Albert Porter's System

by albertporter on All Out Assault

Description

Speakers are Focal Grande Utopia EM in black finish

Analog music sources, Technics SP10 MK3  with two Kuzma 4 Point 14" arms.  Koetsu Blue Lace on one and Air Tight Opus One in the other.   Studer A820 half track tape machine with three sets of cards, each rebuilt by Studer electronics experts so I can compare upgrade performance.

Digital music source is Aurender W20 Special Edition into Soulution 760 LEEDH.  THe best input for music so far is Purist new USB cable and AES/EBU close second place.

Soulution 725 preamp, Soulution 755 phono stage Soulution 760 LEEDH and Soulution 701 mono block amps for electronics.  See image posted Nov 18, 2022 to see how it looks.

Cable is 100% top tier Purist Audio design.  All latest 35th Anniversary,  all ten AC cords are the new Purist 35th Anniversary AC.

My space is 18 X 31 and acoustically treated with RPG panels, tube traps and fiberglass acoustic treatment over triple reinforced walls and ceiling. The floor is lamination beams over steel plates to concrete pier and beam.  Two sheets of 5/8 epoxy lamination sheets make up the floor with two inches of concrete topped with India multi color slate.

Whisper Wall rail system and fine textured acoustic cloth covers the work, making  everything appear as a normal room of painted sheet rock or decorative cloth covering.

The room acoustics were conceived by RBDG and the entire space was torn out to bare dirt under the foundation and bare studs in the walls.  The combo of all new electrical and acoustical treatment resulting in best sound I’ve ever had.
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 31’ × 18’  X large
Ceiling: 12’

Components Toggle details

    • My Photography http://www.albertporterphoto.com
    Commercial + Advertising Photography, Dallas, TX.
    • Focal Grande Utopia EM
    The best offering from Focal, shown with Stillpoints Ultra 5. Ultra 5 was an amazing upgrade for the speakers !
    • RPG Acoustics QRD 734 (variation)
    On front wall, now obscured by acoustically transparent cloth, is floor to ceiling RPG (similar to QRD® 734) in foam, so it's partially absorptive.
    • Studer Studer A820
    Found a near mint A820 at a production studio in Illinois.  I was so excited about it's condition I had it driven here in the back of an SUV, covered with moving blankets.

    Head block sent to John French and all cards at Soren Wittrup who worked for Studer.  This is the machine I spent more than a decade searching for.
    • Technics SP10 MK3 Rosewood with Stillpoints Ultra 5
    Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz + Rosewood shown with Stillpoints Ultra 5
    • Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz + Ebony
    Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz with African Ebony lumber (no Veneer). This is the original design by John Semrad and myself, copied to death now.
    • TTM Stainless Mat and Oil Damp Weight
    Japan, TTM Stainless mat (6.61 pounds) plus TTM oil filled record weight.
    • TTM record stabilizer TTM three piece set
    Very hard to find, grateful I was able to purchase this last week.  Three piece TTM record stabilizer replaces my previous single piece unit.
    • Air Tight Opus
    Air Tight top of the line phono cartridge
    • Mutech Hayabusa
    Excellent MC cartridge, retail about $4500.00
    • Koetsu Blue Lace Platinum
    Top tier stone body Koetsu, perfect alternate to Air Tight Opus One
    • Soulution 725 preamp
    725, Soulution best preamp, shown in system
    • Soulution 755 phono
    Soulution best phono stage, unbelievable amount of adjustment for cartridge including channel balance to 1 DB
    • Soulution Soulution 760 LEEDH
    Soulution top tier DAC, really pleased with performance of this DAC.  

    I still prefer analog but many recordings that were digital to begin with (and vinyl cut from CD master) are better on Soulution than on turntable.
    • Soulution 701 Mono Block Amplifiers
    Soulution top tier 2KW solid state amps from Switzerland
    • ORB-DF03 USA version DF03
    Excellent LP flattener, simple to use and so far perfect result
    • Aurender W20 Special Edition
    Aurender music server, model W20 SE with 16TB solid state storage on board.
    • Vibraplane 2212-01
    Under my Technics MK3,  powered by Silentaire DR-150
    • Degritter MK2 Ultrasonic LP cleaning machine
    From Estonia, very powerful ultrasonic LP cleaning machine.  The MK2 version is better than the original which was already the best I’ve heard
    • Degritter and ORB LP flattner Degritter and ORB LP flattner
    View of two important pieces to maintain LP collection
    • Milbank Transocket three phase 750 amp
    750 amp meter base. Pass through design, three phase power is a huge benefit in conjunction with our dedicated transformer.
    • Porter Port Cryo outlets 20 Amp
    14 of these in my system, each to a dedicated breaker in copper based electrical box
    • Furutech NCF Booster
    New NCF Booster added to majority of AC cords in system.  Easy to see against light colored wall, arrow points to NCF Booster to my (previous) owned Allnic M-5000 amp.
    • Purist Audio Design Focal EM Supply cable
    New four conductor cord, replaces stock Focal supply cord from EM drive box to back of speaker. Amazing upgrade
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary XLR (4 total)
    (1) Soulution 755 phono to Soulution 725 preamp
    (1) Soulution 725 preamp to Soulution 701 mono blocks
    (1) Soulution 760 LEEDH DAC to Soulution 725 preamp
    (1) Studer A820 to Soulution 725 preamp
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary Bi-Wire
    1.5 meter Bi-Wire, Soulution 701 mono blocks to Focal Grande EM
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary AC Cables
    New STUNNING cable from Purist Audio, silver and seven stage network box.  This cable brought so much dynamics, resolution and transparency to my system it qualifies as a main component.
    • Leica Disto D2
    Super laser measuring tool. Indispensable for setting distance and alignment of your speakers

Comments 4737

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Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.
I had similar issue with Time Warner and why I switched over to AT&T Uverse. In my case the amplifier in the alley would test OK but intermittent so my service dropped and I would call again.

At one point I had over 35 complaints in for loss of service. Finally a high level tech gave me his personal cell phone number and came out before the problem “fixed” itself. As a reward for all the lost time he removed the limiter and allowed me to operate at available speed, typically 95 MB down most of the time.

I wish these companies would compare cost of lost customers, down time and expense of sending trucks and service personnel against fiber. Fiber might wind up costing less and certainly most of us would pay more for perfect service.

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)

Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Owner
Zephyr24069
My DOCSIS v3 cable modem does not provide a Wireless Router function so I have it hard-wired to my Netgear X6. If the ISP router supplied in the your install has a WiFi router function then you'll need to evaluate which is the faster of the 2 and run only that one (IMHO)
Thanks, I did that once before with internet provider wireless router and a Mac Airport Extreme.

When you say your Oppo 105D had to be replaced, was that a wireless problem or Netflix problem that might apply to my Oppo?

albertporter

Definitely agree that the games the providers play is maddening. At one point a few years ago, I actually had to get an attorney lined up and make my ISP (who is now serving us well in our new neighborhood) aware of the potential arrangement to get them to stop sending Level1 techs and subcontractors to the house who knew nothing and who only sought to test, re-test and test again the lines in my house and blame 'my equipment' or 'changes I had made" for issues in their lines that were exacerbated by heavy periods of rainfall.

Turns out they had a concentrator underground at the top of the neighborhood that was buried and whose case had rusted so every time it rained hard enough to soak the ground and for the days after that until the ground dried out, the HDTV and ISP service was slow and/or non-functional.

It was not until their own network techs took ownership of the problem and told Customer Service and Tech Support to get out of the way, that the true problems were found.....

Maximum fun...

zephyr24069

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