The Core Audio Technology system is a revelation in audio reproduction.
The entire system comes in a single box. The Kryptos Music Server portion is outfitted with four discrete Core Audio Kalos power supplies. One for each of the Motherboard, PCI Audio Card, Graphics card, blu-ray and hard drives.
The digital audio I2S signal is taken directly from the PCI card unconverted, unfiltered, and DSP free and input directly into the amplifier. No more D/A, A/D, D/A conversions. The amplifier then converts this signal into a PWM format where it is reclocked, amplified, reclocked again, and then converted to analog at the output of the amplifier.
The amplifier has four discrete power supplies of its own for each stage of the process as well as a dedicated atomic reference clock.
This system has a voltage-controlled attenuator that is outside of the signal path for a distortion and DSP free control of the volume granting the low distortion of passive preamps with the drive of an active tube stage.
The end result is a simplified system with endless possibility. No more amplifier, preamp, or DAC, and thousands of parts removed from the signal path. No more audio cables. No benefit from power cables, power conditioning, or any tweaks. The system gets plugged directly into the wall and the only cables required are speaker cables. I personally use $.50/ft zip cord because they make no difference in this setup.
The resulting sound is the highest resolution, most harmonically correct sound possible in audio reproduction. There is no tube or vinyl system that can hold a candle to the energy or texture that it produces.
The signal is then sent to the Kalon loudspeaker, which has no crossover, no phase distortion, and a cabinet-free frequency response down to 28hz.
While there is no way to truly reproduce live music in your room. This is as incredibly close as you can get.
Core Audio Technology Kryptos Blu-ray Media System
High end media server with 9 dedicated power supplies for each of atomic clock generator, motherboard, PCI card, graphics card, hard drives, i2s stage, amp stage, master clock, and digital output. Fully digital signal path all the way up to the speakers. No filters, conversion, or DSP whatsoever. Remove thousands of parts from the system -- no more DAC, preamp, or separate amplifier.
Core Audio Technology Kratos Digital
Part of the Kryptos Media system. A fully digital amplifier. 4 dedicated power supplies, one for each stage (amplifier, I2S, Master Clock, and digital stages). For a fully digital signal path all the way up to the speakers.
Core Audio Technology Kalon Loudspeaker
The Kalon is a zero baffle full-range point source sporting a glass support structure. It sounds even more elegant than it looks. Pictures soon.
Thanks for the message. I am glad I am winning at least someone over to the light side!
How amazing would it be if audiophiles started to realize audio isn't about competition, rather about community and helping each other have better sound.
All of these companies talk crap about each other rather than working together to provide an even better product for the customer. The more people that work together the more each person benefits. Group efforts are always more effective and there is great sound to be had at all price points.
Keep enjoying your music, that's what it's all about!
1- the picture close up of you speaker, captures a certain je ne sais quoi..... nice...
2- your description of what a music lover... until now i thaught of myself as an audiophile... now, no offense i have a new word for that, idiotphile... no offense to all the audiophiles out there... but when you think of it, arent we all just looking for the same thing, A piece of audio nirvana... congrats
Sorry I missed these two comments. I've been swamped with my film work and investing business. Boy, I have to update this a bit too.
Tubes are just filters. They pass only even harmonics. It is the odd harmonics generated in most so-called "low-distortion" devices that cause the sound to lack organic character and naturalness. Because they generate those odd harmonics they can 'never' sound as natural or harmonically correct as a tube system.
The solution is to create low-distortion gear that DOES NOT generate odd harmonics. This is where the power supply comes into play. Most power supplies are total crap, using cheap parts with a bunch of regulators in order to compensate for noise. It's easy to create low noise, the problem is that different circuits are impacted by different types of noise and so a single power supply formula does not work for all applications. The design topology may work, but it is actually the parts that play the largest role in how well a power supply filters and how well it prevents odd harmonics from getting into the signal path.
