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.
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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
Just tried PAD 20th Anniversary, Aqueous Anniversary and Musaeus P/C's powering the Act 2. All three expanded the soundstage with a more dynamic sound but I felt they actually detracted from the sound quality of the Act 2 sacrificing the quality of the sound for a larger leaner presentation. A good example would be enlarging a photo and as you do you loose smoothness for a grainier less rich picture, I prefer the richness over the size and will use the CJ stock cord until I find a cord I like better.
On the Gamut CDP the Aqueous Anniversary gives the presentation I prefer. The stock CJ cord makes the sound small and compressed with poor imaging, the 20th Anniversary expands it too much.

samhar

Owner
Lloyd I'm still letting the system settle in with a stock CJ P/C and two Straight Wire P/C from 1990 to the two Exact Power EP15A's. There is an Aqueous Anniversary P/C to the CDP next I'll try a Musaeus P/C than the 20th Anniversary and last a stock C/J cord.

Inserted Mullard CV-4004 in the Joules 12Ax7 position with Jud supplied 6DJ8's(?), the amps haven't sounded this good in awhile!!!! I've been trying 5751's good definition but a bit thin for my taste, 12Ax7's rich but lack the detail of the 5751. The CV-4004 has detail and enough warmth to work very well in concert with the 6DJ8's and being a military varient of the 12AX7 they are very quiet and they seem to have more gain than the 5751. Everything is pointing towards trying the Mullard 10M. Happy for now!!!

samhar

Thanks Samhar. Look forward to your thoughts...I will do the same. I have spoken with dealer who sells Stealth and PAD...after lengthy discussions, I ordered PAD Ann Contego and Dominus Ferox...Contego for Amp, Ferox for CJ and for Velodyne dd18 sub. I was surprised that soundstage widened and spaciousness increased 5%-10% after auditioning Dom Ferox on sub.
I will also let u know when I've got Ferox in the CJ Act 2.
Thanks!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Owner
Lloyd I'm using a stock CJ cord on the Act 2 for now and liking the results. No expanded sound stage with seemingly better imaging at a price of fullness harmonics, decay etc. I'll put a few different P/C's into different positions and check if any combo betters the current configuration. I'll let you know what my thoughts are.

samhar

Thanks, Dave_b. that is really helpful. i will give it a shot and see. i have a good friend who owns Transp Ref MM and swears by it. thanks again.

lloydelee21

Allowing for component differences and IC/Spkr interface variability, the PC's may be giving you a comparable end result to mine. I would suggest however that you borrow an MIT Oracle AC2 PC for a trial/experiment and also evaluate your system minus the Quintet. Try the AC 2 on your amplification devices....I have never found anything that did so much good for my system without causing any harm. The Transparent Ref MM Powerlink is transformative when used on a front end component...jaw dropping. I would never suggest your system isn't great already, but it might just reach another level entirely if you take the initiative and experiment just a little bit more.

dave_b

Hi Dave_B. Thanks for your advice. Are you saying, compared to Tranp Ref, that the PAD Dom and Ann Contego surpress noise too much?

Just so I am clearly communicating, all I am doing is replacing each component's stock cable with either a PAD Dom or Ann Contego. So far, the DAC, amp and sub have all benefited greatly...so I am adding one for the pre.

And because I do not have enough plug outlets, I went with a PS Audio Quintet (hopefully the least invasive conditioning)...for the DAC and pre. Your advice is welcome!! Thanks.

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Owner
System edited: Added pictures of the levels used to set speakers back up after moving for installation of book cases. It's so important to get all the degrees and heights of the speakers the same I decided to add as tweaks!!

samhar

They are the most musical cords I have ever heard, and I've owned and heard most offerings through the Cable Co.

dave_b

Owner
System edited: Added book cases to store records and cds behind speakers. The breaking down and moving of the system has put the sound bsack to square one. When the system (copper) settles back in and the cases get filled with records, cd's, books etc. and I"m familiar with it's sounds I'll re-tube the Joules with new 6c33a's. I've already tried the stock 5751 and 6DJ8 from Joule and prefer the Amperex 12AX7 and Amperex 6DJ8 combo I'm currently running. The added detail of the 5751 isn't worth it's brighter presentation.

samhar

Owner
Dave are those cords in the more "natural" camp or are they in the VD forward aggressive camp?

samhar

Lloydelee21, before you get too carried away with all the PC conditioning stuff, make sure you listen for low level detail and ambient acoustic information on some familiar recordings. It has been mine and many others experience that adding excessive line conditioning and PC's with excessive noise suppresion materials rob the sound of it's livliness, air and microdynamics. The best solutions have been to use a really good dedicated power cord with onboard filtration like an MIT AC2 or Transparent MM. That way all of your equipment retains their characteristics minus the line contamination and dynamics actually increase along with a lowering of the noise floor for increased low level acoustic retrieval.

dave_b

Hi Samhar. thanks for your advice! i had a great experience upgrading the stock PC from the wall into the PS Quinet conditioner...with a PAD Ann Contego. Since the PS Quintet conditioner was feeding my dac and pre, i kept going. i put in Dom Ferox from DAC into PS Quintet...enormous benefits. Then i Dom Ferox into Gryphon (will replace with Ann Contego)directly into the wall.

