The system components have remained largely unchanged, but for the additions of a large Minus K platform for the turntable, a pair of 15" subwoofers to augment the lowest octaves and the installation of a robust electrical sub-system--powered through a Controlled Power 10kVa isolation transformer. The main change is the room--we relocated from New York to Austin, TX in 2017 and I now have a longer, narrower room that occupies most of the 2nd floor of the house. I have added a few photos reflecting updates since 2017. Bill
Hey, Audio Builder- Yes, right now, I'm back and forth between Austin and NY. I'm teaching part-time at UT and doing some other stuff there, but haven't relocated fully to Austin, which I still plan to do. I'm looking forward to avoiding winter in the NE. Are you local to Austin? (Sorry if you told me you were and I forgot). best, bill
Whart, We are located in California but have collected all over Asia. Of course, you have a great audio system. I would not be surprised if your old prayer table probably sounds better than the typical audio rack?
Thanks for the nice words, DDrive. The prayer table is, I think, made from some sort of mahogany, though I can't be sure. It is old-ish, but not museum level stuff. Buddhas- well, our place in NY is near a village that is buddha-central. Rolfing, primal scream therapy, mediums who will contact past pets from the other side, etc. So, finding a nice Buddha was really just a stroll down the street- this one is pretty delicate- painted and gold leaf plaster of paris/paper mache over some wooden form.
My wife and I have, over the years, acquired some fun stuff- stainless steel morphine cabinet from the Brooklyn Naval Yard infirmary; a few good rugs, the odd piece of furniture, sculpture or painting. I remember hauling a period Art Deco glass and metal table back from France on the plane. We are now in a post-acquisition phase, and will keep the 'good stuff' but so much to get rid of before we finally relocate (which is taking forever). I love old scientific instruments and early photography, but there's a limit to how much one can accumulate. Where are you located?
Great system and interesting furniture too...Buddha and antique Chinese table. Can't tell from the pics what type of wood it is but looks like with the ornate carvings on the side. Besides audio, my wife and I also collect Chinese furniture and Middle Eastern carpets. Hence, my interest.
I'm focused on the same activity, expanding my record collection. I've been to too many audiophile homes where the value of their record collection was 1/2 of their play back system.
I've been spending far more time focusing on records than on gear (though I have refreshed the cartridge very recently and gotten a few more RCMs to play with). Here's a shot of a bunch of Vertigo Swirls, almost all UK firsts, with a few placeholders from other countries. The Patto 'Hold your Fire' and May Blitz albums are just phenomenal.
Hi Whart, I heart from the dealer big Acapellas, and always felt like horn speakers are performeing much better in a middle size environment rather that big spaces, they throw very large soundstage, on small places soundstage became much more sorraunding, more 3D. I guess at least 1/3 spaces (proportion between speakers distance to side wall) would be ideal from side walls. Maybe placing more upfront would be better? I would use some acoustical theratments too. Anyhow you made nice listening room
Hi, Hal. The room is a decent size, but not huge (i don't have the exact measurements to hand, but could supply if needed). The listening area is at a remove from where the front end gear is, so that gives me some advantage, in that the listening space is relatively uncluttered, and there is very little electro-mechanical interaction between the output of the speakers and the front end- turntable and electronics. I sit at the apex of an elongated triangle- perhaps 13 plus feet from the speakers- which are not as far apart, left to right, as that. Behind me are moveable absorption panels and bass traps and the room has some odd ceiling angles due to what you'd call large 'dormers' to the left and right of the listening area (though each are full size, almost room size unto themselves). While it was not a purpose built room, it works pretty well. (The biggest limitation is the 'barrier wall' outside of the left channel speaker- that's actually the wall of my system 'workroom' where i keep RCMs, tools, and more records). I expect I'll have a more sizeable, purpose-built space to work with once we relocate.
Hey, Jwm! Dunno. Once I move to Austin, my hope is to do a separate building which will function as listening space/office. I have all kinds of plans in the back of my mind for how to configure it, but until I buy property there, they are just that- plans, idle noodling. Would much love to hear a big WE system- vintage or the re-creations; ditto on big Tannoys. I'd also consider some of those custom horns that use TAD drivers. I'll need to look up Cogent- I'm sure I've seen their stuff on the web, but haven't heard it. Those Silbatone guys are very cool, too. Right now, I've been buying old pressings like mad. Having huge fun listening to all kinds of music, including old Black Sabbath on Vertigo UK, was absolutely blown away by the original 'Straight' label pressing of Alice Cooper's 'Love it to Death.' While I'm old enough to have heard all this stuff as a teen when it came out, I didn't take it seriously until now and have been digging into old progessive rock, pink label islands of Crimson, early Tull, Traffic, really digging the band Free- Tons of Sobs is an amazing electric-blues rock album. The only 'change' I made to the system recently was to add an Audio Desk record cleaner- makes life way easier. And i've been spending time going through my record collection, which is pretty sizeable- since i now have the time, after decades of buying, to start listening in earnest to what I have, apart from the 'usual suspects.' (I set aside one shelf for 'audiophile' records that i haven't listened to in years, and likely won't for a while- much more interested in 'real' music on original labels/early pressings). Best, bill
Whart beautiful system. Do I see a Cogent horn speaker in your future. It fills your criteria as a full range all horn system. Teasing you the best Jeff
Coming from a guy who has some pretty unobtanium jazz records. Culling will mean unloading lot's of duplicates of lesser rock and classical- some of it unloved. Chances are, it will all get packed and moved because I don't know that I'll have the time, space or energy to go thru the process beforehand. But, Doc, I have you in mind. Do you have Billie Holiday at Monterrey? The one with the airplanes taking off in the background?
