Another positive review of the Audio Doctor in Jersey City. NJ


I wanted to give a very positive shout out and thanks to Dave Lalin at Audio Doctor in Jersey City, NJ.

I found my way to Audio Doctor based on a thread here in Audiogon. I wanted to add my positive comments to that thread. The initial contact with Dave was by phone and he is very responsive and easy to reach.  We had several initial conversations about what I was looking for and dates/time for a visit. I was eager to hear the Quad speakers and other brands that he carried.

I took the drive up yesterday and spent three hours with Dave who was very welcoming, extremely knowledgeable and good humored. I had intended to spend only an hour or so I was sensitive to his time. But three hours later we were still talking.

Dave is very generous with his time and passionate about the brands he carries. He wanted me to hear everything – from his smallest, least expensive systems to his “big rig”, a truly stunning system consisting of the Paradigm Pesona 9H with T+A electronics. This system was absolutely stunning. One of the ten best I’ve ever heard. Here I could toss in the usual bushel basket of hyperbolic adjectives but I’ll spare you that. Suffice it to say that the system nailed it and got everything right. I was gobsmacked! Then we settled down to hear his midrange wares, in particular, the Quad Z3 and the smaller Paradigm Persona speakers. The whole session was very revealing and worthwhile. And finally, he wanted me to hear his KEF-based surround system, which is located in a dedicated home theater in the basement of his house. And here the term “home theater” must be taken literally because his vast inventory of brands is located in multiple rooms in a lovely Victorian house. The KEF surround sound system was a stunner. An extremely well balanced, fully tweaked out, totally involving piece of art and technology.

This was a great way to end a thoroughly enjoyable visit. Thank you Dave. And thank you for being one of the few remaining fully equipped bricks and mortar hifi solons still standing.

garypine
Gary thank you for your visit and for the great review!

You summed us up to a T. When I built my store the idea was to offer superior products that represent fantastic sound and were priced as reasonably as possible.

From our past experience in listening and comparing many brands, I think overall we have selected some truly innovative products that are rarely seen in and around both New York City and New Jersey.

The Legacy speakers, Quad speakers and Paradigm products really shine, as do the KEF’s and Dali. 

So if there are others out on the gon, that want to hear some really cool gear in a quint Victorian Home, please feel free to give us a ring.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Dave Lalin, owner Audio Doctor NJ
Dave, 
Aside from the T + A what are you driving the Personas with effectively?
What kind of power do you find they need?
Just got mine and am running a Pass 30.8 with a Ref 3, and they are just breaking in.
Wondering what more power might sound like, or if it is necessary given the Woofers are self-amplified.  9H sounds wonderful so far, getting smoother every day...
Thanks

Brrgrr,

So far the T+A gear has outperformed, Electrocompaniet Monos blocks, CJ ART and Gat, Devialet D400 Monos, and Chord gear.

We really haven’t found any combination of electronics which have sounded better.

In terms of power, yes the speakers are efficient, however, if you have a good sized room and like to listen loud the extra power of a big amp allows you to rachet up the volume without compression.

Our demo room is 26 by 20 with 10 foot celings and when played loud the T+A meters are showing peaks.


Your 30.8 will drive the speakers fine but more power will give you greater dynamic freedom and the speakers just get louder and cleaner given more power.

Also the Pass Labs gear is very good, the T+A gear is far better. Both Musifx and David_Ten both compared T+A to Pass and both found the T+A gear to be substantially better.

Personally I would trad in both the Ref 3 and the Pass Labs amp and just go with a T+A HV PA 3000 at $18k or the newer version the PA 3100.00 a $23k integrated.

you will never need to upgrade as the level of quality needed to exceed these products gets to be crazy expensive. The PA 3100 HV was reviewed by Positve Feedback and was compared to a $45k Dagastino and a Vitus integrated and the T+A was considered to be better.

Just amazing stuff.

Hope that helps, please PM us for a futher discussion

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