Live-sounding music comes from low distortion. That is a fact. The problem is that few people have heard REAL low distortion, rather they get so stuck on specs, marketing and a hyped up version of real music that they have no real way of listening to real low distortion. So to fix this they resort to tubes to filter out ONE part of the distortion.
Most people think I have a fully-tube system. And I don't have a single tube. There are a lot of misconceptions in audio.
Bare also in mind that my benchmark for live music is live unamplified music, and not my system. It is IMPOSSIBLE to capture live music, there is no microphone out there that has the sensitivity or range to capture the intensity of a live performance. Then the recording is further distorted by conversions and plugins. So the BEST you can hope for is accurate reproduction, or you are just CAUSING distortion in the first place if you are trying to replicate a live sound from a studio recording. It's all about the approach. But the mindset makes all the difference in whether you are long-term happy or still jumping through hoops.
My goal has always been: Organic tone, time and tune, and emotional engagement. I have no interest in hype or artificial audio like so many companies create.
As for my Orpheus...
I sold that close to a year ago. It's a great unit, but I moved on to testing other technologies. I actually find now with my Kryptos 2.0 system and Kratos SE Amplifier that it doesn't really matter what DAC I use because the data being given to the DAC is so accurate that it doesn't need to work very hard. The system is so low distortion that I can use really any DAC and it'll still sound organic and incredibly engaging. Resolution may change my 1-2% from a $5 DAC to a $5000 DAC, but that's not enough for me to lose sleep over. I just modify the power supply on a cheap DAC and it will blow most $5k DACs out of the water anyway.
A fairly simple test is to see if cables still make a difference in your system. If they still make a difference then you still have too much distortion in your system to understand what I'm talking about.
Email me if you have questions, I'm always happy to help.
i've moved off my ultra low distortion dac and einstein solid state phono stage to just my lyra step up tranfomer with a tube based air tight phono stage. your preference might be low distortion but my lower distortion gear sounded less like live music than my new tube phono stage.
System edited: Made some substantial changes to the system over the past few months. Total power supply redesigns. The new DAC totally crushed the Metric Halo LIO-8, which was stellar to begin with. Even ran the LIO-8 with a Kalos power supply for a while, but the new DAC still outperformed it by a significant margin. Have a few new power supplies that I'm testing with VERY promising results. Not to mention the new Enigma power cables.
System edited: Made a few swaps and added the new Core Audio products The LIO-8 with power supply upgrades is one hell of the DAC. The beta (mid-level) power supplies are 300% better than the Alpha supplies I had been using/testing/building. The 15" alnicos are also QUITE a bit better than the 15" Cast Frame. Will be building a Multi-Bit R2R multichannel DAC in the next year to CRUSH the LIO-8. All a matter of time. New upgrades to the amps also coming soon -- new analog boards and power supply upgrades along with a higher-end magnetic filtration circuit. Overall quite happy with the way the system is turning out. Sounds fantastic! Come listen!
It's very much a work in progress, but I will be adding more pictures, videos and content as time permits. The design, photography and coding were all done by me.
I have the Faital Pro driver installed. It's crossing over at 500hz to my AN15s, which I decided not to sell because of how fantastic they sound for bass and midbass. The 18" drivers are incredible for deep bass, but weren't keeping up above 100hz.
This is by far the most live, dynamic sound I've ever heard. The FP drivers, according to my Fuzzmeasure results are 30dB lower distortion above 500hz any other driver I've seen in terms of 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion. They're at -80dB, which is incredible since most drivers I've tested are around -40 or -50dB. They're crystal clear, pure, and effortlessly dynamic. No contest they're the best speakers I've ever heard.
It's unfortunate that I haven't had any time to listen lately. Worked 150 hours in the last two weeks since production started.
FYI: I am selling my AN15s. I have been running my AN15s in open baffle with a pair of 18" drivers handling the lows to good effect. The problem is that it's difficult to sell a cabinet without a driver. So I'm speaking with David about his prototype AN15 Alnico speaker to place in my current open baffle that I built.
