this room and system is the result of 10 years in High End audio. my
system has been stable for a couple of years (except for transport and
amplifier upgrades within the same brand). the room has been in the
planning stage for about 18 months and i actually moved in a little over
a month ago.
my audio philosphy is to have the system get out
of the way of the event. i like as pure and simple a signal path as
possible and, at this point, prefer passive to active gain stages. i
love all the formats and enjoy having lot's of music.....vinyl is my
favorite but i listen to at least 60% digital. the new room really
reveals the benefits of SACD over redbook.
the system and room
truely allow the event to be recreated before me. i love the way the
speakers disappear and i am transported to another place/time.
i have choosen my cables, sources, amps, speakers to have as little of their own sound as possible.
recently, i upgraded my digtial transport from the modified Philips
SACD 1000 to the new emmlabs CDSD.....this was a significant step upward
in performance.
i have written an article in Positive Feedback regarding my room building experience.....here is a link;
new version of these cables, a big step over the amazing TRSC model i have used for 10 years. fantastic performance.
WADAX SA Reference DAC
Wadax Reference Dac----state of the art dac with 2 separate power supplies. the best dac i have heard by a good margin. below is a link to a thread about my Wadax experience.
Arya RevOpod isolation footer (32 used under the 5 Wadax Chassis).
height and tension adjustable. the Wadax dac, server, and server power supply chassis all use 8 footers, so it's critical to be able to adjust height and tension to have an even support for optimal performance. RevOpod's are unique in those attributes making them ideal for this use.
https://www.arya-audio.com/revopod
CS Port LFT1 turntable w/arm
air bearing platter and air bearing linear tracking arm; string drive with zero feedback dc motor, low pressure, low flow air system with zero noise air box.
world class musical flow, nuance and delicacy, combined with authority and ease. serves the music completely.
Esoteric T1 Turntable
magnetic drive/rim drive idler turntable with torque adjustment.
with the deletion of my NVS turntable, i was able to move the Taiko Tana active isolation shelf to under the Esoteric T1. this has upgraded the performance of the T1 significantly. objectively small changes, but musically quite profound up tics in realism and immersion. more nuance, greater music focus, better bass articulation.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/t1/top
Esoteric G1X Master Clock
Master Clock Generator for speed improvement for the T1 turntable. significant improvement in music realism.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/g1x/top
Durand --Tosca tonearm.
gimbal bearing design. Tosca is on the Esoteric T1 turntable
Primary Control 12" FCL tone arm
Field Coil Loaded uni-pivot tone arm. with power supply. mounted on the Esoteric T1 turntable. amazing natural and very high resolution tone arm. link below.
12 inch tonearm, stainless steel. used for the Sumile mono cartridge.
https://glanz.tech/e/collection/mh1200s1000s900s/
Experience Music/Intact Audio phono corrector + silver wound MC Trio SUT combo for three different tonearms.
bespoke tubed phono preamplifier. silver wound, with custom dual power supplies.
https://myemia.com/LR.html
LFD -3- Phono Cables DIN to RCA
3 sets of very high performance phono cables. amazing performance. built by Dr. Richard Bews in the UK.
one cable uses a DIN to RCA short Dongle + an RCA to RCA interconnect. the Dongle improves the performance of the DIN connection. details at the link below.
two Etsuro Golds, ---a pair of Reference MC Phono Cartridges.
duraluminim (A7075) body, 24 carat 'Kinpaku' Gold Leaf finish, diamond cantiliver. .3mv output, 4 ohms. these are both special versions of the Etsuro Gold.
one is mounted on the CS Port linear tracker.
one is mounted on the Primary Control FCL arm.
finest cartridge i have heard by a significant margin. WOW!
Audio Technica MC-2022 60th Anniversary cartridge
uses the unified stylus cantilever design. which results in extreme lack of distortion and linearity. remarkable neutrality and ability to dig out detail and keep it natural and musical.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-mc2022
Murasakino Sumile Mono phono cartridge
MC cartridge for mono records, .04mv output. tracking force 3gms. finest monaural cartridge i have heard. competes on musical refinement with the top stereo cartridges.
