It's always a real pleasure to visit the irrepressible Peter Pan of audio, Pete Riggle.
It was a real bonus that Ron (below center left), Leo (not pictured), Stephaen (center right), Bill (lower right), and John (left) were there too, they're my audio heroes one and all!
Some of you may remember Bill from my 6Moons reviews: Bill is a blind piano tuner with perfect pitch. He knows what things should sound like, and he's not fooled by appearances! Bill is also one of the most delightful audio enthusiasts you'll ever meet, being kind, witty, funny, a babe magnet, and an absolute pleasure to spend time listening to music with! You'll hear people talk about doing 'blind' audio reviews, well, back in those 6Moon days we went them one better - Bill - he was our 'blind reference' for reviews, and there's no fooling Bill! A respectful tip of the hat to brother Bill!
Below, Leo (left), Ron (behind Leo with his head poking up), John (on the couch), and Pido (Pete, on the right).
After plying ourselves with refreshments and some tasty treats we retreated to the hallowed halls of the Institute of Hornographic Research for a bit of audio tomfoolery and music listening.
That's Pete below showing us his sixteen inch prototype Woody tonearm ...
Here's a closeup ... (sorry for the blurry photos, they were all shot in low light with my iPhone)
Below, another closeup of the 16-inch Woody on Pete's venerable Thorens TD 124. (Did you notice the Garrard 301 in the background of earlier photos? Pido's got good taste.)
Even though your wife or girlfriends might be too shy to admit it, bigger really is better. The 16-inch Woody really rocked our evening of music listening with its smooth, detailed, agile, and musical presentation. Wow.
My vintage gear mentor, Ron, brought over a great selection of reissued 45RPM & 33 1/3s to listen to. I really liked the Los Lobos reissue from Mo-Fi, as well as all the jazz discs we listened to. Great music!
Another treat was Pete's massive pair of vintage Beveridge 2 SW electrostatic loudspeakers (second from the left). I absolutely love these speakers, they are one of the most musical speakers ever created, and if you ever get a chance to buy a pair just do it, you'll never be sorry. Did you know that Frank Sinatra & Barbara Streisand had Beveridge's? Yes. That should tell you something. They have tube OTL amps in their base (the black part at the bottom) to power them. They sound smooth, rich, detailed, and extremely musical, and when combined with Pete's 16-inch Woody they can melt you where you sit. Amazing, truly amazing!
Pete's really onto something with his 16-inch Woody, and like the poster says, exposing yourself to art like the 16-inch Woody can be an uplifting experience!
Music is best enjoyed with friends and lovers, so don't forget to invite along your pals and sweethearts! You'll be glad you did!
Speaking of bad girlz, Pete's listening chamber was painted in a mural by Washington State bad girl artist, Leslie Cain. It's the Sistine Chapel of audio, and having been in the Sistine Chapel personally, I can say I like Leslie & Pete's version better! Much better!
We really had a wonderful evening of music listening last night, and I was impressed with John's stellar modded Wright 2A3 amps playing some great tunes on the Zu loudspeakers.
Bad girl Kara Chaffe's deHavilland 222 phono stage sounded wonderful too ...
It's always a pleasure to stop by Pete's Place, where the music is always playing, there's always a glass of wine for friends, the laughter is flowing, and the girlz are badder than usual!
Pete's 16-inch Woody and massive pair of Beveridges totally blew me away! Well done, Pido!
From our homes to yours, may the music light up your life!
Thanks for stopping by!
