Hi Robertje,

The upgrade to the Cosecant is significant and the ability to read higher-rez files up to 192/24 will take your rig to the next level. Worth every penny of the upgrade coast.

Indeed, the VSM Master with the Bam wire upgrade is Bobby's masterpiece and continued refinement of an already relentlessly refined product.

joneill November 03, 2012 15:56

System edited: I've had the Cardas Clear geometry cable upgrade for the Master BAM in my rig for 100 hours and it is truly the icing on the VSM Master speaker's cake! Mids are ever so slightly recessed relaxing the entire presentation This allows for seeing/hearing deeper into the stage with increased midrange textures and stage layering. The highs are even silkier and extended and the bass has more presence, whomp and weight. System is so focused without any artificial etching to the sound. Female vocals take on even more of that reach out and touch me quality. All in all, very impressive upgrade for not a lot of money.

joneill November 01, 2012 14:50

Hi Robertje,

Thanks!

Yes, I added the HS switching & Denominator upgrade in July. It takes the Cosecant to yet another level of even finer resolution. The DAC does 192/24 Hi-Rez files without a hiccup.

Gordon Rankin over delivers in a real bang for the buck manner with the Cosecant HS Denominator. Worth the price of admission!

joneill October 18, 2012 21:00

System edited: Merlin VSM Master speakers added this summer and Music reference RM9SE amp. Having owned several versions of both products, these are statement pieces by both designers and have definite synergy!

joneill October 16, 2012 17:52

Hi Kevin,

Found my Rives print. 18" radius on the polyfusers ply (purchased them pre-made from a source in Wisconsin) and my finish carpenter applied the Clear Maple Veneer. Height is 8' 1".

Jim

joneill June 12, 2012 01:01

Hi Norm,

Thanks for your comments.

Upgrades inclue Copper Foil Shielding, o2 free 12 g copper litz wiring, Bybee Quantum purifiers, Furutech IEC inlet, Furutech Gt-x Outlets.

Best Regards,

Jim

joneill June 11, 2012 13:50

HI Sgr,

Wow, that is quite the set up you have. Love to hear that system crank out a tune or two! NIce work assembling the system.

Promise Pegasus can be purchased on Amazon from several suppliers or Apple. I actually purchased from B&H Photo Supply in NY as we have a supply relationship established with them.

Install was a breeze if you have a Thunderbolt cable (Apple site only) and 12 hours for formatting the drives. It has excellent software that allows you to do what ever RAID format you desire as well as monitor the array. So far, so good. The speed of the Thunderbolt connection is amazing. The unit is indeed amazingly quiet, but in fairness I have my front end in a 6X9 walk in closet adjacent to my listening chair so I really hear nothing what so ever.

I also installed a OWC SATA 3 SSD/16 Gig of RAM in the Macbook Pro that is equally impressive with its speed and sound! PM & Audirvana programs engines running in side iTunes love that RAM for great sound. Loading files is seamlessly fast.

I also back this unit up to a WD 4TB drive and will be looking for another back up redundany solutions soon. As my digital collection grows and with the size of Hi-Rez files, I would cry if I ever lost my data. For those computer-geeks among us, we all are aware that HD store files and fail. Almost a guarantee.

Best Regards,

Jim

joneill June 10, 2012 18:12

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your comments.

Your rig looks well put together as well. Congrats on the hard work.

I was able to A/B the B-P-T unit that has the Sig mods against a. Equi-tech T-1000 and it was not even close. I agree, I have no nits to pick with it's performance on my front end.

Best Regards,

Jim

joneill June 10, 2012 17:52

Hi Kev,

Thanks. It has been fun and a work in process for sure. Here are my attempts to answer your questions.

I also took a peek at your set up and it looks equally impressive. Congrats!

Floor to ceiling traps in front are indeed fiberglass triangles with pool liner stretched over a second frame that was screwed and green glue to the frame. The acoustic fabric is stretched onto a separate frame completes their construction.

Rear wall bass traps are built into the shelving unit on left rear. At the rich rear, their is a solid core oak pocket door that has a wool drape that is lines with fiberglass.

