02-08-15: Ddriveman
Syntax,

Surely your journey cannot end now....

Yes, you are right. A real Audiophile never gives up :-)

When I remember my long journey for a summary, I can say, there are only a few items which are so remarkable, that they pass the test of time forever and I learned a lot.
- Basis turntable
(the brain behind the construction and the solutions for superior performance)
- FR-64s and 66s
(they don't stop to amaze me in their sonic superiority to anything else I listened to)
- Koetsu Coralstone
(from the current ones, it is in a different sonic league, the other ones in my Systems are also remarkable but very hard to find)
- Cartridge Alignment UNI-DIN
(this new calculation is probably a revolution in analog playback)

02-08-15: Peterayer
It must be nice to be done with your journey....

Yes, I did compare most in my own System, when not possible, then in Systems I know very well. With the right records you are able to check the reproduction quality of turntables, Arms or cartridges, the majority hide a lot of possible details, some of these records are listed in my System description. I did test and own Graham Arms since 2.2 until Supreme II and I knew its sonic steps which are a result of the chosen material and weigh (construction)t. The Elite is imo just another step how to increase the performance from a Unipivot Design (weight and energy transfer, just a new inner cable does not bite the bullet...) My last comparison with FR-64s and Graham Supreme II was so huge in musical details, even my listeners were shocked (and since his wrong 10" and 12" Arm Tubes - Arch angle and wrong drills for his alignment flip - I lost interest anyway) Maybe the current Design will be better now but for me this chapter is closed.

02-18-15: Dnath
Hi syntax.

Curious why you don't like the Seiki's with vacuum?...

Let's change the word "like" to "result"...(who cares what I like?) To like something is like rolling a dice and completely useless (I don't like McDonalds for example but for others it is great...). I wrote something about your question a few pages earlier, I think you'll find the answer there :-)
TechDas
I know AF One and Two pretty well, but more the One. They stretched the Seiki concept to a modern level and made some improvements which are necessary for a model to pass the others (Platter and motor) and they increased the price based on the other - inferior - toys to place it in the serious area. That's ok, but I never heard something which I did not hear before. Anyway, it is definitely much more serious than the other "modern" units and when someone can afford it, he does not burn his money in the hope to get a well designed solution :-)

You are right and I agree but when I am really honest, my hope in the last years was, based on the information availavble in the internet community, that series solution for acceptable pricing would pop up....but after all those years, I think, it is too late. Average (or better said, cheap average) rules.
But WE will not give up. Or? :-)

syntax February 26, 2015 12:47

Hi syntax.

Curious why you don't like the Seiki's with vacuum? Is it because the gaskets tended to gunk up or for sound quality reasons?

TechDAS are supposed to be coming out with a turntable that can accommodate 4 tonearms; a good time to be an analog lover :~)

hvbias February 19, 2015 03:10

It must be nice to be done with your journey. Since you own many of these, your system must sound like the "Real Thing." Have you compared the Lyra Olympos to either the Atna or the Atlas and the Graham Phantom Supreme II to the Elite? Both of the designers prefer the newer models, so those might be worth pursuing.

Were your conclusions reached through direct comparisons in your system or in a more general sense of hearing many systems over much time and then extrapolating that one cartridge or tonearm or turntable is better than another because you liked certain systems more than others?

I'm not sure all designers of high end equipment have abandoned the goal of perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space. Perhaps some have, but surely not all.

peterayer February 08, 2015 23:25

Syntax,

Surely your journey cannot end now. It only needs another new audio item that is above what you currently have ... and the journey begins anew.

ddriveman February 08, 2015 14:39

„The Real Thing“ Sound
(Perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space)

Tonearms

In the last 15 years I had the chance to listen to nearly all Arms out there… Continuum, SME’s, all Graham, Triplanar VIIi, Goldmund T3F, Wood Arms (yuk), Thales, TW, Clearaudio, Micro, SAEC, Ikeda, Rega, Vertere, Kuzma Airline, Kuzma 4P, Air Tangent, Simon Yorke and so on and on

