On the other hand, sometimes stock does in fact fly best as Brian found out with the Flatfish feet. Material changes, shape changes, more taper, less taper, brass, aluminum ... Brian machined any number of variations in his basement shop. But nothing sounded better than those stock flat-footed feet sitting on top of a Symposium Svelte shelf. On top of the rack that Brian built. Yes that's right, machined in his basement. The setup down there includes a chroming tank that Brian made, a heat treating oven, miller machine, lathe, tool post grinder, table saw, radial arm saw and the other stuff you can usually find in a suburban garage or basement. This gear is put to use to make aluminum bicycle parts to replace poorly designed and overweight stock stuff; exotic hardwood CD racks; custom boat engines; and much much more. The stand for his audio equipment came out of that basement shop and if it doesn't come across in the pictures, that thing is beautifully made. The brass caps are powder-coated so they won't tarnish. "If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right."

As is obvious from its description and profile, the Carfraes are all curves. Form following function, a sweet spot for my tastes, the Little Big Horns are indeed a handsome speaker, masterfully constructed from a combination of high-density fiberboard and solid bird's eye maple. Brian examined the plans for the LBHs and verified their strict adherence to the expanding Tractrix contour with a micrometer (albeit expanding in only two of the originally designed three dimensions). Jim Carfrae [right] ceased production of both Carfrae models due to rising material, production and import costs. Carfrae was based in England and the LBHs retailed in the US for $17,500. According to John Geisen, approximately eight pairs of the LBHs were sold in the US. The larger Big Horn never "made it across the pond." For anyone interested in locating a pair of LBHs, John keeps a finger on the whereabouts of most pairs. He can be reached at jgeisen@mac.com.

Brian found his LBHs on Audiogon. The only problem? They were in Japan. After a few exchanges and some careful background checking, a check was sent. A few emails and a few weeks later, the Little Big Horns arrived in NJ in perfect shape. (It's taken longer for me get a CD from Amazon) I am continually amazed at this kind of international personal trade. I am not saying throw caution to the wind but reporting some good news is fun for a change.


Since I am relishing the role of listener, I will let Art Dudley say a few critical words on the Carfrae's LBHs. From a review in Listener September/October 2002: "These are immense speakers of immense subtlety and musical soul. They reproduce music with more color, drama, verve, and sheer scale than anything I've had in this house. And whether or not you think you could ever afford them, I encourage you to beat down any doors necessary to hear what they can do."


Thankfully all I needed to do was call Brian up from his front doorstep. I did try knocking and ringing the bell but Brian was "warming up the system", rendering the measly chime of a door bell inaudible.


Tweaks

Our own Marja & Henk reported on the sonic effects of the black CD in their excellent article on Exact Audio Copy. "Soon music lovers started to use black CD-Rs and next to the notably improved musicality of expertly ripped and burned CDs, it appeared that black blanks added even further performance gains though a bit-by-bit comparison does not show any differences. There is something special about this kind of CD-R. What

though? One plausible theory claims that the black polycarbonate substrate has better translucency and creates improved dye absorption for a pit that's better defined. A better-defined pit means less jitter and more music!" I left a few CDs with Brian to get the full back-in-black treatment.


The end of the race
The listening room at Brian's has heavy drapery covering all windows and even the glass doors leading into the step-down room. Floors are carpeted wall-to-wall and there's one couch on a side wall and a sole comfy chair, smack dab in the sweet spot. Ottoman optional. The remote-controlled lights are dimmed preferably to off when the music's playing. The only light visible is the beautiful orange glow of Kondo's paralleled 2A3s.


Did I mention that Brian is a road cyclist, clocking over 100 miles on any given weekend? He also races motocross, cars, boats - you get the idea. Speed. In 1998, Brian built and raced what turned out to be the fastest model boat in the world, at that time reaching 102.27 mph. If I were to tell you that Brian's system is the antithesis of a laid-back loping sound, would you be surprised? Well, don't be .Those familiar with the Lowthers M.O. know their propensity for speed. And after work, cycling and racing, especially during the colder winter months, Brian ends up most nights right in that sweat spot, digging tunes. In this room, time recedes.


We listened to a variety of music; Ray Brown, the excellent soundtrack to Unforgivable Blackness; The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, the wonderful Entre Amigos disk, Willie Nelson and others. In Brian's listening room, the sound is eerily present. The sonic stage is set and vocalists in particular are physically embodied, hanging out there in the room for you to listen in. And listen we did, for a few hours without much talking. None in fact when the music was playing. Only after we'd finished, largely due to the time and my inability to stay up much past 11:30pm these days (let alone 1:00am) did we take some time to talk. Brian appreciates the "genius" to be found in workmanship, sound and music. And Brian truly enjoys having people in to listen to his system. Especially some of the younger guys from work who've never given much thought to Hi-Fi. Invariably, they leave after more hours than they realize, with a new-found appreciation for the genius that exists in their music.