Description

I like the WP 8's ability to reproduce whatever the Joules can send their way. Speed, they can handle the Joule's lighting fast attack transients. The wonderful harmonic textures, decays and inner details the Joules reproduce are handled deftly by the WPs. The bass is strong, tight, detailed and textured.
Read more...

Components Toggle details

    • Basis Audio 2500
    Active suspension with oil and spring.
    • Basis Audio Vector 3 Tonearm
    The 3 is less congested providing more inner detail with more extended hi's and bass. It has a VTA micrometer that will help with finer adjustments.
    • Basis Audio Signature motor
    Had original motor upgraded to Signature. The new Signature is quieter with less cogging.
    • Basis Audio Revolution Belt
    "It occurred to A.J. that the belt itself may be playing a role. He measured a range of the belts on hand, selecting the most accurate (consistent thickness), and found that the tighter the tolerances, the lower the speed variation and better the sound. So how to increase tolerance was the question. A.J. embarked on a crusade that eventually led him to design his own process and apparatus which grinds the belt and to an astonishing accuracy of one-ten-thousandths of an inch!"
    • Basis Audio counterweights
    Lighter main weight with two smaller fine tuning weights positioning larger weight as close to pivot point as possible should result in a quicker reaction time.
    • Walker Audio Ultimate Precision motor controller
    With Valid Points and Control Discs and upgraded teflon circuit board. The improvement in the total presentation is impressive, smooth and clear were the first impressions. The bass seemed more pronounced and better defined; the highs were smoother resulting in a .."more natural sound".
    • Air Tight PC-1
    Just a fantastic cartridge!!!! Loaded at 240ohms, VTF @ 2.1grams. "Like most vinylphiles, I've listened to a lot of fine moving-coil cartridges over the years. The Air Tight PC-1, TAS' 2006 Phono Cartridge of the Year award-winner, is, IMO, the best yet in nearly every aspect of phonographic reproduction - the most complete." - Jonathan Valin, 2007 Golden Ear Award Winner, The Absolute Sound Issue 173, August 2007 "In plain English, the PC-1's magnets produce a much stronger magentic field, greatly lowering noise and coloration and greatly increasing resolution in every regard. Details are clearer, timbres are truer, air is more plentiful, dynamics are more lifelike, and stage width, depth, and height are expanded... a leap forward in moving-coil design." - Jonathan Valin, 2007 Golden Ear Award Winner, The Absolute Sound Issue 173, August 2007
    • Koetsu Urushi Black
    Warm with detail.
    • Koetsu Rosewood
    I need to remount this cart and find if my recollections are correct!!
    • GamuT CD-3
    The best player I heard at my pay grade in my system, coupled with the Joule LAP-150 Mkll it produces an enjoyable sound.
    • Joule Electra LAP 150 MK ll
    The top unit is the separate power supply, the bottom is the pre/phono. Me likey!!!! Changed the tubes to: 3 x Amperex 7025 '66 in 5751 sockets 2 x Amperex JAN 7308 '62 in 6DJ8 sockets
    • Joule Electra VZN-160 Grand Marquis MKV Musicwood
    OTL immediacy/speed, wonderful inner detail, dynamic, delicate, attack matched by incredible decay AAAAA+++++ piece of gear!!!! A privilege to own a joy to listen through!!! The amp themselves can be tuned by adjustments to the voltage with the variacs, biasing the 6C33CB's between (25) to (33) and with a dial provided for adjustments of negative feedback creating the sound you prefer. Presently running Amperex Holland 7025's and Amperex Holland 6DJ8's.
    • Wilson Audio WATT Puppy 8
    I've been changing positions and tuning by ear only. I measure at the top outside rear corner of the Puppy for both back and side wall numbers. This allows a fixed point for side and back wall numbers while toe in is adjusted, this corner being the easiest spot on these speakers to permit this for me. My normal listening db level is 72db to 83db so I'm optimizing the placement for this volume range as I think the boundary distances are dependent on the db level. The outside rear corners are now at 39 3/4" to back wall and 23 3/4" to lt side wall and 23" to rt side wall. The celling rises from 9 1/2' at lt wall to 10 1/2' at rt wall. The tweeters are 101" apart and my ears are 120" from the tweeters with a sliver of the inside of the WATT visible. This is the best sound I've had in my room!!!
    • Purist Proteus Provectus I/C pre > amp
    All copper
    • Purist Proteus Provectus S/C amp>speaker
    Copper
    • Purist Aqueous 20th Anniversary P/C CDP
    This is has been moved from the CDP to the LAP-150 Mk ll.
    • Purist Musaeus P/C pre-amp power supply
    Using to the Joule LAP-150 Mk2 power supply. Will try different cords eventually. This pic is when it was connected to CDP.
    • Purist 20th Anniversary P/C wall to VZN's
    To the tube section of the amps
    • Purist Musaeus P/C 15A to Walker control
    Cable upgrade for TT motor controller.
    • Solid Tech Rack of Silence 4
    Quieter and much nicer to look at than my old racks.
    • Black Diamond Racing The Shelf (2)
    Two 21" X 19" X 3/4" shelves one under TT and one under the pre amp give quieter backgrounds with much greater detail "Made entirely of BDR’s proprietary Carbon Fiber Composite materials and finished with clear acrylic on both sides for an elegant and understated appearance, the BDR Shelf is massive and extremely non-resonant, absorbing enormous amounts of vibration: a BDR Shelf is only ¾” thick, yet it is 25x less resonant than an 8” thick granite slab and has 4 times the vibration absorbing power of 2” thick MDF!"
    • Black Diamond Racing The Shelf (2)
    Two 19" X 15" X 3/4" shelves one under the Joule LAP-150Mkll's power supply and one under GamuT CDP. "Made entirely of BDR’s proprietary Carbon Fiber Composite materials and finished with clear acrylic on both sides for an elegant and understated appearance, the BDR Shelf is massive and extremely non-resonant, absorbing enormous amounts of vibration: a BDR Shelf is only ¾” thick, yet it is 25x less resonant than an 8” thick granite slab and has 4 times the vibration absorbing power of 2” thick MDF!"
    • Solid Tech Rack Of Silence ROS 1
    Amp stands with cross braces suspended by springs and amps feet sitting on Sims Novcom pucks.
    • Solid Tech Rack Of Silence ROS 1
    This is a picture of the ROS 1 Ref without the spring suspension. Currently set up with 1.6
    • Acoustic Sciences Corporation Tube traps
    (2) 16" Supertrap tube traps, (2) 11" Tube Traps, (2) 9" Tube Traps,(2) half round 11", (2) half round 9"
    • Real Traps Mondo Traps
    (4) traps at first and second reflection points
    • GIK Acoustics 242 & 244
    (2) 244 on top of the record cases, (3) 242's on front wall, (1) on wall behind chair
    • Mint LP Mirror protractor
    Fantastic tool for checking stylus alignment
    • Cable Isolators ESD
    Made of Electro Static Dissipative Polyurethane. The jury is still out on the effect these have on the sound but they have helped separate and organize the cables.
    • Sims Vibration Dynamics Navcom silencers
    Used between Rack Of Silence and BDR shelves under preamp and CDP. They are also under the acrylic shelves under Direct satellite box and Walker speed controller shelf.
    • Purchasing Department I-Mac & inter net
    Without this tweak the rest would have been near impossible, at best very difficult and a lot slower.
    • Hickok 539 b
    Roger Kennedy digital mods and calibration. A must have for matching sections, power tubes and to protect equipment.
    • VPI 16.5
    This was a great buy it really make record cleaning a snap!!!!
    • Digital Tachometer no name
    Reads strip of tape on the side of the platter.
    • PHONIC PAA2
    The PAA2 can perform full acoustical analysis using its real-time spectrum analyzer. Thirty-one, one-third octave bands are displayed on the screen real-time with selectable response times (35ms, 125ms, 250ms and 1 second) and weighting options (Flat, A and C). The operator needs to select the SPL (Speaker Pressure Level) range (30-90 dBSPL, 50-110 dBSPL, 70-130 dBSPL) for the test being run. The user can select any of the center frequencies and display the level that was measured with the numbers displayed above the real-time graph. The peak level can also be displayed for reference. There are a total of sixteen memory locations for storing data. The measured spectrum data can be stored to any one of ten memory locations. Averaged data from any or all of the ten memory locations can be stored to the remaining six memory locations.

