System edited: Added Audio Note CD player. I was never happy with the Rotel CD changer. I auditioned a Classe CD10 player. I liked the detail of the Classe. But in some respect it was allmost too perfect. It was like a piece of lab equipment, very accurate but sterile compared to the AN. The Audio Note brought about a somewhat less detailed presentation but is much more enjoyable. The soundstage is full , pianos now sound like pianos not a sharp unnatural plinking of the keys. My biggest complement to the AN is I now can listen for hours without analyzing the performance of my system. I enjoy listening now.....

flickkit October 19, 2004 20:14

System edited: Installed Hal-o tube dampers.

flickkit August 01, 2004 20:24

System edited: Sounding amazing since the Zingali HM112s "broke in" Like somebody threw a switch...

flickkit July 31, 2004 03:09

My Oto intergrated amp is indeed a tube unit. It uses 6BQ5 and 12AX7s. Im currently waiting for some RCAs and some Amperex tubes to come in and Ill try those. I checked out the room some room treats and most will not pass the spouse test.. Oh well. BTW those echo busters look kinda like a set of Magnepans. Look for the jacks :)

flickkit April 15, 2004 21:28

System edited: Just added the zingali HM112 to my system. A fellow goner notified me of their availability. They are expensive speakers and I cant afford them so i bought them. thanks Doc. These things are amazing.Just imagine the best youve heard....these are better. True for about most of us I think. Only trouble is they have skewed my system HEAVY on the speaker side. Now I have to work on the rest. BTW I heard these hooked up to an Audio Note Ongaku Intergrated Amp at Deetes Sound Room. Im speechless.........

flickkit April 15, 2004 04:59

System edited: I just added the Zingalis to my system. I figured I couldnt afford these but fortune smiled on me and I was able to get these dream speakers. Thanks Dcktr. The only bad thing is the system balance has been tipped heavy on the speaker side.

flickkit April 14, 2004 00:29

Unfortunatly? Fortunatly I dont live by myself. The entertainment center stays. I have moved the speakers around quite a bit. I keep pulling them out She keeps pushing them back. I noticed a horrible problem that revealed itself as "wandering image". Vocals would move back and forth in relation to pitch. On certain recordings it was unbearable. Another example was on Dire Straights "Your latest trick" the trumpet and Sax at the begining were spread across the entire "stage" not focused at all. I was beginning to think there it was an equipment problem. Well..... Moving the speakers in front of the corners of the entertainment center (the beast) solved all the problems. Posistioning of instruments and vocals locked right in. At least I know my equipments fine. For serious listining I just have to pull the speakers out.
I really like my apature cables. When I first hooked them up I thought they were horrible. I tried diferent hook-ups. Mono posting as opposed to bi-wiring, jumpers in, jumpers out. It got to the point where I just couldnt listen to it. This caused me to post "Speaker cable Voodoo"
(which has been removed from the forum). I finnally let the thing play for a long weekend while we were gone. I dont know the science behind it but when we returned it was a new system. Detail was improved bass was tighter an overall improvement. I hooked my old wires back up and could not believe the difference. The Apatures were way better. I would definatly recommend them. I recently removed them and hooked them up to my friends Odessy sytem driving Magnepans. He now wants a set. So much for silver not working with magnepans.
As far as my Integrated amp goes I really do think its a great unit for the price. For the price seems to qualify my opinion of it. I really dont mean to do that. I'm not an expert by any means but I've heard some systems costing thousands more in some of the "high end" shops in the area and all it does is reinforces my opion that I made a good purchase. Nothing I've heard in the solid state home entertainment shops made me lust after them. Now the higher end Audio Note items in Deetes Sound Room in Sacramento gave me some envy but I'm happy with my oto.
Thanks for the input and questions. I'll check out the DAC mentioned. I pretty sure that my source will be my next step. Allthough I heard some Zingali HM112s today.....
Damn I beginning to feel like a junkie...... Thanks again!

flickkit March 25, 2004 04:10