Yep - the big walnut plank sits atop two 12 X 12 hemlock beam chunks and the two short walnut planks sit on brass feat.

grateful November 24, 2011 20:53

Well, finally after a couple of years, have finished the back of my listening room. Bricked the remaining walls, installed a tin drop ceiling - out ran silicon on all the hanging rales and used construction adhesive to affix foil backed bubble wrap insulation to the back sides of each tile - the result is deadened dampened ceiling - nice. I also affixed Dynamat Extreme to the duct work. Super nice to finally be done after 2 years of work. The only thing I would have done different is ran heavier gauge wire for the dedicated stereo mains - I ran 10g a but if I could have done it over I would have gone bigger - why??? Well, in the course of doing this rebuild I have learned that wire gage makes a very noticeable difference in the performance of power tools (like electric brad nail driver, circular saw, etc.) even though the "book" says 14 to 12g a is acceptable.

grateful October 26, 2011 23:14

System edited: Added Purest Audio STB-9000 record clamp. Very nice, solid and weighty - constructed of solid brass and chrome plated. Provides some nice dampening and flattens warded records. Highly recommended for such a low price.

grateful March 28, 2011 19:48

Yea, my DAC has wandered pretty far from the various kits offered by Brian at AN Kits. Mine started off as a 3.1, then the power supply was significantly changed by building a separate chassis dual-mono power supply (using 2 kits) then the kit caps were swapped for Cerafines, Mundorf Tube Caps, and V-Caps (I know many don't like the Mundorfs, but I'm not necessarily looking for the "AN sound" but instead what sounds most natural to my ears). The digital board includes the kit diodes swapped to silicon carbide CREE diodes along with caps swapped to Cerafine. The analogue stage has received V-Caps, Mills, and so forth.

I don't know how my CREE's sound in comparison to your STI's, but probably comparable I would guess.

One bridge I have not fully crossed is the output transformers - I did upgrade to the AN Ultra Hi-B's but I can't help wondering what you get for the SIGNIFICANT increase in expense of the AN silver and perma 50% nickel transformers. The price of a pair of these almost matches what I have invested in the whole DAC... could they improve the sound that significantly???

Anyway, thank you for the info

grateful December 16, 2010 09:58

Muralman1, I wonder how these sound in comparison to the silicon carbide Schottky diodes I have on my digital power board - I'm using the CREE CSD01060. which reportedly have a 0 ns recovery.

grateful December 15, 2010 23:37

Thanks for the kind works.

Muralman1, tell me about the Schottkys you refer to.

grateful December 12, 2010 19:50

Oh, I should add to the last post - that while recording CDR's, the Marantz is VERY susceptible to power fluctuations. What I mean is; if a sudden strong draw of power come on, such as the central-air unit, then there is an error recorded - a pop or a brief loss of sound on the recorded CD.

At first, I would listen the recorded discs and hear these pops and ticks and I thought that the Marantz was damaged. But, as I played and fiddled, I began to noticed these errors would correlate with when the central-air would kick on (while recording). The error would occur just when the unit kicked on, not during its entire working, which makes sense, since when the AC kick on, it "all of a sudden" sucks a large amount of power from your homes internal power grid. I shut the unit off (preventing it from cutting on), recorded, and no problem.

grateful October 10, 2010 15:07

Well, still waiting for the monitor loop cables from Grover, but in the mean time I picked up some of those cheapo / standard RCA cables to test out some CD recording.

So, I connected the Marantz to my MP-3 pre via the tape-monitor loop in/outs. Set the front and rear switches to analogue input and made the necessary control set up adjustments. First I recorded from a dead cassette making several adjustments to volume, balance, DNR in/out MPX in/out, and eq 120/70. What I found is; the best sounding was vol out at noon, balance 0, DNR out, MPX out, and eq at 70. This resulted in a CD that had no tape hiss, clean & crisp, and as natural sounding as the cassette. Of course, the limits of the cassette and recording were present (mostly limited highs, such as cymbals), but again, these limites were present in the original recording. The CD sounded exactly as the cassette - and this was very pleaseing, as the Nakamitsi makes the cassettes sound fabulous.

