Novemeber 2016-Added 4 x LAMM m2.2 for biamping the TADS, driven by the LAMM LL1.1 preamp.A match made in heaven!( or in Brooklyn NY......) The LAMM amps will be set on 4 S
Also upgraded the siltech double cown i/cs to the newly developed TRIPLE CROWNS- a significant upgrade on its own.
April 2021—
Replaced my Lamm gear with the soulution 701s, and 725 preamp.
HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEMS MXR STANDS W/ M3X ISOLATION BASES
2X4 SHELVES STANDS IN BURLWOOD FINISH.with 19x21 m3x shelves. adding these racks and shelves have been one of the most profound upgrades i have made to my system, period!
TRANSPARENT ACOUSTIC CLOUDS
10 CLOUDS TO TAME THE CEILING REFLECTIONS. BEAUTIFUL AND VERY EFFECTIVE!
AURALEX QUAD DIFFUSERS
SEVERAL DIFFUSERS IN THRUOUT THE ROOM.
YTER Flexum acoustical panels
a gorgeous maple diffuser/absorbtion from the kitchen of franco sorbin. extremely effective and also beautifully made to boot!
Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF
True State of the art.
HRS Vxr amp stands
Lowest noise floor .
Esoteric Grandioso C1x preamp
ESOTERIC Grandioso K1X
Esoteric Grandioso G1x
Esoteric Grandioso C1x ps
Esoteric Grandioso PS1
ESOTERIC M1X GRANDIOSO MONOS
ESPRIT CABLES Eureka interconnects, speakercables and all power cords
Thank you for your kind comments….. yes ,lots of high end gear has gone thru my ears in the last 30 so years….some were good some regrettable ,and some i do miss…. If nothing more then the nostalgic element.
The room was built up from the studs up and mineral fiber, accustical rubber ,homasaut panels an3/8 “ sheet rock to create an isolated/ insulated room.
Has its own sub panel and grounding.
The treatments were a trial and error till the right balance of absorption and diffusing was created.
Apologies for replying sooner.the dCS Vivaldi 2.0 is amazing. Even after 4 years of ownership ,I’m amazed how musical and detailed it’s sound is.I can’t recommend it enough.
As for the Sara vs. the hers- to my ears, the hrs has the capability to open the sound further, and lowering the noise floor by a good 2-3 dbs.
Apologies for replying so late. First ,thank you kindly. I have enjoyed this system immensely. The combination of a custom built room , great acoustics ,dedicated power , combined with truly state of the art speakers( not just skin deep pretty finish ),and the magic of Lamm yields really a revelatory experience.thank you again, and happy new year.
The best bass i had in my room over the years was from the rockport hyperions. omg- it would peel the paint off. the worst bass ( or for that matter ,the overall worst speaker i ever had) was from the tidal sunray. the focals stellas were imactful but rolled off some, yet detailed and tunefull. the TADS , to my ears are the best of all worlds.
Zephyr, Appreciate the kind words. hope you and yours will have a great 2018. how are the tads opening up for you now? what an amazing speakers they are!
Jim, my all tubes system, vac and bat before that were great sounding systems. tubes, without a question in my my mind, humanize the sound. but.... too much of a good thing is just too much. i also arrived at the conclusion that a well designed tube preamp is far more critical in "humanzinig " the sound then a tube amplifier.to my ears ,the lamm ll1.1 is at the pinnacle. the hybrid design manages to create a great deal of current to drive not- so- easy -loads speakers, but having a tube in the signal path lends ,again ,to a more human sound ,not brittle or etched.
Jeff, sorry for being so absent. Have not been on agon for a while.
No itching for any changes at the moment. Very content with my sound.
Decided to enjoy the system vs. chase the latest and greatest trend out there. There so much snake oil in this hobby it’s pretty disgusting, really.hence my absence from agon and other forums-it appears that any one with some technical know how is a speakers/amp/gadget guru now days.... go figure.
Zephyr, my apologies ,have not been on Agon for a while. Congrats on your ref 1s.truly remarkable speakers that will make many other at twice/trice the price sound broken. Trust me ,I’ve had those too....especially the Teutonic ones....
