BEEN TO BEN..."Another one bites the max,
Another one bites the max.
And another one gone, and another one gone.
Another one bites the max." The cozy and intimate setup belongs to none other than WS member BenC. I had met Ben many years ago via a record transaction and since then have seen him only once in a past HiFi Show. I had the pleasure of visiting the ever cheerful and jolly Ben Canseco yesterday and after getting past 5 or more huge but friendly dogs,
I got into his listening room as pictured below. Warm, intimate and neat, Ben's room is a product of passion for music as I can sense running in his blood, as his uncle was the late great composer George Canseco, whose music filled my college life and is almost immortal by today's OPM standards. We had a great chat about audio and music and as I tell myself, every audio trip I take is a learning experience and this one is no different. Ben enlightened me in several topics on the DIY audio hobby, telling me that each and every little upgrade in parts in the DIY run produces immense joy in the hearts of the builder. His knowledge in parts, design, tubes, and circuit topology is impressive, and he goes on to explain every question that would arise in my mind about building one's own audio gears.
His latest binge into the Minimax line of electronics piqued my interest as well.
Here he mates the line and phono preamps with a JE 45 amp that he build a few months ago. He tells me it can be fitted with either 45 or 2a3 tubes. His speakers utilized Lowther drivers housed in a cabinet that he built under the guidance of a Norwegian baffle maker made specially to extend the bass performance of the speakers. Table is the Garrard 401 and he has 2 tonearms and 2 multiple cartridges. He also has an EAR 834P phono preamp.
Below, the 'Rack":
The Garrard 401 with an EMT arm/SPU and an FR64/Denon 103 cartridge:
The Minimax Line and Phono Preamps:
The Lowther Speaker on the right:
Aside from the main system above, Ben has a bunch of tube electronics at the back of the room, some DIY and a Dynakit amp, and a lot of turntables and speakers as well. Not to mention his record and CD collection, the man is clearly is a man of music, it is clear to me.
In the ensuing couple of hours that we listened to a few LP and CDs, I can tell the difference between the sound of his 2 tonearms and cartridge combinations, as one is plugged into the 100 ohm high gain setting and the other into the 47 ohm low gain setting. One was clearly more beautiful in the portrayal of vocals while the other is very extended at the top and bottom. Ben proceeded to demonstrate to me the difference between the 45 and the 2a3 tubes and it was a very enlightening experience. 2 watts and 1.5 watts. Whew!
I've heard of 'pataasan ng wattage' but it's only now that I hear of 'pababaan ng watts'.
But I'll not go into the wattage war debate, as it is not really necessary as whatever that comes out of the babes, so to speak, is what matters. Without a doubt, I see the great satisfaction of Ben in his sound and music. And as a DIY'er, I'm sure his itch to tweak for more improvements will take him to better heights in terms of musical enjoyment. I have to note, before I forget, that I was astounded by the level of low bass the Lowthers, 8 inches and all, produced by the D2D album I brought along of Almeida and Brown's Moonlight Serenade.
And finally, here's Ben. And I'm glad I've 'been'.
Thanks for the wonderful session, Ben.