My room was purpose build using the ratio described by Floyd Toole from the Canadian Research council.
Have 20 dedicated 15 amp circuits, 4x20 amp circuits and 2 220 volt 60 amp circuits. The wall construction is 12" thick ,made up of a double wall of 2x4 studs at 16 oc with the studs staggered ,insulation (rock wool), t&g 3/4 plywood glued and screwed, then the drywall is glued with a v notch trowel. This room is so quiet the music can flow with absolutely no distractions. This is a great way to enjoy the music at the end of long day of work.
Many many changes have taken place since posting my system here.
Decided to repaint the room a much lighter colour to lighten things up for reading in the room.
Using the darTZeel pre amp with two different amps. The first amp in this system is the Wyetech Topaz 211 and second one is the darTZeel amp.
Both bring forth tremendous musical enjoyment albeit different presentations.
Mike L turned my focus back to vinyl after being at his home many years ago. Had my Lp and gear packed up until Mike opened up my eyes/ears.
Now LP playback is 90% vinyl and 10% digital.
Steve Dobbins came by last weekend to deliver and set up the KODO the Beat.
Tonearm on the BEAT is the Reed P3 along with the Kuzma Airline. Room for one more.......
Second table is my Verdier which I bought after visiting Mike L's place.
Using a FR 64s and purchased an ET-2 which will be upgraded to a 2.5 in the next month pending Bruce's schedule.
Studer Tape deck plays a role too but is limited due to lack of tapes. Having spent funds on vinyl rigs and arm/cartridges leaves the deck out side of the music room.
Custom build direct drive turntable by Steve Dobbins. Has a separate power supply and speed controller. Can accommodate three tonearms.
JC Verdier La Platine
Great turntable
Technics SP-10 MKII
Direct drive from the late 70s. This one is in mint condition. Will start building different types of plinths for the turntables that I have recently purchased. They will be made out of combinations of slate, alloys and homebrew plywood using veneers and an 80 ton press.
Kuzma Airline
Airline
Fidelity Research FR 64S
With VTA adjuster
Fidelity Research FR 24 MK II
One Ikeda's early arms. Looking for an copy of the original manual of this arm.
Reed 3P
12
Eminent Technology ET-2
ET 2 will be shipped to Bruce Thigpen to get updated to a 2.5 version and get a full check over.
Dynavector XV-1S
Great sounding cartridge
Ortofon A90
Their latest top flight cartridge.
Lyra Kleos SL1
Low output moving coil Kleos. SL stands for single layer
Empire 4000 DIII GOLD
MM Cartridge from the golden era
Grace F9-E
Had this one on my first Rega 3
Denon 103 R
Denon MC
Denon 103
Second moving coil that I purchased after buying the Kuzma Airline.
Allnic H-3000V
Phono stage which allows the use of two MM and two MC
Loricraft PRC-3
Lp cleaner
Audio Research CD7.5
Reference CD player
Aural Symphonics Magic Gem v2t
Very good power best that I have heard in my system. Powering the Audio Research CD-7.
McIntosh MR-78
Great sounding FM
Wilson Audio Maxx II
Great sounding full range speaker
Wilson Audio Puppy 5.1
Wilson Watt Puppies
Wilson Audio Watch Center
Center
Wilson Audio Watch Dog
Wilson Watch Dog
Nordost Valhalla
Nordost Valhalla Have this as my interconnect through out the system excapt for the zeel connect between darTZeel preamp and darTZeel amp.
Nordost Valhalla Speaker cable
High resolution speaker cable
Stillpoints Dampers and Risers
Isolation device
Theta Digital Casablanca max
Casablanca III with Extreme Dacs
Sony VPL-VW100 Ruby
Great looking projector and stunning picture
Stewart Screen 110
Luxus Delux Gey Hawk
Slim Devices Transporter
Computer based server with with its own DA
Balanced Audio Technologies VK-6200
200 watt five channel Home Theater amp
Toshiba HD-XA2
High definition HD DVD player with great upscaling on SD DVD
Dartzeel 18 NHB-18S
Solid state preamp purchased and hoping for a Xmas delivery. Ordered with two phono stages.
darTZeel NHB-108 model one Version B
Solid state amp made in Switzerland.
AUDIENCE ar12
Top notch ac filtering 20 amp unit made for Wally of Wally Tractor fame.
Audience aR6-T
Used for the amps at the front of the room.
Wyetech TOPAZ 211 A
18 watt SET with the gold plated Audio Note Transformers.
Studer A810
Vintage 1/4 inch 1/2 track. You have to hear it to believe it. Makes great vinyl sound like MP3.
