ROON + BACCH + Dutch&Dutch 8c. What else does one need?
2012 May Sold CAT JL2 MKII Signature
2012 February Bought Berkeley Alpha Audio USB
2012 January Bought Devialet Premier-D Bought Aurender S10
2010 November - Took the plunge and bought a Soulution 710 after listening to the 700 Monoblocks. Simply stunning. I am officially a subscriber of the Soulution hype. - Sold Pass Labs XA160.5, not even 6 months old
2010 October - Posted review of Audiomachina Maestro Ti-200 on my blog. See http://wslam.blogspot.com/2010/10/audiomachina-dark-horse-in-high-end.html
2010 September - Bought my first pair of Planar speakers, the Magneplanar 1.7 - Added new photos. - CAT JL2 Signature MKII arrived. - Sold Mini II.
2010 June After owning the darTZeel for nearly 4 years, I tried out my friend's First Watt J2 and was blown away by the purity and richness of the J2. But with only 25W, they simply didn't have the muscles to drive my speakers. My search ended when I auditioned the Pass Labs XA.5 series. I was never convinced by the X.5 series, but the XA.5 series is something else. They almost seem underpriced by today's Hi-Fi standards.
2010 March Maestro has received the secret Ti treatment.
2010 March Equitech 5WQ-E Wall Cabinet System
2009 August Welcome the Maestro!
2009 August Added Placette Audio Custom Made source switch Replaced EMM Labs DCC2 SE with Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC
2009 June New Room: 15.5x18x8ft Dedicated Hi-Fi & AV Room, Designed by Rives Audio Acoustic Treatment: Bass traps, absorption and RPG BAD and ARC Panels, and Soffit Traps. Added: DartZeel 18NS, PS Audio Powerplant Premier & various Home Theater related items.
2007 October Magico Mini II
2007 January: Replaced PowerPlant 600 with ExactPower EP-15A TacT RCS 2.2XP darTZeel NHB-108 model one Version B
2006 August: The arrival of the magical Magico Mini
2006 June: See my blog entry: http://spaces.msn.com/wslam/blog/cns!8D24C7C1D93F608B!337.entry
2006 May: I am now pretty much 100% using my PC as data server, SB3 as the digital front end, and EMM Labs DCC2 for all DA Conversions. PC+SB3 is imo the perfect combination for music in the PCM format. SACD, DVD-Audio, I still use my Unidisk 1.1 for a lack of a better option. Once you get to the ease and accessibility of the SB3, disc seems prehistoric, just like LP! =)
I have SOLD my Linn CD12. The DCC2 is doing a wonderful job, but my latest thought is to consider replacing the DCC2 and the ancient AVP to a Mark Levinson No.40.
2005 July: I am slowly, but surely moving towards PC based front end. I believe a PC based front end can definitely replace the transport portion of my setup. My initial experience with the SB2 has been most positive. And the keys here is ACCESS and CONVENIENCE. Yes, the Linn CD12 will beat the 300 bucks SB2 in absolute term, but because of SB2 and SlimServer, I am listening to so much more music.
SB2 will be used in conjunction with TacT and then feed into DCC2.
My goal this yr is to convert entirely to PC based. I have no use for those little silver disks...
A complete balanced power distribution system in a wall cabinet, providing clean and phase coherent balanced AC power that remains stable regardless of how they are loaded down
thanks for that feedback. I have heard good things about your former Pass as well as the Colosseums. It does sound like a personal choice. At the moment, i am pleased with the Gryphon Antileon and, if anything, am inclined to stick with it (particularly given its s/hand price) and see if someday i wish to go monoblock.
Meanwhile, enjoy your phenomenal system and keep posting! enjoyable to read your comments on products.
congrats on the new amp! wow. per chance, have you ever compared to Gryphon? i own the Antileon. (sorry if u've answered this already...i may have missed it.) i am currently driving a pair of Wilson X1 Grand Slamms. I just had them installed...and for the first time realized i could monoblock a pair of speakers with beasts like the Antileon and still run out of juice! they are effortless in their delivery.
Just thought i would check in to see how things are coming. How is the Velodyne? it takes a while to dial-in properly, but i have had some great success with it in my room...and would not part with it running in parallel with my Strads.
I used the original CJMV60 (not SE)...55watts/channel. Worked very well...particularly given my use of the Velodyne DD18 which has crossover to save the amp from having to work hard in the bass.
...people could well argue it's not a super high-end crossover...but bottom line for me was the soundstage opened up quite a bit, and I found I could tweak the blend quite well such that the gains far outweighed the cons.
That said, I am confident that the CJ would have been fine without the crossover, running the G's full range. As for Jadis, I do not know them...I can say there are some very powerful, low-wattage amps out there which (within their wattage) can drive a big speaker. Look no further than Lamm of course.
I used to own SF Guarneris with Velodyne DD18. They were imho a great combination, and I was amazed at the clarity, pitch definition and control that the DD18 added (replaced an older FSR 10 Velodyne).
Plus the bass mgt controls that come with the DD18 are probably 50% of the reason why I still own the DD18 today. I traded in the G's for the Strads...and still run the big V'dyne in parallel tho needed to obviously completely reconfigure the settings to adjust for the Strads.
I cannot speak for the Torus...but I would have thought the incremental benefit might not be where you may find the best 'bang for your buck'. The Mini IIs might be a more interesting change-up...the key will be will bigger sound, greater detailing and soundstage leave you wishing u still had the incomparable 'musicality' of the G which few can match. Tough call only u can make!!! ;)
As u can see, I too ultimately changed the Guarneri, but stayed in the family by going with Strads because I could not walk away from the special SF musicality...
I also found that after 6 months, I went back and really re-adjusted the V'dyne and found enormous benefit as my ear adjusted to what true, clear, musical bass actually sounds like.
Good luck and enjoy an amazing combo of Guarneri and V'dyne!!
