bugredmachine's Tennessee System 2023

by bugredmachine on
2026 clean-up & additional bass traps
2026: Added another 3 inches x 6 feet Rockwool to each sidewall array
2026 31 x 12 x 47 Rockwool traps on wheels to accommodate LG TV behind
Added Wywires Diamond to the daisy chain to the amp, exciting improvement
dec 25 2024
2026 results after additional bass trapping
Before and after heavy bass trapping 2023
Triangular traps behind the "corner straddling" 10" super traps
Real Traps added to ceiling 24x57x4 July 2025
Rear wall 6" Acoustimac trap
Room before our purchase
One inspiration idea for decor
My Salk Exoticas in copper baffles
Exoticas in Aural Enlightenment 3 Kalamazoo
Aural Enlightenment 1 - Canton MI
The Sanctum Home Theater from the wayback machine
This used to be funny....
Back of the room
Go for the gold
Right slope first reflection
Left side of room and rack location
2018 Axpona Speaker evaluation scoring during lunch, which fry is Wilson?
Not a pet-free environment
5th iteration in TN
ADD_PWR IO - Aurender - Bricasti - AR Ref 5SE, below Core Power - Puritan
Right rear - Salk appreciation spot
Rack left end
The ugly rack view
When using room this porous section folds back against sliding door
Added a porous door appendage so the air could circulate when room was not in use. The cold air return is out in the hallway and this cat-proofs the room. Shown in flow position
A list of cables tested circa Apr2025 (~2018+)
Verifi Audio Purons and Mainstreams used throughout
DIY noise filter on each Wilson negative pole
cable lifter ambrosia maple
Shakti stone on Aurender on ADD PWR Wizard
Puritan Ground Master to ground rod (preamp and dac grounds)
My DIY HFC copies en masse
Nordost Sort Kones wherever possible
Cooling fan on preamp is 240 volt unit running quieter on 120 volts
Walnut lifter with leather pencil case filled with sand and 3/8" ball bearings

Description

One saving grace for the low inventory of houses in 2022 was the pool and this room. Gave up on finding 3 garage stalls, but 10 foot ceilings in this room looked promising. 23.4 feet deep, 16.5 wide, with a 10 foot peak 54 inches wide.
I replaced some very large rectangular (32x24x53) bass traps that were not built correctly. I saved most of the Rockwool and front panels to make 10 inch thick, 32 wide, 59 tall traps completely of Rockwool. Then I added triangular traps behind them at 53 inches tall of Rockwool. I found through extensive REW runs that the additional trapping in the corners help smooth out the frequency response.

I have plenty of room modes but they are not killing the sound and with Stack Audio Auva 100's just added to the Wilsons, the sound is much better than the Gaia's provided.

I've been busy auditioning both IC's, SC's, and power cables in 2023. Here is a list of power cables I have tried out in 2023:

Acoustic Zen Silver Ref IC Stealth M5000 power cable Purist Audio Proteus Rev B PC Silversmith short Fideliums Verastarr silver foil grand illusion PC from wig Purist Proteus PC two cables Transparent Ultra IC Gen 5 Verastarr 4 foot PC Verastarr 5 foot PC LessLoss C-MARC 20 amp JPS ACX 2M power cable superdan138 Stealth Metacarbon RCA Stealth Indra IC Analysis Plus Oval 9 Spkr cables Transparent Ultra 20 ft IC Tara Labs The One PC second Anticables long PC Tara Labs The One PC first Elrod EPS3 Sig 20 amp 1M woway Kaplan  PC JPS 38 in IC JPS 78 inch PC Jade Moontails JPS 51 inch PC Elrod EPS-3 8 feet, 20 amp Silversmith long Fidelium SC Transparent 5M Gen 5 PC Masterbuilt Audio Std PC Aric Audio Motherlode 2 JPS Aluminata 8 meter Nagomi PC 1.5M 15a Hijiri Million IC Nagomi 20A 1M PC Organic RCA ebay Harmonix XDC10SM Studio Master 1M Zavfino 2 mtr XLR's Keast Harmonix X-DC Studio Master 330 1.5M Purist Museaus Praesto Rev 5M XLR Wywires Platinum 13ft PC Russ Andrews grounding Kubala Elation half meter splitter Kubala 1.5M Elation PC to Ken F&F Purist XLR Corvus 1M first Purist XLR Corvus 1M Kubala Elations to Tom 1.5 x 2 and 2.5 20 amp from TMR Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC Clarus Crimson 24 foot XLR Purist Venustas 4 Mtr XLR   Empirical Design 316 PC Elrod EPS2 Elrod EPS-2 70 inches Purist Venustas Tri wire SC Harmonix XDC2 1.5M PC Kubala Emotion from Australia Kubala 3M Expression from Larry Cox Aurender X100L Core Power 1800 Kubala 3M Emotion from Larry Cox Cardas 1.5 M Clear XLR from USAM  technut Cardas 1.5 M Cygnus PC TMR Cardas 2M Clear Beyond PC TMR Cardas 1M Clear XLR Jan Andersen BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2 brian fong Cardas 3M Clear Beyond XL PC from Tony Cardas One meter Clear Beyond XLR from Ron Cardas 1pt5 mtr Clear PC from Gary Cardas Clear 1 mtr PC from TMR Clarus Crimson 1 mtr XLR  Cerious Technologies Matrix XLR Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC  Cerious Technologies Matrix #2 xlr Cerious Technologies Matrix 5 ft power cable Cerious Technologies Matrix 6 foot speaker cables BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2  NRG 4 meter PC USAM Clarus Crimson 2 mtr XLR Oyaide Black Mamba V2


Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 24’ × 17’  Large
Ceiling: 10’

Components Toggle details

    • Wilson Audio Alexia 1
    SR Atmosphere Euphoria X speaker cables. Wonderful resolution.

    OLD: Fed by Cerious Matrix SC's
    • Audio Research Ref 5SE
    Replaced an Aric Audio Motherlode 2

    Hijiri Nagomi PC 20 amp

    OLD: Fed by a BMI Whale Elite PC.
    • Bricasti Design M1 DAC
    Fed by Harmonix XDC Studio Master 350 power cable

    OLD: Fed by Shunyata Sigma USB and BMI Whale Elite PC
    • Coda Technologies Continuum No. 8 amp
    Version 1: 150 Watts x 2 into 8 Ohms

    Class A ~18 Watts 

    300 Watts x 2 into 4 Ohms

    Class A ~18 Watts

    SR Tungsten PC now fronted by 2 BMI Whale Elites

    OLD: Fed by 2 NRG the Five PC's onto a BMI Whale Elite, all daisy chained from the Puritan to the amp.

    • WyWires, LLC Diamond

    Wywires Diamond and Platinum XLR's


    Old: 2 meters of Snake River Mamushi to 4 meters of PAD Venustas


    OLD: Clarus Crimson 4 meters to 3 meters of Siltech for amp


    Old: Siltech Cables Princess G7 between Bricasti and ARC (wow, so silent=more smooth music)

    Old: 2 meter Clarus Crimson to amp being fed by 4 meter purist Venustas. Planning to move to Siltech cables over the next few weeks.

    Old: XLR's to the amp start as Purist Venustas Diamond Rev 4 meter then to two pairs of Cerious Technologies Matrix all daisy chained between ARC and Coda.

    Old: Cardas Clear Beyond XLR to the preamp, Cardas Clear daisy chained to Purist Venustas XLR to Coda amp.

    OLD: Presently have a KS Emotion on the Bricasti to preamp.

    For the amp run:
    I have 3 meter pair of KS Expressions connected to a 3 meter set of Emotions that then connect to a 0.5 meter pair of Elations for the run from ARC to amp. SO, yes, daisy chaining KS cables together as interconnect chain giving me the KS sound but ultimately the signature of the Elation as it is right before the amplifier. Give this a try. It was tested with PAD cables first and then I switched to KS cables. The PAD train was Venustas (4M) to Corvus. Prior to that I was using Museuas to Venustas to the amp. I kept moving up the chain and then jumped over to KS cables.
    • Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Euphoria Speaker Cable
    Old"; Siltech Cables Classic Anniversary 550L
    Old: Cerious Matrix SC's

    OLD: Tri-wired set of Luminist version 81 inches long. I only needed single wiring but couldn't pass up the deal. I made a manifold to accept the 3 runs per side with a solid piece of copper which hangs on the Wilson binding posts. Incredible speaker cables.
    • Synergistic Research Excite SX, Tungsten, UEF Level 2 power cables
    Now using SR power cables at the wall to Core Power, then to power conditioner, and on COda amp. Massive improvement in clarity and detail.

