🤩 Hear the Daniel Hertz M1 in Mark Levinson's Home - Plus Valuable Insights

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I reference this as part 2, but going to release this part first because my synopsis and takeaways may precondition people. Stay tuned for my formal wrap-up, review, and takeaways video to be released soon.

[@BillyDrummondDrums]

He's a real musician and music lover. Met him in Switzerland some years ago while i was there with Lee Konitz. He's going for the right sound with the right stuff. Too expensive for me by a long shot but would love to hear it. Thanks for this intimate , real video of an actual hang at someone's home, doing what audiophiles, friends actually do. For him to play the Sarah Vaughn with Buster Williams on bass, the Ben Webster, etc, real music with real instruments is fantastic. Not to mention the fact that he's a veteran in the industry for decades.Hopefully his products will make some headway.

[@dougg1075]

He’s passionate about his stuff I’ll give him that.

[@Novilicious]

It’s worth it just for KZbin recordings!! Love the North Indian Classical Music that Mark shared. Not everyone gets how delicate these instruments 🥁 are. Respect ❤

[@EdwardCiapponi-nq8ot]

This might seem corny but…….I know the excitement I have when I share new music with a friend…….you became part of his music family during this visit. I don’t say that because of the hospitality he extended for you to stay. It was when he kept looking back to see if you appreciated the sound and experience as much as he did and obviously nit resonated. More than his words, his expressions tell you everything about his love of music. From the explanations of how and why he designed certain features, to the end goal. I gotta believe if he was able……he would give away sound systems for free, just to see the look on the faces as people listen. Great video!

[@danieljones8587]

I appreciate all that you do and your enthusiasm... it is contagious!!! Big speakers, powerful amps with a Lampizator with good interconnects is where I'm stuck. 😮

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I've had Lampizator stuff before. Can sound nice...gratz

[@noahbirdrevolution]

Man, as a Lexus owner with Mark's system and a musician this is a real treat!

[@RoddyYon-ed5vt]

That what hi fi is all about the music the best i have heard on this end

[@johnsonadekunle7675]

Wow, what a good human being. The last part is what appeals to me to buy his gear if I have the money. Such a kind person.

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

Very similar to my system. Mine is 100 percent active, crossover frequency, type, slope adjustable, quad amplification, .1 DB graphic and parametric EQ. 4 way. Infinite baffle 18” subwoofer, all Class A biased AB amplifiers, with custom Raven Ribbon tweeters ( arguably the best tweeter in the world 13 pound motors) ZR Speaker labs hand made midranges, that cover a large range of frequencies. My system is probably the most transparent system in existence, as well as the most holographic and 3-Dimensional imaging with a tremendous sound stage. Funny, Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson is what sold me on my ribbon tweeters. 😊 I hope you get to hear it one day.

[@RoddyYon-ed5vt]

Lovely

[@kurthill7030]

Sounds just like my cerwin vega setup

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

I can imagine he'd annoy people for hours with this. 😆 "Oh you've gotta watch this one, hang on oh you've gotta hear this"

[@matthewbarrow3727]

It is my sense that the Legacy Audio Valors speaker system could be comparable to the M1 speaker system. Both come as systems (includes pre-amp, power amp, speakers). Both use big drivers. Both use digital preamps with DSP. Both use compression drivers. Both have efficiencies of over 100dB. Both allow for large power (The Valors have over 2700 watts of internal class-D amplification to be able to support transients in the big drivers). I do use a tube integrated amp (because the signal tubes have most of the tube characteristics) for the treble section as I don't like class-D amplification for the compression driver. While the Valors are very large, the DSP room correction has allowed them to get it to sound good in a 8 by 8 foot room. The drivers for both are expensive.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

Yes I see the similarities and sounds like you have an awesome system.

[@Novilicious]

The Valors are unmatched at their price. I often debate which is better…the Valors or the Martin Logan Neolith (granted the Neolith cost more and need 20k in amps). I think you can’t go wrong with either, and especially not with Mark’s M1 system

[@gadymarcus2362]

Bello/Magnifico.👑✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️

[@jaycook9005]

😊those old dudes do know a thing or 2,great sales pitch too , ❤I want 1

[@Pierre-yv1rr]

Thank you for this great video! I'm curious to how you would pair the bacch with the Maria ? I thought the bacch was performing the DAC duties ? Thank you !

[@AudiophileJunkie]

There are 2 Bacch products most often used with 3rd party DACs for people married to their DAC - Bacch4Mac and the DIO...so that's likely the option people will use with Daniel Hertz gear.

[@Pierre-yv1rr]

@@AudiophileJunkie Thank you very much for your answer :)

[@Metranger-xd4bt]

How interesting. You must have had a blast! Those M-1 speakers are big and tall. Maybe it's an illusion but they seemed close to your seating position. But I reckon' not! . How close to you do you think they were. Impressive sonics. Great video.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

Yes it was nearfield, but very impressive and I'll have a full wrap-up video soon with takeaways.

