All for the Love of Music

I Love your very well thought out set-up. Esoteric is great stuff, and those TAD are just fantastic. I see you are using 50ohms cables, which is not (yet!!) my case, but working towards that, I heard and do hope it does make a worthwile investment.

Also very interesting the masterclock you are using, never heard of it before.

You must have great powerful and yet smooth sound there!!

Very well done.

hddg November 06, 2017 05:35

Owner

Updated several photos....

zephyr24069 October 18, 2017 17:15

Owner

System updated....now have added 3 Shunyata Research SIGMA "CLOCK-50" 2-meter Reference clock cables with TAP Polarizers. Like the SIGMA AES/EBU cables these have easily met and surpassed any other cable's prior level of performance, musicality and excellence!!!

zephyr24069 October 14, 2017 13:43

Owner

Changes all burnt-in and sounding amazing;

- the 4 Elrod MASTERS SERIES Statement Gold Powercords noted below; these are the new foundation for my entire system...cannot say enough great things!

- an amazing custom-build collaboration with Cybershaft Ltd Premium Limited grade 10 mHz clock with copper base plate internally, custom power supply, transformer and power supply isolation, chassis grounding connection and some other nifty internal features...

- two (2) Shunyata Research E-SIGMA AES/EBU cables to replace my Kubala-Sosna ELATION AES/EBU cables...these are beyond even the best I've ever had in my system for many years...

- a second Esoteric/Mexcel 8N-A2000 BNC:BNC 50-ohm clock cable a friend was able to authenticate for me in Japan and ship over to replace a 75-ohm BNC:BNC WW PS7 cable; I now run in 10 mHz clocking using the Esoteric D-02's "CLOCK THRU" functionality...

zephyr24069 August 05, 2017 00:01

Owner

Updated component list with the following recent changes;

- added 2 more Elrod MASTERS SERIES Statement Gold Power cords some time ago for a total of 4 now with amazing results

- added the best birthday present ever, a set of 4 Elrod MASTERS SERIES Statement Gold jumpers; these jumpers are 'crazy good' and have not only added even more articulation and impact to sub-bass and bass, they have also gone a long way to improve the already impressive midrange and treble response of the speaker

- addition (in 1 week) of a custom-design project with Cybershaft Ltd for a Premium Limited grade OP21 OCXO 10 mHz clock with copper base plate internally, custom power supply, chassis grounding connection and some other nifty internal features...

- expected delivery in 2 weeks of a Shunyata Research E-SIGMA AES/EBU cables to replace my Kubala-Sosna ELATION AES/EBU cables

- noting a second Esoteric/Mexcel 8N-A2000 BNC:BNC 50-ohm clock cable a friend was able to authenticate for me in Japan and ship over to replace a 75-ohm BNC:BNC WW PS7 cable; I can now run full 10 mHz clocking using the Esoteric D-02's "CLOCK THRU" functionality...

zephyr24069 July 19, 2017 10:28

Owner

Humble apologies for the delay in replying,...I've been off the boards for a number of days due to work and life priorities outside of audio.

I've had Legacy-based setups for over 11 years including many speakers in a hybrid 7.1 HT + 2-ch setup for many years and from 2009 forward, pure 2-ch.

The AERIS with Wavelet and custom-built HDPlex power supply was a formidable setup that I still miss on a daily basis. It was not a question of

something I found in another speaker that prompted me to switch but rather a multi-year WAF battle that was finally lost that caused me to have to leave the AERIS active setup behind due to number of boxes overall, plus all the additional cables, boxes and racks that are necessary to connect such a setup being too much to deal with from a WAF point of view.

That stated, I knew things might go that way for a few months so I listened to alot of high-end speakers at the same point as the R1 Mk2s as well as below and above. Many of them were truly great speakers but always lacked 1 or more critical things that I was used to and "spoiled by" with the AERIS setup.

I can be more specific on both sides of the issue in private message or by phone and am happy to do so; I will not however give specifics here so as to not appear to be bashing other speaker manufacturers or alternatively, over-applauding others.

Let's just say that out of speakers costing less up to a point of costing 2x more than the TAD R1s at retail, either the speakers were lacking one or more key things or they were simply behemoth in size, scale and weight or had a truly bulky or unorthodox appearance and would not have been accepted here. There were other SOTA speakers I passed on as well that would have fit the mold for WAF-friendly aesthetics but there are those among them that I've never quite liked the sound profile of or that it was obvious were overly high-priced versus what they delivered, or those that come from 'fan-boy favorite' manufacturers that are replaced too often with new models and don't hold their value...

