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.
Beautiful system, Charles! I've read many of your posts in the past year and have found them quite helpful in expanding my neophytic (sp?!) knowledge base when it comes to all things audio. I'm in the process of upgrading and was wondering if it would be possible to chat with you. If so, my number is 707-568-1691. I live in northern California. My best to you, Michael
The link Rebbi posted below works fine for me. If you used the link provided in the thread he started today about his blog update, that link had a problem, which I've corrected in a post in that thread.
I'm glad you found the problem and corrected it. I agree with you, the Ocellia fly under the radar for sure. They just seem to be the ideal cable match for my taste and system character. I'm very happy to have discovered them a few years ago.
I have their IC and SC but not the power cables, I'm sure I'd love those as well.
The latest Coincident PC and the Cruze First Maestro PC interest me as well.
Sorry, with the new site changes I was unaware of new messages. I haven't heard the Coincident speaker cable. I've heard their IC and they are "really" quite good so I suspect the SC is every bit as good. The ICs are very open,transparent and natural IMO. In direct comparison with the Ocellia IC, the Ocellia is even more organic and seem a touch fuller as well as harmonically richer(subtle different). I believe you'd be very happy with the Coincident SC.
Charles, I just posted a follow-up note on my system page about the Ocellia power cord. It turns out to be much better than I realized. It just needed a better sounding IEC inlet on the preamp it was plugged into. It's a shame these Ocellia cable products are no longer readily available in the U.S.
Hey Charles, do you have any experience with the Coincident speaker cable? I've been getting close to upgrading in that area and saw some of the standard CST-1 posted.
I know you prefer silver, so I've been on the fence about making a simple choice to go with Coincident, or having to do more shopping/decision making/spending to find a good value silver wire.
Hi Charles, Be mindful of keeping the Turkey gravy away from the CDs tonight. God Bless you and give thanks for everything we are given, including your very fine page.
Man quiet around here lol. Here's a good one for you Charles, Cyrus Chestnut "Soul Brother Cool" with Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Dezron Douglas on bass, Willie Jones on drums. Nice and mellow great playing and a really relaxed groove, I saw Cyrus do a solo show once he's tremendous and really understand the importance of quiet. Cheers!
Man quiet around here lol. Here's a good one for you Charles, Cyrus Chestnut "Soul Brother Cool" with Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Dezron Douglas on bass, Willie Jones on drums. Nice and mellow great playing and a really relaxed groove, I saw Cyrus do a solo show once he's tremendous and really understand the importance of quiet. Cheers!
Man quiet around here lol. Here's a good one for you Charles, Cyrus Chestnut "Soul Brother Cool" with Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Dezron Douglas on bass, Willie Jones on drums. Nice and mellow great playing and a really relaxed groove, I saw Cyrus do a solo show once he's tremendous and really understand the importance of quiet. Cheers!
Man quiet around here lol. Here's a good one for you Charles, Cyrus Chestnut "Soul Brother Cool" with Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Dezron Douglas on bass, Willie Jones on drums. Nice and mellow great playing and a really relaxed groove, I saw Cyrus do a solo show once he's tremendous and really understand the importance of quiet. Cheers!
I have not yet. I am looking into 300Bs first and another rectifier. I am currently using Kenrad 6A3s and a run of the mill Sino 274B which Lucas said was almost as good as the Gucci stuff. I am looking into the Mullard fat boys you guys were discussing previously....
Andrew, Have you compared the 101D and the 300b in your DAC? I use 101D(Line stage) and 300b(amplifier). Both are superb music communicators, so I'm curious how these tubes fare in a very high quality source component such as your Lampizator Golden Gate. Charles,
He is a whiz. I was sitting in my office listening to Swiss Jazz Radio via my Sonos, and he came on. Wow. I am ordering the album as well. Reminds me a lot of the late, great Danny Gatton whom I saw live back in 88 while still in college. He was considered one of the greatest guitarists in the world at the time. This is a fun album:
