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, yes the Carys actually deliver 1000WPC into 4Ohms. They are good amps, and ensure the maggies have all the current they need. They are very good. There is no rush to replace them.
Just ordered the Psvane 101Ds. Let's stay in touch on how these stack up against the Shuguangs. If they take the CSLs up a notch, that is going to be something very special.
I take it Israel is also going to the Psvane 300Bs too.
Brownsfan, I'd think that the Carys with 500 watts per channel is a very good match for your speakers.The vast majority of maggie owners gravitate to high power SS amplifiers.
Charles, thanks for checking with Israel. Looks like its time for me to order a pair as well! As for the dragons, I have wondered the same thing, and Israel told me he has customers driving Maggies with his amps. It could be heaven with some music, but I would have reservations about how they would serve Mahler and Shostakovitch. My Cary's are good but not the end of the road. They will not be the last amps I own. Think, think, think, think some more, then buy. That is the plan.
Brownsfan, I got this reply from Israel this morning. "The Psvane 101D is excellent, , it's airier and smoother than the Shuguang version". He will switch to the Psvane in the CSL going forward. That's saying a lot when you consider how superb the CSL sounds with the standard Shuguang. I'll order a pair. Charles,
Jwm, You're preaching to the choir. I'm glad the move to SET amplification has worked out so well for you. After fours years of SET I'm beginning to think that there's no 'going back' for me. Charles,
It's funny how a single ended system grows on you. Since having mine I can't wait to listen and really am more relaxed at the same time. I never listened this much or had this much pleasure using various push pull amps. in the past.
Brownsfan, Israel has been very busy! It seems he had a quite sucessful RMAF, well he's certainty earned it. I'm curious if his Dragon MK II 211 amplifiers would match with your maggies(that'd be fun to audition). You are very happy with your system so the 'need' to change doesn't exist, just the curiosity about the potential of other components. I believe the Coincident Triumph would be an excellent starting point for a high level smaller room audio system. Charles,
Charles, agreed on the Psvanes. I google 101D every once in a while and this is the first time the PSvanes came up. I will probably give these a try at some point. PSvane tubes are generally pretty well received.
I saw the remote control CSL and the new integrated amps--looks like Israel has been busy. At some point I'd love to put together an all Coincident system. The only hang up is that my current set up is so good I just can't bring myself to mess with it. If I could find a used pair of Triumphs I'd be off and running on a bedroom system.
Heavy blues influenced jazz I happily recommend . 1, Milt Jackson and Ray Charles, "Soul Brothers Soul Meeting" pure joy to listen to.
2, Hank Crawford, " Low Flame High Heat" Crawford takes the lead on Alto Saxophone but the accompanying musicians provide gorgeous harmony and tone underpinning. This is very good blusey jazz. 3, Joe Turner, "Every Day I Have The Blues" Joe is a Chicago bluesman who tends to record with jazz men, it works out fine. Good Pablo label sound also.
Hi Brownsfan, I wasn't aware of the Psvane 101D, they must be relatively new. I wonder if Israel has tried them yet. Did you know that there's a remote control CSL version available now? This one uses resistor volume control rather than the transformers in our models. Charles,
Agear, Thanks for the comments and also the music recommendations. Many of those artists listed are unfamiliar so this is a opportunity to hear something new. Charles,
Agear, My humble apologies for allowing such an inconsequential topic as music to appear here. I take full responsibility for this wayward direction on audiogon and accept the shame. Tubes vs transistors anyone? Pinpoint imaging? Charles,
In all seriousness, when a system thread revolves around music, the host is in a good place sonically. I know that comment will keep Charles on his parade float even longer, but it had to be made.
I have dutifully noted the recs about (I too am a jazzophile). Here are some "alternative" recs:
1. Hadouk Trio a. Air Hadouk b. Live At Fip
2. Trio Chemirani, Invite 3. Joel Grare, Paris-Instabul-Shanghai 4. Hector Zazou & Swara, In the House of Mirrors 5. Jen Chapin, Light of Mine 6. Sara K, Are we there yet? 7. David Grisman & Tony Rice, Tone Poems 8. Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, So What
9. Dhafer Youssef a. Abu Nawas Rhapsody b. Divine Shadows
10. Jaques Pellen, Ephemera 11. Antoine Dufour, Existence 12. The Wailin' Jennys, Firecracker 13. Tchavolo Schmitt, Seven Gypsy Nights
During the time I had the HF CT-1 interconnects, they were not a good match with my system---too dark in the upper mids and highs. It's possible that these loaner cables (from the Cable Company) needed more time to break in fully, but I doubt it. The entry level model supposedly doesn't need the very long hours that the higher level models require.
I have to add that the absurdly tight RCA plugs made the CT-1 a non-starter for me. With a single dedicated input on my linestage, I occasionally unplug my cables in order to switch input sources. If the CT-1 was my main input cable, I would be concerned about damaging the RCA jacks on my equipment.
Hi Sal, You're welcome, I thought the Ocellia Silver cables would be a fine match with a revealing but natural sounding system such as yours. The Ocellia have minimal editorializing effects. What did you think of the HF CT1 cables? I use their Ultimate version for digital duties and I ove it, haven't heard their standard level cable however. Charles, .
Charles, by the way, I need to thank you for recommending the Ocellia Silver Reference interconnects. I have been using a set for the past month or so and they are really nice sounding. They have all the good things about silver without the bad. Many silver cables have colorations that bother me after a while, but not the Ocellia.
Dan, thanks for bringing up Shirley Scott. I haven't listened to her for a some time, so I pulled out some of my LPs and listened to most of the selections. I like her style--bouncy and energetic. My favorite of the 4 albums I have is "Blue Flames" with Stanley Turrentine (who she later married).
