This is my first high end system. I first have to thank this community without which most of this equipment would be out of my range. So thanks!!
EDIT: Hi there. This is the second rendition. Had to send the Focal back to Canada for repairs. The woofer was off-center thus the rattle. I must say though customer service was great, with a quick turn around, no charge for shipping to and from, and no charge for the repair. A++ to Focal for that!!
Isolated the speakers on great maple stands. This definately brought out the best of the Focals. Deeper bass, nice tingly highs. Mids might be lacking a little for this mini-monitors though.
Changed CD players as well. Went from the marantz/bel canto combo to the audio aero prestige. As expected from an upgrade like this I was blown away. The detail, sheer musicality, and functionality of this player are just astounding. Really for the first couple of weeks I had this player I was just floored. And that feeling continues. Ultimately what I am looking for is a system that just makes me want to get up and dance, sing, keep my feet tapping and fingers snapping each time i listen. The prestige does this in spades.
Also upgraded power cords in the shunyata line. 20amp pythons now power the conditioners. I think big improvement in floor noise and my system just seems more extended.
Finally, with the recommendations of many fine audiogon folks, I stepped into vinyl. Man I love it. I love the sound, I love getting back into records and finding recordings that peak my interest. Just great. The Scoutmaster as is well known is a fine entry turn table. The Dynavector matches well. The tube based minimax gives me a nice touch of that tube beauty. Just lovely.
Thanks again for looking. Any comments suggestions appreciated. I am currently working on building a maple isolation platform for the table.
Hi. Great system! The JM Lab Electras are very nice. I have similar speakers and I love the sound. I'm very curious about Audio Aero front end. It looks like you are satisfied with yours. Can you elaborate about the sound? What are the likes and dislikes?
Upgraded to new C500T preamp which has been impressive from the start. The midrange...detail, depth, warmth, instrument separation, and such decay on cymbals and piano. Great synergy. The bass that comes out of my Dali's is pretty impressive...but not on all recordings.
Just downloaded the update for my emmLabs CD SACD player and the midrange took another step in details on redbook.
Next updates should be power cords for my MC275 and new tubes for my C500T and MC275, and new ICs from C500T to emmLabs CD player.
System edited: i've cahnged a lot recently and am excited to share those changes with the community, once I get everything together, for feedback and comments. Cheers
Lapierre, interstingly I was admiring your system today from a thread you posted on. Well done! The dali's were on my short list of speakers, how do you enjoy them? Plus the EMM cdp. Nice player. A the time I choose the Prestige, the Emm SE version was just appearing on the market and the reviews were great. I hope you are indulging in its sound!
Adding the hydra 6 reslly had little verifiable effect. What had a more profound effect was changing the power cord that fed the 6 from a copperhead to the python. Things changed dramatically then! My system seeemed to open up and the power loving Rowlands translated thier control over the Focals into an effortless relationship. It was really a cool cahnge.
Next tweak? My system has changed so much since this posting its hard to tell. You?
The JM Lab Electra 1007 Be Monitors... one my favorite monitors. I love seeing great components matched with well-designed monitors and your setup is a reminder of what you can accomplish in a small listening environment.
Couple of questions on you setup...
What did you notice in your system after the Shunyata 6 was introduced to your front-end?
Spencer thanks for the comments. I've though often about how to move this beast to the side and run longer interconnects betwen than amp and the doshi. Aesthetically, I think I would enjoy looking at just the speakers with an amp in between them plus the added benifit like you mentione dos imaging and soundstage. maybe even a measure of vibration control?
Beauty of a set-up for you as well. Lovely DIY rack which I always appreciate.
Peter, congrats on your new Doshi. I'm sure it's letting you hear even more of what your ScoutMaster & Dyna can do.
I like the way you've displayed your gear without sacrificing attention to isolation. It looks great, and I'm sure it sounds great.