The tad ref ones need power and I’m very content with the grip the 4x lamm’s offer. My system never sounded so resulte and muscular,sound wise ,ever.
OTRB, thank you! no lps for me. im' too heavily invested in sacds and cds to venture out... one day perhaps.... wth the upgrades on the dcs software and firmware ,the gap between lps and cds is narrowing even more so.
zephyr, thank you sir! we both are well ...lol.... yeh.. the journey continues... the TADs are a major step forward... have expanded where the great focal stellas left off... hope you and yours are well.
Lloyd, thank you you are too kind. Glad you got a 948- a truly marvel of a unit that allows to sound to come thru unadulterated. yes, enjoying this system immensely! hope you and yours are well.
Zephyr, great to hear that you are making headways. the esoteric gear is formidable and will get better and better as you use it more. Appreciate the kind words. i'm enjoying it Immensely.
Thank you sir! please update your system post when your upgradetities is completed and under control... (for a while at least...) Yes , love coming down there and disappear....
Zephyr-- thank you for your kind words! love your system as well. the vicoustics treatments offer a good bang for the buck, and are really attractive in person. and effective to boot. happy listening, and happy new year!
Mattnship, have tried in the past "audio grade " fuses only to reverse course and reinstall the originals. there's a lot of fluff out there... certainly wouldn't replace them in the burmester gear....
Mttnship--yes, have heard the ea a couple of years ago before deciding on the stellas. obviously, i voted with my own ears and wallet not to get the Eas.try it for yourself and decide.
very true- the stella is very "flexible" in its fittment to different size -rooms, but i like to keep them au nautral.... not sure i'd compare the stella and the evolution, with all due respect.......
I found that speaker placement and its relationship with the listening position is crucial and should not be compromised. every room is different and personal tastes dictate many of the constraints one faces when trying to obtain the best sound from his/her speakers. that said,i'd say it is more important, inmho, to invest in that process then say an expensive power cord, for example. just my $0.02.
As mentioned,elaborately, in my email exchange with you of few days ago, the 911s would be a great choice. Sorry, i don't have any experience with the 069- i went with the dcs vivaldi and never looked further. Agree, the focal stellas are indeed amazing, & make everything i had prior sound as if they were broken....
icorem, sorry for the late reply. have been traveling lately. i only use the vivaldi stack utilizing the transport as the music source. did a head-to-head comparison between high resolution files and an actual disc of the same content, and the disc(sacd and redbook) sounded way better then the highres files. so no computer music for me yet. hope this helps.
dear jake-- very nice to hear from you ,as always. all's well here and my system is still very enjoyable. from my understanding, the 948 unit is designed to eliminate the dc upcharge from the line. you can switch it off and compare the with and without pretty easily. the accuphase is a voltage stabilizer and does it very well , and quietly. between the 2 , i'd give the advantage to the 948, in terms of sonics improvements and overall "conditioning". was never a fan of the Q10 wall unit and did consider it once, only to pass. the amps are better suited to go directly into the wall(preferably a 20 amp dedicated outlet). have not found to date one conditioner that didn't compromise the performance of an amp plugged into it.
Bflowers--Glad to hear that you like your dcs vivaldi- it will get even better with constant use and break in. it is by far the best current digital playback system.
yes, the ones that particularly sensitive to jitter would be the clock and the dac. The bnc cables are used to sync the components with the clock,and i'd venture to say that they were picked in that termination manner, by design. All of the components are sensitive to power cords flavors/termination and construction, inme. but as you move up stream it becomes less noticeable/critical. starting with the transport and on, all the way to the preamp will yield the biggest bang -for the buck- again, inme.power cords to the amps will improve the sound, but less so as compared to a good power cord to the transport.
As evidenced from my product listing i'm a fan of the Siltech cables. having tried quite a few of the latest offerings from some of the more visible cable companies out there, i found the Siltechs to provide the quietest background and most musical rendition of them all. the Vivaldi stack requires quite a few digital cables and i have a mix of the Siltech golden ridge 2 and golden eagle 2. The Power cords to the stack are the Siltech double crown.