In short, the TAD R1s were the only ones I ran across that met all the criteria while giving true full range frequency playback with incredible musicality, presence, rock-solid imaging and other needed attributes. They are also incredibly well built and 'tried and true' designs. Bear in mind, I was not ever happy to realize that I had to spend over 3x the price of the AERIS + Wavelet to even get into a league of speakers that could truly surpass them. The auditory image of the price:value ratio and the sound of the Legacy AERIS will be with me in memory for years to come even as I enjoy what I have to have today. They are IMHO, of the top 3 or 5 absolute best values and sounds in high-end audio today and for the foreseeable future. I had to go way up the scale to come close or surpass them in ALL the ways they excel.

Ping me on private message; as I said, I'm happy to jump on the phone or converse through messaging to help answer your specific questions.

zephyr24069 June 02, 2017 14:16

Duh;

My previous text asked for a SQ description & after reading down you had a lot of that described.

I have listened a lot to local guys who have Legacy Whispers & the V with the wavelet

They sound " marvelous", & match your pro audio descriptions ,but am wondering " what" signature of the TAD got you to switch?

Coaxial ,I bet is part? I own Thiels

frozentundra May 27, 2017 13:45

Wow;

I just noticed your system and I am speechless.

I've been plodding down the upgrade path & power, cables are a big part of the system sound

It appears you've nailed all the components that others do not.

Well done

I noticed you had a Legacy speaker setup and I am very familiar with their sound. How do the TAD's compare to the Legacy SQ rise?

TAD is one of the top notch speakers I have never heard & think I would love ( coaxial and all)

Jeff

frozentundra May 27, 2017 13:17

Owner

Apologies for the delay in responding!

Yes they do...that is for certain! WAF hates the large cords and cables and the prior system with its great active speakers, extra boxes and extra cables even more! Also hates all the big boxes and racks, in short, pretty much hates all of it. No peace on this subject I'm afraid,...

zephyr24069 April 21, 2017 10:19

Ah yes, the all important WAF factor....I know what you mean...:0) TG, I have a dedicated room and the Shakti's are not in the Living Room! OTOH, I cannot imagine the better half is too enamored of your Elrod's, LOL.

I really do like the Shakti's, because even in my well treated room, they make a significant difference in the presentation of the sound stage.

daveyf April 15, 2017 01:07

Owner

Davey,..it's great to hear from you! I still have the Hallographs neatly tucked away in our attic and wrapped. Unfortunately I've had to move away from room-tuning devices due to WAF and other factors. The Hallographs are still to me a great device and one I'd like to see work themselves back into the room at some point soon. They helped me tame some very problematic spaces over the years and I look forward to getting them back in my room whenever I am able :-) !!!

zephyr24069 April 14, 2017 10:45

Zephyr 24069, I noticed that you no longer use the Shakti Hallograph's. I wonder why? I have just introduced those into my small room. I think they make a noticeable difference and although I am still playing with their positioning etc, I think they are almost indispensable. What are your thoughts? Have you gone away from room tuning devices...if so why?

daveyf April 12, 2017 07:04

Owner

A few new photos added on the Elrod Master Series powercords and a bit of cleanup of the listing...also removed Elrod Statement Gold powercords that are going up on Agon now that the 4 Master Series are here.

zephyr24069 March 22, 2017 11:12

Owner

For several years, Elrod utilized Oyaide M1F1 15-amp and 20-amp terminations on all Statement Gold (and I think Statement Silver) powercords. About 2 years ago if memory serves, he started utilizing Furutech FI-48s; they seemed to give me (on 2 Statement Silver cords I had built for my Legacy AERIS bass amp inputs) a smoother presentation that still had extremely fast attack with incredible tonality. All my Statement Golds were built with the Oyaide M1F1 terminations.....I enjoyed what they brought to the table very much but I noticed that when I had one Statement Silver reterminated a couple months ago with Furutech FI-50 "NCF" plugs, the overall performance of the Statement Silver came very close to my Statement Golds with the M1F1 connectors. The FI-50 NCFs are the best connectors I've ever heard; further proof of that has come in Elrod's recent adoption of the FI-50 NCF as his standard connector for all Masters Series Statement Gold cords. They are definitely 'audio jewlery' as well; they have a fit and finish that is the best I've ever seen.

I cannot speak to how good/well the Bocchino power connectors are not ever having owned Elrod Diamond power cords. I've seen them in-person and heard the Diamonds with the Bocchinos briefly but not long enough to form a complete impression. I do however have Elrod Interconnects and speaker cables that make use of Bocchino terminations and find them to be of incomparable quality both with respect to overall build quality and sound.

