One saving grace for the low inventory of houses in 2022 was the pool and this room. Gave up on finding 3 garage stalls, but 10 foot ceilings in this room looked promising. 23.4 feet deep, 16.5 wide, with a 10 foot peak 5 feet wide.
I built some massive bass traps (on wheels) to reduce the giant dip shown at 160 hz. The traps are 24 wide, 35 deep, and 57 inches high. I mate a large Real Traps absorber to the front behind the Wilsons to achieve the 35 inches. The traps contain OC703 and Roxul with a 2.5" air gap inside.
I've been busy auditioning both IC's, SC's, and power cables in 2023. Here is a list of power cables I have tried out in 2023:
Acoustic
Zen Silver Ref IC
Stealth M5000 power cable
Purist Audio Proteus Rev B PC
Silversmith short Fideliums
Verastarr silver foil grand
illusion PC from wig
Purist Proteus PC two cables
Transparent Ultra IC Gen 5
Verastarr 4 foot PC
Verastarr 5 foot PC
LessLoss C-MARC 20 amp
JPS ACX 2M power cable
superdan138
Stealth Metacarbon RCA
Stealth Indra IC
Analysis Plus Oval 9 Spkr
cables
Transparent Ultra 20 ft IC
Tara Labs The One PC second
Anticables long PC
Tara Labs The One PC first
Elrod EPS3 Sig 20 amp 1M woway
Kaplan PC
JPS 38 in IC
JPS 78 inch PC
Jade Moontails
JPS 51 inch PC
Elrod EPS-3 8 feet, 20 amp
Silversmith long Fidelium SC
Transparent 5M Gen 5 PC
Masterbuilt Audio Std PC
Aric Audio Motherlode 2
JPS Aluminata 8 meter
Nagomi PC 1.5M 15a
Hijiri Million IC
Nagomi 20A 1M PC
Organic RCA ebay
Harmonix XDC10SM Studio Master
1M
Zavfino 2 mtr XLR's Keast
Harmonix X-DC Studio Master
330 1.5M
Purist Museaus Praesto Rev 5M
XLR
Wywires Platinum 13ft PC
Russ Andrews grounding
Kubala Elation half meter
splitter
Kubala 1.5M Elation PC to Ken
F&F
Purist XLR Corvus 1M first
Purist XLR Corvus 1M
Kubala Elations to Tom 1.5 x 2
and 2.5 20 amp from TMR
Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC
Clarus Crimson 24 foot XLR
Purist Venustas 4 Mtr XLR
Empirical Design 316 PC
Elrod EPS2
Elrod EPS-2 70 inches
Purist Venustas Tri wire SC
Harmonix XDC2 1.5M PC
Kubala Emotion from Australia
Kubala 3M Expression from
Larry Cox
Aurender X100L
Core Power 1800
Kubala 3M Emotion from Larry
Cox
Cardas 1.5 M Clear XLR from
USAM technut
Cardas 1.5 M Cygnus PC TMR
Cardas 2M Clear Beyond PC TMR
Cardas 1M Clear XLR Jan
Andersen
BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2 brian
fong
Cardas 3M Clear Beyond XL PC
from Tony
Cardas One meter Clear Beyond
XLR from Ron
Cardas 1pt5 mtr Clear PC from
Gary
Cardas Clear 1 mtr PC from TMR
Clarus Crimson 1 mtr XLR
Cerious Technologies Matrix
XLR
Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC
Cerious Technologies Matrix #2
xlr
Cerious Technologies Matrix 5
ft power cable
Cerious Technologies Matrix 6
foot speaker cables
BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2
NRG 4 meter PC USAM
Clarus Crimson 2 mtr XLR
Oyaide
Black Mamba V2
Fed by 2 NRG the Five PC's onto a BMI Whale Elite, all daisy chained from the Puritan to the amp.
Siltech Cables Princess G7 G5 or better
Siltech Cables Princess G7 between Bricasti and ARC (wow, so silent=more smooth music)
Today: 2 meter Clarus Crimson to amp being fed by 4 meter purist Venustas. Planning to move to Siltech cables over the next few weeks.
Old: XLR's to the amp start as Purist Venustas Diamond Rev 4 meter then to two pairs of Cerious Technologies Matrix all daisy chained between ARC and Coda.
Old: Cardas Clear Beyond XLR to the preamp, Cardas Clear daisy chained to Purist Venustas XLR to Coda amp.
OLD: Presently have a KS Emotion on the Bricasti to preamp.
