Description

Well, this configuration has kept the upgrade demons at bay for approximately 10 months. It won't last. It never does.

And it hasn't....a syndrome I've decided to call audiophilia nervioso. If you've chased the audio dragon, turned your back an perfectly good equipment to "upgrade", or otherwise felt that your fulfilment as a human individual trapped in flesh depends on the addition of that new all-singing, all-dancing wonder-gizmo to your system, you've exhibited the symptoms. A glorious affliction, but an affliction none the less.

OK, some crummy pictures. Why not. As you can now see, stuck in the living room with sub-optimal acoustics. Like it or no, it's the room I'm stuck with. Alas. Yet, all things considered, sounds pretty darn swell. And one day, I'll give it the room it deserves....
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Components Toggle details

    • Mac Mini
    All ripped AIFF, running USB digital out, sitting on top of a 2TB drive.
    • Ayre QB-9
    "One DAC to rule them all...?" Nonsense, but it is pretty darn wonderful.
    • Meridian 508.24
    A really swell, older CDP.
    • Jeff Rowland Concerto
    Yup, it's a preamplifier.
    • Jeff Rowland 201 Monoblocks
    Monoblock. Most effective, when driving two speakers, in a "paired" configuration. So, two.
    • Verity Audio Parsifal Encore
    Quilted maple. Pretty.
    • Thiel Audio SCS3
    Single, center channel
    • Kimber Monocle XL
    Eh, they're pretty thick.
    • Homegrown Silver Lace
    Balanced.
    • Cardas Golden Cross
    .5m XLR (with the new Clear terminations)
    • Homegrown Super Silver IC
    The Kimber KGAC clone
    • Custom Audio LLC Reference Gold power cord
    Upgraded (x2) and stock (x2)
    • Neuance Shelf
    Under the Meridian, on top of small Michell Tenderfeet.
    • DH Cones and Squares (Medium)
    x3 under the Rowland & x3 under the Ayre
    • Richard Gray 400s
    They insted on a comment. Here's my comment.
    • Marantz SR-7000
    Reveiver, 105wpc(x5).
    • Oppo 980H
    DVD player. Plays DVDs.
    • Salamander Archetype
    Cherry, w/ bridge and assorted extras.
    • Definitive Technology BP-X
    Pair of bipolar surrounds

Comments 19

Indeed….they are! The Verity! I just sold my Rienzis and I almost cried the moment they got out the door….. Looking for a pair like yours right now. Love their sound.

fredag

Beautiful Verity Audio loudspeakers.
Happy Listening!

jafant

Owner
Thanks. Actually paid 75 cents for that map in Lenningrad in 1989. And many years later, spent $800 to get it mounted and framed, and more than I would like to think about getting that bookcase built around it. Cheapest expensive map I've ever met. Stranger still, it has exactly 5 cities on it in the US: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and El Paso. Washington D.C., you ask? Nope. And, wait, did you say El Paso? Yup. Strange map.

mezmo

What a great system! I love drooling over Jeff Rowland gear...

Great room too! I like the map/bookshelf across the room.

chriswilson

Owner
B, cheers. We'll have to compare notes one of these days.

Dave, interesting, thanks. I'd looked into similar things from the likes of Lyngdorf and others. The one conceptual nit I have to pick with these separate-box solutions to digital room correction is that most of them go analog to digital, apply DRC in the digital realm, and then go back to digital. As I already have a DAC I like, seemed silly to then go A to D and then back D to A a second time. The DSPeaker is interesting as you can go straight in USB and skip the extra steps. I'd also looked into software plugins that I could run right on the Mac Mini before I even offload to the DAC. There are some options in that camp, but a little complicated to get there. Suspect that there will be more with time, and kinda resigned myself to wait and see. But we're definitely thinking along the same lines, and thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely check it out.

mezmo

Mezmo,

With respect to the mid-bass hump you mentioned in your March 10 post, have you tried the DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core? I had a similar problem in my room -- I listen mostly to classical music and the resonance in the lower range of cellos was driving me nuts. The Dual Core took care of that for me. It's very easy to set up and use. Also, I think some dealers will allow a 30-day trial.

