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.
I love the choices in chairs and sofa!! They are really nice to look at.
Once the new Equitech panel is in place, maybe you should change the whole look of the ante-room into "steam punk" bring in the RCMs, which have their own industrial chic, hang some R L Geiger artwork...
Everything looks really great and I have no doubt that you will move the bar upwards once again with addition of the new sub panel.
i'll be 'somewhere else' when it's hoisted, i'll have my contractor and and at least a couple (and likely three) electricians to hoist it into place and secure it. we'll likely use a couple of floor jacks to assist in the process.
it's 8 inches deep and the plan is to recess it 3-4 inches into the wall. there are two cooling fans which will need to be left uncovered.
Going to be hard to hide that thing behind a picture
no plan to try and hide it at this point. i think it's kinda cool looking in an industrial 'chic' kinda way.
this subpanel is a high quality generic panel. this subpanel is strictly for the audio circuits in my 2-channel room. there is another 100 amp panel for the barn for the lights and air conditioning and 'dirty' outlets. there is a 70 amp home run running from my house panel thru my garage 75 feet to the barn where there is also a double ground rod dedicated just to this panel.
the whole panel weighs approx 360 pounds. 'just' the transformer weighs 190 pounds.
this is pure audio porn. Thursday night i had 25 guys in my room for the audio club meeting. i think the Equitech might have been the biggest turn on of the meeting.
i'm not sure exactly what that says about our hobby.
The Ekones chairs are amazing as well. I wanted to get one for my father who is a bit older. He is resistant to change but I am still working on it. I sat in the couch at the showroom in NY. It is so tempting. For me we listen to a stereo and as audiophiles use our ears to judge. We should be using our backs and buts to judge the seats that we spend so much time using. Congratulations.
Also, I do agree that the looks don't match the comfort (or the price).
i assume you are asking for pics of the Equitech. i'll try to do it tonight but i'm getting ready for my 'event' tomorrow night (audio club meeting with 15+ people at my home) so i'm not sure i'll have time.
btw; i met with my contractor and electrician today; the install for the Equitech is scheduled for next Wednesday and, if needed, Thursday. i can't wait.
the Equitech panel is now sitting on the floor of my Garage, strapped to a pallet. it took 5 guys to lift it into the back of a Honda Ridgeline so i could get it home. the delivery truck had no lift gate for delivery to my home (not cool) so they had to drop it off at my business.
it looks huge sitting there.
i've got my electrician and contractor lined up and hopefully it will be installed with in a week.
did i say it's huge? hard to imagine that beast hanging on the wall.
on Thursday night i'll have a PNWAS Club meeting at my house with 15-25 attendees, so i can get some 'before' perceptions. then i can get a few to return after the panel is installed for some 'after' impressions. supposedly the panel takes about 2-3 weeks to burn in and attain it's full effect.
maybe my comment 'three people can be 'stacked' in the sweet spot' was mis-leading. my speakers have a fairly narrow sweet spot although the room has a fairly even response wherever you sit. my comment referred to having three 'lined up' people sitting along the longitudanal axis so they would all hear the soundstage correctly.....not that the sweet spot is three people wide.
in the second row the soundstage is still reasonable on the side seats......whereas sitting on the side seats on the front row is a 'mono' experience.
I wish my sweet spot was that large! I'm still working on speaker placement- my room is a bit challenged as it is the main family area. Thankfully my wife is unusually supportive and accommodating.
the whole 'comfort zone' thing about having one's personal space seems to be a bit 'supressed' when guys are in audiophile mode. when i go to audio shows and there is a sofa with someone at one end and the sweet spot is in the middle someone will quickly plop down in that sweet spot. which means they have their priorities straight.
the idea here is that since my 'sweet spot' chair is in the neutral spot at the head of the equalateral triangle the sound is better on the sides in the second row (than they would be on the sides in the first row). so improving the comfort there is a priority. as this sofa is not too deep (and is only 31" high) i can still have a third row behind it so three people can be 'stacked' all in the sweet spot.
