Mike Lavigne's System

by mikelavigne on All Out Assault
the big rig.
left rear corner view--note the ceiling treatment
note the cloth surface treatment on the ceiling.
view from behind the speakers
sources +
84" tall, 575 pound main towers and 87" tall, 600 pound bass towers.
bass towers are powered and adjustable, main towers passive.
rear of the room.....
amps sitting on Taiko Tana active isolation platforms
NHB-468 sound amazing......liquid and amazing musical flow and texture.
meters on the 468's
new Massif Audio racks, plus Nordost footers.
2 turntables, and the Taiko Tana active device under the Esoteric T1, made a solid improvement in the performance.
Wadax Reference Dac and Power Supplies with RevOpod footers
Wadax Reference Server and Ref Power Supply with RevOpods
darTZeel NHB-18NS w/ 2 phono stages (new 2016 version)
Ampex ATR-102's + Ampex MR-70 preamps, on new Massif Audio racks, boosted performance.
Esoteric T1 power supply & Esoteric G1X Clock
1/2" playback only ATR-102 hot rodded
Ampex MR-70 tape pre hot rodded by ATR Service INC
Wadax Akasa optical (yellow) and power supply (red) cables.
1/4" playback only ATR-102 hot rodded
air box for CS Port tt; dead quiet.
Etsuro Gold MC cartridge
Etsuro Gold MC cartridge
DaVa Reference Field Coil phono cartridge
Audio Technica MC-2022 phono cartridge
CS Port linear tracking tone arm with air bearing
Primary Control 12" FCL tone arm
Durand gimbal bearing tone arm
Durand Tosca gimbal bearing tone arm
Glanz MH1200S tone arm + Sumile Mono cartridge.
power supplies for the DaVa field coil cartridge and field coil FCL tone arm.
Massif Audio Design Snakewood record weight.
love my new Massif Audio design racks.
Evolution Acoustics bass tower interface and adjustments
cables and various cable decoupling strategies.
Tripoint Audio Elite grounding box for sources.
Tripoint Audio Troy Signature for amps
Entreq Poseidon + Atlantic Minimus + Everest knobs
linear power supply for the Taiko Tana active platform under amp
3 linear power supplies for Taiko Tana active under sources
Equi=Tech 10WQ wall panel A/C transformer with door open
Klaudio RCM + Equi=Tech with door closed.
the audio barn

Description

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;

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 29’ × 21’  X large
Ceiling: 11’

Components Toggle details

    • Evolution Acoustics MM7's
    twin towers, 600 pounds each, main passive tower, 82 inches tall, active bass tower, 84 inches tall.

    passive main tower, 97db, 7 ohms, so easy load. active bass tower has 4 analog adjustments for ideal room integration.
    • darTZeel NHB-468
    Mono block Amplifiers. amazing first watt, transparent and rich tonality. great match for my speakers.
    • darTZeel NHB-18NS with 2 internal phono stages.
    battery powered preamp with 2 separate phono stages. uses BNC 'zeel' cables between pre and amps.
    • Evolution Acoustics 7.5 meter 'Zeel'
    7.5 meter pair of BNC cables from preamp to amps.
    • Evolution Acoustics 'System' speaker cables--10 feet
    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.

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wadax-reference-dac-and-server-arrive.34173/#post-771357
    • WADAX SA Reference Server with Akasa optical interface
    ultimate state of the art music server using Roon. includes the Akasa optical interface.
    • WADAX SA Reference Server power supply
    additional chassis power supply to improve the Wadax server performance.

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wadax-server-psu-unit-has-now-arrived.36722/page-6#post-948318
    • WADAX SA Akasa DC cables (3)
    replaces the standard DC cables. takes the performance of the Wadax Reference system to 'Level 4' for ultimate performance. Red in color.

    https://wadax.eu/akasa/

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wadax-server-psu-unit-has-now-arrived.36722/page-9#post-971100
    • 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.

    https://www.primarycontrol.nl/Field_Coil_Loaded_Unipivot_Tonearm.html
    • Glanz MH-1200S 12" tone arm
    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.

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/lfd-cables-phono-and-i-c-from-the-uk-cables-as-components.31243/
    • DaVa Reference cartridge
    field coil cartridge. with tube power supply.
    • 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. 

    https://murasakino.audio/en/products/sumile-mono.html

    Mounted on the Glanz MH-1200S tonearm. mounted on the Esoteric T1 turntable.
    • DS Audio Ion 001 Vinyl Ionizer
    generates positive and negative ions to remove static charge from vinyl records. 

    https://ds-audio-w.biz/products/181/
    • CS Port Static Eliminator IME1 (two of them)
    An unprecedented accessory focusing on cartridge friction. It suppresses the effects of static electricity and makes records clearer.

    one is on the CS Port tt, one on the Esoteric T1 tt.

    https://www.csport.audio/products/products-ime1-en.html
    • Stage III Concepts 1.5 meter XLR set of Gorgon interconnects.
    high performance interconnects. used from the Wadax Reference dac to the darTZeel preamp.

    http://aaudioimports.com/ShowProduct.asp?hProduct=283
    • 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.