Hope this helps...

zephyr24069 March 19, 2017 15:08

Amazing how a power cord can make a huge differences. I am a biggest fan of power cords! I have to give big prof to the designer, his choices of termination are out of the League, he is in the league of his own! What you are hearing is an upgrade of the Bocchino Audio Power termination. IMHO it's on of the best termination that i have encounter. Happy Listening!

zipost March 18, 2017 21:05

Owner

Well, it's official; I formally added a 10 ft. version of the Master Series Statement Gold to my A-02 amp and a 9 foot version between my C-02 pre-amp and Isotek EVO3 SIGMAS power conditioner. The 7 foot version has been turned in (it was on loan for testing) and is on its way to another demo situation.

All I can say is that after a lot of listening with the first cord and now with 2 in the system, and those being the only changes in quite some time since the TAD R1s arrived, I am left with only one thought; "HOW CAN A POWER CORD DO THAT?!?!?!". I don't want to step over any lines here, nor am an employee, dealer or what some people affectionately refer to as a "plant" or a "shill". I simply am extremely impressed with Elrod's cables over the years and had thought I was hearing everything my system is capable of. In short, I was wrong and there is a sound emerging from the system that is a step above (and then some) what I was already considering amazing. I'll keep my comments to this level; it's been a very good and musically enjoyable week!

zephyr24069 March 18, 2017 15:56

Owner

Thank you! Of all the brands I've owned or tried at various mid-high levels, they are the best and more true to the source cables I've heard. I have not compared with NBS but have heard a few over the years at this level or higher (price) and frankly what I have leaves them all in the dust. The room is alive with music, the energy behind it and the everything simply sounds like they are playing right there in front of me. There may be better or equal out there but frankly at this level and higher (again point of entry), I've not heard it. They are well worth the size, weight, cabling layout planning and cost...and then some! The best part is, the Statement Silver "entry" level cables leave 98% (rough estimate) of all I've heard in 30 years wallowing in the mud. From there on up,....well, I am may nuts but it sounds great here!

zephyr24069 March 08, 2017 10:51

Nice set up you got.. beautiful looking room and equipments. If i may ask a question. I was thinking about buying the Elrod cables. How's the Elrod speaker cables, ic and power cords. Have you done a comparison with nbs black label or others cables within the price range. Please advise??

zipost March 07, 2017 02:28

Owner

Adding Elrod Masters Series Statement Gold power cords in the next 2-3 weeks as they are ready to upgrade 3 Statement Gold next-gen and one Statement Silver power cords. Based upon what I heard from testing 1 of these on my amp, the 4 places I'll be deploying them once mine are built should be very impressive sonically when it's all said and done!

zephyr24069 March 01, 2017 12:26

Owner

Thank you cymbop....it was alot of fun; your system next and a deep dive into new MQA adventures!!! So much time, so much great music :-) !!!

zephyr24069 February 22, 2017 10:39

Buy the plane ticket, Lak!

Zephy, thanks for the session and the fine coffee last week. The new TADs might go 5 Hz less low, but they are faster and more articulate than I've ever heard at your place, and I didn't think that was possible. A one-word description of the new sound? CO-FREAKING-HERENT.

cymbop February 21, 2017 12:56

Owner

Pictures updated showing Stillpoint Ultra5 footers attached to R1s....enjoy!

zephyr24069 February 21, 2017 10:45

Owner

LAK...it's great to hear from you and thank you very much for the kind words! You are welcome here anytime with a bit of advance planning (travel and scheduling around work for both of us). It would be a great session; we should figure out how to make it work!

zephyr24069 February 20, 2017 15:51

Hello Mark,

Your system is improving all the time!

Very impressive setup, I wish I could hear it.

That new power cord must sound impressive;-)!

Great job...

lak February 19, 2017 14:23

Owner

Thank you mountainzen, very much appreciated!

Tried something new and extremely surprising today;

ELROD new MASTER SERIES Statement Gold,a true surprise; changes the game considerably

Installed ONE of these in the system today on my Esoteric A-02 power amp to replace a 2 year old Elrod Statement Gold next-gen cable as a test.

Cable was cooked for 6 days and then rounded out by David on his system to a full 2 weeks of burn-in.

To say the design changes are major would be a huge understatement....double the width of the widest ribbons used to date and double the count over what was already his latest generation design for Statement Gold; that's all that can be said. Furutech's latest FI-50 NCF connectors are utilized as they were determined to be superior to anything else available.

Within the first 12 hours the phrase (which I've only used once before for any cable) "component-level upgrade" came to mind. It's as if my amp had been further upgraded along with my entire system. This is no exaggeration and I'm surprised at the uplift from a single power cord from the level I already was experiencing. All frequency bands experienced significant changes for the better, an already 3-dimensional wrap-around soundstage on most recordings became an even more dense, musical energy-filled 3D wrap-around deeply immersive soundstage on EVERY recording, every note, voice, etc...became even more real and life-like, inner detail increased on most material (already have tons of inner detail thanks to the TAD R1s), musical energy increased in the room and the listener is pulled even deeper into the recording. I found myself rewinding or starting tracks over many times as the surprise factor with this change was extremely high.

