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.
You are right on in your description. Especially when you talk about coherency; it helps when these carefully selected drivers, that you mentioned, are wired phase correct...otherwise, one may tend to become captured by an autonomous complex and single-mindedly declare havoc on the inner covering of the container...the commonly cursed and possessed Sheetrock.
Dear Mike, in speaker design "coherency" and the ability to "move air" aren't related in any way to high or low efficiency. "Moving air" is mainly a matter of available square inch x excursion (and in dynamic terms the BxL product). Coherency is a matter (among others) of careful selected drivers with similar patterns, similar cone material and similar behavior beyond their frequency band in the x-over. Cheers, D.
thanks for the kind comments. when i think back to that room building process it was a fun time. but worth it. if you are beginning the process with a wife who is expecting 'any time'; "you are a better man than me, Gunga Din". i was an empty nester 10 years removed. and it happened 75 feet away in a separate structure. so minimal hassle for my wife other than 6 months of the contractor there in the barn 5 days a week.
best wishes on the project and that your wife will end being supportive once her world is more under control. my wife is understanding and supportive to me, although she typically does not participate in my hobby. once in a while i get her to join in when i have visitors. i've not seen her snarl at anyone yet. :)
and congrats on the new addition to your family.
i'd love to hear about your project as you go along. maybe start a system page and post pictures when so inclined. enjoy the ride.
the best to both of you for the New Year, and i do expect it to be a stellar 2012 for listening here in the Barn. after 2 years of significant changes to the room and system really nothing on the horizon i'm planning to change.
maybe some investigation of other SET's, but i have no urgency about that at all. i'm enjoying the 2a3's.
maybe some efforts to do some recordings in room; but no particular plans there either.
hopefully a few more 2xdsd files to play thru the USB-X box and the MPS-5, and Series 3 of the Tape Project in 1/2".
and more new music, lots of it.
playing catchup yesterday with the posts that had built up this week (this week is the busiest of the year at work) i missed the humor of Agear, thanks for catching it. :)
Hi Sam. Thanks for catching my funny. In the heat of all the tribal scuffles, humor is lost. On that note, Unoear gets 5 stars for his funny. You can see the same humor throughout his system page (for ex., "Mama's favorite in Desert Silver, however still rolling around on the casters" is the caption to describe his Wilsons...)
Mike, I share your basic sonic philosophy. I just read through the PF article on the creation of your room, and again, you are to be congratulated on your attention to detail. I am starting the same process now with the help of the Starsound gang, and it is quite an ordeal. My prego wife (9+ months) has ZERO tolerance for all the neurotic hand wringing, especially since the room is being completed in the context of finishing a basement. The room has become a stumbling block to "progress." What a surprise. She has a fairly low opinion of audiophiles (and audio manufacturers in particular), and if any one of you ever feels inspired to visit, be prepared to be viewed with a jaundiced eye....
yes, i do use a clone PC digital server (with 3+ terabytes of files) connected to the Playback Designs MPS-5 thru the USB-X box. it was built by my son who for a short time did build servers for a few customers. however, he decided that was not a business for him and he is no longer doing that.
that photo of myself and Jonathan was at a club meeting last August and that Apple was Jonathan's. the USB-X box was new then and so Jonathan brought his own computer to use.
as far as your APL; i'm sure the dac is good, the question is whether it's set up to be used as a server dac, and which interfaces it has. then whether the software in the dac will work with the various PC's. and it might be all set up to go; i'm just not familiar with it.
as far as finding a server PC; i'm not one to help much since my son always takes care of that stuff for me. if you have any specific questions, let me know and i will have my son answer you.
and i love my speakers. no 100db efficient speaker can move air and be coherent top to bottom (and i mean bottom) like my MM3's. or at least i've never heard of anything that is capable of that.
i will be continueing to investigate SET's and where they can take me. i'm not selling them short. but they will need to be linear in ways i've not heard them be so far to be the main amp for my system.
when the i'm playing large scale music in my system and it's carrying me away, that precision is part of the magic.
great points both. i suppose i agree with Glory but not for exactly the reasons he states.
i feel the issue is not really solid state or tubes; it's really being able to get out of the way of the music fully and yet do 100% of the frequency extremes in a linear way. and then you need a completely synergistic preamp and room tweaked to fully compliment it.
