Jtinn,

Do you know if Mike had his MMSevens positioned into their final locations or voiced to his room yet? I'm really curious to read if the superior performance that he has been experiencing with his new speakers can be further improved with the professional room set up by the designer himself. Thanks.

peterayer March 19, 2014 15:40

Mike, has the MM7 designer been to visit to fine tune the positioning of your speaker system? The speakers should be well broken in by now.

Have you been reading about the TechDas products - record clamp, 2 turntables, cartridge? They have been getting some good user reviews over on WBF.

peterayer November 05, 2013 00:28

Mike, Thanks for your response. I was not aware that the Audio Desk "can leave a bit of small grit." That may explain what I'm hearing and why I have always thought a final rinse with a point-nozzle machine with ultra pure water would be a good idea with the Audio Desk.

I would not say I'm "particularly sensitive to tic and pops" but it is nice to know that the Lori is better for that than the Audio Desk. I just find ticks and pops distract somewhat from the performance and remind me that I'm listening to a recording. That is, tics and pops sometimes snap me back to reality when I'm lost in the music, and that is a shame. That's all. It's the one area that I find digital is superior to analog, but it is certainly not enough to get me to consider adding a digital player to my system. I love LPs with all of their problems and expenses.

peterayer July 15, 2013 23:33

Mike, Are you saying that if an LP is really noisy, you first try the Audio Desk and then if that does not work, you rely on the Loricraft to get the job done? I thought users were reporting that the Audio Desk does a superior job on dirty LPs.

I recently took an LP that was cleaned with my PRC 4 to a friend's house. We listened and then cleaned it with his Audio Desk. It sounded just as clean, but we heard some faint crackling sounds during the quiet passages after the Audio Desk cleaning and not with the Loricraft. I now want to reclean with my Loricraft to see if I can hear a difference.

peterayer July 15, 2013 01:28

This machine seems much more promising than the Audio Desk if only because of the brushes and squeegee that don't seem to work that well or completely dry the LP, at least in my experience. I love my PRC 4 Delux, but it is very time consuming. I like the idea of cleaning with an ultrasonic machine and then a final pure water rinse on the Loricraft, but alas, I can't afford two expensive RCMs.

Mike, please keep us informed of your longer time use with this machine.

peterayer July 14, 2013 22:46

Mike, that is all very interesting. I'm curious though about the addition of a second isolation, i.e. the A10 footers with the Herzan. You had previously posted that you felt that to optimize the Herzan, it should not be used with another isolating stand, so you have it on a "grounded" stand, the Adona rack.
Based on this, would not the isolation to the NVS be compromised by stacking isolation devices? Or perhaps active behaves differently that passive in this case. It seems experimentation and being open minded is indeed appropriate here.

Have you tried the Playback UNDER the Dartzeel? It seems that they might fit better that way and the weight of the Dart might dampen the Playback from above. Just a thought.

I've also been meaning to ask you if there is a separate power supply for the NVS. If there is one which I don't see in your photos, I contend that it too would benefit from being isolated. One of the main reasons I had a custom larger steel ballast plate cut for my Vibraplane/SME turntable is that I found very early on in the process that the SME motor controller sounds better if it too is isolated.

I really appreciate you sharing these experiments with the forum. Not many of us have experience with active isolation.

peterayer June 28, 2013 19:25

"New prototype" arm from Durand? Is this a scoop? I guess even Ferrari keeps building better and better cars.

peterayer June 18, 2013 20:40

Mike, Have you considered getting two more Herzan units for your amps or even your R2Rs?

peterayer June 12, 2013 22:00

Mike, Have you had your new MM7s dialed in by the designer yet? I remember you writing that he was planning to come up, but I don't recall a report on that visit and resulting sound. Are they fully broken in yet? I fully understand it when you write "I'm right where I want to be system wise. and loving it."

peterayer May 19, 2013 23:59

Mike, have you ever tried the Furutech DeMag device? The claims are pretty high and it costs a bit less than $3K, I think. I wonder if one can rank the importance of these various accessories for our analog enjoyment. I guess a great RCM should also be on the list. I presume the more resolving a system, the more the improvement is noticed.

peterayer May 02, 2013 14:59

Thanks Mike. After learning a bit more about the Durand weight, it is clear that there is much more going on inside the wood. I had been under the false impression that it was simply a solid block of exotic wood, treated in some way and shaped carefully to produce the result. As such, it would probably be more susceptible to variation. I was mistaken. It is much more complex than I had originally thought.

My good friend and audio buddy was fortunate to hear Joel's system with the record weight about a month ago. He told me that the system sounded very special indeed.

peterayer April 30, 2013 16:19

This looks very interesting Mike. I'm also curious. Do you use the mat under it and do you use a washer under the LP? I guess the latter only makes sense to improve contact with the platter if the record weight is screwed on which would make it a clamp. The finish is beautiful.