Studer A810
My second Studer. This will be used in another system.
Nordost Brahma
Power cord for the Aestehtix IO
HOMEBUILD Amp Stand
4 inch thick Jatoba ( Brazilian Cherry) wood
Sutherland TIMELINE
Strobe light to check turntable speed. Two speeds only 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Very accurate and easy to use.
Allnic Speednic
Strobe for Turntable to check speed accuracy.
HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEM ANALOG DISC CLAMP
Record clamp/weight
Unknown Ebony LP weight
Ebony disc weight
Custom LP racks Apple plywood
Never enough room for LP storage, so I took over the front entrance with my wife's permission of course.
Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables
Wanted a storage area with sliding doors to hide various tapes, LPs Blue rays and misc.
Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables part II
Picture of sliding doors open
Canadian Tire Tool Chest
Hold all of tubes,cartridges, footers, set up tools.
TEL WIRE HC Power cord 8 feet
TEL WIRE HC Great synergy in my system. Beautifully finished and the Oyaide connectors are of the best quality. Extremely happy with them.
Acoustical-systems P2S
Direct measuring and marking system made by Dertonarm. Quality is very high and very easy to use.
Has not rained here for a while except on the Canucks........... Have my new amp stand in place under the Topaz, considerable difference over the slate slab that I was using previously. Time consuming but worth the effort. Effect of the stand is better imaging and better depth resulting in better dynamics. Will ask some friends to come by to confirm what I am hearing.
Have the rest of the hardware for the racks except the feet, still not ready. Hoping that by next week I will have them so that I can start with the assembly.
The Timeline is so accurate and easy to use that I highly recommend it to anyone wanting an alternative to a disc/strobe combo. The Sutherland does both 45 and 33 1/3 rpm. The strobe line that it projects is very easy to see even in bright conditions. When comparing it to the Clearaudio disc and strobe combo I can say that its much more convenient. Build quality CA is plastic vs CNC aluminium for the Sutherland. The boxes that Timeline comes in has a large MADE IN USA all over it. Nice to see pride in ones product.
Adding a Sutherland Timeline as my Clearaudio strobe does not read properly anymore. Should be getting it Monday. Have read great things on it's accuracy. Let's see.
Feet for my shelving system will be done by next week. Then it's time to get the lead out, literally out of the existing shelving rack. It's loaded with 600 lbs of shot. Not looking forward to this. Buying lots of LP's but not enough time to listen to all of them. Will have to wait for rainy day's.
Update on shelves that have been a work in progress.
CNC'd the holes in the shelves and gave them a 120 grit sanding. Had a chance to weight the different shelves. Standart component shelf is 48 lbs each. Turntable shelfs are 98 lbs each Amp shelf is 78 lbs and 98 lbs each. Two inch stainless steel tubing are cut as well in 6, 8 and 10 inch heights. Made extra pieces for future component changes. Threaded rods are brass and the final piece of the puzzle will be the adjustable feet. Not sure on the final design so still sitting on the fence on this one.
Hi Audioblazer Interesting stuff for sure. Seems the wood of preference is ebony. Have access to a CNC machine and will try to make my own. I agree that the prices for these tuners are a bit hefty knowing the price to manufacture with wood. I will post pictures once it's made.
Bought a Boston Audio Mat 1 Nice performance upgrade over the stock mat that came with the Verdier.
Update on the Audio Research CD-7 to CD-7.5 Received the upgraded CD player from my dealer this week. They replaced the two tubes of the three tubes in the power supply and replaced it with a single Sovtek 5881. Improved bottom end , mids are the same but the top end seems to be a bit extended. Audio Research parts were free and labour to do the work was paid by your truly.
Ordered a new amp SS, which should arrive in 2-3 months. This way I will have best of both worlds SET tubes and SS.
I have harmonix clamp old version, it does improved the bass performance. Subsequently I bought audio tekne carbon clamp and kuzma ebony wood clamp. Currently my preference is kuzma clamp which improved the bottom and top end better in my opinion. However for the money, I would go for Harmonix clamp old version which is availble preowned for usd300-400. My next stop is Shun Mook clamp. Too expensive for me to swallow now
This past Friday had a friend drop by to listen to some Lps. He brought with him his record tuning weight. He said to give it a try. Listened to a variety of music for several hours only to conclude that his record weight made a beneficial contribution to the music. He has a Harmonix Stabilizer Clamp. Never thought that this could have such an effect on the LPs. The music had more dynamics, back ground was a bit quieter and the music had a better jump factor. When I had my old Oracle it used a screw down clamp. This was more so for clamping the LP to the mat. But this "tuning stabilizer" throws a whole new perspective on my LPs. Anyone else use one of these?
