What a grand way to hear my iTunes library

mrpinter

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At one time (long ago it seems) all of my music was on vinyl. Then for many years most of my music was on CD's. Now most of my music is in my iTunes library on my computer's hard drive... AND mirrored on my iPod Classic. Until now I've been limited to my external computer speakers or my car stereo when I wanted to listen to my music. I've been shopping for an iPod dock or speaker system that I could afford, and that reproduces high quality audio, and began to think that my choices were going to be limited to a few options like a Bower & Wilkins Zeppelin, or a Bose of some kind. But at the last NAMM show I came across the Wathen Audiophile booth, met the CEO of the company, and was mightily impressed with the sound of their tube amplifiers and bookshelf speakers. From their literature I got into after the show I saw that they also make a Bluetooth speaker system called the QuarterWave (that also has a mini stereo jack for non-Bluetooth devices). It looked intriguing, and like something I'd been searching for. A day or two before I had the actual money to buy one, I saw on their website that they were having a "Flash Sale" to clear out inventory of old stock to make way for an upgraded model - with a price tag $150 higher. So I called to find out if there would be any old stock left in a day or two, and was given an "iffy" response. So I called the CEO, Don Thomas, who had given me the demo at NAMM, with my request that one be left for me, and he emailed back that if I ordered in the next couple of days I'd have one at the old price, even if it meant that I would get one of the new models. So I ordered when I had the money, and just received my QuarterWave (which they shipped on overnight FedEx). It is indeed one of the new models, with 4" drivers upgraded from the original 2.5" ones, and with the addition of a downward firing 5.25" subwoofer, among other improvements.

The thing is incredible! It sounds like a much bigger, audiophile quality component system - all out of proportion to it's actual size (20.5"x9.75"x5"). It absolutely fills my large living room with really big sound. And it looks really cool. If any of you are searching for a good compact music system for an iPod or MP3 player, and have $750 to spend plus $50 for overnight shipping, this is IMHO THE unit to have. Here is what it looks like on my bookshelves:

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And here are a couple of their standalone speakers, the first one is the subwoofer from their Inertia series (the "entry level" bookshelf speakers from Wathen), and the second is the flagship model of their Reference line. The latter goes for $8500 for a pair, and the QuarterWave uses the same kind of drivers.

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