The system has evolved over a 20 year period and will probably continue to evolve. It is in a dedicated room that is approximately 19' by 27' by 10' with oak floors and oriental carpets. I also use a minimal number of diffusers on the wall behind the speakers and eight of the 16" ASC Tube Traps. The room has 5 dedicated circuits for the audio.
There have been a number of evolutionary changes over the last year, primarily with respect to the power cords, speakerwire and interconnect and one rather dramatic change, the replacement of the EMM Labs XDS1 with the Esoteric P-02/ D-02. This yielded lower noise and increased detail and bass control while maintaining the musicality of the EMM Labs. I would consider the Esoteric pieces breakthrough products. Funny how you sometimes deviate from your plans. My system seems to go through extended periods without major changes, then have a number at the same time. I do have my eyes on a new cartridge and perhaps a new preamp.
I purchased an early Sirius from Andy Payor thinking that I had purchased the ultimate turntable, only to spend the next five years updating. The updates have included the air isolation base, a series of different motors and tonearms, an outboard power supply for the motor, a 50# platter, new arm wiring and a variety of different belts culminating in a custom aramid fiber belt. As currently constituted, I think that it combines the high definition of the Sirius II without its tendency toward coldness.
Einstein The Tube Mk II
Similar in many ways to the CTC Blowtorch but harmonically richer and more complex with greater dynamics and significantly better image density. Phenomenal bass, ultra quiet, very extended upper octaves.
Yamaha CT-7000
Ebony with black faceplate. Particularly nice top end coupled with an ability under the best circumstances to recreate a three dimensional soundstage. After owning a number of Magnum Dynalabs, this has been a real eye opener.
Acapella Triolons
The Triolons are an imposing sight. Two woofer towers, each 14" by 28" by 7' tall, each weighing 650# plus a cross piece holding a plasma tweeter attached to the woofers and a sword bearing two horn loaded speakers, one horn 30.5" in diameter, the other 18.5" in diameter. The Triolons can be driven by a single amps of 18 watts or higher power but must be triwired and have an efficiency of 97 db. Each side weighs 850# total. The crossover points are 200, 700 and 5000 hz. The sound from 200 hz up to 40,000 hz emanates as a spherical wavefront. The Campanile Highs are similar but crossover to their woofers at 700 hz, use the plasma tweeter plus a single horn and are much lower in efficiency (92 db). The Triolons are typically a 6 ohm speaker but have an impedance at 30 hz of 28 ohms. The same is true of the Campaniles. Neither is a particularly easy load for an amp to drive; however the greater efficiency of the Triolons does open up the possibility of driving them with the right low power amplifier. Unlike the ribbon tweeter of the Magnepans, the Acapella's tweeter does not over shadow the other drivers. Extremely dynamic.
Jorma Prime
The Jorma Prime, either in balanced or single ended configuration is superb, particularly between amp and preamp but also on other inputs. I still use the balanced 7N Mexcel on the X01 and the Valhalla on the TT but otherwise have switched to the Jorma Prime.
Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference
5 shelf version installed as well as the amp stands. Again a nice and very audible improvement. Amazing the things that you blame on the equipment until you solve the resonance problems. Basically a no brainer. More improvement than changing a major piece of equipment.
Jorma Prime
I have been mildly dissatisfied for a number of years with my JC-1 amps when used to drive the Acapella speakers but have yet to find something that combined the ability to drive the speakers and give me the other characteristcs that I desired although I have been much taken with some tubed amps (small, single ended or OTL within their power limits. Let's just say that the insertion of a combination of Bi-wire and single wire prime has cused me to re-think the amp question. The Primes are simply the most musical natural top to bottom cables that I have ever encountered.
Hi, just curious what you thought of the Esoteric X01D2. I have the X03se and am seriously thinking about upgrading the P3 D3 combo. I certainly love the Esoteric sound.
The subs are on and for whatever reason, the mating is seamless with the Triolons, much better than with the Campaniles. Normally you do not realize that these are in the system, except for an increase in low level ambient information and air and a concommitant increase in the volume of the sound stage, particularly with respect to depth. However, when low bass exists, the response can be awsome.
