Well thought out system. The system you designed and put together I'm sure sounds very organic and magical!! Let the NL14 burn in another 700 hours till it reaches 1000 hours total burn-in. You haven't heard anything yet....

cdrc April 18, 2015 19:56

System edited: Updated and corrected some descriptions....

zephyr24069 April 17, 2015 23:35

The NL14 crosses 350 hours today.....extremely happy with the texture, liquidity, depth and musicality of the entire frequency spectrum. I've had a couple guys over that know my system well and what this amp is capable of has taken all by surprise in terms of what a jump it is over an already great amp that preceded it. The soundstage is much more dense in all dimensions and the room is filled with very realistic music you can almost touch.....it also sounds like a great tube amp while still keeping all the best attributes of the punch and definition of great SS.....extremely impressed and happy with this move!

zephyr24069 April 08, 2015 13:12

You are very welcome..and thank you very much as well! . A friend of mine from GA. is big on Chario speakers as well; they are a fine brand and you must be very happy! Six pairs owned according to your system,..I can relate to finding a brand that one likes the sound of and sticking with it too!. I've not heard the Constellations but will have to remedy that someday soon. Enjoy the Music!

zephyr24069 April 06, 2015 00:59

Zephyr24069, thanks for your comments in my own system. Yours it's really impressive, I bet it gives you lots of pleasure. I appreciate your fidelity to Legacy speakers. Enjoy!

noncondition April 05, 2015 12:09

Sam: Great to hear from you! I could not agree more...massed strings in incredibly 'dense' passages at both low and more full dynamic levels are a definite measure of how a system is performing (IMHO). Vaughn-Williams, "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis..." is a case in point for a massed string piece as are countless examples from the "big" classical composers (when a system performs well, this last piece should make the hair on back of neck stand up as they say...). Full-on ensemble performance with a large orchestra (including percussion, brass, woodwinds, etc...for "big" symphonies as well as those that throw in vocal solos and chorus ensembles (various Mahler, Beethoven, Orff, Wagner, Verde, various other opera, etc...) are also true measures of system performance. And there there's great pipe organ :-) , another personal favorite over the years to truly put a system through its paces. I love all types of music; but for pushing a system to its limit and truly seeing where the gaps are, these types of material are where it's at...IMHO

zephyr24069 April 04, 2015 11:05

Hi Zephyr,

Excellent progress with your amps! I think classical music, especially massed strings, can be diagnostic of how well a system is behaving...given a well-recorded source and room.

Best,
Sam

c1ferrari April 03, 2015 15:47

Threw a lot of big classical on demanding playback levels at the NL14 yesterday and today. At only 250 hours or so, this amp is opening my eyes further to the changes it brings. It has taken everything I've thrown at it in stride and rewards with very musical sounds, great imaging and overall and very impressive experience. Don't have time to write more but "HOLY SH%^& What an Amp!" comes to mind no matter whether it's rendering subtle violin, piano, sax flute or other delicate passages or is in full-on assault mode for any of the most demanding material I've thrown at it. Tom Maker has done it again and even better than the prior NL12.x and Sig One generations!

zephyr24069 April 02, 2015 20:03

System edited: Recently moved to a Kubala-Sosna EMOTION 1meter BNC:BNC 75-ohm clocking cable from the EXPRESSION level of KS. I expected some level of improvement however what happened took me by surprise this past week in terms of the sheer amount of additional air and naturalness of the instrumental notes and voices emanating from my system and the increase in accuracy of the sound stage. Admittedly, this is one of those ".2%" improvements we audiophiles make but the difference was very noticeable ever since this up-level on a single clock cable!!!

zephyr24069 April 02, 2015 09:08

Forgot to mention what's been spinning in the last hour;

VEGAS, The Crystal Method
LEGION of BOOM, The Crystal Method

Outstanding!

zephyr24069 March 26, 2015 22:59

Had some of the big guns out yesterday+today as the Maker NL14 crosses 200 hours of break-in with amazing results...cannot wait to hear what this amp does after 500 hours or so. A very varied program of demanding break-in material;