Ampex twin ATR-102----one 1/4" and one 1/2" reel to reel master recorder
hot rodded by ATR Service Inc----Andrew Kosobutsky. significant upgrades over stock. each interfacing with hot rodded Ampex MR-70 preamps. the new tape deck performance standard in my opinion.
active isolation under 5 separate components: (1) the NVS turntable, (2) the MSB dac, (3) the darTZeel preamp, (4 + 5) both darTZeel mono block amplifiers. custom modifications by Taiko Audio add a linear power supply plus panzerholtz top layer + Daiza platform to provide full frequency resonance attenuation to each platform.
Taiko Audio Daiza isolation platform--22 used in the system
Panzerholtz Platform with spiral cutouts reducing mid and high frequency resonance while retaining life and energy and not changing tonality.
22 Daiza platforms in the system of various sizes under every piece of the signal path.
Evolution Acoustics 'system' power cables
a new version of the TRPC model i used on my darTZeel 468 mono blocks for the last 10 years. a big step up.
Sablon Audio King power cord
used on the Wadax Reference Server power supply.
https://www.sablonaudio.com/power
Absolute Fidelity power interfaces
power cords specifically designed for either motors (tt and tape decks), amplifiers, and components. 11 in the system.
Tripoint Audio Troy Signature
Grounding box for chassis grounding the darTZeel 458 mono block amplifiers + grounding the passive main towers of the Evolution Acoustics MM7 speaker system.
Tripoint Audio Elite
Tripoint Elite grounding box. this does chassis grounding for my sources. it uses a a pair of Tripoint Thor SE Master Reference ground cables for my dart preamp and the MSB Select II dac. there are also 4 Signature Silver ground cables to the two arm boards of the NVS tt, the power supply of the NVS tt, and the SGM server.
Equi=tech 10WQ
10kva balanced Isoltion transformer and distribution panel.
Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium duplex outlets
10 in the system. used with 10 Furutech covers and frames. uses NCF (nano crystal formula) material to reduce noise by emitting negative ions.
Wave Kinetics A10 U8 decoupling footers
8 sets-of-4 in the system for individual tuning of each piece of gear.
Auralex T-Fusor diffusers
i use 20 of these. 6 each on the front side walls, and 4 each front ceiling and rear ceiling.
Klaudio Record Cleaning System
automatic record cleaner
Acoustic Revive RL-30 mKIII CD-LP demagnatizer
for demaging any disc.
Furutech DF-2 LP disc flattner
will remove warps from Lps
Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Anniversary Ed.
will cook any cables
Winds ALM-01 Stylus Force Gauge
easy accurate, repeatable, measurments.
i-Tower by Koncept LED floor lamp
(3) are used. best audio light ever. 2 'warm', 1 'cool'.
Quietrock THX 545 drywall
specialized drywall with a 1/4" metal layer. used in my front sidewalls to establish proper room boundaries.
Mike I followed your system development. I have not read one substantive critque, If there was one. you would address it. As they say in the 'hood,"Don't hate,participate.
I have staed eslwhere nothing made by man is perfect. Certainly at $200k there should be no compromises. I hope you have found audio nirvana. Are you goiing to install them yourself? Or is a vist from the manufacturer eminent?
Sorry Mike. I did not intend to "throw chum in the water" to stir another debate on Alex. He no doubt is a gifted tweaker/modifier in the finest tradition of audio. There is no reason why Alex could not pay you a visit with his cd player. (perhaps I could invite myself)No shoot out would be required. Informal opinions would be welcome. Is it necessarily a forgone conclusion Alex will declare his machine the best? Even if he does it would just be his opinion. I am sure he could buy his own Meitner, etc. and conduct his own shootout.
"...including the APO NW0 3.0GO, that i've not heard that would be interesting to compare with the Playback Designs in my system..." Alex is in his car headed your way. See Mike it never pays to think out loud.
