Albert Porter's System

by albertporter on All Out Assault
Focal Grande Utopia EM
Soulution 701 mono block with Focal Grande EM
LPs, tape, Soulution and Studer A820
Current system Nov 18, 2022
Older photo of our music group.
A different (old) image of Tuesday night music group
Photography for Basis Audio
Focal Grande Utopia EM
Construction view
Studer A820
MK3 Rosewood with twin Kuzma 4 Point 14"
MK3 Rosewood with Micro Seiki MAX
MK3 Ebony with SME (old image)
TTM Stainless Steel mat and Oil Damped weight
Rare TTM three piece stabilizer
Air Tight Opus
Koetsu Blue Lace
Mutech Hayabusa
Soulution 725 preamp
Soulution 755 phono
Soulution 760 LEEDH DAC
Soulution 701 Mono Block
Aurender W20 Special Edition (silver)
Vibraplane
New Degritter MK2
ORB-DF03 Record Flattener
Degritter Ultrasonic and Orb LP flattener
Commercial Power drop to my home (240 3 Phase)
Porter Port Cryo outlets
Purist Audio Design Focal EM Power Supply Cables
Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary XLR
Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary Bi-Wire
Purist new 35th Anniversary AC cable on amps
Purist new 35th Anniversary AC cable preamp, phono and Focal
Tweak, super measuring tool
NCF Cable Booster

Description

Speakers are Focal Grande Utopia EM in black finish

Analog music sources, Technics SP10 MK3  with two Kuzma 4 Point 14" arms.  Koetsu Blue Lace on one and Air Tight Opus One in the other.   Studer A820 half track tape machine with three sets of cards, each rebuilt by Studer electronics experts so I can compare upgrade performance.

Digital music source is Aurender W20 Special Edition into Soulution 760 LEEDH.  THe best input for music so far is Purist new USB cable and AES/EBU close second place.

Soulution 725 preamp, Soulution 755 phono stage Soulution 760 LEEDH and Soulution 701 mono block amps for electronics.  See image posted Nov 18, 2022 to see how it looks.

Cable is 100% top tier Purist Audio design.  All latest 35th Anniversary,  all ten AC cords are the new Purist 35th Anniversary AC.

My space is 18 X 31 and acoustically treated with RPG panels, tube traps and fiberglass acoustic treatment over triple reinforced walls and ceiling. The floor is lamination beams over steel plates to concrete pier and beam.  Two sheets of 5/8 epoxy lamination sheets make up the floor with two inches of concrete topped with India multi color slate.

Whisper Wall rail system and fine textured acoustic cloth covers the work, making  everything appear as a normal room of painted sheet rock or decorative cloth covering.

The room acoustics were conceived by RBDG and the entire space was torn out to bare dirt under the foundation and bare studs in the walls.  The combo of all new electrical and acoustical treatment resulting in best sound I’ve ever had.
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 31’ × 18’  X large
Ceiling: 12’

Components Toggle details

    • My Photography http://www.albertporterphoto.com
    Commercial + Advertising Photography, Dallas, TX.
    • Focal Grande Utopia EM
    The best offering from Focal, shown with Stillpoints Ultra 5. Ultra 5 was an amazing upgrade for the speakers !
    • RPG Acoustics QRD 734 (variation)
    On front wall, now obscured by acoustically transparent cloth, is floor to ceiling RPG (similar to QRD® 734) in foam, so it's partially absorptive.
    • Studer Studer A820
    Found a near mint A820 at a production studio in Illinois.  I was so excited about it's condition I had it driven here in the back of an SUV, covered with moving blankets.

    Head block sent to John French and all cards at Soren Wittrup who worked for Studer.  This is the machine I spent more than a decade searching for.
    • Technics SP10 MK3 Rosewood with Stillpoints Ultra 5
    Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz + Rosewood shown with Stillpoints Ultra 5
    • Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz + Ebony
    Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz with African Ebony lumber (no Veneer). This is the original design by John Semrad and myself, copied to death now.
    • TTM Stainless Mat and Oil Damp Weight
    Japan, TTM Stainless mat (6.61 pounds) plus TTM oil filled record weight.
    • TTM record stabilizer TTM three piece set
    Very hard to find, grateful I was able to purchase this last week.  Three piece TTM record stabilizer replaces my previous single piece unit.
    • Air Tight Opus
    Air Tight top of the line phono cartridge
    • Mutech Hayabusa
    Excellent MC cartridge, retail about $4500.00
    • Koetsu Blue Lace Platinum
    Top tier stone body Koetsu, perfect alternate to Air Tight Opus One
    • Soulution 725 preamp
    725, Soulution best preamp, shown in system
    • Soulution 755 phono
    Soulution best phono stage, unbelievable amount of adjustment for cartridge including channel balance to 1 DB
    • Soulution Soulution 760 LEEDH
    Soulution top tier DAC, really pleased with performance of this DAC.  

