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.
Hi Bobvin I also use 2 professional inline water filters before the UV filter, the water tastes good enough to drink so I am sure it is fine for my records to swim in. Thanks Jason.
Hi Mike, I will be ordering a KL Audio record cleaner for my own use and audio demonstrations. We have access to 10,000 gallons of pure rain water here with a water purification system including ultraviolet treatment for any bacteria in the water. I am looking forward to cleaning my records on the KLaudio machine. Are you happy with your unit.
Hi Lawrence, I agree live music is the reference point and live music feed to air over the radio can give wonderful results when recorded on RTR. The best music quality I hear on New Zealand radio stations is when they have musicians in the studio playing live to air. Mike not long now I bet you are getting excited, be careful with your back lifting those big sub bins. I know what moving heavy loudspeakers is like, I am looking forward to seeing the pictures.
Hi Mike, great pictures and I must say very professionally packaged, many loudspeaker manufacturers could learn from this type of packaging. Very reassuring to see from my point of view as a Audio distributor and from word go offers confidence that the audio product will arrive safely to the intended client. Exciting times ahead for you I am sure, happy listening.
Hi Mike, speculation and personal music sonic preferences come in to play at this level of audio equipment. Marc might prefer one amplifier loudspeaker synergy that you and vice versa so it is really a personal audio system we are all designing for ourselves & our music playback. To audition all the audio combinations in one`s system is impossible, my advice to readers of this forum is to audition as many audio systems as possible then pick one that producers music to your own liking and try and build around this set up in your own music room. Room acoustics will also very from room to room so speaker sizing and placement are critical for the best results. With this in mind the MM3 loudspeakers might be a better speaker option for many than the MM7 for their room size.
Congratulations Mike and Jonathan on your new speakers, this will be a very interesting project to see how the new MM7 speakers match into your music room in place of the MM3. I will be very interested to hear how the soundstage imaging compares between the two models in your room. I am looking forward to your updates.
Dertonarm I would think the WAVAC using the 833a valve would be a very good power match for Mikes speakers, sonic quality aside.
From my experience the quality /design of SET amplifiers schematics, mains & output transformers and power supply ultimately relate to the amplifier quality.
Valve choice is carefully chosen for the power output needed for a given loudspeaker that the amplifier is intended to be matched.
The room dimensions also have to be a factor on amplifier power needed for the audio system to reach a desired SPL of music playback.
45 and 2A3 amplifiers can sound absolutely wonderful But you need to match with speakers of very high efficiency to have a realistic playback for all types of music. Many people love these amplifiers as I do my self for their positive sonic attributes. I think the hard part is to build a more powerful amplifier with the same delicacy as these smaller triode valves.
This is what makes this hobby very interesting for me personally experimenting with valve amplifiers design trying to achieve the best in music playback with SET & Push Pull valve amplifiers.
Hi Mike How did the Lamm ML2.1 control your speakers with 18 watts output ?
I would suggest trying different SET amplifiers to get a handle on how they match with your speakers and how much head room they offer you for more demanding music playback.
I have tried many SET amplifiers here over the years, the WAVAC Ver 1.3 are wonderful amplifiers, I have used these in my system here and even on the Avantgarde Duo Omega horn speakers they sounded very good if not a bit overkill on 107 db efficient speaker with active bass drivers.
I have also had the Kondo Gaku On mono block amplifiers here in my system for 5 months, these sounded wonderful on the Audio Note ANE SEC speakers 95 db but had too much hum for the Avantgarde horns.
The Lamm ML2.1 sounds wonderful on my Parmenter Fat Boy 98 DB speakers but I wanted a bit more power in reserve for my Reggae /Roots music playback and control of my passive TAD 16 inch woofers. I now use a SET amplifier with double the power of the Lamm ML 2.1 for extra head room in reserve as I can not afford a pair of the Lamm ML3`s.
Mike, the problem is to find a SET amplifier that will work with your speakers 92 DB ( is that correct ?) and give you the head room you need.
I built my own speakers ( Parmenter Fat Boy) and SET mono block valve amplifier to match with them. As I have said in my previous posts my speakers are 98 DB efficient and I need 35 watts SET amplifiers to give me the full scale sound. I use a TAD horn driver for the mid range & treble and a vented cabinet for the TAD 16 inch bass driver. This is a 2 way system that integrates really well, I use a adjustable Townshend ribbon super tweeter for extra ambience & air to the music presentation.
