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.
Never have actually. May try and let you know but moving houses soon so it wont be for a while. I cant imagine it would be a problem but dont know about synergy per se. Enjoy the 411, it is a good amp.
I have not had them in my system. I did have the Lamm 1.2r which I did not like much. Well built etc but their sound did not have the depth and detail of some of the better designs. Maybe others have heard the 2.1s which as SETs might have similarities with the WAVACS although the designs and power is very different.
Do you have any experience with The Lamm ML 2.1 SET amp? I was curious as to a comparision between the Lamm and The WAVAC. My guess is that they would be similar beasts. My current system consists of all Boulder 2000 series amp and preamp with Wilson Alexandria speakers. Now that I have added highly sensitive speakers, it opens up more options for amplification.
Thank you very much for your answers. Some people told me that th mirage it isn´t a huge leap forward against the sonata allegro. I don´t know that. What i know is the Allegro is a fine preamp and sometimes we try to get a step ahead and make one to the side. I will sum up all the info in my head and try to get a decision. Onc again thank you for the imput! regards Miguel
Miguel, I can second what Mihalis has written. I use xlrs between the WAVAC and either my Siegfrieds or my Atmas and there is no noise whatsoever. I have clean power.
Well, I only use xlrs now, and the longest is 7 or 8 meters. I do not get any issues with that, running it out of the wavac preamp. There is a bit more noise but I dont think it is related to the length as much as my wall power and how it interacts with my wavac amps. When the house is shut down, there is no noise, so i need cleaner ac. So yes I ve had no issues running balanced amps with the wavac, in fact its performance is always up there.
Thank you for your answer. Since the PR-T1 is not a balanced design do you think it will be a good match for my 750MCX monos since they have only XLR imputs? My source also is best on XLR output (esoteric X1D2)... Did you already tried to drive a true balanced power amp with the wavac xlr output? Any differences? Sorry to bother you with this questions but for me is impossible to hear the preamp at my home... Regards
Miguel, I think of the MIrage very highly and use it most of the time. It connects with my Crestron screen and makes things simple. I run it with the Gryphon Solos, so you can argue that by having the same brand throughout the chain at least I get the manufacturers targeted sound. Which I like. Yes, I do think the Mirage and Wavac are the superior preamps (maybe with Soulution) but the Dartzeel has its own sound and I find it to be excellent as well. The VTL, well, I have expressed my views on that. Good preamp but not of this calibre (or price.) The wavacs come with xlrs for convenience (my mkii amps also) but it is not a balanced design. The only Krell preamp that I have had experience with is the Krell Two and it was a great preamp. Its built quality unsurpassed. Depth to die for. The detail and immediacy was not what I get from the above preamps. Overall, it is a very strong contender. With the Krell Ones, very good combination. I think however the Ones are a superior product to the preamp. I dont care what people say about Krell, the Ones gave me detailed, melodic, wonderful sound, endless power and an overall package that I cant swear I have bested with what I own now. Happy listening!
Aida at the Terme di Caracalla, what a night that was, freshly in love and a full moon in the sky. That was 1955 and I a young man... and yes you are right, a great system can sometimes afford better accoustics with the right music than a mediocre seat in a concert. But it takes discerning ears and an exceptional system at home to experience that. Happy listening, D
Hello Mihalis! Great system! I have here Gryphon Sonata Allegro and I´m thinking upgrade my preamp. I was thinking on Mirage or maybe a second hand WAVAC PRT1. Also I was also thinking VTL 7.5 MKii or Dartzeel but seems you prefer the first two. My power amps are Krell FPB750MCX and I notice you have some experience with Krell sound so can you elaborate a bit more aboout this preamps... What you think will suit better with krell monos? The Wavac is XLR or single ended design? I have esoteric X1D2 (xlr) and my phono is Manley steelhead (single end). Thanks in advance Merry christmas Miguel
Detlof, you are probably right about pc (or in my case) mac audio. Surprisingly these drivers and software make a big difference to those who have experimented. I am sure that very soon we will be able to get excellent sound, and probably already do, from inexpensive flash based systems. That will eat quickly into the lunch of the expensive front ends and also Kaleidescape-type operations, although the latter has the leg up with video. Soon with HD I think. I have not tube rolled with the wavac. I asked wavac about it (who visited recently) and never got clear direction; frankly I did not have the time. I do listen to as much live music as I can, typically jazz or classical concerts. I get to catch them in tokyo, singapore or usually new york. My most recent memory is of the opening night of Aida at the open-air ancient ruins of Caracola in Rome. The music was wonderful and the performances adequate. Having said that, I found myself criticizing some of the acoustics. Reality is that a great system can offer detail and accuracy that is sometimes hard to get in just any seat at the concert (I can already see some taking up arms about this comment!) So bottom line is that I obviously enjoy a lot more great live performances. There is no comparison. But great recordings have their own magic and in some cases even if they are not as "true", they may attract some other aspect of psychoacoustic-triggered euphoria. Thank you for contributing and for the advice on both tubes and pc audio. Best, Michael
