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.
Audiophiles usually enjoy good meals - if you like cuisine basque do not forget the Auberge Etchegorry , at 41 rue Croulebarbe. And for lunch there are a few non inexpensive nice restaurants near Assemblée Nationale - french politicians like to eat well for little money!
My amp is with Herve right now, waiting to go pick it up! If you're ever in Paris let me know, I'm starting to find out about the good jazz clubs and restaurants!
Thanks for the report from Herve's. Must have been something to be there, I can only imagine. Herve needs to bring out a set of mono's to bridge the gab between the 108 stereo amp & the awesome 458's..........let's say something more with in reach.
I'm with you Mike, all the way on the numbers, but no kidding the right channel peaked at 1040 watts or close to that in his basement. The most amazing things was that there was no sense of reaching a limit, the control was just phenomenal, the separation of all instruments, voice was impeccable, the speed of base in an drum session on vinyl was as real as it gets, close up. The tt didn't seem to mind the kind of pressure it was subjected to. Herve, used a modified Colibri. I just never heard the MM3's like that before!
As for the cost, well he's backlogged on these mono's already more than a year. So we all have some time to save up a little longer... :) same for the MM7s I guess.
when i had the big dart 458's in my room on the MM3's, the most output i recall seeing was in the low 300's as a momentary peak. as Microstrip mentions the MM3's are a 93db, 6 ohm load and that's only down to 100 hz.....so 1000 watts should have melted something.
none-the-less i envy you being able to listen with Herve to his system with the EMT and some great vinyl.
i'm trying my best to resist the mono's and the MM7's too; as i'm enjoying my current set up so much i need to be satisfied.
Above 1000 watts with 93 dB speakers? Were you emulating the Space Shuttle launch? :-)
I have listened to the Dartzeel monos at similar level using the Magico M5, that are only 89dB, in an huge room and it was really loud - too much for me!
I was priveledged to spend an afternoon in Herve's basement recently, where he has his MM3's paired to his new mono blocks. We started with digital but soon switched to his EMT turntable. His turntable was 6 feet to side in front of the right speaker and didn't vibrate at all. Eeven when the mono's were outputting above 1000 watts into the MM3 midrange and thweeter section. Unbelievable control at that level, i'm going to have to start saving up... We listened to some amazingly good recordings as well as simple 140 gram vinyl pressings from the 70s and 80s. Prince's Rainbow Children, Tears for Fears, amongst others.
Anyway, the mono's are absolutely awesome! I'm wearing a dartZeel polo shirt to work today, thanks Herve. I'm looking forward to visiting again soon. Now I'm wondering what those mono's would sound like paired to the MM7's...
thanks for the kind comments. it has been exciting for me to be around the Telos. i would also add the Talea 2 is going to bring you quite a ways to that point of performance. and any Talea 2 user should be thrilled with their arm. since i've been exposed to the Telos, it has not diminished my enjoyment of the Talea 2. i hear both arms in each other (if that makes any sense).
regarding the A90; you are the third person to communicate with me today about it and it's availability. i'm not sure exactly what that means (beyond the obvious).
i know Joel has other cartridges besides the A90, but i have only seen the A90 on arms he has brought to my home recently. i cannot speak for Joel in terms of his cartridge usage other than what i have seen. Joel is typically in discovery mode when he visits.
is the A90 the ultimate truth sayer among cartridges? yes; i do think that based on my listening experiences. but there are many cartridges i have not heard, or heard in in familiar contexts.
Chiming in to say your posts on the Telos tonearm are of both great interest and excitement. In my case the delight has to be vicarious, but it's still great to learn what's appearing on the horizon. True revolutions are rare, from my limited experience: I hope the time comes that I can hear the Telos in a system with which I am familiar.
Does the Ortofon A-90 remain Joel's reference? If so, this is modestly inconvenient, in that the A-90 was limited in production and is hard to find new. If the A-90 is not the only test cartridge, do you feel comfortable divulging what other cartridges Joel uses for testing?
In the meantime, you are offering the rest of us a great service. Thank you.
AS people say - if it is too good to be true, probably it is not true...
Anyway, when I sell something at audiogon, if I feel the prospective buyer seems to have doubts I immediately advise him not to proceed and stop the deal. Selling and buying in the net is a confidence deal - if the buyer does not know how to check seller suitability, nothing you will tell him can be trusted at 100%. Also remember that a bad sale can get you many more problems than a bad buy. Non experienced buyers often expect that 20 years old used goods at one tenth the original price look as new ...
just to end speculation; the 'item' was a Nagra T reel to reel machine offered for 1700 pounds. similar examples sell for $5k-$7k on ebay. with vintage gear you do find them in out-of-the-way places and with people who may not know exactly what they have. so there is a bit of the 'thrill' of the hunt involved.
it seems that vintage gear is much more likely to be scammed than current manufactured gear. likely because it's easy to ask about where stuff was purchased, serial numbers and all that for current stuff and actually be able to check it out. and when you are buying from audiophiles there is many times people you may know in common with the seller.
"It's a scam, I've turned the page." Sounds like a good novel. Congratulations. You are now the wiser and as Iso says, another will come up at some point.
thanks guys, for the help. scams use a great price and buyer's enthusiasim to cloud judgement. the item was close to half the price, and in better condition than other similar examples of that product. he insisted on wire transfer, it was from a Craigslist ad. the ad showed that the seller appraently knew what he was talking about so seemed credible in that way and ths pictures were cloudy but good. he had additional pictures he sent me.
i asked the seller to take a picture of the item with today's newspaper. he replied indignantly feeling offened. he had also previously refused to take a picture showing the item playing. there was not one shred of verifyable information.
Regrettably, that's not unfamiliar...I had a London-based Studer tech prepared to assess a deck -- when the "seller" was queried for particulars...communication ceased.
I sensed there may have been some aspects of the deal that weren't disclosed. I thought I'd mention mediation in case it hadn't occurred to you. Good luck!
Ask the seller if he would be willing to send you the item and accept payment post inspection. I know that is not the convention here, but you certainly have a verifiable history, system and feedback.
I almost bought an expensive turntable via Audiogon in London and offered to have a local lawyer accept the table and make payment, serving as an escrow agent. That was the point at which the seller stopped communicating and disappeared. It was a scam and I got lucky.
I wish you well and hope it works out, but it sounds suspicious to me.
