I now feel that after 30 years I'm hearing my music the way I've always dreamt of.. Fluent, effortless, high bandwidth,image placement is very precise, low level detail and ambient sounds are so clear,the sense of the acoustic space of the recording is now very apparent. Sheer joy!
Balanced Output power supply. Replaced a PS Audio P10, self designed and built to order; 3 individually isolated supply circuits, one for digital (game changer), one for analogue source, and finally a 1.5Kva for amplification. Full DC elimination filter circuit, safety protection fuses on each line, 10 Furutech outputs sockets (gold). Neutrik input socket, selectable voltage display, current displays for each circuit, diplay off switch, non magnetic casework, all silver plated pure copper internal wiring. Led status display for each outlet.
This literally transforms the sound of the system beyond any other upgrade; the P10 did nothing in comparison. The improvement to already good digital is the big shock, just using 16 bit, tonality, space, air, depth, frequency extremes are all transformed. This is how to use digital; isolated power, seperate form all else, very simple! More to follow!
Concert Fidelity Reference DAC 040
Valve NOS DAC, very Natural!
Concert Fidelity LSX2
Hybrid minimalist pre-amplifier of extreme purity, this is Japanese perfection.
Concert Fidelity ZL-120V2SE
120w Mono power amplifiers, solid state purist perfection.
Concert Fidelity ZL-200
The ZL-200 is Designer Masataka's masterpiece, and adheres to his philosophy of less components in the signal path equal better sonics, IF you have the deep understanding required to acheive this, and Masa does, evidently when you hear his work. The ZL-200 is very very special.
Z:axis Audio Components 'Mirage'
Designed with two goals, sonic isolation and energy damping, and sculptural aesthetics that display British craftsmanship at it's very best. The 98.8 here is the result of an 18 month journey through material selection and combination, and it allows the system to breathe life into recording..
Z:axis Audio Components Livewire
Solid, clean, transparent, and ultra dynamic, they have proved to be a revelation, far beyond expectation..
Single ended RCA interconnect. Duelund silver foil/Bocchino B2/damping medea.
Martin Logan Spire
Hybrid Panel and powered 10" Bass Driver, modified with new external crossovers, rewired direct to panel, bass cabinet clad in granite & ceasarstone, Finite Elemente Cerabase feet. Custom crossover's built to original ML spec using Clarity Caps MR's, Duelund resistors & Mundorf copper foil inductors. All SPC wired.
z:axis Audio Components Infinity Digital Interconnect
75ohm Digital, sounds clean as a bell.
Z:axis Audio Components Reference Power Leads
I have 7 of these in the system, and the difference from a budget power lead is significant! These are my own make, good quality parts only, time consuming to produce but with the whole system on them the sum is greater than the parts..
We've not met, I've known Simon a while and met Alan a couple of times up at a friends in Cambridge.
That's a kind offer to visit, would love to at some stage. I'm in South Bucks, likewise if you fancy stopping by this way you'd be very welcome. In fact a couple of guys are due here mid-Nov for an afternoon of tunes, probably the 12th if it's of interest.
That's always good to hear, Alan has good ears, so a positive comment from him is very pleasing.. He was very complimentary when he heard them in his system. I haven't seen him for a while but hope too soon. We did plenty of comparisons at the Reading event, both mains and interconnects, and i was more than pleased with my leads, even in quite big ticket company they got the thumbs up from a majority of listeners.
Have we met? The thing about user-names is you are never sure who each other really is, i usually go by whether i know the system, then put the owner to that! If you're ever in Sussex with time to spare, you are welcome to visit, bring some cd's too..
Nice clean looking system you've there Paul. Thats quite an achievement given the amp you've chosen! Bet it sounds as good as it looks. Funnily enough I bumped into Alan from GA/AW at a mutual friends a few weeks back, he mentioned your power cords said they were very good indeed.
System edited: Recently i have been working on the speakers, adding weight to stabilise the panels and to dampen the bass enclosure, this worked better than i imagined, they are simply better.
System edited: System now powered with full set of my leads, from a dedicated 10 mm spur. All fuses are either Furutech or Hi Fi Tuning, including internals. This did surprise me but really it shouldn't have...In Complete truth i have yet to hear a system i'd rather live with.
The plinth is Limestone, which i use for several reasons. Firstly i have fitted Finite Elemente Cerabases to my spires as i prefer these to spikes, they definately improve detail and focus of the image. So the bases are needed to adjust the rake, forward/backward tilt of the panel. Secondly the do act in conjunction with the feet as a drain for vibration in the cabinet box and panel frame, thus improving the sound further.
