After reading the rave reviews of LDR based Lightspeed Attenuator preamp I decided to give it a try. $43 price tag for the complete kit makes it a no brainer. I bought the kit from Uriah, also various parts from mouser.com and local radio shack. After a month of weekend work, the preamp is now complete in a nice aluminum case and Cardas RCA posts. And the sound? It's pretty good for a $43 preamp. More importantly I got a lot of enjoyment building this preamp which is priceless.

jylee March 20, 2011 05:51

Messing with the idea of introducing Lightspeed Attenuator in the system. Last month I bought the kit and soldering iron for a fun side project. When I hooked it up to my system after it was built I was pleasantly surprised. Since then I've bought a nice aluminum case for it, and harness for battery powered operation. I don't need a preamp right now because I'm using an integrated amp, but it's nice to have a transparent preamp that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

jylee March 07, 2011 05:40

I've heard Focal Chorus 800 series and they sound much like Electras. In fact I used to have CC800V center channel speaker along with my Electras. The speakers blended very well. Electras have better performance at frequency extremes, but the overall sound signature is very similar. You are not missing much with 836v.

jylee November 08, 2010 22:33

Hi Mceljo. I liked the old Infinity speakers. Infinity Intermezzo and Interlude series are probably the last hifi speakers they made. As good as they were, I don't think they can compete against newer Focal speakers in terms of resolution and transparency.

jylee November 07, 2010 17:06

I'm keeping ARC because the system became so much simpler without sacrificing much in the sonics. One area that Pass wins decisively is dynamics. There is so much more headroom and dynamics with Pass in handling all genre of music. VSi60 is sufficient in 95% of times. But it runs out of steam when handling the most complex passages in Mahler or Rachmaninov. VSi60 doesn't show any problem playing jazz or rock music even at high volume level, but only during the most complex passages of orchestral music. The bass response with VSi60 is very good. There is more authoritative and perhaps more generous amount of bass with Pass. With VSi60 the bass is tighter, and perhaps leaner and deeper.

I listen to music fairly loud, probably around 80dB in average with peaks reaching to 90 - 100dB. For this volume level I think VSi60 has barely enough power for 1037BE in 15 x 20 x 9 room. If you have large room or play music louder, then you'll need more power.

jylee November 06, 2010 20:46

Hi Joe,

Here are some of the thoughts about the question you asked me earlier about Pass XA-30.5 and ARC VSi60. Pass is a great great amp. It sounds warm, natural, dynamic, articulate and it is one fantastic SS amp. ARC is a great great tube amp. Although technically it's a hybrid amp with JFET input stage, the sound is unmistakably tube. There is this eerie realism in the sound with excellent detail and sound stage in both width and depth.

I think it'll be somewhat unfair to compare Pass with ARC because they are completely different beasts. Pass XA-30.5 defies the power rating and shows no problem handling the six woofers of 1037BE. It also boasts sound that's closer to tube than typical solid state amps.

ARC is much different sounding, and my ears are still being acclimated to the new sound. It has the tube mid range that no SS amp can reproduce. There are a lot of difference in handling of bass. The bass extension is excellent. However there is a lot less of them in volume.

As for the bass response, I'm not sure I would blame any of the amps for that. I think it's partly due to the bass-demanding impedance curve of Electra series. Pass is capable of delivering the thundering bass that otherwise cannot be handled by many amps, ss or tube. Also the higher than average output impedance of VSi60 will tend to bring out upper frequency more than bass. I don't think either presentation is overly wrong either. It's a matter of how much bass the listener wants to hear. With a dedicated subwoofer in the system the difference will be a non issue. However when I got XA-30.5 amp, I was able to get rid of Velodyne subwoofer that I also had at that time. I felt there is enough bass already without the sub, and there will be too much bass even when the sub was crossed at 35Hz.

Lastly, when I look at price/performance ratio, VSi60 scores very high in the chart. With VSi60 I was able to eliminate one rack space and interconnects and the system is simple and elegant.

