I just finished building a dedicated listening room in my new apartment. It took me one year and a half to complete, but it was well worth the wait. I simply love it.
The room size is 14 x 19 x 8 feet.
The room was designed by a company that specialises in acoustic design. Not the popular Rives Audio, since I live in Europe and that would increase the costs of the Level 3 project well past $10k mark, but a reputable local company.
The room acoustics was was first designed in a digital domain and then improved upon with the real world measurements taken during all stages of construction work.
The room is soundproof and - among other things - features soundproof windows, double doors and 11" thick double walls. The measured noise level inside the room is 26dB during the day (measured during rush hours, at 16:00), so it is almost dead quiet.
The room has two dedicated lines, each rated 20A @ 230V, one for analog and one for digital gear. All cables, circuit breakers and mains outlets are of audiophile quality.
MSB DAC IV Signature with Diamond Power Base - replaced the dCS Scarlatti, which served me as my reference for the past 3 yaers.
MSB S200
Fully balanced 200 Watt stereo amplifier. Class A, Zero Negative Feedback design. Fluid, palpable, a bit on the warm side of things. An amazing piece.
Magico S5
New addition to the system. Replaced Wilson Sasha speakers.
MUSA S21T USB
Computer based transport with SOtM PCIe USB card, SOtM sata filter, fanless PSU, fanless i5 CPU, SSD, 8GB RAM and Synology 2x2TB NAS. Running Win 7/64 with Jriver and Jplay.
AudioQuest WEL Signature
Replaced Tara Labs The RS-1 interconnects.
AudioQuest Diamond USB
USB cable.
Shunyata Anaconda Z-Tron
A new model from Shunyata. Replaced van den Tara Labs RS-1 cable.
Shunyata Anaconda CX
I have two of those, powering Dart and dCS.
Pure Power 2000
Battery powered AC Regenerator.
Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference HD09
Top of the range component stand from Finite Elemente, with their resonator technology (3 used). I favour those over a 4-tier Pagode rack, since they do not interfere with soundstage when placed between the speakers.
Finite Elemente Ceraballs
I have two sets placed under my speaker cables. Very unussual location, I agree, but works a treat.
Finite Elemente Cerapuc
I have two sets placed under my speakers. A simply stunning improvement in low-level detail retrival and microdynamics. Worth every penny !
HMS Energia SSDB mains outlets
Two of those finish off my two, 230V/20A, dedicated power lines.
AHP Klangmodul 3+
Audiophile circuit breakers. Gold plated, solid copper contacts. Each of the two dedicated power lines has his own breaker.
ACS Diffusors
Diffusors made by german company Acoustic Control Systems. I have 3 sets of those, one on the rear wall and two on the side walls. As you can see on the pic, the whole part of the rear wall, to which the diffusor is attached, pertrudes 12" into the room.
Custom absorbers
The whole room is fitted with custom absorbers, tuned to specific frequencies. The pic shows one of the six absorbers fitted to the front wall. If you look carefully, you wil notice, that there is an MDF plate with lots of small holes fitted inside, which divides the internal volume of the absorber into two smaller chambers. The sound enters the traps by the front gaps, goes to the first empty chamber and then through the holes to the next chamber, where it can dissipate in a mineral fiber (not fitted on this pic).
Custom diffusors
Set of 5 custom diffusors fitted over the listener's head.
RT-60 curve
This is the RT-60 curve of my room. Black trace is our target curve, blue one is base curve (empty room, no acoustic treatment, no floor), red curve shows how the room responded after ACS diffusors, wooden floor and sand stone were added. Green curve is the most recent one. It is still not perfect, but we are working on it.
Room Frequency Response curve
Room Frequency response. Quite nice if you ask me :-)
Daikin ultra quiet A/C unit
Daikin A/C split system replaced McQuay unit. The difference in noise levels generated by those two units is staggering. Daikin is so quiet (22dB) that you can barely hear it from the listening chair. There are CD-players that generate more noise than this ! The other outstanding feature of this unit is that it can work when outside temp drops to 10'F - so it can be used during winter too.
Agear - that 'rick facade behind the speakers' you are reffering to is a sand stone, glued to the wall, about 1 inch thick. It is used here for its natural diffusive properties.
