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.
If I have bigger room, then I will be happy to get VR7, which is similar to VR9 but less expensive. which amp are you using now? Tenor?. I remember you returned the Dart back to your dealer, bc of premap matching issue. do you see yourself get back to dart when they introduce their preamp?
Hi Mike Obviously, the VR9 is the best speaker for you at this moment, will you say Kharma is the second best speaker for you if you have to choose a speaker for yourself besides VR9?
what is the retail price on your SE version GP amp stand?
Mike, the picture is really nice. thanks for sharing with us. It seems you are listening faily nearfield. how close to the speaker from your listening position? Are you going to Bi Amp your speaker? I m kind of waitng for Dartzeel to release their preamp, and get some feedback to help me make the purchase decision.
so, besides the bass improvement over the Kharma, will you say overall the VR9 are more to your taste? or they are just have different presentation, and VR9 are better for your room?
Thanks for your reply. Enjoy the music. Blueguitar
well, I trust your "aurial memeory". another words if two speaker's performance are so close that you can't tell the difference unless you side by side, then I will say it comes to personal preference other than quality of the music. wish you the best.
I am still interested in what you think of VR9 VS Midi Exquisite.
Hi Mike I finally did listen to both VR9 and Midi exquisite at HE show. base on my limited experience, overall I have found that Midi exquisite have more natural presentation, eventhough the bass is little weaker than VR9, but midi does have slightly better resolution than VR9s to my ear. they both are in the same league, as you previouly own the exquisite I would like to know Do you think the new midi overall better than your previous exquisite?
well, I also found the Dartzeel are better than Lamm M1.2.
I think they have different presention. so it is more like apple and orange thing. Just wondering why you decide to pick up the VR9s. are you sure you won't regret?
this is base on my very limited experience with both speakers. please don't take personal.
Hi Mike Thanks for the reply, do you feel you need more power on the Kharma in current set up by using one dartzeel?
are you going to the HE show in NYC? I am trying to go there listen myself if I can. I am considering the Dartzeel and Kharma set up. eventhough the Kharma seems to mate well with Lamm gear. I would like to get something little different, I am already using the Lamm M1.1 so, thinkg about the ML2.1 or tube like solid state. obviously the ML2.1 can't fully develop the potential of Kharma. Thanks
Hello Mike do you ever think to bi amp the kharma? you have experience the very best model from kharma. the midi and the exquisite both are 90db, 4 ohm. do you think the bi amp those speaker will get you better result? I am still searching for my next speaker, and I felt my Watt puppy 7 sometimes need more power in the sense to get more body on the bass without playing too lound. what you think of it?
Hi Mike,have you ever have experience with Verity audio's Sarastro or Lohengrin speaker? if you do, what you think of it compare to your Kharma? or overall quality and performance of the Verity audio?
well, I have noticed many people raved about DarTZeel amp lately, I personally use Lamm M1.1 with Watt puppy 7.
compare with you guys here, My experience is very limited, recently, Lamm 1.2 have fairly good review on it, but it seems people are talking more about ML2.1 and rarely compare Lamm hybrid amp. I believe you have experience with M1.2 or M1.1. they are class A power amp. maybe you can tell me more about your experience, why you didn't pick M1.1 or M1.2. I am thinking to upgrade my speaker from watt7 to Kharma or Von Schweikert VR7. and those recenly post about DarTZeel, also make me think about my amp. ( maybe I should try something else). thanks Blueguitar
Hi Mike I am new to audiogon, I have read your post regarding your thought on Kharma Midi. I have not hear the VR 9, but one thing I m concerned is that they use active woofer, have you ever notice the bass sound is not really go with the high and mid, well, eventhough they claim the active woofer act like a booster. again, I have not heard them so your opinion is appreciate. another thing you mentioned the midi is voiced with tube amp, but it is only 90db, do you think tube amp can fully develop the potential of the Midi? specially the Lamm ML2? Thanks
