some months ago I posted about getting the prototype version of the Durand Telos Sapphire which I have been enjoying since.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showth...l=1#post221730

yesterday Joel Durand installed the final version of the Durand Telos Sapphire tone arm on my NVS tt. the final version has a composite arm wand and new base.....compared to my prototype version. Joel has been working for over a year on the composite arm wand.

I've been quite impressed with the prototype version. the addition of the composite arm wand with the final version lowers the noise floor (reduces distortion/noise) and as a result everything improves. what stands out is the overall ease and projection of energy, increase in texture and detail, increase in harmonic complexity/richness, increased solidity on musical peaks, and the music projecting out further into the room. these were all strengths of the prototype version and so this is an improvement in degrees on all fronts. not night and day differences compared to the prototype, but significant and when you are already at this level quite remarkable. the improvement in enjoyment and musical immersion is what I'm loving at the moment.

the additional pull of the music is across musical boundaries; rock, pop, jazz, classical.....female vocal, solo piano, string quartet, small combo jazz. the projection of musical energy and artistic nuance is hard for me to describe. explosive is a word I would use to describe the energy level.....unlike anything outside of tape I have heard.

last night I listened to many of my reference cuts for 5-6 hours and I was blown away that there was this much more potential in the format beyond where I was.

now tonight I'm listening to a drum solo with the Telos Sapphire......"the Great Jazz Trio Direct From L.A.", EW 10005, cut 1, side 1, 'A Night In Tunisia'.....Tony Williams on drums. the whole album is really fine.

the Sapphire Telos/Ortofon MC Anna/NVS --> dart 458's --> MM7's. those -4- 11" ceramic woofers per side (not to mention the -4- 15" powered subs per side too) only having to do 30hz to 250hz at 96db, 6 ohm. minimal excursion with such driver area keeps things so linear. and what that can do for drums is remarkable.

explosive hardly covers it.....you have to add effortless and life-like too. no overhang, no smearing, immediate, impactful.....delicate, expressive, tonally rich and complete.

revelatory.

I think the Durand Telos Sapphire is beautiful and love how it looks with the NVS.

Telos Sapphire
base and bearing tower
cartridge end close-up
head-on view with Ortofon MC Anna

mikelavigne April 29, 2014 05:32

Hi Peter,

Mike had been so busy we had not been able to schedule the visit for final placement and tuning.

I think it will happen within the next 4-6 weeks or so. I am sure there will be dramatic improvements.

All the best,

Jonathan Tinn
Evolution Acoustics

jtinn March 20, 2014 03:22

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

HI Joey_v,

Mike has been extremely and I am sure is not looking to ignore your question.

If I remember correctly, he is about 11 feet away from his MMSevens.

jtinn March 19, 2014 03:37

mike - how far do you sit from the speakers?

joey_v March 13, 2014 08:58

Hi Mike,

It has been a long time!

Wanted to to send you a CD (or DSF/DFF files) with some recorded vinyl. Please email me whenever convenient, and if interested, of course.

Have a happy and prosperous New 2014!

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev
APL Hi-Fi

aplhifi December 29, 2013 10:45

Mike, haven't seen your system/room for a while now. I can only imagine its like a dream. You think you might benefit from a larger room now?
Henry

mtkhl567 December 08, 2013 20:07

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

I think mike is busy listening to music :)

jtinn November 04, 2013 04:11

Did Elvis leave the building? Mike hasn't posted here in quite a while...
Carry on.

whart October 17, 2013 14:23

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.

rugyboogie October 12, 2013 13:52

jasonparmenter... I won't hijack this thread, but let me just say I can take toxic water that would do you great bodily harm and make it taste amazing just by running through some granular activated carbon. One should never confuse taste with purity. For record cleaning one wants extremely low ionic mineral content (total dissolved solids, or TDS) so those same mineral ions are not left behind when the water evaporates. Rain water, in theory, meets that requirement but only diagnosis of resistivity would confirm.
[back to regularly scheduled program]

bobvin October 05, 2013 14:43

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.

jasonparmenter October 04, 2013 19:51

Hi Mike... I have lurked on your pages for years, admiring your room. I live in Redmond, but we just bought a home in Portland as the wife's career is taking us south a little. I realized how lucky I have been with the current bonus-room in my home as I have been able to tweak it with tube traps and spring traps and diffusors to get it sounding great. I looked at 30+ houses and in the Portland area they are fond of steep roofs which angle the ceilings in the 'bonus' rooms making them poor choices for tunes. The home we are buying will require a remodel of an area to make it good for tunes.

That said... I see you now have diffusion added to the walls beside your speakers, and behind in the center. My question is whether or not you feel this should have been part of the Rives design to begin with? And, would you still recommend Rives?