Comments 268

Owner
Tzh21y thank you for the thumbs up!!!!

samhar

Samhar, that is quite the system. Thumbs up!!

tzh21y

Owner
System edited: Pulled all Panega P/C's and the Exact Power 15A's, the amps are plugged into the wall sockets with stock cords and the preamp is plugged into the wall using a stock CJ P/C. The amp are a quieter and much more alive sounding, they sound so much "better", in retrospect they didn't respond well to power from the 15A's (choked the life out of them)!!!!. All this is possible because LADWP worked on the power line and my power has been much more constant!!!! I've also been trying different combinations/positions of interconnects and will stay with Purist Proteus Provectus from CDP to preamp, Cardas GR from preamp to amps and Purist Proteus Provectus S/C. The Cardas are sounding better and better with more hours. First I tried the GR from CDP to preamp and GR from preamp to amps but I like the Purist from CDP to preamp and GR to the amps combination best so I'll ride this for awhile. I also changed the VTA and after many settings finally settled on one business card higher, this being the easiest way to change the VTA on a Vector arm using a stack of business cards for spacing and adding or subtracting cards or pieces of paper. Pretty high tech huh Barney!!!! I have also ordered GIK 242 & 244 panels that will arrive in 7-10 days!!!!! Once the panels are in place I'll start trying different P/C's.