I just didn't want to get stuck with a $900 cabinet and not be able to do something with it. Very nice maple cabinet though.
I'm also considering the Faital compression horn midrange to mount on top of my 18" drivers to handle 22khz-500hz or so. Nothing like the intensity of a compression horn, especially when it covers that large of a bandwidth. This driver is considered the best that usspeaker sells. It's just twice the price of the AN15s... decisions decisions.
Built an amp for the 18" drivers. Talk about great bass!
Quite happy with the system. Love the AN15s. Just need to make sure I'm not stuck with an expensive cabinet for no reason.
FYI number two: I just had $6000 stolen from me yesterday by an itunes hacker so be careful, gents. I'm getting my money back, but it's still a heart attack to get 30 emails from paypal saying you made "X" charges that you didn't make. Just a warning to be careful with your itunes accounts, my password wasn't even saved.
I'll keep you posted with what I decide to do driver wise. I'm not in that much of a rush, just enjoying some tunes for the time being.
Are you trying to convince ME that the results between our Dude tests weren't the same, or yourself? We had the same results. You choosing to keep your Dude doesn't mean we heard different things. That doesn't mean it's bad that you kept The Dude. You seem to make it out like I think the Dude was terrible, and I do not think that at all.
I've said it about 100 times already... music sounds like music. Tubes or solid state, it doesn't matter. The better that one gets the closer it gets to the other. MANY pieces of gear these days are attributed to sound "tube-like." It's all marketing.
I think the best you have heard personally is The Dude, and that's fine. But judging gear you have not heard is not accurate or fair. I have heard every piece of gear I have placed judgment on, and to be frank, you are making things up. I would encourage you not to pose judgment on the Prism until you hear one in a proper system for yourself.
As for my amplifier. I am working with Tom, but I am not using his Kits in my amplifier. I use the amp board, but replace and rearrange many of the parts on the board. The power supply is totally my own design and all of the parts in the amp itself are of my own choosing. The only thing that resembles a kit is the color of the PCB.
Of course Clayton was playing with Tube algorithms. The whole point of his spatial system is to be able to tailor your sound to your liking. The DSP system has limitless possibilities in creating an accurate sound that works for everyone. There are thousands and thousands of plugins out there for doing just that. One category is tube emulation. And people like you will latch onto that in a heartbeat because you're married to tubes and feel the need to have tubes in your system.
As I said, my system is more natural and musical than any tube system I've heard. I get very organic sound from The Prism.
I've been listening to some VERY high-end tube systems out here. My point is that there are many people that want to be able to add tube coloration to their system just for shiggles. It doesn't mean the system NEEDS it or lacks something. And even if it does, then they have that option.
I find that PV works nicely in my system. It's more natural-sounding that Amarra. It's a very noticeable difference over plain itunes in my system.
"Removing The Dude from my system and from your system posed the same results. So blaming other equipment in the chain (totally different equipment I might add) is not a feasible argument in this situation."
First of all, the end result was not the same obviously as I still own the Dude and you do not. So, the first half of that statement is incorrect. The logic expressed in the second half is not sound (to me).
I have a science and research background. One of the statistical terms thrown around is "confounding variable." A simple definition is a variable in a mathematical equation that potentially influences a given result. You want to say that variable x produces result y, but due to the presence of z, you are not able to make a clear and definitive statement. This logic applies to audio. A system, any system, is a multi-variable equation, and you have to try and decipher what influences what in order to back up your hypothesis, which in this case is "the Prism Orpheus produces superior sonics to the Dude." Another ruthless and ever present confounding variable in audio is "listener bias." We are controlled by our own musical and sonic biases whether we like it or not. Some people like warmth and bloom. Others like see-through and fast, etc, etc. Add to that ego issues, and Audio forums all become fairly tribal fairly quickly with the squabbling that goes on. I am not immune from that. Furthermore, many people use forums as a stealth store front, and so being involved with a product on a sales level is the ultimate confounding variable. At that juncture, things become pea soup, and no one can see straight. All the confounding variables mentioned drive me to strive for blinded listening sessions. That is one easy way to deal with some of these variables. I always try and use my wife and non-audio friends and blind them to the changes in my system.