Bflowers-- ! i have found that anything you add to your room will have an impact on the sound. whether you like the sound of that impact is a matter of taste. the Giks were too obtrusive,and dampening,while the Auralex not doing enough in my room. The Vicoustix are just right for me and my ears, without adding too much or too little.their good looks is certainly a plus. couple that with a hefty amount of wood diffusers and now my room sounds bigger then its boundaries, warm, dynamic and musical. The Vivaldi is really all that the reviews are saying- a major break thru in digital playback sound.
Icorem- Thank you very much(toda). i tried going from dac to amps on a couple of occaisons with my esoteric mono dacs , and previously with my dcs elgar. in both incidents i preferred having a preamp in the middle. with the preamp, the sound had more solidity, more meat - on -the - bone and was much more musical. based on those findings , i didn't try going from the vivaldi dac to the amps.
Kzhtoo- You are too kind.... thank for very much indeed. This current system offers lots of attributes that previous systems, albeit good, were missing greatly.
fgiannetto- thanks alot! You will love the HRS mxr rack- it is such a perfect combination of form, function and beauty. The only footers that i found to work well with the hrs bases are the original stllpoints universal dampnening units with the risers or without. I have tried the ultra 5s and didn't care much for the results. The HRS bases get you that much further in the vibration control quest, in my experience.hope this helps.
Jfrech-- yes, it does seem that anything you move in /out of the room or add/subtract into the room affects the sound, one way or another. The HRS racks are so nice looking that keeping them in the middle of the front wall serves dual purposes- an eye-candy, and a diffuser/reflector to boot.
Hi Hakan, Thank you for your kind words. i have not experimented with different placements of the front end racks.they have been in that location since i moved into this dedicated room. in a sense, i feel that placing the racks in the middle behaind the speaker should act as difffusers. I'd put more emphasis on speaker/listenning seat placement and relationship. Happy and enjoyable listening!
Dev-- yes,i have been room busy lately.... ASC-added 8x20"tube traps stacked in the corners. so far ,the most effective bass tamer/tuner.not only did they flattend out a peak around 36hz by a great margin, it 'cleaned' up the mid-bass, in the 70-200hz areas. RPG- added 8 flutter free maple wood panels, to tame some of the 'zing' in the room. also noticed an improvement in overall ambience. VICOUSTIC-- replaced all of the Gik panels with the vicoustic' wood wave panels(a combination of foam/wood), and cinema round panels(front wall). overall the room is alot livelier.it feels and sounds bigger,and yet it is quiet without being too'dead'. i have tried the latest stillpoints footers with mixed results. the ones that have been most effective for me were the original universal resonance damping units.
Hi Hr1-- The bridged vertical biamping,utilizing the external bridge adaptors, is so far the only way i have tried and connected the 909s to the Focal Stellas. Since the focals have 2 sets of binding posts, it behoovs me to drive each section independently, with 2 sets of speaker cables. Turning the 909s into monos and utilizing speaker jumpers seems to be less desirable.Based on my previous experience with my Gryphon Colleseums,that configuration proved to sound less dynamic and recessed.hope i shed some further light on this.
Hi Lloyd-- yes both are very good and mamange to get out of the way . and yes, i have compared them extensively, both in a daisey- chain confiuration and each by itself. but the sum of the parts exceeds the whole, hence my current config.i'd probably give the Burmester 948 a slight edge over the Accuphse 1220.Both improve things drastically,by mostly lowering the noise floor, and "hash".
Hi Jake-- All's well here, thank you. Yes, i'm using the Accuphase 1220 for the DCS gear ,and the Burmester 948 for the Burmester 077 pramp. this way , analog and digital are completely seperate. an overkill? perhaps. but the improvment in reducing the noise floor is significant! With ~400 hours on the Dcs and Burmester gear, the sound is defenitely reaching a stable plateau ,with only minute changes still occuring. my room acoustics also has gone thru some revitlizing. pics to follow.all in all, i find myself listeining to this system more then any of my previous itirations, and really marvelling at its sheer sonic beauty.