Next I recorded from my phono. The albums I chose were ones I had on vinyl and factory CD. This allowed me to compare the 3; the vinyl, the factory CD, and the CDR from the vinyl. The result... Well, I reckon it's what one might expect - the CDR sounded the worst of the three. Not unlistonable, but definitely inferior to both originals. Comparably, in a word veiled - not as crisp, clean, nor as dynamic as either the factory CD or vinyl. The natualness of the vinyl is noticeable but definitely lesser, the crispness of the factory CD is hinted at but distantly. Stage is comparable but, again, lesser so. Articulation, micro dynamics are there but veiled.

To sum it up, I would NOT replace my vinyl with CDR's of it!!! But, I would happily consider CDR's of my vinyl for car listening... As far as CDR's of my cassettes - well, thats a different story. I'm hearing that the CDR of cassettes are as good as the cassette recording.

Why the difference? I don't know if it's due to my cassettes being recording of live events and, as such, have such recorded imperfections that higher fidelity just is not possible or if it is the limitations of the cassette media that does not allow high enough fidelity to hear differences, or is it the cables...

None-the-less, it is what it is and I am happy just to be able to preserve these cassettes of live shows. So, I will commence recording all my cassettes to CDR but will not consider the same for vinyl - once I have the Grover interconnects for it.

Lastly, I will post a comparison of the Grover interconnect loops once I get them.

Cheers

grateful October 10, 2010 14:57

Copied some discs today with the Marantz CDR510. Much more natural sounding than comparative copies burned off a computer. Less edgy, less bright.

I'm not technically experienced enough to know what the audio-only Marantz does differently than a computer, but you can definitely hear it! So much so, I'm recopying some CDs I had burned years ago.

Anyway, I'm waiting on a patch cable from Grover Huffman to begin the cassette to CD endeavor - will follow up later

grateful September 04, 2010 16:58

the Nak 680ZX back from Willie Herman. Sounds absolutely fabulous - in fact, I did not know cassettes could actually sound this good!!! Amazing!!! Anyway, Willie said this was the nicest 680ZX he had seen since he was opening them brand new from the factory back in the day... Looked like it had never even been out of the box, required very little to get it up and running perfectly, he said. He completely cleaned and calibrated it, realigned everything, reset the internal oscillator, set the speeds, wow, & flutter, and so forth...

On a side note, Willie is absolutely fabulous to deal with. He even called me while he was on vacation and he let me know when he got it and what was going while he was tearing it apart and so forth. He is truly an exemplar businessman and a rare dying breed...

Anyway, so why did I go through the trouble to reconnect to a 30+ year old dead technology (ie - cassette tape). Because I happen to have kept a fairly large cassette tape collection of live Grateful Dead show recordings left over from my youth. And amazing enough they have survived those days fairly well preserved. In fact, I'm listening to a show from Boston Music Hall now and it sounds exceptionally good. I have a little over 100 shows recorded. So my thinking is; I'm going to use the Nak deck to feed the shows to the Marantz studio CD recorder and hear what I get using gold archivable CDRs. I'll have to do some test burns to get the levels and all correct but who knows, it would be nice to transfer all my Dead shows to CD... Once I get things going, I'll post how the results sound.

grateful August 27, 2010 17:04

Yes and No...

A server with several terabytes of memory would have the capacity to store this much music uncompressed and with memory as cheap as it is now-a-days, would certainly do the job.

However, I simply do not 'trust' computer memory. Enterprise class hards drive are recommended to be replaced every 5 years. And in the short 2 decades that I have utilized computers, I have lost data many times. HD fail unexpectedly, memory chips loss data overtime, 'burned' CD's degrade, Magnito discs are unreliable, ZIP/floppy/tape all degrade... And that doesn't even scratch the surface when you consider the continuous maintenance and literal "hand holding" that must be performed to keep the systems running. Just this past week, I wasted over 8 hours of my time fiddling with Comcast to get the internet back running after they made a "change" in my bill.