On another front, the DIY nation is swelling by the day. The economy has hastened this evolution. You are part of that nation Ryan. That is a good thing. Getting good sound on the cheap is swell. classD audio has helped a lot of guys get good sound on the cheap. Your amps use one of the many kits they offer. The same holds true for your speakers. I think that is grand. The only issue I see arising from this trend is when everyone and his brother is making amps and cables and other things as a hobby and then marketing them as some new SOTA product at a fraction of the cost of mainline gear. While that is good in some ways, in other ways its bad as it takes business away from people for whom audio is a living, is how they feed their children, and have spent year after earnest year perfecting their product. Unfortunately, in the internet age, words are cheap, and bold proclamations abound.
I have heard PM. I think it improves Itunes performance, but I am not sure. Another Prism owner said it made no difference whatsoever. Who knows. Clayton Shaw of Spatial computing was playing with tube simulator DSPs as have others. Imagine that. People need a tube sound in their tubeless system. Other end users who have struggled with getting organic sound from their Prisms have also resorted to DSPs. Go figure.
It's a compressor/limiter that adds tube coloration to the sound. I tested the tube preamp plugin made by the same company, but it barely did anything besides add distortion
This limitor works even when no threshold is applied. But it does a REALLY good job of bringing detail out of the mix and adding romance to the sound.
It's definitely a coloration, but adds more oomph and detail to the mix. It beautifies the music.
While I don't think my system needs it at all, I can say there are A LOT of people who would really like this plugin. It's "Big Blue Limiter" made by 112dB.
I haven't used the Tripoint in my own system, but I've heard it in and out of two systems now so I know what it does. Like I said, it works, but I also think you could get 99% of the performance for much less money. It's a $12k grounding system, not even a power conditioner. If I am not allowed an opinion on equipment that I have heard outside of my system it becomes very difficult to create a basis for what I can enjoy in my own system.
I personally do not find the Topaz Isolation transformers to be plastic sounding at all. But I replaced the power cords and outlets on mine even since you heard it. That being said, you listened to it for a VERY short period of time and LOVED it. It seems to me that you are remembering something negatively for the sake of remembering it negatively. I heard you say "wow" more than once during that session.
Also, the electronic crossover in that system wouldn't negate a change elsewhere. That's like saying that no matter what speakers you had in your system, if the DBX was in the chain EVERY system would sound the same and sound terrible.
What we heard when we removed the dude was not subtle. Both of us agreed that it was a more enjoyable and less fatiguing sound. You are welcome to choose to remember that differently.
I am NOT marketing a DIY spatial system. I am marketing a very nice amplifier and a Mac Mini power supply, which is being discussed with Clayton for pairing with his spatial system.
Also, I loved the nuforce with the Aerial speakers. It wasn't until I upgraded from the nuforce that I realized their flaws.
Removing The Dude from my system and from your system posed the same results. So blaming other equipment in the chain (totally different equipment I might add) is not a feasible argument in this situation. If the results were different for each of our systems then I would agree with your argument, but the results were the same. And I didn't have a room with poor acoustics or low-performance wiring.
Again, my argument isn't that The Dude sucks -- on the contrary, it's an awesome preamplifier. I am just encouraging you to keep the facts straight. Perhaps now with a non-active system where cables become variables again and there's no crappy DSP in the chain maybe your system sounds better with The Dude than without.
If you test without The Dude then I encourage you to try Pure Music. I have been using it for over a month now and it's considerably better-sounding than just plain itunes. I played with Amarra as well. I liked both for different reasons, but Amarra is more expensive of course.
