Suddenly I find myself with VIP’s coming to audition some brand new THIEL speakers at my home, so I called upon Kathy, my dear friend and neighbor, for advice on catering a light lunch. Kathy hooked me up with an authentic Italian specialty shop called Liuzzi’s in North Haven, CT. I bought glorious meats, cheeses, bread, olives, peppers, fresh bread and made up a nice spread.

Stereophile Magazine is one of several respected, well crafted publications covering the always passionate hobby of high-performance audio and musical recordings. Based in Manhattan, I invited them up I-95 to my home in Connecticut to hear THIEL’s new SCS4T’s and thanks to Bryston, some wonderful electronics. Both Stephen Mejias and John Atkinson spent about 4 hours listening (we ate too) and the experience was (from my perspective at least), what the hobby is all about. I played a vast mix of styles, some older, some more modern. Stephen’s blog post on our afternoon pretty well sums it up here: My additional comments follow:

Both Surf’s Up and Holland are two of the most interesting, beautiful and unusual LP’s. They mix a sense of “Flower Power” mentality with fearless song craftsmanship ideas and stupendous harmonies. I happen to adore the recording style of the day; to me they sound so organic, so unedited. Music made by humans. And they highlight the very real contributions that The Beach Boys made to popular music from a slightly different angle than the legendary LP, Pet Sounds.

Another point: Listening to music that moves you on powerful, accurate and dynamic equipment never fails…it is an entirely different experience than using my MP3 player and noise-cancelling headphones to drown out jet engines and crying infants on transatlantic junkets.

If you want to explore an innovative and gifted jazz guitarist, check out Tony Purrone.

I am reminded by all of this how fortunate I am to be part of the high-performance audio community, and to have a career based on promoting the art of music and great sound…things that I love. There are often juicy debates: This gear is better than that, this singer is better than three others, and so on. In truth, its all about what reaches you, its deeply personal. The THIEL speakers and Bryston CD player, preamp, and amplifier made beautiful music that day for my guests and I am eternally grateful to have enjoyed our time together.

The Beach Boys Surf's Up LP