Jasonpermenter... Rain water is collected from rooftops which also collect huge amounts of dust, soot, and bird poop. The UV only disinfects, it does not purify. I would never let that water near my records. (I own a water purification company and we combine reverse osmosis with deionization {same as Aquafina, but we add back no minerals} so the water is equal or better than distilled in purity. This is what I use in my Hannl record cleaner as rinse water. If I go ultrasonic, and I likely will, I'll use only the purest of H2O.)

bobvin October 03, 2013 13:46

Hi Mike - long time.... I've been enjoying my Klaudio RCM now for a few months. It's simple to use, effective, and built like a tank. Looks like the word is getting around.

skushino September 27, 2013 19:58

Hi Mike

What distance you listening from the speakers, and what distance you have between the speakers?

shade_of_pale September 10, 2013 08:29

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.

jasonparmenter September 07, 2013 20:02

I use Aquafina in my audio desk.

rockitman August 27, 2013 20:29

You are correct, I am using reagent water. Likewise, I am pretty sure that the difference between a gallon and 4.5 liters is negligable. With respect to the rinse, I continue to use my Loricraft; however, but for the cost I would buy another Audio Desk and use it exclusively to rinse. I have a friend who does that. I still remember my Crosby Quads quite fondly. I have had many different speakers since, but in retrospect none that surpasses the Quads in their areas of strength. For me the reliability finally became an issue.

fcrowder August 27, 2013 14:44

PS. Fred: here's a link to a description of the steps to reagent water- deionization is just one step. I think you are using reagent water which is of a higher purity than simply deionized water.

http://www.millipore.com/references/files/pmc_url/$file/RP1795EN00.pdf

whart August 27, 2013 14:25

I can give it a try Fred, but how would you dry the rinsed record? Going back to a vacuum type cleaner for that seems to defeat the purpose of using the AD. (But yes, I still have the VPI).
As to water volume in the AD, did you get a one page insert sheet with instructions- I'm not saying 4.5 litres is bad, the insert sheet just said, basically, don't worry about it if you use a gallon rather than 4.5 litres. (If memory serves, the difference is like 1.189 gallons = 4.5 litres when i checked-it isn't much.)
BTW, I think there is a difference between deionized water and the lab water I'm talking about- the latter is supposed to be pure enough to use for medical/drug making purposes- thus the restriction on availability. Like Mike, I have used deionizing water systems to detail cars- the water doesn't leave 'spots' on the surface, like most tap water would (i think it is the mineral content).
PS I don't know if you remember, but when i first joined this forum and was asking about transitioning from my Crosby Quads to horns you were very helpful.
Best,
(Hi Mike- not to take over your thread :)
Bill

whart August 27, 2013 14:17

Whart,

Thanks for your responses. I should note that I source the de-ionized water from a laboratory supply store also. The 4.5 liters came from the instructions provided with my AD and seems to raise the float to the top of the window. I would suggest that as an experiment (assuming that you still have access to the VPI) you rinse a record that you have previously cleaned on the AD using de-ionized or distilled water, playing it both before and after the rinse. If you hear no difference then continue using the full bottle of AD additive without rinsing. The AD is the single RCM that I have ever used; however, I have never found a record cleaning regime that does not benefit to some degree from a final rinse.

Fred

fcrowder August 26, 2013 15:56

PS to Fred- I would hesitate to add photoflow to the AD mix, if only because it could void your warranty.
regards,

whart August 23, 2013 18:29

Funny, when I spoke to the folks at Ultra Audio, they insisted I just use plain old supermarket distilled water. Those come in gallons, not 4.5 litres, as originally specified by the Audio Desk manual. However, there is a single, updated 'insert' sheet with the instructions I got with mine (three or so weeks ago) that says using a U.S. gallon is 'fine.'
I have been putting an entire vial of the fluid into the gallon. I have noticed foaming only periodically, with records that I know were cleaned using more conventional cleaning fluids- my thinking was, perhaps the foaming was due to residue from previous cleaning agents that were not completely removed by vacuum cleaning of the VPI/wand type.
Also, I am not filling the unit to the very top, the 'float' in the window is a tad below the top of the little window. That means I have to 'top off' more (I add a little more distilled water to the unit, then dump a full vial of fluid into the the slightly less than full 'spare' gallon jug, which stands by for 'topping off' purposes). So far, so good.
On the lab water, I ordered mine online from Optic Planet. But, they will not deliver to a residence; apparently federal law restricts them from doing so, since lab water can be used to make illicit drugs. Having the water shipped to my law firm in Manhattan didn't seem to be an issue, though. I was using this water in place of the third step in the Walker Prelude regime since I could get the equivalent of 5 gallons of it for the same price as 64 ounces from Lloyd.
Wonder where Walt on 'Breaking Bad' gets his? :)
Best,
Bill

whart August 23, 2013 18:20

Hey Mike, I would have appreciated an acknowledgement of my apology posted 8-6-13. Even if you didn't accept it. Maybe we've fallen out more than I thought.

spiritofmusic August 21, 2013 10:45