this room and system is the result of 10 years in High End audio. my
system has been stable for a couple of years (except for transport and
amplifier upgrades within the same brand). the room has been in the
planning stage for about 18 months and i actually moved in a little over
a month ago.
my audio philosphy is to have the system get out
of the way of the event. i like as pure and simple a signal path as
possible and, at this point, prefer passive to active gain stages. i
love all the formats and enjoy having lot's of music.....vinyl is my
favorite but i listen to at least 60% digital. the new room really
reveals the benefits of SACD over redbook.
the system and room
truely allow the event to be recreated before me. i love the way the
speakers disappear and i am transported to another place/time.
i have choosen my cables, sources, amps, speakers to have as little of their own sound as possible.
recently, i upgraded my digtial transport from the modified Philips
SACD 1000 to the new emmlabs CDSD.....this was a significant step upward
in performance.
i have written an article in Positive Feedback regarding my room building experience.....here is a link;
new version of these cables, a big step over the amazing TRSC model i have used for 10 years. fantastic performance.
WADAX SA Reference DAC
Wadax Reference Dac----state of the art dac with 2 separate power supplies. the best dac i have heard by a good margin. below is a link to a thread about my Wadax experience.
Arya RevOpod isolation footer (32 used under the 5 Wadax Chassis).
height and tension adjustable. the Wadax dac, server, and server power supply chassis all use 8 footers, so it's critical to be able to adjust height and tension to have an even support for optimal performance. RevOpod's are unique in those attributes making them ideal for this use.
https://www.arya-audio.com/revopod
CS Port LFT1 turntable w/arm
air bearing platter and air bearing linear tracking arm; string drive with zero feedback dc motor, low pressure, low flow air system with zero noise air box.
world class musical flow, nuance and delicacy, combined with authority and ease. serves the music completely.
Esoteric T1 Turntable
magnetic drive/rim drive idler turntable with torque adjustment.
with the deletion of my NVS turntable, i was able to move the Taiko Tana active isolation shelf to under the Esoteric T1. this has upgraded the performance of the T1 significantly. objectively small changes, but musically quite profound up tics in realism and immersion. more nuance, greater music focus, better bass articulation.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/t1/top
Esoteric G1X Master Clock
Master Clock Generator for speed improvement for the T1 turntable. significant improvement in music realism.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/g1x/top
Durand --Tosca tonearm.
gimbal bearing design. Tosca is on the Esoteric T1 turntable
Primary Control 12" FCL tone arm
Field Coil Loaded uni-pivot tone arm. with power supply. mounted on the Esoteric T1 turntable. amazing natural and very high resolution tone arm. link below.
12 inch tonearm, stainless steel. used for the Sumile mono cartridge.
https://glanz.tech/e/collection/mh1200s1000s900s/
Experience Music/Intact Audio phono corrector + silver wound MC Trio SUT combo for three different tonearms.
bespoke tubed phono preamplifier. silver wound, with custom dual power supplies.
https://myemia.com/LR.html
LFD -3- Phono Cables DIN to RCA
3 sets of very high performance phono cables. amazing performance. built by Dr. Richard Bews in the UK.
one cable uses a DIN to RCA short Dongle + an RCA to RCA interconnect. the Dongle improves the performance of the DIN connection. details at the link below.
two Etsuro Golds, ---a pair of Reference MC Phono Cartridges.
duraluminim (A7075) body, 24 carat 'Kinpaku' Gold Leaf finish, diamond cantiliver. .3mv output, 4 ohms. these are both special versions of the Etsuro Gold.
one is mounted on the CS Port linear tracker.
one is mounted on the Primary Control FCL arm.
finest cartridge i have heard by a significant margin. WOW!
Audio Technica MC-2022 60th Anniversary cartridge
uses the unified stylus cantilever design. which results in extreme lack of distortion and linearity. remarkable neutrality and ability to dig out detail and keep it natural and musical.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-mc2022
Murasakino Sumile Mono phono cartridge
MC cartridge for mono records, .04mv output. tracking force 3gms. finest monaural cartridge i have heard. competes on musical refinement with the top stereo cartridges.
Ampex twin ATR-102----one 1/4" and one 1/2" reel to reel master recorder
hot rodded by ATR Service Inc----Andrew Kosobutsky. significant upgrades over stock. each interfacing with hot rodded Ampex MR-70 preamps. the new tape deck performance standard in my opinion.
active isolation under 5 separate components: (1) the NVS turntable, (2) the MSB dac, (3) the darTZeel preamp, (4 + 5) both darTZeel mono block amplifiers. custom modifications by Taiko Audio add a linear power supply plus panzerholtz top layer + Daiza platform to provide full frequency resonance attenuation to each platform.
Taiko Audio Daiza isolation platform--22 used in the system
Panzerholtz Platform with spiral cutouts reducing mid and high frequency resonance while retaining life and energy and not changing tonality.
