My system feels and sounds "done" to me, 14 yrs after I started. 2 channel and movies are better than I ever dreamed possible - the synergy is just remarkable. I have very fortunately been able to assemble a system that I will never grow tired of listening to. This is not in a dedicated listening room, but in my living room, complete with dogs, TV, open doorways, etc., etc. It really shouldn't sound any good, but it sounds GREAT!! Go figure... It has definitely been a learning experience and I've made my share of missteps along the way, as I expected to do.
My original goal was to be able to close my eyes and have the performers in the room with me. I have finally gotten there and actually beyond, to the point where the speakers disappear in the room. A pretty big deal considering the size of the speakers (BIG!) and the size of the room (19' x 20') I now just listen to the music and smile.
The latest additions - VAC Statement linestage, Focal Grande Utopia EM speakers and Critical Mass Systems Maxxum rackage made a huge impact to my system, both aurally and visually (as well as to what USED to be my savings.) :-). I finally have my DREAM system and couldn't be happier, as it sounds as good as it looks (some say even better). (edited 12/2014)
Valve Amplification Company STATEMENT 450 IQ Monoblocks
Great amps. IQ Continuous Automatic Bias System and Auto-Sentry System added on recent trip to VAC. Very good sound became off-the-charts sound. Literally best tube amps I've heard anywhere, at any price. With addition of the FOCALS, I can really appreciate the amps.
Valve Amplification Company STATEMENT Linestage
Added Seimens 7308s for break-in; will be installing CCA Telefunkens in several weeks. :-)
Esoteric P-02 Transport/D-02 DAC
SOTA digital. Phenomenal combination.
FOCAL Grande Utopia EM
WOW!
High Fidelity Ultimate Reference Rhodium and HelixPowrCds
Each run from wall to a P-10 power regenerator, which supply my system. They are "game-changers" for my system - the detail, imaging, separation and musicality are great. Helix goes to transport.
Critical Mass Systems Maxxum Rack and Amp Stands
Merlot 9-position filtered rack, with 2 Merlot filtered amp stands. Installed by Joe L. and my local dealer. All are movable for cable access, etc., a Maxxum first. System got even quieter, imaging improved and sound stage got both wider and deeper. They also make my living room look much better. :-)
High Fidelity Ultimate Reference Power Cable
Ridiculously excellent power transmission. Powers Esoteric P-02 transport from PS Audio P-10 power regenerator. Best I've ever heard.
Master Set Speaker system Tuning
Performed by Rod Thompson of Soundings (here in Denver). Took speakers to a much higher level than I thought possible in my room. Well worth the money for this system to perform to the level he got it to.
High Fidelity Ultimate Reference Speaker cables
SOTA for speakers
High Fidelity Ultimate IC's betw preamp and amps
Final piece of the puzzle. Entire system opened up tremendously.
High Fidelity CT-1Ultimate ICs from D-2 to preamp
New design with magnetic influence. Amazing low level detail with excellent musicality. Best cable yet between Esoteric D-02 DAC and Vac preamp.
Purist Audio Custom DC umbilical cords 4 Focals
Connects DC woofer external control modules to the Focal speakers. Custom made for this application (thanks to Albert Porter).
PS Audio P-10 Power Regenerator(2)
System protection as well as clean, steady power to all gear. Silver.
HighFidelity Ultimate Reference Helix Digital
Great digital cable clocking the p-02 and D-02 together using internal clock.
Hi Diamond P-4(4) and P-3(2) power cords
P-4s from wall to 2 P-10s, and from P10s to each amp. Also from P-10 to CD player and wall to sub. P-3 from P-10 to preamp and from Oppo to P-10. Extremely quiet, resolving and organic cables that get out of the way of the music. Macro and micro details in abundance, without any harshness or loss of musicality. Best PCs I've heard, at any price.
Pro ELITE 70 inch LCD w/full Local Dimming
Motorized wall mount allows TV to come forward and down for viewing. Retract to wall for critical listening.
Integra DHC-80.2 HD Processor
All the latest codecs for movies.
Legacy Audio Focus 20/20 rear speakers
Full range and great for movies
Oppo BDP-105
Video processing to 3D plus all latest Audio Codecs
Digital Systems Ultrabit Platinum Disc Treatment
The best I've found to help my CDs sound their best and remove scratches.
Hi Dev- The plastic backer on the back of the TV was to save weight if it is hung on the wall. I haven't gotten around to calibrating mine, as I find no flaws whatsoever with my picture - its just amazing. I've had the TV almost a year and am still impressed every time I turn it on.
