This is a collection of equipment (note how I dont call it a system!), the purpose of which was for me to sample as much as possible prior to settling down to equipment I can use in a final room I am building with Rives. Needless to say, I ended up getting deeper and deeper in this, learning that reviews are typically falwed because (i) reviewers have specific motives, (ii) they dont generally have very good systems, and (iii) no system is perfect and therefore personal preferences matter a lot.
The room is by no means great but it is custom designed and measured. It works quite well, even though these speakers need more room to breathe.
Happy to answer questions about my experience with all this equipment, all of which is quite excellent in its own way. I have some on order which I will add when the time comes.
Other equipment I have owned include:
-Tenor 300hp
-MBL 9011 monos
-MBL 6010D preamp
-VTL 7.5 mk i and ii
-Audio Research Ref 3 preamp
-BAT 75se
-Other
UPDATE: Moved to new room, much more spacious and finally allowing me to sit within the prescribed distance for driver integration. Also, I cleaned up somewhat the amp list: I now use the Wavac 833 mkii (4 box) and for solid state the Class A Gryphon Colosseum Solos. Added to the preamps is the Soulution. All cables are Jorma Prime including an 8m length xlr. Power cords being changed all to Valhalla. Here you also see an attempt to test the continuum turntable through a wavac phono. The sound of the system has ameliorated appreciably and it is now starting to be a system after all. Very happy with it.
Thanks George, I will try it out. I am not as high a listener of this music but maybe this will change me. The mainstream stuff drives me mad (I hate it) but some of what you are describing is excellent indeed.
Kops, hard to answer some of that. I dont have first hand experience with any previous Gryphon model so I will refrain from commenting. I have heard, second hand, that some considered them a little dark. And that the new stuff is not at all. I can certainly attest that for the Mirage which is an amazing piece of equipment. It sounds, in my system, a lot like the Wavac: crystal clear, sort of like looking at high visibility water while diving. I dont know how else to describe it. It just sounds like live music.
I would consider the Wavac the best I know of for tubes. Kondo I am not sure, the mid range has its 'magic' but is that distortion or not? AR and VTL are not anywhere near that level (I have owned them both.)
On solid, all the stuff I own I think it very high end. I would add Boulder's series 2. Some also like Fm and Goldmund a lot, but I have not heard them in my system.
I need to stress that in a very transparent system, preamps can make quite a difference. There is no "best" but rather certain presentations that might appeal to you more. If I had to pick one at this point of time, it would be the Mirage because it sounds great and offers Crestron interface, thus integrating with the controls of a home system very easily.
I will not be in Munich but should be listening to the Colosseums in my system very soon!
Mtkhl567, I certainly agree with that. First of all, it is hard to define 'better' in this sort of thing. But more importantly, keep this in mind: typically, manufacturers sell to distributors at X, the ditributors to the dealers at 2X and the dealers to us at 4X (they dont want you to know!!) So you can imagine that, due to this simple math, higher price only results in price/4 improvement in hardware, work, ingenuity, r&d, etc. And of course one can not equate this increase anyway to better results. Some will argue that the less you have in the signal path the better. So, less hardware! Hear FM Acoustics and Dartzeel and you will know that massive hardware is not necessarily always best or necessary.
I am a bit unsure about evolution acoustics because I have traced it, through audiogon, to a group of users who asserted on repeated occasion that their speakers were the best at the time. First it was Kharma, then VSchweikert and then EA. And it all coincided with the changes in what a dealer was selling. I am not suggesting foul play but I just dont know. I never heard them. I am very happy with the Poseidons, they are incresibly dynamic and their scale is amazing.
Hi Mihalis, this is not a system but Audio Heaven! I remember when we talked about Accupohase vs Emmlabs thing , but I never imagined the line up you own.
Your equipment is the ultimate toys for audio...and your route to server+DAC is the way to go.
Have you tested the MIrage vs Sonata Allegro? I'm thinking to upgrade to Sonata Allegro and I would like your opinion, although I know Mirage is a bit better, but not knowing how much better. You mentioned that previous Gryphon preamps were dark sounding, did you mean the Sonata Allegro?
Regarding preamps which other fully balanced with (better) or without tubes you rank as the best of the best?
My deepest respect for your audio room, please keep us informed about digital equalization and server-dac evolutions!
Regarding good recordings for Greek music, you should try Alkinoos Ioanides-"O flegomenos podilatis" try the first track and you'll see, last year in Munich show everybody asking for that cd. Also others from Alk. Ioanides and Haris Alexiou.
Will you be in the Munich show, Rasmussen will introduce the Collosseums!
Mihali,sorry I am not aware of any audiophile recordings.I just listen to their original recordings ,remastered on cd.I actually bought recently used albums on vinyl of some significant recordings/artists (Yiannis Papaioannou,Vasilis Tsitsanis,Stavros Xarhakos,Mihalis Menidiatis,Prodromos Tsaousakis,Stamatis Kokkotas,Giota Lydia,Mariza Kox,Giorgos Mitsakis,Poly Panou,Rena Dalia,Marinella,Rena Koumioti),but they arrived from Greece in rather dissapointing condition.The previous owners were not kind to their collection ,I guess.Mind you I spent a significant amount on these albums too.Now I need a RCM!.If you got the time and the mood,go to youtybe.com and search for "Afierwma sto Giwrgo Zambeta" there are 6 parts of video of the 2007 festival in Thessaloniki,dedicated to the magnificent composer bouzouki virtuoso late Mr.George Zambeta.Great music! Enjoy your tryly excellent system Mihali. George,Toronto,Canada
Mihalis, if your travels ever gets you near a set of Evolution Acoustics MM3's, that's worth a detour...