Those wood inserts are custom made absorbers, tuned to a specific freq.
Wiebe - the JA80 I have had on loan, was the 25th Anniversary Edition, aka JA80 Gold. These amps were equipped with 6550 tubes, but I had a chance to try KT120 tubes as well (although briefly).
As you noted, the KT120 tubes seem to keep all the virtues of regular 6550 equipped JA80 Gold (namely fluidity and natural ease to the tone) but adds greater degree of transparency and bass control.
The JA120 monos I had, came with KT120 tubes. I belive those tubes are standard with JA120. This amp sounds a bit different to JA80 - it is more transparent, still o the warm side but not OVERLY warm like JA80 Gold, has better both micro and macro dynamics, and in general is more accurate.
I found JA120 to be a clear improvement over JA80. However, a friend of mine, JA80 Gold owner (with KT120 tubes upgrade) was not so sure ... he missed some JA80 warmth and tube magic and decided to keep his JA80 Gold.
Play the last year with the kt120 in the Ja80 instead of the kt88. Sound of the kt120 is the same nice sound of the kt88, but with much more power and control. Have in one year two kt 120 broken and the rest is super. And using the kt88 units,I need 16 tubes per year. Have play with the Ja 200 with 6550 and this has too much power for my room, and the sound is sharp with this tubes. Ja 500 with kt 90, I can only say I hate this tube. Play the last 17 years with Wilson speakers and have play with the Sasha now 3000 hours. Question is was the Jadis ja80 with kt88 ? And the new mono;s Ja 120 with 6xkt 120 per side? What did you think of the difference of these amplifiers on the Sasha, power, strenght, tone color? Can the music dance with the Ja 120 at the level of the Ja 80. Have fun, Wiebe Greydanus, Zilplex.com acoustic adaptation.
Jfrech - Scarlatti is much better. The first time I heard Scarlatti DAC in my system, and that was 6 months ago, I still had my Puccini. I used Puccini as a transport (clock linked to the Scarlatti DAC) and the difference was night and day. This is the kind of difference you can hear in the first 5 or 10s on a familiar recording.
Scarlatti has better resolution and clarity, it lets you hear much deeper into the recording and appreciate all those tiny spatial clues. The way the sounds decay into space is simply breathtaking.
As the same time, Scarlatti sounds more natural than Puccini, less forced, the sound is much more sophisticated and pure, which I directly attribute to much lower grain in HF.
Interestingly, I would never thought of describing Puccini as 'grainy' ! Quite the oposite in fact. In my experience, Puccini exhibits the lowest amounts of HF grain of all CDPs I have tried. And yet, Scarlatti improves on that, which I find extraordinary.
Compared to Scarlatti, Puccini sounds brighter, harder and more 2-dimensional.
If you listen to Scarlatti, make sure it has the latest software loaded (v1.2). The latest software adds the asymetric (apodising) digital filters and makes the DAC accept 24/192 files on all digital inputs.
I still have to experience the Scarlatti transport in my system. Right now, I'm running my DAC from my laptop via Halide Designs The Bridge USB->SPDIF converter. Next week I should have my hi-end music server ready. I do not expect it to beat the dedicated Scarlatti transport, but since my server was only $4500, and Scarlatti transport is $32k, I cannot complain.
In any case, Scarlatti DAC + server > Puccini, which is what counts for me the most.
Elberoth....Thanks for your reply regarding the Spectral audition. I have been going back and forth on whether I am going to move to the 260 or 360 series 2, I currently use a pair of 360 series 1. I was curious how it compared to the Dartzeel so I very much appreciate your comments. It amazes me that the 260 is so often compared to amps double and beyond its 10k price. Cabling is the trickiest part of Spectral systems and even within the MIT line there are some that sound much better than others. I use Matrix 50 ic and 90HD speaker cables which seem like a good match for what I am doing now. Obviously if you wanted to stick with Tara it ruled out Spectral regardless.
I am absolutely infatuated with the synergy between the Sasha's, Spectral and Berkeley gear but someday I would like to audition the Dart in my system.