I know I'm against the grain now-a-days but the ease of remote control does not come even close to make up for the computer & network maintenance. I believe the technology should work for me, not me for it...

Bar a house fire, the CD's will be protected much longer and with much less effort when compared to a server.

It's not that I dislike the computer stuff, I just stick with the tried and trusted...

grateful August 13, 2010 23:28

In the process of updating pictures, I included one of my "music vault" - I have a side room right off of the music room which I use as a storage area. The room is about 8' X 4' and is completely incased in concrete block (remember this is a basement) with one door. So, I filled it with shelving from Lowes (the nice commercial metal stuff) and store my tube stash and music stash.

The picture shown is of the CD corner of the room. What you're looking at is one of the shelving units populated with the Discgear Selector 100 (you can google it), I currently have 43 of them with each one holding 100 discs. I show this because folks have asked me in the past "how do you store all of your CD's" - well this is it. Obviously archiving large amounts of music tends to create a "space" problem but also I absolutely despise most of those plastic CD jewel cases -- why, you ask, well think of all the ones that clamp the disc down so tightly that you have to bend /warp the disc to "break" it free of the case (and, yes, I have broken a disc once trying to free it). So through searching many and many different storage products I found the Discgear to be the best option out there for several reasons;

1 - Does not "outgass" noxious and destructive chemicals, which can degrade the CD poly over time. (I actually spoke to the development engineers to verify the material and chemical make up of the Discgear). Most folks don't think about this but for long term storage of discs this is very important - watch out for other products.

2 - Holds CD in a way which is upright, stress and contact free; which prevents warpage and surface damage.

3 - the obvious space saving.

4 - the super easy "indexing" CD finding and extracting system, which is playing suface contact free.

5 - absolutely nothing touches the disc playing surface.

6 - did I say absolutely nothing touches the disc playing surface...

Again, I looked at multitudes of other CD holders, boxes, sleeves, storage, etc devices out there; played with them, tested them, spoke to the companies, and so forth -- and the Discgear Selector is what I found to be the best protection for my $80,000.00+ investment/collection.

And, No, I do not have any relations with Discgear -- I'm just very happy with their product. That's my 2 cent.

Oh, if you do decide to go with this system, or any other for that matter, its best to type yourself a catalogue/index of whats is where. -- I have numbered all of my Discgear Selectors with roman numerals and created a catalogue of each CD to it's location - for example; Billie Holiday Strange Fruit . . XXX!V#67 - so this tells me this particular CD is in Discgear unit XXXIV and is in spot number 67 of the unit. I made my printed catalogue using Adobe InDesign but MS Word would work too and I made it fun by including graphics from the internet of the band and/or performer. Anyway, works for me...

The rest of the "vault" is tubes (I have a ton of), equipment parts (like cables, cartriges, etc), a few cassettes, and, of course, vinyl records. --cassettes and records are stored in there own cases and jackets.

grateful August 09, 2010 13:19

System edited: new pics added. Moved stuff around to make room for everything and repositioned Quads further apart to enhance the sound stage and imaging

grateful August 09, 2010 00:39

System edited: Decided to finally cross the bridge back to vinyl... Been a 1/2 of a lifetime ago since I played a record, so decided to go slow and test the waters... Bought a Micro Seiki DD-40 with Micro Seiki MA-505 tonearm and a Sumiko Blue Point Special cartridge. Had the whole thing serviced and completely dialed-in by Master Technician Alex Lok @ The Analogue Store in Raleigh NC. Alex is such an amazing guy - professional, a wonderful friend and extremely knowledgeable concerning TT, reel to reels, tuners, vacuum tube electronics, electrostatics, and more. In-fact I trust Alex so much, I travel over 5 hours round trip to see him... If your looking for service and even to purchase antique and new audio equipment, I HIGHLY recommend The Analogue Store - can be found at http://www.theanalogstore.com/index.htm

grateful August 07, 2010 23:51

Hello and thanks. The PWT openned up after ~250 hours and I continued the breakin till 500 hours. From past experience, I placed mine ontop of Symposium Rollerblocks right off the bat, which set ontop of a granit plinth, which set ontop of a timber eq. rack... I did not try to compare the PWT with/without, because my experience over the years has been favorable toward Symposium Rollerblocks under digital sources -- I've been using them consistently for years now.

grateful July 30, 2010 13:42

Hello Charles1dad,
Good to hear from you -- I'm glad you are happy with the PWT. I've been tickled pink with mine.

