The 9100 was not the problem. I was still using the stock power cord on the Audio Research Ref 3. When I changed it out and put a Kubala-Sosna Emotion cable in its place everything sounded great.

I also have a Spectron Musician III SE amp coming to audition. I'll post more after I hear it.

kmiller5 September 20, 2007 21:12

System edited: I replaced the Modwright 999ES with the Modwright 9100. So far, the 9100 easily bests the 999ES in every way except in the treble range. The unit is brand new and I have only logged about 24 hours on it so I am hoping it will improve after is has a couple hundred hours. I will post more comments in a week or two.

kmiller5 August 15, 2007 01:20

The Audio Research Ref 3 is a big step up from the K-5xe in terms of having a lower noise floor, its ability to deal with complex passages, and ability to convey fine details. The layering of sounds is drastically improved and the bass is much tighter and deeper. I am very happy with the unit thus far.

kmiller5 July 25, 2007 23:34

System edited: So I am selling the Ayre K-5xe and replacing it with a Audio Research Ref 3 preamp. I am pretty excited and think this will be a big improvement. I'll post more results after continued listening

kmiller5 July 18, 2007 06:49

System edited: I switched out the Synergistic Research Resolution Reference X2 for the Kubala-Sosna Emotion speaker cable. The Emotion seems to have a lower noise floor and better bass while allowing more of the small details to shine through.

kmiller5 June 08, 2007 16:45

System edited: I recently purchased some used Shakti stones after reading some some postings on audiogon. I was skeptical and expected to turn right back around and sell them, but have had some great results on my RSA Haley and power source for my CD player. I would actually like to pick up a few more for my CD player, preamp, and amp. In any case, definitely worth an audition

kmiller5 November 03, 2006 23:01

System edited: I got a chance to change my system configuration and demo some Kubala-Sosna Emotion speaker cables with a BAT 51-SE preamp. The improvements were pretty amazing across the board. After getting the Kubala-Sosna Emotion speaker cable, I will look into upgrading my preamp. I am considering the Ayre K-1Xe, BAT 51-SE, VTL TL 6.5 and 7.5, Cary SLP 05, Levinson No 32, Aesthetix Calypso, and Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 mk2. If anyone has thoughts, I would love to hear them.

kmiller5 October 12, 2006 09:38

System edited: I've noticed that I am getting a some harsh sound in the treble range. I am not sure if this is due to room acoustics or components/cabling. If anyone has any ideas on how to tame this, let me know. I am going to try going from the stock cord on the Running Springs Audio Haley to the Cardas Mongoose to see if it makes a difference.

kmiller5 September 30, 2006 01:15

System edited: Here are some new pics. My speakers are having some work done and should be back within a week. I will post new pics when they get back.

kmiller5 July 30, 2006 19:28

The Pranawire is great. It provides a much greater sense of dimensionality and nuance over other cables lines I have heard. I was particularly impressed by how much the Kensho power cable cleaned up the sound on my amp allowed the music to shine through. The little details and nuances that had been missing with other cables lines can definitely be heard using the Pranawire cables.

kmiller5 July 30, 2006 18:56

The Auralex really cleaned up a great deal of the echo in the room. The sound is much clearer. I would like to get some traps for the corners or the room and some bass traps as well now.

kmiller5 July 25, 2006 19:40

System edited: I got a good deal on some 2X4 foot Auralex panels(2 inches thick) and decided to jump on the ability to start treating the room. I will post more comments after listening further.

kmiller5 July 11, 2006 10:27

System edited: I am up in Chicago now in a room that is 14'X 16' and am getting a nasty echo in the room. I am thinking of trying some room treatments in the upper corners of the room to eliminate the megaphone effect. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

kmiller5 July 03, 2006 02:01

System edited: I recently added a Pranawire Realization Kensho to my amp. It really cleans up the grunge and lets the music shine through. I highly recommend it for an amp. I also recently moved to Chicago so if there are any audiophiles in the area, let me know.