I've seen one large front wall diffusor as well as well as two smaller diffusors in several rooms Rives has done. All depends what the CAD says in the design I suppose! If i remember correctly, the window above the center wall was a sonic consideration as well. I have placed a honeycomb translucent window treatment that is closed when listening that is not in the photo on the site.

RPG Skyline diffusors while part of the original design plan were added last after roughly 90 days of room adjustment per Richard's suggestion. Their contribution to a very solid 3D SS was nothing short of jaw dropping and they of course are real conservation piece for visitors.

Ceiling: Joist runs parallel with front and real walls. Kal board was removed to expose the floor joists. The joist bays are treated with rigid fiberglass, green glue and a wooden diffusion system design to take the large reflective ceiling surface out of the equation. The Clear Maple frame you see was my way of "hiding" the 24x48 panels (Vendor who manufactures them with a CMC for total accuracy) seams used to cover the ceiling diffusor. The panels are attached with velcro to the framing. I was able to leave a 1/4" reveal with the panels for pure aesthetics. Looks and sounds great!

Floor: Engineered Oak treated with an antique Indian Agra rug. I listened W/O pad as well as 3 different rug pads underneath that to no surprise, sounded very different from one another. I settled with the extra thick rubber pad as it sounded the best by no small margin.

RT 60 is really moot in a room this small. I'm only in a room 20X13 with 8 foot ceiling. THe RT 30 times were less than a second as I recall. Given the small room size, means little.

I firmly believe that some of the the best $$ I have spent in audio went into this room. With a good design in hand, my son and I were able to do the demo and all of the framing. This helped control the costs and allowed me to use primo finishes for a room that not only sounds great, but looks great as well.

Hope this answered your questions.

Jim

joneill June 10, 2012 17:47

System edited: B-P-T balanced power conditioning, Cardas Clear & Clear Beyond Power cords. It has been several years since upgrading the power delivery/conditioning so it was time! New Apple Quad Core music Server, USB cable, Thunderbolt high speed Storage device. Currently running Pure Music as well as the new excellent sounding Direct Mode of Audirvana. New Merlin VSM MXr in production will complete the system overhauls.

joneill June 08, 2012 21:39

Samhar,

Great to hear from you again!

I agree. Nothing I have tried can beat the Joule Electra design. With the right speaker they can produce the magic we all lust after. They are not "plug & play" by any sense of the expressions, they throw a bit of heat, nor are they the quietest amp design. With a little tinkering and TLC with the variac and tube bias, they deliver the real deal in spades. Speed, clarity, quickness, PRAT and bottom end punch, they got it all going. There is a special rightness and magic to the midrange tonality that is very difficult to describe. With the Merlin VSM MXe, they really are magic!

joneill February 09, 2012 15:24

Lapiere,

Thanks for the kind words.

The room measured flat to 33 cycles then gently rolls off. There is a slight hump at 78 cycles as well as 125 that I have attempted to work out but to no avail.

The before & after of the room with the Rives design is almost too hard to explain. Everyone who had done a Rives design told me that it would be the best $$$ in audio I would spend and after the process, I'd whole heartily agree It has and continues to bring lots of pleasure to my listening experience. I only wish I had more time to listen!

joneill February 08, 2012 17:46

Ditto from this end as well. If your ever in the area, holler and we can have a listen.

Thx,

Jim

joneill February 08, 2012 17:35

I am located on the Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin border on the mighty Mississippi river in Dubuque, Iowa. And you??

joneill February 07, 2012 15:19

Zepyr,

Thanks for your kind words. Indeed, realism and energy are definite positives of the Elrod PC.

Looking at your system, seems you have put together quite an array of Elrods in the system and I'm sure all that attention to details has large pay-offs.

I will be auditioning the new cards Clear PC in the near future and will report my results here.

Thanks.

joneill February 05, 2012 19:25

Tzh21y,

Sorry for the delayed response. Been "off the reservation" on business projects last 6 months.

The EAR 834P is a heavily modded version by Norther Audio. The board is stripped and all parts are replaced with the high quality "no cost" constraints parts and NOS tubes. While the stock 834P is no slouch, The Northern Audio Mod takes it to another level.

YMMV.