up till now, i've not heard another amp-pre combo do all those things other than the dart.
might an SET based system be capable of all that? maybe.....but i've not heard it done fully yet. SET's i've heard have all involved compromise or coloration of some sort. amazing beauty but with a price.
and so my approach is to have the whole enchalata with the darts, and have my 'guilty pleasure' with an SET to plug in when the mood strikes. the question is; which SET?
the 2a3's are not really able to fully power my MM3's in my room, i would call them marginal at best. i just did not want to give you the wrong impression. i love the things they can do, and on some music they do really work.
thanks for all your nice comments. i do respect what you say about RTR tape; i maybe have around 70-80 15ips master dubs now, and my plan would be to eventually have maybe 125 plus or minus. you cannot live on listening to master tapes. it would be like having an expensive single malt every night. i think it's something you pull out when you are in the mood. OTOH i also agree that vinyl can be a constant reference for great music and it is reasonable to have a broad selection of Lps. i listen to tape a couple of times a week; and vinyl a few hours a day.
thank you for the recommendation on the Ancient Audio Silver Grand mono SET's. i will watch for the opportunity to listen to them. they sound like they are worth seriously considering given your perceptions.
SET's do bring something special and something i want as a choice going forward. the 2a3's might not be the long term answer to that need, but i've yet to make that call.
and for me the dart stereo amp is still my favorite all around amp and it synergizes so well with the dart pre (with the zeel interface) that the combo is magical to my ears. no SET can paint the whole picture like the dart combo....although i'm sure i have not heard everything that SET's might offer.
thanks for the kind comments, and greetings to Brazil. you have a beautiful room and system there.
i'm glad you enjoy your MPD-5; i mostly use my MPS-5 as a server dac now too. the USB-X does open many listening possibilities.
as far as power cords; for a long time i used the Jena Labs Fundamental One power cord; then about 2 years ago i tried the Telwire and preferred it to the Jena. then about a year ago right after i added my Equi=tech isolation transformer i tried the Absolute Fidelity component level power cord (from Genesis Loudspeakers) and it was better yet than the Telwire. so that is what i'm using.
the Telwire is under $1000, the Absolute Fidelity is $1800 for approx a 4 footer.
i did try the triple run Evolution Acoustics power cord on the MPS-5 and it was every bit as good as the Absolute Fidelity, but it's twice as expensive. the EA triple run was better on my darTZeel amplifier.....and i do use it there.
I bought a Playback Designs MPD-5 (with USB-X) in part based on your comments, and I am very happy with it (I did listen to other top DACs such as DCS before making a decision, and I used to own an EMM Labs DCC2 SE). I agree completely with your comments regarding the Playback Designs DAC.
I found the MPD-5 to get even better with the right power cord. Have you experimented much in terms of power cord for your MPS-5? Which one did you find to be the best?
Hello Agear When you say graduated onwards from SET amplifiers to Ypsilon amplifiers some readers might take this as meaning a move to the next level of sonic performance. Others might read this and think this is a move backwards in sonic performance from their audio perspective & tastes.
I agree with you though each to his own amplifier design and sonic presentation, it comes down to matching the amplifier to the given loudspeaker, then choose which tone of the amplifier speaker presentation that you personally like best.
I have a subset of friends who have graduated onwards from SETs for similar reasons to Glory. One made the analogy of watching television on an old CRT versus a LED flatscreen. He now owns Ypsilon which would be on my shortlist if $ were no object. They produced the best sound at Axpona in Atlanta.
Listening bias is strong. There was a recent study in the news where British researchers found that wine tasting was influenced by ambient music. The adjectives used to describe the same wine changed based on music chosen. So, here we are. Music taste and listening style (quaint old man with his cognac and cigar versus Maxell man and his martini glass being blown over). To each his own....
Jason, That 'live event' experience you speak of is exactly what lead me to SET amplifiers. It`s so near to to what I hear at my local jazz clubs in terms of tone,palpable density of flesh and blood performers,dramatic dynamics and energy. By far the most realism from an audio component I`ve experienced thus far,
SET amplifiers work fabulously for you and I but obviously not for everyone(what does?). At this stage I can`t imagine my system without SET. Many I`m sure feel the same about their SS amplifiers. Regards,