For the amp run:
I have 3 meter pair of KS Expressions connected to a 3 meter set of Emotions that then connect to a 0.5 meter pair of Elations for the run from ARC to amp. SO, yes, daisy chaining KS cables together as interconnect chain giving me the KS sound but ultimately the signature of the Elation as it is right before the amplifier. Give this a try. It was tested with PAD cables first and then I switched to KS cables. The PAD train was Venustas (4M) to Corvus. Prior to that I was using Museuas to Venustas to the amp. I kept moving up the chain and then jumped over to KS cables.
Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Euphoria
Old"; Siltech Cables Classic Anniversary 550L
Old: Cerious Matrix SC's
OLD: Tri-wired set of Luminist version 81 inches long. I only needed single wiring but couldn't pass up the deal. I made a manifold to accept the 3 runs per side with a solid piece of copper which hangs on the Wilson binding posts. Incredible speaker cables.
BMI Whale Elite
Now using Whale Elites on Puritan and first 18 feet to Coda (last 1 meter to Coda is a Hijiri Nagomi)
OLD: Two of these on the daisy chain to the amp with the Kubala Sosna Elation PC.
Shunyata Research Sigma USB
All the other cables I tried smeared the music.
ADD-POWR Wizard
I have 2 of these. One is placed under the DAC and one is under the DIY digital power box. I'm not getting any benefit from these and they are for sale.
ADD-POWR Symphony I/O
Connects the ethernet to the music server and the server USB to the DAC
Aurender X100L
Replaced my Rich Hollis designed dedicated MS-2 computer.
Cerious Technologies Matrix
New: Matrix PC at wall to Core Power unit
Old: Almost all Cardas power cables now
Old: Moved to almost all KS power cables; Elations and one Emotion. Good stuff. Still putzing with the PC to the Aurender.
.
Puritan Audio Labs PSM156 Studio Master Power Purifier
Love this unit. The amount of noise it reduces is impressive. Tested the circuit with a noise detector before it and then in it and see how it removes 75% of line noise. Now I have barely a tweeter his at 6 inches instead of at 12 inches.
Core Power Technologies Core Power Technologies Deep 1800 AC Power Line Conditioner
Added this to the very front of all power feeding the Puritan.
Shiny object: finding Synergistic Research to have some stupendous cabling. Moving to SR speaker cables, 2 to 3 power cables, and at least one set of IC's. Will see how they play with the Siltech's.
Also, slowly moving to Siltech cabling this week for IC's and SC's. Adding back in 2 Hijiri Nagomi PC's in combination with my BMI Whale Elites and Harmonix PC's thanks to Grannyring.
Just added in a conversion to HT. I didn't want to do this, but I have no other room in the house to put my HT gear to work. A simple 5.2 set-up. I have more surrounds to go 7.2.4, but not sure I need to; it sounds fantastic as is.
Tried to be somewhat stealthy by using a TV lift and adjusting the location of the front wall panels out into the room on stands (some with wheels) to conceal the TV when down (and move outward when TV is up).
Stealth
M5000 power cable
9/1/2018
Verastarr 4 foot PC
1/11/2019
Verastarr 5 foot PC
2/23/2019
Verastarr silver foil grand
illusion PC
6/9/2019
Silversmith long Fidelium SC
5/1/2020
Jade Moontails
7/20/2021
Acoustic Zen Silver Ref IC
4/21/2022
Stealth Metacarbon RCA
4/27/2022
Stealth Indra IC
5/4/2022
Transparent Ultra 20 ft IC
8/23/2022
Transparent 5M Gen 5 PC
9/5/2022
Transparent Ultra IC Gen 5
9/16/2022
Analysis Plus Oval 9 Spkr
cables
12/13/2022
Silversmith short Fideliums
12/22/2022
JPS Aluminata 8 meter xlr
12/27/2022
Empirical Design 316 PC
1/1/2023
Purist Audio Proteus Rev B PC
1/6/2023
JPS 38 in xlr
1/6/2023
Purist Proteus PC two cables
1/7/2023
LessLoss C-MARC 20 amp
1/10/2023
Anticables long PC
1/10/2023
Kaplan PC
1/10/2023
JPS ACX 2M power cable
1/16/2023
Tara Labs The One PC first
1/22/2023
Tara Labs The One PC second
2/11/2023
JPS 78 inch PC
3/12/2023
JPS 51 inch PC
3/18/2023
Elrod EPS-3 8 feet, 20 amp
4/9/2023
Elrod EPS-2 70 inches
4/9/2023