Mike I agree wholeheartedly. I am however disappointed that over the failure of of the industry to marry audio and video on any large scale. DVD makes that possible. Our senses were designed to work in a complimentary fashion.
Groove space is a problem for vinyl. It puts limits on frequency extension that just do not exist for digital. I have reluctantly come to the notion that digital has no limits. Unfortunately the people in charge seem to be going in the opposite direction.(lower sample rates rather than higher). Given what people are willing to pay for a vinyl setup, an all out digital recorder with extremely high sampling rates would seem possible. Some audiophile would buy it. "Build it and they will come.)
Can vinyl match digital in frequency extension, background noise and convenience? If you are talking about recently recorded 45 rpm 180-200 gram records played on top quality equipment, vinyl wins hands down. But for everyday music played on real world systems, I am very ambivalent about the difference versus the nuisance. Vinyl wins if you are sitting in the sweet spot with your head locked in a vice. But if you are having a party, relaxing after work or dancing with your woman,digital may be just fine. For most young people given their investment in a computer,a music server may be the way to go. Let's get the young listening to music first. They like my system and my music. They get turned off when the hear the price. Let's see, a music server to an integrated amp to a satellite speaker system. As their musical tastes improve, they become less active and their discretionary income increases they will follow the same path us old guys did. Moreover the women will get involved.
With all due respect I sat in the perfect chair at Circuit City the other day. It is an auto massager. I don't know the name of it, but I would consider marrying that chair. I hope I can get a second date. Then I can give you more information.
Terry Callier-funny you should mention him . I just picked his album up of the floor( being on the floor means it gets played a lot.)It is named "Turn You to Love"1979 Elektra/Asylum Records. One of my favorites.
All my firends listen to my system as background music. Anyone who has a friend who is willing to listen to album after album well into the night is lucky indeed. Making small, adjustment for vta, evaluting cables, etc. just does not do it for the average Joe.
P.S. I might also add that just because Mike can't explain how the cables work or why they are so expensive does not mean the maufacturer will not or can not since I have not contacted them.
Less my silence be confused as an acquiesance in Mikes philosophy let me say that I do not agree. Price is relevant. A manufacturer should be able to explain how his product works. The more expensive the product the more he should be required to justify that cost Obviously that it is not a requirement for others. I am however not prepared to dismiss a product merely because it is obscenely expensive without explanation. If I were I would not own a Koetsu.
come on mike... I agree as the end user you have no obligation to explain how it works.
However, when you charge what this cable costs and make the claim they make you have got to be prepared to take the heat. It is unlikley that thier cable is not doing the same thing other cables are doing. My point is are they correcting for it in that pod? If so I would lik to know how? Would not you?
mike- it seems you are conceding that the cables are doing more than passing the signal unaltered. I think it is important that the manufacturer tell us what it is. don't you?
Having already maocked Mike and let's put Albertporter in there two. His total cable cost probably exceeds Mike's. It sort of begs two questions. What is in those cables that makes them so expensive? Should a neutral cable have any effect on system sound? Are they simply allowing more of the music through? Or are they adding something that was left out by the component up stream? It appears to me that the more exotic cables are additive rather than subtractive. If it is additive, then may be you could do that for less money somewhere else in the chain?
Mike- the Aussies have thrown down the gauntlet. My January Sterophile arrived witht the review of the Continuum arm table and stand. $87k. Uncle Mikey thinks it's better than your table. Happy hunting.
the song says...don't go changing...take your time.your intial rush may change over the long haul. I'm sure you know that. depending on how much time you can spend ,it takes professional reviewers about six months to get the measure of a component. even longer to match components.
Mike, just based on a short listen at the NYC show, I give the vr9 my highest rating as a truly nuetral transducer. While hanging around the hotel room someone commented on the small room. they claimed to have chosen a small room "on purpose." That I doubt. This was to demonstrate the speakers could shine in a small room. Wrong! Happy listening!