Amfibius, you cannot imagine how pleased I am with your decision to purchase a pair of the Violons. Having now thoroughly listened to the Violons, Campaniles and Triolons, I believe that the Violons may well be the best buy of the three. They give you a significant part of the Acapella sound in a size that will work in most rooms and at a price that if not affordable is at least attainable for many. Please update me on your experience with these speakers.
Fred, thanks in part to reading about your system (and a few others) I went to audition an Acapella Violon a month ago. It will be delivered in a few days. Thanks for helping me in that thread which I started! When I do get it, I will update my virtual system and start posting impressions.
I have the Acapellas and while the Lamm works well it doesn't work as well as Shindo Sinhonias or New Audio Frontiers 845 mono amps, at least in my system (I have tried them all, and many more)
Elberoth, If you have any questions about either the Acapellas or the Einstein, please feel free to email me. I have definitely considered auditioning the 75 watt Lamm amps with nmy speakers but do not have a local dealer. I understand from Mike and Nelli at Audio Federation, that the Lamm workks exceptionally well with the Acapellas.
This is an amazing system. I'm thinking myself of going Einstein/Acapella route.
BTW - I also replaced my windows with soundproof ones (certified 44dB of attenuation) and their impact on percived sound quality is significant indeed.
I forgot to mention that the new windows had one other significant impact. They attenuated the level of outside noise which you could hear in the sound room by 20 db or so. This was never really a problem late at night but could be a problem during the day when lawnmowers and leaf blowers were in use. Again, elimination of noise seems to significantly improve the ability to hear low level detail and perceived dynamic range particularly microdynamics.
A few thoughts: Rhyno has failed to mention what well may have been the two most significant changes to my system, new windows and new duct work in the attic. Re-doing the ducts, particularly going with heavy insulation has eliminated much of the noise normally associated with the operation of a heating and cooling system. In Houston, the air conditioning runs about 7 or 8 months out of the year, so minimizing noise is truly beneficial to dynamics and low level detail. I live in a house built in 1950. There are many pluses, including large oak trees, oak flooring, mahogany panelling and a very massive stone wall along one wall in the listening room. Unfortunately, part of the package was windows that did not seal properly and were prone to flex and absorb bass energy. The windows in the sound room at each end (read behind the speakers and the listening position) were also very large, each window was about 36" by 60" and there are 3 at each end of the den. As you might predict this had a tendency to siphon off low frequencies. The 21" Cabasse saturn subwoofers more than compensated for this loss but the solution involved additional connections and a crossover inserted between the amp and preamp. It's also worth mentioning that the Acapella speakers were desiged for what I think of as a European home which often means significant masonry or stone walls with high rigidity. The point of the story is that I have replaced every window in my home with very rigid, double pane windows with argon gas between the panes. In addition, in the sound room the three windows at each end were repaced with two and as an added measure, tempered glass was substuted for the normal glass. Anyway, this has made a tremendous difference in the low bass and made the subs unnecessary except for music containing significant information in the bottom octave.
Two final thoughts, the Einstein preamp is truly exceptional and dynamics is just one of its many strong points. Lastly, I have come to realize that no one power cord is the "best" for every piece of equipment. Large power amps seem to require a different solution than low level equipment and digital is its own can of worms. Having said that, I really like the Isoclean Super Focus cords (but not everywhere), Acrolink power cords and the Oyade plugs.
got a chance to do some extended listening to fred's system last night, given his recent additions (esoteric XO1, Einstein Preamp, 2 new power cords which were still breaking in). couple quick impressions:
1) i gather no dynamic limitations associated with the equipment; any compression or less than full dynamic expression is solely a function of software. I've not heard this system's equal in this regard. Using The Decemberists "the Sporting Life" to test dynamic attack / transients and bombastic quality of drums / guitars, i was quite floored by what i was hearing.
i don't know if its the preamp, the CD player, or what, but fred's system is a revelation here. as m. mickelson of soundstage.com rightly noted, it is system dynamics that are often the biggest give-away that we're not listening to a live performance, but a reproduction. fred's system does not have this limitation.