Elrod EPS3 Sig 20 amp 1M
4/11/2023
Harmonix XDC10SM Studio Master
1M
4/13/2023
Hijiri Nagomi 20A 1M PC
4/25/2023
Harmonix X-DC Studio Master
330 1.5M
4/27/2023
Hijiri Nagomi PC 1.5M 15a
5/5/2023
Hijiri Million IC
5/5/2023
Masterbuilt Audio Std PC
5/13/2023
Harmonix XDC2 1.5M PC
5/13/2023
BMI Whale Elite PC's x2
5/18/2023
Purist Museaus Praesto Rev 5M
XLR
5/19/2023
Purist Venustas Tri wire SC
5/19/2023
Purist XLR Corvus 1M first
6/9/2023
Wywires Platinum 13ft PC
6/12/2023
Purist Venustas 4 Mtr XLR
6/13/2023
Organic RCA
7/5/2023
Zavfino 2 mtr XLR
7/14/2023
Oyaide Black Mamba V2 PC
8/3/2023
Purist XLR Corvus 1M
8/20/2023
Kubala 1.5M Elation PC
9/1/2023
Kubala Emotion from Australia
9/6/2023
Kubala 3M Emotion XLR
9/25/2023
Kubala Elation half meter
splitter
9/29/2023
Kubala 3M Expression
10/5/2023
Kubala Elations PC 1.5 x 2 m
and 2.5 20 amp from TMR
11/1/2023
Cardas 1M Clear XLR
11/17/2023
Cardas 1.5 M Clear XLR
11/24/2023
Cardas 1.5 M Cygnus PC TMR
11/25/2023
Cardas 2M Clear Beyond PC TMR
11/25/2023
Cardas 3M Clear Beyond XL
PC
12/4/2023
Cardas One meter Clear Beyond
XLR
12/5/2023
Cardas 1pt5 mtr Clear PC
12/7/2023
Cardas Clear 1 mtr PC from TMR
12/7/2023
Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC
12/29/2023
Clarus Crimson 1 mtr XLR
1/1/2024
Clarus Crimson 24 foot XLR
1/5/2024
Cerious Technologies Matrix
XLR
1/22/2024
Cerious Technologies Matrix #2
xlr
1/31/2024
Cerious Technologies Matrix 5
ft power cable
1/31/2024
Cerious Technologies Matrix 6
foot speaker cables
2/2/2024
BMI Whale Elite PC's x2
2/4/2024
NRG 4 meter PC USAM
2/5/2024
Silnote Anniversary Master
Reference Series 1 M XLR
7/28/2024
Here is a list of the cables I bought and sold over the last few years. I kept copious records of purchase price, shipping costs, fees, etc. and then selling price, shipping costs, and fees in a spreadsheet. Mainly to be prepared to defend my cash flow with the taxman. I extracted the chronological list to show my transition from the Stealth period, to Transparent, JPS, Elrod, Harmonix/Hijiri, Purist, Kubala, Cardas, and then to the present mix of Cerious and Clarus.
Well, between Dec 2022 and January 2024 I have outlaid over $24k on cables. I have gone through JPS, Cardas, Purist, Kubala, Wireworld, Clarus, BMI, Stealth, Cerious, Oyaide, Silversmith, Elrod, Harmonix, Hijiri, Wywires, Kaplan, Anticables, and Verastarr to name a "few".
I have found that the last 6 feet matters. So daisy chaining is a reasonable approach as long as you don't try and throw some junk in on the front of the chain.
Vast differences in Purist to Kubala to Cardas to Clarus to Cerious. I finally it the magic I was seeking after 14 months of buying and selling. You should see my notes on all this effort.
Now using 100% KS cables on dac and preamp. Considering KS speaker cables although the PAD Venustas I am using are triple run cables for tri-wiring and do not disappoint. It's the curiosity aspect of going to KS on the speakers and how that might complement the sound. Hmmm
I'm doing something crazy by daisy chaining cables. I am doing it with power cables and IC's. It does seem the last 3 feet really do make the difference.
Using KS Elation PC on the Puritan. Have used many different PC's with equal success on the input side. I don't see anything special about the Puritan cable and for that kind of money I'd look sideways to other brands based on my experience.
Carpeting isn't going to tame the long frequencies at 100 hz. It took about 20 cu ft of OC 703 each side to do that. I only have 5 feet of width at the ceiling height of 10 feet, so mathematically a panel may help, but I did not want the look since I was able to achieve it on the floor.
Thanks very much for this info! Which version of the Coda Continuum amp do you have? I've heard some people say the PSM156 helps their front-end components but hurts their amps a little bit, so it's useful to hear your perspective as well! Did you ever get to try the Puritan Ultimate cable between the PSM156 and wall? Which Kubala Sosna cable did you have most success with in this position?