I had some male audio friends over a while back and three of them were on the sofa in the "better" listening spot. I told them there were hidden levers to recline if they preferred and one of the guest replied "This is already gay enough" with a humorous tone! It was pretty funny as you really do not tend to see men sitting so close, but audiophiles are pretty ambitious when they really want to hear your gear!
I went to another audio friends home and we all sat in a straight vertical row theater style to get the most out of the limited width dispersion sweet spot!!
i love my 'perfect' 'zero gravity' chair when i'm alone in my room. however; it has a very tall back and so when i have visitors, which (as i prefer) is often, i move my 'big' chair out of the way and use my Barcelona Chair 'knockoffs' in the back and bring in another chair for the front. the problem is that the Barcelona Chairs are not comfortable for any extended period, and the other chairs i bring in are also probematic for extended listening.
so since i want my visitors to have the same level of comfort that i enjoy while by myself, i've decided to get rid of my Barcelona chairs and have spent awhile considering my options. my big question is whether i wanted a sofa or separate chairs for the rear seating. and then a matching single 'sweet spot' chair for the front.
separate chairs are more flexible; but a sofa is a bit more 'friendly'.....particularly when i want my wife to spend more time in the room. the next question is comfort. most sofas have little support for extended listening. others are just too big; not in terms of width but too big in terms of depth.
the other thing is aesthetics. i have a black leather 'zero gravity' chair with teak frame; it sits on black and deep red area rug atop my very plush beige shag carpet. my room is mostly light maple cabinetry. i tried to stay with black leather but i was open-minded.
i went back and forth on a number of options. at one point i fell in love with the Maxwell Studio Leather Sofa from Restoration Hardware. but it's just not comfortable and is 42 inches deep; so it would be too limiting in space.
finally i have decided on the Ekones Oslo Chair and Sofa in black leather with teak trim. for a chair without a headrest this is extremely comfortable and supportive; and puts your head angle just right. the sofa is very comfortable and supportive. the pictures show the white chair as there was no picture of the black one.
the Ekones is not the very most elegant looking furniture. but it was by far the most comfortable and will work well aesthtically in my room. i hope my visitors appreciate it.
thanks for the clarification. my 10WQ panel should arrive early next week. i'm working on lineing up my contractor to get it installed. i need to remove a cabinet attached to the wall below and the tongue and groove cedar paneling on the wall in my entry hallway....and then remove the old panel. i'll have him work with Equitech to make sure my grounding/wiring is optimal.
Martin at Equitech volunteered to assist in any way he can.
i'm really stoked to hear the improvement and hope i can get the 'talent' lined up to get it done asap.
The install of the Equi=tech was part of my new room install & I agree, it's sometimes hard to separate what exactly is doing what with so many changes. That being said, I'm confident of my remarks based on my experience with other rooms I have worked on. & the running of dedicated lines & different power conditioners used in the past. I had a good feel going into my own project how it would turn out.
As far as burn-in.. it's the usual 200 to 500 hrs. That included transformer, wire, breakers, & outlets. We also treated everything on the install with quicksilver gold as well.
I have a close friend who is a electrician & we did all the wiring. I had him speak with the Equi=tech personally to be sure of the proper install & star grounding procedure. After helping do the install with Dave I still don't fully understand it 100%. I would recommend a call to them, they were great to deal with & I love their products.
sorry for the delay in my response. thank you very much for your feedback on the Equi=tech. knowing you've got it and like it, and that you have essentially the same speakers, electronics and cables does help me to feel more comfortable with my decision.
how long did it seem to take to sound optimal? as it broke in?
if it was part of a new room i could understand that with so many changes at once it might be hard to assign specific attributes to the Equi-tech itself.
i've heard of star grounding but really do not understand it. can you refer me to info on it.
we get the storms off the north Pacific which roar in after 6000+ miles of ocean so our air is clean. the millions of acres of temperate forrest do a great job of doing their air cleaning job too.
And don't forget pizza under a bridge served by a cute girl