Have not demoed any of the burmester digital- the 069 or the 111 as of yet.one of the caveats i face when selecting a digital playback system is that it ought to have an Sacd- playing ability- i have quite a bit invested in that media.but,from what i gathered, the burmester 069 is one of the top players out there.
......and someone who has had kenwood amp/reciever(couldn't afford more then that) and trolls where he doesn't belong is clueless. kevinkwann-- get lost!
jfrech-- it's not a problem at all. there's only one ozzy!( as in Osborne) I did try the vivaldi dac straight to the amps, but prefered the burmester preamp's warmish and engaing sound much better.
Jfrech-- appreciate your +2 as well.i'm still shaking my head... As for the vivaldi- it is sounding better and better as expected with ~300 hours on it already. same for the Burmester amps and preamp which are only now(~250 hours)beginning to open up more. The main difference at this stage is how much more dynamic and resolute the sound is in comparison to my previous itiration/s. another obvious,yet a significant leg- up, is how dead quiet the system/sound is . i'm also making some changes to the room accoustics. updated pictures will follow.assuming ,of course, that i get permission from the teacher here ....
Brazcole-- thank you for your kind words. I upgraded to the Vivaldi from the Accuphase 900/901, not the Paganini so i can't really give you a comparison.
Thanks miguel,but i happen to have a different perspective of the old argument for tube pre/ solid state amps- in my findings, amps and pre should be of the same maker as their impedence and sonic charachter are matched perfectly. No argument re: noise and vibration control- an indespensible foundation to any sound system.
fplanner2000--- i understand perfectly.Vac certainly has a seductive quality that is undeniable. i'm probably going back to s/s and going to audition several of the "usual suspects" currently out there...tbc.
Fplanner2000-- fire? where's the fire? no fire sale at all. just moving onward and forward....nothing i can pinpoint as to a reason other then wanting something different.
Gregadd----- makes two of us. i like the new focal generation alot. be more then happy post my system on wbf once the dust settles ,so to speak.appreciate the invite!
azjake-- top of the morning to you! 1. the 450s do run rather hot and heavy, but not as hot(surprisingly!) as my former gryphons. all in all ,hot but bearable. the vac preamp is realy unique in its sound itiration. open, tonally accurate ,dynamic and musical to boot. can't tell you much about its phono stage but i'm sure it's at par. our esteem member "dev" has a lot more expereince with the phono stage and maybe he can chime in on this. i repalced the 2 driver tubes with a pair of siemens 6992s to a very good effect. 2. the stellas combine high resolution with dynamics and accurate tonality that were missing from my previous speakers, and mate very well with the power and drive of the vac 450s.the stellas can be biamped, or bi wired. 3. the accuphase 900/901 combo just sounds right , out of the box,with out the artifacts/ hisses that accomany the esoteric gear. i find it to be equally revealing and pallable on both cd and sacds. 4.like anything new, there's some learing curve when it comes to tubes. i'm certainly no tube- expert , but the vac gear is extrodinarly easy to work with, and kevin hayes is a gentelman and a scholar! 5. no, an incremental and judicious step by step until synergy is locked.... hope this helps jake- let me know if i can add to it.
podeschi--- no worries at all. your input is always welcome. as for the yter flexum- with 6 panels in palce the sound has a greater sense of space and vivdness that was somehow missing prior. the room feels larger, and "airy".
podeschi-- interesting input re:the audience. had one of their conditioners years back and found it to be good ,yet a bit tilted to the bright side in its frequency. what has changed/improved over time with this new incarnation?
podeschi-- your description of vac's sound as "lit from within " is spot on.vac's rich harmonics and accurate tonality makes them great pieces of audio gear.
lloyd-- i'm intirgued by the trippoint ,but really think it is insanley priced. maybe when prices come down to earth......
podeschi-- in some regards you did win the lottery- congratulations! a major leap forward, by getting these 450s. and yes, what preamp will you be using? the sig.mk2?