samhar

Owner
Coxhaus
I don't think I've solved my power cord issues but they are much better. As to the Purist sounding better than the Elrod, after I have dedicated lines I'm going to revisit the Elrod P/C's. I'm lucky I didn't get rid of the Purist P/C's they are good to the Exact Power 15A's with the AC-9's from the 15A's to the amps !!!!!! Glad your happy with the ESP-2 it just didn't work for me with the 15A's.
I have to "button up" some unfinished ends before the inspector can come by so I won't be getting the dedicated lines right now but I'm working towards it!!!!

samhar

Glad to hear you figured out your power cord issue. I liked the Elrod PC cord I bought from so much I bought 4 more. You were right about the EPS-2 on the Joule Electra LAP 150 MKII not sounding good. I ended up using an Elrod EPS-3S Signature PC on the Joule Electra LAP 150 MKII which is designed for amps. It sounds real nice. It probably is not as good as your Purist 20th Anniversary versions but I like it. When are you going to put in your dedicated power circuits?

coxhaus

Owner
System edited: Removed the Panega AC-9's that were from the wall to the Exact Power 15A's and replaced them with Purist 20th Anniversary, so far this seems to be a good combination (blend). Added a Purist Musaeus P/C from the 15A to the Walker motor controller.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Added six P/C to system, one for each of the Exact Power 15A's and two for each of the VZN 160's. The amount of energy this brought to the system had me scrambling to deal with room issues that were accentuated with this much energy!!! At first I thought the cords made the system sound to forward with a big loose bass but it seems the cords were just pointing to the problems with the front wall's stone fireplace and gaps between the fireplace and the bookcases on the front wall. I still need to fill the left case with records to help balance the sound, maybe this weekend!!! I also "adjusted' the Joule's voltage to (85.2v) and 6C33B's bias to (26.5=265 ma) and reduced the Sophia's toe-in.

samhar

Owner
Coxhaus thanks, I'm liking the sound with the addition of the LAP. I have thought about upgrading to SE or getting the LA-300 and OPS ?? phono, my reservation is loosing the sound I currently have for the extension and dynamics of either upgrade. My previous preamp was a CJ Act 2 that had plenty of dynamics, extension and inner detail but lacked that meat on the bones the Joule brings to the dance!!! I went through a lot of equipment since my retirement over two years ago so I know how much fun your having!!!

samhar

Have you thought about upgrading your LAP-150 MKII to Signature status? I bought a Joule Electra LAP-150 MKII and I am going to up grade in June. I liked it so much I have it for sale and will buy the LA-300ME if some one buys it before June, when it is due to be upgraded. Joule is such a great preamp I am sure Joule will be with me a long time one way or another. The music just comes alive like I have never heard before with the Joule equipment. I bet your system sounds really great.

coxhaus

Owner
System edited: Added two smaller "tuning" countrweights behind the larger counterweight. This moved the large weight from a position at the very end of the counterweight shaft to much closer to the pivot point and positioned more of the weight lower in relation to the tonearm's height. These changes should result in a "quicker/lighter" arm. I think the sound is less resonant (cleaner). After some listening I changed VTF from 1.942 to 1.863. I think this resulted in an "airer" sound between the instruments but not so much as for the sound to become "thin". After I felt familiar with the sound I rolled three sets of power cords to the two Exact Power 15A's. I ended up liking a genetic 11 AWG shielded cord.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Trying more toe in and without grills.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Changed system picture.

samhar

Thanks Sam for the offer of a visit! I might well take you up on that one day. I travel a lot.

Arthur

aball

Owner
Arthur
The recent addition of the Joule LAP-150 Mkll has made a big difference with the Sophia's adding enough "meat to the bone" for a little more relaxed sound. I've heard the Sophias twice with SS amps once at Brooks Berdan with Hovland and once here with a highly modded John Iverson Eagle 3 and prefer them with tubes. Here they have been fed by ARC VS-115, Ref 3, Quicksilver V-4's and CJ MV-125. The Joule VZN-160's bested them all for my taste. If you are ever coming to Los Angeles and can eek out some time let me know, your welcome to come by and listen.
Sam

samhar

That's quite a collection you've got there. I've always wanted to hear Sophias with tubes but every time I audition them, they're hooked up to solid-state amps. It's great to see a Joule setup - I'd love to hear it.