I can thoroughly recommend the Spire, although i have modified mine from new, i have absolutely no desire to try anything else..
Yes, technically, and no. They are isolating, so disconnecting the cdp and Esl panels from the mains, with it's inherent noise. You don't realise it's there til it's gone, and when it's gone you sure won't want it back. The current draw is low, the supply is well above what's needed so there's no risk of components being starved of current. The ASR is still direct to the spur, as they have their own isolating transformers built in already, hence their well documented quietness.
One area of improvement is of backing vocals being far more pronounced, clearer, and legible.
Don't the addition of extra components (like the transformers) add an extra "element" in the current path ? But if you say, things are better than before, either there was some "noise" coming through earlier, which is now(somehow) suppressed or isolated ? Just curious...
In general, good to hear you feel happy with the improvement...isn't that what it is all about in our hobby !
System edited: I have added two isolating balanced power transformers, one supplying the MBL, the second supplying the Martin Logan Spires. The cost was low as these are not made by a 'hifi' company, but the improvement in clarity and detail, is very obvious. There is now a real sense of being there, and this system now is among the best ive ever heard, i will become very antisocial now, i just want to stay home and hear music..
System edited: New Interconnect is fitted, it has shown that the Valhalla is quite light in the real low frequencies, this has more body and depth,but still very open and three dimensional..
Hi Paul, thank you very much indeed. My first encounter with Audioplan were power cords, power bar (with the PowerStar they were pioneers of star shaped inner wiring) and mains filter. Over the years, I have gradually upgraded but not without substantial cost and I continue to believe the Audioplan S-series is one of The Bargains out there for power products (only criticism: plugs could probably be better) but also other products, and one of (admittedly many) considerations is to build an all Audioplan second system sometime. In the old days of the High End Fair in Frankfurt, their presentations with Jadis gear, dps table and their own speakers with their full loom of cables and power products was always a highlight (imho, of course, in some quarters it is extremely fancy to bash Audioplan). So I am fascinated to learn what their very untypically high priced UIC88 cable is able to do. Btw, should you have the opportunity to listen to their KonzertIII speaker, make shure to grab the chance! Regards Karel
Many thanks for the comments, i'll get some better photo's up soon. Karel, Yes, i have a 1.4 meter balanced UIC88, and a 1 meter Single ended Valhalla, as such i cant offer a direct comparison, though i will do my best here. I'll start with how i came across Audioplan cable which was around 5 years ago. A very good friend is a hi fi dealer here in the uk, a well known one. I bought some good ARC amps from him, and needed a good RCA IC between pre and power. We spent hrs trying a big boxful of new and used cables, all sounding different from one another. To our ears nothing quite clicked until he dug out a pair of pretty stiff and thick cables and put them in, voila, there it was, we both agreed that they were the ones to use. They were the Audioplan Super AF. At the time i didnt know of Audioplan but hey, this cable literally beat the pants off all the others. My dealer friend took them in secondhand in exchange for something else so i got them for about £200. Jump forward 4 years now. The amps have changed from Arc to ASR (no, i'm not working my way through all amp makers alphabetically!) I thought maybe i could do with a balanced cable that would be better than my XLR HT Magic Link(1), from cd to ASR, got the UIC88 as that is the top AP cable. In comparison to the HT, the difference was clear, it is a very smooth and sweet sounding IC, but with very positive definition and placement of musicians in front of me. This is what AP seem to get right. The ASR is equipped with a direct input, which bypasses all the input selector relays, so is a purer signal path, and as i have moved my turntable out of the system i could try this from the MBL cdp. This is RCA only though, so i couldn't use the UIC88. I then got the Super AF out and tried this, very good, in fact it was great. Ok, so lets see what else compares.. Back to my mate and another boxful of very pricey cords. The AP came out very near the top of the pile, Valhalla being at the top, so i kept it. To compare them as best i can, i would say that they are both very natural, with the Valhalla having more presence, openness, and more extended highs. If the intended system is a little bit toppy, then the UIC88 may suit, though if not, and maybe a valve system then to my ears the Valhalla's still have it.
That being said though, the Valhalla's are being used as a comparison reference, for my own experimental cables, which again to my ears, in my system, i am preferring, though the project is far from finished as i have a new connector flying in from Aus as i write. Once i have this built and run and tested i'll update.
I see you have various Audioplan parts, how do you find them?
Nice system too, it looks like a lifelong interest for you too.. Best Regards, Paul.