Mihalis, I have followed this thread with great interest and valued your contributions, because, like only a few others here, you not only are in the position to listen to a large number of really first class gear, but also have a discerning mind and ears and - last not least - have the kindness and generosity to share your findings with us here. I have been a Gryphon man for a large number of years until I was taken by the euphonic magic of the Jadis gear. These days I use WAVAC for my vinyl front end. We might have similar tastes in music, because your descriptions of the sound of the FM and Goldmund gear mirror my experience. This makes me wonder what your benchmark for satisfactory rendition of music might be? Do you take the time to go to live concerts often to sort of form a mnestic "gestalt" within yourself how things should sound? I could imagine, that this would be the case from the way you write. I fully agree with you, by the way, with what you write about the WAVAC and the VTL 7.5 Mk II. I have both here. Where I don't agree, are your thoughts about PC-Audio. There is better sounding software on the market than Itunes by now and there are ASIO drivers, which will deal with the "electrical chaos" of our laptops in quite a satisfactory fashion. Using a modest TRENDS USB to SPIF converter together with JRiver software in your computer will get you astounding results for less than $300 and if you want a rendition of digital which in musicality rivals that of the Zanden combo or the dCS stack one could give Empirical Audio's SPOILER USB DAC an audition. ReQuest for more or less the same money markets an interesting music server which is not bad either. Speaking of the PRT1, have you tube rolled? I have, with Mullards of 1950 vintage. Microdynamics improved, the sound of strings became more "real", the soundstage with the right software, gave the individual intruments or voices a tad more bloom and room to breathe, something I find even the most expensive FM or Goldmund gear cannot achieve. Whatever, Thank you once more, for taking the time and effort for sharing your invaluable findings with us here. Happy listening! Detlof
Gents, sorry for the long vacation of my replies, work has taken over! I read everything and will answer some that I can. The rest I am not ignoring, just dont know what to recommend or dont have a view. Peterh, I think I tried to explain my experience with Telos 2500 previously but i would summarize it as quite unique. They are very powerful amps, with a great amount of resolution, tonal color and accuracy. Its greater distinguishing skill is its holographic imaging. Instruments sound planted in specific positions, dont move around, and keep a sharp focus. I can see why some who listen a lot to classical music love them. Having said that, I have not used them much so I dont think they are broken in yet. Soulution: I own the preamp and like it. It has more resolution than the Dartzeel and in fact I dont find a lot of similarities in their sound. Very fast (meaning not slow! lets not debate the terminology again, I mean accurately dynamic). I have also heard the amps, not in my system. I think they are very interesting also. They might be leaner than what I consider the real sound. And their prices are quite something. On PRT1 vs 7.5 it is like comparing apples to a rotten apple. The 7.5 has its advantages (good preamp, many functions, good quality), but the PRT1 may be one of the very best and the comparison is not fair. I would not put the 7.5 in the domain of the preamps I have listed here, it is way inferior in most areas. Also cheaper. For Gryphon, I would recommend the Mirage. It is phenomenal and I use it mostly, that and the prt1. Jimmy, I think the easiest way to get good sound our of a PC or MAC is to use Itunes, download from your CD using their lossless software (a MAC will do that better than a PC), sync with a FLASH drive like IPOD Touch, and run it through the Wadia digital doc. this is a cheap way to get high end and avoid replaying music through the electric storm that is the computer. Yes, the software does matter and you can experiment with a few but start with this solution and while you at least have some music you can listen to, try other packages. Sorry, have not tried Ypsilon and dont think I want to use equipment I dont have a good dealer close for. But when I visit Athens I will go hear them, I am proud to hear they are doing well. I will be with the system at the end of the year and will put new pics. I have moved most things out and now listen to an all gryphon system and an all wavac system (upgraded to the Gryphon Solos and to the next model up for Wavac). These are for me where I end up and dont anticipate making changes in pre and amplification any longer. I will explain why in more detail but needless to say, the wavacs run above 300hz are the very best piece of equipment I have heard. Maybe now, as someone correctly commented, I can listen to the music! All the best and thank you for the questions. Some have emailed me directly. Dont forget that I am just an amateur, only express my personal opinions and I caution you that electric synergies, your own power etc will make a huge difference in the results. But I do think that in describing the characteristics of this equipment, I have a pretty good perspective since I can compare and the differences are usually not subtle in this system.
Have you ever tried the Ypsilon Electronics equipment from Greece? I think it might be right up your ally. Not the cheapest of products but the performance is the best I have heard. I think you would like their hybrid mono blocks the best.
M - Thanks for all of work that you have posted! Question on the server / DAC topic - You mentioned a couple of times that there are sonic drawbacks to the PC as server. Is that correct? I have a limited budget but wonder about a seperate NAS to hold my WAV files rather than a PC? I have a modified SONOS box hard wired to my PC that send a digital signal to a benchmark DAC1. The Sonos user interface is great for my needs but I prefer the sound quality of even moderatly priced CDPs (Ayre cx7e and even the cambridge 840. I am not articulate enough to describe what I am hearing, only that I prefer them.). I would LOVE to find a way w/in my budget to get the server + DAC front end to deliver a sound quality equal or better than CDP. Also, does the software used to rip the CD in the first place matter? Sorry if these are ignorant questions. Thanks in advance!
I admire consumption as much as the next guy, but I would suggest you pick out your favorite components and make a system. If you don't know which are your favorites, flip a coin. A good rule might be to put as little as possible between the source and the vibrating air. Anyway get a system together, and listen for the MUSIC.
Sound is easy. You have to plug your ears to keep it out. Hearing music is hard. It takes a lot of practice
After three or four years, you might actually start hearing the music rather than the gear.
how do the FM Acoustics compare to the other amps you have tried? I have heard the Von Schweikert 9se and the new top of the line focals at Denver RMAF this year and they were both extraordinary. Have you listened to these and how do they compare to your favorites and if you haven't heard them what do you feel are an excellent choice?