"Andrew, to be perfectly fair... we removed the Dude from your system with my Topaz and we both agreed that it sounded considerably more like live music without tubes in your system. But I won't argue with you about your love for tubes... if there was no real reason to love tubes no one would."
You are forgetting one key fact: whether running direct from my source or through the Dude, that particular system had a cheezy piece of pro-gear between the amp and pre-amp that did digital x-over duty and a final, redundant DA conversion. That's a key piece of information wouldn't you say? As Clayton Shaw always said, his Spatial system, which you are currently marketing in more of a DIY version, is not really influenced much by the pre-amp. That is why he stressed getting the Spatial system to remove the pro digital x-over. Also, in retrospect, the Topaz seemed to offer a lot of energy and speed but lacked dimensionality. It was a little plastic sounding and two dimensional. Others who have heard isolation transformation have relayed similar impressions to me. They have their own "sound." What do you know...The Topaz did help since I have not finished my listening room yet and the setup was in an almost unfinished basement with very, very poor wiring. Enough said. I did hundred of hours of A+B testing and included my musician wife at times, and the Dude won hands down. I think we were temporarily bewitched by scrubbing the power a bit with the Topaz obviously.
As far as you Dudeless system sounding better, that's a little sketchy since that was a different system altogether (different speakers, Nuforce amps which you did not like in final analysis (too "noisy", a DIY front end, and Aerial 10Ts you have modded yourself, different wire, etc, etc). The DAC in the Prism is very good and quite a bit better. So, for the sake of logic and clarity, I would toss out those observations. Have a little shootout in LA! The Audio community is very active there and you can do a real shootout. I know there are Dude and TRL owners there. It would be fun and a lot more meaningful than posturing on Audiogon.
As for the Tripoint, how can you even make that statement? You don't own one and have never heard it in your own system.
I don't really think that musical and revealing are mutually exclusive entities. For instance, speakers only look at three factors: power, phase, and frequency. A speaker in and of itself cannot create any of these things. It merely is reproducing what the amplifier gives it.
Music IS musical and full of emotional content. Whether you are close miking a guitar or using a single stereo mic in a concert hall you will find emotional content.
Look at different types of speakers. In an active 2-way speaker the amplifier is contained inside the chassis. It's usually a mediocre amp. Think about it, these companies still must make money. They are selling an amp/speaker combo for the price of a modest set of speakers). That mediocre amp is prone to above-normal cabinet resonances. Vibration, in my opinion, is one of the single largest external sources of distortion in the audio system.
When that component becomes distorted it causes distortion to the frequency and phase portions of the equation. The phase distortions cause errors to the timing and tonality of the music by hiding transients and masking harmonic detail.
The reason people love full-range drivers so much is because they are perfectly time and phase coherent. It's virtually impossible to have a multi-way loudspeaker to be perfectly time and phase coherent because you have two tonally different drivers handling different parts of an instrument's frequency spectrum. That's why as you work your way up the line in multi-way speakers you find that they get more analytical, but lose emotional content and become less engaging.
I would say that a system can be ruthlessly revealing, but also quite musical. How revealing a system is has to do with neutrality and resolution. Musicality has to do with phase and speed. I happily have both resolution and musicality in my system. I had a buddy comment on a singers voice a few weeks ago about how he's heard the detail in her voice many times, but never so much of her emotion while singing. He followed my system over the years and was amazed at the difference between this setup and the setup with The Dude, which was the last system he heard of mine.
As for grounding... I've found it to be beneficial in most systems. Not life changing, but beneficial and fairly easy to do. The easiest way is just grab the wires from a chassis screw and screw it into the outlet plate screw as a simple test.
I listened to the Tripoint Audio Troy grounding system, and there's no doubt that they work -- but it doesn't require THAT kind of money to be spent to get good performance IMO.
I'm familiar with the Ground Zero unit. Thanks for the link though, I know a few people who have been looking for something like this.