Hello congrats on the scarlatti. did you buy the whole stack or a few pieces? I have a puccini/uclock, my dealer has the scarlatti stack, I'm pretty much afraid to ever seriously listen to it, I might have to sell my car ;-)
Can you comment on what differences you hear please? Thanks
I use RCA cables, since they sound best with Dart.
But yes, I prefer dCS direct to power amp over any amp I have had a chance to try in my system (and I have tried quite a few, including $110.000 Kondo M-1000, $25k Jadis JP-80 Gold, ARC Ref-3, Spectral DMC-30SS).
Honestly, I do not belive ANY premap could improve upon dCS digital attenuation, unless you like a certain coloration that a certain pre can intoruce, and/or your avg attentuation window is much more than dCS recommended 0dB to -10dB (in my system it is -5dB to -15dB and it is still OK).
Are you connecting the output of the Scarlatti directly to the DartZeel XLR input? BTW, I recently listened to the DartZeel integrated with my inefficient SoundLabs and was really impressed.
Richard - I have extensively auditioned several amps in my system in the past few months, including Jadis JA-80 Gold and JA-120 monos, Spectral DMA-260 and Burmester 911 mk 3, but none of them bested my Dart overall.
Spectral 260 was probably the closest match, in fact it sounded more transparent and revealing on recommended MIT cables than the Dart (Oracle MA-X IC and Magnum MA spk), but once I switched back to my prefered set of wires (Tara Labs RS-1 IC and vdH The Revelation) I prefered my current setup to Spectral/MIT combination.
I the meantime, I have sold my Puccini and bought dCS Scarlatti, so it is probably a high time to update my system page.
Elberoth...I remember you were demoing the Spectral DMA 260 and I was wondering what you thought? I see you still have the Dart listed on your system so guessing it didn't make the cut?
Then you probably had excessive DC at the output. It has to be rechecked once a few months, if you want to run the amp with the DC compensation switched off (sounds better this way).
A friend of mine had this problem once, but once the DC output was adjusted, the problem was solved. Dart is a very puristic design - 99,99% of manufacturers do not give the user the possiblility to switch the DC compensation off, chence avoiding any future problems it may cause.
Can you play loud transients such as the finale of a Shostakovitch symphony or a test CD of the drum track of the Burmester CD III without fear of blowing the Dart fuses?
I loved the amplifier, but hated changing the fuses!
Yes, I did try the vdH The First Ultimate mk2 and vdH The Second, but they were no match for the Tara The 0.8. However, for the money, they represent a truly outstading value. IMO The First Ultimate sounds better than many cables costing 5-6 times as much.
I'm running the dCS direct to Dartzeel. I tried the Ref3 for a while, but Puccini direct was better, so sold the Ref3 and haven't looked back.
Are you still using the Dartzeel amplifier without preamplifier? BTW, I also like a lot the van den Hul Revelation. Did you try the matching The Second interconnects?
Just added a Pure Power 2000 battery powered AC Regenerator. It has bought the single biggest improvement to my system in the past 4-5 years.
Pure Power made me belive in power conditioning. Before trying the PP2000, I have tried several such a units in the past, including Shunyata Hydra 6/8, PS Audio Powerplant, Accuphase P-1210 and other, but never found them worthwile. While they improved some areas of the system performance, they compromissed others. I strongly belived that dedicated lines + audiophile grade circuit breakers + audiophile grade AC outlets that I invested in, were the way to go.
Until now. Pure Power brought a dramatic change to my system, with no downside. It makes my system sound smoother and more dynamic at the same time. The sound is more resolved and has a much better texture.
I cannot stress enough how enthusiastic I'am about this unit. My system never sounded better.
The only complain is that to fully exploit its potential, you need to listen from the battery power, not from the wall AC, which limits the available running time. Right now, batteries allow for 2h uninterrupted playback. I'm expecting to legnten that period to 8 hours, after adding the Pure Power Battery Pack, which I have already ordered.
Ricred1 - my answer to your question is long overdue, but I somehow missed your post. From what I can see from your system thread, you already upgraded to Sophia III ! I bet it is an excellent speaker, since the Sasha, which in many ways is identical to S3, is so much better than the Sophia 2. Better HF performance, less grain, more texture.
Rilou - no I did not have a chance - Vilola lacks a local distribution in my area.
