About as modest as a Bentley.

schubert November 26, 2012 21:46

Sonrock, you are very modest and your system is becoming less and less so! LOL

Looking great, hope it all works out.

defride November 26, 2012 13:18

I have ordered the KAM2000 monoblocks and Magico Q5's. Pictures will be posted soon with reviews :)

sonrock November 23, 2012 23:26

thank you mate, I am moving house in the next couple of months and I am looking for a bigger room, so I am thinking to get new speakers. But I have to admit which one I should opt to beat the V2's. I listened to the Q5's earlier this year, sound great but you have to spend so much for them. Also they dont have the punch like the V2's, musical capability is equal to my ears. Cant compare the sound stage, dynamic and accurate as the Q5's are in a different league.

sonrock June 21, 2012 15:25

you don't need new speakers.... see my previous advice..... or just wait for a better room that would quantify the investment.

hessec June 21, 2012 12:04

am thinking to change my speakers, might be Rockport, Tidal, Magico Q3 or YG Kipod 2 Signature. Any advice :)

sonrock June 21, 2012 01:32

Hi, I am sorry for late replying you as I have been too busy this month and dont go to gon offen. I did not purchase one of these but I wrote a review about them at hifiwigwam, compared them to the Allnic L3000, BAT VK51SE and my current Einstein The Tube Mk2 which I replaced all the tubes. Please check here for all the details and read the Italic: http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?64520-Einstein-The-Tube-Mk2&highlight=

sonrock May 24, 2012 22:38

I have a MFA Reference and just bought (it is currently being built) a MFA Baby ref. What were your thoughts on the units, did you purchase one of them?

audiofun May 15, 2012 17:22

I have received the Karan KA1200 monoblocks this morning and will post pics soon. Also I need to buy 4 main cables for the amps sing @_@, the Leema's are on classified now :(

sonrock April 27, 2012 14:46

Modest? I think not.

tpreaves March 16, 2012 12:24

System edited: I'll have the new top cables of Synergistic Element soon to try in my system and replace the Tesla Apex cables, has any one used and how do they sound?

sonrock March 16, 2012 04:45

thanks mate, I have replaced all the original Philips Jan 6922 18 tubes and 1 Tesla ECC82 supplied by Einstein manufaturer by 8 NOS Mullard CV2493 + 1 NOS Telefunken ECC82 for the gain, and added several pairs of NOS for the inputs like Mullard CV2492, RT E188CC; Telefunken CCa, Siemens E288CC. Now The Tube mk2 sounds at its very best. The brightness, harshness and edgy have gone and been replaced by the warmth, smoothness, dynamic, and musical presentation. Details are superb with true 3D holographic.

I am thinking about new power amps but I doubt they could beat my current Leema Altair monoblocks. The short list is Boulder 2060, Gryphon Colosseum, Soulution 710, Vitus SS101mk2, and Karan KAM1200 monoblocks.

Any idea or suggestion please?

sonrock March 11, 2012 03:08

Einstein-a great company/products. Good to hear after reading your story.

talk2me February 18, 2012 23:36

I have just received my Einstein The Tube mk2 nearly 2 weeks ago, awesome!

sonrock January 19, 2012 23:14

Thanks Kevinzoe, to be honest I see my system is truly modest compared to very many others :), but I am happy now. I am using what I can afford and happy with that.

Regarding the room treatment, as I said I am renting an old house and we do not live here for long, so I ignore every acoustic treatment etc. I will make my own listening room in the future when I move house. Now my listening distance from the sweet pot to speakers is around 2.25m - enough for me and perfect matched for a small room like this. I have moved the speakers further a bit and everything seems very nice now.

Re the amps, yes they weigh > 45kg each, really hard every time I move them around, haha.

In the future if my friend changes his speakers, I might get his MBL 101e MK2, or I try to go for Magico Q3 or small YG which is in the same price to the Q3's. Maybe in the next 5 - 10 years, LOL

sonrock December 06, 2011 15:29

So rock - there is absolutely nothing modest about your gear so your system name is a misnomer at best. The only thing that might be modest are the acoustical room treatments or absence thereof. Those amps look as large as boat anchors, and likely as heavy, ya? Do you listen near field as the speakers look to be relatively close to each other? Fabulous gear - enjoy!

kevinzoe December 06, 2011 00:44

I am using SR Tesla Apex cables - both sc and ic. Really love the dynamic, punch, smooth, organic and natural sounds of the cables. However, last week I had another pair of MIT Oracle V2.2 speaker cables and compared them one to another.

Well, in the UK, SR Tesla Apex is listed nearly 7k british pounds for 10ft whilst the MIT Oracle V2.2 is listed for nearly 13.5k gbp for the same length @_@. At this price point, many people expect the MIT cables should bring much more benefits to the system than the SR. However, my experience is very interesting; I also asked some audiophile friends come to my place and listen to both cables, results are same to mine.

Everybody agreed that in my system, the SR Tesla Apex sounds better than the MIT Oracle V2.2 regardless of their retail prices. No doubt the MIT cables sound superb with extremely wide bandwidth, bass goes deeper and sound-stage is wider than the SR. But the MIT has too much trebles which interfere to the overall performance and puss the midrange back a bit. In addition, although the V2.2 has deeper bass but to my ears and friends', it lacks definition and punch in the bass where the SR is doing extremely well.

