Gone are the audiophile adjectives, along with all barriers to musical reproduction. What remains is beautiful, clean, rich, majestic, energetic, palpable, live, natural music.
Rtn1, your system sounds very much like it's virtually succeeded in reaching the goal I believe in, which is to eliminate ALL weaknesses.
One of the criteria I use is that "bad" recordings no longer sound "bad". How far do you feel you have gone in that direction; in other words, are there still any recordings you have that can't be enjoyed for their musical content, because the level and type of distortion audible is still too great?
Hi Bigsam, Not many stores in St. Louis. Music for Pleasure has several brands, but none which I have. Champaign IL may have some items of interest. Send me an email if you'd like to get together.
I am in St Louis and am doing a fellowship at Wash U. I hope to again start constructing a system after graduation. Did you buy your equipment locally? When we moved here I looked for dealers, but did not notice any with BAT, Avalon, Pass, etc that you have (which are all on my list to audition before buying). I am sure your setup sounds great.
Added the NVS Sound Silver Ultimate 1 power cable to the high current side of the Spartan. I could tell you how it sounds, but you wouldn't believe me. This is the power cable that made me stop looking. Nothing else sounded remotely close to it.
I'll say more as it settles over the next couple weeks.
Thanks Rtn1. There is nothing like live orchestral music to compare one's system's quality to. I don't doubt your estimate as to it's ability to sound real. I started a thread on this very topic in the speaker forum with some interesting contributions. Check it out and again, congratulations on your incredible system.
FYI, Jonathan Valin commented on the AV Guide site in his Magico Q5 blog about his thoughts of Class A SS amps, the Pass XA.5, in particular in a question I asked him about the X.5 versus the XA.5. To him, big class A amps sound dark and a bit restricted and he much prefers class AB. I'm with you on the sound of these XA.5. Very special indeed.
Hi Peter. I've been fortunate to listen to orchestras around the world. This includes Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, New York, Vienna, Gotenborg, and Prague. I have a subscription in St. Louis. Next year, a business trip will take me to Amsterdam.
I am going to estimate that my system comes 90-95% to an orchestral performance. I have been obsessed with the charactaristics you describe: scale, dynamics, clarity. Also, the emotional involvement and interplay among musicians. The Pass has been such an integral part of achieving that sound, but many things have been needed to take shape.
I now appreciate how electricity and cables create artifacts that limit that last essential piece of transparency. So many cables severely limit what you hear. I am a firm believer in the weak-link philosophy.
I've enjoyed reading about your system and especially those new amps as I own the XA160.5. I think the new Pass gear is really special.
Your sentence "It's taking my system beyond what I thought possible." is very interesting to me. I have been comparing my system to live orchestral sound at the Boston Symphony Orchestra lately and consider that to be the ultimate reference. Though my system sounds fairly convincing on smaller scale chamber and vocal, it can not match the scale, dynamics and clarity of a live symphony. I don't know if audio systems will ever sound like that. Do you listen to much live music and have you compared your digital to a really good analog front end? I ask because a good friend who also listens to live music a lot recently asked me how close great systems sound to the real thing.
I've been doing alot of evaluating, and even more learning. The cable story is coming to an end.
My quest for the ultimate power cable has come to a conclusion. I found something totally new and different, that absolutely redefines what a power cable can accomplish. More info to come in a few weeks.
The Jade Audio Reference Gold/Platinum interconnects are in production, and these should be in my hands within the next 2-3 weeks. I'll report back then.
I also got a couple of the brand new Supreme HiFi Tuning fuses to try, supposedly an all-out-assault on the fuse. Once my system stabilizes in the next couple days, these will be compared to the HiFi gold fuses I currently use.
Lot's of fun stuff with ear-opening results. It's taking my system beyond what I thought possible.
I think Nathan and I are really using live classical music as our benchmark. We are not comparing system A to system B, but directly to the real thing and asking why it is not the same.
Building a system is such a fragile thing. The elusive last 1% of my system, I would characterize, as transparency. Specifically, the final bit of cleanness and purity in the midrange that lets you peer into the music and convey that sense of energy. I believe the bass and treble are on-par with live music, but there is an every-so-slight haze in the midrange that masks the vibrancy and freshness. For example, I got to hear Sibelius #3 by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra 2 weeks ago. Both the orchestra and the hall had a very unique sound. The piece used alot of pizzicato on the lower string instruments, and there was a clarity and roundness that was quite captivating and effective.
If I try to use a cable to clean the midrange in my system, I lose 3 other components of my sound. It is like playing whack-a-mole. Whether the bass gets exaggerated, or the magic of the treble is killed, of the note decay is cut short. Cleaning the midrange seems to dry-up the mid-range as well. This is an unacceptable compromise.
I have the Spartan to thank for this. The Spartan has revealed my cables minor but audible flaws. I wish I could just get a well-regarded cable and be done with it, but the Spartan is very particular about which cables are used throughout the system.
The Jade Audio Hybrid ICs are, on balance, the best ICs I've heard. I spoke with JD recently, and inquired as to what his reference ICs provide above the Hybrid. Not wanting to prejudice him with what my system was needing, he went on to describe an absolute clarity in the midrange while maintain proper balance and decay. Well, since he read my mind and hit the nail on the head with the Hybrid cables, I now have a pair of Gold/Platinum ICs on order, and look forward to seeing what that does.
The power cables, I'm still looking. But I think some adjustments there will bring everything into focus while maintaining the musicality and the complete picture. But my, what a fragile thing indeed.
