System assembled over the years. Not much change in recent times, though the A90 cartridge after being rebuilt several years ago is starting to get long in the tooth.
Older version of the Giscours with the amazing Western Electric WE349 tubes
Shindo Corton-Charlmagne Q
70-watt mono blocks using 2 pairs of EL-34's in parallel push-pull mode per amp.
Brinkmann Audio Bardo
Direct-drive turntable
Brinkmann Audio Ront II
Tubed power supply, with NOS Mullard rectifier substituted for the standard-issue Russian tube.
Reed Tonearms 2A
10.5" Pernambuco tonearm with the Azimuth adjusting headshell.
Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge
Ortofon A90
Limited edition MC-A90 cartridge. #224 out of 400.
Aurender N100h
Hi resolution music server and streamer
Wavelength Audio Cosecant HS Denominator 32/192
USB tube DAC with Sabre 32/192 chip
Luna Cables Rouge speaker cables
Excellent speaker cables by Luna Cables, which are an excellent choice and must-listen with Shindo gear.
Shindo Silver Interconnect
1 meter interconnect
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
Power regenerator
PS Audio Power Port
Power Port resides on dedicated 20-amp circuit.
RealTraps MondoTraps
Bass traps installed on wall-wall corners.
RealTraps BareTraps
Bass Traps - installed in ceiling-wall corners
RealTraps MiniTrap HF
First reflection point panel behind the listening chair
RealTraps MicroTrap
First reflection point panel - sidewall
Loricraft PRC-3 Mk. III
Record cleaning machine with bidirectional motor and tonearm-style cleaning wand that uses nylon string to clean records, using L'Art Du Son cleaning solution.
More pictures and info will follow in a while...I'm a pretty bad photographer! I'll have to get around to taking some more pix - haven't really taken any since the arrival of the VTL and Wavelength. But...my RealTraps are mounted in wall-wall corners and ceiling-wall corners.
Hi and thanks kindly for the thorough answers to my questions. Much appreciated. Have you any more pictures of your room and equipment? I would like to see where you have placed your RealTraps treatments. Cheers, Kevin
I'm storing the music (lossless AIFF) on an external 2-drive Western Digital fanless RAID enclosure with 2 TB drives in it - one drive is a mirror of the other, so there is a backup inherent in the system (be careful to use RAID 1 rather than RAID 0 with 2-drive arrays, only RAID 1 incorporates backup).
By using a memory player like Pure Music or Amarra (where the external HDD rarely spins up), I don't suspect there'd be a difference in sound quality between internal SSD and reading off an external HDD - or at least, not one big enough to justify the ridiculous cost of sufficient SSD storage to store a large collection.
If you're gonna use a USB DAC, then use firewire for the drives (as I'm doing) - you don't want anything else on the USB bus other than the DAC. I use an external CD drive to rip discs, but disconnect that for listening.
Hi countingbackwards, I see you use an Apple Mac Mini as a music server, which I plan to get. I'd like to ask if you store your music on the SSD drive with the external drives being used for back-up purposes, OR is all the music on the external drives? Is there any difference in sound quality if the sound files reside on the SSD vs external drives?
Lastly, how is the external drive connected to the Mini - firewire, USB . . ? Is one type of connection better than another? (I know that firewire offers faster bit rates than USB but does that matter for audio?) Thanks in advance. kevin
BTW...detailed review will come soon, now that the string of upgrades is reaching its conclusion - next up will be working on the rack (and I mean working on it - will be working on some projects with a woodworker to try to come up with a nice rack).
System edited: Music server added...bought a Mac Mini and then loaded it up with Amarra and my ~1200 CD's in AIFF format while awaiting delivery of my Cosecant. The DAC sounds great - a marked improvement over the Numerator-equipped version I had on loan that made up my mind to buy one. So a new way to listen to music is here!
So...a quick update on my recent upgrades. The gear seems to be relatively burned in now, so I'm ready to comment a bit on the improvements.
First off...it's a bit difficult to call this a detailed review. Why? A few reasons - first off, I've changed 3 major components (amp, preamp, cartridge) essentially at the same time, so it's hard to state in detail what each has done. Second - the change is so dramatic and the upgrade so drastic, that of course the sound is phenomenal and very much to my liking. It gets hard to delineate between my own preferences, and what the equipment is doing from an objective viewpoint.
The biggest differences that I'm noticing are...pretty much everything! When using the amp in tetrode mode, the dynamics and frequency extension at the extremes is a huge step up from what I had before, as is the dimensionality and size of the soundstage. Midrange just sounds so smooth and detailed, even more so when the amp is in triode mode. The ability of the system to allow the listener to focus in on the slightest detail, and to provide space for that detail to deliver itself within the soundstage, is just phenomenal.