eddie-- the first pair was placed in the corners behind the speakers.i experimented with the angle of the these panels for a better disbursment. the second pair were placed behind the seating position in the corners as well.same procedure ensued. the last pair was placed at the point of first reflection. my jury is still out on whether that's the best spot for it, though.....tbc...... pics will be posted soon.
system edited---- added 4 more yter flexum panels last night.noticed an immediate improvements in clarity and vividness. overall ambiance is better ,with a pin-point soundstage placement.
thanks a bunch , boeing! the main differences between the r.m mk.2 and d.c is a noticeable reduction in noise floor. is it worth the extra $$$$? that's a tough question to answer, as it is the prevasive notion in high end audio.....
dev-- yes, one tube in each amp in the "vo-1" position. prestine circa 1940s. swapping the preamp golden dragons is on to-do-list . some also swapped to the amperex from the 70s to a good effect.
dev-- too bad about your dedicated room. i "rolled' the 2 v1 6sn7 tubes in the amps to sylvanias vt-231s and it made a world of difference. more drive and just overall a nice jump in performance. i never beleived in power conditioners for amps. kinda negates the amp design and purpose. i go straight to the 20 amp dedcated outlet. cords ,like cables are just flavors. to each his own.
zephyr24069-- thank you. pretty much trial and error, and listening to what works. i found that the corners are the most critical and should be addressed first to reduce the bass bulid up.then absorbtion behind the speakers(some feel that diffusion works better- just experiment). then points of first and second reflections, and lastly the ceiling.
charles1dad-- your assesment of the esoteric sound mirrors mine. it was time for a change. accuphase's 40th anniver. products seem to push the envelope quite further than their standard gear. i had the accuphase dp-75 years ago, and it was nice but not dynamic or revealing in a meaningful way. the new 900-901 combo is just incredible to listen to, and ,the , system is now coming to its own.
zermatt--- thanks alot! the accuphase was way ahead of the other digital that i tried/listened to in the last few months. it just sounds right and beautiful, with no digital glare or artifacts.
yes, i use the G7 siltech cables thruout the system, including biwire speaker cables ,a/c cords and i/cs.
azjake-- i managed to get these 2 from montreal, canada. i know that axiss audio imports them now to the usa, as well as franco sorbin's speakers. thanks, i'm very glad i did-- are you selling your tidal system? why?
albert---albert-- as we discussed, my sacd collection mandated an sacd option, in any new digital i was to conider. the accuphase's sacd's playback is simply superb and sounds more analog than digital source. its cd playback is pretty much on par with its sacd playback, albeit to a tiny lesser dynamics. overall, the 900/901 is magnificant both to look and listen to.
lloyd-- thanks mate. the Accuphase 900/901 combo is defenitely a major step forward to my ears.while the esoteric has been faithful to the last detail, it lacked a built in"muiscality' in its sound. a bit sterile and cold, if you will. the accuphase offers not only a lot of deatails ,but incorporates a silght warmth that renders the sound so beautiful and musical to listen to.
albert-- as we discussed, my sacd collection mandated an sacd option, in any new digital i was to conider. the accuphase's sacd's playback is simply superb and sounds more analog than digital source. its cd playback is pretty much on par with its sacd playback, albeit to a tiny lesser dynamics. overall, the 900/901 is magnificant both to look and listen to.
*****replaced my venerable esoteric stack with the new accuphase 900/901 combo. i'm rediscovering my sacds all over again! beautifully made, and gorgeous to listen to!