My 108T will only take rca's, so I've been using SR Apex with SR hologram PC. Sound rivals CDs sometimes, as it also has the DAC- pack on it. I've been listening to SeriusX radio in my car a lot - may try to bring this into my audio system, altho I've heard the quality suffers considerably in a home system. That means I'll probably be selling the MD before too long.
THANKS, already chatting with both Ian and Rachel.
Yes the TV even with that cord is very nice, I noticed on my other pce changing the power cord did make a positive difference and it's just a shame one can't do such on this one.
Did you get yours calibrated as of yet? I have heard from others if properly done very positive results. I will be once I put some hours in on mine.
I was also shocked with the plastic backer when my other unit is all metal, as you are aware not an inexpensive unit and just wonder why that's all.
K-01 is breaking-in nicely, so far prefer it over any other single units I have had. A AMR 77.1 is sitting at the door awaiting to be shipped to it's new owner along with a DCS Puccini.
Still burning in my Magnum Dynalab 109T, gorgeous looking pce but sounding a little thin and isn't offering the same body nor bass compared to my MR78 W/Modafferi Modifications which is just a stunning tuner! Larry said 50+ hours and I might have 30 on it now so time will tell.
With your 108T can you run either rca or balanced IC'S? What are you using, have you ever done any comparision, if so what were the results.
What power cord do you use, again if you have what were the results.
Yes, totally aware of the change. I bought a pair of backup tubes that are the psvane version. I would get those - they are "supposed" to be even better - you won't know until you put them into your system. I think the people at GF will put your mind at ease. Rachel (her real name is Chinese and pretty un-pronounceable - I tried)was very helpful.
If you have the same TV, you will discover that even with the crappy power cord, the pictures are amazing, especially HD and 3-D!! I love mine, especially for sports and movies.
Thanks, I'm sure your set-up sounds absolutely marvelous but you are missing out big time not using vinyl as a source option :)
I picked up last week same 70" TV as you, replaced my Pioneer ELITE® KURO Flat Panel HDTV PRO-150 FD 60 inch. Kinda shocked with the crappy power cord cable that is attached and not allowing one to install their own as per my other unit, never mind not being all that long. Happy to have the larger screen back because I went from a Elite 710 64" down to the 60" because nothing larger was available at the time but now finally back up to this one.
Tubes in pre-amp, put them in recently and still allowing to burn in and then will evaluate.
I was just checking out these amps tubes to place an order and found the following information, were you aware of this.
Thoughts .....
From GF web site:
Notice:
We have officially discontinued this Treasure CV181-Z model and have replaced it with the newer better MKII version called âPsvane CV181-Tâ. Please visit under Psvane T-Series vacuum tubes category for details on Psvane CV181-T tubes.
Hi Dev- Good to hear from you. My sound is probably not as good as yours, but its getting there!!
Yes I got 4 for each from Grant Fidelity and had used them in my 300.1s. I got the other 2 from a frequent Black Treasure seller here on A'gon - trella I believe is his name. As far as placement, the furthest left as you face the amp is the key tube, according to Brent at VAC. It biases the 4 others and is the input tube to the 4 others, which are drivers.
I knew something was missing, just couldn't put my finger on it - it was the Treasures!! They are making a big difference in my system - not sure what they might do for yours. Mine were matched so I can't say whether there would be a difference here if they weren't matched. Common sense would say maybe, but I don't really know.
Let me know what happens when you get the Treasures. Did you ever get the preamp tubes we talked about? What was the result?
I will say, reflecting on your system...it has truly ascended the peaks of greatness. VR7 modded, VAC Statements, the APL NWO-M...nicer and nicer by leaps and bounds!
Finally put the Black Treasures into the front 5 slots of each amp. I should have done this weeks ago. Pretty dramatic change for the better - more bass extension, sweeter mid-range and more extended highs. Very noticeably better - so much so that I will probably stop the overnight breakin after tonite. So far I've got about 350 hours on the new amps/speakers.
The Statements drive the Treasures to much higher performance levels than my 300.1s did - another way of putting it is that the Treasures really let me hear and appreciate how much better the Statements and the newly-modified VR-7s are than their predecessors.
UPDATE - talked to 1 of my old buddies at Velodyne. After going through a bunch of variables, we both finally realized that with the use of the dd-15+'s volume control and slope setting, I can in effect have the sub cut in as much or as little as I want between 15-40hz. The mains will play full range REGARDLESS of where the sub low pass crossover is set in my current setup - it just SOUNDS louder and deeper with the sub on. The 7's are playing just as deep, but don't have 1250/3000w driving the woofers as is driving the 15" sub. That's why it SOUNDS cut off. but really isn't. If I crank the system, I get a bunch more bass out of the 7's, proving the above.
SO, I got to thank Kevin of VAC, Rob of Velodyne and Lloyd above for helping me figure this out before too much irreversible drain bramage! So, no additional external crossover needed at all - it should all work well together.