Having read how carefully Joel works and the precision with which he makes protoypes and changes, I wonder if the wood will sound very slightly different if the wood stock from which it is carved has a slightly different grain pattern and/or density.

peterayer April 29, 2013 21:25

Well Mike, it's a good thing that for those who have been lucky enough to hear your system, you do indeed take the system, room and set up seriously. I know you enjoy too.

peterayer March 24, 2013 21:48

Mike, Congratulations and I'm not surprised at the positive results from precise speaker alignment. Jim Smith came and voiced my system to my room and we followed a procedure similar to what you and your friend did.

The first thing Jim did was determine the best spot in the room for the listening seat. This was based on the location with the smoothest base response. From there we located the two speakers. The importance of doing this accurately and correctly for one's particular room can not be overstated.

The improvements you describe are very similar to how Jim Smith's work effected the sound of my system. You must be finding it difficult to pull yourself away from your music. Well done. You have a beautiful room and I can only image how good your sound is.

peterayer December 19, 2012 22:59

Mike, Congratulations on the MM7s. I am one of the many who follow with interest your system thread. I have small two-way speakers and love the coherence and disappearance when playing something like Bach's Cello Suites or simple voice or guitar.

I'm curious about how seamless and coherent your massive towers with all of those drivers sound when listening to small scale music. I'm quite envious of how they must sound with full scale orchestral works and would be very impressed if they could reproduce small intimate stuff with equal finesse.

Also, how does tape compare to your top level vinyl chain? I think I remember you writing that with the Telos and Anna on the DD WK table you thought you were approaching the sound of master tapes.

Gotten much sleep lately?

peterayer November 04, 2012 16:18

French fries, don't feel so bad. I need two people to move something that does fit in my trunk - a Vibraplane platform - and I have three of them under amps and turntable. I'm about to add 130 lb. ballast plates to pre load them and that will be a two-man, 90 minute exercise. Perhaps we are crazy, but hey, we all want to hear the orchestra (or girl with guitar) in our home. The wait and the fun.

peterayer October 09, 2012 22:21

Mike, Have you had a chance to compare the Anna to an Lyra Atlas, Air Tight Supreme (which I own), or any of the other top MC cartridges? I'd be curious to read your impressions.

You have also had yours now for quite a while. Was it a pre-production version? I'm wondering because it seems that not many other Audiogoners own one and judging from Fred's comments, perhaps they are just now available. Thanks.

peterayer August 16, 2012 20:28

Mike, Nice report. Yes, it is subjective and thanks for the qualifications. I'm not surprised that you did not hear anything as good as your system at home. I've only been to two shows and I did not hear anything that I liked as much as my own system. Different, certainly, but not more enjoyable for me. I find it very difficult or even impossible to asses the performance of any one component in an unfamiliar system, especially something like a cartridge.

If and when you have an opportunity to audition the Atlas in your own system, I'd be very interested in reading about your impressions. Is the Ortofon Anna now Durand's cartridge of choice in his arms?

peterayer June 10, 2012 01:15

Mike,

It's nice to read that some audiophiles such as yourself are at the very bleeding edge of the art. I truly appreciate your willingness to share your experiences with the rest of us. I have learned much from the exchanges I've had on these forums and I'm sure I will continue to do so.

I'll stay tuned indeed.

peterayer April 30, 2012 02:32

Mike, I have almost no experience with R2R, but can share one of my anecdotal experiences. The first and only time I had the opportunity to directly compare tape to vinyl, it was not really close, the LP was better. This was at a friend's house and his system does not really approach the quality of yours, but the demonstration was very clear to me. I left wondering what this superiority of tape business is all about.

I'm a diehard vinyl guy and have listened to very few tape demonstrations, but I've heard some outstanding vinyl systems and I'm yet to be convinced that tape is always superior. I can relate to your friend Rich's experience. I'm not surprised. But then I don't really know much about the whole tape thing.

Congratulations on assembling such a satisfying vinyl source.

peterayer April 29, 2012 23:34

Right on, Mike and Charles.

peterayer April 23, 2012 23:03

Spirit,
I think you should start two new threads: one on the Trans Fi and the other on the Zu speakers. Those may be more appropriate places to discuss these products and you may get more exposure/responses to your ideas.

peterayer April 15, 2012 23:33

Spiritofmusic,
Have you ever heard the NVS, the Telos or a heavily modded SP10 Mk3? What cartridge are you planning to use on the Salvation tt?

peterayer April 12, 2012 10:45

Congratulations Mike. The MM7s seem very promising.

I'm curious about your current analog set up. How are you still liking the Ortofon Anna? Could you describe a bit about how it differs from the A90? Is it fully broken it yet? Thanks.

peterayer April 07, 2012 10:52

Mike,
I like the new photos of the room. Thanks for sharing the dimensions. I had thought it looked more like 16' or 17' wide. That's really larger than I would have thought. Really nice.

peterayer November 20, 2011 01:53

Mike,

Could you please share the dimensions of your room?

peterayer November 19, 2011 20:27

Thank you Mike. I find your explanations very helpful. These matters of degreee and relative ranking gives me a good idea of what you are describing. I did hear the Beat at RMAF 2010 and kept returning to Steve's room as I found it to sound very good. I am considering an upgrade to my SME 10 and find that to be some expensive territory. Most of us have a hard time auditioning perspective tables in our systems. I certainly envy your ability to do so.