Hope this helps, and I think you should definitely hear both in your system to decide. I don't think one setup outperforms the other setup outright. But there is enough difference in the sound and you'll probably form a preference towards one system.

jylee October 11, 2010 22:02

Going computer based transport. I've bought Ayre QB-9 DAC last month, and been ripping my CD collection. About 80% of the CD, DVD Audio and DAD are now in previous gen Mac Mini running Windows 7 and JRiver Media Center. Why Windows 7 on Mac Mini you say? I also use my Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard and iTunes. But I found Windows solution to be inherently more convenient when it comes to auto-detecting the sampling rate. With iTunes there is a need to restart iTunes program when changing music from one sample rate to another. Windows automatically adjust the sampling rate based on the music being played. I have also connected a touch screen monitor which works great with JRiver Theater mode interface. As for settling with old Mac Mini, it turns out that the newer Mac Mini has compatibility issue with Ayre DAC. Also a couple of small Nettops had issue with audio dropouts. Mac Mini is solidly built and it doesn't falter even when CPU usage goes up to 100%. As for the sound, Ayre DAC is just amazing. There is so much detail without sounding forward or lean. It's much easier to pick out individual instruments in orchestra. QB-9 is one amazing DAC.

I've also picked up ARC VSi60 following the raving review from Stereophile. It's been a couple of weeks with VSi60 in my system, and I can say everything that was said on the review is true. There is nice bloom and intimacy in vocals. The sound stage and imaging is excellent. So far so good.

jylee September 15, 2010 22:55

Replaced VTL-5.5 with Parasound JC-1. Installed three new 12AX7 from RAM labs to EAR phono stage. Rearranged the speakers to improve imaging.

Electras love to have large space between the speakers. I've pulled them apart about a foot more than before. Also adjusted the toe-in angle to be not as aggressive. Combined with the change in the preamp, the sound stage is more spacious, and there is better imaging for instruments in the sound stage.

jylee June 07, 2010 20:32

I love my XA5400ES. It completed my system and I don't anticipate changing anything for a long time, except for occasional tweaks.

jylee January 20, 2010 23:17

Thanks Bryon. Yes I'm still using the CD and SACD old fashioned way. I've tried computer based audio early on in the late 90's. I've ripped all my CDs in 192K bitrate first, when the storage was still quite costly. The lossy sound was not very appealing, but I liked the convenience. The storage cost came down considerably in a few years, then I've re-ripped the CDs in 320K AAC. At 320K the sound quality was still lossy, but acceptable in general. Now the storage is dirt cheap and everyone can afford lossless formats. But I've lost the inclination to go through the CDs for ripping cycle again. :) Perhaps I'll try again in the future.

jylee November 07, 2009 18:22

Replaced the stock B&O MMC 20CL cartridge with Sound Smith SMMC 20CL. Sound Smith cartridge is more modern sounding with good detail retrieval and throws huge soundstage. I like it a lot compared to more traditional and warm sounding B&O cartridge. The setup sounds pretty good with huge advantage in ergonomics with automatic cue and stop compared to conventional tables.

jylee October 29, 2009 04:01

Mike, thanks for dropping by. Playing records on turntable brings back nostalgia. I like the convenience of CD, but LP provides a different level of enjoyment. :)

Lensman, I like my VTL preamp a lot. My TL-5.5 provides all the goodies of solid state preamp such as freq extension, dynamics and detail. Also the midrange is much more fleshed out compared to solid state preamps, and the soundstage is enormous in size. The only problem I had with my preamp is the noise level. I don't know if it's specific to my sample or not, but the noise can be heard about 3 ft away through the tweeter and mirange. However, my speakers are pretty sensitive (93dB), and the noise seemed to have decreased with different input tubes. There might be better preamps at around $4k, but I can't think of better one under $3k. Be warned as this is a one way street. Once you are accustomed to the tube preamp, there is no going back to solid state. :)

jylee September 28, 2009 18:25

Picked up a nice Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000 turntable and EAR 834P phono stage. I've always wanted to own a B&O fully automatic linear tracking turntable in the 70's and 80's. After thirty some years now I do. :) I bought it from an old couple who stored it in the garage for years. It's in a very nice condition with the original MMC 20CL cartridge.

jylee September 26, 2009 19:21

XA-30.5 is kind of like Dirty Harry of the amps. F5 and the Mask? not so much. ;)

What I liked from F5 is smooth, transparent, and delicate presentation of music. It's the most beautiful sounding amp I've ever heard.