[@pizzaearthpancakesandother2549]

🤜🤩🤛

[@Yeybeth]

Very good 👍 video and good gentleman ✅ I wish you spend the night with them (is one’s in a life time )

[@colekyler002]

Jason, great video! I have the Maria 800 w/ Chiara speakers - Truly amazing system. One thing that I disagree with Mark on - The source is as important, thus there has been a huge improvement of sound when I added an Innuos Pulsar/Roon Nucleus and Ideon reclocker, KS Realization USB/Ethernet cables to the system. However, still need to keep the supplied copper speaker cables supplied by DH.

[@Ivy13276]

I have the Maria as well and I can say you get the "magic" with a mac mini or even Bluetooth from your phone, but I agree with this gentleman, once you try a high quality source you won't be able to go back.

[@mddawson1]

This might be impossible to answer but what differences do you hear between Mark Levinson's system and the better systems you have listened to over the years?

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I have a wrap up video next that addresses that question... Stay tuned 🤠

[@net_news]

wow you seem very healthy now!!!

[@meesmo4]

Yeah artificially add a longer decay via DSP, then play a simple drum track designed to show that off. And then come around and tell you that if your system can't do simple drum tracks, it can't do complex. If anything, it is systems with unusually long decay that will crumble under complex tracks where all types of sounds are melding into each other. Sad to see Mark is still full of s* after all these years. There's a reason most of his ventures have failed, most people see through this bs.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I think you are quoting a narrative over facts. The reverb added is almost imperceivable if you look at the patent and realize how little reverb is actually added. In fact, I doubt people would pass a blind test on just the reverb. As for his ventures, you're also ignoring all his successes and the fact that he's an industry icon. It doesn't mean people are exempt from criticism and perfect, but it's also best to provide a balanced perspective than a one way narrative... Either way. The

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

My system has decay that lasts forever as well, but to me, the C-Wave technology adds unnatural decay that lasts a bit too long for my taste. 😢 It could just be bass bloom due to the room???

[@pizzaearthpancakesandother2549]

It sounds like Chick Korea is IN THE ROOM! He is eating all my kimchi and drinking soju! Even though Mark is better friends with Mikey I still think he is good friends with you Jason!

[@AudiophileJunkie]

Yeah I consider him a friend, but we actually just met in person for the first time on this visit. That zoom was the first ever interaction with him, and it was one of my WhatsApp members who put me in touch. Thus, I have about 4 hours with him total combined in person and zoom. I will likely do more in the future as he's sending me his Maria 800 amp that's used in the M1

[@fredw61]

No back wall!

[@Ivy13276]

Imagine how Mark's system would sound with a quality source!

[@AudiophileJunkie]

How many other sources allow you to play KZbin videos on your system?

[@matthewbarrow3727]

@@AudiophileJunkie Is this a trick question? Any DAC that can take USB can use a laptop as music source (which has KZbin). I watch KZbin, Netflix, and Amazon Prime from my Smart TV and Bluray player through an AVR into my system via AVR pre-outs.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

It's not a trick question...it's a reply I made to the guy's comment above who said imagine how it would sound with a better source...implying that a laptop isn't good like Mark was using. You're comment should be directed towards him.

[@matthewbarrow3727]

@@AudiophileJunkie Ah. It just seemed that you were implying that there were not many sources that allowed you to play KZbin on a system. ie. That there was something special about this Daniel Hertz system. KZbin, with its compression, is not a quality source. There are some aspects which are preserved (ie. ambience and sound stage), but a lot is lost in its compression. The difference is quite obvious when you play a music video of a song on KZbin and then play the same song on vinyl.

[@Ivy13276]

@@AudiophileJunkie mine wasn't a trick question at all. I know for a fact that the Maria sounds great with just a laptop or a Mac mini, but once you step up your source with a quality server it gets to a whole different level. I've tried many setups with my Maria and speak from experience.

[@andreas7278]

What is he talking about referring to 10 dollar drivers used by manufacturers these days? Certainly not by high end companies. Just a single 10inch alu-ceramic cell driver from Accuton costs 1700 euros, 2300 for the 11 inch. Those 1.2inch diamond tweeters alone (not voice coil, magnet or anything, ... just talking about drivers alone, nearly 8k, around 4.5k euros for 1inch one. I mean this speaker is 100k USD, that's in the territory of Tidal Audio, Lumen White, Marten Audio, Borresen T line of speakers etc. They all used custom improved versions of these types or make their own in-house sophisticated cones. I have not met a single manufacturer yet who is not vastly overstating their own stuff.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

The $10 was likely hyperbole, but accuton drivers and diamond tweeters aren't that common either. The macro point is that many of those drivers aren't capable of producing SPLs and many require low distortion and high efficiency... Regardless of how much they cost.

