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.
Excellent photos Mike. One question........those armboards are quite a cantilever off a spanning beam of what looks like composite resin? Are you able to induce movement in these by pushing up and down or are they fairly rigid?
thanks. i like the look of the larger halo quite a bit better myself, and my guess is that it adds something to the sound too. good choice. and then you will be ready for a.......
i'm currently listening to the NVS/Telos/A90 on a recent DG pressing of Ingolf Wunder playing a Chopin Sonata, #477 9822.
simply astounding precision without strain. evrything nailed down. the most complex tonal colors and nuance. microdynamics are like live. overtones decay forever.
beautiful, involving.
you have no sense of a reproduction chain. the music just is there.
i prefer no clamp unless i need it related to warps.
the VTA is adjusted by raising or lowering the bearing column--there's a printed scale on it to help for reference. you cannot do this while playing.
Azimuth is adjusted by raising/lowering the black platform that is attached on top of the bearing column; that's all clearly visible on the 3rd photo; the change in height of the platform makes the rod that extends from the arm wand go up and down, thereby modifying azimuth. the little weight on that rod is used for fine tuning of tonality and imaging: yesterday after initial setup Joel used the cymbals on a particular track we heard yesterday (when they suddenly revealed more timbral nuances and were in better focus). all he did was there was to move this weight by a very small amount. No change in azimuth, just change in position of the weight. again, you cannot do this while playing.
Wonderful pictures Mike. Congratulation on the new table, arm and amps. Many of us are observing and can only imagine the quality of your listening experience. I agree with you about the beauty of the Telos. The simplicity and form are striking. Can you elaborate on the VTA and azimuth adjustment? I can't seem to figure them out from the photos. Also, I really appreciate the full arm photo as the one on the Durand website is just an excruciating tease.
I also notice no record clamp/weight. Do you prefer the sound without one?
yesterday was a big day at the old barn. i installed the new larger halo on the NVS with the large stainless steel arm boards, recieved and installed the new 'Shaker Table' isolation shelf under the NVS, and Joel Durand delivered and installed my new Telos tonearm.
waahooo!
Joel also installed my Talea 2 on the other side with my Miyajima Premuim Mono Be which had been on the Talea 1.
the Shaker Table is new beacuse it is now adjusted for the heavier large halo with the large stainless steel arm boards and the much heavier Telos tonearm.
Thursday night i had my new Found Music 2a3 monoblocks delivered; so it's been a wonderful few days. all this stuff has been many months coming; and now it all happens in 48 hours.
after the Telos was installed Joel, Scott Sheaffer who built the amps, and myself enjoyed some vinyl.
it was amazing. later last night i threw the dart amp back in so i could listen to the Telos with my long term reference. whichever amp; the Telos (with the now Telos friendly NVS) is truely a monumental achievement. a true Halo deck.....space machine......magic carpet...whatever way to say it........
and i love the look of the Telos, it's breathtakingly beautiful, and the level of finsih work is astonishing!
But its a bargain when you do the cost per watt ratio! ;-)
i've had 1000 watt monoblocks based on the B&O ICE module. they were $1800 retail. Rowland sold essentially the same amps for $7k.
they sounded fine for the dollars.
but i gave them to my son for a reason. and getting a good deal per watt has little interest for me; although not everyone would agree. i know your comment was in jest and i took it that way. but cost per watt is sadly the way many do look at things.
mine are the first pair and i don't exactly know the list price. there are variations since you can choose 2a3 or 45 tube and 1 or 2 mercury vapor tubes for rectification.
i think it's $20k-$25k the pair of monoblocks.
here is the website you could email Scott and ask him directly.
i'd write a few impressions but it's changing so often i'm just going to wait a few days.
i did find that moving my seating position to the exact top of the equalateral triangle (118" each leg) worked better than my 'darTZeel' position of about 10"-12" behind it. in my very large room (29' x 21' x 11') 3 watts does require some small adjustments. gain was a small concern on a small percentage of cuts; but not after i moved my seating position.
the amp was built with RCA input at 75-100 ohms. with that there was plenty of gain. yesterday Scott switched it to the BNC's (for the zeel interface with my dart pre) and 50 ohms; so i lost a bit of gain. however; everything tightened up and gained definition. so it was better.
the amps are still getting their legs and finding more dynamics as i go along. so this seating change may not be permanent with these amps. but for now it's better.
Hey Mike Those are some gorgeous looking amps. Be very interesting to see and hear them. Looks like a road trip is due, time to catch up. Take care, Mike