I think cables are one of the hardest things to get right and the experience can be frustrating -- cables work in melting the semblance of other equipment and speakers together -- so, whatever is before and after the cable changes each cables effect and of course, the cable itself has its own signature - it's like dealing with three items instead of one. That's why there is such controversy over cables, as such, one cable may be the-cats-meow in one system but a rusty-nail in another.

Anyway, as far as Grover Huffman cables; I had climbed up the hill to Pure Note Cerulean cables, they are a solid core silver,round, thicker / heavier gauge than most, older version of whatever Pure Note is offering now-a-days. The Huffman cables were quite noticeably sonically superior in every way. I don't know if it was because of the heavier gauge of the Pure Note creating a capacitance or what, but the Huffman cables stayed and the Pure Notes were sold (as a side note - the Pure Note cables were 4 X the price of the Huffman cables).

I had wondered myself as to whether the Huffman cables would be as good as solid silver, as the Huffman cables are a copper and silver mixed. Well, the answer was a resounding "yes", at least as far a being compared to Pure Note cables. I believe it's due to them being super thin ribbons (look at skin effect theory). I opened one up not to long ago - the ribbon wire is much thiner than paper, I micrometer 0.0015 for the silver and 0.00225 for the copper - several ribbons make up each path, some copper and some silver - each path is within a round teflon tube, so there is plenty of air dielectric. A good construction and the real deal.

I reckon a good future test would be to ask Grover if he would make a pure silver version and compare it.

Since the Huffman cables took up residence in my system, I have not compared them to anything else. So, I can only confess that they beat the Pure Note all silver cable but none other. The Pure Note cables had supplanted Kimber Silver Streak and Homegrown silver cables, which had supplanted Kimber PBJ and KG4, which had supplanted StraightWire Encore, which had supplanted Monster and others...

Give the Huffman cables a try, Grover has a full return policy if you don't like em - he's a good guy, but can be a bit slow getting them out the door sometimes as he is a one-man shop.

best regards,
William

grateful May 22, 2010 23:53

I just recently purchased a stash of The Abso!ute Sound issues from previous years ('74 to '93) and am partaking in enjoying and reminiscing in the "style of the day", insightful wisdom, and old arguments.

Anyway, while reading an editorial letter by Ian Eales (audio engineer Studio City) in the April 1984 issue (vol.9, no.33), I find an "ah ha" moment.

Mr. Eales is commenting toward the 'vinyl vs digital' argument of the day and goes on to say, "...let me tell you what I hear (speaking of CD)... ...the first thing you notice missing is the cushion of air that surrounds an instrument... ...this gives the illusion... ...as an increase in definition. Everything is put in its own little box. Cymbals do not move any air, they just sound bright and sizzly... Vocals do not project... Percussion doesn't float out on the music... ...digital... ...homogenizes the sound..."

In reading this, I thought to myself (as I was listening), he's right, and I agree with his assessment -- digital (in general) "homogenizes" and flattens the music -- taking out it's dimensionality (air, breadth, and depth) -- kinda like 2D versus 3D video. Of course, we all have heard this, but I think over the years I had 'forgotten' this perspective, getting lost in terms like "soundstage" and overemphasized facets, like "clarity" and so forth -- I think you know what I'm saying...

