My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
Well,the Duelund CAST capacitors are installed.Thanks to the help of my friend Jwm(jeff). He will post some pictures of the installation on the thread titled"Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in oil".There`s been plenty of Duelund discussion there for quite some time. I`ll post a very early impression there. Regards,
Hi Brf, 5.6 micro farads.I got them today,they`re huge!6 1/2 " diameter and stout.There`s just enough space on the floor of the cabinet to place them. I will install them later this week with a friend and post early impressions this weekend. Regards,
Hi Grannyring, After a long wait I`ll get them delivered on 11/19/12. I`m excited to see what effect they`ll have in my speakers. I certainly will post my impressions. Regards,
Agear, Hi and congradulations with the TRL monoblocks! they must sound wonderful with your Dude.This change is somewhat surprising as I know you were very happy with the ASR Emitter amplifier.As you mentioned above, same brand synergy can 'sometimes' be the ideal solution. It has at least worked out that way for me with Coincident components. Regards,
thanks Charles. i understand & appreciate your concern that truly wish me good in getting a suitable pre for my needs. i understand there isn't a Perfect pre out there that will be good in every attributes that i seek. all i can do is to try to sought info about potential pre which i come across especially when much a crowd rave about Dude, plus somewhere here in forum i had read the similarities share between Dude & CSL. i haven't decide yet as i'm willing to trade bit of the quality from CSL if another has better bass, more volume steps etc..but still retain the large scale airy etc.. one important thing i like is fine left/right balance control, i need it due to listening condition of my room plus hearing issues,which i did not mention which i apologise.
Charles, I am actually in transition. Had the ASR on Fried Ref speakers. Got rid of those and have my old ones back. The ASR, as good as it is and was, did not synergize with my Gamma Summits. Thus, I had the good fortune of snagging the TRL ST-100 100W tube amp which makes my speakers sing. My Dude is being upgraded as we speak so I was merely reporting on what Bill Grannyring Dion and others have discovered.
Duelund CAST capacitors are considered by many to be perhaps the best best available,I `ve ordered a pair for my speaker`s crossover(thankfully my speaker has only one tweeter cap and that`s all). These CAST caps are costly but worth it per experienced users.
What`s better a premium capacitor or no capacitor at all in a component`s critical signal path? In theory no capacitor, in reality it depends on overall implementattion and various design factors.Trying to determine what component sounds better than another is difficult as so many variables have to be accounted for(other system components,synergy,how about plain old preference/taste?). You could debate until blue in the face the virtues of this vs that.The reality is there`s more than one great component that could serve your needs and make you very happy.
Phillip you`ve heard the CSL and were very impressed,you may like the Dude as much(or more,or less) if given the chance to hear it,who knows?
All I can say is I preferred the CSL as it`s truly sublime in the context of my system(stunningly conveys music`s emotional power),I can`t offer any more than that.I`m certain Agear enjoys his Dude linestage as much as I enjoy my CSL.I won`t argue about what is better than that, just listen and choose what ever component moves you the most. Regards,
Philip, the Dude's behavior can be altered markedly by changing the output capacitors along with tube selection. Paul is now using Dueland cast caps in the current generation of Dude's with spectacular results, including more detail, air, etc. That being said, you have to live with something to really know. There is a lot of wisdom in Charle's approach with manufacture synergy. We tend to get too caught up looking at particulars rather than synergy.
Hi Phillip, I tried to describe them to the best of my ability. Many Dude owners really love it,it`s very, very good.As I stated before they both share many desirable traits. The CSL is more open,airy,transparent and revealed more inner detail and subtlties IMO in my particular system.They`re both exceptionaly dynamic,powerful and large scale.
Keep in mind the CSL is a different design aitogether. 1) Only a single gain stage. 2)It uses DHT type tubes(not the common 12au7,12ax7 or 6SN7 etc.).DHT tubes are just different sounding to me. 3)There is no capacitor or resistor at all in the signal path. Instead it uses an interstage transformer. 4)Volume control is transformer based, no resistors. 5)the power supply capacitors are all polyp-film as opposed to the far more common electrolytics.
I believe these distinctions result in a purer,natural and more relistic sound. Obviously just my opinion.You and others may hear things quite differently of course.
Phillip as I said on your preamp thread, there`re some excellent choices available to you.The CSL is superb and will compete with the best alternatives out there. Regards,
hi Charles, i'm fortunate to have many constructive comments & suggestion in my thread, and i thank you especially for sharing your experience & enthusiasm about CSL. i wonder if you can describe your earlier post on CSL vs Dude as "CSL is more transparent and open with more air,nuance and inner detail(the Dude has these qualities also but to a slightly lesser degree" is the dude missing some details when compared to CSL or is it softer but audible without straining ? do both have the airyness presentation but dude a tad lesser ? it seems no one is selling dude at A'gon, which i might try if cost is O.K. Thanks & regards -P
Hi Charles, thanks for the reply. My Octave is only in for about one day of playback. Just as it is mentioned in the 6moon review, it sounds a little bright right now (only for some recordings), which should get settled by 100 hour mark. Other than aforementioned constricted soundstage, I have not found anything I do not like. One big surprise is its midrange which is already on par with the beautiful midrange of ecd-1. Hope it stays that way. Another is the amount of resolution. I've tried Sabre 32-bit dac before and I find it trounces ecd-1 in that regard, but Octave might be even better than the Sabre in terms of resolution+naturalness.
One thing I remember you said is you hold "emotional connection" in high regards when you evaluate the gears. It reminds me of when I first got my Pass XA30.5 amp. Hopefully one day I can get my hands on a Yamamoto.
Hi Kzhtoo, Thanks for the nice comment about my system. IMO the Metrum Octave was good out the box,over the next 2 weeks I heard the sound open up and expand. It has very good tone and sounds more natural as opposed to 'hifi'.
It`s hard to beat at it`s price as far as I`m concerned. Regards,
Hi Charles, I saw you've owned a Metrum Octave at some point (from Yamamoto dac thread). Just wondering if you could share what to expect during 3-4 weeks break-in period. Any goodies out of the box gets lost over time?
Some A'goner mentioned it gets mellower and I'm not sure what to make of it. After 3 hours of playing out of the box, I do notice it has somewhat constricted soundstage compared to my electrocompaniet ecd-1 dac. Is it something that will change over time?
Thanks in advance. BTW, very nice system you have. Only if I have fund to build one.
Hi Brf, I`m still waiting patiently(10 weeks so far). I was told 2 weeks ago I should have them by the end of this month. I hope that`s accurate.If the Duelund CAST are as good as everyone says then I don`t mind. Regards,