Dave

goober

Hey Mez, wanted you to get this and didn't think you would if I posted it on the thread "listener fatigue". Don't apologize for "hi jacking the thread". Thanks a million for the female vocalists recommendations :-)
I will check each and every one out; thank-you!!

b_limo

Owner
Thanks. The speakers are really doing it for me, gotta admit. And the room,
while comfy, is by orders of magnitude my weak link when it comes to
audio. As much as I'd love some aggressive room treatment, there's no
way the wife would let me get away with it, and to be perfectly honest, not
totally sure I'm eager to make that kind of mess either. It's a dedicated
room, to be sure, but dedicated to things other than my stereo habit....

In room response isn't terrible (not great, and far from flat, but not terrible
on the actual numbers and waterfall). My worst audible artifact is that the
room's very excitable in a fairly narrow band in the mid bass. The dreaded
mid bass hump. Fast, tight and articulate, except for that one note on the
standup bass -- which goes all bloated and boomy (lost all my
measurement data on a hard drive fail, so don't recall the exact frequency,
but there's no mistaking it). Wish there were an easy fix for that, but I ain't
yet found it....

mezmo

I'm jealous, system looks like it sounds wonderful and still comfortable. Love them speakers.

Jeff

jdodmead

Owner
The fickle upgrade gremlins got me again. The Thiel 2.3's served me well
for 12 years. Damn fine speakers. The Parsifals are better, though. A lot. I
blame it on the new DAC, opened the door on all kinds of pain....

mezmo

Owner
System edited: Well, been converting to a Mac-driven system.
Spent about a year with a MHDT Havana for a DAC. It really
is a pretty nice piece of gear, but requires a bit more
volume to really open up and blossom than I can reliably put
into it (you know, folks to share the house with and
all...). And, as a non-oversampling DAC, it's hardly the
last word in resolution, something in particular that I
found myself longing for more of. So, the Ayre. Came down
to that an the new Bel Canto 3.5. The Bel Canto, in my
listening, has the edge on pinpoint soundstaging and
uncompromising resolution, whereas the Ayre threw a
soundstage of the same dimensions, but with only a hair less
pinpoint separation. Resolution wise, the Ayre, while still
conveying a fantastic amount of data, was somewhat more
relaxed and less etched. Warmer. Otherwise, both pretty
similar. Being that this is precisely what I've always
chased (through tubes and eventually to the Meridian CDP),
the Ayre was clearly the one for me. And, for a couple
grand less than the Bel Canto with the seperate power supply
and the additional converter you'd need as it lacks USB, an
easy choice. Anywho, the latest....

mezmo

Owner
Luckily, I figured out that trick a while ago -- you buy HER the digital camera....

Cheers for the comments. It may not be to everyone's taste (although I don't see why it shouldn't be;), but the combo certainly makes me happy.

Now, if I could only manage to remember that two years from now when I just "need" that next all-dancing, all-singing wonder-gizmo upon which my realization and fulfillment as a human being becomes entirely dependent.... Audiophilia nervioso? I just know it, somewhere, someplace, there's something "better."

mezmo

Okay, so sell off the extras and maybe she'll let you get a digital camera so you can show us your nice system! ;-)

Congrats on a very nice set up. I once had the 2.3's and they are good indeed. Im sure the Rowlands are a good match too.

kehut

Owner
System edited: OK, got the Rowland gear I've always been not-so-secretly coveting. It's awfully nice. Unfortunately, this means I am now up to three extra preamplifiers and one extra amp. No way the wife is going to let me keep all that extra stuff....

mezmo

You happy with the Kimber Monocles and the Plinius? I have a Plinius integrated (8200 mkII) going into Cabasse Farella speakers. The pairing is on the "dark side" and I'm looking to breathe a litte lightness into the highs. Kimber was suggested by another denizen of this site, but I've not heard them. Nice system you have there!!

cpdunn99

Owner
System edited: Pulled the Rogue 99 and swapped it with the Plinius. Wanted to give the tubes a break, and the Plinius is more than up to the task of equalling, and in some regards surpassing, the Rogue (so far).

mezmo

Owner
Love the Rogue, but I've always had tubes in front of the Bryston, so I can't compare in that regard. (Came from a VTL TL 2.5 which, though a decent tubed pramp, was gleefully trounced by the Rogue).

mezmo

how do you like the rogue? Did you have a ss pre with the bryston before you got the rogue? If so, what was the sound before and after the tubes.

sogood51

Owner
System edited:

mezmo

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