Jim

joneill May 15, 2011 17:49

System edited: USB cable wars. Demo on recommendation from a friend/dealer. Sound much improved over the RSA cable.

joneill May 15, 2011 17:43

Keeping the Elrod Silver Statement and awaiting the Elrod Gold Statement(s) for audition on amps and PLC.

The cord was a "lock" on the JE Pre. Elrod provides Joule Electra with a proprietary wire of same design that Jud uses in his point to point wiring in the LA 300 ME.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Jim

joneill June 21, 2010 02:57

Slipnot1,

Thanks for all of your kinds words and many thanks for all of the encouragement during the process. The room has been complete know for 6 months and the final room tweaks are pretty much completed.

You were correct in your assessment; "Best money you can spend" in stereo for sure. The Rives folks were a dream to work with and delivered the goods.

Off to listen.

Regards,

Jim

joneill March 24, 2010 02:04

Nmanuel,

Thanks for your kind comments. Indeed, we are in very similar equipment arenas. I had a Capitole II SE for several years before I went the PC Audio route.

The CM platforms are excellent isolation platforms. Under the Joule amps as well as the Bam, expect to hear a much more focused, relaxed sound with better bass and definition.

Rives consults can be as invasive as one desires. Mine was a level 1 and I did my own sonic measurments. I was remodeling an office and my adjacent dedicated room that was treated with a variety of purchased/home made products. I was unwilling to move walls. I made that clear in my first interview and the project moved forward. I did agree to remove a large portion of the ceiling to build a diffusion array treatment. The rest of my solutions were stick built by my carpenter, cabinet maker or purchased from vendors.

I had read here and other places that a Rives solution would be the best money I would ever spend in audio. I would have to give that an emphatic two thumbs up as well. The room sounds fantastic and is a pleasure to be in as well.

Please keep me posted on the MXr break-in and send me some diggie pics of the set up.

regards,

Jim

joneill March 23, 2010 11:57

System edited: Added an Elrod Power System Silver Statement Power Cord. Ribbon power cord similar in design to the point to point signal wiring designed specifically for Joule Electra by well known cable designer David Elrod of Elrod Power Systems, Inc. Hopefully will be a match made in heaven with the Joule Electra LA 300 ME Line-Stage. We shall find out!

joneill February 22, 2010 02:56

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your comments.

In my discussions with Richard, I pretty much gave him carte blanche as long as we did not move walls. With measurements in hand and his CAD design, he produced an outstanding space both in its sonics and aesthetics.

The deciding factor was its 8' 1" height. Building a soffit was not in the cards due to this height. The cloth-covered panels (no insulation, just 2'x4' covered panels in white acoustic cloth material) on the maple grid ceiling is hiding an elaborate patent-pending array of alternating diagonal slats and insulation with the joist bays build up with ply, 5/8 dry-wall screwed and green glued.

We use slanted boards and absorptive material between the ceiling joists to create effective diffusion down to 200-250Hz. It's extraordinarily effective for rooms like this where you have limited ceiling height but relatively tall speakers that would otherwise turn the ceiling into the predominant room boundary. We couldn't really put anything on the ceiling since that would lower it only further. Richard thought it would be a mistake to not treat this large surface at all. The ideal solution then was to work "in the ceiling," the ceiling joist bays, then trim it out with the kind of fabric that matched my decor. This allows the ceiling to be taken out of the boundary equation. This room sounds much, much larger than it has any right too!

With saws-all in hand, CLD cut out the plaster ceiling leaving a small area of plaster to frame the new grid. The panels are simply velcro'd to the grid with a 1/4 reveal for shadow line.

Rives CAD design specified quite a lot of diffusion in this room because, relative to the speakers being used, it was on the small side (approximately 14' x 19' x 8' 1"). The Helmholtz resonators, 5 foot bank on each wall are used to broaden the soundstage. They absorb energy and then release it at an attenuated level to create a sense of ambience that fools the ear/brain mechanism into hearing this space as being much broader and wider than it is. In most rooms, they would not have this many resonators. They assist in smoothing out the frequency response, providing both diffusion and absorption. These here are fashioned from hardwood slats (Select grade Maple) with a 1/4 inch gap. The width and depth of the gap relative to the depth of the device determines the frequency it resonates at. Because these are convex the depth of the gaps isn't constant but varying to become effective over a broader frequency band. Most people think of Helmholtz resonators as high-Q devices and you can design them accordingly to attenuate specific bass modes. But these are not that. These are broad-band devices designed to improve the ambiance of the room.

