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.
Theloneous Monk "Live At The Jazz Workshop" is terrific! I just got this 2 CD recording today. It is every bit as excellent as " Live At The It Club" . Monk and his quartet in top form. Highly recommended. Charles.
Spirit, The individual pictures and descriptions of my audio components are still missing. I always had a gut feeling that that NAT-audio components were very special, your happiness has confirmed that. The extraordinary musical and natural sounding components are the ones that you can keep for years and years and simply enjoy them. Charles,
Charles, I concur w/yr Elrog comments, but having switched to Nats w/ '48 NOS GE 211s, I'm not missing the pair I used in my Audion 845s. Nat still providing the proverbial "iron fist in a velvet glove", but not at all at the expense of liquidity and tonal density. Nats are a total giant killer at the price. Glad you found all your system pics. Where were they? Had they fallen off the wall when a large lorry rumbled past yr house? LOL!
Jond, I understand your admiration. The Yamamto is musically superb and fits my system in an excellent manner. In the five years that I have happily use this DAC I have not come across anything that makes me want to replace it. This DAC along with my Coincident components are just staying here for many more enjoyable years. Grannyring has recently gotten this DAC and he is very pleased with its sound quality. Charles,
Charles glad to hear your system is still intact lol. Still running your Yamamoto dac? The better things get in my own system the more sure I am that dac is never going to leave!
Charles, You can go any direction from the top of the mountain, but they are all downhill. It's not likely we will see a better 300b or 101d anytime soon. We have wandered into rarefied regions, my friend!
Hi Bill, Okay I'm back to reality now. I posted an Elrog ER 300b update earlier today on the ongoing thread. We're both fortunate guys, what a pure joy they are in the Frankenstein.IMO a mandatory pairing, Just as is the Psvane W.E. Replica 101D in the CSL. Charles,
Wise move Charles, that 3000 WPC class D should be at least 400 times better than those 8WPC Franks. BTW, you might want to think about moving towards the 60's Era bubblegum genre. You will be all set up.
I've finally seen the light and will transition to high power class D amplifier(3000 watts per channel)and 74 db sensitive speakers with a nominal impedance load of 1.5 ohms. LOL!
Actually I don't know happened. One day all of the system description and component pictures were just gone. Charles,
Charles where did your system go? I stopped by to see what was new, cool pics but your list of equipment is blank? Working on a massive revision perhaps? Cheers, Jon
Yes, These Elrog tubes offer tremendous value as far as I am concerned. They are not inexpensive but given the superior level of performance and sound quality they provide , they are worth every penny they cost in my opinion. This is not always the case for expensive products but the Elrogs come through brilliantly in this regard. Charles,
Hi all, I hear the same thing with my Elrog 845. I can listen to classical cd's and enjoy them now where I couldn't do this before. I would say smooth as butterscotch but still resolving. Lets Hail the chief Dr. Schaffernicht.
Hi Bill, My admiration for Dr. Schaffernicht and his Elrog tube is also quite high. It is as you note a smooth ,refined and organic sound yet with superb resolution. This is a benchmark for the 300b tubes. I still wonder how much of this result is due to the thoriated tungsten filament in place of the typical oxide coated filament. Charles,
Charles, An observation or two about the Elrogs. One of the attributes of these tubes I value most highly is the silky smooth sound. Last week, I had a chance to listen to a treasured recording of the Bach Johannespassion. It is a superb performance, but i always found it to be a bit too edgy with respect to sound. I was really very pleasantly surprised to find that it was very nearly smooth as silk. This smoothness is not really a reduction of grain, and it is certainly not achieved at the expense of resolution and air. This is somehow a different genre of smoothness, it is something new that I am at a loss to describe. In one of your posts, you mentioned "density" and someone else used a 4K vs 1080p analogy. Perhaps those are two other approaches to describing the same thing. It is not often I find myself at a loss for words, but that is where I am. We may have to rethink our audiophile vocabulary.
I chuckled at your question "What took them so long." The Elrogs are a breakthrough product. A radical rethinking of the overall approach, not just an incremental "what can I do to tweak this up a bit." It took Einstein a while to finally get around to relativity. We are the fortunate recipients of a remarkable piece of work. I find myself bidding Dr. Schaffernicht a sincere "live long and prosper."
Blll I have my Yamamoto on a Star Sound Apprentice for vibration management and this is a very effective match. The Apprentice definitely is an asset. The sound becomes even more open, dynamic, just better in every way. Charles
Bill The Yamamoto actually has good caps. But they are not Jupiter or Duelund CAST quality. Your improved sound is no surprise, and silver wire is a plus IMO.
Charles, I placed some Jupiter copper foil caps in the Yamamoto and pure silver hook up wire. I also applied some anti-vibration damping material here and there and on top cover. The caps have about 24 hours on them and wow! Wow! The Yamamoto is playing even sweeter music.
Hi Bill, I'm glad it met your expectations and I agree, it is special. I've had mine for 4 years and it isn't going anywhere. It's such a simple circuit/design, that's likely the key to its terrific sound quality. Charles,
Charles, the Yamamoto dac is really something special. All I have done so far was put SR Red fuse in it and I love this little thing. Glad I read about on your thread!
Thaluza, Thank you for your feedback on the break in of the Black Treasure 300b tubes in your system. I appreciate it and yours as well as Charles, and I will keep you posted on the changes as time passes.
Bill, I understand what you are saying. A quick a/b comparision is misleading in this case. The longer I listened to the SET the more my appreciation grew(and continues to do so 6 years later!). I think I'm just especially moved by what they do compared to most other people. They hit the right buttons that drew me into music in the first place. The point is that we're all truly individuals when it comes to this level. I'm no longer interested in endless debates about which type of amplifier is better. I just know what I prefer and leave it at that.
Your speakers are obviously efficient and an easy load to do this well with 10 watts.It will be interesting to learn your impressions as this amplifier accumulates hours of use. Charles,
I think I should clarify. When I say the DHT amps sounds great in a less impressive way, I mean the nuances, tone and other important cues shine on the DHT amp. A quick a/b would leave the DHT the quick loser to almost all who listen. However, after extended listening I am drawn to the sound of the DHT tube amp. I am a tube amp lover in the end. Something about it is just more comfortable to me.....even though it is less sonically impressive with its feats of audio strength.
I thing for sure is I do not need more than the robust 10 watts I am getting from the design. Plenty of power for me.