PS. Great room and great results with the treatments! That 100Hz bump is often attributable to floor bounce or ceiling bounce. Did you ever try adding a panel in the middle of the ceiling? or a bit of carpet closer to the speakers?
Everything is plugged into the PSM156. This unit does not constrain current flow IME. I have tried it both ways and prefer the PSM noise reduction. I have done this in two houses now with similar results.
I'm using Kubala Sosna PC's from the wall to the PSM and all the devices use KS cables (Elation or Emotion) except the Aurender.
I have a KS Emotion IC coming to compare to the PAD Corvus.
Out of curiosity, have you had success plugging your 400W amp into it?
I have a 300W amp, and am worried that perhaps the PSM156 might constrain it in some way.
Also - very curious to hear if you found any great power cable upgrades for connecting the PSM156 to the wall. The Puritan Ultimate cable seems like the logical first step, but by the looks of your 2023 testing, it sounds like you may have gone further!
They are 3 inch thick maple (butcher block) slabs. Years ago I had Salk Sound paint them black for me to tone down the look to a more modern gray-black combo. I have toted those things around to many different houses. Ridiculously heavy.
With their mass on small bumpers along the rails and then further isolating components on the heavy mass, it's an attempt to dampen what I can. Much like having double drywall hanging on hat-channel in a room construction.
I don't believe I ever posted about my DIY cable risers. I made them back in about 2006 out of bowl blanks. A little router work and some lead weights on the bottoms. I wanted to organize power cables away from IS's or SC's and neaten up the systems. They have shown up in all my system postings since. I'll have to post some construction photos.
I made the triangular pieces just recently to hold up the very heavy tri-wired Venustas SC's. Quick and dirty.
Updated photos. About 99% of where I need to be on IC's. Saving my sheckles for a 3 meter Venustas. Wrapping the cabling around the left speaker is much better, ala original layout.
I am way behind taking new photos. Lots of cabling changes, added an Aurender, etc.
Everything I play sounds incredible. I played a Playlist not spun in 10 years and everything was making me smile.
And thanks to Tom Hankins for letting me audition his Kubala cables. I'm leaning toward KS power cables and PAD IC's as a great combo. I like the detail of the PAD's and the KS power cables are off the hook in the bass and "filling the soundstage".
Yes. I have way behind in updating my components. LOTs of changes.
The ARC is the best sounding preamp I have ever owned. I have had several very nice pre's like the TRL Dude, which was very clean and musical. The Sachs and Aric are both superb preamps over the last few years.
I chose this model as a value-priced unit after reading every comment and review I could find. The 5SE was highly rated and if you were going for a 6, then why not the 6SE, but now the price is getting up there versus the performance the 5SE was praised for.
Sensational air and presentation by the ARC. The overall smoothness, soundstage width, depth, and delineation of instruments, is absolutely addicting.
One night this week I put a 20 foot Transparent pc to the amp and placed the Nagomi and a Studio Master on the preamp and dac. The sound was nice but there was no bass to speak of. And the tone was not quite right w/o a Harmonix in the amp line.
Then last night I daisy chained 2 Aluminatas and a NRG The .1 into the amp. The bass was incredible, but too wooly. It was deep, but loose. The NRG was not up to the task. I digested that for about an hour.
It was getting late but I had to know if I could get some Harmonix goodness into the mix so I swapped out the NRG and Nagomi. Now with the Nagomi on the beginning of the Aluminata chain the sound was crystal clear and bass was tighter and more controlled.
For this weekend I am going to try the Nagomi on the last part of the chain connecting to the amp to see what effect there is being the last piece to touch the amp. Stay tuned.
I added a third Elrod to the other two in the string arrangement and it was not good. Tubby bass and hazy top end. I'll post a pic of that if I can.
I swapped the Nagomi into the middle Elrod position and it was fantastic. I don't understand how the string of 2 Elrods and one Hijiri could take on the influence of the single Nagomi cable. We would expect the Elrods to overpower the one meter Hijiri Nagomi, but the combination was enough of a positive turn, even over the Tara labs pc, that I now know I should be moving toward Hijiri cabling where I can.
More changes coming. Have another Elrod to make my daisy chain power cable 3 Elrods long.
Have the ARC Ref 5SE coming next week.
Also have an Aurender X100L coming so I can see if it is an improvement (which I expect) and at this price it is minimal risk to dip my toe into a true music server like this over my PC set-up from HAL.
I need to further evaluate the Nagomi power cable to decide if I should keep it.
I also ordered a Sablon Robusto power cable that I want to try.
bugredmachine on 