As a result of these benefits, i have decided to go for a Dominus Ferox from CJ Act 2 into Quintet. I spoke with CJ and they said stock cables are great...but sometimes if your system really gets great benefits from upgrading other component PCs, it could relate to the power coming into your home...in which case let your ear be your best guide.

i will let you know when it arrives! thanks for any further feedback when you´ve got your PC testing done!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Owner
Played my first record on this system today!!!!!! Kenny Burrell "Midnight Blue" on Blue Note 45 RPM, simply beautiful even with some kinks to work out. It's exciting to hear vinyl on my system after all the time spent improving it over the last year and my growth learning to recognizing what I wanted to add or subtracted to it. Vinyl just has a "realness" to the sound, I had such a feeling of satisfaction with it's beauty while I was listening!!!!

samhar

Owner
Picked up the Joule's variacs at Acoustic Image today and now can resume A/B-ing my power cords; Purist Audio, 20th Anniversary, Aqueous Anniversary and Musaeus to "Stock" 14/3 cords.

samhar

Owner
Pdreher I like you have moved on from sorbagel!!! I bought a Solid Tech Rack Of Silence and instead of their decoupling spring system used Novcom Pucks between the rack and BDR "The Shelf" under CDP, pre and TT with each device sitting on their stock pads (pics). This has given me black backgrounds and surprising levels of detail. I've used BDR #3 & #4 pucks under everything and or sorbagel but found the stock pads produced the sound I'm looking for. I agree at a certain level sorbagel can render a system lifeless!!! BTW I constantly check your virtual system for changes.

samhar

Samhar - Recommend you try SRA (Silent Running Audio) platforms (see my virtual system). Not cheap, but very well made and effective tweak. I found the AQ Sorbogel feet to clean up the leading edge... so much so that the music became dull, muffled and lifeless.

pdreher

Owner
Lloyd one of the variacs for the Joule 160's fried last nite so before I can resume stock P/C vs 20th Ann P/C shootout I have to take both variacs in for a tune up!!!! I'm fortunate someone that is familiar and works on Joule equipment is close to me in Los Angeles so this shouldn't be to painful or take to long.

samhar

Owner
Lloyd thanks!!! I started to answer your question when I realized I couldn't remember with certainty then I wasn't sure I ever knew. You can see where this is headed!! I finally found a "stock" 14G cord from something and preceded to plug it into an unfiltered socket and the CJ pushed play on the GamuT and.......what the......this sounds beautiful!!!! No way, this can't be happening!!! An audio friend came by and he agreed the stock cord gave a fuller more natural sound and the PAD 20th A P/C was more forward more dynamic and airier but the price was a thinness and loss of nuance in the female voice and instruments. It's very similar to the differences in CJ and ARC sounds or Purist and Audioquest!!! The PAD 20th A is plugged into an ExactPower EP15A that has a PAD Aqueous Ann for it's P/C etc. etc. I'm going to pull all the non stock plugs and start fresh and see what happens one plug at a time.
The SS and imaging were off with the stock P/C so I repositioned the speakers with less toe-in this helped the imaging but the SS is still a little recessed.
I'm exhausted ( this is when the double posts happen) so I'll continue tomorrow and will keep you up to date.

samhar

Hi Samhar. Great system...I've read your adventures with interest! I see you added PAD 20th Ann Contego PC to Act 2. I am considering the same change for my Act 2. What changes did you note from stock cable? Thanks for your advice!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Owner
System edited: Changed pictures to represent current gear, new CDP, TT and rack configuration.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Added a Gamut CD-3 Series IV CDP. This player is what I've been looking for but until now haven't found. The experience was the same as adding the Joules, Purist and CJ, each was an eye opener and moved the experience to a higher level. This is the cumulation of what I've been tying to get my system to sound like with a CDP a full bodied rich detailed analogish sound!!!!

samhar

Owner
Jfrech thanks!!! My house has louvered windows, read dusty, so I've been waiting until new windows could be purchased but recently decided to go ahead with TT. I"m in the process of adding a modest TT, Pro-Ject 9.1, Benz Glider,arm rewired with Cardas GR (asked at Brooks Berdan if they could use Purist PP) and Cardas GR interconnects for the time being. I had a Teac 3300 since the 80's that I sold two years ago, bummer!!!

samhar

Samhar, great system you've assembled. I know those Purist Proteus Provectus cables are killer! Have you ever though about adding vinyl or reel to reel as a 2nd source?

jfrech

Owner
Hi Bruce I didn't get mine for a song because it was in good condition so my bill was mostly for ("upgrading" ?) to digital!!

samhar

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