Listening Bars
- Thread starter Audionut
- Start date
I@Rudy Are you now trolling me?
Have you ever used Grammarly
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I'm somewhat dyslexic and a terrible speller so Grammarly is a big help. I only use the free version, as it is pricy, but if I were writing reviews, or in a professional context, I would probably go all in.
What I find amusing are their weekly Insights E-Mails. They tell me I am a lousy speller but use more unique words than the average Grammarly user. I wonder if the unique words I use are misspellings.
I've been to Shibuya in Seattle.
The house system is fine, but has something fundamentally wrong in that it sounds good and then all of a sudden sounds bad. Maybe interference with the Bar system firing into the house system? Maybe just a poorly treated room?
The "HiFi room" was meh at best. Luxman SS, running Klipschhorns, and a Technics TT. Not the best setup to start from IMO, but what really got me is that they designed this room from the ground up and you can hear the bar on the other side of the wall. Plus they made the room the worst possible shape. Is sorta triangle-shaped.
All of this would be fine, but they charge you $40 per person to go into their "Hifi room" and for that, I expected it to be ALOT more thoughtfully put together and attention to acoustics. I wouldn't go again. Waste of money. I wrote them an email, to let them know, but never received a response. I guess other people like it though, because their listening sessions always seem to be sold out.
Decibel in OR is a great system and is always changing. Its also the system we get to listen to every month for our audio meetups.
Sonder is also in Portland, OR. They have promise, but I think they really need to focus their system and find what works well for the room. They sorta seem like they just bought dozens of speakers, put them in a room, and then hooked different ones up from time to time. I hope it gets better as they fine-tune.
It never occurred to me that you would have to pay to listen in these bars - thought they were just bars and restaurants that put a focus on the sound systems.
Live entertainment with a band to pay sure, but $40/head and the need to book ahead, to listen to an audio system while you eat their food or drink from their bar? Hard no for me.
Live entertainment with a band to pay sure, but $40/head and the need to book ahead, to listen to an audio system while you eat their food or drink from their bar? Hard no for me.
Good looking out. Me and my wife were looking at Shibuya’s website and she was like “isn’t that the exact same amp you decided NOT to match with your horns” so yeah not a great first impression here either. But I’m glad people are showing up, even if I ain’t one of em.
There is an "Alyec system" in the bar sitting area and then another JBL L100 system built into the back wall of the the bar itself, so you can drink and listen for the price of imbibing.
Yeah, and you're not allowed to have food, drinks or shoes in the "hifi room".
Another complaint was lodged when they had us put our drinks on a table outside of the hifi room and let us know they will be there when you come back. Turns out they bussed our half full drinks, which were $14 a piece. 🤬
Me and my parter talked about this before booking and I essentially said it was a waste of time and money, because they were advertising that they had a Marantz 2325 and Klipschorns.
She said I was being a snob and couldn't believe that I would be like that.
So we went.
After the vist she said we should have just listened to the system at our house. 🤣
as pointed out above, it takes dictionaries time to catch up with the evolution of language. remember when "bummer" was slang? and what genius decided that the plural of vinyl would also be vinyl? i dont love the term "vinyls" - but if there is a sub-culture that uses that term for records, well why shouldn't they? and pissing old-timers off could be a plus.
PS lovin the chicago and detroit insights in the listening bars thread. "let's kill each other neigborhoods" is an instant classic term and will enter my lexicon.
So one day, the Jazz Kissa instagram account posts that a new hifi bar is opening up and shares some details about what seems to be an interesting system. Out of curiosity, I click through to see where it is (with the assumption being a larger city).
Turns out, it's less than a mile from our place, perfect for a summer bike ride to and from. Glad to be a patron - they've got really interesting wine - so I've gotten friendly with the staff and owners. They've got a collection of about 2500 records they cycle through, and are good about adding new ones and selling doubles to their regulars.
The interior design of the space itself is top notch (everyone I've taken there says it feels like NYC), and since they're located in our arts district, they host a big party every month during the spring/summer in the parking lot next door for our first Friday art walks. They even bring a set of k-horns to round out the dance floor which is a classy touch.
I've spent some time at some jazz kissa in Japan, my favorite being Swing in Shibuya, and while you miss out on the dedicated listening experience, I couldn't recommend it enough to anyone coming through Denver.
That place looks awesome.
I thought you might like that.
But yeah, they have a cool aesthetic and a pretty good selection of actually nice vintage gear.
Also, I like orange.
I like that they have new and old gear that shares an aesthetic.I thought you might like that.
But yeah, they have a cool aesthetic and a pretty good selection of actually nice vintage gear.
Also, I like orange.
ICTWoody
No longer a junior member
Last time I was in Denver, last summer I spent some time at both Aural and ESP.
@JohnVF An interesting note is that Aural was started but some guys who own a design/ad shop. Basically… we’re all the same person.
Tony, one of the owners of Aural told me to just be prepared for ESP. He said it was great, and he was right… but he warned me that as an audiophile there was some things I’d be annoyed by there. IE, K Horns where one isn’t in a corner etc… but overall it was a nice space, great drinks. Cool music. I’ll go back for sure.
- Woody
@JohnVF An interesting note is that Aural was started but some guys who own a design/ad shop. Basically… we’re all the same person.
Tony, one of the owners of Aural told me to just be prepared for ESP. He said it was great, and he was right… but he warned me that as an audiophile there was some things I’d be annoyed by there. IE, K Horns where one isn’t in a corner etc… but overall it was a nice space, great drinks. Cool music. I’ll go back for sure.
- Woody
No need to convince me on orange! Also I think my dining room here counts as a listening bar.I thought you might like that.
But yeah, they have a cool aesthetic and a pretty good selection of actually nice vintage gear.
Also, I like orange.
Awesome guys over at Aural, their attention to detail for rebuilds and reimagining vintage gear is second to none from a retail perspective locally. I believe they do most of the work in house, for internal and external restorations, and only outsource to the best repair guy in the state if absolutely needed.
Blows me away how big that space is too, I guess we have a larger market for quality hifi than I ever realized.
Gotta say, there's some goodness popping up around these parts and I'm quite grateful for it.
I have a friend in Denver/Boulder who was poking around for a job in Chicago but insisted on working remotely. He’d lived in Chicago and in no way wanted to give up Colorado for Illinois. I don’t blame him.
As someone who grew up outside of Chicago, lived in the city for a bit then moved out here, I haven't looked back.
While I do miss the top tier food/music/arts/etc of Chicago, there's a lot more to love about the overall lifestyle out here given that the winters are actually managable.
Plus, we have Red Rocks.
