I want to share with you one of our most interesting clients. Bob is deaf in both ears, and yet is truly one of the best Audiophiles I know. He cannot hear a word I say. We communicate using handwritten notes, along with his ability to read lips.
I first met Bob about 15 years ago. He had initially found out about us because of an article he read in one of the trade magazines on the breakthrough technologies Nordost had made on cabling and noise isolation products. He asked if I would bring some to his home for demonstration. I remember feeling skeptical. Thinking “If he can’t even hear my voice, how would he be able to perceive the differences in cabling, noise isolation products, etc.?” I was intrigued, so we scheduled an appointment later that week. He ushered me to his listening room when I arrived at his home.
At that time, the room was pretty simple. As I remember, it had a small sofa, a listening chair, and a fairly decent stereo system. Next to the listening chair sat a few balloons and a small air pump. He played a short repertoire of music for me through his system. I’ve been accused of sometimes playing my music fairly loud. I can easily justify this because I want to feel I am at the recorded venue. And sometimes that venue happens to be a Rock Concert.
But let me tell you…
Bob plays his music loud!
He sits in his listening chair, closes his eyes, caresses a balloon inflated to the appropriate level and feels the vibrations of the music through his fingers.
After listening to his system, that first day, I swapped out his speaker cables with a pair of Nordost. He and I went over the same tracks, and all of the sudden, a huge smile came to his face and he spoke loudly “Much better!” I asked to borrow his balloon and almost immediately, I was able to feel the vibrations through my fingers. It gave me goosebumps, and I suddenly understood how this remarkable man had trained himself to adapt to his inability to hear with his ears.
Years have passed and Bob’s listening room has now transformed into what I can only describe as a very comfortable music sanctuary. It is indeed a tribute to the art of recorded music. He has hundreds of albums, not one but two elaborate stereo systems set up on opposite ends of the room facing each other. Located between these systems sits a listening chair that he swivels 180 degrees depending on which system he wants to enjoy. His various balloons and air pump sit close by.
We are now in the process of upgrading his main system with some of our favorite Aesthetix gear and Nordost Sort Kones and their remarkable Q-Base MK 3 primary earth grounding system. I will follow up with some more photographs when this upgrade is installed.
