DCHFG Annual Beach Party 2024
“Hot town, summer in the city” meant it was time to head to the beach for some cool winds and surf.
DCHFG President, John Gatski, assembled a mini Hi-Fi tradeshow for those that made the trek to his summer cottage near the Delaware shores.
A surround system, stereo components and a separate headphone listening station were available for beachcombing audiophiles to sample.
The stereo listening presentation was provided by Delaware area dealer Millennium AV Design. The components featured the new Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2 loudspeaker ($8,450/pair), Mola-Mola Kula integrated amp ($15,500), Mola-Mola Tambaqui DAC ($13,400) and Rega turntable with Hanna cartridge.
Also on hand was a sneak peak listening session with the brand new Mytek Empire GANFET stereo monoblock amplifier.
Dr Vinyl (aka Jose) also provided a premiere of the brand-new DS Audio DS-E3 cartridge system. This is the least expensive version of the highly praised optical cartridge technology.
The multichannel Blu-ray system included five Theory Audio SB25 loudspeakers (under $2,000 each), a Theory Audio multichannel amp/controller (under $10,000), Marantz AV-8802A mch. pre-pro and a SVS 4000S subwoofer ($1,800).
The headphone system included the HiFi Man Susvara and Abyss headphones.
Burgers and hot dogs and plenty of beer were available to satisfy the hunger of ravenous audiophiles.
Once again the DCHFG summer beach party was a success .
Raffle winners.
DCHFG June 1, 2024 Meeting
With the Summer of 2024 officially underway, we return to familiar ground at the house of Gary Gill (Capital Audiofest, etc.) for an afternoon of refreshment and audiophile activities.
DCHFG President John Gatski updated us on current and planned activities of the club including the annual beach party in Delaware.
Mark Schneider of LTA audio introduced the now shipping LTA Aero DAC which uses an Analog Devices AD1865 R2R DAC chip and David Berning’s ZOTL output design.
Gary Gill then introduced his latest speaker acquisition – The Popori Acosutics Electrostatic speaker.
After many beers and snacks, the assembled crowd was ready to audition the new speakers and DAC. The demo music was streamed from a laptop using a Raspberry Pi based device into the new LTA Aero DAC and a 40w LTA amplifier. Gary talked about the challenges of positioning the speakers in his room.
To conclude the meeting John Gatski, raffled off a number of high resolution downloads to the delight of the recipients.
Next up – See you at the Beach!
DCHFG February 24, 2024 Meeting
On an overcast and still cool late February Saturday, members of DCHFG convened at member William Assmann’s house for refreshments and audiophile pursuits.
The featured guest was John Tucker of Exemplar Audio fame. Bill’s system features Exemplar’s comprehensively modified Altec-Lansing 1570B tube amplifiers. In addition, Bill uses the Exemplar phono stage that Bill said was instrumental in dialing in the precise low impedance needed to obtain the ideal sonics from his Hana Umami Red cartridge.
New DCHFG member, Richard Williams, made a presentation about his passion for tube electronics and his thriving electronics repair business. Dr. Vinyl (aka Jose) came with news of an exciting new tonearm coming from England that is creating a lot of buzz.
Of course, no meeting is complete without the audiophile prizes that our leader John Gatski provides.
DCHFG February 3, 2024 Meeting
This special DCHFG meeting was assembled for a screening of The Band’s Last Waltz concert film. Recently released by Criterion in a spectacular 4K Blu-ray release, it was particularly poignant because of the recent passing of Band member Robbie Robertson. Director Martin Scorsese’s film is a homage to the The Band and associated musicians spanning the era from the mid nineteen sixties to the present. Interestingly, Martin Scorsese’s latest film Killers of the Flower Moon’s soundtrack is the last recording by Robbie Robertson.
The meeting took place at DCHFG Gerry’s home with his dedicated multimedia system featuring top tier audio components and a recently installed ninety eight inch OLED TV.
Of course every DCHFG meeting features tasty audiophile related prizes to round out the event.
The Hazelrigg Brothers Live (Audiophile Musicians)
I’d like to recommend musicians that deserve greater exposure and should be of interest to fellow Audiophiles.
The Hazelrigg Brothers are George and Geoff Hazelrigg (piano and bass) and John O’Reilly Jr. (drums). They released their latest album SYNCHRONICITY: An interpretation of the album by THE POLICE earlier this year and it has been a mainstay on the Billboard charts since then. They have a unique take on their sound that some would classify as jazz, but the brothers would demur since they have a largely classical training and background. I also would highly recommend their previous album Songs We Like which is available through their label Outer Maker Records.
They are very fastidious about recording and only use a single stereo microphone to record their albums. In addition, they make use of recording interfaces that feature the legendary D.W. Fearn‘s designs. In fact, the Hazelrigg Brother’s day job involves the production of D.W. Fearn’s recording devices as well as more mobile friendly versions under the Hazelrigg Industries moniker.
All recordings are made straight to high resolution DSD and can be downloaded at these resolutions from NativeDSD. They have also recently branched out into the world of surround and posted a Dolby Atmos mix of Synchronicity to Apple Music. They have a new album in production and if you listen carefully to my video, you will get a sample of what they have in store.
I was very lucky to be able to record a video of a recent concert and I have posted it to YouTube for others to enjoy.
Please support such innovative artists by buying their albums so they can produce more music for us to enjoy on our audio systems.
