Our philosophy is to "buy and hold". We try to buy the best, not only because it only hurts once, but in the long run it costs less money. We are fortunate to have a dedicated listening room, specifically designed for audio
Our current monitor system reflects a heartfelt appreciation for some of the smaller manufacturers in our hobby.
With this system we "voice" each and everyone of our cables.
Almost all of our system components barely appear for sale on auction websites, some never.
Why? Because they are keepers for life.
As far as we know, never in our history, our cables have appear in one of these websites for sale as "Used"
Music Server with 2T storage and friendly interface
OYAIDE DR-510 Digital Cable
Pure Silver Digital Cable
YAMAMOTO SOUND CRAFT CORP YDA-01B
Vacuum tube output circuit DA converger unit with WE408A Valves
Ortofon SPU Classic GM E MkII
Embodies the essence of the original Moving Coils and are a perfect solution for the playback of both early and modern and contemporary stereo recordings
THOMAS SCHICK 12
THOMAS SCHICK developed his tonearm to meet a very specific need- he wanted an arm that could handle the classic heavy, low compliance cartridges like the Ortofon SPU, Denon 103 along with médium compliance designs, but with modern high quality bearings
GARRARD 401
Classic Idler-Wheel Transcription Turntable on a Hawaiian Koa Plinth Custom Made by Woodsong Audio for Plasencia & Hijos
BOB DEVICE'S Peerless 4722 SUT
Step-Up Device with Peerless 4722 Transformer's Custom Made by Bob Sattin for Plasencia & Hijos
AUDION Silver Night Premier MM Phono Stage
Triode Pure Class A Phono Stage with Mullard ECC88 Valves
SHINDO LABORATORY Apetite Stereo Line Amplifier
6V6 Push-Pull Stereo Line Amplifier
AUDITORIUM 23 A23
For comparison A/B test purposes
DAEDALUS AUDIO Muse Speakers
First Unit, Maple , Custom And Hand Made by Lou Hinkley in Maple for Plasencia & Hijos
Antonio, I'm not surprised that Samuel Furon would like the Yamamoto DAC and recommend it. I suspect that he and Shigeki Yamamoto would have very similar hearing and listening taste based on their emphasis on preserving natural sound. Charles,
Living in Mexico places me in a very difficult situation to audition almost any equipment, also, I dont live in Mexico city, there at least you can audition the "Usual Suspects" such a Krell, Audio Research, Levinson, McIntosh, etc...
So after decades on this hobby, it has been a trial and error, matching and dismatching, I have had lots of stuff over the years, I keep some of them, some has been sold.
Ultimetaly, my Reference / Monitor System is the one I described above.
Some of the equipment it comes to mind I have had in the past , and some stil keep.
DIGITAL:
-California Audio Labs Aria MKIII (Tube) -Metronome Technologie CD1V (Tube) -GamuT - CD1 -Rega Planet 2000 -PS Audio Lambda CD Transport -Goldmund Mimesis 12 DAC
Preamplifiers:
-The Mod Squad Deluxe Line Drive -Luminous Audio Axiom -Krell KSL -Cello Etude
Amplifiers:
-McIntosh MC 754 -Carver Model 1.0 -Krell KSA-150 -Cary Audio Design - 300 SEI -Goldmund SRA Power Amplifier -Cello Duet 350
Speakers:
-Carver Amazing Loudspeakers -Polk - -Sota Time Domain IV -Piega P4L -Acoustic Zen Adagio -Acuhorn rosso superiore175
Cables for A/B comparisons:
-Cardas -Van den Hul -Stealth -Ps Audio -Luminous Audio -Cable MAD -Straight Wire -Midwest Audio -DH Labs -Apature -Madrigal Audio Labs -Zu Audio -Shunyata Research -Acustic Zen -XLO -Audioquest -Siltech -Cello Strings One -Auditorium 23 -Bogdan Audio
Almost everything I purchased until a few year ago , was purchased NEW. And I got a few chances to hear before purchasing.
I look forward to support fine artisans of this hobby, that are not necesarly big ad spenders, and that their work speak for themselves.
Such is the case of Ken Shindo , Shigeki Yamamoto and Samuel Furon
Samuel sold me the Yamamoto DAC and highly recommended it to me.
Hi Antonio, You have developed a system that probably is very natural and communicative and lets the music flow and breath. How did you discover the Yamamoto DAC? This precious music preserving DAC is not well recognized for its organic rightness. Charles,
You've made some enviable choices that I appreciate. As another Garrard 401 owner, I have long admired Chris Harban's work, I bought my Dynavector 501 arm from him. He's quite a skilled craftsman, and good to deal with.