Anyway, so this brings me back to what I had lost and what I recently found -- in reviewing the combination of my most recent additions (AN DAC & PS Audio PWT) - I really have been blown away at what I'm hearing... I tried to convey this in the two reviews I wrote (on this site, in the Reviews area and partially here) but all in all, I think this old letter by Mr Eales sums things up best --

I am now, finally, getting back to what has been lost (via digital). My sound is back to NOT being "homogenized" and has been reborn into a living, breathing organism, rather than 'overemphasized' and 'enhanced'

I hate to go on and on and on about how happy I am with my system now. But, I thought this "ah ha" to be particularly insightful (for me anyway), so in it goes into the annals of my system forum...

grateful March 31, 2010 22:39

System edited: If the music makes ya move, cause you can dig the groove, then groove on, groove on... Isaac Hayes

grateful March 21, 2010 23:30

I have now found verisimilitude.

Read on for my listening notes from the custom built Audio Note DAC running now with the PS Audio PWT transport - the review is specific for the DAC but I have to add this combo is a match made in heaven...

Charles Mingus / Blues and Roots –
Open, vast sound stage, overall deep tone, clear, drum kit very real with weight rhythm clear, no congestion with horn loaded passages, finger snap of the bass string / string hitting fret, light airy cymbals, mellow deep vibrato yet tight not overblown baritone sax – reedy/nasal intimate alto & tenor sax, earthy & woody bass, very deep complex concurrent horn passages with no grain or tonal breakdown

Dusty Springfield / Dusty In Memphis -
Clear, crisp, sparkly, rich sweet transcendent soulful sensual presence

Van Halen / I -
Clear, crisp, major increase in dimensionality & sound stage, significant air around instruments, cymbals especially shimmer and sound brassy – major improvements over previous listening session with this album – I’m really hearing dynamics I’ve never heard before. David’s voice sounds nicely smoky and Eddie’s guitar sound like a chain saw, ripping cleanly and powerfully through cords – articulate though, not edgy at all.

Diana Krall / Love Scenes -
Sweet brown-sugar whiskey voice, airy. Deep powerful bass, full clear organic percussive piano. Intimate, personal soundstage – in room – I can close my eyes and see her lying across a piano.

Art Blakely / Moanin’ -
Start dancing as the sound stage unfolds out across and deep into the room. Sassy mellow horns. Drums and piano are stout, bass solid.

Chicago / Chicago Transit Authority -
Spacious large sound, no congestion or grain on intense horn passages, clear but not edgy, dynamic, punchy, clean.

Stan Getz / Getz/Gilberto -
Airy, festive, amazingly live sounding, ohhh so smooth, sweet, open air space, intimate soundstage, full weighty bass.

Dave Brubeck / Time Out -
Airy, fast, such an amazingly realistic brassy ring to cymbals/triangles, rich, live, powerful, clear mellow percussive airy full piano.

The Grateful Dead / American Beauty -
WOW – gooey eye candy at its best. Crisp brassy cymbals, stout fast drums, weighty bass, mellow strings, harmonious vocals, super large soundstage broke out the walls of my listening room – transported me to the Fillmore. Powerful live sounding. Exxtra Punch & slam – hand to turn down the preamp because the L Quad went into “safe” twice. I could hear what sounded like a pin drop and I could hear Jerry’s guitar tube amp hum on the live version of Attic of my Life.

Summery & overall impressions -
More booty-shakin drive which propels tunes outward in soundstage width and adds gravity to soundstage depth. Texture, contrast, amplitude. Lives & breaths air and life into recordings like I have never encountered before. Fast edged and sharp striking articulate in micro detail yet sweet mellow and sexy smooth, best described as “Organic definition”. Shinny sparkling treble and boisterous dynamics and low-end fortitude. The cleanliness and the control of the sound is impressive. Vivid. Rich timbre. Absolutely gorgeous. The attack and decay of the notes are totally natural and believable. Room ambiance and background sounds on the discs come through like never have I ever heard before from a CD. Adds incisiveness and full bandwidth dynamic slam and delicacy. Easily explores complex musical passages without compression or decay in micro detail. Amazingly three dimensional depth and breadth to the sound stage. Ambience. Organic blending of overall sonic experience yet minutely crystal in articulate detail and clarity. Dimensionality, space, and air sounding instruments. Absolutely amazing realism and character to instrument tone and expression.

Please, someone pinch me... ;)

grateful March 19, 2010 01:27

Thank you charles1dad, I hope you are as enthralled with the PS Audio PWT as I am. It's really that good...

I have gone ahead and written a review of the transport; it can be found at http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rdgtl&1267420882&&&/PS-Audio-PWT-cd-transport

I have been absolutely overjoyed with the PS Audio PWT. In fact, I put off publishing a review of the custom Audio Note DAC, waiting for the PWT to break-in. --Because the PS Audio is that much better...

grateful March 01, 2010 09:14

Thank you Peter_s

grateful February 23, 2010 18:34

System edited: OK - well in the process of breakin-in the new Audio Note DAC, I just wasn't too pleased. --I mean, I've spent an enormous amount of money and the sound was pretty close to the BAT player (though, I'm not kickin the BAT -- it's the best one box there is!!). Sooo, I decided to try a new transport as I wasn't thrilled with the Accustic Arts anyhow -- In went the new digital memory transport from PS Audio -- the PerfectWave PWT and I'm LOVIN IT!!!. Not even broke in yet and WOW what a difference, now this is what I was expecting from the get-up-and-go... Light, Airy highs - cymbals dance, triangles are crystal clear, horns are sexy... Bass tight, dynamic. There is much more space around the instruments. That's all I'll say now -- needs to break in... On a side note, I have to say when I was looking at pictures of the PerfectWave, I was thinking to myself, "looked what the cat dragged in from wal-mart" meaning it looked like cheap plastic -- Well, I am happy to report this thing is BUILT -- no plastic here!!! Feeling the weight and non-resonencant character, I think its made of steel (but could be really think aluminum though) -- very nice build!!!! --the remote is wal-mart though (oh well).

grateful February 13, 2010 14:19

System edited: Finally picked up the custom build Audio Note DAC. This is a extensively customized Audio Note DAC 3.1 Balanced kit, build by Response Audio of Endicott NY as a customized TC Reference MBX. This custom build includes the Response Audio MBX external dual mono power supply with banks of Mundorf M-TubeCap filter capacitors. 2 of the Audio Note M2 power supply boards with VH Audio V-Cap capacitors and a separate Audio Note digital power supply board with Elna Cerafine capacitors. The Digital board is the Audio Note Signature one, housing Audio Note Tantalum resistors and Black Gate capacitors. Further upgrades made in this area is the Audio Note Silver wire TRANS-268 digital transformer and a AD1865 N-K chip, outputting to Audio Note TRANS-496 I/V transformers. The analog tube board includes Dale resistors, Elna Cerafine capacitors, VH Audio V-Cap coupling capacitors. The output transformers are the Audio Note Ultra HiB transformers and are running balanced out to Neutrik gold XLR connectors. Pretty Outrageous ;-) And for those who wonder -- Bill at Response Audio does not compare or compete against the Audio Note factory offerings, so he has no comments on the subject and I have not heard the DAC 5.1 -- but my opinion is; I had this build with the DAC 5 Special parts (only swapping AN PIO caps for V-Caps) + with the addition of the completely dual-mono power supply = you do the math. Impressions -- well it's just in, so it has a long way to go to break in. But, I can say out of the box it equals my customized BAT VK-D5 SE player in absolutely all aspects + adds a more realistic and invigorating sense to the mids and more low dynamics. Thats all I'm going to say, till I get a couple hundred hours on it -- I'll post then...

grateful January 24, 2010 21:05

Mwp7373, Before the superclock upgrade, I was about to sell the BAT -- its a fine player, it is very analogue, articulate without being shrill, produces really weighty bass, and nice highs -- but I felt like something was missing. Sometimes the recording seemed delayed in its timing, the pace was off, rhythm suffered and the highs just did not sparkle for me. Now these were subtle problems, but they grew on me enough that I was ready to sell... But, at a friends recommendation, I had the clock mod done to see if it changed things. Now, I have to admit, this was a frustrating experience at first. Called around several places to be turned down (no one had experience with the BAT player), then found Hot Rod Audio Mods / Verity and they said they could do it. Little did I know it would take them 6 months to do it. But anyway, the frustration was worth it!!! When I finally got the player back, the pace and rhythm was much improved, the whole musical experience seemed more right on. Now I have to point out, that it took six months to get my player back, so the sound was not fresh in my head -- but, their was a significant enough difference that it was undeniable. PRAT was so improved that I ended up keeping the player. Money well spent!!!