In this business more expensive components doesn't always equate to better sound, you have to look at the technology employed and component matching is key.
Boeing, I am not quite sure as the Lyra is not being used for a year now. I have sent it back for the power supply change, when it happens. I think they would be quite different, though. The Lyra had a little bit more noise but more resolution and greater imaging. The SL100 (which I am now upgrading to SL101) was much more full bodied, and maybe sounding a bit slower. It achieves this full tonal range with a lot of resolution. Both are fantastic preamps and have to be listened to make a choice. Also, they need to be paired with the right equipment. And you might care that the Lyra comes without a remote.
Mihali,you know the two pillars of Greek rebetiko/laiko are Markos Vamvakaris and Vasilis Tsitsanis.The other night I was watching Markos biography on youtube.They played "Atakti" and "Ta matoklada sou lamboun" they had a film of him dancing his unique style of zeibekiko.What a joy to watch! He was a real rebetis and maggas. Enjoy. George
Schwinnindia, the answer is 'no' to all your questions. I am, however, on order for the Gryphon Collosseum solos and hope they might exhibit the same characteristics as the Mirage. The Mirage is not the most full bodied preamp but I do find that I generally prefer its presentation.
Btw, are you based in India or is that just a coincidence in your name? I travel there regularly.
Mihali This is majestic!Bravo and enjoy it.You must be Greek,then you got to play some greek tunes,rebetiko or something. Cheers to you from another Greek. Giorgos
Sir, You said that the Mirage was a 'crystal clear' pre amplifier. I was keen to know, did you try the Antillion Signature in your set up ? Since you use the lovely Posieden; Flemings designs are surely liked by you.
Have you ever tried any gear from GamuT ? Their Pwer Amps !!
nice collection of equipment --do yourself a favour--get a couple of jl audio fathom 113 subs in stereo--you won't believe how good they are --good luck --rich
Well, this year a ton of people suddenly woke up and are producing hard disk (and some flash drive!) servers. Even the monolithic Stereophile and Absolute Sound recently run articles on Sooloss and other servers. Kalendescape was the leader of these technologies and they also offer video, which is a whole different level of complexity. Even though their stuff does not look or feel like high end, I did compare it to some of the high end contenders and I thought I was getting better sound from them. Computer-based is a four letter word here because PCs are terrible in their electric internal conditions. So these better servers do not run through PCs but dedicated systems. You get endless storage, amazing access to your music through touch panel screens and actually more or less equal or better sound than the very best transports. There are various plus and minuses but generally the pluses win. And the availability of thousands of CDs under your fingertips is just amazing.
But, these are all still quite expensive. I would guess that prices will drop like they did with LCD screens. Hard disks dont cost much and when the software technology becomes more readily available, it is the inevitable.
Some will also argue that a flash drive will do even better. One idea is to use a good lossless software program (even Itunes with a MAC, not PC), download it all to an ipod touch, and then run it through the new wadia i170 which costs $400 or so, and actually takes out digital signal. It should compete with most transports...
Thanks *so* much for the very informative response! It's very helpful. I've not ventured into the server arena, so I know little about it. How does the Kaleidescape actually work? Does the CD part of it work like a transport and the rest of it like any computer harddrive? I apologize in advance for my naivete. Perhaps you could refer me to an article on the subject. I currently use a CEC transport and a Meitner BiDat...updated by John Wright of Museatex..in my price range it's about as good as it gets.
Well Vhiner I have owned various iterations of the DAC 6e, the DCC2 and the transport. My understanding is that the cdsa actually measured better than the separates (a fact not publicized) and therefore simplified things by using that. However I find the new accuphase to be ahead in that it does not bloat instruments. The latter is a characteristic I have found with EMM, making the music somewhat more immediate but a bit too much at times. Dont take me wrong, I do like what EMM do, I find them quite natural and I have preferred it to any other than Accuphase that I have heard, incl DCS, Esoteric etc.
But more importantly, in my case there is no comparison because the Accuphase allows for high bit digital equalization which in my system is necessary. And it allows me to swap around equipment without too much problem. I also run my hard disk server through the dac and equalizer to equally good effect. The build quality of accuphase is beyond anything I have had on the front end and their transport makes esoteric look cheapy. I would also mention that I have had many problems of quality with EMM with their older products. They kept running out of supplies, their models were being changed internally without it being advertised, etc etc. At these prices, I found that unacceptable. In comes Accuphase with their impeccable quality, rare changes and a half inch aluminum tray that comes out so silently that you can bearly hear anything. Someone said it reminded him of spaceship equipment. You should also know that in japan their products always hit first, with clear performance ahead of esoteric which is not taken as seriously. I can confirm that having listened to most of these in comparison in Tokyo. And their prices in Japan are about 50-60% making them great value for money compared to other front end. There is no question that their price equivalent is more their US price than their Japanese one.
Spend money on your DAC and start using dedicated non-pc based servers. You will get best sound and the interface will be so much more fun to use.