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/ak-hot-rodded-ampex-atr-102s-w-mr-70-preamps-replaces-my-studers.36288/
    • Kosobutsky 1.5 meter set of RCA interconnects + 8 meter set of XLR interconnects.
    1.5 meter set of RCA interconnects are used between the EMIA phono corrector and the darTZeel preamp.

    8 meter set is used between the Ampex MR 70 tape preamps and the darTZeel preamp.
    • Nordost QRT QNET network switch
    Network switch, with Nordost Qsource power supply.

    https://www.nordost.com/qrt-audio-enhancers.php
    • Synology 30 Terabyte NAS (a pair = 60 TB) music file storage
    mirroring music storage for my music files.
    • Massif Audio Design Audio Racks, solid wood
    2--double wide 3 shelf racks for sources

    1 single wide rack 4 shelf rack for Ampex MR-70 tape preamp chassis.

    https://www.massifaudiodesign.com/racks
    • Nordost Sort Fut rack footers (3 sets of 4)
    mechanically tuned resonance control device. supporting the three Massif racks.

    https://www.nordost.com/sort-systems/sort-fut.php
    • Taiko Tana (5 of them) Herzan TS-150 (2) + TS-140 (3)
    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.
    • Barn.... ......room is....
    ....most of the ground floor. 29' x 21' x 11'.

Comments 3397

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Mike, I've not checked in in a long time but have been following this latest iteration of what was always a superb system. Where on earth will you be setting up your bass towers? Beside or behind the main towers? Back off against the curved wall? And how will they be amped? It seems like your whole view will be speakers once you're done. You have an enormous room but I still have trouble picturing how all this equipment will fit in it. You and I used to have a SACD player in common (the Marantz SA-1) but now all we have in common are the ceramic cable isolators you're using behind your speakers! Would love to hear your system sometime.
Enjoy this new set-up and thanks so much for the pictures.
--Sarah (lone female audiophile on this site?)

sc53

Hi Mike, just catching up on all your changes and projects and admiring your improvements etc. I'm the woman who used to have the same CD player you had: the Marantz SA-1! Anyway, we've both moved on from there, though I still miss the Marantz. I'm back to a Meridian 500 transport (which I used to own in the early 90's) and a Squeezebox into an Electrocompaniet upsampling DAC--sounds very nice to me. I just had to comment on your inclusion of THE CARPENTERS on your fab10 list! I've never even heard of a guy who'd admit to even knowing who/what the Carpenters are! I still have their LPs from my college days but have not listened to them since the 70's! Good for you!!

sc53

IGNORE list!

sc53

Lox....
SHUT UP!
Who the @#$% cares about your Pegoretti? A lot of us have other interests and hobbies too. You sound like an idiot. I have two Serottas.
Let's get back to Mike's listening room, having (hopefully) slammed the door on Lox once and for all.

sc53

Mike, what an evolution and what a stunning conclusion to your journey--so far... Are those ribbon tweeters in your new speakers? Also: do you have swappable headshells for your tonearm so you don't have to mount, align, etc. every time you change your cartridge? The beauty of your new speakers is just breathtaking, your pictures turned out just lovely. I don't know how you will be able to compare these with the VR-11's which are being made for you. Maybe you'll just keep both somehow and do multi-channel. Long ago you and I shared a CD player--the Marantz SA-1--which I still have. I am in the process of comparing it to the Linn Unidisk 2.1, the ergonomics of which I like better. I love the way your system has evolved, keep on enjoying it!
--Sarah

sc53

Mike, I noticed when you put your Marantz and CD12 up for sale and wondered what on earth you had found that bettered them. I have the Marantz and think it is fabulous for regular CDs; I don't listen to many SACDs. Forgive my ignorance, but how does the Meitner work? Is the Phillips transport sending SACD to be decoded by the Meitner? What does the Meitner do to redbook CD data? I note that you saved a bundle by selling the Marantz and Linn to go with your current setup. I have always loved that Linn player! I wish I could afford it, even used.

sc53

Hi Mike,
I had viewed your system a couple of weeks ago on that other website where you posted a bunch of photos. The room and the system and the bookshelves just look fantastic together! What do you use the laptop computer for? I was thinking maybe you had all your recordings catalogued. I love the simplicity of the room and your whole philosophy. Great job!

sc53

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