Look at What RTI's Don MacInnis Said About QRP's Chad Kassem!!!!!

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Wednesday night and last night (Wednesday May 21st and May 22nd), Maier Shadi's The Audio Salon, Santa Monica, hosted an event celebrating Acoustic Sounds' founder Chad Kassem, who was in town visiting record company executives, band management and others for obvious reasons.

Kassem was coy about who he met and what recordings he was seeking for future Analogue Productions LPs, SACDs and R2R tapes, but he did say the trip, capped off by these two evenings, was successful.

Attendees included record company execs, audio manufacturers, Audio Salon customers and friends and others, who enjoyed catered food and drinks and of course a parade of music on the Analogue Productions and Acoustic Sounds related labels, played back and spectacular sounding system consisting of: for analog a TechDAS Air Force One Premium turntable fitted with an Air Force 10 air bearing radial tone arm fitted with TechDAS TDC01 Dia MC cartridge, feeding the Hachidori Fukami Phono/Tape preamplifier and SUT, for digital the dCS Varése streaming DAC, and for tape playback a Nagra T-Audio R2R tape deck, the heads feeding the Hachidori tape preamp. A prototype Hachidori preamp fed a pair of Ypsilon Hyperion hybrid monoblock amplifiers that drove the Wilson Audio Specialties XVX loudspeakers.

This is an "if you have to ask the prices you can't afford it system" that sounded absolutely sensational reproducing a selection of vinyl, SACD and R2R tape recordings from the rich Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions catalog.

Maier Shadi called Wednesday and asked if I might participate Thursday night because RTI's Don MacInnis and FOC (Friend of Chad) was going to speak and he felt I should be there too. So two days after returning home from Munich High End, I flew to Los Angeles and attended the event, which I recorded to produce this video.

Chad played tracks from the R2R version of Bob Marley and The Wailers' "Exodus" and "Buena Vista Social Club", plus vinyl from his recent Miles Davis "Birth of the Blue" release and a track from the Pablo reissue of "The Alternative Blues".

The enjoyable evening was capped by an extemporaneous heartfelt tribute from Don MacInnis and an equally unfeigned response from Kassem. You're sure to enjoy it all! Following the event, I Uber'd back to LAX 9 hours after I arrived, and returned home on the red-eye.

Comments

2025-05-24 06:04:05 PM

Dave McNair wrote:

Michael, in the immortal words of ZZ Top, you’re bad, you’re nation wide.
2025-05-24 07:24:53 PM

Jim Shue wrote:

Michael - this is a fantastic video!

I've been buying from Chad since the 90s and he's ALWAYS been available to answer my questions and deal with any issues - A+++ customer service. All the YouToob / Hoffman Forum naysayers can go eff themselves!

The Vinyl revival would be far less robust if Chad wasn't a key mover and shaker.

Also really appreciated your photo montage at the end of the video. Very cool :-)
2025-05-25 07:26:21 AM

Come on wrote:

Nice Chad compilation at the end! He was the beginning of the real thing audiophile combined with proper music.

Funny to see the very early pic at the end with of both of you and the record wall in the back. Who at this time thought, that most of those records have meanwhile been reissued 3-5 times in different RPM‘s and remasterings (even just by Chad himself).