The system you see is presently what has been tickling my eardrums and any suggestions would be appreciated. The tubes in the system are all NOS starting with 6 Telefunken ECC803s in the preamp and 2 in the CAT with Valvo pinched waist CCa Herleen factory tubes. These tubes have a sweet sound with lots of open air and a vast soundstage that is hard to beleive. I have yet to complete some room tweaks like carpeting and then some wall dampening.Look forward to your opinins on room dampening treatments.I finally found a Canadian source for OC703 rigid insulation for the DIY guys.
The Wilson WATT Puppy version 8 remains one of the most high-performance audiophile loudspeakers in the world. When fewer and fewer audiophile products have customers knocking down doors to buy them, the Wilson WATT Puppy version 8 loudspeaker system is still going strong and packing real consumer demand. It is rare to find a speaker so capable of reproducing music and movies with such skill and this is one of chief reasons why people shell out the big bucks to own Wilson WATT Puppy loudspeakers. They just do everything well.
Wavelength Audio Cosecant V3 USB Tube DAC
USB tube DAC transformer coupled output and Transcendental DAC module
Convergent Audio SL-1 Legend
To use with the TT to be purchased only
Microseiki RX-5000
Old Faithful
Fidelity Research FR-64s Silver Edition
2of these
SME 12 3012R. 3012RG. 3012x2
According to some the only tonearm you need. We will wait and see
Ortofon SPU Collection
Classic,85th Anniv.,90th Anniv,Gold
Valve Amplification Company Phi 2.0 Controller
VAC Phi 2.0 Master Control Triode Preamplifier
Audio Metallurgy GA-0 Interconnects
One 2 metre pair and a .75M pair. Very transparent sound.
Transparent MusicWave Speaker Cables
10' with Banana terminations. Better with the highs tones down the harshness of the Wattpuppy8's. They can be extremely detailed in the mids and higher ranges
Custom Pure Silver Custom Cables
Cardas spade terminations with custom solid silver stranded cable. I got rid of my Transparent Reference Speaker cables that retailed for $8000.00 for these.
Panasonic PT-AE 900
LCD 720DPI Projector
Lexicon Lexicon MC-12 v4
The MC-12 V4 room-equalization upgrade kit ($2995) consists of a DSP card, Version 4 software on CD-ROM, a demo CD, and written documentation. The DSP card doubles the Lexicon MC-12's DSP capabilities, providing up to 10 output channels with seven parametric filters each. These seven digital equalizers, which treat the frequencies between 19 and 250Hz, are controlled by the processor's software, which looks for the most severe room resonances. The equalizers correct a room's resonant peaks by reducing the output levels at those frequencies. Instead of going for ruler-flat response, the Lexicon system tries to reduce the worst resonances to improve the system's overall clarity and balance.
Power Conditioner bt
Only for the Home theatre side of the room.
Paradigm Centre channel
Center channel with Studio right and left and bidirectional firing rear speakers.
Cardas Golden Power
15 amp cables The Golden Reference power cord provides the ultimate current flow and is relatively flexible for its size.
Apple Mini
Dedicated music server using iTunes and lossless files as a source for the Wavelength.I use a 1.5 TB backup hard drive for backing up all the music.
Well this page started out quite meagerly and it was mostly a digital based system well goodbye digital. Still interested but to a lesser degree. I'm head over heels into analog. Twenty six turntables,dozens of arms,a dozen amazing carts and a whack of LPs. Call me OCD but I don't care. I will not take the medication that might cure me because I'm happy. I will update this page and the pics because it doesn't look anything like this anymore.
Just added a Micro-Seiki RX-5000 with a SME 3012 Tonearm. I am shopping for a cartridge. Mounted it with the MS-4G arm and after getting to know the sound of this arm I might run a Graham Phanthom on another arm. This one will go through the VAC Phi 2.0 MC pre.