    OLD: Whale Elites on Puritan and first 18 feet to Coda (last 1 meter to Coda is a Hijiri Nagomi)

    OLD: Two of these on the daisy chain to the amp with the Kubala Sosna Elation PC.
    • Shunyata Research Sigma USB
    All the other cables I tried smeared the music.
    • ADD-POWR Wizard
    I have 2 of these stacked on top of CODA amp.
    • ADD-POWR Symphony I/O
    Connects the ethernet to the music server and the server USB to the DAC
    • Aurender X100L
    Replaced my Rich Hollis designed dedicated MS-2 computer.
    • Synergistic Research Atmosphere
    New: SR power cables predominate

    Old: Matrix PC at wall to Core Power unit

    Old: Almost all Cardas power cables now

    Old: Moved to almost all KS power cables; Elations and one Emotion. Good stuff. Still putzing with the PC to the Aurender.

    .
    • Puritan Audio Labs PSM156 Studio Master Power Purifier
    Love this unit. The amount of noise it reduces is impressive. Tested the circuit with a noise detector before it and then plugged into it to see how it removes 75% of line noise.  Now I have barely a tweeter hiss at 6 inches instead of at 12 inches.

    Dec 2024: Adding SR cables has lowered the noise floor even more.
    • Core Power Technologies Core Power Technologies Deep 1800 AC Power Line Conditioner
    Added this to the very front of all power feeding the Puritan.
    • whiz bang device for sound
    pad

    8947

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    • Tweaks various
    A thread here got me thinking about how many I have in my system

Comments 53

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Owner
Update on AC cables>

I received another Tara Labs The One cable this week. This gave me an opportunity to place it on my preamp instead of the Kaplan HE and put a second NRG The Five cable on the DIY box I made years ago that powers all the "digital" (music server, hard drive, ADD-POWR Symphony I/O). I had a JPS Analog AC on there. The box is built with copper buss bar, various aftermarket duplexes, and filled with Tourmaline and Quartz.

So now I have an NRG The Five feeding my Puritan, Tara Labs feeding the preamp and Bricasti, and another NRG in-between the Puritan and the digital outlet box.

I fire up the system after the swap and head over to the Wilsons and take my usual position at 6 inches from the tweeter and nothing. Check the amp and it's on. Move in closer so the hair on my head is now touching the tweeter baffle and there is a slight hiss. And the hiss is considerably smoother than the oscillating waveform I did have at 6 inches. Big grins and imaginary high five to myself. THIS, is what I have wanted to achieve!

Played music for 2 hours while in heaven (more so after the first hour of warm-up). I purchased the NRG's on a bet after reading their website about their construction when I saw a few up for sale. So for me, they have definitely filtered out noise without diminishing the overall output of music. I'm thrilled I can stop looking for power cables for the time being.

bugredmachine

Owner
Probably delinquent in making some comments.

High level, this is the first system I have created where I can honestly say I have soundstage moving outside the speakers. Pretty spooky but highly enjoyable.

I have significantly reduced electrical noise with the incorporation of JPS Aluminata interconnects. They dropped the small nagging hiss from the tweeters to barely detectable. To explain, at 18 inches from the tweeters, my ear could pick up a small electronic hash before the Aluminatas. Now I can barely hear some hash at 6 inches from the tweeter - with my good ear!

Previously owned Sasha 1's and the Alexia 1's are really surprising me with the bass they have, especially exposed by the Aluminatas. I never really had an issue with the inverted Focal dome on the Sasha's, but the dome of the Alexia's is much smoother and blends in very well. I was always so appreciative to have owned the Sasha's. I am amazed by the Alexia's.

I removed so much noise with the Aluminatas, I decided to pursue power cables more seriously. I have never really gained much in the sound department before with AC cables. Now I have gone another step up and am really digging the Tara Labs and NRG cables. I'd like to swing an Aluminata power cable later this year.

bugredmachine

Can't wait to see the after pics and happy new year!

jond

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