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.
Thanks for the advice I initially set my system up with the 8 ohm taps on both the Frankensteins and the Dragons during break in, which is still ongoing but almost complete. It was then suggested to try the 16 ohm taps . Upon first listening to the 16 ohm taps I immediately noticed the increased bass presence at what appeared to be the expense of the higher frequencies and closed in sounstage and figured there is too much of a trade off between taps and that maybe I should go back to the 8 ohm taps. Then I was informed that these taps required there own break in time from scratch! Silly me you'd think I should have figured that one out myself. I just assumed that if my amps and associated gear were almost broken in, then so should the unused taps! And yes Charles, as you have suggested, the 16 ohm taps sound exactly as you described , with my Pure Reference Extremes and the sound is improving as "the new" break in period continues. Thank you so much for enlightening me and suggesting this. David
Drdavid, I`ve used both taps with my 14 ohm speakers and prefered the 16 ohm tap. the 8 ohm tap perhaps have just slightly tighter bass and that`s about it. the 16 ohm tap sounds more engaging,alive,open and expansive.It also became more dynamic with increased presence. The sound with the 8 ohm load was more closed-in and less 3 dimensional, also less air and ambience/nuance.It seems with tubes the higher the impedance load the better the sound.Speakers with a lower ohm load speaker might work better with the amplifier`s 8 ohm tap. Regards,
Almarg, Hi Al, The dragons have a volume control that makes it easy to integrate with biampimg. Actually it is quite handy for certain types of recordings to compensate for inadequate bass. David
DrDavid, I second the comment by Brett (Isochronism). That that must be a spectacular setup indeed! A question: How are you matching the gains of the two amps?
Brett, if you are thinking of passively biamping (i.e., without a crossover ahead of the amps), a point to keep in mind is that since both amps would be outputting a voltage swing corresponding to the full-range signal, you might not be able to utilize all of the power capability of the 300B amp without driving the 45 amp into clipping. Or, depending on the voltage swing capability of the 45 amp, high volume peaks might drive it to a point where it is not yet clipping, but where its distortion performance starts to degrade.
I've seen that point overlooked many times in situations where passively biamping two amps having significantly different power capabilities is being contemplated.
The Frankenstein driving my speakers full range is plenty enough for me. I`m not a bass freak nor do I listen to music that`s heavy into bass.I don`t doubt however that the biamped system is a great sound.I honestly don`t feel the urge to tamper with the performance of my current system as is. Regards,
You drooling yet, Charles:) In the somewhat near future I plan to try bi-amping with 300Bs and 45s into pair of JBL 4550. David, your set-up must be amazing!
Hi, Yes. This way the Franks don't have to worry about the extra load of the driving the Bass units. The Franks are never stressed and can perform their magic, and the Dragons provide extremely powerful and controled tuneful Bass. This combo gives the best of both worlds. Extreme realism and SET magic with tuneful impactful powerful bass. It is a match made in heaven as the two amp types perfectly and seemlessly integrate with no gaps in the freuency range. It also allows for some pretty hefty SPL'S with no amp congestion or strain. Really amazing synergy
Hi DrDavid, The Takatsuki 300b can be bought via AM trans of japan. The price increased last month(sigh) and are about 1800 USD. I payed 1400 USD in feb 2012.You have a fabulous system, congratulations! I`ve not heard the shotgun cables but have heard the extreme IC in a friend`s VAC based system and was very impressed.
I do have a preference/bias toward silver cables when constructed properly. The tone,body,openess,transparency and very fine resolution etc.The Ocellia cables are perfect with my Coincident based system, just utterly organic and pure,high resolution yet so relaxed and'natural'.Don`t know what silver cables you`ve experienced but the Ocellia is full weight,body and has superb overtone and harmonic preservation. regards,
Hi Charles I have recently purchased a Coincident system comprised of Pure Reference Extreme speakers,Statement line stage ,Frankensteins driving the mids and highs and biamping with the Dragons for the bass. I am extremely impressed pleased with this new system . I am also using the Extreme cables throughout. I am wondering if you have ever heard the Extremes ,ic's and sc's in your system? I am thinking about the "Shotgun" version of these , are you familiar with them? I was thinking about silver as well but always found them a bit too light,incredible detail speed and emotion, just a bit lightly weighted for me . I have not heard them with my current system but was concerned if you felt they lacked in the bottm end weight and a bit in harmonics. Also I am using the Shuguang Psvane Black Bottle and think they are wonderful but may want to try tube rolling . Where can I get the Takatsuki 300b tubes, and how much are they?
Hello Ghasley, I`ve and others had a lot to say about the Takatsuki 300b on the thread "favorite 300b Sophia or KR" if you start from the early FEB/2012 to present(many posts and 4 seperate reviews). In a nutshell this tube is sublime! It `s clearly superior in all regards to my former Shuguang Black Treasure 300b which is a very good -excellent tube itself.
Is it overkill for a pusp-pull amp? I really can`t see why it would be.I`d think the same qualities it displays with SET amps would be present with PP amps also. The problem is certain tubes seem to match some amps better than others.So far I`ve not seen any disappointed/negative comments by any actual users yet.It has just been a stunning addition to my system.The only downside is it`s very expensive and you can`t audition them before purchase. What is your amplifier and current tubes? Best Regards,
Could you share any more info on the Takatsuki 300b tubes please? Where does one inquire about purchasing? Are they overkill in a 300b push-pull amp? Thanks.
Hello james, This is how I feel(after several months), the ASI Liveline are simply excellent cables(and I`ve heard my share of good ones).The Ocellia matches the liveline in terms of 'liviness' dynamic s and truth of tone/timbre. In my system the Ocellia moves ahead in organic refinement,fluidity and substain and decay.Not by a large margin but enough to notice. The liveline is just a bit more forward with slightly more transient energy(subtle degree). This could just be system dependent but the Ocellia is fuller(more complete perhaps) toned yet retains superb air,ambience and ultra resolution and nuance retrival while avoiding any hint of analytical/clinical sound.
As far as I`m concerned you can`t go wrong with either.The Ocellia is a bit more sophisticated and tactile/palpable in presence than the liveline.
Interesting thread on the Ocellia cables as I currently use the ASI Liveline cables. They sound very good and I am very interested. Did you find it a noticeable improvement over the ASI Livelines or is it a case of diminishing/marginal returns? James
Hi Brett, If you`re referring to the'single crystal pure solid core copper' type,yes as a digital cable. I once used the Acoustic Revive digital cable. It was good but I replaced it with the ASI Liveline digital(same analog IC cable) which I found noticably better.The A. Revive sounds a little veiled,cloudy and less open and alive in comparision.The ASI Livelne is a superb cable but the Ocellia Silver Reference is better yet. Regards,
Charles, A manufacturer of Preamps, SET Amps, and Horn speakers recommended to me OCC or UPOCC cabling throughout. I don't see much discussion on this cable type. Had you considered these at all? I realize you are very happy with where you are at now. I am little by little adding Audio Magic Liquid Clairvoyants as my first cabling experiment, which I realize is far from the type I currently am questioning.
Firochromis, I have`nt heard the 'standard' Ocellia silver cables. I n all honesty (they`re based on the same principles) I suspect the differences are probably subtle rather than significant.I have to believe thay have the same natural/organic quaility. I purchase the Reference version as I was 'very lucky', I found both the IC and SC for sale on audiogon(very rare to find these used).