If you relate the power to speaker efficiency that I have in my system and then reverse that down to your speakers at 92 DB it would be like you using a 140 watt per channel SET amplifier on your speakers to get the same energy & dynamics.
I just wanted to express in my posts to you that a SET amplifier /speaker system can portray full range and dynamics when designed from the ground up.
i will be continueing to investigate SET's and where they can take me. i'm not selling them short. but they will need to be linear in ways i've not heard them be so far to be the main amp for my system.
when the i'm playing large scale music in my system and it's carrying me away, that precision is part of the magic."
Hi Mike SET amplifiers have to be matched very carefully to the loudspeakers, to many times people try to match a SET amplifier to a speaker it will never control properly and be able to provide a full scale presentation to the music.
Single Ended Triode amplifier design does have a magic to the emotional connection to the music that is very addictive, the hard part is then to find a loudspeaker that can portray a full scale realistic playback.
Mike I go to a lot of live music, mainly out door concerts and music festivals, I use these concerts as my reference point in my own audio system design and I feel I can reach a realistic playback presentation with my 35 watt SET amplifiers matched to my 98 DB efficient speakers.
I also use the Lamm M 1.2 reference hybrid mono amplifiers and Pass Labs XA 100 mono blocks on the same speakers and I do not feel I suffer from lack of dynamics with the SET amplifiers in a comparison in scale.
Hello Agear When you say graduated onwards from SET amplifiers to Ypsilon amplifiers some readers might take this as meaning a move to the next level of sonic performance. Others might read this and think this is a move backwards in sonic performance from their audio perspective & tastes.
I agree with you though each to his own amplifier design and sonic presentation, it comes down to matching the amplifier to the given loudspeaker, then choose which tone of the amplifier speaker presentation that you personally like best.
Hi Glory You have some very good points in your post but I have to agree with Charles and personally believe you can achieve a music system with SET amplifiers that will transport you to audio Nirvana when matched with the right loudspeakers.
In this hobby & passion each persons has their own sonic requirements from their music system but we all have the same goal in mind to achieve the best music playback in our rooms.
Personally I use a pair of SET mono block amplifier producing 35 watts per channel matched with a pair of 98 db efficient loudspeakers, this combination transports me and my friends back to the live event where we have enjoyed the bands first hand.
Each to their own to reach musical enjoyment, there is no right or wrong way just personal different flavors.
Hi Mike The 45 & 2A3 are wonderful valves and when a amplifier is designed around them properly & matched with speakers with high efficiency you can get beautiful sound. In my opinion the 2A3 valve designed in a Single Ended Triode amplifier producing 3 watts does not have enough power for your speaker system even with a active bass system to get a full "physically engaging experience" as compared to your solid state amplifier with over 100 watts output power.
92 Db efficient speakers need a more powerful SET amplifier design to get the extra dynamics to compare in a large room like yours to your more powerful solid state amplifier, I would think you would need to go to a 211 SET designed amplifier to get the headroom you need.
I have used many SET amplifier over the years with Tannoy`s, Avantgarde, JBL & TAD speaker systems, in my experience you really need a minimum of 98 Db + efficient speakers for a 2A3 SET designed amplifiers to get a realistic head room in all types of music. Even with 98 Db efficient speakers like TAD and more modern JBL 2226 15 inch bass drivers this does not always ring true and you still need a lot more power to control the bass woofer properly.
Your 2A3 amplifiers look very well designed and I am sure for some music (that is not to amplifier taxing) these amplifiers will sound wonderful in your system producing tone and delicate notes that your solid state amplifier will not capture, but on the other hand your solid state amplifier will be preferred for a fuller dynamic presentation for higher SPL music.
Hi Mike I really like the look of your new Turn Table plus the simplified system set up, this must make it a lot easier for you to use now. Thanks Jason.
Hi Mike I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the SET 2A3 mono blocks when they are finished, valves offer a different tone & texture to music. Thanks Jason.
Hello Mike I will stop now as I do not want people to think that there is a biased opinion on this forum from Audio distributors or financial partners of dealers.