Widor Symphony 5 and 6, Cavaille-Coll Organ, Saint-Ouen (van Oosten)
Widor Symphony 5 and 6, Cavaille-Coll Organ, Saint-Suplice (Roth)
WIdor Mass, Cavaille-Coll Organ, Saint-Suplice (Roth)
Four Great Toccatas&Fugues, Four Antiphonal Organs, Frieburg Cathedral (Power-Biggs)

21 Spices, Trilok Gurtu & NDR Big Band

Fujiyama, Ondekoza, Gold CD
Kyoten Douchi, Ondekoza, K2HD
Doutou Banri, Ondekoza, K2HD HQMastering
Legend, Odekoza 20-bit K2
Super Trio, FIM Music UDC Ultimate Disc

Fagen, Morph The Cat

Tathagatha, He Xun Tian
Sister Drum, Dadawa
Seven Days, Dadawa

TOUCH, YELLO (their best album to-date IMHO)
AIRBORNE, Dean Peer

Miscellaneous PHUTUREPRIMATIVE and ZeroOne tracks...
Miscellaneous Porcupine Tree tracks across several albums

THE ROAD HOME, Jordan Rudess

Various favorite Mahler #1, #2 and Shostakovich #5, #8, #10 tracks

Various Jazz tracks of Venus Hyper-magnum 24/192s and SACDs
Various Jazz tracks of FIM/LIM UDCs....

Extremely impressed....!!! More to come!

zephyr24069 March 26, 2015 22:56

Roxy/Doug: Thank you very much for your comments! I've clarified the item containing the terminal plate I had built for this speaker. It is not the stock terminal plate. I'm running this speaker in full active mode and using only 2 channels of outboard amplification (option #1 below); 10-binding post, 5, rows,
6-way terminal plate allows me the flexibility to externally jumper the AERIS using
SOTA jumpers that match my speaker cables in the following configurations;

1. stock using 2 sets of jumpers to replace the factory-supplied metal jumpers and
utilize the dual ICE amps in each AERIS tower to power the bass and sub-bass drivers
as designed and shipped "stock” with my amp to drive the mid-bass, mid-range and
upper frequency drivers of the AERIS. This is full active mode for this speaker. Jumpers
go between rows 2 and 3 and rows 4 and 5 respectively

2. utilize 1 set of jumpers with 2 pairs of speaker cables and 4 separate channels
of amplification to override the internal ICE amps and power both the bass and
sub-bass drivers with one external stereo amp (or mono blocks) coupled with
my existing stereo amp to drive the mid-bass, mid-range and upper frequency
drivers of the AERIS. Jumpers go between rows 3 and 4 only

3. utilize no jumpers with 3 pairs of speaker cables and 6 separate channels of
amplification to override the internal ICE amps and power both the bass and
sub-bass drivers with separate stereo amps or mono blocks then also using
my existing stereo amp to drive the mid-bass, mid-range and upper frequency
drivers of the AERIS. No jumpers utilized, connect speaker cables pairs to
rows 1, 3 and 4 independently

Layout is as follows (numbered from top-left moving left to right and down);

Row1: Binding posts 1-2 wired to Upper section
Row2: Binding posts 3-4 wired to Top ICE AMP
Row3: Binding posts 5-6 wired to Top 12” subs
Row4: Binding post 7-8 wired to Bottom 12” Subs
Row5: Binding post 9-10 wired to Bottom ICE AMP

The configuration possibilities with this customer terminal plate is an “audio nut’s dream” in terms of future upgrade and experimentation potential!!!

***Never feed a mid+high-level signal into Rows 2 or 5!!!

zephyr24069 March 26, 2015 10:24

System edited: Clarified and added more detail under several items including 10-post, multi-way terminal plate item listing.....

zephyr24069 March 26, 2015 10:18

That is true. I used tri-wireable Spendor SP100 speakers for years with single wire cables and high quality jumpers, and found after experimentation that they worked best with the wires on the bass driver and the jumpers on the mid and tweeter. I am sure every speaker is different, but it makes a difference for sure, and is worth the experimentation.

roxy54 March 25, 2015 15:09

Zephyr, I was looking at your wiring of the Aeris and noticed that you seem to be jumping from the tweeter posts to the Mid and Bass. Thus (without reading your posts) I assume you are running the speaker currently passively. If so, have you tried bringing in the speaker cable from the amp to the Midrange and jump to the Tweet and Woofer? Or, bringing in the speaker cable to the Woofer and jump to the Mid and Tweet?

