These speakers are version 2 of Aerial Acoustics' pinnacle speaker design. The workmanship is outstanding. They have 2" thick cabinet walls with heavy cherry veneer. The wiring and components are all premium grade. They use a 4" ribbon tweeter and proprietary Scan-Speak drivers. A true 20HZ to 20,000HZ speaker that is very musical.
Eversolo DMP-A10 and AMP-F10
These are Eversolo's top-of-the-line power and digital preamp, DAC, streamer and DSP components. They are designed to work together and to keep all electronic noise to an absolute minimum. The A10 uses dual power supplies - one for analog and one for digital. Its volume control is a stepped-ladder R2R. And, has a built-in proprietary clocking system. The signal-to-noise ratio is over 130Db!
The F10 power amplifier uses dual differential power modules, dual power supplies and a proprietary DC filtering system. I run two of them as monoblocks for an incredible 950 w/ch and 70dB of current
With the Aerial 20T V2 speakers these components present a huge soundstage that is silky smooth and powerful.
ModWright Signature Truth SCD XA5400ES
ModWright Signature Truth SCD XA5400ES with external tube rectified power supply. I've added Sophia Electric blue 6SN7 tubes to the output stage. I still have a significant CD collection. Overall, great analog type sound.
Audioquest Dragon Interconnects, Power Cables and Speaker Cables
Expensive but worth it if you want the absolute best out of your system.
Synergistic Research Black Box
The Black Box is a Low Frequency Resonator Array that works in conjunction with the Subwoofers, Atmospheres and FEQ X4 to solve bass node issues.
Synergistic Research ART System
This is Synergistic Research's older acoustic system that's based on resonators. It works very well with their current UEF system and provides excellent results. Complete ART systems are getting hard to find.
The UEF Panels, UEF Dots, Black Box, Risers, ECT and GCT are all types of sound resonators. I use an Atmosphere XL-4 (green ATM), Atmosphere (red ATM), FEQ X4 (2) (red ATMs) and Mini-Atmosphere (green ATM) - when used with the Synergistic Research control software they generate various frequencies of Schumann Resonances around the room. Bottom line they work: create a huge/realistic listening experience!
Synergistic Research Tranquility Pod
The Tranquility Pod hasowered UEF and grounding technology. It works with the SR Atmospheres that I have distributed around the room. Very effective with digital sources.
Electric Bamboo, ADD-Powr Sorcer and ElectraClear EAU-1
The Electric Bamboo is an excellent but very rare line conditioner. All hand-built around a massive transformer wired and grounded in the classic star configuration. The ADD-Powr and ElectraClear devices actually add electromagnetics (EM) to the AC line using an active circuit and algorithm. Contrary to popular belief not all EM is bad for sound quality in stereo systems. The proof is in the listening.
Vera-Fi Audio MainStream, SnubWay and Puron AC Line Conditioners
I use these conditioners as additives to my power conditioner. They give a more realistic presentation/soundstage and reveal more texture and impact to the overall sound especially in the bass.
Stein H2 Harmonizer system
I have 4 Stein H2s in my system.I went with one in each of corner of the room with a Stein stone on each and a Stein diamond on the ceiling in the center of the room. They add layers and layers of depth with each vocalist/instrument being in their own separate but integrated spaces.
Akiko Audio Tuning Stick; Kemp QA Plug (2) and Zero One (2)
The Akiko Audio tuning stick is another grounding product that works with internal crystals. The Kemp and Zero One products keep the electrons spinning around the electronic signals as uniform as possible and add a more standard frequency Schumann Resonance as compared to the Synergistic Research products which variable frequencies. .
Audio Magic Pulsed Electron Alignment
The PEAs are battery powered and affect Spintronics have the ability to control or manipulate how electrons spin. Electrons spinning around electronic signals carry audio information. The goal of the PEA devices its to get the electrons spinning as uniformly as possible. It opens up the sound and makes subtle cues in the music even more real.
StillPoint footers with risers
I use original Stillpoints (with risers) under my amp, amp's power supply, streamer and DAC. These are still some of the best footers available in my opinion.
This company has now closed because the owner has passed away. These products work to achieve a uniform and consistent RF/EMI and electron treatment around components.
Keep us apprised David. I heard back from my friend. He doesn't want to be in in the Tekton Wars as he put it. He did move things around by moving the speakers about a foot closer to the front wall but not toed-in. He's also not sure about his cables. I told him wait for the WE cable to arrive (he ordered them when I was there) and let them burn-in. Also, he says the Ayre DAC is much better than the DAC in the Halo. I'm going to bow-out now on this subject. It was still a fun day.
You are welcome, Scott. Hopefully your friend follows your advice and goes with the changes you suggested and made.
I'm waiting for two components to be shipped to me. Once they are run in and settled, I will start fine (hyper) tuning speaker placement and working on peripheral adjustments/changes. I'm curious as to what (and the degree of) additional improvements are waiting to be discovered and realized.
