4 shelf design in the Flexy tradition, executed with the highest possible quality materials - solid 3/4" brass rod, all brass hardware, 2" think solid maple shelves, internally threaded Audio Points for the floor interface
Audio Points various
mechanical diodes? nice cones? either way, they are very effective.
JVC XL-Z1050TN
Quite modified - the analog output stage has been bypassed, with the DAC directly driving the outputs via a single capacitor. Power supply has been rebuilt and modified; chassis strengthened and damped. I still find this unit to be one of the most musically satisfying CDPs I've heard in its price class.
Thanks for the response. The Berning (or more appropriately, a Berning) amplifier has been a part of my system for a very long time. It's speed, transparency and dynamic subtlety has been tough to match. Berning's use of a switch-mode power supply has everything to do with this, and if you've never heard one in your system, I would highly recommend an audition sometime; conversely, I'd love to hear what Israel's amps could do mated with a speaker around which the amp was designed - I'm sure it's good stuff. Happy listening!
System edited: It's been a busy few months. Lyra Skala added some time ago and I like it quite a bit - a Lyra with some harmonic meat on the bones if you will. Coincident Total Eclipses - they certainly perform well above what my previous Meadowlarks could do, although after two months, I'm still hunting for the 'correct' spot in the room for them - since they move a lot of air, placement has been more of a challenge than previous speakers. I'm a slow mover on stuff like this: listen, make 1cm adjustments, listen for a couple of days, go back and start again. It will be another 6 months before I arrive at the absolute perfect spot for them in the room... The change has made me appreciate just how good the Meadowlarks Shearwater HRs actually are - the Coincidents certainly give me a much wider frequency range, better dynamics and scale and have a wonderfully transparent and open top end, and many more hi-fi things are done well - but they give up some ease of musicality at the same time - more time to explore is required before arriving at a final judgment on them. They are fun to listen to at any rate. -Richard
Thanks for the kind words Larry; it's a work in progress.
Let me (us) know how you like Berning's latest amp(s) - I have a feeling I'm going to be moving in the other direction with regards to power - I'm thinking small these days!! If only he still built the Sigfrieds...