I had talked to a couple of guys who had gone this route picking up this brand new cable family in the last month; they were saying that the Master Series Golds eclipsed the Diamond and MBX2 families of cables and simply blew the doors off the latest Statement Gold generation. That all sounded hard to believe (particularly the part about eclipsing MBX2 and Diamond/X2; after 12 hours, I do believe it to be true...

Tough part about the Elrod line is the website has not been updated in a long, long time as more time is spent on design and build than on marketing. My advice is to reach out to me or others using these cables and get some candid conversations going. Also, you can easily reach David Elrod via phone / email; he's a wealth of knowledge and will discuss cables, music, system design/synergy with any serious audio-nut.

zephyr24069 February 19, 2017 05:05

Showing 76 - 100 of 365 posts

Audiogon

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Components Toggle details

Overall Photos System Views....

Overall cable layout Elrod, Tubulus and Shunyata Research cables...

Legacy Audio VALOR

Legacy Audio Wavelet V2

Townshend Audio Seismic Isolation Podiums

Esoteric Audio Master SoundWorks C-02X Preamplifier

Esoteric Audio S-02 Master SoundWorks Stereo Amplifier (2)

Esoteric Audio Grandioso P1 Transport and Power Unit

Esoteric Audio Grandioso D1 Dual Monoblock DACs

Cybershaft OCXO (Type-2 curated) Premium Ltd V2 10 MHz Masterclock

Shunyata Research Everest 8000 with Chassis Ground plane

Shunyata Research TYPHON T2_30amp

Shunyata Research Altaira SG-NR Signal Ground Hub (Zone1: Amps, Preamp and Legacy Wavelet)

Shunyata Research Altaira SG-NR Signal Ground Hub (Zone2: Esoteric Grandioso P1, P1PSU, dual D1 DACs)

Shunyata Research SIGMA v3 SGC/CGC Ground Cables with STIS v3 terminations (20)

Shunyata Research VTX-ag Ground Tails, various connector ends (14)

Shunyata Research Sigma v3 SGC/CGC Grounding cables with STIS v3 terminations (5)

pArtScience QRD64 2D 3-inch SpaceArray Diffusor Wood Panels

Adona Corporation Master Reference Zero GX3, Zero GX2 (2) and Zero GX (3) Racks

Composite Audio CF-2010 Platforms (7)

Avatar Acoustics AfterBurner8 Duplex Outlets...

Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Damping Plates (16)

Elrod Power Systems Statement Gold Speaker Cables 9-foot (2 pair)

Shunyata Research OMEGA CLOCK-50 50-ohm BNC:BNC 1.5-meter (2)

Tubulus CONCENTUS HDMI 1.5 meter

Elrod Power Systems Master Series Diamond XLR 2-meter (1 pair)

Elrod Power Systems Diamond XLR Interconnects 6-foot (1 pair)

Elrod Power Systems Statement Gold XLR 13ft pair and 6ft pair

Shunyata Research Anaconda Zitron XLR (with KPIP process) 6-meter

Elrod Power Systems Master Series Statement Gold Y-Cable (custom)

Elrod Power Systems Masters Series Diamond SE 10-foot 15-amp (2) and 20-amp (1)

Elrod Power Systems Masters Series Statement Gold 3-meter 15-amp (2)

Elrod Power Systems Masters Series Statement Gold Power Cords 15-amp (4)

Audio Art Cable AAC Statement e2Plus Cryo AC Cable 15-amp, 2-meter (2)

Revelation Audio Labs 'Passage' Cryo-Silver Reference XLR3::XLR5 DC Umbilical

HDPLEX 300 Watt Quad-Rail LPSU (LT3045-enabled)

AudioHiFiSolutions Audio HighWire Cable Elevators with extenders

Music Collection Many Genres CD XRCD/2/24/K2/DXD/UltraHD SACD

PRIOR 2-channel: Legacy Audio CaliberXD, Foundation, Wavelet, Esoteric, Cybershaft, Elrod, Shunyata

PRIOR 2-channel: TAD R1 MK2s, Esoteric, Cybershaft, Elrod, Isotek

PRIOR 2-channel: with Legacy Audio Aeris, WAVELET Esoteric, Cybershaft, Shunyata & HDPlex

PRIOR 2-ch with Legacy FocusSE

PRIOR 2-channel: Legacy Focus HDs biamped...

PRIOR 7.1 HT & 2-channel: All Legacy Audio

Comments 365