I am sure about that, I was very impressed with the immediacy in dynamics! There was no hint at all of any lack in availability of current, and that is extremely impressive given the amount of current that each amp, as well as the rest of the system, draws. I am helping my father build his dream system starting in January, and both the Spartan and TROY are planned to be at the base of it.
Nvanderstoep thanks for sharing your experience. Part of what you experienced from your description has to do with Tripoint Spartan AC conditioner and TROY grounding component. They make this system as revealing as it is.
I had the pleasure of visiting Rob and listening to his system a few weeks ago. I am very familiar with the Wadia 9 series front end with the GNSC mods, though everything else was new to me. Though the system was not perfect to me, unlikely to ever find one that is of course, we tried different cables and different isolation feet in the course of our listening. This was so revealing! It is a common topic to speak of synergy, though this is likely the first system I have encountered that has been so responsive and demonstrated this so pointedly. I was in the market for speakers when I arrived, and I knew that Avalon was for me by the time I left. I previously was considering Verity Audio, which I had also heard with the Wadia 9 series, but in comparison, I felt that the Avalons were much more natural, more full bodied in a certain way. Rob's system played strings as I had never heard before, except live. Violins are have sweetness to their tone, even when they get aggressive, that I have never heard in any system before, and I was hearing it! There was a certain clarity, a transparency in the full timbres of all instruments, however, that I was missing at first. In the course of trying different cables, we heard that come in though the bass energy increased so significantly as to make it very uncomfortable. The overall was better with his original cables, but hearing that the clarity was possible made me a sudden believer. No doubt, the BAT REX and Pass Labs are not to be excluded from making the system what it is though! Within the next two weeks, I was able to trade in my then speakers for a set of Avalon Indras, and am now very confidant in that portion of my personal system for a long time. I had the pleasure of attending RMAF this year as well, and had a lot of recommendations from people as to systems I should be listening to. Now, a show is a hard time to make any judgements, and I always feel sorry for the newer manufacturers as they have not yet acquired the best room treatments and experience for dealing with hotel rooms, but there were only a handful of rooms that sounded anywhere near what Rob has put together, or even what I am now enjoying. The Avalon room was one, and the other room of note was Studio Electric with Benchmark.
I digress. In short, I enjoyed Rob's system thoroughly, and if anyone is shopping (who isn't in this hobby) around, they would not do poorly to mimic this system! I am sure that a lesser Wadia with a lesser BAT and lesser Avalons would still bring you much of the same character.
Bravo Rob, and keep us updated with your further forays into audio perfection...
Yeap, happened to me as well going from Jadis to Gryphon some years back... Pass amps are great, they posses finesse and punch with lots of musicality. Enjoy!
I am now at the end of a long journey. My system is finally complete, and I would suggest that the music can compete with any system, in any room. Two years ago, I had a sound in my head, and have been goal-oriented and methodical in achieving that sound. Every aspect has been extensively researched and implemented, from fuses, tubes, contacts, power, cables, shelves, footers, etc.
The Tripoint Spartan has literally taken 2 months before beginning to show its true potential. Music is wide-open, crystal clear, extended, and free. It has sparkle, beauty, energy, and palpability. There are no boundaries, and the system has disappeared. What remains are musicians, in a hall, on a stage, playing with dedication and inspiration.
Tripoint Spartan arrived yesterday. This power conditioner is massive. It makes my amplifiers look puny.
It is far too early to say much. However, I have had my amplifiers plugged-in for the past 24 hours, because I wanted to make sure there was a positive benefit with the amps alone. The amps run at 700 watts each, and I typically figure amps are not as sensitive to power as are source components.
Well, the amps sound better by at least 30%. Now, I just need to get the 7 other components hooked-up, and give it a month to break-in! This is going to be interesting.
Jason, After 6 months with the Pass Labs, my enthusiasm has not diminished one bit. May I dare say, that, perhaps...these are perfect amps?
They sound like big amplifiers, with the power, control, and dynamics one would expect. However, they are also very delicate, flowing, effortless, and beautiful. The Troy factors big into this sound, in letting the amps reach their true potential. Together,they provide that 3-dimension, palpable, floating, clear, wet-detailed sound that eludes most SS amps and even many tube amps. This is not a neutral amp. It adds something that makes everything sound quite natural and free.
Hi Rob Congratulations on your new Pass Labs XA200.5 amplifiers, I have the Pass Labs XA100.5 amplifiers powering my Parmenter Fat Boy Horn speakers and they are incredible amplifiers. I am sure you will be very happy with the Pass Labs amplifiers. Cheers Jason.
Interesting enough, the jury is still out on the NOS tubes.
I read the review of the Time on the Avalon website. Roy Gregory seems to be a fixture of the Avalon review process. Reading between the lines, it sounds like this is an Eidelon Diamond that goes a bit lower. He kept discussing the holographic nature.
In contrast, the Isis is all that plus the sense of scale and grandeur. I think room size would dictate which is more appropriate. Probably a room size of around 350 +/- 50 square feet would be the tipping-point between the 2 speakers.
I certainly would not buy the Time without a listen. It looks good on paper, but you never know. Sometimes a product line-up seems to have a natural progression and trickling down of technology. However, there are often situations where something in a line-up will click and work better for some inexplicable reason. I guess you can call it a combination of art, skill, and luck.
Just checking in to see if you have reached any final thoughts on the NOS 6h30's you're now using in the REX?
I was over to Ron Lipson's about a month ago to hear his Isis with the Atma MA2's. IMHO it was not a good match. He has since acquired a PASS amp to drive the Isis and he now feels like it's a totally new speaker and digging the sound. Don't know which PASS amp he decided on ... yet. I hope to get over there and hear the combo for myself as I still have thoughts of moving up to the Avalon 'Time' someday.
