My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
The weight capacity of the Apprentice SP-SA-103 is 800 lbs. as listed on the website. Please consider the use of the optional Apcd 2 coupling disc as this device serves to protect the surface above or below the point tip and also effectively increases the surface area of the point tip. Tom. Star Sound Technologies.
Our amp was built this way 12 years ago as were our speakers. I use these today with many parts upgrades and refinements and more to follow. Enjoy the process Bill, keep the path short and direct. Tom. Star Sound Technologies
Professor Peabody light up the time machine...if you go back that far.
Next time we get to a show I would love to have a cellist in the room play a comparison piece..direct coupled and not.
A special affect that can be heard is when the ground point is established with the instrument which takes a few minutes. When this happens the instrument suddenly blooms in size and the whole front face lights up. When you move the cello's ground point the instrument still sounds good but takes a couple of minutes to find itself again and take off in flight. I really believe this affect is what occurs when audio cables are disturbed or power cords or really any electro mechanical device is moved, energy flow is corrupted. It seems as if these instruments telegraph minor changes in hyper speed thru a telescope. Pretty darn cool. Tom. Star Sound Technologies
My post on instruments was sparked by your frequent comments and suggestions on jazz music selections as I am a big fan.
We attended a show over the weekend and were listening to a local bass player who uses the Brass Endpin mounted on his upright bass. This extremely jazzy and accomplished musician expanded his sound by placing Star Sound Sistrum Platforms under both his stage amplifiers linked by our custom power cords and electronic pickup line cables. He states that he would never return to the days of performing without these innovations.
In high end audio, the coupling/decoupling campaigns rage on to this day. I remember taking quite a few black eyes in the early days of Audiogon forums as back then most members thought resonance transfer was nothing more than a myth or sales gimmickry.
As for Roxy's desert metaphor, it has taken well over fifteen years to make our way across the sands. Its a much slower trudge proving that classical instruments, buried deep in tradition 400 years well before the phonograph was first introduced, can benefit through direct coupling with the proper geometry, material science and technical application.
Our commitment to research and testing acoustic instruments has helped confirm the results from direct mechanical coupling provide many benefits for audio and musical reproduction. The trick, as in all applications of vibration management, is to get it right, and that feat is not as easy as it sounds.
You guys should hear the benefits from mechanical grounding acoustic instruments in the first person. Most all instruments that touch the floor are actually decoupled from the flooring via non metallic materials and various non conductive footer systems, very similar to those on most electronic component chassis.
When you couple a cello, stand up bass or bass clarinet with materials that are conductive of resonance and transfer the amplitudes of Coulomb friction away from the instrument there lays the ability to unleash another 0.5 db to 1.5 db of gain (volume) from the instrument including a quite stunning and appreciable rise in dynamics and harmonic structures of which the musician will attest. These instruments also become easier to play and are more reactive in hand.
After all, the musician and the instrument is the live dynamic we are in constant pursuit of.
Always learning something new from sound and technology,
Charles, Both platforms you own as well as the Back Stage will certainly enhance the ground efficiency potential of the Thor. You may want to try the APCD3 coupling discs between the Apprentice shelf points and the bottom of the Thor. The greater surface area of the larger disc is apparent when used under all my active components and I am sure it would be beneficial under the heavy weight Thor. Tom. Star Sound Technology.
If there is any physical relationship between a electrical grounding device and a mechanical grounding device then the Thor breakin period should be at least 72 hours. That's based on what I have encountered with mechanical grounding of racks platforms,and acoustic instruments. A grounding plane under a ongoing chemical reaction [battery] and hearing and seeing an audible improvement in sound stage and acoustic air as a result was totally unexpected. There is always more.Tom
I put my 60lb. deep cycle marine battery that powers my Dac on a Sistrum 101 and it made for a big improvement over the previous Sp004 under the same chemical reactor. Why this would make for a marked improvement..I'll take it. May also work to enhance passive electrical grounding devices such as a Troy. Tom. Star Sound Technology.
Just looking in. Way back close to the last century I had my Dunlavy SC4's on 101's. I too had a dedicated room in a walk out basement no pets and kids old enough to know better. The platforms made it for me.
Speaker profiles such as the one you have were one of many prompts that made for the design of the Sistrum Apprentice..adaptable low profile and low center of gravity.
You probably now have a wall to wall floor to ceiling sound stage. Enjoy! Tom. Star Sound Technologies.
The real answer is I don't know why the magnets work for me so well. The same thing happened in my friends system including two additional needed in each of his speakers. They made a greater impact on the ac side of things in my system than the dc. There is a definite difference when orienting the poles with the direction of the dc signal flow internal to the electronics. From what I have read many of the same laws that apply to magnetism also apply to electron flow. I want to know more. Tom
I use neodymium magnets instead of fuses. The difference in sound quality was quite profound. Density, texture and slam, sound stage wall to wall. My mains breaker box is present in my lower level listening room in case I have to run in that direction. I do have to be more thoughtful about warm up times and being present to monitor. I have a friend with some BAT gear he now uses the magnets and proclaims it is the single greatest up grade he has made to his system. Enter if you wish at your own risk. Tom
The Duelund Cast product and a few others with their flat surfaces such as the Clarity Dtac lend themselves to resonance grounding dissapation methods and mechanical tensioning. Particularly beneficial when components are being bombarded with energy inside a speaker cabinet. Tom
In one of your system pictures there is what appears to be a 3 cent resistor hooked to the $400.00 Duelund cap. If so, that resistor is much more of a noise issue than the Solen capacitor ever was. I would suggest you have a resistor bridge made of nude Z foil Vishay Tx2575's [about $100.00 plus labor] or a single Duelund carbon element resistor [about $30.00] as a replacement for the one pictured. Vishay now also has listed a 2 watt Z foil and then you would only need 3 of these in parallel to acheive the wattage rating needed. Sorry I don't have that part cost. Any of these resistors would make for a major improvement yet again. Best Regards. Tom
