Listening to music wouldn't be the same without the few talented individuals that put their effort, skills, and creativity into carefully voicing and designing the beautiful pieces in my system. Perfect to capture the music from different places and people.
And of course the journey wouldn't be as enjoyable without all the people and friends that I met along the way. Many thanks to everyone!
I'd picked your brain some years ago when I was assembling my Abby system. Just wanted to say your system is looking absolutely gorgeous!
I'm still rocking my Abby's with my Fi 2a3 monoblocks (with Tamaura 7001s) and modified Eastern Electric Minimax, but reading your comments is really tempting me to explore some of the Sindo offerings.
I've managed to keep away from the insanity for the last couple years since moving (setup just never sounded right in this room), but since dropping some 165K Fostex drivers into my abbys (nearfield), the madness has returned!
Had the opportunity to listen to Restock's system the other day. I must say, this DPS / Shindo / Cain & Cain combination gave one of the most breathtaking Bach Cello Suites performance I have ever heard.
Getting lots of listening done lately now that I am "there". In rotation:
- Lucilla Galezzi, Vincent courtois, Michel Godard "Trio Rouge" - Michel Godard "Castel del Monte" - Rabih Abou Khalil "Cactus of Knowledge" - Antony and the Johnsons "I am a Bird now" and "Antony and the ..." - A.R. Rahman "Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack" - Michael Nyman "The Piano Soundtrack" - Louis Armstrong "Satchmo plays King Oliver" - Horace Parlan "Us Three" - Sufjan Stevens "Come on feel the Illinoise"
Rene, thanks for pointing out that Inner World magazine to me, what a beautiful magazine! So I guess my wine tasting idea wasn't original after all :) I also love the pictures of the Beijing Centre of Performing Arts, what a gorgeous building.
Karelfd - I am certainly not the first to pair the DPS with an Allaerts cartridge ;) Marco at Soundscape Hifi in Singapore has been pairing the DPS with Schroeder arm and Allaerts cartridge for a while. While Willi (the DPS designer) prefers the very detailed and dynamic Lyra cartridges, the Allaerts adds some sweetness and silkiness to the mix, which nicely complements the strengths of the Abby/Shindo combination.
I have yet to taste one of Hubert de Montille's wonderful wines. A bit off-topic - here is an interesting article where Jonathan Halpern, Michael Lavorgna, John DeVore and some others have actually done what Michael suggested: to taste all the wines underlying the Shindo naming scheme:
Darkmoebius - it took me a long time to decide going the Shindo route, but after hearing MikeyC's Montille EL84 at my place (many thanks!!), there was no going back. It took all of 2 minutes to hear the difference...
As MikeyC already hinted at, the Shindo has indeed triggered a tremendous improvement in my system, especially in terms of texture, midrange detail and tonality. It is quite amazing to hear the nuances and fine details that are in the recording but were only uncovered by the addition of the Shindo pre and amp. Interestingly it is not that the top end extension has changed much; in fact, everything sounds warmer and richer, just with much more detail.
The Fi/Abby combination was already very open, dynamic and intimate, seductive at the same time and I never felt anything was missing really. The Shindo adds a more even and fuller balance, more extension on the bottom end. The biggest change, however, is the added detail and texture in the midrange, which adds the important bit of realism and natural tone to the presentation of each instrument. I haven't heard a combination which puts a cello into a room quite like the Abby/Shindo combination. You literally feel the cello resonances and nuances of the bow gliding above the string.
Also, the Allaerts/XOno combination does its part in carving out those nuances without any hint of dryness.
Bravo Rene! I've had the pleasure of listening to Rene's new gear recently and can say it has wonderful detail, texture and musicality. We were listening to Starker's Bach Cello Concerto the other day and the bow against the strings came across sounding so detailed, textured and lifelike. I think it was due to the new Montille with 6v6 tubes, but then again the Monbrison pre is no slouch either. The good news is that as the new gear and cables break in it will sound even better. I look forward to many more listening sessions.
System edited: Replaced my beloved Fi Y and Super X with a beautiful Shindo Monbrison and Montille 6v6.
Many thanks to Jonathan Halpern of Tone Audio imports and Matt Rotunda at Pitch Perfect Audio for their patience in answering all my questions and for their help. I had a wonderful day at Matt's place listening to the different Shindo flavors and just enjoying music. Also, many thanks to Michael for bringing over his Shindo Aurieges and Montille many times for a listen.
Darkmoebius - I compared the JLTI and XOno side by side for the last four months ;) - I always live with both pieces, if possible, before making any decision. It was a pretty close one, especially since both phono stages are so similar. Cartridges where the Lyra Argo and Allaerts MC1B.
