I am sitting in the sweet spot right now while Mike is behind me on his laptop. This has really been an incredible couple of days so far. The Garrard turntable really has gone up to a totally new level with the changes Steve has made. It is incredible how much more neutral it is sounding without any loss of body. There are no steps backwards in any way. It is truly world class in every way.

The expectations on the Dobbins Technics SP10MK3 (I call it the Sequel III) is higher than the Garrard and justifiably so. It has slightly better pacing (the Garrard is also a marvel in this area) and bottom end control. Also, the clarity is slightly better as well. It never disappoints!

The Rockport, as usual is terrific. On some recordings it is tough to beat, but I have to say that going from one table to the other I never feel like there is any sacrifice. Everything is sounding great.

I feel like since I am one of the owners of Playback Designs that it might be improper for me to talk about how the MPS-5 is sounding. I will leave that to Mike.

I know I was here a little less than a month ago and probably posted some similar thoughts, but the room has been finished and does sound much better. I had to re-adjust the settings on the woofer modules as the room has greatly improved in the area of bass energy retention.

Wish you were here!

jtinn March 07, 2010 06:26

here are a couple of down and dirty T-Fusor low light pics.

having some fun listening to an unobtainium RTR tape

side view

please excuse my feeble attempts at trying to correct overexposure of my low light pics with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Two.

mikelavigne March 07, 2010 06:01

Mike,

Thanks for your prompt reply and of course, the pictures. They really do speak a thousand words to borrow the old line :-)

Look forward to the evening lights down pictures as well.

Regards,

Jim

joneill March 06, 2010 21:05

here are some pics of the Dobbins Garrard 301 with the new 'copper-top' platter and new Reed 2P arm with Silver cryo'd wire and Silver WBT rca ends.....

Dobbins Garrard 301 with new platter, Reed and Triplaner

close-up of the platter

the new platter joins the tt's

how does it sound?

the Reed 2P makes the excellent sounding Triplaner, a real throughbred arm, sound a bit lifeless in comparison. and the new coppertop platter somehow lowers the noise floor a jaw-dropping amount.

in the past the Dobbins Garrard was one of those 'yeah but' tt's. yes; it was a tt everyone always loved to listen to with it's energy and drive, but it was a bit noisey which masked some detail and refinement.

no more!

with this platter (and Reed arm) this tt now joins the 'elite' of low noise tt's. and this combo is world class in every way. it has it all!

mikelavigne March 06, 2010 16:19

Very exciting, Mike!

c1ferrari March 06, 2010 15:58

btw, some might notice that in the first picture above the Dobbins Garrard has the new Dobbins 'copper-top' platter (oh my gaaawwwd!) and the a new Reed arm (oohhh!).

more to come and some pics!

mikelavigne March 06, 2010 15:48

some pictures of the Auralex T-Fusors;

Auralex T-Fusors, 6 per side

note that each individual T-Fusor is oriented in a different direction than the adjacent one.

T-Fusors, right side

T-Fusors, profile

T-Fusors, close-up

the T-Fusors cost me about $800 including the velcro to hang them. if you can benefit from some diffusion there is 'zero' excuse not to buy these.

i'll post a picture later with the lights down. the T-Fusors do look a bit plastic in the light, but when the lights are down they look like modern art. and when i paint them they will be a bit more subdued.

mikelavigne March 06, 2010 15:45

Hi Mike,
Best of luck with your evolving room! Definitely a
labor of love. I was hoping you could elaborate on
the technique you used to eliminate rattles from recessed
high hat lights. What type of material was used and
how was it applied?
Thanks.
Vito

vmk March 06, 2010 12:00

Mike,

When you have time, would you shoot a picture or two for us to view of the T-Fusors installed in the room?