XA-30.5 is one small over achiever that can control six 7" woofers in JM Labs 1037BE with aplomb. I absolutely loved the top to bottom balance and I had no idea my Electras have such a good bass extension.

After 3 weeks of auditioning, at first I was going to go back to F5, as I liked more transparent and more delicate presentation of F5. But when I put F5 back in the system, I was underwhelmed with the smaller dynamics. After getting used to the superb dynamics of XA-30.5, I couldn't go back to F5 any more.

That's not to say that XA-30.5 is not a sweet sounding amp. As much as sweet sounding XA-30.5 was, F5 was a little sweeter. For my large Electras I think XA-30.5 is a better match. If I had a set of monitors in a smaller room, I would have picked F5.

One other benefit with XA-30.5 was that I didn't need my Velodyne subwoofer any more since the bass extension and output was more than enough with my mains alone. Now that I don't need to integrate the subwoofer to main, the system is somewhat simpler.

F5 and XA-30.5 are both wonderful amps. There are more differences than similarities than I have expected though. F5 benefits from a simple design and the sound is more natural and less processed. XA-30.5 sounds rich and robust and smooth. It was a tough decision between two.

jylee September 08, 2009 22:31

Hi Bondmanp,

I like the sound of XA5400ES a lot. Compared to Unidisk it does red book better, but Unidisk edges Sony on SACD. Unidisk sounds airier, and Sony sounds richer and fuller. Treble on Unidisk is more open and extended, and bass on Sony is tighter and more defined. The presentation of two players are very different, and they are both pleasant to listen to. I have ultimately chose Sony because I've been using Unidisk and I want to try something different now.

jylee August 19, 2009 02:05

I've scrapped the plan to upgrade the cables. Instead I'm auditioning Pass XA-30.5 this month. Because of rather large price difference between XA-30.5 and First Watt F5 that I'm currently using, and also because F5 sounds excellent in my system, I was reluctant to plunge to XA amps sight unseen and sound unheard. I've received XA-30.5 only last week and the difference is not subtle. One thing that stands out with XA-30.5 is the phenomenal bass. A mere 30wpc rated amp grips six woofers on JM Labs 1037BE like no others. It's way early to come to any judgement, and I don't know if XA-30.5 is better than F5 in all aspect, but this superb bass handling needs to be commended immediately. What a great amp.

jylee August 18, 2009 06:24

A couple of updates. I've sent my Unidisk in for a service. It'll come back with updated firmware and new transport. Then I'll compare Linn with Sony again, and keep one and sell the other. So far Sony is holding up very well. I do miss the DVD audio capability that Sony lacks.

I have replaced the preamp to VTL. VTL is not as seductive in the midrange as Conrad Johnson. However it makes up in the dynamics and frequency extension. The sound is also noticeably fuller, which is what I was searching for a long time.

jylee July 22, 2009 09:05

I've bought a set of three Herbie's Iso-Cup isolation devices following the recommendation from some of the members here. I've been using them under my preamp for a couple of weeks, and I'm amazed at the result. The sound has transformed in a way that's hard to believe is a result of adding just three footers. Basically the sound has cleaned up. It's sharper and more focused. As a result it sounds a tad leaner than before, which in my system is not too desirable as I was trying to get fuller sound. I guess you can't have it both ways, sharp and full at the same time. Anyways this device really works. I don't always hear the effect of such tweaks, but this one is substantial enough and even I could hear it right away. Highly recommended.

jylee July 08, 2009 05:14

System edited: Updated the system description. Multi channel gears are put on the back burner until I can get satisfactory two channel performance. I feel I'm almost there. But last couple of adjustments are harder to make. Acquired Sony XA5400ES last month. Still burning in for 300+ hours. The initial impression was very good.

jylee June 09, 2009 05:12

System edited: Changed the system title. ;) Shadorne, thanks for visiting. Recently I have fallen in love with Hilary Hahn, in a Platonic way. She's currently playing Beethoven Violin Concerto, and it's awesome. I'll be her fan for life!

jylee May 28, 2009 02:56

System edited: Installed Nordost Valkyrja interconnects between Unidisk and preamp, and I have immediately noticed extra level of transparency. Very nice interconnects.

jylee May 17, 2009 17:46

Mike,

Yes, F5 is a push-pull class A design. You are right about the speakers (and myself) enjoying class A power. :) I have new respect for small powered class A amplifiers.

jylee April 23, 2009 01:03

Reposted the previous comment as audiogon software strips off the line breaks on the comments posted for system updates. I should remember not to post the comment at the same time updating the system.