What you're talking about is star grounding the components and matching their ground impedance. You can do this very easily and requires a simple volt meter and some wire. On the other hand you can buy this:
The concept isn't anything revolutionary and it does work if done properly. In fact I defeat the grounds on all components except the power amps as another means to reduce noise. Dangerous? Well as you can see I'm still typing this post so in my case danger hasn't presented itself. However, caution is advised.
I really don't think active speakers used in mastering should sound musical. They should sound revealing. The engineer needs to hear the actual recording. To that end though I heard the PSI active speakers at the Bay Area audio show and thought they were excellent. Like most active speakers they beam and have a narrow sweet spot, but mastering is done nearfield anyway so there is no reason for them to have wide dispersion.
The internet is full of marketing hype and has so many people believing so many bizarre things about audio. It's no wonder why the pro-audio guys laugh at audiophiles so much. I think it's extremely important to listen for yourself and make judgments for yourself. Everyone's ears have a different frequency response.
So notice that I have not made comments about any gear that I have not heard for myself. Every comparison I make for a tweak, piece of gear, speaker, etc., are all made from personal experience and my opinions are my own. And I welcome anyone who is in the area to listen to my system and tear it to shreds (so to speak). I'm not married to any of my gear. If I find tubes that sound better than what I have I have no problem swapping something out. Too many people get married to their gear.
I am not talking about ground loop noise, Andrew. Grounding helps to remove RF and EMI from the circuit (the chassis acts as a shield and that has to be drained somewhere). If the chassis isn't properly grounded that noise can be translated to an audible hiss through the tweeter. Ground loop is a different situation entirely and is when ground noise is inducted back into the circuit because components are grounded to different places in the system rather than one location (etc).
I'd imagine many people who use the prism in a recording system are also using active loudspeakers. I haven't heard great, musical active speakers in any system. I'm sure they're out there, but there is so much cabinet vibration that it's impossible to have a good amp inside a speaker cabinet. That alone can be why they didn't find the prism to be musical. There are SO many other variables even if it was external amplification and a decent set of monitors. I took some pictures of the inside of the prism... it's a work of art, and I would pose the argument that it's possible the issue with the prism wasn't the prism at all.
I think it is correct to say that many recordings have poor mixing and miking techniques. It's an art form in and of itself to mic a performance, live or otherwise.
The live music I listened to was 100% un-amplified. I listened to very little amplified music -- it tended to be too loud and hurts my ears.
I used pro-toolsHD systems, which are the industry standard mostly for film. So I certainly wasn't using a Sony Sonoma system. I did freelance work for local A'Capella, Jazz, and rock bands. I also did foley and sound mixing for quite a few indy films. I am now working on the NBC show Love Bites (ugh), doing audio for an $80 million dollar film directed by Javier Gutierrez, and potentially an abc family show. I did work with one engineer who actually converted a 10" speaker into a microphone. Was one of the biggest-sounding and most accurate recordings I ever worked on. I'll have to see if I can find it... it may be a 100mb+ file though.
Let me correct something. My personal system isn't to recreate a live event. I am well aware that the harder one tries to do that the more they realize they are just causing distortions (though sometimes attractive) in their audio system. The goal with my system is accuracy.
I have heard many people talk about bad recordings being bright or edgy. Brightness is a distortion to the frequency response and the glare is usually around 2khz -- interestingly enough, Andrew, that's right where you were having issues with your EP crossover, which expounded the issues. My system, even with recordings people say are terrible, never sounds bright or edgy. They do, however, lack detail and tend to sound overly compressed.
Andrew, to be perfectly fair... we removed the Dude from your system with my Topaz and we both agreed that it sounded considerably more like live music without tubes in your system. But I won't argue with you about your love for tubes... if there was no real reason to love tubes no one would.