Thanks,

Jim

joneill March 05, 2010 22:17

i did recieve the 12 Auralex T-Fusors yesterday and late last night i installed them on my side walls. i used velcro to attach them to my walls.

before i installed them i listened to some of my reference cuts for 30 minutes.

then i installed a row of three on each side. after listening for about 45 minutes, i then installed the other three on each side, and then listened again.

caution that the following impressions are provisional and subject to change as i live with this for awhile.

i'm hearing more image focus, more depth to the soundstage, a more vivid but at the same time more natural presentation; what i had accepted as a bit of added ambient air before, i now understand was a kind of 'smearing' and 'veiling'. i'm getting more body and textural nuance, more microdynamics, and more musically complete decay. little things in the musical mix have more definition.

overall; more a musical event and less a reproduction in a room. the speakers disappear more.

all the things diffusion should do.

my impressions from the three T-Fusors per side were only slightly improved with 6 per side.

listening last night and then this morning i had a big smile on my face. the room is really sounding awesome right now. nothing stands out; the music just speaks to me.

unlike my experience with my Navajo rugs on the same walls; i did not hear any trade-offs at all.....and after my Navajo experience i was wary of the placebo effect. not only was there no loss of warmth or body; it was increased.

i have some 'golden ears' coming this weekend to give me some feedback. we will likely remove the T-Fusors, listen and then re-install them to really nail down what they are doing.

i think that they actually look ok, and that they will grow on me. right now they are a 'stark white' color; so i need to paint them to match my RPG Skylines i have between the speakers. i'll try to post some pictures tonight if i can.

mikelavigne March 04, 2010 18:05

hi Gary,

you can ask jtinn how often i ask him about how soon my 7.5m pair of the Evolution BNC's will be ready.....almost every day!!! the reason is that i heard what a difference having both sets of cables (for the Playbacks -> dart pre -> dart amp) made on the CES/T.H.E. Show system. there was a level of transparency and detail which was totally unique. i recognized that characteristic from my time with the 1.5m demo set in my system, but in THE SHOW system it was 'times 2'!!!

in fact; my opinion is that a good percentage of the magic in THE SHOW system was those cables.

i'm completely smitten with these cables and cannot wait to get the longer set into my system. i know they will be a big step up in detail, refinement and ambient retrieval.

i think they are still a couple of weeks away.

so my feedback is a complete and utter rave. buy them now!

in my years as a cable believer these cables have the clearest performance leap of any i have ever heard, including phono cables.

a short story to illustrate the point; when jtinn first sent the demo set to me i was quite skeptical; but upon insertion into my system between the Playbacks and dart pre there was a noticable improvement in vividness, dynamics, spacial expansiveness and refinement. not subtle in any way. they sounded great. 2 weeks later Kevin needed them back so i removed them to ship them and put back Herve's BNC's. the system was relatively unlistenable on digital. i could not go back.

immediately i ordered a set of short ones.

mikelavigne February 27, 2010 04:22

Hi Mike,
Curious to have your input on the new Evolution BNC cables.

grr6001 February 27, 2010 03:37

Hi Mike,

Well-stated! Sonny and I had a choice to attend the room correction seminar at Rocky Mountain or visit additional rooms...we pursued the latter. The concept intrigues me, though.

I'm so impressed with the remarks regarding the improvements...the observations are very positive - especially Rugyboogie!

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari February 26, 2010 20:38

Mike,

thanks for the kind comments, and thanks for taking the time to drive down, it was great to listen with you as always.

every party needs a Canadian to attain legendary status, eh? the beer, scotch, music, and talk is always better.

mikelavigne February 26, 2010 14:19

.....have you ever tried active/digital room correction?

no. my precious analog sources will never suffer DSP. and i'll be damned if i will re-digitize my digital sources. which is one big reason i love the Evolution Acoustics MM3's which allow for quite extensive bass managment for room/speaker optimization. no room is perfect in the bass. and DSP cannot really solve every room issue.

not to say that in some rooms with some speakers that DSP might not result in a net gain. to each their own.

