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
Hi Glen!! Thanks and thanks!! I had Maggi 1.6's that I loved but made the mistake of listening to Sonus Faber Cremona's and loved how much fuller the sound was, I also realized planers need POWER to work at their best and power =$$$. This was all happening back when $400 seemed exorbitant for a set of cables!!! What happened to those days? I opted for Vandy 3A Sigs over the VR 4 JR's I think the VR's seemed like an East Coast deal, the Vandy's were easy to audition and purchased used in Los Angeles, I,m not sure I'd make the same choice today!!! This was all happening back when $400 seemed exorbitant for a set of cables!!! Boy those days are ancient history!!! Truth be told "youngster"after I retired and my ex wife was diagnosed with cancer I thought what the hell I'd better go for it today, so I have been!!!!

samhar

Hi Samhar,

I saw your tester and thought you had mine. I read your tester thread. Not unlike you, I thought I did not want to spend more than $400 to $600 for a tester.

I bought a 439B, that I thought was a real bargain. It was not. When Roger finished it, with all the upgrades and mods, it was in the same price range as yours.

Bruce

bruce_weiland

Great, great system that you hae assembled. Enjoyed reading your comments and seeing the pictures of your system.-Glen

glenfihi

Owner
System edited: Put in set of new 6H30E's. The tubes that were supplied with the Act 2 were shot !!! Everything is much better; sound stage, imaging, dynamics, harmonics ,decay etc. I thought it was good before well it's way way better!!!! I'm also experimenting with various isolation devices for the Act 2.

samhar

Owner
The Joule's don't "like" an impedance under 4 ohms, the Sophia's dip to 3.26 @ 220 Hz but the Joule's handle that slight dip. My guess is that a 6 ohm rated speaker won't be a problem!!

samhar

Samhar, that really was my question... if the Joules can drive the 86.5 db 6 ohm load of the Homage's? I guess I will have to see if I can get a loaner pair from someone and see. If the Joule's are up to the task, I suspect it would be a marriage made in heaven.

daveyf

Owner
Daveyf sorry I misread your post thought you "considered" them. Can they drive the Homage's 86.5 db 6 ohm load that would be the question and I don't know the answer. If they can the beauty of their sound with your speakers, WOW!!!! I wasn't prepared for how good the sound was, I thought I was but I was still surprised and extremely pleased! They are everything I wanted, fast, detailed, full, dynamic etc. etc. On top of everything else there're built like a tank. They'll kill your amp upgrade bug that's for sure! They are a move from hi-fi to hi-end!!

samhar

Owner
Thanks!! I bought the Sophia 1's had Quicksilver V-4's at that time and wanted an amp with better inner detail and dynamics to go with them. I was thinking Jadis, Joule Electra,Atma Sphere, VTL, and Manley. The two I wanted most were Joule and Jadis, with the Joule's easy biasing and ability to "tune" the amp's (sound) the decision became easier the more I learned about them.
I like the Sophia-Joule combination they seem to complement each other the sound is just beautiful!!! With the recent addition of the CJ Act 2 the sound became fuller, richer, better detailed and more dynamic. For the types of music I listen to most; jazz, blues, chamber groups, solo acoustic guitar, violin etc. I like my system but "probably" need a better CDP. Soon I'll have my TT hooked up!!

samhar

Samhar, Your system looks great! I love the Joule amps ( seriously considering them for my system) and I'm sure with the Sophia's the sound must be fantastic.
What made you decide on the Joule's?

daveyf

Owner
System edited: Added a CJ Act 2 pre to replace the Calypso pre, to my ears this is an improvement in every aspect I was surprised by the amount of improvement.

samhar

Owner
System edited: Added a Solid Tech Rack Of Silence (4) for preamp and CDP. Removed some HT components and the rack they were on and replaced with the VTI racks from the amps , preamp and CDP in the old configuration. This created a lower profile which helped with the sound stage and imaging

samhar

Owner
Haven't been able to "balance" the amps, the biases weren't stable and the volume wasn't evenly balanced. Time for new tubes, replaced the (4) 6350 Sylvanias and the (4) 6DJ8's Amperex Orange Label in the amps and the (2) 6922's in the Calypso with 7308 Amperex Holland. The sound of the Joules has returned and the volume is balanced!!! I thought I was becoming accustomed to the sound not that it was slowly degrading, but after a NOS retube the alluring sound of the Joules is back. The brass cones have been switched out for BDR #3 cones under the CDP, I'll try the brass cones with the new tubes sometime this week.
I bought a Pro-Ject 9.1 TT four weeks ago that arrived broken, it's being repaired at Brooks Berdan, can't wait to hear vinyl through the Joules!!!!