Many many updates.

First change was replacing McCormack MAP-1 preamp with Conrad Johnson 16LS2. I always wanted to try tubed preamp, and I was always intrigued by C-J. I like what the new tubed preamp brought in to my system, liquid and smooth midrange with slight warmth in the music. However, I have a small seller's remorse on MAP-1. I realize it was an excellent preamp, especially for the price. More on that later.

Levinson amp broke down just when I purchased the new preamp. It was the common capacitor failure with $1000+ repair cost. I scrapped the amp and sold it as is instead of repairing it myself. While I was really impressed with the Levinson sound, I am terribly disappointed by the level of service and attitude from Harman International, the current owner of Madrigal/Levinson. I will probably never purchase another Levinson product again.

I always had a warm and fuzzy feeling about Pass Labs amps since I have heard X-150.5 in my system a few years ago. I have purchased First Watt F5 on a whim, and I'm very happy with it. First Watt amps are designed and built by Nelson Pass himself. All his First Watt amps are minimalistic design with one or two gain stages with no or little negative feedback. F5 especially has wide bandwidth up to 500KHz (!), no capacitors in signal path, and very high input impedance. It mates very well with tube amps, and with my CJ LS162. It is the most musical sounding amp I have ever had. It has great midrange, faultless treble, and excellent grip on the bass. It defies the 50W rating (25Wpc!) with SPL reaching at 80-90dB from the listening chair.

Last but not least, I bought Sony PS1 SCPH-1001 for $20 on eBay to use it as a CD player. This was back then when I was still using McCormack preamp and Levinson amp. I was quite surprised at the level of musicality and overall pleasant easy to listen to quality in the music. The hardness and glare often associated with redbook CD music were completely gone on PS1. Some might say it's a tubey or more analogue sounding than traditional CD players. However the treble didn't sound as extended, or the soundstage as deep compared to Linn, but those were small omissions compared to what it does better. I was very satisfied with PS1 - McCormack - Levinson combo. When I replaced McCormack with CJ tubed preamp, the sound from PS1 was not as impressive as before for some reason. CJ preamp elevated the sound from Unidisk with its rich midrange. In comparison PS1 does not sound much more impressive than Unidisk. McCormack was more transparent in passing the sound from the sources without editorializing or trying to transform the sound. And I realize McCormack was a rather good preamp. Seller's remorse big time!

In all, my system has never sounded better. It is more natural and musical sounding, and also sounds better at high volume level! Ever evolving it is.

jylee April 20, 2009 01:34

System edited: Many many updates. First change was replacing McCormack MAP-1 preamp with Conrad Johnson 16LS2. I always wanted to try tubed preamp, and I was always intrigued by C-J. I like what the new tubed preamp brought in to my system, liquid and smooth midrange with slight warmth in the music. However, I have a small seller's remorse on MAP-1. I realize it was an excellent preamp, especially for the price. More on that later. Levinson amp broke down just when I purchased the new preamp. It was the common capacitor failure with $1000+ repair cost. I scrapped the amp and sold it as is instead of repairing it myself. While I was really impressed with the Levinson sound, I am terribly disappointed by the level of service and attitude from Harman International, the current owner of Madrigal/Levinson. I will probably never purchase another Levinson product again. I always had a warm and fuzzy feeling about Pass Labs amps since I have heard X-150.5 in my system a few years ago. I have purchased First Watt F5 on a whim, and I'm very happy with it. First Watt amps are designed and built by Nelson Pass himself. All his First Watt amps are minimalistic design with one or two gain stages with no or little negative feedback. F5 especially has wide bandwidth up to 500KHz (!), no capacitors in signal path, and very high input impedance. It mates very well with tube amps, and with my CJ LS162. It is the most musical sounding amp I have ever had. It has great midrange, faultless treble, and excellent grip on the bass. It defies the 50W rating (25Wpc!) with SPL reaching at 80-90dB from the listening chair. Last but not least, I bought Sony PS1 SCPH-1001 for $20 on eBay to use it as a CD player. This was back then when I was still using McCormack preamp and Levinson amp. I was quite surprised at the level of musicality and overall pleasant easy to listen to quality in the music. The hardness and glare often associated with redbook CD music were completely gone on PS1. Some might say it's a tubey or more analogue sounding than traditional CD players. However the treble didn't sound as extended, or the soundstage as deep compared to Linn, but those were small omissions compared to what it does better. I was very satisfied with PS1 - McCormack - Levinson combo. When I replaced McCormack with CJ tubed preamp, the sound from PS1 was not as impressive as before for some reason. CJ preamp elevated the sound from Unidisk with its rich midrange. In comparison PS1 does not sound much more impressive than Unidisk. McCormack was more transparent in passing the sound from the sources without editorializing or trying to transform the sound. And I realize McCormack was a rather good preamp. Seller's remorse big time! In all, my system has never sounded better. It is more natural and musical sounding, and also sounds better at high volume level! Ever evolving it is.

