Phono Preamp, tube, 2 inputs, many adjustments possible
Audio Research Reference 5 SE
a great tube PreAmp
Audio Research Reference 300 Mk2
tube mono power amplifiers, 300W, 17 tubes each, great sound
Oracle Audio Technologies CD2500
carved from one massive aluminium block - more art than technology,
has a built-in DAC which I do not use
Jadis DAC JS1 MkV
the only (silver-)gold colored components in my system.
has a dedicated power supply unit.
In March 2022 I had the Jadis JS1 DAC upgraded from MkIII to the Mkv model. The MkV supports DSD up to DSD256, and PCM up to 384kHz, as well as USB connection to digital sources. It also provides a lot of other enhancements in the DAC component as well as in the power supply unit.
EAT FORTE
a massive turntable, separated motor unit with 2 motors, 40 pound platter, overall weight 120 pounds. very quiet.
Graham Audio Phantom 2-3
an EAT branded tonearm (EAT-EGo), build by Graham.
Technically it is a hybrid product between Phantom II and III
Ortofon McAnna
the top MC pickup from Ortofon, detailled, powerful, ideal for "real music"
Studer A80 RC MkII
one of the most legendary STUDER reel to reel machines.
Many, many of the 70s and 80s albums have been mastered on this type of machine.
incredible massivly built, 200 pounds weight, very well servicable, great sound.
Mine is equipped with CCIR cards.
Studer A810 MkII
a multi-purpose machine, for studios, radio stations, even mobile usage.
very flexible, younger than the A80, more modern, more electronics.
A great machine.
Eternal Arts Tape Stage
Tape Stage for Reel-to-Reel machines.
Dolby M-363
The DOLBY-M363 unit is used to code/decode reel-to-reel recordings with Dolby noise reduction. This model allows to use "Dolby SR/A" modules, which have to full electronics for both the DOLBY-A compression (the first and original one) and for the DOLBY-SR compression - a later, further improved, compression technique.
One machine is used for coding when recording, the other machine is used for decoding when reproducing. This could be done with only one machine, but it requires deconnecting and connecting the used/not used (rec/play) cables each time you switch operation....
Triangle Magellan Grand Concert
the top model from French speaker manufacturer Triangle.
approx 7 feet high, very open sound, huge soundstage, has additional high+mid speakers firing backwards
Triangle Meteor 0.4
the largest subwoofer from Triangle, a perfect fit to the Magellan Grand Concert full range speaker.
Siltech Cables 770
the G7 series, used for most interconnects.
Cocktail Audio X50 Pro Music Center
This is - after a decade, when I had purchased the Oracle CD tranport - my first digital gear. It supports all formats and can hold up th 16 TB of storage. I only use downloaded sources, no streaming.
STUDER A80 RC MkII Reel to Reel tape machine
I could obtain a second A80 RC MkII - a machine with only 500 hours! It was the reference machine of my Studer professional, fully recapped and serviced - like new!
Hi Ken, congratulations to your three A810 machines! The A810 is a great professional machine with a lot of flexibilty. Sonically it is great as well! Speaking generally: the sonic differences between eg the A810 and the A80 are very minor compared to the difference between any Studer and CDs or vinyl records.
The first master tape I ever heard was on a A810 - and it was mind blowing!
So you definitly have something to look forward to! But be sure to recap the A810s completely, you will be sonically rewarded! Best regards, Otto
Wow great system Otto. I was interested in your comments for the Studer A810 and the quality of the master recording. I recently acquired 3 A810 machines and starting to go over them now. Very excited to hear my first master tape. Excellent system. Regards Ken
Thanks to all of you for the kind words! Really appreciated! To be honest: yes, it does sound great, and I enjoy listening very much! And how did it come? All the hardware upgrades have made decent progress to the overall result. But in terms of "musicabilty" the first major move was from CD to Vinyl. I have listened to only CDs for at least 20 years. I always thought Vinyl (which I new from the 70s) contains the same music, just with a lot of noise. I had a very simple system these days, and I guess this impression was actually not so wrong. But some 15 years later (a few years ago from now) I had a chance to connect an entry phono and turntable to my system and listen the very forst time to an analogue medium on my system. In terms of music I was blown away in comparison to CD. It was so natural, the music was no longer reproduced, it was simply there, all over the room. I really could not believe it. It did not take long until I was looking for a proper (meaning: matching the rest of the system appropriately) turntable, tonearm, pickup and phono. I was in heaven then, purchasing all my favorite music again, this time on vinyl. Some day I heard that there is a chance to purchase copies of a few mastertapes (till then I thought this is impossible). I could not get the idea out of my head that I had to listen to such a tape. If only once. But it had to be. I wanted to know how music COULD sound at the very best level possible. I owned a Revox B77 (just for fun, I admired it when I was young), it was in perfect condition, but no high-speed version, meaning it could only go up to 7.5ips (19cm/s). Mastertapes are mostly run with double of that speed (seldom even quadruple). So if I wanted to hear the absolute best sound possible, I had to have a proper machine. After learning A LOT about reel to reel I purchased my (first....) STUDER - an A810 MkII with Console and VU-Bridge n great condition. And I purchased my first mastertape copy: Zarathustra from Strauss. It was the exact recording which I had as vinyl record. The move from CD to vinyl did not change the "technical" quality of the music significantly, meaning the level and quality of bass, treble, dynamics. But it did increase the reality level into a different world. With the move from vinyl to tape it was the other way round: the musical impression already WAS great with the vinyl, simply because it is analogue. And the tape is not "more" analogue. BUT the tape does not have a lot of the physical difficulties that vinyl pressing and reproduction has. The tape improved the (I call it) "technical" qualities of reproduction, in all perspectives, and by far: more bass in volume, depth, clearness, brighter highs, more details, each instrument and voice can be identified seperately, and last but not least: dynamics practically without limit and effort. Hearing a full blown classical orchestra going vom ppp to fff on a tape is like being in a concert hall. It is incredible. All my beloved vinyls sound really poor when directly compared to a copy of the corresponding mastertape. But there is always a downside: there are millions of CDs available, and you can purchase them today for a few bugs. There are (newly pressed) I guess tens of thousands of different vinyls available, ranging from some 20 bugs up to 70, or 100, or even 200 and more for selected audiophil pressings. And tapes: hard to find, expensive. But if you hear one, you know it is worth all the efforts! I prefer ONE 300 USD tape with top quality to a million free MP3 downloads. But that's a personal decison.... Thanks for reading! (Sorry for the length....)
Hi mjcmt, thank you for your nice words! It took a lot of tests and upgrades over nearly 20 years! It was a lot of fun and learning, and I am very happy with the current system - and I feel lucky to have the luxury of a dedicated listening room!
Exceptional in every respect. Your Triangle speaker system is amazing, and must mate exceptionally well w/ AR amplification. Your large and comfortable room is awesome too.
