VAC & FOCAL : 2-Channel w/Vinyl 2 com?

by fplanner2000 on
IMG_1047
IMG_1048 (2)
IMG_1049
IMG_1052

Description

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)
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 21’ × 19’  Large
Ceiling: 13’

Components Toggle details

    • 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.
    • Dedicated 20 amp lines
    One of my best investments

Comments 502

Sign in to comment
Thanks Fplanner2000

jwm

Owner
Jeff-
Nice system!

fplanner2000

Dev, only a DAC is hooked up to the system. Initially I was only rolling the 6922s and there was a thickness and warm I can't addressed. I have some Tele 12au7 ribbed plates in the closet so rolled them and it made a HUGE improvement. Dynamic, transparency ... Try it, can't hurt :-)

knghifi

Dev, you are right the MBL passed the five year period by spades. I never heard them with tube electronics only solid state. It would be nice to see what they can do with tubes.

jwm

Knghifi,

when you wrote you felt sonic wise changing the 12au7's was more beneficial, I take it you are using your tape input then. What do you have hooked-up.

Jwm, speakers you mentioned as fads included MBL's which have been around for many years now and have lasted. Looking at your pics a pair of MBL 101e's would sound fabulous in that room, bringing the performers into your space.

I'm a bit biased because I have a pair :-) being driven by a pair of VAC 450 Statements - Sig MK2a pre which sounds marvelous. I do have an appreciation for many other speakers designs also, I have owned numerous box speakers including Avalon Isis, Eggleston, Wilson, Focal to name a few and currently have a pair of EA MM3's. Those would also sound nice in your room.

dev

05-06-13: Jwm
Fplanner2000, Knghifi, Dev check out my system under Jwm
Jwm (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Jwm, very nice! Thanks for sharing.

knghifi

Fplanner2000, Knghifi, Dev check out my system under Jwm

jwm

Absolare is made here in Nashua NH
Interesting! I live 20 minutes across the border in MA from Nashua. Their pre looks interesting so will contact them for a tour of the facilities.

knghifi

Knghifi, my room is 20 feet by 30 feet and angled ceiling 12-18 feet. I'll take pictures and put it up under Jwm soon. I have no idea on the ship date. Andy said sometime in spring so I figure June earliest. I have no idea on the amp as well. I also ordered AJ Conti's new tonearm for my Basis and I don't know when that is coming. I can't believe the cost on these things, his tonearm is going to be around 14,000.00. I'm glad I am keeping our economy running in the US. Absolare is made here in Nashua NH.

jwm

Jwm, What's the scheduled ship date of your speakers and amp? Got to warn you, getting new speakers is a full time job. I've been busy dialing them in as they break in with many many late nights. :-)

If I had the room, I would of bought the Ref One's. TAS E1 review is dead on. Speakers always sound better at home and now not thinking about the Ref 1's.

knghifi

Knghifi, thanks I also like the TAD's as well and both your speaker and mine use a beryllium tweeter, although yours is part of your midrange driver. I would like to hear the Absolare preamp but no plans to buy it at this time.

jwm

Thanks Dev. I see those speakers as fads and time will tell. They came on the market fast and furious and we shall see if they last. In the old days it took at least five years for a good speaker to gain momentum in the market place.

jwm

Which tubes are for the tape output 12AU7, those are the only tubes I have yet to tube roll.
I found rolling the 12au7s made a BIGGER positive impact than 6922s in my VAC Sig MKIIa pre..

I ordered the Rockport Altair speakers
Congrats on your new speakers. Rockport was on my short list when shopping but ended up ordering TAD Evolution One's. It's been ~a month now and love the CST driver ... just amazing.

and also the Absolare Passion Monoblock amps.
Any plans ordering the Absolare Passion Signature pre?

I wouldn't agree with your comment suggesting those other speakers mentioned are "latest fads", ones opinion in what they like in general is just that as there is no right or wrong just different.
Agree!

knghifi

Jwm - Congrats on your new speakers amps, that will be a interesting new journey for sure and hopefully you will be able to duplicate your show experience. Sure seems to be allot of recent Altair owners all the sudden which is odd, big sale?

