My current system reflects a heartfelt appreciation for some of the smaller manufacturers in our hobby and the importance of resonance control, hence the "not off the rack" moniker.
Theodore Leavitt famously told his MBA students that "People don't want a 1/4" drill. They want a 1/4" hole." Don't get me wrong, I like shiny toys. I view my audio system as simply a tool; a means to the end of enjoying music. My philosophy is to "buy and hold". I try and buy the best, not only because it only hurts once, but in the long run it costs less money. I am fortunate to have a small, dedicated listening room, specifically designed for audio.
Ironically, it was the purchase of a new CD player, the SimMoon Andromeda, that rekindled my love affair with vinyl. At the time, I had been listening primarily to CDs. After purchasing the Andromeda as my 'final CD player', I was shocked to hear how better digital sounded when compared to my trusty Linn Sondek and realized that it was time to consider a new analog path. After auditioning a number of other fine turntables, I got to know Galibier's Thom Mackris and purchased my 'last turntable'. Thom has been been a terrific 'vinyl mentor', incredibly giving of his time and expertise. Through Galibier, I have met a number of like-minded music lovers, including Joel Durand, a composer at the University of Washington. Joel is one of many of the wonderful audiophiles I have met in the Seattle area where I am blessed with many friendships that have resulted from our listening sessions. Music is always more meaningful when shared with great friends.
I recently added a Durand Telos tonearm for stereo paired with the Benz LPS. I use a Durand Talea with a Miyajima mono cartridge. If you are interested in pre 1970 recordings and haven't heard a well recorded mono record with a good mono cartridge, you owe it to yourself an audition. I currently own ~200 mono jazz records and an equal number of mono classical LPs. Now they don't all sound great (especially if recorded prior to the early 1950's), but the tonal richness and lack of stereo artificiality are quite seductive to my ears.
The Experience Music Pre-amplification has brought things to another level. After auditioning a number of highly regarding and often expensive line and phono stages, I fell hard for Jeffrey Jackson's equipment. Jeffrey is a true music aficionado. During the audition and purchasing process, our conversations would always dwell on music, rather than the equipment. He customizes his designs to tailor to the individual's tastes. Since this is my 'end of life' amplification, I went all out; mercury rectification, separate power supplies, and LCR phono stage. (I did pass on the uber-expensive Western Electric tubes.) The Experience Music equipment simply reveals a degree of tonal richness, harmonic complexity and dynamics that I've never 'experienced' with other electronics. They are the 'fastest' electronics I've ever heard. Tube rolling can tailor sound to taste and IMO, WE rectifiers and Sylvania triodes are heavenly.
Amplifiers are Found-Music's "Blade" tube amps. Each amp uses two EL34/6AC7, and single 6SN7 and OD3 tubes.
My speakers are the Daedalus Ulysses. Daedalus had not been on my radar until I heard them at 2008 RMAF. After talking with Lou Hinkley, I auditioned at his workshop and arranged an in-home audition. The sound was so natural and dynamic; so life-like...I was smitten. Best of all, Lou is delightful and like Thom, one of the great people in our hobby. Lou continuously makes small, but significant upgrades to his speakers which always provide excellent value. I have found that the Einstein Light-In-Dark amplifier has great synergy with the Ulysses. Currently I am using Amperex Bugle Boys and hope to try either Siemens or Telefunken CCa's in the future.
Last but not least: equipment racks and cabling. The SRA Scuttle rack and Ohio Class amp stands not only look great but lower the noise floor, clean up treble and produce deeper, richer bass. I have yet to find a bigger bang for the cable buck than the Found-Music products...highly recommended.
Record cleaning machine. I use Audio Intelligent Solutions
Sim Audio Andromeda
Two box system
Experience Music Kahn Phono Stage
Separate power supply with mercury rectification. Big improvement with Fivre 56 and Mullard 7788 tubes. Custom wound Intact Audio step ups in the signal box with separate mono and stereo inputs. Variable cartridge loading. Stainless chassis by Jeff Kahn at Ferra Design weigh in at 90# each.