As for vinyl, no I did not hear the vinyl rigs in my system. But I DID do A/B comparisons in the systems I heard those vinyl rigs in. I am not saying vinyl was terrible and unlistenable. I'm saying that it has distortions and limitations of its own. I found that even a modest pioneer Elite CDP, for instance, sounded considerably more natural than the high-end DiVinci turntable.
These days I listen to mostly 24/96 or 24/192 recordings.
As for cost... you are totally right. The $300 Sony CDP-705ESD is a great CD Player and is built like a tank, with a few mods it'll compete with $10k CDPs easily. I've heard systems cabled with zip cord and extremely modest gear that makes me question why I even got into this hobby. I'm constantly telling people to go listen to their car speakers so they understand the scale of difference between a low-end system and a high-end system... it's surprisingly small given the cost differences. I spent a good amount of time with $25 bookshelf speakers while I was waiting for the AN15s and I was amazed with the quality I was getting out of those speakers.
I'm not out to tell people their systems suck. I have a very different system from what most people have, however. I have also heard A LOT of systems and a lot of gear. And I know there are quite a few audiophiles who are stuck chasing their tail. I spent quite a while chasing my tail myself. I used tubes and have had modest vinyl in my system. I've jumped through those hoops. And now I have a rather "new-wave" system that finally works for me and, in my opinion, creates a path for many people who are ready to get off the tilt-a-whirl when nothing else worked.
I had neglected to mention in my post that a group of us were having a discussion with a respected sound engineer concerning the feasibility of reproducing that "live" concert sound on our systems. After he got done laughing at some of the comments, he painted a pretty realistic scenario for us. Even a live recording, done properly, is subject to the engineers whims when it comes to mixing and mastering. From his own personal experience he noted many times these people were less than careful when setting up microphones and gear and usually wasted when mixing and mastering the recordings. Of course this was not 100% of the case, but I think experience tells us there are many more poor recordings in general out there than great ones.
That's what puts audiophiles in two different camps. Music lovers or Audiophiles. Music lovers listen to the time, tune and tone of the music. Terms like dynamics, slam, liquidity aren't even in their vocabulary.
Is that you speaking or someone else?
I do understand what you are talking about with noise. I just choose to address it in a different way.
Parts and price (ex. Apogee) don't tell the whole story either. I was at the recent Bay Area Audio show and heard a system that had a $300 integrated and $50 (used) CD player. Speakers were $5500. Cabling was OFC copper 99.99 with cotton insulation. It was one of the top three rooms at the show IMO. The top room IMO used an analog tape set-up of modest price with similarly priced speakers and components.
I still listen to live music once a week. I recorded live music for over ten years and have a number of master concert recordings that are recorded on multiple media formats. I still play them to this day.
FWIW audiophiles that try to build their systems to emulate a live concert experience are in the end going to fail. It can't possibly happen regardless of the type of equipment and room you have to work with. Think 85 piece orchestra, heck even a jazz trio can be challenging. 2 channel is not the right format. Can you get close - sure. Is it fun trying - yep, been there done that bought the T-shirt. In the end though it's like a dog chasing its tail.
Ryan, you seem to be scrambling the facts a little. The noise I heard in my system was not a ground loop issue. I listen to "live" music about once a week. I presume little of what you hear is unamplified, which makes it less useful as a reference point to be honest. Ryan, its my understand that you just graduated from film school a few months ago. I did not know you had a recording gig during that time period. Please tell us more. As for the Prism, is a solid state pre-amp and multi-channel dac. People who are actual professional recording engineers (the kind who receive Grammy nomination lists) have heard your unit and don't care for it. Another end Prism end user preferred his tube pre-amp. Go figure. You like it, which is swell. That's your personal bias while mine involves tubes, etc. There is no good, scientific, measureable data to justify any of our decisions in audio. Sorry. Furthermore, you cannot make blanket statements about turntables, etc without having had those units in your own home and doing direct A+B with other listeners involved. You are working off sonic memory which is very deceptive (at least for me).