The Kings

Fidelity Research FR-66s Silver Arm Wire

Fidelity Research FR-64s Silver Arm Wire

Best from the ones today

Graham Phantom Supreme II

Cartridges

I listened to most Benz, some Zyx, the Coldfinger, various Koetsu, Transfigurations, Ortofons & MC90, Lyras, Air Tights, Shelters, Denon 103R, Kondo IO, Ikeda Kai, Allaerts, Takeda, EMT and probably 10 more I forgot … those below are the ones which survived every comparison

Here is the real thing

Fidelity Research FR-7 FR-7fc FR-7fz

Ikeda 9 Kiwame

Koetsu Blue Lace

Koetsu Coralstone

Lyra Olympos

Fidelity Research FR-1 mk3F
(refurbished from a Japanese Master + best Diamond ever made)

Koetsu Blue Lace & Koetsu Coralstone

Takeda Miyabi

Well, my journey came to end and I agree with Gordon Holt (founder of Stereophile) who said in an interview 2007:

Do you still feel the high-end audio industry has lost its way in the manner you described 15 years ago?

„Not in the same manner; there's no hope now. Audio actually used to have a goal: perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space. That was found difficult to achieve, and it was abandoned when most music lovers, who almost never heard anything except amplified music anyway, forgot what "the real thing" had sounded like. Today, "good" sound is whatever one likes.“

syntax February 06, 2015 12:12

Syntax, It must have been an incredible evening! Have you heard these speakers elsewhere like the Munich show?
Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us. I have been using the Beveridge electrostats which can be great on certain types of music but always like to hear about other types of systems. I have read your comments over the years and have always appreciated your insight. Bob

baranyi January 31, 2015 02:30

Hi Baranyi,
I had no idea about these Speakers, too, or the System in general when I got the invitation to listen to it. It is now some years ago, but it was the biggest shock in my audiophile life to date. Why? Here I heard the life performance, That, what all talk about but never have.... Ella Fitzgerald was really in front of me (without downing a bottle of wine), with a lifelike Presence I never heard before. Same with Louis Armstrong...no joke. Here I heard the first time what "High End" is all about. Then I asked to play one of my records, LSC-2500 and I "saw" the musicians in front of me. I was able to count the rows. Here I also saw the very first time a FR-Tonearm and it served a presentation I never heard before. All that gave me a new kind of view about "Audiophilia" :-)

syntax January 30, 2015 17:36

Love to read and see more! Never heard the martion Orgon but it sure looks serious!

baranyi January 30, 2015 00:13

After 15 years of traveling to listen to countless Systems (mainly expensive ones or sometimes interesting ones from the Set Up) it is coming to the end …

„The Real Thing“ Sound
(Perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space)

From some Systems I have Pics, some big, some small, some from pre Digital or Names only....

I will start with Systems followed from Turntables, Tonearms, Cartridges and Amplification

Systems

A System from the 90’s

Apolyt Turntable, Calyx Phono Preamp and Martion Orgon Speakers

A new System

Gryphon Speakers, Vitus Preamp, Power Amps, Phonostage, Turntable AFO

Another early System but forgot the Camera
Jeff Rowland Consummate Preamp, matching Consummate Phonostage, Rowland Model 9, Martin Logans, Oracle Turntable

sorry, that's it for me

Turntables
I listened to endless Tables, be it Rockport Sirius, Goldmund Reference, Garrards, EMT’s, Kuzma, Clearaudio Statement, Master Reference, Brinkmann, SME 10, 20,30, Kondo Ginga, TW, Linn, DaVinci, Well Tempered and so on and on

These below smoke them all

TechDas Airforce One

TechDas Airforce Two

Basis Debut vac.

Brakemeier Apolyt

Micro Seiki 5000 (reg. no vacuum!!)

Micro Seiki 8000 (Vers. I, no vacuum !!)