    I still prefer analog but many recordings that were digital to begin with (and vinyl cut from CD master) are better on Soulution than on turntable.
    • Soulution 701 Mono Block Amplifiers
    Soulution top tier 2KW solid state amps from Switzerland
    • ORB-DF03 USA version DF03
    Excellent LP flattener, simple to use and so far perfect result
    • Aurender W20 Special Edition
    Aurender music server, model W20 SE with 16TB solid state storage on board.
    • Vibraplane 2212-01
    Under my Technics MK3,  powered by Silentaire DR-150
    • Degritter MK2 Ultrasonic LP cleaning machine
    From Estonia, very powerful ultrasonic LP cleaning machine.  The MK2 version is better than the original which was already the best I’ve heard
    • Degritter and ORB LP flattner Degritter and ORB LP flattner
    View of two important pieces to maintain LP collection
    • Milbank Transocket three phase 750 amp
    750 amp meter base. Pass through design, three phase power is a huge benefit in conjunction with our dedicated transformer.
    • Porter Port Cryo outlets 20 Amp
    14 of these in my system, each to a dedicated breaker in copper based electrical box
    • Furutech NCF Booster
    New NCF Booster added to majority of AC cords in system.  Easy to see against light colored wall, arrow points to NCF Booster to my (previous) owned Allnic M-5000 amp.
    • Purist Audio Design Focal EM Supply cable
    New four conductor cord, replaces stock Focal supply cord from EM drive box to back of speaker. Amazing upgrade
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary XLR (4 total)
    (1) Soulution 755 phono to Soulution 725 preamp
    (1) Soulution 725 preamp to Soulution 701 mono blocks
    (1) Soulution 760 LEEDH DAC to Soulution 725 preamp
    (1) Studer A820 to Soulution 725 preamp
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary Bi-Wire
    1.5 meter Bi-Wire, Soulution 701 mono blocks to Focal Grande EM
    • Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary AC Cables
    New STUNNING cable from Purist Audio, silver and seven stage network box.  This cable brought so much dynamics, resolution and transparency to my system it qualifies as a main component.
    • Leica Disto D2
    Super laser measuring tool. Indispensable for setting distance and alignment of your speakers

Comments 4740

Showing all comments by johnp.

View all comments

Sign in to comment
Albert,
 I thought I would give you some feedback on the Allnic DHT H5000 phono-pre I recently bought from you.  It absolutely transformed my system as a good friend said. The H5000 is natural sounding with tons of air and detail.  My system sounded thin and washed out by comparison before I put in the H5000. It has an ease about it that draws me in.  For the last week, I have been listening to all my favorite LPs.  What a treat!  Opera has never sounded better.  The step-up transformers on the H5000 made it a breeze to step up my cartridge with the right loading.  From my listening position, I can't hear any hum or noise.  This is an amazing accomplishment for a DHT based phono-pre into a 105db efficient speakers.  As a result, music is very nuanced.  Thanks,

John

johnp

Albert,
Had a great time last night. I especially enjoyed the T-Bone Walker music from the 40's. Thanks for being such a gracious host.

John

johnp

Albert,
Thanks again for the wonderful evening last Tuesday. I thought the Still Points made an amazing difference in your system. I also thought the upgrade in your Allnic DAC was significant. I made the same changes in my Allnic DAC. The sound as a result of the change was more relaxed and open. Thanks again for the resistors and new tubes for the upgrade. What a deal!

John

johnp

Albert,
Thanks for having me over last night. As usual the scotch and company was excellent. Your system sounds fantastic. I'm sorry about messing with your iPad. I was enjoying the music so much I wanted to add a few more songs to the list.
I'm with you. Rick's power cable is amazing. That's why I bought one for my DAC.

John

johnp

Albert,
Thanks so much for having me over to listen yesterday. I have never heard digital sound better. Infact, I think the digital was better than your analog rig; blacker background and more air. The Allnic DAC, using the highest sampling rate 384K, was amazing. Everything sounded liquid and smooth with no loss of information. I think the fact that DHT tubes are used in the Allnic DAC helped create this wonderful analog sound. Congratulations!

John

johnp

Albert,
Thanks again for hosting. I had a great time and the redbreast single malt was excellent. I agree with you. The Alnic DAC was the second best DAC I ever heard. It had many analog qualities that made it sound very organic and open. I think the DHTs in it may have helped. I thought the Stahl-Tek DAC was almost as good as your analog rig which is high praise.

John P.

johnp

Albert,
Did you get a chance to listen to the Allnic DAC in Germany? I bet it sounds amazing.

John

johnp

The Allnic DHT DAC should be wonderful. Can't wait to hear what you think. Have fun in Munich!

John

johnp

Albert,

Thanks for hosting Mr.Park. I had the oppportunity to talk with him and learn more about his wonderful designs. I talked with him at great length about the design of the 5000 DHT phono preamp. It is really amazing what he has done. Designing a phono-pre with DHTs is not easy. After talking with him I realize that the 5000 is really a custom design that is available commercially. It is a one-of-a-kind piece of audio gear. KS is so passionate about tube electronics and he has been that way for years. What an amazing man.

John

John

johnp

I thought Albert's system sounded wonderful. It had an effortless quality I like. There was a ton of information and didn't sound hard or etched. I've heard the 5000 in two systems and both times, I've really liked what I heard. I'm a big fan of DHTs. I was so impressed with the noise floor of the 5000. Getting DHTs to behave in phono amp isn't easy. Congrats Albert!

John

johnp

  • 14.8 Million
  • 4.7 Thousand
  •  19
© 2025 Audiogon.com