How cool to listen to the VIVA...sounds (pun deliberate-lol) like you have a very favorable opinion - I wouldn't be surprised if others share that same perspective!
As I am typing this I am listening to a pair of VIVA Aurora monoblocks that are on loan to me by a fellow agon member. Thank you Sdr. Putting some serious music into my room, heat as well. The unit is red and black and has a real synergy so far with my set up. Matches the darTZeel colour combo..... These are by far the hottest looking tube mono blocks that I have ever had the privilege of having in my room. Very nice to listen to.
My CD7 was acting up and is therefor going in for an upgrade to bring it to a 7.5 version. Power supply and also the display will be dim-able.
Soccer season is over now ( kids won the cup hurray) which frees up my weekends for my shelving project. Have almost 21 hour into the shelving project. All of the main shelves are now glued up. Using Jatoba and not cocobolo.
Missed the closing ceremonies...Canada is a lovely country with beautiful people :-) I just picked-up a Triode Corp TRV-EQ3SE phono stage...I'll let you know my observations in due course!
I read your remarks about Mike's revamped room...glad you had a great time! Is your Dart fully broken-in, yet?
I've been listening to a lot of reel-to-reel, lately...sonics are spectacular! :-)
Have to agree on the tubes hassles, have 16 tubes for one spot. Will send you a message via Agon re the Brystons.
Hi Sam Great to hear that vinyl will be in your home. The Triode Corp is new to me, let me know how it sounds. Did you catch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics? What can I see ehh, we poked fun of ourselves. The Beavers, flying Moose, and 30 foot tall Mounties. We were roaring at home. Nice to see Neil Young, Michael Fox, William Shatner come to the festivities. Tace care,
Would love to know your initial impressions of the 28Bs. Thinking of going there myself but no ability to demo. I am trying to reduce my tube hassles as I don't have the time I used to to check bias etc.
Maybe, second time is a charm for Team Canada ;-)...Bryston is a solid product - from Canada, if I'm not mistaken. Sonny and I are about to get back into vinyl...just purchased a Triode Corp. phono stage - it should arrive in about a week. Please say HI to Patty and the kids.
Hi Sam The Olympics are winding down and we have had a blast. The Robson Square events, Yale town and the Pavilions have been very enjoyable but the line ups are soooooo long. Parking has been no issues. Canadian mint is displaying the medals, you can touch and hold them, One million dollar coin (now gold value is 3 mil) but haven't been able to get in 8hrs line ups, no thanks. Big show down in Hockey for the gold between US and Canada. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Have a pair of monoblock on loan right now, the Brystons 28 SST squared versions. They have been at the dealer burning in for over a month so they should be up to speed fairly quickly. Reviews that I have read are very positive and just had to hear for myself. Take care,
Hi Chris Unfortunately I have not mounted the A90 yet. I want to use it on my Technics SP10 project turntable along with the Reed arm that I have ordered. The plinth is not finished, still a bit to go before it's complete. Have listened to the A90s at Mike L's place which he has now on both the Triplaner and the Rockport which is also a Tangent tracking arm. The A90 is superb in both applications and would not hesitate on recommending it with the Kuzma. Good luck,
If you don't mind me asking, do you use your (Ortofon) A90 on your Kuzma Airline?
If so, are you happy with the Kuzma / A90 synergy ?
The stylus on my Zyx Universe is missing (!?!) and I need to replace the cartridge or have it re-tipped. I'd like to explore trying out the Ortofon after all that I've read about it but don't know how good a match it will be for my Kuzma Airline.
DIY project. Building two cocobolo shelving racks. These will allow the gear to get off of the floor and get my turntables to a comfortable user height. At this time my Verdier is at 20" height and not very convenient for cue up's. The racks will incorporate 1 3/4" thick laminations of cocobolo for the main shelves and the top will be 4" thick for the turntables. The posts will be made of 2" Stainless steel rods which will machined at a tool and die shop. Will post pictures once completed.
Purchased some NOS vintage tubes for the Wyetech Topaz amp in order to do some tube rolling. They are as follows:
Sylvania JAN-CHS-6SN7GT VT-231 Sylvania, Phillips, RCA, Sovtek and GE 6SN7 GTA Raytheon 6SN7 GTB UNILINE
GE 211 from 1942 and 1945
Will be playing with these for the next little bit.
Sam With the Olympics approaching things are getting pretty crazy with all of the traffic restrictions, road closures, Olympic only lanes, army presence and all of the helicopters buzzing around. Once it's all over drop by.