… to be continued

syntax January 28, 2015 13:13

Syntax,
Can you tell me the manufacturer of your ribbon tweeter?

jeff1225 January 10, 2015 14:56

I bought the PR99 Mk III from a Recording Studio, it was their spare and new. They also had some boxes of their best tapes (BASF) for me, that quality did not smear the Heads when the Tapes run over it. It was a very good machine but when BASF stopped production of the Tapes I had to buy what was available and that was simply inferior. I also bought pre-recorded Tapes but the Magnetization showed its loss over the years and I stopped that, too. There were some audiophile Tapes made, new recordings but completely uninteresting from the historical background and I decided to sell the unit. It has balanced in- /outputs, no problem to use it with a balanced Preamp. And when I am honest, when I had a time frame to listen to my System, I rarely used it. Phono direct always served me more satisfaction.

syntax December 17, 2014 07:45

Great system!!
Dedication to the format! I see you have a PR99
How do the master tapes compare to your top vinyl choices?
Do you use a dedicated tape preamp or go straight from the pr99?
Cheers
Harv

hxt1 December 15, 2014 05:22

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

In that room we did listen to Focal Grand Utopia with a complete line of Goldmund electronics. Amps are the big Model Telos 3500, their matching digital Preamp with Goldmund Phonostage. Analog Turntable is a Clearaudio with Souther Arm and Goldfinger cartridge ....

Audiophile Visit 06 / 01

Audiophile Visit 06 / 02

Audiophile Visit 06 / 03

Audiophile Visit 06 / 04

Audiophile Visit 06 / 05

Audiophile Visit 06 / 06

syntax December 12, 2014 06:57

Good question for discussions...When I "test" a cartridge, I always go first with FR-64s to hear how it performs. When it does not pass the 64s Test, it is done for me anyway. The 66s is the next step, I do that a bit later when I am used to the Performance of the cartridge...normally it is a step above then. I wrote Top Performance with FR-64s..." because that Arm survived all others I had - or did try - in the last 10 years... I read everywhere, how owners praise their Koetsu in nearly every available Arm and a lot are a cruel mismatch (from sonics)...of course it "works"..but there are - huge - differences.
For VTF I am someone who goes always to the lower side, when there are no distortions there is for me no reason to go higher and to stress the cantilever in a way which is not useful for me. I believe that in some Arms it needs a higher VTF based on their Design, but not with FR, they are dynamically balanced and have a superior tracking even at lower VTF. Aggelos are silver leads which are available from Acoustical Systems, their main advantage is their flexibility compared to other silver leads like Ikeda, Furutech and so on. They are also good but sometimes a pain to fit because they are stiff and the Contact Pins in various Headshells have no Standard, some are thicker, some thin and the fumbling can destroy the leads (they break at the solder points) and you can start to do it all over with a new set of leads...next problem is, the slots in the Headshells - or the whole length of it - is also different, when you use a longer cartridge with an Ikeda RS for example, it is really tough to slide it back and forth with stiff leads, with Orsonic 101 for example it is no problem....anyway, that's the way to go when you buy new, imo of course. Next is, Aggelos are soldered with maximum percentage of silver, most other silver leads are soldered with something inferior which ruins the signal transfer significantly or the pins under the acting are not good ("good" based on MY Standard).. I did mount the Coralstone first in the Orsonic RS, technically it was ok, sonics, too but later I removed it to an Arche and that's it for me.

syntax December 11, 2014 16:04

Syntax,

You mentioned in your Koetsu Coralstone comments that: "Top Performance with FR-64s + Arche Headshell + Aggelos + VTF 1.77 gr". Does this mean you prefer the Coralstone with FR64s versus FR66s? Also, what is Aggelos? Interesting that you are using VTF of 1.77 gm. Koetsu recommends 1.8-2.0 gm and most users seem to recommend 1.95 gm. Have you tried 1.95 gm and what was your finding compared to 1.77 gm. Thanks very much for your great insight ... always.

ddriveman December 11, 2014 08:47

Peterayer/Halcro - I see no comments on the speed accuracy of the Raven above.
It is not possible for the Raven to run on accurate speed as it uses a stepped speed controller as has been reported in other threads. What Halcro demonstrated in the thread titled Turntable Speed Accuacy speed thread is that although the Raven cannot run on speed, the speed is reasonably consistent.