Experience Music Kahn 71A Line Stage
Separate signal and power boxes weighing 90-100# each. Mercury rectification. Big upgrade with Sylvania JAN 71a tubes. Intact Audio autoformer volume control with remote and interstage transformer
Daedalus Audio Ulysses
With all-poly crossover
Found Music N/A
Custom interconnects.
Found Music Speaker Cable
Killer speaker cable for the money.
Silent Running Audio Scuttle
Three level rack.
Found-Music FiNeSS
Killer Power Cords.
Found-Music 2012
Single-ended interconnects
Found-Music E+
Tremendous speaker cable value
Found-Music Blade
Mono amplifiers using Sylvania NOS OD3 Voltage regulator tubes, Ken-Rad VT 231 NOS 6SN7 driver tubes and Genalex KT77 power tubes.
Silent Running Audio Ohio Class Amplifier Stands
Beautifully made and actually improve the sound.
Kosmic/Furutech Custom 5 Duplex Power Strip
5-Pack Power Distribution unit included 5 Furutech GTX-DR NCF duplex receptacles, 104-D Cover plates (carbon fiber over stainless steel) and Wall Frames (CNC Aluminum with damping coating). All of the Furutech components are great by themselves, but in this product they are mounted on a carbon fiber sandwich plate which is further mounted to an acrylic enclosure (high molecular weight), resulting in a three-layer damping system.
last night after work had had the considerable pleasure of visiting Jazdoc's home for a bite and listen to his fabulous system. i had not heard his system with all the parts all together until now, and when i say 'all together' i mean that his system is in great harmony. his new Experience Music Khan line and phono stages are not only works of art, but sound supberb. the Telos/Benz on stereo and the Talea II/Miyajima on Mono fully express the music in all it glory. and with Jazdoc the music is always memorable and educational and last night was no exception.
i've always enjoyed listening to music in his system; but his system now has world class detail and imaging, and a natural vivid presentation which i loved. he played music from the most intimate to quite large scale and it all synergized and engaged us......holographic and microdynamically alive.
bravo Jazdoc and thanks for another enjoyable evening and making me feel so welcome.
OK, that makes sense. That is essentially the same arrangement I have except that your table is rotated counter-clockwise 90 degrees. Maybe I'll try that and see if the ergonomics are better.
With the new Audiogon upgrades, I can't access my system page. When this bug, er I mean feature, is fixed, I'll upload a better turntable/arm pic.
As you face the turntable, the 12" Telos is to the right with the cartridge in the right anterior quadrant and the pivot in the right posterior quadrant. I had to have a special mounting plate made to accomodate the Telos.
The Talea is mounted along the back with the pivot in the left posterior quadrant and the cartridge in the right posterior quadrant.
There is actually more room with this set up than with the 2 Talea arms...
My understanding is that the Stelvio I can not accomodate two 12" arms...
Do you have both arms mounted on the Galibier at the same time? If so, I am curious how you managed to do this. On my Galibier, there really isn't room for both the Triplanar and 12" Schick. I have the Triplanar armboard attached to the back mounting hole, and whenever I want to use the Schick I bolt its armboard to the front mounting hole. This gives me enough room for the Schick but it's a bit cramped and the Triplanar would be really cramped if I left it set up this way. From the picture of your system, I can't tell whether the Telos is perhaps mounted on a standalone arm pod or attached to the base of the table.
Thanks for the LP suggestions. Looks like we share similar tastes. Have you tried the QRP "Ella and Louis" reissue?
Sometimes it's shocking how much better the original monos sound compared to the stereo version or later reissues. The original Miles Davis Columbia 6-eye monos and the "Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges" are but a few examples. The Mulligan/Hodges is one of my sonic favorites and the music is terrific.
I just picked up a copy of Clark Terry/Bob Brookmeyer "Gingerbread Men" (Milestone, 1966) for less than $10 on Ebay. Great music and fabulous mono recording. I think you might like it.