*****also, added 2 yter flexum maple diffusers/absorbtion panels in the corners behind the speakers. an instant sound improvement- coherency and clarity increased and occasional boomy notes are no longer boomy- bass is tighter and even more articulate.
c2300mc275-- no need to be! you are at the cusp of modern amplification! 2 of these units with the maestros will probably mealt the walls down! heard the devialet first with focal scalas 2 ceses ago, and was very impreessed! a minimalsit system that sounded so incredible. i'll have to look into the stillpoints for the stellas.and for the amps too. the vtls were on a very short list of tube gear i conisdered, but the vacs were/are in a different sphere. thank you and enjoy as well!
c2300mc275-- appreciate it very much. you sure epitomize the "mac" brand... some venrable pre/amp combo. the only stillpoints i have tried and liked plenty are the original damper+risers under the preamp, transports, dacs and power supply. you are so right- i should try the 5s under the focals.
focalfan--- yes i do like the stellas and enjoy their sound very much. all components ,as you know, have strengthes and weknesses. no speakers,or an amp ,or a cd player is perfect.owning the tidals for a while was a stepping stone to something that i precieved as better. end of story. btw, continuing to bash/criticize tidal in your remarks is becoming quite counterproductive- just my pov.please contribute and remark on other topics. it's really getting old.
Thalis---thank you for the compliment. yes ,several years ago i had tried the large vitus monoblocks with my speakes at the time the rockport hyperions. it sounded nice to my recollection ,but not enough to buy them. i have arrived to the conclusion that no s/s amps or preamp can present the music in the coherent way that tubes, well made tubes, can. i had had 13+ different itirations of s/s gear, and none , in my expereince,come near the coherency, pallabilty and enjoyment the the vac gear offer. and i'm certain that other well-designed tube gear would offer the same or more attributes.hope this helps.
thank you very much as well. btw , it may be a long trip from the dealership to florida to pick the vac gear... maybe a couple of suvs in tow? thanks alot again.
mike 60-- i aprreicate your kind words very much. you hit it spot on- the new focals are certainly speakers to be reckoned with- the sum of their strengthes exceeds and then some, their minor weaknesses, and leave everything i owned prior in th dust bin. the vac gear is in a different class than all the previous solid state amp/pre combinations i had had in the past. they are so musical and tonaly correct it is scary! thank you again for your input.
Gary-- thank very much. you are too kind. the sound in my room is the most enjoyable to- date. the stella em spkrs match very well with the vac tubes and protray a very pallable & musical sound.
The diffusers are indeed fairly new from auralex--www.auralex.com--- made out of bamboo wood.affordable and effective. keep in touch. oded
lapierre-- initally i had switched from absorbtion to diffusion on point- of- first -reflection, only to settle for absorbtion. same for the front wall. everything was more focused with absorbtion in these two spots. the secondary point of reflection is where the diffusion expanded the sound stage and made it more 3-d. hence the abosrbtion/diffusion config. mmmm.... only time will tell.... to be continued...:-)))
thanks alot!!... yes the room and this system have matured into a very musiclly -satisfying expereince.
i listen to smooth jazz, flamenco(quite an extensive collection of flamenco artist from all over), baroque classical( all the italian composers, in particular) and lately came across "the wailing jennys"- incrdible voices ,harmonies and music. their latest is a must!!!! as for your "buy &hold" philosophy-- i tried it, but can't get rid of the "something different" bug :-)))))
please read the most recent "the absolute sound" review of the focal stella em, and their award of it as"speakers of the year 2011". A very accurate and spot-on description of the stella em sound- very balanced and tonally accurate thruout the frequencies, with musicallity that continues to evolve and mesmerize me again and again.
dev-- you are welcome. #1-1 external wall. #2 --see my notes above. too much absorbtion in that particular application. #3-- no way to gustimate acoustical impact of with/ without. i think it actually breaks some of the nodes in the upper sections of the room, but this is more of a hunch rather then a scientific measurment. #4--concrete.
dev-- lots of good questions. i'll try to cover them all. first, no , i wouldn't change a thing from the constructions stand point(mineralfiber between the studs, homasaut sheets, rubberblock all around and thruout, 3/8" sheetrock). the sofits were part of the room construction and alternating the a/c routing was not an option. i just have to live with them. if you are handy and have the time ,resources ,and plans to built your own bass traps, more power to you. i'm neither, so i had to acquire mine from gik and pmi. the clouds are not only beautifuly constructed ,but were perfect for taming the little ceiling zing , without "killing"too much energy in the process. everything elase i considered for the ceiling was too much. keep us posted and show some pics when it's all said and done. and yes, i'm enjoying this set up immensly!