One idea for you if space, etc. allow. If you ever could move the big rack to a side wall and run longer speaker cables, or leave the amps only there, and run longer interconnect to the Doshi, give it a try. The open space between the speakers will help imaging and soundstage immensely. Just a thought...Cheers, Spencer
Thanks guys. Tvad, I always welcome it when you visit my system. Dewald, Mechans, thnaks for the kind words. The sound, well it certianly is an improvement.
Actually played my first SACD yesterday. These are hard to find where I live so had to order one online. Wow, their really is a vast improvement over the standard redbook. Of course I have no a past expereince to speak from but I imagine the prestige holds its own in the SACD playback realm. The sound is clear, detailed, and emotional. It draws me in and keeps me there even at lower levels.
Overall I am impressed with the prestiges ability to keep me interested in the music emotionally. The bel canto/marantz did this only in finite amounts. The prestige does this in spades and is the cornerstone of my system. I plug it directly into the Rowlands. The Rowlands being fairly neutral allow to tubed output stage of the prestige to shine. Very musucal. Not having a preamp, I have not had the opportunity to try the prestige in this format.
Then there is vinyl. This is truly capturing my imagination. I fully enjoy the ritual of playing vinyl, the little bit of work that has to go into the process before that glorious sound arises. Something about slowing it down makes the enjoyment that much more. Of course, I have to move slowly here as my better half is certianly cautious about the vinyl scene. She doesn't want me to become one of those nuts who won't let others touch their records, has to wear white gloves, and in general obsesses over turntable tuning. Will I become this person? Maybe I already am.
Thanks again. Let me know any ideas or suggestions you have. These improvments were certianly not my own doing but the culmination of suggestions from wiser folks than me in this community. More of those is always welcome.
For a person who has not tried to achieve great sound inexpensivley you certainly are precocious. It would have been my final destination but I am caught up in the upgaditis cycle. Congrats on selecting components that make that system the envy of even seasoned audiophiles.
I have not read all the thread, but looks to me like a pretty nice system but with a challenge in speaker placement.
I would suggest to you to try to place your speakers in dedicated stands and place them at 1/3th of your room lenght size and 1/5 of your walls (L-R) and give it a try from there.
Again, maybe this was recommended earlier in the thread, so it would be adding up to such comment.
Thanks for the responses. Mike, I have decided from this forum feedback to take the speakers off the credenza and put them on stands. It seems like this is an overwhelming consensus here.
Also, the rattle only got worse. I took off the back panel, peered in there a bit with a flashlight, fiddled around but really could not determine what was going on. Not wanting to negate any type of warranty be fiddling around, I just boxed it up and sent it back to the manufacture. Thankfully, they paid for shipping to and from as well as telling me so far, i should have to pay nothing to get it fixed. Bummer is, as soon as I got my system up and running, its down now and a month turn around on the speaker. Oh well.
So in the mean time I am looking to make some improvements. A balanced tube preamp seems to be a good place to start plus people have qued me into a player from Audio Aero called the capitole which some have said has a great "analog" sound. All of this to add some of that tube sound to my digital world. I am considering aethetix calypso, valve audio black widow and various models of BAT for a balanced pre. Any thoughts on anything really!
I am using the Graham Slee Era IV gold preamp with good results. I am sure there is better but it fits in nicely with the performance level of the rest of my gear.
As far as the platforms go, I haven't experimented much with different ones. Basically I will build a platform and try it. So my comparisons have been basically with or without. My best results were for my sub. I built a platform around 6 inches think using 3/4 inch maple ply and filled it with about 75lbs of sand. It really tightened up and defined the bass. Much cleaner and deeper. I think it also helped to decouple the sub from the floor for the sake of my other components as I don't feel they are gettng as much resonance/vibration through the floor anymore. My speakers are towers and they are spiked to the floor so I can't offer knowledge on platforms for the speakers themselves. You mentioned the mapleshade catalog and I believe they make several different platforms but I have no experience with them.
The Valve Audio gear is hand made in South Africa. It does have balanced outputs and it is a absolute stunning performer. I doesnt have a phono-stage but it is a bit better to use a external dedicated phono pre-amp like the Graham Slee... Valve Audio also recommends Graham Slee.