Jazdoc, your note requesting some jazz mono recommendations came at a good time. I am about 2/3 finished going through my jazz LPs to list the monos. I have roughly 300 jazz monos and a smaller number of classical.
Listed below are a handful of my very favorites and by that I mean I actually listen to these (a lot!), primarily for the music but they also happen to have great sound.
Gene Ammons---Light, Blue and Moody Dorothy Ashby---Hip Harp George Barnes and Carl Kress---Music Minus One Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader Dave Brubeck---Red, Hot and Cool Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman Miles Davis---too many to list, they're all great Duke Elligton---Indigos Ella and Louis Lionel Hampton---Silver Vibes John Hardee (and Ike Quebec) Mosaic box set Milt Jackson and Ray Charles Ahmad Jamal---Listen! and At The Pershing Jazztet---Meet the Jazztet Barney Kessel Plays Standards Johnny Lytle---Moon Child Wes Montgomery Trio Gerry Mulligan---many, many favorites but the very top ones include: The Genius Of, The Essential, Paris Concert, Night Lights, and Meets Johnny Hodges Sue Raney---Songs for a Raney Day
How's that for a start? Of course, I nearly always prefer the sound of the original issue monos, but the reissues are good too.
Jazzdoc...between year-end close at work and heavy travel due to work since Jan. 2nd, I've been away from my system. The withdrawal has definitely set in; I'll be sending music selections as soon as I can hit 'play'!
Thanks for the kind words. Feel free to PM if you like anything I listed.
Just dropped by your system page. I'm always admired the Esoteric gear but have never had the opportunity to audition in my system. I'd love to know what specific recordings you are currently enjoying.
That is one amazing system and vinyl collection! I'm sure it all sounds amazing. We seem to share a similar 'bug' for large collections of great music. I run the gamut from pipe organ through extensive classical, jazz, rock, prog-rock and many other categories including solo guitar, piano, violin, vocals (mostly jazz), Taiko drumming, etc.... I love the list of alternative music choices you've encountered; I'll have to check out a few of those. Thanks!
Just visited your system page...WOW, what a beautiful space. I'm sure everything sounds terrific and it's a great way to unwind. I agree with you in wishing folks would post more about what kind of music they enjoy and discover...that's what the hardware is for!
Jazzdoc- I had posted elsewhere the notion that virtual systems ought to have a place for software. While your hardware listings occupy a different neighborhood than mine, I can certainly read c great interest your 2011 musical discoveries- a few I'll be looking for on my next trip to the record stores.
Patti Ascher "Bossa, Jazz 'n Samba" One of my new favorites.
Pablo Aslan "Piazzolla In Brooklyn" Pablo Aslan + Piazzolla = Heaven!
The Dead Kenny Gs "Operation Long Leash" Let Skerik explain "Well, were as equal fans of the Dead Kennedys as we are vehemently opposed to the proliferation and existence of smooth jazz. Poor Kenny is kind of a figurehead in this whole deal."
Tour T-shirt features Kenny G with a soprano saxophone where the good Lord did not intend.
Renaud Garcia-Fons "Mediterranees" My favorite double bassists' tour of the music of the Mediterranean. Extremely well recorded.
Benny Green "Source" One of my favorite pianists with a terrific trio record. Also well-recorded. My son got to meet him at Centrum Jazz camp and tells me he's as funny as he is talented.
Stefon Harris, David Sanchez, Christian Scott "Ninety Miles" Young lions do Cuban Jazz.
Chris Massey "Vibranium" Great new drummer. Check out his very innovative website.
David Murray "Plays Nat King Cole Espanol" Old Lion does Cuban Jazz.
Jeremy Pelt "The Talented Mr. Pelt" Fabulous working band. Check out the video on his website featuring RVG and his studio. He's had an interesting 'conversation' about jazz with Nicholas Payton via their respective blogs.
Terrell Stafford "This Side of Strayhorn" One bad-ass trumpeter. He's going to be a featured guest for my son's high school jazz programs fund raiser this spring so I'll get to meet him! Check out his Youtube video from the Temple University graduation...
thanks for posting the 'new Lp' list here; i won't have to bug you for your recs. :)
please keep it current for us needy.