"10-26-11: Podeschi Wow what a beautiful room. Great equipment but equally impressive decor/room treatments. I've noticed that two of my favorite virtual systems on Audiogon, especially regarding how good the room looks, are your's and Arthursmuck, who both run VAC gear! " thanks a lot,podeschi! arthur's room has been one of my models when i constructed my room from the studs up. a slightly different approach but at the end, similar results- we created an enviroment where good gear can shine and excellent gear excells!
the clouds haveeffectively tamed that zing i had in the room. and they are also a nice decorative addition. other speakers i considered but have not heard personally were the venture,& the egglston savoys. the yellowjackets ,fourplay and spyro gyra are some of my favorties!
This system is the best sounding, musically speaking,set up i have put together to date.
several friends(among them one who is a classicly -trained pianist)commented the other day on the complete transformation between my previous set up("'too hifish ""was one of the terms used repeatedly), to what now they , and i, considere to be a very musical, and true -to -form itiration of sound.
you can't go wrong with upgrading to the 450 statements- these amps are a pinnacle in what kevin has achieved. and the stellas are a stark improvement over what focal offered with the nova be,or the grand utopia be, both of which i had had about 10 years ago. it is ,as you so eloquently pointed out , the synergy of all the parts , not just the dominance of one element.
focalfan-- yes, i like the stellas very much! they are breakin in nicely, and and are openning up further. it seems that the be twitter is the main element to be broken in. i did hear the focals in my room for a short while with the gryphons. here we get into the old argument- tubes vs.solid state, bmw vs. mb, etc..... having had mostly s/s gear, i now personally prefer the tubes sound all around. tubes render a certain quality to the sound that is unmatched even by some of the best s/s gear out there.
ciro-- very nice! there's an italian acousitcs comapny called DAAD. their products are being imported to the usa by avalon speakrs. google them, and i'm sure they'll be able to offer you several room treatments options. ciao mio amico.
thank you ,ray! please see my comments to Quanmer re: the focal&tidal sound differences. i can only add that mating speakers in your room/space , is crucial to obtaining good sound. some large speaekrs can overload /dominant the space, where too small of a speaekr will get "lost". i found that the tidals simply didn't integrate well into my room. was it due to their design, size, placement(which was hard to pinpoint due to their size and weight)? maybe all the above. only you could and should decide if they are for you , the best, the last ,etc. after 1.5 years with them, they were clearly not for me.
my current set up excells in several areas that the previous one didn't-- excellent dynamics,musicl accuracy, articulate bass, and coherency thruout the frequencies, with just the right amount of weight in the midrange and enough transperancy in the hf. the tidals were polite sounding thruout the frequencies , with reserved and laid back sound charchter and presentation. in my experience, i have found that mating amps with their own brand's preamp works the best. the vac sig.mk2 is certainly something you should audition with the statement 450s.
mikeduke-- well- placed gik panels ( or any other acoustic panels for that matter), make a world of difference in any room enviroment. it is often such an overlooked area of the utmost importance. just my $0.02
jacksonkuo-- thanks alot.my electrican ran a dedicated line from the house's main panel to the isoclean sub panel.from there 6x 20 amps dedicated outetlets were wired out. i'd consult with a master electrican before you proceed, to ensure that you have plenty of 'juice' for the sub panel.
my room is 35x15 x10, which was built from the studsup utilizing mineral fiber between the studs, homasaut isolation panels, rubber block all around and finally 3/8" sheetrock. all in all, a very inert and quiet room. the em power supply has 3 settings which allows the user to tune +/- 3db incraments, depends on the room(the g.u has 6 settings). that's in addition to the cross over adjustments which allow the midbass , midrange and tweeter to be adjusted to your taste/room. for now, i have everything set at0(nautral) settings. the em bass renders layers and layers of bass info. not only does it have the heft, but it also offers the ability to follow every bass note played!quite remarkable. no sense of comparing previous speakers to my current ones-i simply find that the focals have more strengths and a lot less weaknesses, in the areas that are meaningful to me.