At the end of the day what is important is to " Enjoy the Music " and it does not matter what personal audio equipment we use to do this.
I am off Surfing now which is another passion of mine. Cheers Jason.
Hi Mike I am Jason Parmenter of Parmenter Sound, I am a Audio distributor in New Zealand & Australia, but I am a passionate music & audio enthusiast first & foremost for the last 30 years.
I did not receive your email about EMM Labs sorry or I would have replied very quickly to you.
You posted your opinion on this Forum Best Sound of the Rocky Mountain Audio Show in your report, so I then asked the question about personal preferences and familiarities coming into play as to the reason why this could be your favorite room.
As a comparison if I played a Steinway & Sons Piano all the time then I played a Baldwin do you think that I might have a preference as to my personal best pick, I think audio system familiarity is very similar.
Nothing personal against you Mike this was just a question as a possible reason to your Best of Show room.
Mike I am a audio dealer yes a well none fact that I have never tried to hide, the reason you mention for me posting on your thread is not my reason for stating my thoughts.
I have followed your thread over the years with interest and appreciation for the time you have spent getting your music room acoustics right.
I think that music playback is a Individual enjoyment and that peoples audio system requirements will always vary.
From following your audio systems progression over the years I would say that you and Jonathan have very similar tastes in audio components, Digital, amplifiers & speakers tonal sound and how they react when placed in a audio system together.
Thanks I will have a nice day as the weather is looking wonderful here today with the sun coming up over the sea and wonderful music playing.
Jonathan Music taste and music playback enjoyment through audio systems is a Individual preference. I do not agree with you, personally at the moment I am really enjoying the Musical Affairs speakers using the PHY KM 30 SAG speaker drivers, 97 db 16 ohm with out crossovers or subwoofers running off low powered valve amplifiers. I feel these speakers really breath & portray the inner beauty of the music, not always "Clarity is King" some times natural tone of a instrument is king and vibrating bass notes take on a musical tone that no powered sub woofer I have ever heard can portray to the same extent.
My point I think was quite clear in the text, personal bias comes in to play when one is to pick a best Sound at a audio show, you probably would not like exactly the same as I do so we both then would have different requirements from our music playback systems.
I think it is a bit of personal preferences as to how music sounds in each individuals point of view, that is probably why Mike liked his good friends room Jonathan Tinn`s as the best sounding at the Rocky Mountain music festival. The equipment is this room is probably the closest to what Mike has at his place so this is his reference point as to how music sounds. Other Individuals might have preferred another room as their best sound of the show because it is closer to how they like their music to sound.
I think every one is biassed when it comes to music and how it should sound, is there a "best sound of the show" or is there a preference to favorite sound of the show.
Hi Mike Yes I have heard about the Playback design CD player, I prefer to use the emmLabs CDSA CD player my self. Being a audio distributor as well as a passionate live music fan I have to be confident in the products I represent and the background history that has gone into the R&D of these audio products. I will give you my opinion on the new emmLabs XDS1 as soon as I have one here for my reference demonstrations. Thanks Jason.
Hi Mike Will you be auditioning emmLabs new XDS1 CD/SACD Reference Player/Converter soon. I am really looking forward to having one here in the New Year for my reference CD/SACD playback. Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Cheers Jason.
02-23-09: Jtinn Microstrip: There are no capacitors in the signal path at all with any of the Evolution Acoustics models. For all intensive purposes imagine that there is just wire running from the speaker binding posts to the terminals on the drivers.
I hope this answers your question.
Best Regards,
Jonathan Tinn Evolution Acoustics
Hi Jonathan What about on the tweeter section, no capacitors or inductors in the signal path here? Thanks Jason.
Hi Mike I agree with what you have said completely, it comes down to speaker & amplifier synergy to get the best from your audio system. Once you have the power amplifiers optimized with your speakers this will allow a natural ease & flow to the music. Speakers need to be controlled or damped properly for the best results & amplifiers need to operate with in their sweet spot or power band, especially when played at higher volume levels to keep the sound pure with out glare or distortion creeping in & hardening the sound. This sounds like very basic advise plus very easy to achieve but you can chase your tail trying to achieve this audio system synergy, as most of us know!! Well done Mike on your audio room construction and incredible audio system, I am sure it sounds wonderful. Cheers Jason.
