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.
Simply breathtaking! I bet it sounds even better than it looks. I would consider travelling from Australia to the US just to hear your system. Congratulations and enjoy.
Great update Mike! Did you ever try the L-com 50 Ohm cables between the pre and amps? If so, are the Zeel cables a big improvement? Right now I'm using the L-com cables with great results. The preamp is very, very special indeed. Frank
System edited: I finally found the time to take some pictures and update my list of gear and pictues. It has taken some time to make all the changes. there have been lots of changes......most of which have been discussed on this thread previously. I have had some break throughs in system setup recently which i will get to as soon as i can. my apologizes for my recent absence; work has been very demanding. OTOH the system is sounding very special and everything i was dreaming it could be. the last month i have really got back into new music in a big way......which has been very satisfying. stay tuned.
Mike: I don't even know where to begin, so I will keep it brief. It can't get any better than this. I will continue to dream of hearing this system, but since I'm in Texas, I know that most likely will never happen.
The room...the VS speakers...the listening chair.
Congratulations and my best wishes. (It's your world....I'm just glad to be living in it.)
Mr. Lavine, I'm reading your threads for a long time, but this is the first time for me on the audiogone. I have answer for you. I would like to change my Benz Micro Ebony with Koetsu. I am listening about 80 procent classical music analog, which Koetsu or maybe another one would you suggest for my system. Thank you very much for the answer. Lobnik, Europe Slovenia.
Marvelous system, and i really like the room concept, it can give some good ideas to the "ordinary" man, (no pun intended) :D, how to treat a room.
I would really like to hear your opinion on 2 things, i would appretiate it. 1. Have you compared the nordost valhalla IC to the Dart BNC link? Or any other IC? I know the preproduction dartzeel pre did not hve this option, but if the final version arrives, i would enjoy a comparison from you. 2. Have you compared the db-99 to the VR9? What is the main difference, that justifies the 6x price?
Congratulations on having your system copied exactly by the manufacturers/distributors. There has to be no greater sign of flatery then having the reps and manufacturers mimick your tastes and system matching to display and sell their product.
Any stand-out rooms at the show (besides yours)? Did you have the opportunity to hear the new Pipedreams?
Welcome home. I know it's always refreshing to go back to your own system after hear all that variety.
Dear Mike, I had a listen to the new Kharma Grand Exquisite at the OLS factory in Breda, Holland. As you are familiar with the previous Kharma top of the line loudspeaker, start saving and offer the VSR for sale. The Grand Exquisite will really blow you out of your NASA chair.
Greg, i did finally read Uncle Mikey's review of the Caliburn. i also have heard that Andy Payor is possibly building a new tt.
after 10 years the Sirius III may be truely challenged for the first time. to me that is good news for vinyl lovers......i'm always happy for better sound. i don't anticipate having any particular desire to pursue a different tt for myself; as i am more than fully satisfied with what i am enjoying now. also, from reading Mikey's review; the Caliburn is not a fully sorted out product just yet.
i am looking forward to spending time at CES listening to the Caliburn and talking to Andy.
as i said above; sorry for the delay in my response.
i have heard the Dali and Pipedreams at shows; i expect to listen to them both at CES starting Thursday morning. the Dali's are very good; the Pipedreams have never been 'fully' satisfying to me; they are never wholey coherent although often able to stage very well. i will try and pay particular attention to the Pipedreams Series V and report back.
the Dali's don't really seam to have a weakness at all; although i do think that the Von Schweikerts simply go a good deal farther down the road to recreating the musical event......more dynamic, more extended, more coherent, and disappear better....the differences are not earth-shakeing but definite.
i think 17 feet is plenty wide for most real world speakers......you may find the Firebirds do all that you need.....i will look forward to your feedback on them.
Thom_y, sorry for the delay in my response. i've been gone, then really busy at work, and now leaving for CES tomorrow.
the darTZeel preamp was sent to CES early last week; so i've been without any music for the last week or so. i did buy a new better digital camera (Nikon D70s) and do plan on upgrading all my system info (including new pictures) here and on AA when my new production dart pre arrives.
you are correct; i was not 'wanting' for further system enhancements for Christmas. i'm simply appreciative of my dear wife and her tolerance of my obsession.
there are a few Lps that have been in 'heavy rotation' recently; some of which i mentioned in some recent posts above.
Neil Young, Greatest Hits, Classic Reissue. Nojima Plays List, RR The Royal Ballet, Classic Reissue, 33 rpm. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac, Warner Bros, early pressing. For Duke, M&K, direct to disk. Moussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Classic reissue, 45 rpm. Muddy Watters, Folk Singer, both Classic and MFSL. Cantate Domino, proprius Sinatra, Basie, It Might As Well Be Swing, Reprise, original pressing.
these are a few of my favorite test records that i know backwards and forwards. they tell me about exactly what is doing what and keep getting better and better as the system improves.
Mike- the Aussies have thrown down the gauntlet. My January Sterophile arrived witht the review of the Continuum arm table and stand. $87k. Uncle Mikey thinks it's better than your table. Happy hunting.
Just curious if you have ever given the Dali Megaline or the new Pupedreams (series V) a good listen and any comparisons between them and your Schweikerts.
I finally had my meeting with my architect and I am definitely limited to a listening room no larger then 17 feet wide. I still have not received my Firebirds, but they are going to arrive very soon.
I'm in no rush to replace the Firebirds. In fact, I am assuming they will fit every possible need I have. But I know that these two line source radiators work well in smaller rooms and I am always looking...
Of course, I am not going to make any huge changes until my room is done, which won't be for quite some time (as you know).
It was more of a curiosity. And since I won't be able to make it to CES this year, where I know the new Pipedreams series V will be, I guess this is a backhanded way of getting you to give them a good listen for us all. :-)
Husk; even though i have my 2-channel room wired for a future projector and screen i don't ever plan on haveing video in my 2-channel room. it's wired in case i were to sell the home, a future buyer would likely use the room for a HT. i have my HT in a dedicated room in my main house.
in any case; i cancelled my Ruby order yesterday. there were four reasons.
first; after reading all the commentary on AVS i want to wait a bit until there is more longer term feedback on the unit.
second; i want to see how the industry reacts to the Ruby and what CES might have to compete with it.
third; in the last week i've watched a couple of movies on my Marantz S3 and i really enjoyed the picture.....i have no immediate need for anything better.
forth, and likely most important; after listening to what the second set of Opus speaker cable did; i don't expect to have much time for watching anything.....all i want to do is listen.
Greg, you are right on; i do plan on focusing on source material.
i am very anxious to get off the gear focus and into the music focus. my audio path has been unbalanaced for the last few years while dealing with all the stuff. constant system changes has taken some of the joy away from the listening. being wowed by gear changes has it's positives......but the satisfaction from a great listening session is far better.
in the immediate future i just want to enjoy the system and listen.....maybe see what software (of formats i already enjoy) i need to aquire. i am interested in pursuing some of these redbook tweaks i keep reading about.
as far as master tapes; i know they can be amazingly good......you never know. maybe if someone was getting out of it and i could aquire some software and quality gear without a huge effort.....i might jump into it. OTOH i do have the space......maybe it's something to consider.