From the very first notes, everyone can notice the differences between the cables and prefer the SR over the MIT. The SR sounds more organic, smoother, more punch and dynamic, more involving and natural, and it is more neutral than the MIT in my system. Both MIT and SR are very very clean, cannot judge which one is better.

The above is just my experience with 2 pair of speaker cables, one is in the ultra high-end league compared to the other. I am still using my SR Tesla Apex and very happy with the cables :). I was looking for the MIT before but could not find a pair in the s/h ex-demo market then I went for the SR cables. But now, when I have a chance to bring the MIT home and compare directly to my current SR cables, so no regret when I stick with the SR. The MIT cables are boxed and ready to ship to my friend's place tomorrow, might get them back again one day in the future when I change house, speakers and my system.

Any comment or same experience?

sonrock November 28, 2011 23:39

Today I have listened to the Music First Audio pre-amps, the Baby Reference and the flagship Reference preamp. Jonathan at MFA came to my house and demonstrated his amps for 4 hours, truly great. Please check here for my short words about MFA pre: http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?61983-a-little-help-please-with-my-new-valve-pre!/page3. Sorry as I cannot post everything here due to length of words restriction!

sonrock November 17, 2011 00:44

thank you for your comments and suggestions. I checked the system, wadia is 100% perfect, the leema has very small noises when keeping my ears very close but deadly quiet from 15-20cm, so no problem at all from my listening position. The pre when I turn on, zzzzzz sound comes immediately and clearly, so 100% the pre got problem. I changed also positions, interconnect but nothing changes. I have moved the pre out of the cdp, etc etc but noise is staying still. the shop will take the pre-amp back this Wednesday for checking and testing. Alson on Wednesday afternoon, Music First Audio will come to my place and demonstrate their products directly with my system: Music First Reference Preamp and Music First Baby Reference Preamp. I will keep you posted.

sonrock November 15, 2011 01:47

YEs, good point. Keep distance between components especially between line or lower leve devices like pre-amps and digital units and/or those with power transformers (as well as away from any other nearby power transformers in applciances or other household devices).

mapman November 14, 2011 20:14

I'd first move the pre-amp off the top of your CDP (ime, stacking a pre (tube especially) directly atop digital unit is an absolute no no). If noise persists, check your groundings. Good luck!

bvdiman November 14, 2011 19:44

I have received my new valve pre-amp and not sure who had the same situation like mine now. The amp sound absolutely fantastic, however there is small noises zzzzzzzzz come from my speakers every time I turn the system on. The more volume I increase, the more noise it becomes.

To be fair, when running the system, the noises go away and hardly to notice even at high volume level. But when I hit the stop button, the noises are still there, not annoying and affecting much on the performance, but I prefer it completely quiet.

I have checked all the interconnect etc and I believe there is nothing wrong with those. Could you please let me know what's going on and is there any thing wrong with the pre? It is totally brand new and I have full 2 years warranty on this. The shop told me valve pre-amps normally have noises but for me, well cannot accept at this price point and level.

sonrock November 14, 2011 00:06

Hi map, I thought we are talking about the v2's! My mbl's were collected yesterday and sadly seeing they go for some space in my tiny house :(. The Magico V2's are truly superb until now, I think I probably get the best position for them in my room now. I moved them around and around all the time until I'm really satisfied. In the future I might come back to mbl's when my budget and house allow me to bring the 101e mk2 home!

sonrock November 11, 2011 07:18

Most all speakers do, but mbls and omnis in general benefit the most from lots of room to breathe/ distance to walls. This is the thing that probably more than anything else makes them hard to match.

I bet things will sound very good, but if not, the impedance match from pre to amp is one of the first things I would check.

mapman November 10, 2011 19:26

Hi Mapman

Thanks you, yes I moved the speakers forward - 1.2-1.5m from the rear wall - and about 1.0m from the side walls. The sound stage is deeper and more precise :), quite amazing for me as I always move the speakers around their position and try to get the best set up for them in my tiny room.

Regarding the Allnic, tube pre correct, you can check specs and reviews from here: http://hammertoneaudio.com/reviews.aspx?reviewId=25 and here: http://www.allnicaudio.com/eng/products/view.htm?brandcode=0010030000000004

According to Allnic, the output impedance of L3000 is 150ohm, while the input impedance of my Leema Altair monoblocks is - unknown :D. Sorry I am too busy to get the manual out of the box which is under many other boxes :P. even cannot find from the official website: http://www.leema-acoustics.com/shop/component/amplifiers/altair#2

I received the L3000 today, very beautiful and world class design, rigid, solid and ready to rock. My valhalla xlr will arrive tomorrow then I can listen to the amp. I am using the Wadia S7i connecting directly to the Leema Altair 4 so no pre, the Allnic replaces nothing.

I used to use Chord CPA3000 pre-amp before matching with my Chord SPM1200C, very very nice system but lacked something which I cannot describe when this combo drove my MBL 121's. So they were up for sale :)

sonrock November 10, 2011 19:14