GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: The Classical Music Café syndrome...

Post Subject: Luck of the drawPosted by Joe Roberts on: 6/2/2009

Wait...are you saying that FOUR people who have been to Camerata wrote you offline (within two days!) and they neglected to enter into this relevant discussion?

Strange! H'mmm?

If I were the guy mentioned above, I would have been in here screaming "Roberts, you f*cking wacko. I went to Camerata and they were playing Linn Keilidhs!"

What did the other three say?

It can indeed be a gamble to walk in to Camerata looking for an audio experience. For one thing, the workers are not allowed to play the WE 15A system, only the owner can operate it. Where Mr. Hwang is out golfing or whatever, they play vintage German gear. Very strange equipment which I can't begin to identify. It is OK but not outstanding, according to what I heard there. It was still quite acceptable for the cafe music experience but didn't have the impact of the WECO speakers.

Also, one of the 46C amps blew a tube three or four months ago and they did have modern gear in as a backup during repairs. I heard the system after the amps had been fixed and upgraded, but it seems your informant may have visited at an unfortunate time for tube audio listening.

Building in the audio system was the brainstorm of Mr. Hwang, who found a good way to combine his hobby and a retirement business in a socially and culturally worthwhile enterprise.

Understand that audio is a sideline at Camerata...they play music all day but it is a general cultural center with live performances, cinema screenings, etc. And a working coffeeshop. Probably less than 5% of visitors even noticed or cared if they were listening to Linn or Klangfilm or whatever. They probably cared more about the musical selection on the turntable rather than the type of turntable, for the most part.

This idea that you have retreated to that people who have extra equipment are somehow confused and aimless probably condemns you, me, and 95% of visitors to the home of the Cat.

Yes, the art of system building is about people rather than gear. That is exactly what I am saying. Among 1000s of bad vintage systems, these guys made things work to a very high level of performance, or in the case of Camerata, doing interesting things with audio gear. My kudos are not ass kissing but giving credit as due.

You dismissed both the people and the gear, based on inaccurate stereotypes you dreamed up without meeting the people or ever hearing the gear they set up.

One of the first points I made was just because these guys are rich collectors, does not mean that they don't know what they are doing. Just because more stupidity is generated about Western Electric than any other audio gear, does not mean that there is some truth behind the myth, even if most devotees never get to experience it.

Had you taken us up on the invitation to visit Korea, you would have heard what I did, and perhaps you would have more grounded observations to offer and you might recognize that there is possibility beyond the highly-predictable conclusions in your posts.

I don't doubt that you could find something to pick apart even when listening to that great 12A system which is one of the very best I have heard, but I suspect that you would have been impressed with some aspects of the presentation. The LF was truly remarkable to my ear...very difficult for me to fault. Maybe you could even relate to the sincerity and dedication of the owner, his sense of pride.

Or maybe not, but I don't see how condemning it all before the fact, based on photos and speculation, in any way promotes growth of knowledge and understanding for anybody.

One one point, we are agreed. It is a good idea to move some of this stuff out into a cafe type setting and play music. Some might come for the music and some few for the audio or even coffee and a lunchtime date, but it is a worthy use of theater gear to set up in a nice space for public enjoyment. More socially rewarding than being in some crazy dude's private listening room.

I didn't and wouldn't say that the Camerata 15A system was the greatest (two of the others I heard were much better as picky audio experiences) or that the setup or room was ideal, but as a listening cafe, it was quite magical compared with the average Starbucks. It had a really good vibe and for a relaxing interlude with a nice coffee and good music, it was spot on. The big horns in a large reverberant space created a very engaging listening environment. It was a special place and the realization of a very good idea indeed. It felt good to be there. Revitalizing.

It might be possible to pull this off in certain settings in the USA and I'd like to see it happen, but like Camerata there would have to be a draw other than an audio system---because so few care about this. Of course, WECO gear isn't necessary and might not even be the best choice in terms of practicality and economics for such a music cafe, but good sounding and visually impressive horns would be a plus, I think....appropriate technology for the job. Even second-tier hornsAvant Gardes might work for this sort of non-audiophile context.

Maybe one of us will do this someday.

JR

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