kmiller5 June 24, 2006 05:28

System edited: Unfortunately, my system will be out of commision for about 6 weeks since I am sending my speakers back to Vandersteen to fix the bases that Fedex destroyed. When they get back I will be switching over to Pranawire for my interconnects, speaker wire, and power cords. I will post more after getting a chance to listen

kmiller5 April 28, 2006 16:28

I am EXTREMELY pleased with the Vandersteen Quatros. They are much better than that 3A Signatures in my opinion. I've finished my evaluation of the Pranawire Realization Kensho. While I did not think it was markedly better on my CD player, it was definitely better on than the Synergistic Reference (which is quite good) on my preamp. I then placed the Realization Kensho on my amp. The differences were not subtle. Dynamics were drastically better while more controlled. I strongly endorse the Pranawire Realization Kensho for amps and possibly preamps. For a CD player, I think the Samhadi would probably be better.

kmiller5 April 28, 2006 05:11

System edited: The last week has been very interesting. I received my Quatro speakers and gave them a quick and dirty placement and a few tweaks. Unfortunately, Fedex damaged them in the move and now they need to be sent back to Vandersteen to be fixed. I am not too happy since this is going to be a 5-6 week process since Vandersteen is so backed up. On a more positive note, I've been playing around with interconnects again and am considering changing the system cabling. I got some Pranawire and some Kubala-Sosna Emotion interconnects and have been switching them in and out of my system and in different combinations to see what kind of effect I get. I must say that both cables are quite good and I felt that both were better than my Synergistic Research Designers' Reference, which I will be selling. Unfortunately, I only have one set of both cables so I can't run the whole system on either Pranawire or Kubala-Sosna. At this point, I was VERY impressed with the Pranawire and am thinking about getting all Nataraja cabling. I'd go for the higher level Cosmos, but it's just out of my league in terms of price. Besides, Joe has told me that he's working on some cables that will be better than the Cosmos. I will be receiving a Pranawire Realization Kensho power cord this week and if I like what I hear, I will be switching to those as well. In the meantime, I got a chance to play with different power cords on my Runnings Springs Audio Haley. The better the cord that I used, the better the dynamics got and the lower the noise floor became. I tried the Synergistic Research Reference Master Coupler vs the VH Audio Airsine and the Synergistic sounded better in my system. More to post in the upcoming weeks, but don't be surprised if you see the system title change to Vandersteen / Ayre / Pranawire

kmiller5 April 23, 2006 08:23

The internal amp only drives the subwoofer. The rest of the speaker is being driven by my Ayre V-5Xe which is quite good in my opinion. I never thought there was anything mid-fi about the Quatros in my listening sessions.

kmiller5 April 21, 2006 21:46

Last night I spent about 3 hours doing different compinations of Pranawire Nataraja, Kubala-Sosna Emotion, and Synergistic Designers' Reference Interconnects from CD to Preamp and Preamp to Amp. The best combination (and it wasn't close) was with the Nataraja on from CD player to Preamp and the Emotion from Preamp to Amp. I was simply amazed at how much better it was than my previos setup and the other iterations that I went through. I will post more as I do more listening

kmiller5 April 21, 2006 16:21

I actually had a V-3 with a K-3X a few years back and was running them with the Vandersteen 2Ce Sigs. I was fairly satisfied with the sound, but wanted to go more towards home theater and ended up dropping the K-3X. My experience has shown that the most important components in a system are the CD player and speakers. I am also amazed at the things some people say/post about cabling. Anyone who says cables don't make a difference simply needs to have their hearing checked.

I heard the Maggies, but in a different application and thought they sounded amazing. However, they were running off a Sony SCD-1 and about $30,000 of associated equipment so I don't think it was a fair comparison.