thanks , the stellas do sound great! as for cables, where do we start? tried a bunch, some are good some are much better. but cables certainly play an important role in a system's overall synergy.
albert-- the be tweeter is the same new 27mm(vs. the 25mm in the previous be series)as in the g.u. the other main differences is that the g.u has the additional mid-bass driver(11") ,the "crank" which adjusts the upper skeleton to the listener's position, and a slighlty larger foot print.
milpai-- thanks a bunch. i'm really enjoying this current system. there's no question that the room's treatments and contorl add to the sound i'm getting now.and the system's synergy is an aspect really so often overlooked. tt- it is a whole different sphere for me, and i'm just not sure i'm ready to dive in . maybe in time.
mikeduke-- thanks alot. i opted for the stellas em ,as i felt that another large/tall speaker like the g.u will not integrate well into the room and will overload it(which was the case with my previous 2 large pairs). don't get me wrong, they are still quite formidable ,heavy speakers, with great presence both acoustically and visiually, but setting them up was a breeze.
jim94025-- i tried rpg's and other diffusers on the celing and didn't like their effects. so i installed only 4 T/A clouds in the center of the ceiling to very good results. then i added several more in 2 separate incraments , and each addition resulted in much more controlled and less fatiguing sound. besides, the T/A stuff is not only good- looking but effective.( kinda like my first girlfriend.....:->)
you are most welcome. yes, this system sounds very different then any previous itiration i had-- very musically accurate , with very detailed bass(thanks in part to the em module)and wonderful dynamics, yet with very elegant and resolving sound. is it tube magic? no doubt, but overall i'd say it is a whole system synergy.
Douglas_schroder-- thank you doug.yes , i had the tidal sunrays and the gryphon colleseums amps and mirage preamp.an elaborate system, that i felt was way too convoluted, and didn't yield the kind of sound i am/was after.after hearing the vac gear here locally and trying several speakers prior to getting the focals, i just went for it.so far so great. i also added quite a bit of light absorbers(ceiling) and wood diffusers which add warmth and spaciousness to the room/sound. i have heard the king panel speakers and they were an eye and ear opener!( k.hayes from vac swears by them)- excellent & detailed sound .maybe in time i'll expore them further.
thaks alot. yes, i have moved the focals( fairly easy to do -they slide on their casters), another foot into the room(12ft from front baffle off the front wall). that opened up the sound stage and made it even deeper, well behind the speakers themselves. not sure if i had thought of EVERYTHING.... you know how it is- there's always something to add... ah, what a crazy hobby!
kirk930-- thanks alot... makes 2 of us then..i'm in the atlanta area.
albert-- you are too kind, as always!. i'll try and take some better, higher resolution pics. these were taken haphazardly... but please enjoy ,nontheless.
cyrus-- thank you. i humbly believe that adding the vac sig.2 preamp to an laready excellent stereo amp(ahhmm) would take your sound to a completely different level. please give us some f/b when you get it.
dev-- thanks alot dave.... yes ,we discussed the vac 's attributes and just how much kevin has pushed the sound- quality envelope with these objects - of- art. vinyl? what vinyl? not anythime soon, but one never knows... thank you and enjoy your vacs as well.
mribob-- thank you , you are too kind. your venture speakers were on my radar screen while i was looking for a new pair.they are beautiful thru and thru! room acoustics- auralex offers several great solutions at fair prices. i like their diffusers as they are light and very effective. trial and error are kind the key to this. auralex would be a good starting point.gik makes some very good panels as well but heavier and larger.depends on your room size.please let me know if i can help you further .
can't thank you enough, art! .....ask and you shall receive.... and btw, your great comments on the vac gear were instrumental in my descion to pursue it...
Focalfan-- thanks alot! you should try and hear the vac gear when the opportunity presents itself. as for the stellas, i like them for so many of their attributes, but mostly for their accuracy and coherency top- to-bottom. as for them being the best? what is the best? my previous speakers were a stepping stone to something i now percieve as much better. there's no sense on dwelling on them or comparing lemons to oranges. but again ,thank you for your kind words.
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