In trying to allocate the impact of the different pieces of this upgrade, while understanding that the 3 pieces were purchased specifically to work with each other within the context of my turntable/arm/speakers, I think I have an idea at least! The cartridge is clearly very balanced and dynamic, given that the improved dynamics are more clearly evident on records than on CD's. The ability to focus in on the smallest detail within a recording seems to emanate from the preamp, whereas the size and scale of the soundstage and large-scale dynamics seems to be a product of the amplification. As for the great timbre and tonality across the frequency range - I suspect that's a mix of everything.
I agree about Parsifals being a great speaker whose performance belies their size. Their detailed and alluring full-range performance in a package that easily fits into my small-ish room was a key element in my choosing them last year. And now, driven by proper amplification, they are sounding better than ever.
Nice looking system, hope you're enjoying the changes wrought. I had the pleasure of hearing Parsifal's driven by Soulution amps a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed. Quite some speaker, they belie they're modest proportions.
System edited: So a major change to my system had my AX7e integrated amp and Benz Ruby 3H cartridge replaced by a Shindo Monbrison preamp, VTL ST-150 amp and Ortofon A90 cartridge. Lots of fun listening to come!!!
Thanks...been a long time assembling this system - the change of speakers a few months back has changed the whole character of the system for the better. Am absolutely having a great time listening to music these days.
System edited: Am on the tweaking stages now...Cardas Golden Reference XLR cable from phono to amp, Ayre Signature XLR cable from CDP to amp. I'm starting to get worried...after a few remaining tweaks to things like speaker cables/power stuff, I'll be done and will have the system I've been aiming for. The upgrading is fun though!
So now that I've parlayed my exuberance over the CX7e into a matching AX7e, the main components of my system are now set for the foreseeable future. Now I can address the part of the system that hasn't seen much of my focus due to "not putting the cart before the horse". Cables, specifically speaker cables and interconnects. My plan is to do some experimenting over the next little while...
The Ayre is better in every aspect of sound then the Meridian, from what I can tell so far. The overall sound is open and airy, which seems to be the company's general sound signature. Bass hits with impact and there's detail that I've never heard before on my discs. I know people say this all the time, but I've noticed a lot of atmospheric elements on multiple discs that I never heard before.
Another factor that is great about the Ayre is the absolute dead-silent background. There was a bit of a hiss with the Meridian that is completely gone with the Ayre. I suspect this has a lot to do with the increased detail, and is likely indicative of a better-designed power supply.
The aspect of the Ayre's sound that most appeals to me is the proper weight and impact that is alloted to the drums. That, combined with the solid bass, results in a great-sounding rhythm section, which is where the Meridian was seriously lacking. Compared to the Ayre, the Meridian produced a recessed bass and rhythm that was warm-sounding, but a bit plodding. It was a great match to my overly bright Bryston amp that I had a few years back, but in a more balanced system, it lacks punch and is a bit dead-sounding. In fact, this one attribute is the real reason that I decided to upgrade the CDP - the other benefits were a somewhat unexpected bonus.
In comparing with my analog front end, the Ayre is definitely more open and airy sounding, with a more impactful and dynamic sound and, as could be expected, a quieter background. The vinyl setup draws attention more to the midrange and the Ayre draws more attention to the frequency extremes. There's nothing that CD seems able to do to match the richness and body of the Gyro/Graham/Benz/LP5.3 midrange though. Both sound great to me, and offer me different types of sound that appeal better to different types of music. For example, I find that Bjork and Radiohead sound better on CD in my system, but Belle & Sebastien sounds better on vinyl. I haven't done extensive "testing" though, and really, that's no fun, since what I want to do is listen to music...
System edited: Will see how the CX-7e melds into the system as it breaks in - first impressions are very positive, it's a CD player much more in line with what I seek in my music these days than the Meridian that it's replacing.
System edited: Orbe screw-down clamp added, will be analyzing its sonic impact in the coming days. The first couple of records seemed to be a bit more "weighty" sounding without losing airiness. The most notable advantage thus far is the logistical improvement of a screw-down clamp vs. a pressure-clamping solution.
Great to hear from another happy Simaudio LP 5.3 owner. I really love mine. Things are really starting to improve on it for me. I believe I have ~100 hours on mine.
System edited: Added the Moon LP5.3 phono amplifier...initial impressions are very positive - the quietness of this phono stage in comparison with my previous Musical Fidelity XLP stage is remarkable, which one would expect for the price difference. Any further impressions will follow in the analog section...
I don't know a whole lot about turntables, but I do know that accurate speed is very, very important. If you are sure that you would achieve it the way you describe, then do it.
