Vivid G3 and Luxman 900 amp.

Even that little G3 kicked some serious bottom end. This speaker is truly amazing with rock solid bass and full tonal balance







Russ, Marty me and Caelin

Finally we had to hurry back to catch the ferry back to Seattle to make it to Gary Koh's Dragon event.

A view from the ferry

The Dragon Bon Voyage Party

After getting off the ferry we climbed the steep hill to our hotel got the car and off to Gary and Carol's party. What wonderful and gracious hosts in inviting so many people to such an event ,providing food and drink, great music along with the chance to see these speakers up close and personal and to get a feeling as to how big they are and the enormity and complexity of their build.These speakers are huge with a total of 56 matched tweeters and 24 12" subs in 2 towers .I have alluded to the same info in another thread where Gary stated they occupy an 180 square foot foot print. Each wing takes 1 1/2 weeks to build with the speaker taking a total of 9 months to build. Looking at each tweeter on the Dragon will show they are fastened with gold plated screws. I sat easily 18-20 feet back and the sound stage was huge. These speakers throw a scary 3D sound stage. I still believe they would function best in a much wider room for the best sound and as JackD201 said these speakers are headed to a home with a very, very large room and uber electronics.

As always Gary's choice of music was amazing in all formats, and his explanation of things to those in attendance's was always easily understood. Good to see some old acquaintances and WBF member audioarcher.

These speakers are very complex with so many drivers that I bet they will continue to improve with time and more burn in but suffice it to say these are speakers that need to be seen and heard. It was quite a bash Gary. You and your sister are the consummate hosts

A few additional pix. Couldn't get the focus to work due to the light

Day 2, Visits to Bruce Brown, Ki Choi and Mike Lavigne

Day 2 started with breakfast at Pike Place market and then off to Bruce Brown's house to hear his system and see his mastering studio. It was all of a 20 minute drive. Bruce was kind enough to start Saturday morning with the Tres Amigos banging on his door at 1030 to listen to music. Bruce gave us detail as to how during the construction of his house he had to raise the ceiling in his basement to 12 feet in order to construct his mastering studio and a second room where he does much of his tape recordings. In that room he also had a SME 30/2 TT with a Koetsu Coral stone cartridgeand a super efficient pair of head phones along with 2 R2R recorders along with another in his mastering studio. Once the door was shut we knew we were in for a treat. Bruce uses a pair of Wilson Alexias for mastering as he sits behind his custom made mastering consul which he had built for his room and it is beautiful to behold. Bruce played us some hi rez files, tape and a bunch of music which I knew very well as I own some similar tapes. Bruce also has his speakers on Stillpoints Ultra 5's as I do. Bruce also has a huge Equi=Tech isolation transformer feeding all of his electricity in these two rooms.

Amplification was Pass

Bruce was a wonderful host. Music was terrific especially when I could compare it in my mind to my system. There was much with which I was familiar. Bruce's room is extremely well built and is completely isolated and floating from the walls, ceiling and floor. Listening was a real treat when we got to sit in his listening position behind the consul. Once our listening session was over we noticed Bruce playing with the treated front wall as he was telling us that he had a "safe room" in case of emergencies that he wanted to show us. The front treated wall cme off and behind it was a door behind which was Bruce's wine cellar which was impeccably constructed and could hold up to 800 bottles of wine .

A wonderful morning Bruce. Thanks from the 3 of us for an unforgettable experience.

Marty me and Bruce

Day 2- Visit To Ki Choi

we arrived at Ki's home at 2:00 and Mike Lavigne was nice enough to join us there as well.

Those of us who know Ki understand the mind behind the man. Ki has become WBF's resident expert in all things reel to reel. In fact when I asked Ki how many R2R's he possesses he smiled and declined to answer the question as he said they were all out in his 3rd garage at which point Mike smiled and said that Ki has at least "one of everything"

Ki essentially has 2 listening rooms with one on the main story of the house in which he had a pair of Maggie 20.7's driven by a simple but highly articulate Crown amp and a German preamp which Ki had basically stripped down and completely modified and redid. It was sitting in a Tupperware box completely open as we listened. The cables were all completely constructed by Ki as he made no bones about the faith he places in his cables as compared to any which are commercially available. We played CD's through a vintage Denon CD player. It was remarkably good. It was readily apparent that not only is Ki brilliant in all things electronic but he has such an inquisitive mind that he seems to always be tinkering with vintage gear in his system and there seemed to be no shortage of electronics that he was quick to show us. The Maggies BTW sounded wonderful. Ki also had a running Nagra 4 which was beautiful to behold