With the right gear, I don't think you can go wrong with either one of those speakers lines. I have heard all of the speakers in the Vandersteen line and must say that the 2Ce Sigs and Quatros are the best value in my opinion. The 3A Sigs, while better than the 2Ce Sigs, are not enough of an improvement to justify the price increase. The Quatros, however, take it to a whole new level. I have just started to listed, but they are amazing so far and I don't even have them dialed in properly in terms of setup.

kmiller5 April 21, 2006 16:16

The Quatros should be here on Wednesday. In the meantime, I've decided to seriously reconsider my system cables. Since no one seems to have done a shootout between Kubala-Sosna Emotion, Pranawire Nataraja, and Synergistic Research Designers' Reference, I've decided to do it myself. I will have all three interconnects here within the next week. I plan on running them from my CD player to my preamp and seeing which I like best. Depending on the results, I may recable the rest of my system with the cable that I like the best.

I am also planning on doing a cable shootout between Synergistic Research Reference Master Coupler X2, Pranawire Realization Kensho, and VH Audio Airsine.

kmiller5 April 17, 2006 01:30

I would love to....if I had them yet. Haha. They are on the way from CA. They should be here within a week. I am pretty excited. They came with a single ended crossover, but I am switching to a balanced one so that I can take fully advantage of the fully balanced circuitry in the Ayre K-5Xe and V-5Xe. I will post pics when they get here.

kmiller5 April 12, 2006 02:44

The Quatros are relatively new speakers from Vandersteen. They were designed to take the place of the older 5s. However, they have a much smaller profile. People I've talked to say that the Quatros are about 85-90% of what the 5As will do. Each speaker has a built in 300 watt sub and comes with a crossover that makes the bass fully adjustable to the room. This makes placement much easier.

kmiller5 April 11, 2006 13:02

System edited: Well, I have totally changed around my system and have gone from home theater to a purely 2 channel setup. I've upgraded my Vandersteen 2Ce Signature Speakers to Vandersteen Quatros, replaced my Arcam AV8 pre/pro with an Ayre K-5Xe dedicated 2 channel preamp, and am going to be running the system balanced instead of single ended. At some point, I would like to build the HT setup back, but at this point, I would rather have great 2 channel music. Hopefully, my changes are a step in the right direction. I've also added a Synergistic Research quattro power supply which seems to have added more air and smoothness to the music (even when running the HT setup) when run off a Synergistic Research master power coupler X2 active. Additionally, I purchased a Running Springs Audio Haley power conditioner. As my speakers have not arrived yet, I have yet to see what difference, if any, this will make. Despite comments I have read on this board about it improving the picture quality of the television, it did no such thing to mine. My biggest dilemma right now is whether to stick with the Synergistic Research and move up the line or switch to something else like Nordost Valhalla or Pranawire. I have talked to Joe Cohen at Pranawire and am looking into demoing some of his Deva interconnects and speaker wire. Maybe someone can tell me (after hearing them both) if this might be better than the Synergistic Research line.

kmiller5 April 09, 2006 05:53

Notice how Bcos doesn't post his system? It's because he changes his equipment about every 3 weeks trying to catch up to the sound mine has. Haha. Just kidding. Bcos is my old college roomie and his 2 channel system is pretty awesome. If he ever posts it, check it out.

kmiller5 April 01, 2006 00:08

I know that I need to get a dedicated preamp and upgrade my speakers to realize the true potential of my other equipment. I have considered an Ayre and BAT to compliment my Ayre V-5Xe. On the other hand, the Vandersteen Quatros are great, but at roughly $5500 used, that's a big chunk of cash for me. Any thoughts on which will make a bigger difference - preamp or speakers?