samhar

Owner
System edited: Currently trying large brass cones and bases under the CDP. The difference between the BDR cones #3 and the brass cones and bases is interesting and very noticeable. The bass is richer and better defined seeming bigger and sweeter, the clarity is impressive through out the scale but vocal are slightly more forward (not sure they'll stay in because of this)

samhar

Owner
System edited: Rolled in Amperex White label 7025 for GE 5751WA triple mica grey plates in the input section of the amps looking for a reduction in detail and a "fuller" sound. This helped but not quite as much as I hoped for so I rolled out the Siemans E188CC's in the output stage of the Calypso and put in 6922 Amperex White Label PQ's US, this final change has brought the vocals a fuller chestier sound that is less forward and more "believable".

samhar

Owner
System edited: Added pic of shelf sandwich under CDP

samhar

Owner
System edited: Added Black Diamond Racing "The Shelf" under the CDP I didn't think there was that much more to be filtered and/or drained away, wrong!!! The improvement is enormous, MORE HASH IN THE TRASH!!!! I made a sandwich of 1 1/2" maple with 1/2 MDF on top of it, 6 Audioquest Q Sorbogel pads (each can support 8# effectively), BDR the Shelf and BDR "Cones" points down towards shelf.

samhar

Owner
Hey Dave I'm only 9 hrs into this, "How expensive is that? To expensive ! How expensive is it??!! To expensive!!!, cord. So far I like it ! If you like "old style" jazz singers check out Rachael Price ( can sound a Little like Ella )!!!!!

samhar

Samhar, you must try the Transparent MM reference PC...I had the PAD 20th Anniversary and although it was ok, it was not even close to the huge, organic, dynamic pure sound available from the Transparent cord!!

dave_b

Owner
System edited: Added a PAD 20th Anniversary for the CDP everything is bigger, fuller than the Musaeus I'll see if I like the sound better. The break-in is 75hrs only 70 to go! The vocals are already what I was hoping for the music is smoother, more homogenous, and is becoming better defined with each hr. Breaking in with a lot of Rachael Price " Dedicated To You" this gal can flat sing and she made this CD when she was 17!!!!! in 2003 when it was recorded

samhar

Owner
Thank you!!! I haven't used any 6DJ8's but will try some now! I run four different 7308's depending which 12AX7 I'm using, so it's good to know it isn't stressing the circuit.

samhar

Samhaar, per my recent email correspondence with Jim White from Aesthetix... "In a Calypso, it is safe to use 6922, 6DJ8 or 7308. The power supply in the Calypso has enough "juice" to run the 12 tubes of a Janus!

pdreher

The PPT are pretty nice caps, I would keep those, at least for now. The PPMF's are lousy, what I took out of my Joule. They are relatively hard sounding, lack resolution and articulation, you can do much better here. Perhaps just the V-Caps on the large values? Or you could try the Jantzen Z-Superiors or ? Do a google or audiogon search on capacitor shootout, should give you some idea of different cap flavors. Don't like what you hear, try another cap, looks like those big caps should be relatively easy to replace. Be prepared to be amazed by how much caps can improve the sound, much more than tubes and cables IMO.

A log is a great idea, I've been keeping one since the early 90's. I have detailed notes on every upgrade, returning to my notes on past upgrades is often very illuminating!

sns

Owner
Small are PPT224M6A Large are PPMF 5M6A
I think V-Caps are out of the price range I'm willing to pay presently. Aprox $1900 a side!!!!
I just bought a TT today to give Vinyl a try so I will probably put the money there first. I remember when you started into the Vinyl jungle!!!

I forgot to respond to your statement " I bet I would enjoy your system" I think you would very much it's warm detailed and walks through drum set solos without getting tied up the least bit . It's nice enough that I worry about loosing what's there now!!! I need to start a log again so I can take one or many steps back to what I liked if I feel it's needed.

samhar

What model of Relcaps are they? These are made by MIT, not their top of line cap, that would be Multicap RTX, reportedly nice caps.

I do think the V-Cap would be an upgrade over all the MITs, they are favored in every cap survey I've seen. Having said that, they are not a warm cap, I would say neutral. They have awesome resolution, transparency, this would likely be your biggest gain. Part of that improvement will be a big leap forward in soundstaging, imaging, performers will be just that much more lifelike.

sns

Owner
Sns they're Rel Caps. If you go to my system page>Calypso>pic you can the the cap lay out.The two small caps are .22uf +/- 20% 600V and the large caps are2.0uf +/- 20% 600V. Are the V-Caps a step up or sideways just a different sound?

samhar

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