Arthur

aball

Owner
System edited: Added the Purist P/C I've been using to the component list with some pics. I'm trying more P/C for the amps and pre power supply, the P/C for the CDP will stay there.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Relisted my tone arm as a Vector Model 1 with Discovery Cable copper cable.

samhar

Owner
Sent the Basis TT motor back to Basis to be upgraded to Signature status the new motor is much quieter, smoother!!!!
I've been using a Clearaudio Stroboscopic Speed Test Record and 300Hz Speed Light(way to much money) but after reading about a Digistrobe in a Forum here decided to buy one on E-Bay for $34. It's easy to use and you can check the speeds while playing different weight/thickness records so the drag of the stylus is part of the resulting reading . I never felt comfortable doing this on the strobe record!!!!

samhar

Owner
Have changed a couple of things and added one.

1.Upgraded theTT motor controller from a VPI SDS to a Walker Precision Ultimate with teflon board. As big an improvement as the SDS was over the stock motor the Walker was over the SDS!!!
The improvement was not subtile in fact I thought I was experiencing the placebo effect, hearing what I wanted/needed to, but after many albums it was clear I wasn't!!! The music was smoother, the bass more immediate, bigger sounding,better defined the highs smoother. A "graininess" that was present with the SDS was gone.
2.Replaced the Jan Phillips 5751 tubes with Amperex 7025 and the (?) 6DJ8's with Amperex Orange Globe halo getter 6DJ8's in the amps. I've been waiting to do this until I'd had enough listening time with the supplied tubes that I was familiars with the sound. No surprises here the sound became even more glorious, more body to the note after the original attack, fuller longer decays and less grain resulting in a more realistic "presence" to the performance.
3.Purchased "Cable Isolators" two boxes of 12 foam isolators. Placed under S/C's and I/C's and where necessary ran double deck to keep everything separated and organized. One of reason I bought this isolator is its ability to be stacked, a necessity in my system. I'm still trying to figure out what if any effect this tweek has had on the bass.
Also will add Mint LP protractor to my system list, I've had it for two months and just never added it. This is a fantastic tool for checking stylus alignment.

samhar

Owner
Glen since the addition of the new amps and especially the LAP-150 MKll the system has become a joy to listen to!!! When I had Maggie 1.6's and was looking for something different, I searched long and hard for a pair of used VR4 jrs but none came up for sale on the West Coast. It seemed they were more common on the East Coast, I ended up buying 3A Sigs and 2Wq's subs instead. Every once in a while I wonder were the VR4jr path would have led and which speakers and system I might own now.

samhar

Fun to read the different posts and comments on your so very fine system. It really must be a joy to behold.

glenfihi

Owner
System edited: Replaced the amps, preamp and phono stage. Joule VZN-160 MkV Musicwoods replaced the VZN-160 Mklll, Joule LAP-150Mkll pre/phono replaced Cj Act2 and Pass XOno phono stage. I put the amps in first with the CJ. My first thoughts were everything sounded more"solid" bigger and better defined. I told a friend this and he said wait awhile they may "soften" some with time. Maybe, I think I'm hearing the difference between the standard case and the Musicwood. The sound is different and better. Next I put the LAP-150MK ll in with the new MKV's. The LAP has plenty of extension on top a big defined bass and mids with plenty of timbre. I remember thinking what a fantastic presentation of music Judd Barber has managed to convey it is so natural so coherent. And it's all working extremely well with the Sophia's. Now I'll sit back and listen as everything settles in and the system becomes more homogeneous.

samhar

Owner
Thanks for following up! As I thought about what was going on at the time and started remembering more and more details I remember how much the speakers were "off" and how much work it took to true them up. I made a mistake the CDP was the same one I have today but the fireplace stone and maple ply behind the rack weren't covered. Anyway adjusting the speakers made a very noticeable improvement. It was a poorly written thread!!!
Sam

samhar

Sorry, I didn't get that from the thread. I thought it was just a simple adjustment that you made that made such a huge change in sound, but with a different CDP and Pre, it makes a little more sense to me now. And sorry, I never intended a snide remark about the "cost" of your system other then how such an expensive system that you assembled didn't sound good to you. All good. Enjoy!

zippyy

Owner
Zippy it was with a different CDP and preamp that were much more forward(bright), not a good match with the Sophias. I was a little surprised at the time too!!! I don't think the current system would/could do the same. In all fairness I think one tweeter was firing up and the other down, everything was "out" of sync something the Wilson's tweeters don't tolerate well.

samhar

Showing 76 - 100 of 268 posts