The mids are also going to be forward for the next 500 hrs or so until full breakin, according to AVS, which will make the bass sound recessed in comparison. That is another factor at work here. Time to hook my sub back up - hoorah!
After talking to Kevin at VAC, it looks like my cross-over problem solution lies in a variable outboard electronic x/over between the preamp and sub to roll off some of the signal below 40hz.
Thanks. Musically, my modded VR-7's sound much better running full range and driven by the pair of VAC Statements than they do with the sub involved. I will still need a sub for movies - it would also be nice to be able to set the low pass to say 25hz for music, but the flawed software won't allow it.
I just wish Velodyne hadn't sabotaged the DD-15+ software. It would seem pretty simple to increase low-pass filter adjustability down to 15 or 20hz, yet they are refusing to do this, ignoring me and instead making really lame excuses. Poor service and lazy engineers, I guess. Too bad - it cripples the DD-15+ for my uses and they really don't seem to care.
Wow...did not know that. On my DD18, it does not have balanced inputs. So when i took the Velodyne totally out of the system (for repair)...there was no additional bass that came back...only the lost bass that the sub was providing.
That is a good thing to know for the future! Good luck with your own sub situation! Let me know what you think of DD15 being back in!
Getting confused. There is 1 preamp with 2 pair of balanced and 2 pair of rca outs. New amps are connected to 1 pair of balanced outs, sub is connected to the 2nd pair(2 cables).
When they were still hooked up, I could turn the sub on and off. With the sub off, I lost some bottom end that I got back with the sub on. My speakers go down to 17hz. When I took the sub totally out - disconnected from the preamp, I got back the bass the sub was providing, now thru the main speakers, plus more.
3 yrs ago, using the DD-15, AVS turned the low-pass up to 80 hz, unbeknownst to me for 1 year. For 1 year, I had no bass coming out of my speakers, whether the sub was on or not!! I didn't realize he had done that and once I discovered it, I changed the crossover down to 25hz and got my bass back. Velodyne said that's what should happen, so its not a huge concern, since I can make allowances if I know what's going on - I've just disconnected the sub's balanced cables from the preamp.
After breakin, I'll probably put the DD-15 back in and sell the dd-15+. Life is was too short to be dealing with this garbage... :-)
Hi FPlanner...how is that possible? I am confident that does not happen with my DD18...because when i mute it, i hear the speakers playing full range. Unplugged and disconnected or not...the main speakers play full range.
In your case, if there is only one link between Pre and Sub (the preamp out to the signal-in on the sub)...how can the crossover travel backwards through the preamp out? And then cause the preamp signal to bifurcate before it goes thru the other Preamp out into the Amp? (Is the preamp separately and directly connected to the amp via another set of preamp outs?)
That is exactly what I am doing, but the preamp listens to the sub crossover in not sending a full signal to the speakers. It cuts off at 40hz. You would think it wouldn't, but it does. Even if the sub is off, all the mains get is down to 40hz
We'll see if Velodyne contacts me about a "fix". Thanks for your comment - at least I am not alone.. :-)
I hear you! I own a DD18, and this is one reason i do not wish to change to DD18+. I might daisy chain to the DD18 someday, but not give up the DD18.
That said, i am not so sure Velodyne's older software worked too well below 40hz...because if you dropped it to 15hz...it should essentially be off...i am not sure if that happened or not.
In any event, why not just run the sub in parallel rather than use the internal crossover to your main speakers? (FWIW, I have always run my Velodyne in parallel. one preout to amp and one preout to velodyne. so speakers are always running at full. Then i adjust velodyne to blend as best i can. YMMV.)
Took my Velodyne out of the system, since it was diverting all signal below 40hz from the speakers. Huge difference - much better dynamics, jump factor and low-end musicality.
Unfortunately, Velodyne apparently can't figure out how to write software intelligent enough to allow consumers to adjust the low-pass filter below 40 hz. Consequently, I had to PHYSICALLY DISCONNECT THE XLR SUB CABLES FROM THE BACK OF MY PREAMP AND SHUT THE PREAMP TO RESTORE FULL BANDWIDTH TO MY SPEAKERS.
Although I like the sub's other features, the software for the DD-15+ has taken a giant step BACKWARDS so that the low pass can't go below 40 hz, an apparently arbitrary number picked by some suit 5 years ago. Ridiculous for a $6K subwoofer. My prior Velo sub, the DD-15, allowed the low pass to be set as low as 15 hz. Since I still have that sub, it will be replacing the more "advanced" DD-15+ any day now. Its a crying shame Velodyne can;t get its stuff together - I've had their subs for 25 years and been very happy, UNTIL NOW.
