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.
Charles, I would post this on Jeff's virtual system, but he seems to hang here more! I know you are also interested however. These Psvane WE 845 tubes are amazing. I won't go on about them because you guys know what I am talking about. I am stunned by my sound and music with this special tube in my SET amp. The Yamamoto dac and my carefully chosen wire is giving me music like I have never experienced. No kidding. Count me in the DHT SET amp fan club. Never going back to anything else. Very special!
The natural realism is arresting and so exciting. I want to thank you Charles for posting your system and sharing your experience with the combination of gear you have. That is the reason I now have the Yami dac, PS Audio transport and DHT SET amp. Jeff, you turned me onto these Psvane 845 tubes! My audio friend John turned me onto some amazing wire and the result is easily the most wonderful system I have listened to.
Hi Brett, I'm a fan of Wallace Roney but I don't have that particular recording, thanks for the recommendation. As a coincidence I happen to be listening to trumpeter Blue Mitchell at the moment.
Brett I'll return the favor and recommend Bruce Babad "A Tribute To Paul Desmond". This is a very good live jazz club recording and Babad can really play! I believe that you'd enjoy this quite a bit. Charles,
Jordan, Well said and I agree fully with your point. In the big picture these are minuscule differences that can be exaggerated unintentionally when splitting hairs to describe sonic distinctions. I am convinced by common sense and your experiences with these 3 amplifiers that they're superb conveyors of music beauty and emotion. Each amplifier brings its own unique strengths and characteristics. All three amplifiers would be an asset in constructing a high level natural sounding system. Charles,
Charles, perhaps "shove" should be replaced with "punch" or is this just semantics? There is a (very) slight laziness to how the GD's follow the musical line. On 95+% of music I listen to, this is a beguiling quality and enriches my connection to the music. On less than 5% of the music, I sometimes wonder if a little more impact, shove, or punch is truer to the source? This isn't a speed thing in case you are wondering. Transients are lighting fast and perfectly balanced between attack and decay.
On the DruidsV's, I don't remember having these thoughts. The balance between lazy and energetic was perfect as I recall. This is why I suspect the GD's are slightly happier with the DruidsV's 16 ohm load versus the Defs 8 ohm load.
The Franks were more energetic and punchier, but not as revealing of tone, texture, and ambient clues. I think Israel designed the Franks to be impervious to the differences between 8 ohm and 16ohm loads, as long as the limitations of ultimate output power are respected.
Honestly, they are all outstanding amps and I am quibbling over tiny nuances. I would be very happy with any of them. It is only within the distorted state of audiophile criticisms that these nuances get exaggerated. The differences described are real, sometimes meaningful, but on the whole, the Franks, BS's, and GD's are impeccable emotion-conveying amps!
Jordan, Thanks for responding to my curious inquiry. There's always some level of trade offs amongst equally excellent choices. If the Golden Dreams(GD) allow more connection to the music, no question this would be my choice as well vs the Black Shadow amplifier. Given that the GD are PSET I'm surprised you say the lower power Frankenstein has more "shove". I have no doubt your GD/Melody P2688 combo is marvelous sounding in your home. You have built an exceptional system. Charles,
Charles - to your question stated in the Elrog thread: the Golden Dreams reveal more texture and tonal colors; however, there is clearly less "shove" as Phil would say. Interestingly, I did not find this to be the case with the Franks versus the Black Shadows as I've said in the past.
When I first received the Golden Dreams I had already boxed up my Def4's in anticipation of moving back up to Fort Wayne, so I had a recent reference point with the BS's on the Druid V's only. On the DruidV's, the Golden Dreams were significantly better than the BS's in all but macro dynamics. On the Definitions the trade offs are in greater relief. I *sometimes* wish for the BS's, but overall, my connection to the music is greater through the Golden Dreams.
The GD's are marvelously beautiful sounding amps. If they had the Frankenstein's or BS's "shove" on the Defs, I'm confident they would be my lifelong amps. I may remain monogamous; they are gorgeous sounding...I would have to be absolutely sure before ever giving them up.
This sensitivity to cables of the PWT I believe is a reflection of its high resolution transparent nature. It seeming reveals what you attach to it. Charles,
Jwm. I am planning to put upgraded fuses and internal damping material and will let you know about the results. Great sounding transport that responds to cables!
Bill, any new item needs some tweaking like you found out with specific cables. I new you would like the PS Audio. I want to change the fuses in the transport, but Charles told me it is very hard to remove the screws to the bottom panel. I have not tried to do this yet. Enjoy
Hi Bill, I'm glad you decided to try to go down this route and it has worked out so well for you. This type of system approach has served me fabulously over the past five years. As you have noted, a very natural and non electronic sound that conveys much musical information and emotion. Your initial PWT impression had me puzzled , I knew something wasn't quite right and I'm glad you were able to straighten it out. The biggest problem you will face now is finding a way to turn the system off as you'll be so involved with your music. As Brownsfan likes to say, life is good! Charles
Ok, with Kimber Palladian PK10 power cord and Sablon pure silver digital cable in silk, the PWT sounds wonderful. I am very much enjoying it with the Yamamoto dac. Beautiful combination that avoids sounding electronic, but rather sounds delicious.
Grannyring, If you should decide to try a different power cord I would recommend the HFC CT-1 power cord. I received a slightly used one yesterday and have been very impressed. It seems to do everything correctly and in my opinion, it competes with the big boy power cords. In the days when I had a CEC TL 2X (I agree with Acman3) I also had excellent results with the Stealth Varidig Sextet.
Yes, that price is an utter steal when you consider how excellent it sounds. It really delivers in the realm of natural or holistic music reproduction. Charles,
There is a guy on Audiogon who was talking up the Yamamoto dac. ;) I saw one pop up for under $1000 and I bought it. Other than the lack of flexibility it is great!
I bought the Dac first, and a while later saw a great price on the PWT. I had been using a DVD player as a transport, so it was a no brainer.
I am more of an analog guy, but I really enjoy this setup, and since I have a lot of CD's, I am happy.
Acman3, How did you discover the Yamamoto DAC? I'm always pleasantly surprised when I find other users of this little known Japanese gem. Which did you have first, the PWT or the Yamamoto? Charles,
Grannyring, I also use the Yamamoto , although unmodded,with the PS Audio PWT and I really liked the Stealth Varidig and now the Stealth Varidig Sextet . YMMV.
Bill, That makes a lot of sense, it very well could be your particular digital cable. I know that Jeff got very different sound depending on which cable he used with the transport. The Sablon cable is highly regarded and will likely be transparent and a very good fit in your system.I believe with this different cable your outcome is going to be just fine. Charles,
When one makes a system change it can throw off the fine tonal balance and require a cable change. Obviously the digital cable used with a particular transport is very, very important. I decided on my current digital cable because my system liked the warm character of it, but now my needs have changed. I know this PWT has great potential as I could hear and sense some wonderful qualities.
