Happy 20th Birthday to my chair

[Mike Lavigne]

in May of 1999 my new chair arrived i had ordered from the 'Relax-The-Back' on line store. i needed the 'tall, narrow' version (extended length top and bottom) of the top of line 'perfect chair' with top level black leather and visco-elastic memory foam. i got the round pillow head rest.......so with the rounded top and curved pillow the sound would never be 'cupped' and effect tonality.

switching to a low back chair does add a degree of space, but otherwise the sound is the same. my room does space so very well it's great in that respect with this chair too.

i've spent 25-30 hours a week listening for 20 years in this chair and i always feel better physically after sitting in it than before. i can and do spend 10-12 straight hours sometime in this chair.......it's my constant companion. the argument can be made that a chair is the most essential part of a system.

if you visit me you will see i pull this chair back into the rear corner of my room and bring out a Cassina K-10 Dodo chair (sits behind the sofa otherwise) which rotates and has a low back for communal listening. the high back of the perfect chair is not workable for groups. part of the reason i move it is that they don't make this chair anymore and i'm not sure what i would do if it breaks. it does require a bit of the specific approach to get in and out of and if the wrong person 'falls' into the chair something bad could happen. i assume it's now a bit fragile and the wood frame could break. but so far no sign of any issues.

 

[Tango]

Look like a command seat of the USS Enterprise Captain Mike.

Cheers,
Tang

 

[spiritofmusic]

The audiophile equivalent of a strong, reliable, faithful pet dog?

 

[Bodhi]

The true 'Chair'man of the Board. These are the chair(s) I will use in my next listening room .

 

[Mike Lavigne]

The audiophile equivalent of a strong, reliable, faithful pet dog?

i would not want to suggest an inanimate object could replace the companionship of a pet. dogs/cats/birds/etc. they can interact and we connect in special ways. but a chair can be a pretty significant part of the listening experience both positive and negative. and especially it can cause you to want to listen more or less.

i can have aches and pains and an hour or two in my chair can help to mitigate those things. it was designed by NASA in the 50's to minimize rocket takeoff 'G' forces on the human body......as it distributes the weight of the body over it's whole length and not on the spine like most chairs. the back and seat are firm/fixed and not flexible.

 

[jazdoc]

Uh, that's "Beth's chair"

 

[spiritofmusic]

Mike, that wasn't meant to be taken literally. Just that a dog is man's best friend, a good chair is...

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, that wasn't meant to be taken literally. Just that a dog is man's best friend, a good chair is...

i know......but always careful not to offend dog lovers. no cover for that.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations, Mike, for finding the perfect chair for you 20 years ago, and for it having served you well all of these years!

 

[MasterChief]

Fantastic chair. I have followed your hifi journey for a long time, and that high end throne have always been there.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Fantastic chair. I have followed your hifi journey for a long time, and that high end throne have always been there.

thank you Masterchief, that is kind of you to say.

that picture is from late 2001-2003 sometime as one of my 2 Rockport's (either the Sirius II SE or the Sirius III) is in that picture. can't tell which from that picture. (the Kharma Exquisite's in the foreground arrived in Nov.2001). i moved from that home in late 2003....loved that room.

 

[Elliot G.]

I would ASSume that it is well formed after all this time
Happy Birthday and I hope you bought it a cake and blew out the candles !!!

 

[marty]

Look like a command seat of the USS Enterprise Captain Mike.

Cheers,
Tang

Tang, you're a little behind. Mike was promoted to Admiral of the fleet some time ago
Marty

 

[ddk]

i've spent 25-30 hours a week listening for 20 years in this chair and i always feel better physically after sitting in it than before. i can and do spend 10-12 straight hours sometime in this chair

I congratulate you on having that much free time to spend 30 hours of it just listening, maybe I should be running a car dealership too!
david

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I congratulate you on having that much free time to spend 30 hours of it just listening, maybe I should be running a car dealership too!
david

---actually it's the opposite. i work 5 and 1/2 days a week and about 55 hours a week, so a boat or summer home, or even traveling, are not really options for me. hifi fits my life situation. and when i'm not at the dealership i'm still connected always.......hifi allows for that to work. and hifi is a great 'zen' antidote for the stress.

--my wife sleeps late and i'm an early riser. so 2 hours of listening every morning is typical before breakfast. with a separate building no issue with noise early in the morning.....or ever.

---get a hour of Fox News during dinner with the wife then i escape all that negativity for a couple hours of listening......most nights.

--kids were out of high school in 1995, and no grandkids. wish i had a few, and would happily trade listening time for that, but it's not up to me.

--weekends an extra 5+ hours listening each day.

--i do watch sports upstairs in my barn mostly football during that season.........and the occasional movie in my dedicated Home Theatre, but not much of a TV watcher at all. zero commercial non sports TV.

 

[jazdoc]

The chair deserves its own blog or Twitter feed...

 

[NorthStar]

It's a very nice chair.

 

[rugyboogie]

We have had our two in our music room for the better part of six years .
Bought them at Relax the Back in Burnaby. Had them made for madame and moi.
Thanks Mike for the intro to these great chairs.