While it looks great and sounds great, after working with Richard, it was obvious that between the CAD and his experience, I was in good hands.

See here for construction pics: http://gallery.me.com/joneill1155

Hope this helps. I highly recommend Richard @Rives. Rives/Richard were great.

joneill February 17, 2010 23:39

Devilboy,

Thanks. Your room also is a great looker. I love those Marten's. Have a brother-in-law with a pair making some great sound in San Diego with the Martens.

My wife in-deed has quite a flair for the deco thing for sure. Excellent with colors, textures, fabrics and wood. I'll pass your props on to her.

Thanks.

joneill February 17, 2010 23:35

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your comments.

In my discussions with Richard, I pretty much gave him carte blanche as long as we did not move walls. With measurements in hand and his CAD design, he produced an outstanding space both in its sonics and aesthetics.

The deciding factor was its 8' 1" height. Building a soffit was not in the cards due to this height. The cloth-covered panels (no insulation, just 2'x4' covered panels in white acoustic cloth material) on the maple grid ceiling is hiding an elaborate patent-pending array of alternating diagonal slats and insulation with the joist bays build up with ply, 5/8 dry-wall screwed and green glued.

We use slanted boards and absorptive material between the ceiling joists to create effective diffusion down to 200-250Hz. It's extraordinarily effective for rooms like this where you have limited ceiling height but relatively tall speakers that would otherwise turn the ceiling into the predominant room boundary. We couldn't really put anything on the ceiling since that would lower it only further. Richard thought it would be a mistake to not treat this large surface at all. The ideal solution then was to work "in the ceiling," the ceiling joist bays, then trim it out with the kind of fabric that matched my decor. This allows the ceiling to be taken out of the boundary equation. This room sounds much, much larger than it has any right too!

With saws-all in hand, CLD cut out the plaster ceiling leaving a small area of plaster to frame the new grid. The panels are simply velcro'd to the grid with a 1/4 reveal for shadow line.

Rives CAD design specified quite a lot of diffusion in this room because, relative to the speakers being used, it was on the small side (approximately 14' x 19' x 8' 1"). The Helmholtz resonators, 5 foot bank on each wall are used to broaden the soundstage. They absorb energy and then release it at an attenuated level to create a sense of ambience that fools the ear/brain mechanism into hearing this space as being much broader and wider than it is. In most rooms, they would not have this many resonators. They assist in smoothing out the frequency response, providing both diffusion and absorption. These here are fashioned from hardwood slats (Select grade Maple) with a 1/4 inch gap. The width and depth of the gap relative to the depth of the device determines the frequency it resonates at. Because these are convex the depth of the gaps isn't constant but varying to become effective over a broader frequency band. Most people think of Helmholtz resonators as high-Q devices and you can design them accordingly to attenuate specific bass modes. But these are not that. These are broad-band devices designed to improve the ambiance of the room.

While it looks great and sounds great, after working with Richard, it was obvious that between the CAD and his experience, I was in good hands.

See here for construction pics: http://gallery.me.com/joneill1155

Hope this helps. I highly recommend Richard @Rives. Rives/Richard were great.

joneill February 17, 2010 23:32

Srwooten,

Thanks for the info and the link. Much appreciated.

joneill February 15, 2010 23:03

David,

Thanks for your kind words. The room was a blast to do and the results have been spectacular to say the least.

Your system looks to be right up my alley as well. Nothing like tubes and Merlin's for a match made in heaven.

joneill February 15, 2010 21:13

Srwooten,

New feet are on the upgrade list. How do the motor risers work with the new feet? Are they part of the footer upgrade?

I already have a center weight I purchased with the outer ring.

Thanks.

joneill February 15, 2010 15:18

Samhar,

Thanks for your kind words. The Joule Electra Marquis Mk IV OTL have the speed, transparency and total harmonic envelope that brings me as close to the absolute sound as I have ever been to my ear. Match made in heaven with the Merlin speakers.

joneill February 14, 2010 02:49