kmiller5 March 29, 2006 00:56

System edited: I sold my Arcam AV8 pre/pro and bought an Anthem Statement D-1. I will post more comment when the D-1 gets here. My main reason for selling is so I can run an XLR connection to my Ayre amp which sounds sigificantly better balanced. A Synergistic Quattro power supply has been added and am using a Synergistic Master Coupler X2 Active cable on it. The result has been a lowering of the noise floor, reduction of harshness, and more air. New speaker considerations are also taking place. I and am looking seriously at upgrading to some Vandersteen Quatros. Finally, I am also looking into upgrading my cables between my CD player and preamp/processor. Considerations include Synergistic, Nordost Valhalla, and Pranawire Deva.

kmiller5 March 24, 2006 03:13

I am constantly reconsidering my system and am currently thinking about going to a totally 2 channel system which would include upgraded speakers and a dedicated preamp with better interconnects and wire. I am in the process of auditioning new cables now and am considering Pure Note, Nordost, Jena Labs, Oritek, Cerious, VH Audio, and Pranawire.

kmiller5 March 06, 2006 11:25

Well, I can sum up the difference in a single word...HUGE. This upgrade has made the biggest change in my system in quite some time. Everything is more clear, the background is more black, the sound is more dynamic, the harsh treble is gone, and bass is more full and tight. I am very happy with my purchase. Even the DVD playback is better than it was on the Arcam DV 88, but this improvement is much more subtle.

kmiller5 February 18, 2006 06:21

I just bought a Modwright Platinum Truth Modded Player (sony 999es) and will replace my Arcam DV 88. I am hoping for a large improvement, but will post more after I've gotten a chance to listen

kmiller5 February 15, 2006 23:03

Before dropping a lot of cash, I would try to demo the Ayre K-5Xe. See if you can borrow one from a local dealer. I know the Halo has balanced connections, but I do not know if it is a fully balanaced design. My experience with Ayre has shown that the balanced connections are far superior in terms of sound quality. Everything I've read about how Ayre designs their units (fully balanced) would tend to support my claim. The noise floor is significantly lowered using the balanced connections. One of my main complaints about my current pre/pro is a lack of said connections. I have seriously considered switching to another unit like the Anthem Statement D-1, but to get truly get two channel music I think most people would agree that you need to get a dedicated 2 channel preamp, not a preamp/processor. Ayre, in my opinion, is at the top of the chart in the 2 channel preamp category.

I am just curious...is there any particular reason you decided to go with the Halo amp and B&W speakers? You said that you are looking for a, "great holographic presentation of the music. Imaging and instrument separation is important to me. I listen to mainly female vocalists. I want to try and recreate the "live" experience." There are a lot of great speakers in the price category of the B&W 802D. I would go out and listen to quite a few others before making the upgrade. If you can, get to a CES or HES show so you can hear a lot of the speakers at one time. I think you might find that there are other speakers more to your liking for the type of music you listen to. Just a guess. Good luck

kmiller5 February 09, 2006 03:49

Tboooe. I think you are referring to the K-5Xe preamp. The V series is for the amps I believe. It would also help if I knew what your other components were. I can tell you this though. I used to have the Ayre V-3 with the K-3X preamp and it was fantastic. It was very smooth with lots of air, solid bass, and a wide soundstage. I ended up selling the preamp because I listed to more home theater at the time. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake. The K-5Xe is undoubtedly better than the K-3X so I don't think you'll be disappointed - especially if you pair it with an Ayre amp.

kmiller5 February 08, 2006 08:12

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I should upgrade next? Since I am in school and about to move I'd like to hold off on the room treatments and I don't have the cash to upgrade to the Vandersteen Quatros. Consequently, I was thinking about upgrading the power conditioning. In particular I've been considering Shunyata and Running Springs. Has anyone done any direct comparisons between these two?