Send me an e-mail at: [email protected] then I can send you some 'inside' pictures of Valve Audio...
Maria; beautiful setup, congrats. you are starting at a pretty good place.
do you continue to have the 'rattle'? i read thru the thread and no mention of a solution.
if the space issues require the speakers to set on the credenza; you need to somehow 'de-couple' the speakers from the top of the credenza to attain the refinement that the gear is capable of. it appears you are using some sort of wood 'footer' to ground your speaker to the credenza. this grounding to a vibration rich piece of furniture will be counter-productive to the best sound.
i might recommend trying to find a set of 'Aurios' or 'Pro Aurios' for sale used. you would need a set of 3 for each speaker. they will allow your speakers to 'float' on top of the credenza. you will be amazed at the additional image focus, detail, and bass articulation that would yield.
in any case, thanks for sharing your system and pictures.....and enjoy the music.
MATT, thanks for the response. I just ran across the marantz today for the first time. A real beauty! What are you using for a pre amp?
i also built most of my own isolation, rack and cut the granite and maple to form for my platforms. Tell me, how thick are your isolation blocks. Are you seeing better performance from say 2" to 4" or anything like that?
Hi, very nice setup. I have the JMLab 937bes in my system and love them. As noted above you could certainly benefit from stands but if you don't have room you should at least put some isolation platforms under your speakers. I custom build most of my own isolation devices using hardwoods like maple filled with sand and use vibrapods for feet. I have had very good luck and the price is right. If you find it doesn't work for you then you are not out alot of money. I also recently got back into vinyl within the past year. Rega and VPI are certainly excellent and provide a good upgrade path. I ended up getting a Marantz TT15S1 that I am extremely happy with. Very easy to set-up for a begginer and excellent performance. I am also using the Graham Slee Era Gold IV for a pre and it is a great value.
Dewald, Thanks for all that info. The valve pre looks fantastic and well built. Where is it made? i had a hard time finding some specs on it, but one of the features a pre must have is balanced outs for my jeff Rowlands. Do you know if the valve has such? Also does it have a phono stage? I haven't gotten to investigate the other gear yet but will certianly be asking some questions considering all the great info you provided me. I appreciate your time.
Sorry, I did not notice that the Bel Canto is a DAC only.
Okay for the pre-amp: Have a look at the Valve Audio Black Widow Pre-Amps. These units are hand-built in my home-country by my good friend Mr. Havenga. Its quality beyond imagination. It has balanced in/outputs and uses tubes in the gain stages. I would say that a tube pre-amp like this one will work wonders with your Jeff Roland digital power-amps. You connect the poweramps to the Black Widow outputs and then the BelCanto DAC to say BAL1 and the phono to SE1 and the Tuner to SE2. It has a quality remote control and is very easy to use. See it here:
Tell me dewald, if I were to move into a pre-amp with a phono stage which would you recommend. Also, what would the connection process be via my cd transport to my dac to some pre amp. What kind of cabling would this involve. I think a pre with a phono stage is up my alley so I could also add a tuner. What should I be looking for?
I just investigated mapleshades massive maple speaker stand, the rooted buttress. Looks real impressive and reasonably priced. Any thoughts on that.
Stands: Anything that is very heavy and at least 600mm high - get the tweeter at ear-level at listening position. If you can get stands that is hollow to put sand in so much better.
Yup - Rega. It is quality tables with only the most nessesary stuff. Sounds very good indeed and is childsplay to set up. Easily upgradable. Looks sexy and well... is just amazing. Even the higher-end Rega P7 is stunning compared to other highend tables. Dont ever be tempted to buy a Pro-Ject machine - they have motor-hum problems.
Cartidge wise: Sumiko EVOIII MC - best place to start.
Just get the speakers on their own pedestals and then youll be 'singin''.
A good place to start with vinyl is a Rega P3 turntable - it is plug and play and sounds stunning for the price. Then slowly buy some LP titles - no need to rush. Music Direct has hundreds of stunning titles...
