Ladies and gentlemen, an evolution I didn't anticipate would happen this fast. Thanks to some incredibly knowledgeable, trustworthy and unselfish audiophiles (like Barry Konigsberg from Transparent Audio, Jonathan Tinn from BluelightAudio, Alvin Lloyd Mr GPA, Herve Delatrez) that REALLY showed me what's possible in this fascinating hobby. If only I met these great folks before...
However, I believe I'm now set for the foreseeable future. Going to add a vinyl rig also, and then get back to listening to a whole lot of music...
To be added: Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable, Dynavector arm & cartridge, GPA Monaco racks & amp stand, move to bigger room, and only then maybe some room treatment.
Sit back...enjoy the music...stunning system looks...I have finally arrived !!!
Dual Mono power amplifier, 2x100 Watt. If you ever get this amp not broken in, a word of advice. Do not think you've heard this amps capabilities until they have 700+ hours of burn on them...you'd be shortchanging yourself a piece of heaven. I use Geoff Kait's brilliant pebbles to minimize some residual grit as you can see on top of the amp.
DartZeel NHB-18NS
Pre-amplifier with phono stage. Deadquiet battery powered pre with an excellent phonostage. How good is this amp? Well, Mike Fremer (aka Mr Analog) himself declared it better than anything he'd ever heard including his personal reference from Musical Fidelity! I personally love this pre-amp, the perfect match for the 108. No that's where I differ from MF's opinion...oh well, he may not have heard my complete system...
Evolution Acoustics MM3
The next big step in audio! And no doubt the best value for money out there today, as this competes, and in most cases betters transducers 2-3X its retail price. Gotta have the upgraded interconnects between the 3 modules. And, in my opinion, MM3 is more sonically balanced than MM2 if you have the space.
DartZeel Zeel Interconnect
10 mtr Zeel 50 Ohm interconnect. Better connection than any RCA or XLR terminated cable could ever establish, regardless of price! For the 30 foot length its a steal...
Jena Labs Model One
2 10 ft power chords with built in conditioners. Fantastically silent, low noise floor and non colored.
Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference
Isolation rack
Finite Elemente Cerabase
Isolation feet for the rack
Grand Prix Audio Monaco Amp Stand
Love it! The two first boxes on top of the MM1 crates, one for the amp stand, one for the shelve. Will get the whole Monaco shelve system soon, sorry Finite Elemente. Anyone interested? Send me a mail!
Grand Prix Audio Monaco Turntable
Got to read Alvin's white paper on this magnificent piece of technology. Direct drive, most accurate platter speed of any table that exists today, and yes, that includes the continuum, walker, rockport, SME 30 etc. I didn't plan to get into vinyl until I heard this...M I L E S above any digital I've ever heard. Simlpy jawdropping.
Evolution Acoustics Speaker cables
two double runs of these fantastic speaker cables just brings out the best in the MM3's. As it should.
Cable Elevators Ceramic
Just a tweak that makes sense and is audibly adding - air and transparency - to the already great sound.
Dynavector DV-507MK2
My first arm, so I was recommended this one. Also the listening I did was with this arm and matching cartridge. On order, should get it next month. You think I need a CD rack?
Dynavector DRT XV-1s
Matches the arm, on order too. I'm not an expert here so I will not tell you more than it sounded FANTASTIC with the 507MK2 arm on the GPA Monaco tt to the Dart pre phono section to the Dart power amp into the EA MM2's...need I say more? Don't think so. Got to get a CD rack next...:-)
Tfrumweiller, funny you mention that. It was exactly my wife's first reaction when see saw the picture of the MM3 for the first time! I guess it depends whether you're left handed or right handed... :-)
Garryh, I indeed have taken scrupulous advantage of other peoples experience. But if it wasn't for people like my dealer, I would never have believed what people put in writing. He really showed me what was possible, I listened in disbelief when he played me some great vinyl. I couldn't believe how much better the sound was, then he took the components to my home, and did A/B testing. I guess I'm lucky not to have taken multiple itterations, only really one. I too hope that there will be no need to upgrade for a little while!
Gayle, a big change for the better. The MM3s are still buring in on factory settings, so it would be unfair to judge its merits vs the Stradivari today. But I'm already happy about their dissappearing act in my small room vs the Strads... impressive indeed. They need a bigger room though to reach their full potential, especially with their low base capability (10Hz).
Great looking setup. A big change from your previous setup. I have not heard the MM3's but have listened to the Sonus Fabers. How would you compare the two?
Lovely and well done. Looking and, surely, sounding very good.
I admire you for knowing what you want, and being able to change course abrubtly to get there. It is obvious that you subscribe to the adage that a smart man learns from experience and a smarter man from the experience of others. While my kit is no where near the calibre of yours, finding credible people whom have a wealth of experience and share the same tastes, has helped me tremendously with respect to saving a lot of time and money.
Seems like decided to take the express train to the top and here's hoping that your kit brings you many years of enjoyment.