Just changed my tubes to a new set of NOS tubes from Jadis and after that I had to change my undies! What an improvement in the sonics!!! I never expected such a huge change but the detail in the same music I have been listening to for the last year was mind blowing. It was hearing it for the first time. The overall bass response was improved along with a midrange that defies description. I could hear subtle things like the artist breathing while playing guitar and their clothes rubbing against the instrument. Details that were lost before and veiled. Voice sounded clearer and less digital. The DAC sounded like a good analog source. Never underestimate what a good set of valves will do! Back to enjoying the music. Merry Christmas.
Actually the room treatments have already had a huge impact. I built 6 panels from the Owen Corning rigid insulation and covered them with burlap and for the time being just placed them around the room for storage more than anything. The sound was more defined right from the beginning. I have just received the room analysys software and microphone from a company called XTZ and I am downloaded the necessary files. The website for them is http://www.XTZ.se . I will first remove all the junk in that room right down to the basics and take some measurements. I will continue to add and subtract items from the room to determine what effect each is having on the general acoustics of the room. I will post my results is a subsequent posting. I will add some RPG ceiling diffusers as well and doors on the room. Thanks for the interest.
Hello, how's the sound with the acoustic treatments? When I added minor treatment there was a big improvement in the sound even with a med tall rack in the middle of the SS. I know the W/P 8's will let you hear the slightest change for better/worse!!!
Thanks for the responses. The small Paradigm speakers mounted on the wall are actually part of the home theatre system. There is also a centre channel hidden just above the CAT amp on the first shelf. They are powered along with the dual firing rears by the Simaudio Titan 7 channel amp and the Lexicon MC12 processor. They aren't part of the 2 channel system. Unfortunately due to lack of space and WAF I had to combine both interests into one room. The bass traps are coming along with the RPG Skyline L diffusors for the ceiling. I have 2X4 Owen corning 702 panels for the side walls and 4 of them for the back wall covered in acoustic burlap from ATS. I can't wait to hang them up and compare the difference. The MC12 has an optional 2 microphone system for automatic room balancing using the built in software. Once it is all set up with the doors on the room and the carpet I will do the final balance for the HT. Thanks for the interest. It's coming along eventhough I will be changing it up soon to JL-3s.
You're well on your way with the room treatments with the curtain on the back wall. Have a similar sort of treatment behind your listening seat? Would go a long way to helping dampen some resonant frequencies. Can't suggest much more. You obviously don't need any help. What you've got there is already top notch.
Nice system. The Wilsons like power. I do not have them but that would be my brand of choice if the $$$ was no object. I would suggest the leader in bass control as the place to start on room treatment. ASC Tube Traps.
Actually I did compare the VAC mono amps. I am leaning towards changing my system completely in the next year. I was thinking about a CAT preamp instead of the VAC and selling the JL-2 and trading up to a JL-3 mono blocks. I am very happy with my WP8's but at the same time I haven't had a chance to compare them to anything else. I have had lots of suggestions but I am quite undecided. The system as it stands sounds amazing and the room tweaks have improved the bass response. It definitely needed some bass traps which are being installed. I love VAC equipment as well but the synergy with Wilson and CAT works very well for me. Good luck with your choices. Your system is looking amazing no matter which way you go. CAT amps drive Wilson speakers very well so you won't go wrong with this choice. Cheers and thanks for looking.
Did you happen to compare your CAT amp to any amp from VAC? I've been thinking about the CAT JL2 as a replacement for my VAC Phi200 stereo, instead of going to monoblock Phi200s, because I'm close to buying Sashas and I know the CAT should handle them better than even two Phi200s...
I love the Cat too. I was hoping to upgrade to the JL-3 if I can find a used pair. They really throw allot of heat so the basement in the summer is normally a meat locker with th AC on so this moderates it and in the winter it is a welcome source of warmth. Thanks for the compliment. Your system is terrific too. I always loved the amp you have. Still planning on buying one to put away. Can never have enough equipment. Cheers