It has been a long while since I updated my system profile, largely because I haven't really changed anything. The Elation cable is terrific between the Allnic phono stage and the Veloce line stage. I've refreshed all the sorbothane pads on the Grand Prix, and did install some Stillpoints SS under the phono stage power supply after experimentation with different NOS rectifier tubes for that unit. The only addition, aside from more vinyl, is the Audio Desk RCM, which has been a wonderful addition. So far, no issues with that unit- it does a fabulous job cleaning, I can hear sonic improvements over my old vacuum method with Walker 4 step fluids, and the convenience factor isn't just laziness- it allows me to spend more time listening to music, sorting through a rather large vinyl collection which is desperately in need of thorough organization and enjoying the system rather than dreading the labor of record cleaning. I did reinstall the turntable from scratch with some initial help from my dealer- I'm now getting pretty good at it. Next step will probably be some sort of active isolation, but I'm going to hold off until I get set up in Austin. That's going to be a whole other thing, starting from scratch with a new listening room. Punchline: I'm having more fun listening, and spending less time fiddling. And have been amazed by the sonic quality of old pop, rock and jazz pressings. I suspect that, between the piles accumulated in Texas and the records I've bought in NY, i've probably added about 600 albums to my collection so far this year. Eventually, I'm going to have to start culling.
The Veloce and Allnic combo has really taken the system up several notches, and the bass is far deeper, with much better articulation. I haven't lost the midrange 'voice' that the Lamm L2 did so wonderfully, but the system now has greater range and surprise: the bass is actually integrating better. A guest listener, hearing the system for the first time yesterday, had no issues with any apparent discontinuity. I haven't compared the new run of Elation to my the Emotion interconnect between the phono and line stages but am now able to operate that stretch in balanced configuration. All in all, these changes have made a good system really shine- it still has the 'tone' and timbre, but greater bandwidth and better dynamics. Instrument separation is greater, without any 'hyper-analytic' quality- instruments and voices just emerge clearly, well and solidly placed, and you can follow them in a very natural, non-fatiguing way. So much about the Avantgarde depends on associated components. I knew that from the get go, but that truth just keeps getting reinforced with other changes in the system. I have also been playing with record weights- changing the heavy screw down clamp that came with the Kuzma XL with the newish Stillpoints LP Isolator. At first, everything seemed a little 'lighter' and thrust in the upper bass wasn't as pronounced. I made slight changes to the crossover and gain settings on the woofers, and wasn't afraid to give the system a little more gain. The Stillpoint record weight seems remarkably 'pacific'- it doesn't create any 'hump.' I made this change and did these experiments before I changed line stages, and have since fiddled with crossover and gain settings a little more, due to the change wrought by the line stage switch-out. This system has never sounded better.
Veloce (Gen 2) battery driven line stage now in the system, in place of the Lamm L2. It is loaded with the DR version of the 6H30 supertube and sounds different, richer and more fluid, than the first generation version of this unit which I briefly auditioned in my system as well. I will update the system component listing and add a photo when I have chance. The 'innards' of the Veloce are quite beautiful as well.
Whart, I had the same thought, the builder Israel Blume said the WE were only 'slightly' better but no way worth the far greater cost.I decided not to search them out,if a pair just happened to fall into my lap I`d love to hear them. I will tell you the Shuguang 101D sound stunning in this linestage.It`s only a single gain stage(the 1 pair of tubes,that`s it) it `s the epitomy of transparent and organic sound. Regards,
Whart, My system is exclusively Redbook CD yet the use of a premium quality active linestage improves the sound in a very significant fashion in all parameters. I agree it`s a vital component to overall music reproduction. Regards,
Yep, Charles, and an interesting aesthetic as well. I read the review already. Despite all the high priced audio jewelry, and the issues about value in the high end there is a wealth of fascinating gear in the marketplace these days. Just think about how many turntables and tonearms there are now, compared to say, even 5 years ago. For me, the preamp has always been the heart of the system and the place that you 'interface' with it. I know, for folks committed to serious digital, that doesn't hold water, and may get in the way. But, the Allnic was a quantum leap on the phono stage, and I want to be just as deliberate in the other steps. Of course, I could just go find some old WE amps and ancient horns, and stick the Lamm ML2s on the Crosby Quads and get some bliss. But, I never had a full on double quad 57 system set up, and I want to do that too. So, lot's of variables in play, and at least two or three systems could come out of this adventure as I earn my spurs in Texas. I had an invite to Germany for later in October which was simply too much for me right now, given everything else. (It was about cars, not hi-fi). But, I'd love to make the rounds over there on the audio front. There is also so much wonderful stuff we don't see stateside very much (just look at the stuff that gets shown in Munich every year). I guess, when it comes down to it, I'd love to curate a museum of this stuff. That would be bliss. (of course, it would be a working museum). BTW, are there any? I know there is one in Berlin that is devoted to ancient radio/transmitter stuff, but for things audio? Brooks Berdan had what amounted to a turntable museum, i think and with his passing, I don't know what happened to that. ...
Hi Whart, Avantgarde has a new XA series preamp(current review on 6 Moons.com).Very simple design,Class A no NFB,'single gain stage',no capacitor in the signal path(DC coupled) and only 'one' transistor per channel. Seems like a great concept. Regards,