Tonally both are on the neutral fast detailed side. The Xono has a bit fuller midbass, more bass extension, and more impact and control. Still, both feel like they have a very tight grip can control across the whole spectrum. The XOno emphasis dynamics, cutting decays a bit shorter, whereas the JLTI has the better flow. With the wrong cartridge (Lyra Argo) the XOno could be a mechanical sounding at time.
Soundstage depth and width is excellent with both, the JLTI goes just a little deeper into the corners. Images are tad grander with the Xono and separation is slightly better with the JLTI. The JLTI is very finely detailed letting one pick out each instrument easily and follow each. The XOno highlights the lead instruments more, emphasizing the overall structure of a piece more.
Overall I think the JLTI will work with a wider range of cartridges, the XOno needs a slightly more liquid cartridge (Allaerts, Koetsu) to shine. With the Allaerts, the XOno was just a tad more convincing and magical.
Of course, keep in mind that this in a full tube system, the mechanical dynamic character of the XOno and the almost overly detailed character of the JLTI could be exaggerated in other systems.
Needless to say, I am sad to see either one go would love to keep both, but with the Allaerts I prefer the XOno by a small margin.
I bought the 6sf5gt's from tubemandotcom. I believe they were $7.00 per tube. Just make sure to tell them you want the gt's. But they are good people to deal with.
I have a pair of Cardersound Tybones with EnABled Fostex 126e drivers. They are not quite as cosmetically fancy as yours, but they are similar...really Big double mouth, backloaded horns. I also use The Cube Bass Augmentor built by Ed Schilling of The Hornshoppe. It is a beautifully designed sub (even though Ed prefers "augmentor"). Integrates perfectly with the main speakers.
The FiX gives the sound an indescribable -I'll use "ethereal"- quality. I can't wait to hook up the Y pre and phono. I should have them by the end of August, after a 5 1/2 month wait.
Aaah, there's nothing quite so good for the soul as a bit of deferred gratification.
Darosenb, thanks for the kind remarks. I will check out the SF5 - any place that you would recommend to get the SF5 from?
Congratulations on the Fi Y and Yph. The Fi Y is an excellent preamp in combination with the X -it really brings out the dynamics, life and detail out of the Fi X. I like the Mullard CV2493 tubes the most as they give the best balance, more flow, and more texture in the midrange without sacrificing extension and dynamics. They can get difficult to find though.
Hey Restock. Beautiful system! I also have a FiX and in about 3 weeks I'll have the Y-pre and Y-ph to keep it company. Have you ever tried using glass tubes instead of the metals? My FiX came with the metals, and right now I'm using a pair of 6sf5gt's. You might like the difference, and even if you don't they sure do glow more than the metals. They're pretty inexpensive as well.
Incidentally my system is in 560 sqft one bedroom apartment. The Abbys work very well in a small space if you decide that you want real speakers. For headphones, the Bottlehead S.E.X. amp is wonderful - I use one as backup amp. My Sennheisers HD650 are a little laid back. The S.E.X. has not quite enough power to drive the Abbys and flesh out the bass.
As for a phono stage - give the Vacuumstate JLTI a try. Especially if you are looking for speed and resolution. I tried several phonostages over the last months:
Pass Xono Dynavector P75 MKII Vacuumstate JLTI with powersupply Trichord Dino Sutherland Ph.D. Gram Slee Rossner & Sohn Canofer S Audio Research PH3SE Aesthetics Rhea Wright WPP200C EAR 834 Deluxe Mac 1000 Phono
Several of these I had at home for a while, some other I heard extensively at friend.
Terry Cain always said the Fi/Abby combo was "magic in a bottle". The A205A/Abby combo is another one of those freakish pairings. Try picking up a used one for ~$600 around here, you will be surprised.
Unfortunately, I have to seriously downsize my system. I'm now in a 1 bedroom apartment and there is no room for the IM-Bens + Bailey subs. It's taken me a 1.5 years to accept this truth and it hurts.
For now, I' going to keep my turntable setup and go with headphones. I may actually try the A205A, just need to settle on a really killer phono stage and headphones.
Hey Darkmoebius, I remember you mentioned the Almarro before. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet on my Abbys. The Fi Super X is an extremely good match as well. I tried the First Watt F1, Jolida amp, Bottleheads, and some others and the Fi has the most drive, resolution and extension on top and bottom.
The combination of Fi Y, Fi Super X and Abby is so good every time I try to upgrade I fail. I haven't found a better match to the Fi amp than the Fi Y pre either :)and I tried: Shindo Aurieges pre, Marantz, Promitheus TVC, ...
Have you ever had a chance to try out an Almarro A205A EL34 SEP amp with your Abbys?
Man, it is one seriously sweet combo - quite possibly, one of the best amp/speaker combos I have ever heard at any price point below insane. There is something just "right" about it.
I've heard upgrading the coupling cap in the A205A to Venhaus V-Caps takes it to a whole different level.