22 Daiza platforms in the system of various sizes under every piece of the signal path.
Evolution Acoustics 'system' power cables
a new version of the TRPC model i used on my darTZeel 468 mono blocks for the last 10 years. a big step up.
Sablon Audio King power cord
used on the Wadax Reference Server power supply.
https://www.sablonaudio.com/power
Absolute Fidelity power interfaces
power cords specifically designed for either motors (tt and tape decks), amplifiers, and components. 11 in the system.
Tripoint Audio Troy Signature
Grounding box for chassis grounding the darTZeel 458 mono block amplifiers + grounding the passive main towers of the Evolution Acoustics MM7 speaker system.
Tripoint Audio Elite
Tripoint Elite grounding box. this does chassis grounding for my sources. it uses a a pair of Tripoint Thor SE Master Reference ground cables for my dart preamp and the MSB Select II dac. there are also 4 Signature Silver ground cables to the two arm boards of the NVS tt, the power supply of the NVS tt, and the SGM server.
Equi=tech 10WQ
10kva balanced Isoltion transformer and distribution panel.
Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium duplex outlets
10 in the system. used with 10 Furutech covers and frames. uses NCF (nano crystal formula) material to reduce noise by emitting negative ions.
Wave Kinetics A10 U8 decoupling footers
8 sets-of-4 in the system for individual tuning of each piece of gear.
Auralex T-Fusor diffusers
i use 20 of these. 6 each on the front side walls, and 4 each front ceiling and rear ceiling.
Klaudio Record Cleaning System
automatic record cleaner
Acoustic Revive RL-30 mKIII CD-LP demagnatizer
for demaging any disc.
Furutech DF-2 LP disc flattner
will remove warps from Lps
Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Anniversary Ed.
will cook any cables
Winds ALM-01 Stylus Force Gauge
easy accurate, repeatable, measurments.
i-Tower by Koncept LED floor lamp
(3) are used. best audio light ever. 2 'warm', 1 'cool'.
Quietrock THX 545 drywall
specialized drywall with a 1/4" metal layer. used in my front sidewalls to establish proper room boundaries.
Not much to add regarding the Telos...this one you really gotta hear for yourself. Hard to describe without seeming like a syncophant. I agree that this has made me completely reconsider the Linn hierarchy
Damien Jurado - Saint Bartlett's Menomena - Mines The Bad Plus - Never Stop (great music, so-so vinyl) The National - High Violet Peter Wolf - Midnight Souvenirs
The CD was Phosphorescent...if you liked it, buy the CD, the vinyl is awful!
Sorry we didn't get a chance to play the Smoke Fairies. The Jamey Johnson 'Guitar Song' is terrific. Darker than his previous. Very well recorded.
I don't think Dad really got into Menomena. Thanks for playing the Julie London, Basie and Sinatra for us!
I went out to Mike's last night to validate his findings. Mind you this was for pure research purposes, after all I'm an altruist :^). We played a variety of music, primarily vinyl. And yes, the room is still beautiful.
The change was immediately noticeable. I'll let others comment to measured improvements. The lower frequencies are more articulate and harmonically rich. Higher registers convey much more information...it's amazing how much music is in a cymbal. Overall the effect was absolutely delightful, joyful and relaxing. I heard nothing that detracted from the music and I suspect Mike is pretty close to what can be achieved. I was most impressed by the 'presence'...the recreation of real instruments and voices in space. Not really imaging, just the ability to suspend disbelief and forget you are listening to a stereo and not the actual musicians. Can't even think of a nit to pick. More research is definitely indicated!
Well I can't wait to hear what Scott has wrought ;^)
Hey I admire your willingness to share your experiences and even laugh a bit at your own 'expense'. On a smaller absolute scale, I'll bet most folks on this forum have made costly mistakes. Heck on a relative scale, my mistakes are probably bigger!
I think your experience demonstrates the limitation of measurements in the context of assembling a system. We are all prisoners of our listening prejudices and predetermined ideas. For you, because you had invested so much time and effort, the real and measured problem had to be the room. That's one of the many reasons it's fun to have others visit your room...to get a fresh perspective.
I wouldn't worry about this. The money is spent and even before your recent discovery, it was world class. Now I just need to independently verify the findings...heh, heh.
I was lucky enough to visit Mike's for a short listening session this weekend. I've been fortunate to visit a number of times and have a good feel for his system but I'm still processing the rather amazing change in the character of the overall system (room + equipment).
It's difficult to describe without appearing to be a hyperventilating, audiophile sycophant, but I must say that the seemingly minor changes are nothing short of transformative. Previously system/room was always a great sounding STEREO; meaning it did all the audiophile things. Occasionally with great software, you could close your eyes and half forget that you weren't listening to a collection of equipment. But now, it's all there; including elements of dynamic range, spatial textures and nuance that were previously missing. With most of the software, even LPs of lesser quality, you're no longer listening to a stereo system, rather, you are listening to musicians performing in space that often enveloped you in music.
