In search for Nirvana...

by pgeorgyev on Ever Evolving
Front view
Maggie with Forsell on the left
Maggie with Forsell on the right
Forsell and Wadia on the HRS SRX rack
Callisto and IO ON the rack

Description

This will always be in evolution, of course. As are our tastes hopefully...

The room had always been there...It is 27 by 19 with 8 ft ceiling. Long ago I had 6 dedicated 20 Amp circuits installed coming out of a separate Power Box fed directly from the grid. At that time we also jack hammered channels in the cement floor and put all the speaker cables and HT interconnects (Yes, it is that as well!) in aluminum conduits under the carpet.

My recordings have also been here for a while. No system however good will compensate for a poor quality recording. Being mainly a vinyl guy I am lucky to own a large collection of original Jazz and some Classical LP's. They unfortunately don't come cheap but in the right system they bring you as close as you will ever get to the actual real live performance.

The system recently underwent it's second total overhaul in less than 10 years. B&W Sig 800 were replaced by the Big Maggies; Classe Omega Mono by Hovland Stratos. Classe Omega SACD By Wadia 861 with the GNSC Statement and Platter upgrade. This was done to gear towards Classical and Jazz which as I found out I listen to more than Rock these days. In the same line my rocking and rolling VPI TNT V was replaced by a heavenly sounding Forsell. I was lucky to find 2 armwands which allowed easy shifting between cartridges. VDH Colibri and ZYX Universe were replaced by Koetsu Tiger Eye Platinum Diamond ( OMG!). I needed a good quality sweet sounding MONO cartridge which had to be light enough to match the carbon fiber Forsell armwand. I was really lucky to obtain a rare Japanese exotic - Edison Skala Mono. That alone let me hear my old original Mono recordings as if for a first time again! This only happened after some some incomptability issues with the 'mono input-less'IO were overcome...

Then the Aesthetix Callisto came along and it was worth every penny. Before I was using the IO only as it had a line in. I replaced all the speaker, interconnects and power cables with the Cardas Golden Reference. Last but not least came the HRS rack with 11 M3 bases custom matched to every component. The results you will have to hear...

Pictures of the system were made with Leica M8 and 21mm Elmarit lens.

Thank you for stopping by.
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Components Toggle details

    • Magnepan MG-20.1
    Speed, musicality and dynamics...in cherry finish!
    • Hovland Stratos Monoblocks
    Very good match with the power-hungry Maggies
    • Aesthetix Callisto Signature preamp
    It is the double Power Supply version
    • Aesthetix IO Signature phono
    Also double PS version.
    • Forsell Air Reference TT
    Needs no introduction. One of the best sounding tt out there. This was an upgrade from VPI TNT 5. You suddenly start to hear the music...Wit 2 armwands for Stero and mono cartridges
    • Koetsu Tiger Eye Platinum Diamond
    The holly grail...Mounted on a separate Forsell Armwand. One of the most significant upgrades in my system.
    • Edison Skala Mono cartridge
    A Japanese gem impossible to find in North America. Takes listening to the old mono originals to a new level. Mounted on it's own Forsell Armwand
    • Wadia 861 with GNSC upgrades
    It has the GNSC Statement and Platter upgrade. It is supposed to be one of the most 'musical' player out there.
    • Crdas Golden Reference throught
    speaker, interconnects an power. The only exception is the Harmonic Technology Magic Power on the left Stratos.
    • Harmonic Resolution System SXR rack and M3 bases
    with 11 M3 isolation bases - 9 for the 3X3 rack and to for the Amps.
    • REL Acoustics Studio mkII sub
    Rarely used for music now that the Maggies are (almost) broken in. Turn it on sometimes to compensate for less than perfect recordings...

Comments 6

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Owner
Recent upgrade - Shunyata Stratos and Aurora auditioned. Makes the sound more 'Audiophile'. Enormous sound stage, excellent treble an very impressive bass. Of course nothing beats the Cardas mid range - it is like the icing of the cake of a fine system. And that is one thing I was not willing to part with. And I did not! Connected successfully the Shunyata and Cardas in parallel for the best of both worlds. AKA ( modified ) 'shotgun' approach.
The result - you have to hear!
Thank you for reading and enjoy the music!

pgeorgyev

Owner
... or how to match a mono cartridge with a 'mono-less' phono stage.
Thank you Aaron, Thom, Samhar for the nice words. First of all apologies for the delayed response. I guess your posts do not get to my email automatically... Yes, if you have a mono cart. it is highly recommended to use a phono with a mono switch. it is beyond me why manufacturers like Aesthetics and others would go to the pain and pleasures of producing such fine phonostages and omit this very important feature. Anyhow, I tried some other products with a mono switch but the sound was hard to compare with the IO. I ended up picking the signal from one of the channels of the Edison and feeding it into one of the IO's phono inputs. Then I used a (custom made) splitter to feed both channels of Callisto from one output-ed IO.
I hope this helps

pgeorgyev

When it'll make you cry your ("close")

Your room, color and system are impressive and have a very together calming feeling as I'm sure you planned it.

What is the sound of no woofers clapping?

samhar

Hello Pgeorgyev,

Very beautiful system. I, too, am curious about the hurdles you had to jump with the IO to work with your mono cart.

Aaron,

The EAR 88pb has a mono switch, as well as the Manley Steelhead.

Many Thanks,
Thom

twalker

Hello Pgeorgyev,

My compliments on a beautiful system.

Can I ask you about the "issues" you had to overcome in order to get your Aesthetix Io to work with your mono cartridge?

I am considering a mono cartridge for my own system but I do not have a phono stage with a mono switch. In fact the only phono stage I know of that has such a feature is the very expensive Boulder 2008.

Regards,
Aaron

drajreynolds

Owner
System edited: Continuing with my rambling here... So where does that bring us? Selling this, buying that... To personal tastes and aesthetics undoubtedly. And how far are you willing to go to satisfy your thirst. What is that you like in an audio system? Is it it's bass and power that make the walls shake and you hart race? Is it it's abilities to bring about low level details, the so-called sound floor that Arturo Salvatore discusses in details in his high-endaudio.com? Or is it the thing that is hardest to explain - some call it bloom, others harmonics and yet others sweetness of the sound. It is what is sometimes harder to hear but feel. That makes your muscles relax and yes, you know you are ( almost! ) there... For most of the Audiophiles it is a combination of any of the above three. How much weight do we put in each is determined by our tastes. It also defines who we are...

pgeorgyev

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