personally (when you and i visited Bruce) i've heard in a studio what PCM conversion (at any frequency up to 32 bit/382hz) compared to dsd, 2xdsd, and analog does to a source. it's like taking the life out of the music in a relative sense with PCM. maybe someday if a 2xdsd room correction product was offered it would be sonically acceptable to me.

i would be skeptical that DSP could get closer to an ideal sound than what i'm hearing now anyway even if the digitization to the signal was acceptable to me.

mikelavigne February 26, 2010 13:57

Cool, Mike :-) Say, I don't know if I missed it from the beginning of your thread in 2002, but have you ever tried active/digital room correction...just for fun...to address frequency, amplitude, time, phase, etc. anomalies?

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari February 26, 2010 06:48

Hi Mike
Thanks again for being the great DJ and host yet once again.
Your room really rocks, pun intended. The removal of the bass traps and the replacement with the Quietrock has worked giving you greatly improved low end bass. Your GC did a good job.
Your room is sounding it's best since I have been visiting you.
Interesting that the room sounded better Saturday than on Sunday.
Must have been the Canadian effect on your system ehh, LOL.
Take care,

rugyboogie February 26, 2010 06:38

i forgot to mention that after all the bass trap replacement work had been completed my much more dynamic mid and deep bass revealed quite a bit of room reasonances. the extra energy caused the room to sing along with the music and mask detail. i'm sure that these problems had existed already but just were not identifiable as such before. i thought that much of it was in a few of my recessed lighting fixtures in the ceiling, so last week i did spray some foam into the ones a figured were causing the problem.

after doing that it was clear it was more than that. so i called my contractor and on this past Saturday he arrived at 7am with a helper to investigate and solve these noises.

i used the Rives test cd set on track 6, 60hz on repeat at about 90db. my contractor removed some of the ceiling fabric panels and went around and found and solved all the buzzes and rings. he was there for 6 hours. Saturday afternoon when i got home from work before my visitors showed up i sat down and listened. it was like a new system in some ways. it was sooooo quiet. if i did not go thru the process myself i never would have understood cause and effect.

the room held together at another level than ever before. when you think about it; the room had been adding it's own signature to the instruments, beyond bass node issues. every one of those noises had an effect.

someone once told me that the speakers in a cell phone or remote could have an influence in system performance since they would get 'excited' by the SPL's and resonate. i was skeptical that there would be much affect. not any more.

this is a big deal.

mikelavigne February 26, 2010 00:24

last weekend i had my first visitors since the work on the bass trap replacement was completed. i had three visitors Friday night (until after midnight), then another 4 Saturday night (till arond 11pm), then Sunday morning early and afternoon.

lots of great music and positive comments on the room.

interestingly on Sunday morning one visitor mentioned that the bass was deep and articulate but lacked the degree of body he expected. hummmmm.

late Sunday afternoon after everyone left i was a bit burned out, but did listen for awhile as i had not been in the sweet spot all weekend. then Monday morning i listened again. by Monday night i had a more fresh set of ears and as i listened i understood what the Sunday listener was referring to about a lack of body.

i will explain.

previous to the bass trap removal i had a pair Navajo 3' x 5' rugs hanging on each side wall over the fabric walls (see my system pictures at the top of the page). i figured that with the large reflective surface (16' x 10') that replaced the traps reinstalling the rugs would simply add to the detail by knocking down some of the slappyness. early Sunday morning i re-hung the rugs. i then listened for 30 minutes or so before the Sunday morning guests arrived. it seemed as if there was more detail. i thought at the time it was a clear net gain in performance.

i was wrong, very wrong.

what happened was that these heavy rugs absorbed a good deal of the mid bass energy and altered the tonal balance enough to make it sound like more detail. the soundstage came farther forward.

so Monday night i took down the rugs and it was much better. the 'thrill' was back.

my Friday night and Saturday night visitors got the full performance, the Sunday visitors less so.