We then adjourned to his dedicated listening room upstairs which housed a pair of MBL 101E Mkll speakers powered by a pair of MBL stereo 900 amps which were biwired to the speakers. He had a Forsell Air Tight Supreme TT sitting on a Herzan 140 Stable table. On one side of the room was a Studer A80 and on the other side of the room a Studer A 820. Sound was taken off the tape heads and routed through a Doshi Tape head preamp (which BTW so also did Bruce have not only a Doshi tape head preamp but also a Doshi phono stage). The music was wonderful as we listened to only tape. Beside the A80 R2R wa a huge Tupper ware box filled with countless 1/4" Studer tape head blocks that Ki uses to prcisely match the tape head for a particular tape. Ki also has 3 operational Nagra-4 R2R's sitting at the back of his room.

I have always found it a treat to listen to an MBL system and this was no exception. The tapes Ki played were wonderful. We all left with a smile on our face for such a listening experience. As we were leaving we noticed a newly delivered crate sitting in front of his garage which was clearly labelled "Wave Kinetics". Ki smiled and said it is his new TT which has yet to be set up. We then followed Mike Lavigne back to his house for the final stop of the day

Me Marty Mike Lavigne and Ki Choi

Visit To Mike Lavigne's

I was privileged to have been to Mike's house some 11 years ago shortly after he had finished the build out on his barn (yes it was a barn used as a stable for horses) and as good as his system was then it has undergone many different incarnations until Mike has a no holds barred, everything investigated and treated if deemed necessary. Nothing has been omitted. We knew we were in for a ride. Mike pulled no punches. Mike as we all know has the big Evolution Acoustics MM7's power by the huge DartZeel NHB 458 mono blocks, a DartZeel preamp, Wave Kinetics NVS TT, Ortolan Anna cartridge (one we heard), two operational Studer A820's one of which had a 1/2' head block on. Mike also has an extensive computer audio music library with 8-9 TB of music. Mike's room has had some modifications since I was there last but wow the music was to die for. Mike started with some Hirez files, then DSD and 2x DSD files, followed by countless outstanding selections on vinyl some of which were by Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole which were breath taking. The evening was concluded with various tapes and each one seemed to be better than the next.Mike's music library is something to behold. If you ask to hear something he not only has it but asks you which of the 5 or 6 versions you would like to hear.

Mike was a super host as we didn't leave until after 10 as we had a plane to catch early the next morning

The music was just about as good as a I have ever heard. I love the mid range on my system but Mike's was at a different level. It was superb. The bass towers seem to integrate wonderfully with the main towers and the articulation of the bass left nothing to the imagination.

Another treat we had that night was a visit to Mike's when we were there by fellow WBF member Jazdoc and his lovely wife who joined us for several hours.

One has to walk through Mike's room and look at everything to understand how well it is built along with the finest of components. There is no shortage of anything and nothing has been compromised and no thought unexplored as to how to make his system better. He to has a large Equi=Tech isolation transformer feeding all electricity in to his system.

I don't drink but Mike was keeping everyone happy with drinks from his bar with very old Scotch whiskey. Nothing was lacking

Mike also had an Entreq grounding box for his front end gear.

Had we not had a plane to catch we probably would have still been there. Mike finished the evening with a tape version of The Doors and Jim Morrison doing Riders On The Storm that was for me the best song I heard all day. I have it on CD and need to listen to that on my system knowing full well it will be impossible to better let alone come equal to.

Thanks Mike for a remarkable evening. The mid range on your system is to die for

Jazdoc (Mark) with Mike , Marty Russ and I

In summary this was a weekend to remember. Music for me has not only been a hobby for the most of my life but it is also the friendship and comraderie that comes with it. Thanks to my buddies Russ and Marty who accompanied me and thanks so much to Caelin and everyone at Shunyata for spending a day with us, Gary and Carol for such an amazing event with the Dragon on Friday evening followed by 3 stops the next day at Bruce, Ki and Mike.

You guys are great

Finally I apologize for locking the thread until it was done as I was so tired yesterday I knew that it would take me a while to post my thoughts

I did come home with one goody from Shunyata. I brought home a 1 meter pair of Shunyata grounding cables to go from each amplifier to each amp's power supply and a 9 meter pair to go from the power supplies of my amp to the CGS of my new Triton V2. I hope to get these installed today so stay tuned.

The thread is now open