grateful January 04, 2010 13:49

Bobheinatz -- Yes, the marble platforms came from a garden shop / greenhouse supply. The more vibration I take out of the Quads the better they sound, I believe even Quad recognized this, as the newest version (2805) has a metal frame with torsion bracing - the older Quads did not have these upgrades. The rack is made out of walnut, which is one of the most expensive domestic woods (wood species effects price the most) -- but, I wanted the extra density & weight walnut has (plus look), so I paid the extra... Having said that, I think I still got an excellent price, considering what furniture costs versus the quality. Anyway, the big board cost me $900, the hemlock 12X12 beam pieces (used for legs) cost me nothing as it was "scrap" from a timber-home builder, and the smaller amp boards were $150 a piece. You should check out your local mills, timber-home builders, wood craftsmen, and so forth. That's how I found what I did and since you are in Oregon, you probably have more resources than I. Good Luck

grateful January 04, 2010 13:23

System edited: Well... I've had the Atma-Sphere MP3 up-n-running for a little while now. Wanted to wait to post, so I could let the sound marinade for a while. First off how did I get here -- after I had swapped out the McCormack DNA-1 amps for the Atma-Sphere amps, I had noticed more bass (along with the increased dynamics, mids, sweet voices, and all else I liked about the Atma-Spheres). Over the course of the last year, I began feeling like the "more" bass wasn't just more power but a bit of "bloat". Also, I began feeling like the highs were a bit lean. So, after speaking to Ralph and others - I decided I should give the Atma-Sphere MP3 a try. So here we are... Let me first say, the MP-3 I bought was shipped first back to Ralph for V-Caps and Caddock upgrades (already had the power regulator upgrade) and I have swapped in NOS tubes -- so my review listed here is after the "enhancements". The MP-3 is an absolutely fabulous pre!!! The dynamics took another leap forward, more punchy and more stronger. There is more air and instruments are more articulate and distinguishable. Overall, the sound is sweeter and smoother. The bass bloat is gone and the highs are extended. Cymbals are more articulate and brassy. Overtones are more discernible and linger a bit longer. Mids and voices are brought up more forward in the sound stage -- some of my live recording from shows I have attended now sound as I remembered them actually being (before, voices were a bit too far back on the stage). Horns are sharper but smooth and sweet. Highs are crisp but not brittle. The hole goes deeper...

grateful December 27, 2009 22:10

System edited: Updated pictures.

grateful December 20, 2009 23:07

Replaced amp fuses with HiFi Tuning gold & silver ones. A bit clearer sound.

grateful December 16, 2009 19:58

Interconnects & speaker cables upgraded to Grover Huffman Sx versions. An excellent upgrade -- more articulate base and treble, cleaner, and faster.

grateful December 10, 2009 22:37

So got the amp stands from John. They are awesome - just over 2 foot by 1 foot by 3 inches thick. They are sitting on Bearclaw brass spike footers. Nice and solid. This set up raises the Atma-Sphere's off the floor about 5 inches.

Also, I purchased a Atma-Sphere MP-3 pre -- it's with Ralph right now having V-Caps, Caddocks, & power regulation upgrades done.

And the DAC should be on the way soon.

grateful November 11, 2009 22:57

Had a local guy make me a custom shelf for the system. He is John at Anvil Board Co. He is a wood craftsman and runs his shop making primarily cutting boards and does a great job at it. So, I had John make me a 9 foot long, just under 2 foot wide, 4 inch thick shelf out of a Walnut tree. Talk about dampening -- this "trunk shelf" weighs in the neighborhood of 300lbs. For legs, it sets on two chunks of 12X12 Hemlock beam, another 20lbs a piece.