The minor room configuration changes have unleashed the system and allowed it to approach its' full potential; akin to unhitching a trailer from a Ferrari. It ain't perfect...yet. But these small changes have taken things to a different level and it's BY FAR the best sounding system I've ever heard. As Bobby Jones once said of Jack Nicklaus, "He plays a game with which I am unfamiliar."
I had the pleasure of spending another long evening in 'Vinyl Disneyland' aka Mike's listening room last night. Mike is way too humble when he describes the Garrard/Triplanar/A90. We listened to a few tracks last night after a mutual friend optimized the set up and you could close your eyes and forget you were listening to a stereo...Ben Webster was there in flesh and blood. Simply amazing!
As one of the lucky attendees at Sunday's analog fun-fest, I heartily agree with Mike's assessment of the A90 on the TALEA tonearm; it kicked ass! Possibly the best audio reproduction I've ever heard. We played a DG Sibelius conducted by HVK, literally goosebump time. Equally as magical with Neil Young and Duke Ellington.
Hmmm...wonder how the TALEA/A90 sounds on a Technics SP-10 MkIII or a Dobbin's Garrard? ;-)
Last night I had the opportunity to listen to all of Mike's new goodies. As always, Mike is the consumate host and his love of music and audio are incredibly energizing.
Mike played his LP of the Staples Singers, which is marvelous. Then he played the RTR -- WOW! The detail, energy and dynamics of that performance were overwhelming and certainly the best reproduced music I have ever heard.
We spent most of the night comparing two of his state-of-the-art vinyl playback systems. We played multiple LP's with a wide variety of music on the Rockport table with Lyra Olympos cartridge through the Allnic H-3000 phono preamp and the Dobbins Garrard/Triplanar with Ortofon A90 through the DartZeel preamp. I really like how the Olympos interacts with the Rockport. Much more forgiving than the Colibri cartridge. The Rockport/Olympos was a little 'quicker' and 'resolving' but the Garrard set up had PRAT in spades and incredibly involving. Obviously it's difficult to assign particular characteristics to any one component. But it was all good. Actually it was all terrific.
Mike, I am willing to throw myself on the grenade and hereby volunteer to listen to your systems as you attempt to optimize and match cartridges, tonearms and phono stages. I do this not for selfish reasons, but only for the betterment of the Audiogon community. It is dirty and dangerous work but I'm willing to do it!
Mike, Thanks. Your experience and insights are greatly appreciated. Cartridges are so difficult to evaluate prior to purchase since you can't get a home demo and it's near impossible to listen in a system with which you are familiar. Purchasing a cartridge always feels like a 'leap of faith' rather than a decision informed by critical listening. Your comments with respect to the Dynavector are especially intriguing to me as I am considering a change....
As someone who is living the 'analog dream' that many of us can only fantasize about, could I prevail upon you to provide more details regarding the A90, especially what you think are its specific strength and weakness versus your other fine cartridges such as the Colibri, Olympos, etc? If you were only allowed to have one of your cartridges, which would you choose?
Mike, Very cool re: RTR. Knowing that this has been a long project for you I'm glad that your finally enjoying a great result. BTW, when can I listen to John Bonham on your RTR (..smile)?
I had the pleasure of listening at Mike's last evening. Hard to believe but tweaking the speaker placement has made things sound even better! And yes, after hearing a few CD's, the Playback Designs CDP is the the real deal. It's not vinyl, but it captures more of the magic of an LP than other CDP I've heard. Of course the room and rest of the system ain't bad either!
The last thing we listened to was 45 rpm Zepplin's "In My Time of Dying" from Physical Grafitti. This is one of my favorite albums and it was an audiophile peak experience...John Bonham was in the room!
Having had the pleasure of listening to your system the thought that
"the system now is more musical, involving, and alive. the dynamics are so effortless and the system has much more energy at lower volume levels. it really just disappears. when i get over my sheepishness from not doing this sooner i know it will be hard to stop smiling about it"
brings a smile to my face and runs chills down my spine.
I had the great pleasure of listening to Mike's system this weekend. The setting of his house is beautiful. His listening room is extraordinary and the equipment is top notch. The music collection is to die for. The scotch was very good...All this pales when compared to the graciousness of the host.
How does it sound? Simply the best system I've ever heard. Incredibly life-like. Closing my eyes, I did not have to imagine the performers in front of me, they WERE in front of me. I heard a Johnny Hodges' solo that will stay with me the rest of my life. Thanks again Mike.
Glad to see you're back posting. Your insights and enthusiasm have been missed. I live on the Eastside I would love to audition your newest tweak. Let me know if there is a date and time that work for you.
