Designed this 38" by 22" room myself for music appreciation and family enjoyment. soft pecky cyress walls, maple floors, 10ft peak ceiling. Room overlooks the Smoky Mountains. Doors to the room are exterior and the wall adjoining house is brick, so I can listen at night and not disturb the family. Cabinetry holds CD collection.
I have simplified to the Vinni Rossi L2i-SE Integrated which has a great DAC module. The Rossi is American made and has a 10 year warrentee. I use a separate belt-driven transport because that is where most mechanical problems may arise. The Rossi contains a class A 300B pre-amp and I upgraded to Takatusuki 300B tubes. The Rossi is bi-wired with Master Built Ultra cables to the Von Schweikert VR55 Aktives.ThatÂ’s it. This saves many power cords and uses no interconnects compared to past separates.
While my old system sounded very good, the sound of this new system configuration is more natural, cleaner, a touch warmer, very dynamic and satisfying. All etch and harshness in highs is gone. I think this is mostly from the simpler signal path and the tubes. WSF is way up with only one remote and push and play design. The reduced visual clutter is relaxing. I would appreciate any comments.
21HZ to 40Khz +-2db, less than 0.5% distortion. Powered and adjustable bass.
Master Built Ultra Speaker Cable
Biwire Rare Earth noise reduction coating
Mad Scientist Power Cords
Excellent Power Cords for the buck, with detail, dynamics and a touch of warmth
CEC Corp. TL3N Transport
Belt Drive CD Transport. Modded inside with 14 lbs lead weight, special fuse. Using two Caprice Audio Mosaic Stabilizers on top.
Inakustik AC-3500P
Line Conditioner with central parallel filter and star grounding
Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE
300BTubed Pre-amp Integrated with DAC module. Class A, ultra wide bandwidth Directly heated Triode (DHT) , dual mono with Belleson super regulators. 100Watt RMS into 8 and 180W into 4.
Adona Eris 1C Cherry Amp Stand
Specialized layer of granite, then other materials to dampen, works well under the Rossi
I am not much of a tweaker - yet. But tried Silclear on all connections except amp fuses and drivers and have been enjoying an equipment upgrade improvement for $35 and a hour's time. Finally can inderstand the French words at the beginning of Cavera Magica for example of increased clairty and detail with no sacrifice in smoothness. The whole impression is more nuanced and musical. Next on to room treatments or vibration control.
Just replaced my tweeters and like the new ones alot. Voices seem at little less forward and in your face, and I can understand some singers words that were previously hard to understand. This is likely to be true becuase many words only differ by the high frequency aspirants such as the difference between cat hat fat and sat is "ka" "fa" ha" "sa" sounds. I expect that the new ones will be a good deal less fatiguing. They seem more civilized, natural and accurate.
Thank you Al for your kind comments. I have very much enjoyed your posts here on gon If you are in the neighborhood (North Carolina)let me know and we will hear those tunes Number1, Thank you as well for your suggestions. I went to the echo site and thier material does look attractive - I will play with this Joe
I do have a similar system placement. I have a 65" screen TV in between my speakers. Moving my speakers 18" in front of TV, and placing echobuster absorption panels in front of the TV (my system is used for 90% music--just move panels when watching a movie) improved the sonics exponentially. The imaging is lovely--with a deep and wide soundstage. In addition, the improvement in clarity of the highs and midrange, as well as articulation of low frequencies is priceless. PLEASE--before making judgements about your system as it is, first optimize the acoustics. Room acoustics are often your "rate limiting step", and upgrading to more expensive components will often have negligible impact in this context. Also--it is relatively economical compared to the hardware. By the way, the echobuster panels are cosmetically appealing as well (a definite issue for that gorgeous room!). Enjoy!
Thank you for your kinds words and suggestions. You are right that acoustics may be a big improvement. I can play around with absorbing materials easily to see - will let you know what happens. Did you have a similar sytem placement? Joe
Congratulations. Very nice system, and absolutely beautiful listening room. IMO, before spending $ on upgrading speakers, speaker cables, etc., I would add some acoustical treatments. Perhaps some absorption panels behind the speakers--if cosmetically an issue, can try curtains. TV screen is also highly reflective and imaging will dramatically improve if TV placed further behind the speakers--perhaps an absorption panel to place in front of TV when listening to music. Adding these treatments dramatically improved my system. Best of luck-- Rob