jylee April 20, 2009 01:28

They are Salamander Synergy series. I bought them on internet, but Magnolia hifi also carries them.

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/syn/singles.jsp

jylee February 14, 2009 20:55

Dizzyizzid,
With Accustic Arts DAC the signal path is Linn Unidisk -> Accustic Arts DAC -> McCormack MAP-1 -> Levinson. I did experiment briefly in a different topology using a different transport and Unidisk as preamp, and thought it sounded better with MAP-1 used as preamp.

jylee February 11, 2009 11:39

Mikeduke, thanks for the suggestion.

jylee January 31, 2009 08:35

Mikeduke, yes, Esoteric and Ayre are high up on the list of components that I WANT to own. I've tried friend's DV-50 in my system once and I thought it sounded velvety smooth in both SACD and CD. I liked Unidisk on SACD, and Esoteric on CD, and eventually chose Unidisk due to the simplicity in the setup. I haven't heard Ayre yet, but I'm very interested to try it out some day.

jylee January 29, 2009 18:22

System edited: I have been pretty satisfied with the SACD performance from Linn Unidisk SC. The sound is very transparent, extended, and airy. However the redbook performance is not as good. I've tried several mch universal players, and I haven't yet found one that excels in both SACD and redbook. For me Unidisk was the best compromise between SACD and redbook while keeping the system simple and uncluttered. In pursuit of improving redbook performance I have acquired Accustic Arts DAC-1 Mk3. The redbook performance through DAC-1 using Unidisk as transport is much improved. The treble extension is most notable. The cymbal rings clearer and has more natural decay. The vocals sound more natural as well. It sounds more dynamic and less congested. I'm happy with the new DAC. So far so good.

jylee January 29, 2009 10:02

The funny thing with Unidisk SC is the multi channel is only available as variable output. For stereo output there is a separate set of fixed output. But I couldn't figure out how to make the MCH output to be fixed volume, or it's not possible. I think the voltage on Levinson amp can be changed at the factory, but it's not user serviceable. It's a very good amp. Designed to be a perfect voltage source, it will handle low impedance loads very well. No problem handling the finicky JM Labs with high impedance swing.

jylee December 23, 2008 22:08

Yes, I listen to all the silver discs via Unidisk driving Levinson directly. When playing CDs I don't know if it sounds any better than previous CD player or DAC that I've tried before. The clear advantage is in the reproduction of SACD. The sound of SACD is so clear and transparent. When I add a preamp between Unidisk and the amp, I lose some of the transparency, but gain some body and the soundstage gets bigger. It's a side way move.

jylee December 23, 2008 19:13

Hello Dizzyizzid.

Kimber 8TC are the ones I've owned the longest. I kept trying different speaker cables from Cardas, Analysis Plus and Audioquest, but I always come back to 8TC. The sound is just crystal clear, open, and airy. I would highly recommend the PostMaster spades for the termination. I think the type and quality of the termination is responsible for 1/2 of the performance.