01-17-12: Halcro
Even with my Raven AC-2 with thread drive.........the drift with a stylus in play is only 0.5mm per revolution from the wall mark. If I adjust the speed on the motor controller one step UP.....it then runs fast by 1mm per revolution. But these are both constant deviations which indicate that the turntable is maintaining consistent speed.......just not exactly 33.33rpm. If the motor controller had a finer adjustment......I could get it spot-on.

For optimum thread drive to be implemented the pulley profile must be designed with thread in mind, usually a concave hemispherical profile so the thread self centres and does not ride up and down.
With my thread drive Final Audio TT1 I use a spiral wound surgical silk thread - there is no slippage or stretch and I can get the 22kg aluminium and copper platter up to speed in less than 1 rotation. Cotton/Nylon and polymers do indeed stretch and slip.
Of course one can both visually and physically observe belt oscillation and compression on the passive side of the pulley when using rubber belts.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1354380470&openfrom&50&4#50

dover December 11, 2014 00:48

Nice to see that Roy Buchanan record in the one room, rather than the standard 'audiophile' stuff. Keep 'em coming, Syn- very enjoyable gear porn.
Best,

whart December 10, 2014 20:04

Thread, string, cotton, floss do not work with the Ravens (I've tried them)...as the Raven belt needs to 'grip' the platter.
Even the Black Knight platter has a delcrin base below the copper platter so that the belt (which has a rough side) can actually grip it. It doesn't perform this job adequately on smooth metal surfaces and strings or threads simply slip...😎

halcro December 10, 2014 05:16

I used to own Pass/Eggleston. Very good combination. Those look like the XA160.5 amps. They would benefit from being placed up on Vibraplanes. This is the first positive report I've read from syntax about a TW turntable. I guess there were no speed issues with that very long stretchy rubber belt. I wonder if the owner has tried surgical thread instead.

peterayer December 09, 2014 12:02

That room was very remarkable...very tasteful Room Tuning...the owner had electrically illuminated Wavebreakers...very, very efficient from sonics and gets my vote for the "Done Right Award"

The owner uses a Dynavector XV-1s (I think, forgot to look a bit closer) and it was aligned with Mint Protractor...he just asked to change nothing except the Alignment to UNI-DIN...we listened to some records before changing and when it was done and the lights were switched off, that was a real sonic revelation...the soundstage got so much bigger, so much more real in tonality...Pysical Presence to grab...I could not believe it in the first seconds...a complete transformation to the better at no extra charge....
and we did not go back :-)

TW Hardware, an Preamp which is new for me, never saw it before, Pass XA Amps, Eggleston Speakers with cables created by owner.....coool

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 05 / 01

Audiophile Visit 05 / 02

Audiophile Visit 05 / 03

Audiophile Visit 05 / 04

Audiophile Visit 05 / 05

Audiophile Visit 05 / 06

Audiophile Visit 05 / 07

----> more to come

syntax December 08, 2014 15:57

Serious stuff . More to come

audioblazer December 06, 2014 14:38

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 04 / 01

Audiophile Visit 04 / 02

Audiophile Visit 04 / 03

Audiophile Visit 04 / 04

Audiophile Visit 04 / 05

Audiophile Visit 04 / 06

Audiophile Visit 04 / 07

Audiophile Visit 04 / 08

...---> :-)

syntax December 05, 2014 21:12

Thanks for sharing these photos. The systems look ambitious and fairly complex. How did they sound and was analog preferred over digital?

peterayer December 05, 2014 16:41

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 03 / 01

Audiophile Visit 03 / 02

Audiophile Visit 03 / 03

Audiophile Visit 03 / 04

Audiophile Visit 03 / 05

Audiophile Visit 03 / 06

Audiophile Visit 03 / 07

syntax December 05, 2014 15:58

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 02 / 01

Audiophile Visit 02 / 02

Audiophile Visit 02 / 03

Audiophile Visit 02 / 04

Audiophile Visit 02 / 05

Audiophile Visit 02 / 06

Audiophile Visit 02 / 07

Audiophile Visit 02 / 08

Audiophile Visit 02 / 09

Audiophile Visit 02 / 10

syntax December 04, 2014 15:41