You may wish to try these options if you haven't already, as they do subtlely change the sound. I think you may find a preference with one or the other.
:)

douglas_schroeder March 25, 2015 13:44

System edited: Manifest of components/cables updated....

zephyr24069 March 24, 2015 16:32

Thank you! I do not know where you are located Aball but if you happen to be anywhere near the northwest part of SC in the first 2 weeks of April, I am going to have some downtime and can host multi-hour listening sessions many of those days so consider the invitation open! Send me an in-mail on Audiogon if interested....

The Signature SEs are a fantastic speaker for 2-ch and for HT. I once heard a system paired with the right subs where the sigs were used all around for multi-ch listening and HT and it was extremely impressive. They work very well for situations also where room size and volume or 'other factors' (WAF or budget for example) don't allow for going with a bigger speaker.

You've got one hell of a setup...it would be great to have a listen someday,...let me know where you are located and perhaps we can hook up.

You will be very happy with the Electrocompaniet AW60; it's a great amp from a manufacturer that impresses me with their natural and very liquid presentation of music. They pack one hell of a lot of performance in for a killer price as well!

The NL14 is an improvement over an amp I already loved (the Edge 12.1) and had for many years without thought of another until recently. My 12.1 went back to Maker Audio in trade and is being refurbed and will be on the market soon; that piece was the 2007 Spring review sample that I bought immediately after it was returned by the reviewer.

I'm always up for taking audio, great music selections, etc...drop me a note and we can hook up soon.....thanks again!

zephyr24069 March 23, 2015 09:50

Great system! A buddy of mine has the Legacy Signature SE and they are very impressive speakers for the money and I have recommended them to others in that price range. He lusts after the Aeris. And your amp is very interesting. I almost bought an Edge a few times but just haven't yet. I'd love to hear your system.
Arthur

aball March 23, 2015 00:41

After only a day, I can say (again) that Maker has definitely raised the bar with the organic and musical attributes that the NL14 brings 'cold' right out of the box. I cannot wait to hear what this amp is capable of with 500-1000 hours on it. Soundstage density, depth and refinement have taken a big leap forward over and above the already impressive NL12.1. Packing the NL12.1 was like saying goodbye to an old and trusted friend however, based upon what i heard within 15 minutes of powering up the NL14, I will miss the NL12.1 but will not be looking back....NL14, first in North America from what I'm told. More people should hear this amp!!!

zephyr24069 March 14, 2015 12:40

Thanks Lak....very much appreciated! The new Maker Amps I'm told can come sheathed in exotic wood veneers, leather, CARBON FIBER, various high-end hot auto paint colors and other options.

zephyr24069 March 12, 2015 17:00

Very nice looking amp ;-)!
And when it breaks in...lookout!

lak March 12, 2015 16:04

System edited: Maker Audio NL14 Stereo arrived and put into system...Fresh out of the box, this amp impresses with its sonics, dynamic range, musical nuances conveyed and breadth and depth of soundstage...once broken in, it should be amazing!!! Cannot believe an amp sounds this good in its 1st hour. Tom Maker has raised the bar substantially over and above the already impressive Edge NL products of years past with his new Maker Audio line!

zephyr24069 March 12, 2015 14:49

System edited: Added build pictures of a Maker Audio NL14 Stereo Amp with balanced input transformers and meticulously hand-matched caps, transistors, etc...on the bench at Maker Audio as of yesterday.....

zephyr24069 March 07, 2015 11:57

Thanks! Probably within 2-3 weeks. I've had well over 7 1/2, almost 8 years with this NL 12.1 and on some levels will be very sorry to see it go but what's coming in its place represents countless refinements on its design and I am very excited!

zephyr24069 February 23, 2015 17:13

Zephyr,
That amp looks sweet!
When do you expect it to arrive?

lak February 21, 2015 14:57