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.
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 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
(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
I will be opening up Tuesday night listening sessions again soon since Covid vaccinations are making headway. When that happens you can listen with us. The Studer cards were sent off to be rebuilt, I actually have two sets and two technicians did work on them.
Soren (from Denmark) did the first set and Studer tech in Canada did the second, my plan is to listen to both and see if I prefer one over the other. These two Studer technicians have different opinion as to what parts to use, especially caps.
I've been eyeing your system for awhile, it is very impressive! Congrats on the new Studer A820, it doesn't get any better if you can get it in the hands of the right tech. I'm a fellow Studer owner and not far from you in Fort Worth. Would love to stop by for a listen one of these days. Cheers, Anthony
First of all I apologize for not responding earlier, Audiogon did not notify me about your post on my thread.
I have heard both Magico and Focal Grande EM at audio shows and I was both impressed and disappointed, depending on set up, room acoustics and associated equipment.
When I was speaker shopping I had a dozen on my list before deciding and ultimately it was a set up in Montreal that made me decide to buy the Focal Grande EM.
Something to consider with any speaker are parts and service. Since my Focal Purchase several of the speaker companies or specific model I was considering are no more. Either company changed hands or model is gone.
That makes me wonder, what if there are no exact replacement parts later on?
When I spoke to Focal they told me to my face that they could provide an exact and perfect replacement for any driver or crossover part in my EM Grande for all foreseeable time. Nine years have passed and their promise is still true.
If you have not already found your ideal choice, I hope you are successful and have the will power and patience to match up other pieces in the chain necessary to make your system as perfect as you can.
Ultimately all the other pieces in the system are as important as the speaker. I achieved that in my system and honestly if someone ask to buy my speakers I would not sell. I have no idea where I would go to replace them.
I have the opportunity to purchase a used Magico M Project or Focal Grande Utopia EM at essentially the same price. I am really torn at what to do.
I feel as if the Magico are the more technologically advanced speaker/have the better drivers, however, I am just drawn to the iconic look of the Utopia and the adjustments that can be made to make it sound good in room.
Have you had the chance to compare any high end Magico to the Utopia?
Thank you Jamiek for your kind words and also for the bit of humor.
I like my Grande Utopia very much and while they are not perfect I cannot think of a speaker I would trade for, especially considering how long it took to break in the focal.
I've been experimenting with the Studer A820 playback. The on board electronics can be built up many different ways, I have heard two so far and have two more that will be added.
I previously tried the King-Cello and although it was good there were things about the Studer electronics I preferred. I think the Trafoless cards are more transparent and resolved but somewhat less musical than the transformer versions. I’m not picking one over the other at this time, just evaluating and experimenting.
I hope within the next few months to have four sets of boards I can plug and play in the A820, each built with different voice due to choice of caps, resistors and solid state devices chosen.
I think you have me confused with another person. I do not have any earthstone products and the VTL in the first image is VERY old, I use Allnic M5000 for several years now.
Last, in case you are confusing your product with the floor in my listening room, my floor is India slate. Not an earthstone product.
I thought the output tubes VTL has yet started but the output of the VTL tubes is rebuilt. I look at through many options for the wall but the stones of the products VTL are available in many colors.
The quality of our service is wonderful. We use expert craftsman for work and install the stones. Our EOQ manager balance all of the product quality in the service.
Watch soon for ad here at Audiogon for my custom built Steve Smith Studer A810 Archival machine. It plays quarter and half track, quarter inch tape and is four speed version as well as NAB and CCIR EQ.
Possible I will sell my custom aluminum stand and Vibraplane designed for this Studer as well.
I’ll post images of my new machine once it arrives.
Koetsu Blue Lace is mounted, currently less than ten hours toward break in. This is an amazing cartridge, the first time I’ve owned a contender for number one spot since buying the Air Tight Opus.
Last week during our usual Tuesday night listening session there was spirited debate as to which was better. A couple of members saying the Koetsu was best ever and a couple saying the Air Tight was more accurate and best choice.
Speaking of choice, it’s nice to have two excellent choices for whatever LP I choose to spin.
I recently purchased several iFi AC mains purifiers, they are very effective at reducing noise in my system.
Best results were obtained when placed in line with digital power supplies such as those found in big screen TV, Amazon Fire box, router and LED lighting near my system.
Cost is low, $99.00 each. I bought mine at Amazon and found that a total of four provided maximum performance. Beyond four, no further improvement and I went to maximum of seven to determine what was possible.
Very excited to have ended three year search for near perfect TTM three piece record stabilizer.
The previous single piece model was my reference for years and this deluxe one takes performance even further. Our group voted using multiple LPs, everyone agreed the new three piece damper was quieter with blacker background, tighter and deeper bass and a much better sense of the space the recording was done in.
Those devices on my AC cables are there to prevent loss of conductivity from vibration. They are made by Furutech and called NCF booster.
NCF boosters are available in several versions and the ones you ask about are for AC, especially those with Furutech connectors. Other NCF devices are a similar design but for interconnect and speaker cables.
I tested the interconnect and speaker cable versions without improvement to my system. Then again, I am wired 100% with Purist Audio cables and they are quite resistant to those problems anyway. With another cable design it might be a big deal.
The AC cables did get an improvement from the NCF, and I while would not put them at the top of my upgrade priority anyone with top tier AC cables, upgraded wall outlets and other associated equipment should benefit from them.
Sound is much like the AC cable itself, but in miniature. If you like your AC cable and want it to be more refined, solid and lower distortion this is what the NCF provides. It’s not day and night but then again, it costs a fraction of what a good AC cable costs.
If you try them post back results, I would love to read about that. I think too that the connection to the wall benefits more than at the IEC end but again, it is likely system dependent.
Albert. Wow. Amazing system. I was wondering what is that ( name of it ) that looks like it is holding up those 2 power cords on your out let. I have 3 Shunyata Research King Cobra and Sigma PCs and the weight makes them sag a bit. Is that what they are for ? Thanks. Mike in NJ
albertporter on All Out Assault