[@andreas7278]

I get the overall point but parts used here seem to be just something one expects at these prices when I look at what kind of crazy drivers, magnets, cabinets etc some European loudspeakers put in at these price classes. I just find it awkward how most manufacturers always seem to come up with these bewildered comparisons pointing out how crazy their stuff is compared to products of very different price ranges. At 100k and above I don't see manufacturers still using cheap drivers, regular perma magnets or MDF cabinets any more, quite the opposite, all just in their own flavour. Expectations are always based relative to the price of the product and what the competition is typically offering at these prices. It all comes down to the specific implementation and how it all blends together though.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

Yeah...there's often hyperbole and hype with marketing material and presentations in this hobby. You have to just use your intuition and experience to navigate the fluff from substance. This is a business environment after all and much like any advertisement you see on TV, it's going to exaggerate the positives and conveniently ignore anything less appealing or equally good.

[@matytinman]

New Record Day Are These $140,000 HiFi Luxury Seats Worth It? | Daniel Hertz Maria and M4 Audiophile System Review kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWrIYqyNo6yKiKs

[@AudiophileJunkie]

That doesn't look like the M1. No reviewer has them to my knowledge.

[@matytinman]

@@AudiophileJunkie You are right. They are the M4. They are illogical speakers for the size and price. The most important thing, for me, is that they sounded much better with Maria 800 amp than with the other one -> Mighty Cat Audio Chip must be the cause of so much difference.

[@ericelmore887]

@@AudiophileJunkielone crow sent the complete system for Ron to review.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I didn't see the review yet, but I heard about it from Mark. He claimed there were lots of inaccuracies, but who knows...I don't comment on what others do for the most part. It's not even the same speaker. I can assure you there's a big difference between an MBL Extreme and an MBL 101e, so it's hard to extrapolate anything other than if Ron commented on the electronics which are similar for all Daniel Hertz systems (but still have significantly different settings for the active crossover, slopes, etc).

[@onemic-theminimalist]

What is this? Is Levinson saying his C-Waves are somehow repairing KZbin's lossy opus (251) codex? Putting back the 75% of music data that was tossed out during data compression? Is this a joke?

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I think he's just saying it makes it sound better...C-Wave is a fixed type of DSP and reverb he's added with specific parameters. Frankly, it should be subtle to inaudible to most, but people can decide for themselves that part of the equation. It's not making something higher rez though as you imply.

[@onemic-theminimalist]

@@AudiophileJunkie Yes I understand that. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not interested in adding digital "processing" and reverb to an MP3 and then listening to it in an untreated room on speakers that are clearly too big for the room.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

I wouldn't draw knee jerk conclusions though...You might not like it, but on the flip side you may like it or not even notice the difference (like I think most won't). As for his room and speaker size, that can be a minefield to judge from afar. Sitting nearfield in any room can negate the room and sound great regardless of the size of the speakers...many think my speakers and subs are too big for my room, but they measure great even uncorrected at the listening position. Big speakers are needed to get full range bass. Thus, the absence of those frequencies at life-like SPLs is a much bigger tradeoff for many than worrying about the visual element of too big a speaker. A smaller speaker in that same room may look better, but be missing a ton of bass and dynamic performance.

[@onemic-theminimalist]

@@AudiophileJunkie As a recording engineer for over 40 years and a mastering engineer for half of that time, I respectfully disagree.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

@@onemic-theminimalist It's fine if you disagree...I'm assuming you disagree that the speaker is too big for the room since we agreed that he's not trying to make anything "higher rez"... but I can show you measurements that the size of the speaker in the room doesn't necessarily correlate to anything you can conclude in general like you have. Often the size is because it has a large (or many) bass driver that is necessary to achieve full range performance. Instead of making a knee jerk conclusion based on the size of the speaker and the room, it's much more important to understand the exact dimensions, how the speakers are oriented and where the listening position is located...those things WILL have a measurable difference as you should know as a recording engineer.

[@exponentmantissa5598]

Modern day audiophile snake oil. The more expensive it is the better it must sound. I am an electronics engineer (just retired) and there technology is pile o quantumf woo woo.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

This is actually using active crossovers, pro audio drivers and EQ... All things an engineer should espouse as anything but snake oil. I addressed the more questionable stuff in a separate video about health claims, but if you're just triggered by the price, then you are going to be triggered by far worse in this hobby.

[@exponentmantissa5598]

@@AudiophileJunkie Read the white paper. Complete nonsense. Their fundamental claim that digital somehow takes something away has been disproven many times. At high enough sampling rates and enough bit depth it is impossible to determine if a recording was originally analog or digital. This is straight up signal theory. Dont get fooled by patents. The USA patent office does not judge whether an invention works or not, only if is patentable, the office makes no claims as to its desired functionality or lack thereof.

[@AudiophileJunkie]

LOL...You obviously didn't even watch the zoom interviews I did with Mark Levinson prior to this video. Your comment is going to be silly once you do and see that I already said some of the same things.

[@yulaswift2439]

Anyone got $250k they don’t need? 🫶🏼