The whole kit-and-caboodle sits directly on the terra-cotta floor. Thus, the top of the self is about 16 inches off the floor. This spans behind the Quads, but is below the level of the Quad bases.

Really makes an awesome component self -- Now I will have room for the custom Audio Note DAC & separate power supply once Bella Extreme finally finishes it -- waiting all this time is agonizing...

Lastly, the Atma-Sphere's are still on the floor. But after seeing how great a job John did on the shelf, I asked him to do a couple amp stands for me. So, will have the Atma-Sphere's off the floor soon.

grateful September 19, 2009 20:25

System edited: Well, I got a demo power cable from Grover Huffman and compared it to the Virtual Dynamics David and the Shunyata Black Mamba on the BAT VK-D5SE CD Player. The results were quit surprising for me. I had always thought Shunyata were prefered cords on digital front ends, but the Black Mamba was no match at all for the VD or the Grover. Both offered MUCH improved clarity throughout, from top to bottom. Significantly improving everything, especially voices. The VD offered a bit more dynamic oomph and extended the bottom end a bit more. For example, drums sounded a bit more realistic. But, it also darkened the mids a bit more than I feel is real. The Grover offered a clearer topend and mid. Gave an impressive increase to the sound stage, air around the instruments, and 3D imaging. Cymbals are sparkling crisp and voices are truly clear and realistic. The bottom is clear and focused, not as dynamically heavy as the VD but does not color the sound the way the VD did either - drums are very energetic and extremely clear -- the snare sounds honestly sharp and toms sound as crystal as wood gets ;) The Grover Huffman PC is a real winner and when compared to the cost of other PC's is an absolute steal!!! Thus, I'm keeping the Grover demo, ordering a second PC from him, and selling the Shunyata's. The VD is going back on the pre for now.

grateful September 19, 2009 20:10

System edited: Reworked the granite stands the Quads are on by adding additional Oak bracing. Bracing is secured to the tops of the Quads by replacing the old dark wood top cover with a new Oak one with mating for the braces. The Quads are pretty steady now -- you can tap hard on the top to evoke vibration but things are sured up pretty tight now. Also, this mod allowed me to angle the Quads forward to about 95 degrees -- a better angle for the new leather seat I got.

grateful August 02, 2009 20:39

I just had the Quad 988's modded by Kent McCollum of Electrostatic Solutions. He swapped out the factory input electrolytic cap for North Creek Zen film caps and Sonicap bypass caps. Along with a few other things.

I had mentioned to him before the upgrades, I felt like the mids were lacking. Especially noticeable when listening to female vocalists when singing with a band. The instruments would drown out her voice (an exaggeration of course), like her mic was turned way down.

Now. The female vocalist has been brought forward on the stage and is part of the band rather behind. Major improvement and very noticeable. Her voice is natural now, in balance and tone.

Overall, instruments are more focused and clearer. I can hear more of the overtones from acoustic strings. Very natural -- closet to the real thing I have heard from my system.

Highs are very articulate now also. Cymbals are crisper and really ring naturally.

Horns are incredibly focused and accurate. Its amazing the depth of the overtones heard from brass and woodwinds.

Its like I'm listening to a whole new system -- I'm really stunned at how major the improvements are.

grateful April 21, 2009 22:49

The Quad 988s are mounted on solid granite bases (bought at a outdoor landscaping shop) and bolted on. each base weighs around 75lbs and stands a little less than 16" tall

The power in the room for the system is dedicated and consists of 10ga Romax ran in grounded copper pipe for shielding & pleasant look;)

The whole room is subterranean with cinder block & brick walls with birch panels (for resonance breakup & mounting album covers).

The ceiling is suspended birch panels (insulation affixed to the non-visible side) with insulation panels above affixed to the upper joists.

The floor is terra-cotta over concrete.

the room is 12' X 24' with the Quads 3' off the front wall and the listening chair 18' off the front wall.

grateful March 08, 2009 20:54