kmiller5 February 08, 2006 08:05

System edited: I recently updated the power cords to my amp and cd player. I am now using a Synergistic Research Reference Master coupler X2 on the Arcam DV88 and a Master Coupler X2 on the amp. Both cleaned up the sound and eliminated some harshness on the top end. I also got a new interconnect for the HGS 12 sub. It is now a Synergistic Phase I X2 cable. The tightness and depth of the bass were significantly improved over the old Tributaries interconnect. At this point I am looking at upgrading the speakers, power conditioning, and room treatments. I recently did a little test where I hung up a thick comforter on the back wall. Sound stage and clarity were drastically improved. The result was much better than upgrading the powercords. This leads me to believe that I am losing a lot of quality due to poor room acoustics.

kmiller5 February 04, 2006 05:15

Well, I added in my new pieces (Synergistic Research Resolution Reference X2 speaker wire, Ayre V-5Xe, and Arcam AV8) and the improvement was pretty drastic over my old pieces. (alpha core MI2 speaker wire, Ayre V-3, and Krell Showcase Pre/Pro). The system now has much cleaner sound. Also noticably improved is the air and overall dynamic nature of the music. Bass is much cleaner/tighter. The overall realism of the sound took a big step up. I also recently purchased a Synergistic Research Reference Master Coupler AC X2 for my CD player and a Synergistic Research Master Coupler AC X2 for my amp. They should be here within a week or so. I am hoping that they will make a big improvement over the SignalCable and stock amp cord that I am currently using on those units.

kmiller5 January 18, 2006 23:04

Well, I added in my new pieces (synergistic speaker wire, Ayre V-5Xe, and Arcam AV8) and the improvement was pretty drastic over my old pieces. (alpha core MI2 speaker wire, Ayre V-3, and Krell Showcase Pre/Pro). The system now has much cleaner sound. Also noticably improved is the air and overall dynamic nature of the music. Bass is much cleaner/tighter. The overall realism of the sound took a big step up. I also recently purchased a Synergistic Research Reference Master Coupler AC X2 for my CD player and a Synergistic Research Master Coupler AC X2 for my amp. They should be here within a week or so. I am hoping that they will make a big improvement over the SignalCable and stock amp cord that I am currently using on those units.

kmiller5 January 18, 2006 23:02

I thought the Magnepan with the Ayre was outstanding. I heard it off of a Sony SCD-1 and was blown away. The 3.6Rs were a bit out of my price range at the time so I decided to pass. I just got an Ayre V-5Xe and haven't gotten a chance to hook it up yet so I am excited to hear the difference over the V-3. I've heard it on other setups and it was quite large.

kmiller5 January 07, 2006 04:38

I would love to know how much difference it would make to upgrade my SignalCable power cords to something like Synergistic Research AC Master Active. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of upgrade? How about adding the quattro power supply?

kmiller5 January 06, 2006 11:07

It's interesting that you made the comment about the 2Ce Signatures. Until recently, I had an Ayre V-3 pushing the 2Ce Sigs. I found a good deal on a V-5xe so I bought it. I also just purchased some 3As that I am probably going to have upgraded to 3A Sigs.

I've heard the Ayre amps with Thiel, Vandersteen, Paradigm, Gallo, and Magnepan. I liked the Vandersteen and Thiels the best. For the money, I think the 2Ce Sigs are tough to beat. I liked the Thiels, but they are just so power hungry that I decided to pass since I only had the V-3 at the time. I've heard quite a few other speakers as well, but not off an Ayre amp.

I think the Vandersteens are very picky about the amplification, interconnects and wire, and placement. I've heard the 2Ce Sigs run off of some other amps, interconnects, and wire and thought they sounded terrible. I've also heard them setup in such a way that I thought they outperformed $5000+ speakers. With the right setup, I believe the transparency and resolution can be achieved.

I would not say that the 2Ce Sigs do anything fabulously like some other speakers. However, I think, unlike many other speakers, that they do everything well. I've heard speakers with great highs or midrange...others with great bass. To me, none of the full range speakers in the same price category pulled it all together. Just my opinion.

kmiller5 January 02, 2006 11:09

Anyone have any suggestions on what steps I might take to better my system?

kmiller5 December 31, 2005 04:42