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
I owned the Guarneris (original model) for a short period of time, and Jadis was my very first 'real' amplifier (DA60). So yes, we probably share similar sonic preferences.
I have to say though, the Guarneris are not at all similar to the Mini II. While the Guarneris are very very 'easy sounding' speakers, the Mini II behave basically like full range speakers with worldclass coherency.
Yes I looked into various subwoofers. Actually, I almost never use the Torus with the Mini II. The Mini II, as I said, actually has useful output at 20Hz in my smallish room.
The Torus, frankly, is the only subwoofer I would use with a two channel setup. It is truly as fast as most main speakers (and Mini II are VERY fast). Where do you crossover to the sub?
I tend to beleive that your sonic tastes do not differ mine (but of course at a lower investment rate!).. The Magico's would be the only loudspeaker I would consider to upgrade from my Sonus Faber Guarneris, so are the Dartzeel line for my Jadis setup.
I just bought a Velodyne DD18 sub to keep pace with my ultra-fast Guarneris, but have heard great things on the Torus sub.
Did you compared it to other sub options prior deciding for the Torus?
System edited: Added a new custom made placette audio source switch to share the Torus between the 2.1 setup and HT. I have now setup 2 'sounds'... one 'pure' 2 channels, and on a second input on the preamp, is another sound... a Room Corrected sound with subwoofer. This setup allows me to take adv of Room Correct of the TacT and its digital crossover with a subwoofer, while maintaining a 'pure' path.
Drajreynolds, yes I had the same worry, but so far, they seem to work just fine. I have my AV rack on one side, and the HiFi rack on the other, so even if there are harmful reflections, they would at least be somewhat symmetrical.
Peterayer, My old room was an unusual space, very narrow but very very long (over 40ft)... essentially I had no 'back wall'. So modes was not something I had to deal with, but I had a lot of reflections which was tough to tame. Rives has been good. I live in HK, so working with them requires extra effort on both ends. Because of numerous construction issues, I suspect Rives had to do a lot of extra work (some of which I paid for extra in addition to their standard Level 1 service scope). When the room was first completed, I was actually a little depressed by the result. There was a huge dip (-15db + range) in the 350Hz region. But in a week time, I realized it was a floor cancellation effect and a rug took care of that almost completely. Rives, without the ability to come to the room physically to do a measurement was unable to help. I realize, what they have done for me should be a good start, but room acoustics is never really 'done'. In fact this very moment, I am still reading up on various acoustic devices and see how I could make the room better. Because the room is relatively small in acoustic terms, I have quite a bit of low bass lift. Last time I measure my room with FuzzMeasure with a calibrated microphone, I was actually +3db at 20Hz!! All this from a pair of 7in woofers! My comment right now is the room seems a little too dead in the highs, and perhaps the very very low bass needs more trapping. I am working on that. Of course, all the broadband material seems to soak up the highs as well, so I am thinking if I should replace two of the absorption panels with RPG Skiline instead. It's a work in progress, but the sound now already exceeded what I had before... again, it's a little 'dry' but the balance and smoothness are definitely miles better.
And last but not least: Lapierre, I used to have the Torus hooked up to the Mini II in my old room, using TacT 2.2XP as a digital crossover. It worked beautifully. Now that I am in the new room, I am trying to remove as much 'complication' as I can. TacT and Torus are still connected, as a separate input on the preamp. There is a 'pure' non processed, non subwoofer path on another input on my DZ Preamp. The Torus now mainly acts as the sub for my HT setup. And I am telling you, with Audyssey calibration, the Torus goes DEEP..... truly infrasonic. In fact I have not heard/felt deeper bass. The Torus is really quite an accomplishment. FAST and VERY VERY DEEP. BUT, I never got good results with the Torus Amplifier. I use an ICEPower 1000W amp to drive the Torus, and I find the result to be much much better.
Wonderful new room, Wslam. It must sound fantastic. Could you post a description on how the new room sounds compared to the old one and a bit about your experience with Rives?I've followed your many posts about Magico on the various forums with much interest. I've heard the Mini 2 but unfortunately can't aafford it and am thus considering the V2. Have you heard it?
Gorgeous room and a very fine lineup of equipment. Congratulations. I like the look of the Gryphon racks but I worry, perhaps unnecessarily, about the potential negative implications of glass shelves (resonant modes in the audio band).
