Last year I picked up an old school Rega Apollo from Eugene HiFi just to have my world rocked by John DeVore’s little 3xl’s with a host of other tasty analog morsels. It’s only fitting that this year I would get rocked by Mr DeVore’s apes once again while picking up a new Apollo-R. Everytime I step into Dale & Chris Shepherds den of analog sin I wind up jonesin’ for a trip to the city to pick up some LP’s.
This time around Dale had a set of DeVore’s Gibbon 88’s set up along with a new Line Magnetic amp which was a brute. Couldn’t take my eyes off of the beautiful finish on the 88’s and the glowing 845’s on the LM amp. The source was a lovely Well Tempered Labs Versalex turntable with the DPS, Acoustic Plan Phonomaster phono pre amp and Van den Hul Frog Gold cartridge. Cables were all Auditorium 23. This promised be another special afternoon at Eugene HiFi.
We started the afternoon by fine tuning the speaker setup. Once we had that out of the way we were off and running. The musical selections for the afternoon included but were not limited to…
Iron and Wine- The Shepherds dog
Zino Francesca - A mix of classical violin pieces
Hank Mobley- Straight No Filter
Stanley Turrentine- Blue Hour
Donald Byrd- Royal Flush
Medeski, Martin, and Wood- Best of the Blue Note Years
Kenny Burrell- Midnight Blue
Black Keys- Brother
Eric Truffaz- the Mask
Ahmad Jamal- Porfolio
From the natural sound of the strummed guitar on the Iron and Wine album to the more adventurous electronic beats of Medeski, Martin and Wood the Gibbon’s made sense of it all and with an ease that was utterly beguiling. The Erik Truffaz album was edge of the seat listening for me. It was my first listen to that album, and I hope not the last.
One thing that became clear with every new selection that we played was just how transparent this set up was. From the tight upper bass to the shimmering highs this set up was an open window to each recording. Also evident was just how dynamic the system was. The low bass, though tight as a well tuned drum, was authoritative and hit with real slam. I think it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway…John DeVore really understands how important accurate timbre is. It is essential to my enjoyment of a quality music system. This system did exactly that, it got the timbre and relative scale of instruments right. It came across as natural and free flowing. I’ve listened to some incredible analog set ups and the balance on display here was truly impressive.
As a HiFi dealer these fellas appear to have a method to their madness. An over arching ideology and principle that is rooted in music. For them music is the end and the playback equipment is the means to the end. They carry products they listen to and are proud to sell to family and friends. They aren’t concerned with the latest award winning products or what is hip today. What I notice about the systems that I listen to at Eugene HiFi is that the hardware gets out of the way and lets the music touch my soul. Not surprisingly both of the brothers are musicians, Dale a drummer and Chris a bassist and as you might suspect a listening session with these guys requires plenty of distance between listeners so as to avoid all the flailing about that takes place!
That’s what happened again during my recent visit. The system got out of the way and let me enter in to the world of the musician and feel the music as though It were a part of me. To be honest I don’t know which component in the setup was most impressive or what was mostly responsible for the wonderful sound I listened to. What I do know is that the sound was impressive in so many ways and that no matter where it all started it was John Devore’s “Rock-It” 88’s that touched my ears and heart last and left a lasting impression.
Peace out!