Jazdoc has the most amazing collection of Lps, exceeded only by his knowledge and drive to find even more of the best pressings. when (if?) i grow up i want to be like him.
Here were my favorite pop/alternative 2011 releases:
Atlas Sound - "Parallax" Bradford Cox's solo vehicle which builds on Deerhunter's excellent 2010 release "Halcyon Digest". Kind of like how Bryan Ferry's "Boys and Girls" can be heard as the continuation of Roxy Music's "Avalon"
Cults - "Cults" Infectious pop throughout their debut album. If you don't like a song, there is another one in two minutes. Love the video for "Go Outside". Only 31 minutes...
Foo Fighters - "Wasted Light" Their best LP in years. 45 rpm/2LP recording sounds excellent.
Garage A Trois - "Always Be Happy But Stay Evil" Jeffrey Jackson introduced me to the saxophonist Skerik this year. Saw him live three times; each time with a different group. The Dead Kenny G's concert was my favorite.
Danger Mouse and Daniel Luppi - "Rome" Five years in the making. An homage to the soundtrack music of spaghetti western films. Shouldn't work but it's consistently amazing and how many releases will feature Jack White and Norah Jones? Well recorded.
Girls - "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" From Pitchfork's review "brings with it an almost eerie sense of familiarity, like these are songs you've been hearing your whole life even when you can't place them"
Head & The Heart - "Head & The Heart" Seattle singer songwriters with terrific debut that is demo disc sound quality. What Fleet Foxes should aspire to...
Lia Ices - "Grown Unknown" "Love Is Won" is one of my favorite singles. Well produced avant-pop. Took this one to RMAF and people always wanted to find out more...
The Kills - "Blood Pressures" 'Killer' comeback LP. Probably my most played 2011 release.
Smith Westerns - "Dye It Blonde" This band is going to be great. They are not great yet, but they are going to be. 'Weekend' is a great tune...
Widowspeak - "Widowspeak" Excellent debut LP. Their companion EP has a version of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game' that makes the original sound upbeat...
Yuck - "Yuck" My favorite new band. A bunch of goofy looking 20 years old go into the studio and come out with a brilliant debut LP. Get Away' is one of the year's best singles.
Also enjoyed: Charles Bradley "No Time For Dreaming" Eisley "The Valley" Damien Jurado "Live At Landlocked" Shelby Lynne "Revelation Road" Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Mirror Traffic" Papercuts "Fading Parade" St. Vincent "Strange Mercy" Kurt Vile "Smoke Ring For My Halo"
Don't you love unexpected musical discoveries? I received the 4 LP Mosaic Set of Stan Getz's "1953-1954 Clef/Norgran Studio Recordings" for Xmas. As a Stan Getz fan, I knew it would be special but Mosaic has really done a spectacular job remastering these nearly 60 year old recordings. Most unexpected is the interplay between Getz and the late valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Like Charlie Parker, he was born and raised in my hometown of Kansas City. (Unlike them, I had a happy childhood.) I'll definitely be seeking out more of his work.
I share your enthusiasm for Lou's artisanship. Like you, his work was not initially on my radar. However through an audiophile colleague in Atlanta, I came to know his musician's approach to speaker design. I recently acquired a pair of his (relatively) new Athena. I believe this particular pair is his first (as seen on his home page). I couldn't be more pleased, and find they have great synergy with our SimAudio power plant. Glade to hear you are enjoying the Ulysses!
Thanks. I started collecting LP's when I bought "Elton John's Greatest Hits" for my 10th birthday and never stopped. Kept collecting through the dark days of digital, but rue the albums left behind. I had the shelves and cabinets custom made for the room. The cabinets below the LPs hold sliding drawers for CDs.
I'm use the Audio Intelligent Solutions. I've always wanted to compare with the Monks machine...
Fantastic LP collection! I am so jealous! I suppose you custom made your cabinets? What fluid are you using with your Loricraft? I have a Monks and love his discovery fluid...
