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.
Judit, there is a slight difference in sound with and without my tall chair.....but not so much 'good and bad' just slightly different....when it comes to extended, singular, listening.....comfort is definitely king!
Slipknot, thanks for your comment.....i think i got lucky on a few choices that openned my eyes to some concepts i had been previously ignoring.....all of a sudden it all made sense.
Fatparrot, basically it sounds un#@%*$#&believeable! if i had to sell my soul for this.....well.....hell probably ain't that bad anyway.
Mike- Beautiful synergy of aesthetics and setup. You should be very proud of your efforts! I always enjoy your thoughtful insights when replying to posts as well.
Beyond beautiful. I notice that your listening chair has a head support. I have often wondered whether a listening chair with an absorbent headpiece affects what you hear.
Twl, thanks. as system performance improves the advantage of vinyl performance over (any) digital increases. there is simply lots of information in those grooves waiting to be enjoyed.
Sc53, the laptop is for the web.....mostly personal but some business. i don't catalog my recordings on the laptop but do keep them fairly well organized.
i am not particularly computer literate so i had my son set up a wireless LAN network using broadband....my wife and i can walk around the house useing our laptops.
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!
I only have to say congratulations, and point out another example of how those with ultimate systems always use analog as the source of choice. Very nice addition to your system Mike.
hi Frank, i was looking for how you were going to work the Zoethecus racks into your play on words.....lost your nerve, heh!
Jonathan did help me a great deal with the set-up of the III last weekend......i had never seen him work before......i should have taken a picture......he is like Ozzie Nelson.....no one knows what he actually does.....
Sogood, i have not done any passive preamp comparisons except to compare the Placette RVC with the passive attenuator in the integrated Tenors (i couldn't hear any difference). the Placette did absolutely kill each and every active gain stage i have had in my system (some of which are in the $10k to $16k price range).
other passive preamps that may be better are likely only marginally so, are not balanced, and mostly don't have a remote.
That is one BIG DOG system,I love it. What are your thoughts on the Placette? Did you try any other passive? What are your thoughts on the sound of Sacd with and with out the placette. I have the sony xa777 right now and I have no Preamp. Thought I might try the Placette.
Mike, I hope you don't consider it bad Kharma for me to tell you that the Tenor of my response to your upgraded system will be very Sirius indeed - but it appears that your system is not only very Transparent but will take you to the Valley of Valhalla (especially now that your Io is on the Lamm)! Congrats on the Sirius III buddy - so you had Jonathan carry it in eh? Smart man!
after 10 straight hours of listening today i am in awe......every recording is like i never heard it before. the whole speed issue seems to be at the heart of what is so special.....things are just 'right'.
hi Jfrech, my room is 11 feet high, 12 feet wide, and 18 feet long. it does have a stepped ceiling and a bay window that help with room nodes. the high ceiling height really helps too. the mid-bass is very linear and the deep bass is flat to 25 hz with usable extension below 20hz.
the center of the tweeters are 6 feet from the wall behind the speakers, the tweeters are 98 inches apart, and my ears are 112 inches from the tweeters (within the 125% rule of the distance between the tweeters).
the one wish i have is for another 30 inches or so of width.....which is why the side walls are damped with the fabric-covered fibreglass. this, and the amazingly inert Exquisite cabinet allow the speakers to be close to the side walls and keep my soundstage large.....in spite of the 12 foot width.
hi Tim, last spring i switched to the Lamm LP2 Delux which i am enjoying. i never posted on it so you are forgiven.....just don't let it happen again. ;^)
the invite still stands when/if you get the chance. with the Sirius III the 'big rig' has taken a leap forward.
Hey Mike how's it going? am I out of the loop or did you get rid of your aesthetix IO? either way I am sure I am out of the loop :o). One of these days I am going to have to get over there and hear this highly acclaimed rig! Enjoy the tunes.
the Valhalla XLR interconnect between the Placette and the Tenors is short enough that i don't have any impedence problems. also, the input impedence of the Tenors is 40k ohms and the output is high enough on the Linn to drive the long run of interconnect from the switchbox to the Placette.