I also notice that you seem particularly devoted to direct drive. A friend just bought an SP 10 IIa in a Porter Panzerholtz plinth. I look forward to directly comparing that to my SME 10.

Are you aware of any plans by Wave Kinetics to develop a lower cost DD table?

peterayer November 02, 2011 19:32

Mike,
Could you describe the NVS relative to the Dobbins "The Beat"? This seems to be a fair comparison in so far as each is a pretty compact design without the elaborate air suspension of the Rockport, or the linear arm. I also think you had the Talea II and A90 on each table for a while. If you have already done so in this thread, could you just tell me what date to look up? Thank you.

peterayer November 01, 2011 22:05

Wonderful pictures Mike. Congratulation on the new table, arm and amps. Many of us are observing and can only imagine the quality of your listening experience. I agree with you about the beauty of the Telos. The simplicity and form are striking. Can you elaborate on the VTA and azimuth adjustment? I can't seem to figure them out from the photos. Also, I really appreciate the full arm photo as the one on the Durand website is just an excruciating tease.

I also notice no record clamp/weight. Do you prefer the sound without one?

peterayer October 23, 2011 19:49

Mike, thanks for the links. Do you know the price and lead time? I can not tell from the photo of the base how VTA and azimuth are adjusted. It does look like an elegant design, as in only the essentials and nothing more. Am I correct in understanding that the wire terminates at the wooden block at the base of the arm and then a separate phono cable is needed from the block to the phono amp?

Do you want to post some photos of the your arm on the NVS? Would love to see them. Thanks again for keeping us informed about the bleeding edge.

peterayer October 06, 2011 22:13

"It's a scam, I've turned the page." Sounds like a good novel. Congratulations. You are now the wiser and as Iso says, another will come up at some point.

peterayer September 15, 2011 00:27

Mike,

Ask the seller if he would be willing to send you the item and accept payment post inspection. I know that is not the convention here, but you certainly have a verifiable history, system and feedback.

I almost bought an expensive turntable via Audiogon in London and offered to have a local lawyer accept the table and make payment, serving as an escrow agent. That was the point at which the seller stopped communicating and disappeared. It was a scam and I got lucky.

I wish you well and hope it works out, but it sounds suspicious to me.

peterayer September 13, 2011 22:45

Sounds like the Telos is revolutionary. And this right on the heels of what was just very recently the latest and greatest arm, the Talea II. Mike, could you please describe how the new Telos improves upon the Talea? When will information come out on the website? Or could you describe a bit more about the arm? What system will it be on at RMAF?

Albert Porter has been listening to his 12" arm on his NVS and had to have a special armboard made up. Can the NVS accommodate a larger arm or will it ned to be redesigned/modified? I assume that this NVS/Telos/A90 is now THE combination to beat.

Also, I'm still curious about the NVS record weight. Do you use it on your new table or do you find it sounds better without one?

peterayer September 09, 2011 22:53

Thanks Mike for your very thorough explanation of LP cleaning. I did a direct comparison between the Audio Desk and my Loricraft PRC4 for some audio buddies. The Audio Desk sure is convenient, but this is the fourth one the guy has had. The Loricraft got the LPs much cleaner IMO and others agreed. I guess it comes down to tradeoffs. The Loricraft and 4-step AIVS solutions are very time consuming.

Your comments about listening past the noise (tics and pops) inherent in old/dirty vinyl is interesting. I have a hard time fully engaging in the music with this distraction, so I try to clean as best I can and listen less to damaged LPs.

On a different note, I noticed in one of your pictures that your record weight/clamp is sitting on the new platform while the record is spinning. Do you find it sounds better without the clamp?

Enjoy that incredible system and room.

peterayer August 18, 2011 21:26

Hello Mike,

I love the new photos of the TT and rack, thanks. I've been wondering about your record care regimen and I don't want to read through 44 system pages. Could you briefly describe for us, or give a link, if and how you clean your records, the fluids, which RCM, demag, etc. Do you occasionally degauze your system with the Cardas Sweep LP? That kind of stuff. I'm most interested in how you get the max from your LPs. Thanks, Peter

peterayer August 17, 2011 21:16

Thanks for the photos Mike. The table and arms look great. You really simplified the front end and I get the sense that you are quite content now with your system. It must be a joy to relax in that room. Very well done.

peterayer July 24, 2011 20:56

Mike,
I would love to see some photos of your new NVS table with the two Talea arms. Your whole equipment area must be much simpler now that you don't have so many turntables. The system must sound glorious. Please treat us readers to some new images.
Peter

peterayer July 23, 2011 15:21