Description

I have been working on this system for over 14 years. For about 5 years i had Wilson Sophia's and a Sony SCD 777ES player and no plans to upgrade. A year ago i added a Thorens turntable and a NAD phono preamp and i liked the vinyl sound right away.

I wanted to replace the Sophia's with Sasha's but when i found a pair of Mission Pilastro (my favorite speaker of all times) i bought them right away. I have been looking for a pair for over 7 years, there were ony 35 pair ever made and now i am lucky enough to own one of them.

The only upgrade plans i have are a new amp and preamp, ML 532 and 32.

Added the Master Reference turntable, a Transparent Powerisolator 8 filter and a Pagode Reference for the new turntable.

Replaced the Transparent power filstration system with a Isotek one, the G2 Nova is definetly better than the Powerisolator 8 but i can't say the same thing about the Titan vs the Powerisolator MM.

Also added a Clearaudio Reference Battery Power Supply for the phono preamp (this one is really good), a Outlet Limit clamp and replaced the Double Matrix with a Audio Desk Systeme record cleaner.
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Components Toggle details

    • DCS Elgar Plus
    Firewire DAC Converter
    • DCS Delius
    Firewire DAC Converter
    • DCS Verdi La Scala
    Upsampling SACD/CD transport
    • DCS Verona Clock
    Master Clock for the DCS system. Makes a huge difference.
    • DCS Purcell
    Firewire Upsampler
    • Clearaudio Master Reference w CMB
    Upgraded the Master Solution.
    • Clearaudio Master TQ-I
    With Clearaudio Sixstream cable.
    • Clearaudio Goldfinger V2
    Great sounding cartridge.
    • van den Hul Colibri
    With gold coils. The Goldfinger is better in every way.
    • Clearaudio da Vinci V2
    I used for 2 months than upgraded to the Goldfinger.This is a very good cartridge. I prefer it to the VDH Colibri.
    • Clearaudio Stradivari V2
    My first MC cartridge, a huge step up from my old Thorens TD 124 mk 5. Got me hooked on Clearaudio.
    • Clearaudio Balanced Reference
    best phono preamp i had, i upgraded from Clearaudio Balance +. Added the battery power supply.
    • Mark Levinson 383
    Integrated amp. never going to sell this on.
    • Mission Loudspeakers Pilastro
    Only 35 ever made. I looked for it for 7 years. Never going to sell them. I had Wilson Sophias and wanted to upgrade to Sasha. They are in a completly different league.
    • Transparent Audio Reference XL
    Unbalanced from DCS to ML and from phono preamp to ML.
    • Transparent Audio Reference XL
    Speaker cable, i upgraded from Reference
    • Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference
    With Cerabase feet. 2 stands each with Cerabase feet. Under the turntable shelf another 4 ceraballs to handle the weight.
    • Clearaudio Magix2
    16 Isolation Feet for turntable. I moved from Europe 1 year ago, didn't need them in Europe but in the US because of the wooden structure of the home they do a great job.
    • Clearaudio Double Matrix
    Record Cleaning Machine.
    • Clearaudio Titanium v2
    Added the Titanium for the Universal Tonearm.
    • Clearaudio Universal w. VTA
    9' tonearm with the optional VTA base with sixstream cable.
    • Isotek Titan
    Used just for the ML33h amplifiers.
    • Mark Levinson No. 32
    wanted this for years, great preamp
    • Mark Levinson 33H
    Very musical amplifiers, they work great with the speakers. Same amplifiers used by JA in the Stereophile review where i first saw the speakers.
    • Isotek Nova GII
    Replaced the Transparent Powerisolator 8 and it's definetly better.

Comments 16

Hi there from the UK my name is spencer latham I also own a pair of mission pilastro speakers. I am in love with these speakers and over the last year made it my gole to find out as much information about these before the opportunity is gone. So far I have found the original manufacturer of the drivers including the tweeters. I have been in contact with Peter comeau who plaid a big part in making these outstanding speakers. I have created a page on Facebook called mission pilastro legacy where all the information I have found is getting posted. If you would like any help finding parts for these speakers please contact me and I will do my upmost for you. It would be brilliant if you could introduce yourself on our page on Facebook so any owners can meet and chat about your experiences. So far we have been able to work out for definite there is at least 24 pairs of them in the world. But before my research findings parts was impossible because mission selling to the IAG group after making these. Now I have concrete information on the drivers manufacturer so if you need any parts please get in contact with me on fb my name is spencer Latham. I look forward to meeting you thanks

pilastro

Buna Dan,
am trimis un friend request pe FB ca sa-ti pot trimite poze.
Pretul cu care ai cumparat boxele este exceptional ! nu am gasit pe net pret mai mic de 19000 euro , pret cu care a vandut o pereche cineva din Ploiesti.

Cu bine
Ioan

parigi

Owner
Hello

Send me a private message, i might have a friend who's interested.

All the best

Dan

gerulaz

I own also one pair of Mission Pilastro used only one week at a "Luxury Show" , so a brand new one and I want to sell it ! If you know someone who is interested to have one pair, I'll be very glad to sell it.

parigi

Owner
Hello

I looked online and from the dealer. Online you can also find 25 but from what i know the correct no is 35.

All the best

Dan

gerulaz

Please, where did you find the information about the number of pilastro produced?

parigi

Owner
System edited: A couple of ugrades: A Clearaudio battery power supply, a Outer Limit record weight, Audio Desk Systeme vinyl cleaner and replaced the Transparent power units with Isotek Titan and Niva G2.

gerulaz

Thank you very much. :)

thesaint519

Owner
I was very satisfied with the Transparent power system, i also have the MM2 for the power amplifiers but i just changed all of them to the Titan and the Nova GII from Isotek and i think the Isotek products do a better job. Anyway the Transparent products are very very good and if you are planning to buy one i am sure that you will be very happy with it.

gerulaz

NICE SYSTEM!! Can u tell me about the PowerIsolator 8?

thesaint519

Owner
System edited: Replaced the turntable with a Master Refernce, added a Transparent Powerisolator 8 filter and a Pagode Reference stand for the new turntable.

gerulaz

Owner
I used a exd USB to sdif converter ( only made for dcs equipment) connected to the Verona clock and the Purcell upsampler and the purcell linked to the elgar plus with firewire. All cables are siltech royal signature gold. I use a macbook pro. I streamed dsd files and 24/192 straight and upsampled to dsd. I mostly listen to vinyl, souns much better in my opinion.

gerulaz

What did you use for PC audio? Did you have a dedicated PC? What format were your music files in? While I still have a CD player I am 95% PC audio and have no complaints. Of course getting to this point required building dedicated music server PC and all the audiophile quality parts and cables but in the end, it was worth it not just for sound quality but convenience. One lesson I learned was that the operating system on the PC can have a huge impact on sound. Other lessons learned from "normal" audio like quality of power, isolation, etc also applies to PC audio.

tboooe

Owner
I tried computer audio but i wasn't impressed and i listen every dat at work to music from my pc and i don't want to do that at home as well. Mission is a british company, i just like this product from them. It was a statement product, they have 13 drivers each , they weigh 360 lbs each and i had to have them. Thanks.

gerulaz

Fantastic system! You've got some top notch gear. I have never heard of Mission Speakers but I bet they are amazing. Have you considered computer based audio yet?

tboooe

Owner
System edited: Added a ML no. 32 preamp, No. 33h Amplifiers, Tranaparent Powerisolator MM2, Clearaudio Universal x VTA Tonearm. Huge difference over the ML 383, still love the ML 383 but the No. 32 + 33H combo is in a completly different league.

gerulaz

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