Thanks David. Always a gentleman. I really mixed things up for him. I’m going to let the dust settle and see where he ends-up. Who knows maybe he was just being polite and moved everything back after I left!!
Awesome setup results and writeup! Your findings would be really helpful to others on the Tekton thread. Hope you can get your friend's permission to post there or for him/her to post directly.
Positioning, Placement, Cabling, Amplifier related improvements across the board. You hit gold! : )
I recently was asked to help an online friend dial-in a pair of Double Impacts. It was a 1.5 hour drive for me each way but I agreed since it would give me a chance to listen to them for most of a day and get a much better understanding of that speaker. Whether good or bad, he agreed I could post my thoughts on this system page.
My first impression was those things are big! I was certainly glad he had them in his listening room before I arrived. He was running them with a Cary 300SE integrated which is a 300B tube based SET. We listened for about 10 minutes. The sound was nice but not that coherent and a little muddy.
The first thing I recommended is pull them farther into the room. He had them about 18" from the front wall. When we got them about 3' from the front wall the sound changed drastically. The soundstage was much more present and the bass started to tighten-up. Next we pointed them straight ahead instead of toe-ing them in. Again, this helped the soundstage and especially the coherency of the sound. It also help tame a slight treble zing we both were hearing.
We listened for a while, ate a great lunch and started our afternoon session. I had brought with me a fully broken-in pair of Western Electric 10 ga speaker cables and my Synergistic Research XOT Carbons. He was a little hesitant in replacing his speaker cables (I'm not going to name them but I will say they have gotten a lot of talk on these boards and many people claim they are the best they have heard) - it was immediately obvious the Western Electric cable was much better sounding top to bottom. The whole presentation sounded more natural. My friend was astounded. He has a set on order.
Next, we added the XOT Carbons. The sound was even more natural and the soundstage expanded even more. He said he "might" get a pair of the Carbons (I think he should. He is going to be way ahead financially once he sells his current cables and, as discussed below, possibly his amp)
Finally, I convinced him to try his Parasound Halo integrated with the Double Impacts. He was planning on selling the Halo since he always wanted to try a SET tube amp and that is one of the reasons he bought the high-efficency Tektons. Well, let me say, the Parasound blew the Cary out of the water! The bass firmed-up, the midrange opened-up and the treble just floated on top. We were both amazed. Many people have reported using their Double Impacts with low power amps with great success which I understand - the sound with the Cary was excellent. I don't know if it was the Parasound in-and-of-itself or just the additional solid-state power but there was no doubt which amp sounded better.
We listened for a good while more and I had to take-off. The next step I suggested is try using the DAC in the Halo instead of his Ayre QB-9. I don't know how it turned-out but it would eliminate a step in his digital chain which is always helpful.
Overall, it was a great day. The Double Impacts are definitely great speakers and deserve as much attention to setup and equipment selection as possible!
Hi David - I'm building the grounding box myself and hope to get it done tonight or tomorrow. I'll get some pics of that and the Akikos up in the next couple days.
Last night I added another Akiko Triple AC Enhancer to my outlet extension. Wow! These things really do work. The effect truly is cumulative. I've been told adding a Grounding Box when used with the Akikos takes it to yet another level. So, that may be next step!
When I was rearranging my system I decided to put all my Akiko Audio products on the same circuit by using an outlet extension. The effect is supposed to be cumulative so I thought it was worth a try. I thought I'd have to do some careful listening and change the various Akiko in/out of the outlet extension. As it turned out, it was immediately obvious they sounded much better together. Its seems like overkill to have a Triple AC Enhancer, Tuning Stick and E-Tuning Gold MKII all on the same circuit but it really does work. I'm guessing it's much like having a Corelli in your system!
@sbayne I see Bill's work that is very cool indeed and those are some awesome caps! I am stunned he sold his speakers so fast but also cool his wife actually wanted a pair of speakers. I am sure your system sounds more and more amazing as it breaks in I had a cap upgrade done to my amp years ago and it was utterly transformative. Cheers and happy listening!
Thanks jond. I've added some pictures of the updated equipment. My amp is now a 30 watt triode thats been heavily modded with Duelund CAST caps and a Bybee music rail. The preamp is a Decware CSP3 with the Jupiter cap upgraded. I've got well over 100 hours on each of them now so the sound is really coming together and will get even better with more hours. Grannyring heavily modded my Impact Monitors earlier in the year. The change in sound quality was so good I decided I wanted a preamp and amp with similar upgrades. It was much cheaper to find equipment that already had what I was looking for than have my existing equipment professionally modified with Jupiters or especially Duelunds. Some may think the cost of these caps is crazy (and yes they are expensive) but the proof is in the listening.
I’ve changed out my preamp and amps. The equipment I had before was very good and I was a little nervous to let it go. I’ll be posting soon on my new equipment but for now I will just say it seems crazy when the caps in the component cost more than the component! But I’m learning it’s not crazy at all..........