i believe still that some non-absobtive diffusion on the side walls will give me more detail. so i have ordered 12 Auralex T-Fusors to experiment with on the side walls. these are cheap ($59 ea.) and do not absorb unless filled with some mass. i can move them around on my walls and find out what works best. then i can find the best looking diffusors long term. any diffusion may hurt. i won't know unless i try.

mikelavigne February 26, 2010 00:01

Sam,

it sounds like it looks. alive. as i mentioned above, surprisingly it is not 'slappy' or 'busy' sounding.....it's airy and has that limitless decay of notes and bed of ambient energy which define the recording space.

the bass is subjectively wonderful. all i could want or ask for and integrates musically.

measurements might paint a different picture.

when jtinn visits in the next few weeks sometime we'll try to wring a bit more from it.

mikelavigne February 19, 2010 05:39

Wow, Mike...your room looks like it will be much more "live". I hope you achieve the lower frequency characteristics you seek :-) Is Jonathan coming up?

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari February 19, 2010 04:07

Please keep us posted.

Thanks,

Jim

joneill February 19, 2010 03:45

Jim,

you are welcome. as before, i'm very happy with the work of my contractor. he 'get's it' as far as what i'm trying to do....i consider him as much an artist as a contractor. he has 'taken ownership' of my room project and wants it to look and work ideally almost as much as me.

i like the way things sound now, the 'air' and 'decay' of notes is breathtaking ; but i would like to re-hang my Navajo rugs as before......but i'm concerned it might dampen the highs too much. the room kinda needs a bit of color in the front. i suppose i'll hang them and listen. i'd like to avoid screw holes in the beautiful maple paneling if i'm not going to keep the rugs there. maybe i can just use suction cups and hang some towels to see what the effect might be.

i was concerned that there might be too much reflective energy and i would need lots of diffusion; but my ears tell me 'no'. i think maybe that since my room is quite wide and there is lots of distance between my speakers and walls, the travel time of reflections is beyond the 'smearing' time and instead just adds air and ambience.

no one besides me has yet heard the finished room; this weekend i have three different sets of friends who will visit and give me some feedback. i'm looking forward to some objective reactions.

mikelavigne February 19, 2010 03:30

Mike,

Thanks for the pics. Contractor did the usual excellent job! Looking good and if I read your comments correctly, sounding even better ;-)

Regards,

Jim

joneill February 19, 2010 02:19

Vern asked.....

So which turntable do you use the most and why

first, sorry for the delay in my response.

tt choice is somewhat complicated and interdependant on a number of issues. but the short answer is that the Rockport pretty much holds court. in other words; for me personally the Rockport does some things in a special way my other tt's (or anyone else's tt for that matter) cannot quite do. the Rockport sets a standard of precision, delicacy, clarity, and continuousness which are additive to me.

that said; there are reasons i listen to the other tt's.

--i get curious about what tt/arm/cartridge/phono pre presentation best compliments the music.

--i'm focusing on a particular cartridge or arm.

--some of my friends prefer the Garrard to the Rockport.

--i don't yet have a mono cartridge but when i do it will not reside on the Rockport.

--it's fun comparing Lps on different tt's.

--during set-up comparing the tt performance really helps to get them dialed in since you can hear a reference and work toward it.

--sometimes you wonder whether something is 'in the pressing' or if it is a tt issue. easy to answer.

--it's fun messing with different tt's.

--both the Garrard and Technics are remarkable tt's in their own right and demand to be used. so i use them. i could live with either of these tt's and be blissfully happy.

only recently have i had three top level cartridges that could be on all three tt's at the same time. so i should be able to spend more time with the Technics/Reed than i have in the past and really get to know it better. the more i listen to it the more impressed i am with it.

i don't think i'm yet fully able to fully answer your question as my perspective on the tt's is 'fluid'.

mikelavigne February 19, 2010 01:06