2) staging is quite good, but not like reference level monkey coffins. one gets an excellent sense of stage location, tremendous (cavernous) depth, and with the right material (see Low: Time is the Diamond...it melts walls), the listening room and speakers disappear. however, holographic depth and density is not this systems strenght, nor its priority (a limitation of horns vis a vis cones IME).
3) fred's system is absolute reference level insofar as information density / microdetail retrieval is concerned. (nearly massless drivers in the mids & treble is certainly a boon).
4) biggest nit to pick (and this is very small, but i'm speaking in absolute terms) is a bit of coolness in the lower mids / upper bass, manifest often in male voices and some acoustical resonances (guitars, violas). Jack Johnson "Better Together" sounded wonderful, but would've liked a bit more depth in his voice. Similarly, the aforementioned Decemberists' singer needed a bit more complexity in his voice to be fully convincing. ---that said, female voices are spot on (!), as are pianos (though i'd have liked to hear a bit more tube-like decay as notes melt away; the sort of golden glow that is non-linear but perceived as being more accurate). it is only male voices that i take the slightest umbrage with.
5) bass impact / depth leaves little to be deisred. i question if fred will ever need his cabasse subs in circuit again (they were not last night).
6) i find it easy to listen at lower volumes to fred's system. that, in and of itself, is a powerful statement. as is my wife's comment "it sounds GREAT." ... she never makes such comments.
do understand i am being as critical as possible above. fred's system is an assault on the art and is getting quite close. my critiques are magnified for this commentary, but are really quite minor when taken in the context that this is easily the best system i've ever encountered.
System edited: Numerous changes in the past three months including a new preamp (the Einstein), new AC line filtration (Isoclean)and a new Esoteric X0-1 Limited Edition CD player. You would think that at this leevl, changes to the system would be evolutionary, but you would be wrong. Each of these changes was very audible and very positive. In retrospect, I think that too little attention is paid to isolation, both electrical and mechanical and room treatment. My room is fairly benign except for a very narrow 18 db drop out between 50 and 60 hz that was largely corrected by the parametric equalizer in the Cabasse subs and careful placement. Unfortunately, I live near the center of a very large city and am plaqued by all the gremlins associated with AC line garbage. The Isoclean products have gone a long way toward addressing these problems.
System edited: It has been a busy 18 months with many changes, most evolutionary (Isoclean power cords and speakerwire), one a nice change (Cabasse subs) and the final change (Einstein preamp) dramatic. I highly recommend the Isoclean products but recommend trying them in your own system, particularly the power cords as the result is somewhat equipment dependent. They made a very audible improvement in my JC-1 amps, particularly in the lower registers. The Einstein preamp on the other hand would be an unconditional recommendation. I cannot imagine a system in which it would not work well and it is configured with two single ended and one balanced input as well as balanced and single ended outputs. I am not completely sold on going all balanced but it does make a very real difference with some equipment, particularly the JC-1's and the Teac Esoteric UX-01.
the Campaniles look awfully good in complete black!!! One suggestion: give them a slight amount of toe-in. I've also played them with almost no toe-in, but after reading the manual carefully and after having spoken with Hermann Winters on the phone, I started experimenting with toe-in. It makes a hell of a difference in getting the sound away from the horns/speakers and thus creating an imaginary soundstage in beween the speakers!! It's even possible to let the Campaniles completely disappear! regards,
System edited: Often spending more money or replacing a piece of equipment can make only a negligable change in a system, but sometimes you get unexpected improvements by changing accessories. Case in point, I decided a number of months ago, primarily for aesthetic reasons to replace an equipment stand which had evolved over a long period of time and incorporated Neuance shelves on Mana frames in a Mike Fredericksen stand. The replacement was the Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference. The improvement in my system was equivalent to changing out a major piece of equipment, enhancing the retrieval of low level detail, eliminating what I thought was a very slight solid state signature and generally making the system more coherent from top to bottom. A little later, I purchased custom Acapella isolation bases for my 650# speakers which previously sat on an oak floor that was laid atop a concrete slab. Again a very nice improvement in low level detail and coherence with a tightening of the bass and a lowering of distortion. Both the Acapella Fondato Silenzio bases and Finite Element stands are highly recommended.
