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.
Hey Mike Thanks for the great visit last week. The music sure sounds good at the barn. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better..... it did get better. Take care and thanks for the great time.
Hey Mike For people that have not had a chance to listen to some music at Mike's place recently would be in for a very big surprise. These large speakers disappear which is truly a feat as the speakers are huge in stature. The music hits you in the chest when needed and are as light on their feet as a ballerina when asked. Mike played DJ for hours and regardless of the music or source it was simply stunning to listen. Really special. Mike thanks for a great time and hope to see you soon.
Congrats on the Herzan, looks very interesting and it is one that I have not heard of before. Thanks for bringing this product to my attention. Thanks for your kind words on my system page. Long overdue for a visit to the Barn. Take care,
They look amazing Mike, congrats. Nice to see it all come together for you. Can still remember when I listen to them with you last time with MM3. Will have to see how they can make the 7's dance. Happy listening and see you soon.
Had the Emitter II Exclusive Blue version, the four box system for almost 5 years. As good as the Emitter was in my system it sounded somewhat dry to me. The darTZeel combo has now been a part of my setup and do not feel that I am missing anything. Tunes are all wonderful. My two cents.
Congrats on the new speaker. No more excuses, now I will have make a trip your way. Let me know once they are set up and have some hours on em. See you soon,
Hey Mike Those are some gorgeous looking amps. Be very interesting to see and hear them. Looks like a road trip is due, time to catch up. Take care, Mike
Hi Mike Nice to read that you have the problem solved. I am sure that it's good to get there. The LED lights that we picked up works great, glad I got two. Thanks for being host to us yet once again on our visit. Ya gotta come up for a visit.....
Hey Mike Hard work, effort, and your relentless pursuit to improve has given you positive results. Deservedly so. Great to read that you are happy Mike, congrats, now kick back relax and enjoy your music. With 2000 new LPs that should keep you busy for a while. Take care,
Hi Mike Thanks again for being the great DJ and host yet once again. Your room really rocks, pun intended. The removal of the bass traps and the replacement with the Quietrock has worked giving you greatly improved low end bass. Your GC did a good job. Your room is sounding it's best since I have been visiting you. Interesting that the room sounded better Saturday than on Sunday. Must have been the Canadian effect on your system ehh, LOL. Take care,
Thanks for having my gang at your place last Sunday.
What a great time we had listening to music. Terrific music, my compliments to the DJ. My second son after listening to the Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington album, wants to now play the Trumpet. He has been playing the trombone for four years and had picked up the trumpet at will. Amazing to see when one is inspired by great music. Luckily my older son has his second trumpet to lend him.
Sonny and Sam dropped by on New Years Day and we truly had a great time. Mike, it's your turn to come and visit us in the Great White North. Ironically when we went to visit Jonathan in Portland it snowed. The city saw it's worst traffic jam ever. Five hours from the Pearl District to the hotel !! And here I thought we had bad drivers......
Thanks, first of all, for having all of us at your home to enjoy listening to music, and for a very entertaining evening ,,,,,,, and for allowing me to crash in your "Barn". Also, thank St. Pam for putting up with all of us.
For those that missed the event , you missed a BIG ONE !!
The evening was a huge eye/ear opener for me and I am quite sure for several others as well. To be in a room, meeting with so many music lovers and aficionados, was a great experience. This is something that we do not do in Vancouver..... Hello Vancouver BC.
I arrived early at Mike's place, the border line up being ONLY one hour at that early hour.
For those of us that were there early, music was played on a request basis and if you brought your own it was also played.
The first album that Steve Dobbins cued was Roger Waters "Amused to Death" on LP. This album on Mike's system made it sound like there were speakers all around the room. Never have I heard it played back with such resolution, energy, and ambiance. J. Tinn did work his magic on the placement of the EMM 3.
Once all of the members showed up at the meeting the business part of the meeting was conducted, concluded, and then onto the music.
The evening unfolded with music listening, first through Mike's Rockport and Garrard 301 as sources played through the Allnic phono stage. First time that I saw this phono stage in person......... stunning sound quality, versatile and build Q is first rate. " We got into playing "Jazz at the Pawn Shop" on vinyl. Gary, one of the members, had first and second pressings of this album. To listen to these two pressings was very enlightening. The differences were so profound that you could tell the second pressing was missing dynamics. One person asked to hear this on SACD, which Mike had of course.........lasted all of 20 seconds.
Now for the highlight of the evening... One of the other members brought a R to R tape of "Jazz at the Pawn Shop". We then played the the first pressing of "Jazz at the Pawnshop" on the Rockport again and then switched to the tape copy on Mike's Studer 820 R to R. Holy sh!!. Nothing but oohh's and aahhh's!
It became so obvious that the tape just "had it all over the vinyl".
It makes me wonder, why did reel to reel disappear as a source - convenience ?
We did this comparison with a number of different artists for many hours. The R to R won every time except for one cut, cannot remember which one it was.
The evening played on with music and laughter that was brought on by the clear superiority that the tape demo's had.
Steve Dobbins needs to be thanked as well for the excellent turntable set-ups and for being the DJ on a very entertaining evening. Mike kept him hopping all night long. The Garrard 301 that Steve builds is shockingly good, remember the other table is the Rockport that we were doing the comparisons.
IMHO some of us came away discovering how superior R to R is a source. The evening ended for with us listening to more of Roger Waters until the time hit 1:30 am and it was time for me to hit the sack upstairs in the Barn.
Hi Mike It is good to see you post once again. Hope to hear how good the "tweak" sounds. This is what it all about, people sharing new discoveries in the hope that we can all improve our music listening experience. Hope to see you soon and again welcome back. Take care,
Hi Mike hope you and family are doing well. One year ago to the day I met Mike in person after having exchanged e-mails and postings on Audiogon. We were invited (family of 5 in total) to go and visit him at his place. This was Superbowl weekend with Seattle in it. To top things off Seattle that weekend had a 70 mph wind storm that knocked power and trees down everywhere. He made time for all of us. I know that most of us with money invested in our systems would never open our doors to total strangers. It is human instinct not to trust people that we do not know, but Mike is so passionate about sharing the music at his place that he has opened his doors (and our ears) for many us. His listening room, as all of our listening rooms have, has a sweet spot. He wants people to hear what he hears in this spot. Please note that there are additional chairs in his room for more guest/friends to enjoy the expierience. He is an increadibly gracious host and has become a person that I can trust and can call on for advice. He makes time. So for the personal attacks on Mike from people that have never shaken his hand GO AWAY!!! Loxodrome.... spend some time and think about what you doing to Mike and to our community.
Hi Mike Hope that you are doing well. After a visit to your house it inspired me get back into Vinyl and decided to buy the JC Verdier Platine turntable and Kuzma Airbearing tonearm. At a later date I will add another tonearm. Cartridge question for you. Are you overall happy with Dynavector XV-1s ? I will be buying more cartridges as time goes by but have to start somewhere. The other cartidges I am contemplating are: Airy Universe Allerts Mijabi Koetsu Any thoughts Thanks as always Mikel R
I am 3 hours from Seattle. Maybe after X-mas. I'm sure that my wife would love to shop Seattle. I will find out how much grief the border will be to bring a German Unit into the States. Talk to you soon.
Hi Mike Nice room. Wondering if you have had the chance to hear the KUBALA SOSNA Emotion speaker cables. I have heard peolple say good things about them. I am using MIT mh 850 EVO, and Valhallas. Closest dealer to me is in Portland a 7 hr drive. Maybe you can save me the drive. Thanks for your time Rugyboogie