As you noticed I don't normally run a preamp in my system, partly because there aren't that many MCH preamps around, and partly because I like the sound without a preamp. But I can see what a quality tube preamp can do in a system. In such system bypassing preamp may not work as well.

jylee December 23, 2008 03:42

System edited: Made a minor change. One of my friend brought his Audioquest Sky interconnects for some A/B testing against Acoustic Zen, Nordost, and Kimber. Long story short, everyone who auditioned together were disappointed with Sky. I've then removed my Audioquest Cheetah and replaced it with Tara Labs that I already had. To my ears Tara sounds better.

jylee December 14, 2008 19:17

System edited: updated the description and pictures for the newly added gears.

jylee September 02, 2008 21:44

Mike,

My Unidisk SC is the one without HDMI. I use component cables to Sony PDP. AFAIK neither version has advanced video processing such as upscaling or zooming. I watch occasional live concert DVDs on this system and it's just fine for that purpose. My PDP is 50" with 720 lines of native resolution, and the difference between 480i DVD source and upconverted or native HD 720p source is quite small at the viewing distance at ~10 ft away. If you have larger screen with 1080p native display then you might prefer DVD player with upscaling feature.

jylee August 26, 2008 19:14

System edited: Made small changes to the system. - Acquired JM Labs CC800V center channel speaker. - Acquired Rotel RMB 1085 mch amps for center and surround. - Replaced main speaker cables from Analysis Plus speaker to Cardas Hexlink Golden. I was a little concerned with timbre matching when I chose CC800V. Electra CC1000BE would be the ideal match with the main speakers 1037BE. Overall construction for 800V series is similar, but CC800V incorporates Al/Mg tweeters and Polyglass woofers instead of the phenomenal BE tweeters and "W" sandwich woofers. When I hooked up CC800V I was pleasantly surprised. There is striking similarity in overall tonal balance. I can still discern the difference in white noise test, but when playing multi channel music I don't notice any tonal imbalance as I did with previous center speaker. I'm also very impressed with class D Rotel mch amp. It has excellent frequency extension and just lets the music flow. I would consider the sound of my system to be transparent, clear, and neutral. Rotel amp fits right in without drawing attention to itself. Finally I was able to enjoy mch mix of SACD and DVD Audio as intended. The change in the speaker cable was necessary because 1037BE has single set of speaker binding post and my previous cables were biwire. Also the new cables are shorter (5 ft vs 8 ft) as I don't need long runs. The difference in sound, if any, is minute and inconclusive so far. I thought Cardas sounds a bit more musical, easier to the ears. But at the same time I thought maybe I lost a little bit of transparency and soundstage. With Cardas the speakers don't "disappear" as they would with Analysis Plus. Then again, I haven't spent a lot of time with the new set of cables yet, and my mind could have been tricked by perceived change.

jylee August 26, 2008 05:28

Mjcmt,

I have acquired Unidisk SC mainly for its multi channel music capability. It does superbly on SACD and DVD Audio. In fact it is the best sounding SACD player that I've ever heard. It replaced Bel Canto PL-1A, and prior to that I've had Meridian, NAD and Denon universal players.

In terms of redbook CD, it's very close to the best I've heard, which are Meridian G68 and Proceed AVP2.

But the best part of Unidisk SC is, as you mentioned, the ability to bypass preamp. It incorporates volume control in analog domain, which doesn't lose resolution in lower level as digital domain volume control.

jylee August 26, 2008 05:02

Arthur,

Thanks. How do you like your McIntosh amps? One of my friend recently acquired a set of McIntosh gears, and I have to admit they sound really sweet! In fact I just came back from his home after dinner/wine and some good music. I was very impressed with his McIntosh gears from day one, and today wasn't exception.

jylee August 26, 2008 04:55

Mikeduke,

The room is 15 x 20, 10 ft ceiling, and the speakers are set up along the 15 ft wall. I used to own B&W Nautilus 804, which I found to be too small for the room. The biggest disappointment from 804 was the bass. It was lacking both the quality and extension. I considered 1027Be, 1037BE, and some DALI Helicons. I decided on 1037BE, and I'm very glad that I did. I love the extra bass extension from the mains. I never thought my speakers were too big for the room. They are great speakers, and I intend to keep them for years to come (which I can't say for some of my other components). Thanks for the kind words, and sorry about the late reply. I was out of town on vacation for last few weeks.

jylee August 26, 2008 04:49

System edited: After several months of intense auditioning and swapping of gear, I have finally reached the point where I'm pretty satisfied with the sound. The last piece of the puzzle is matching speaker and amp for the center channel. The system plays jazz and classical very well. Also handles occasional classic rock and pop music with ease.

jylee July 03, 2008 23:56