I wouldn't agree with your comment suggesting those other speakers mentioned are "latest fads", ones opinion in what they like in general is just that as there is no right or wrong just different.

dev

Owner
Jwm-
Congrats on the Altairs. They have always been on my "short list".

fplanner2000

Dev, yes 12AU7 no point in tube rolling. My favorite tubes for the preamp are the Amperex 8416 Orange Lettering and gold pins. These are a 12 volt tube not the common 6 volt 6922 tube. I find the preamp more dynamic and more relaxed sounding. I would like the new preamp some day. I have the VAC 300 monoblocks. I am using ESP Harp speakers, Modright modded Oppo 105, Basis Debut 5 table and vector arm with ZYX Universe 2 cartridge. When I went to CES this year I heard the best sound I ever heard and because of this I am changing my speakers that I have had for 15 years. I ordered the Rockport Altair speakers and also the Absolare Passion Monoblock amps. They are parallel single ended 845 amps. I still will not sell my VAC amps, but we will see how these compare. I have been to 20 CES shows and never found a speaker that I liked better than mine. I am not a fan of all the latest speaker fads which are Magico, Y G Acoustics, Raidho, MBL. Speakers I like are TAD, Venture Audio, Hansen Audio, Coincident. I am not a fan of any speaker using ceramic drivers.

jwm

Owner
Although my APL NWO-M is an engineering masterpeice and sounds terrific, the Esoteric combo is a better fit for the direction I see myself heading in for the future. In addition, the transport in the P-02 is a big improvement over the one from the UX-1 that is used in my NWO-M, according to Esoteric.

fplanner2000

Owner
Hey Dev-
All I can say is that September is 9 months from last January, as far as the VAC piece is concerned. Audio months are much longer than normal months, as most audiophiles know, especially when you are waiting on gear.

I also learned a lot about digital recently, enough to see the advantages of Esoteric's relatively new P-02/D-02 combination in my system.

Another key piece will be Rick S.'s High Fidelity CT-1 Ultimate Reference speaker cables. If they do what I think they will, I may never leave my living room! :-)

fplanner2000

Jwm, okay. Ya that makes sense due to the design. Sure looks pretty in side, one should leave the top off and install a angled mirror behind the unit so they can appreciate.

Which tubes are for the tape output 12AU7, those are the only tubes I have yet to tube roll. So these 2-tubes have no role sonic wise when using line or phono?

Are you also getting one? What does the rest of your system consist of.

I use a external phono also, Burmester 100 but the phono is nice for the money.

dev

Dev, the statement preamp should have a much bigger soundstage and dynamics should be more effortless do to the dual mono power supply. I don't need the internal phono section since I am using the Aesthetix Io Reference phono with dual power supplies.

jwm

Dev, the second set of tubes in the Sig. 2 is for the tape input output stage. The new preamp does not have tape so no longer needs the second set of tubes. The information was directly from the horses mouth.

jwm

Hi Fplanner,

Wow! Congrats.

You most defiantly have the bug ;-), only a few months ago you wrote;

01-09-13: Fplanner2000
Looks like I'll not be "trading up" anytime soon...
That's OK - my VAC gear is barely broken in yet... :-)

dev

Owner
Its not that Kevin doesn't believe in KT120's - he just won't put them in his gear and has a pretty detailed explanation of why not on the VAC website, which makes sense to me, altho I'm in no way an engineer. :-)

My deposit and order are in - my ETA for the Statement preamp looks like September, but maybe a little sooner. I really like what I have, but think, along with Kevin, that the new Statement preamp should be a much better match for the Statement amps. At that point, amps and preamp are done.

Figured out a way to also pull off a front-end upgrade, so Esoteric P-02/D-02 will be here next week. I plan on breaking them in at least a month outside the system. It will be a substantial transport as well as DAC upgrade and when I add the rubidium clock that's in storage, front end should be done as well.

I realize I am incredibly fortunate to be able to get into this level of gear, finally. It has taken a while as well as a bunch of work, but if you can;t enjoy the fruits of your work, what's the point, right?

fplanner2000

Hi Fplanner, are you looking at getting the new Statement pre.

Jwm,

I'm sure the new Statement pre does sound different otherwise .... sure looks different inside but is a substantial jump up in cost also. At the same time this new unit is a line stage ONLY unit minus some inputs mentioned above including a phono stage which many have in their current MKIIa's so one needs to take this into account also. Obviously some that don't spin it's not important.

Interesting design for sure only using two tubes, wonder why. Anyone have any thoughts on this. What does one call this new pre design?

Sonic wise, you can change the sound characteristics of your current Sig MK2a by just changing the tubes alone which is endless and allot less costly.

Still would like to hear what these differences are in comparison and if it's really justifiable or just different.

So far I don't know of any actual end user whom has gotten one, do any of you.
If so would like to know what their system consist of, would also like a little history of the tube rolling they did in their existing MKIIa prior and what they heard for comparisons.

I'm still lovin my Vac set-up :-)

dev

Fplanner2000 I was in Kevin's room at CES and his new statement preamp looks awesome. I have the same preamp as you and also would like the new one. Kevin said the new preamp is in a totally different league. It does not have tape input or outputs though. Kevin is the only one who does not believe in KT120 tubes.

jwm

Showing 201 - 225 of 502 posts
  • 372.6K
  • 502
  •  0
© 2024 Audiogon.com