Fogki,

Thaks for your compliment on my living room. In my experience it is not easy to get a good synergy with the Utopias, but it can be done quite well. In that case it could be magical in my opinion.

I am passionate about life music. I even enjoy staying during the break in the opera to listen the tuning of the instruments, just becasue love its netural sound in a good accoustics.

jfarkas July 06, 2005 21:05

Albert, the jury is still out. I just recived the MB750's and waiting until the new tubes will settle. Will keep you posted.

jfarkas July 06, 2005 20:57

System edited: Upgraded to bigger VTL amp. Very happy with the improvement

jfarkas July 04, 2005 19:17

System edited: Changed to DCC2, 2 chanel intgrated DAC/preamp from EMM Labs

jfarkas December 17, 2004 05:37

System edited: Replaced most of my cables with Purist Audio Dominus. Very, very good match for my system. Biggest improvement I heard from any cables. Comparable to changing a front end or the amplifier. I always loved the Utopia for its details. With these wires has beutifull balance without any harshness or edginess. Last IC will be changed with a switch to a 2chanel EMM Lab DAC/Preamp

jfarkas November 14, 2004 12:50

Cylinderking_1

I share you thoughts on the JM Utopia line (the old ones). I especially love the Utopia. It is magical when driven right. I admit also that is extermely "picky" and easy to make it sound harsh and lean. It needs quite a bit of work, but well worth it.

My other favorites are the VTL poweramps. I think it could be a very good match. Again the "mating" is not straighforward. The resolution of the VTL and JM can revael many flaws in the other parts of the system.

jfarkas August 16, 2004 20:42

Subaruguru,

Yep, I wished we would've hooked up earlier. I was out at the weekend. If you get back to the area pls. drop me a line. Cheers

jfarkas August 16, 2004 20:28

System edited: Major improvement by replacing the IC (pre-poweramp) and the PC on the preamp to Purist Audio Dominus (fluid) line. Signficanlty lower grain and more "fluid" sound even at higher volumes. Thanks to Albert Porter for the recommendation.

jfarkas August 16, 2004 20:24

Subarugure, I live in the suburb of Grenoble, less than 10miles from the city center. I read several of your threads. We could hook up if you have some time. Cheers

jfarkas August 09, 2004 19:20

Took the bullet and used up the dedicated lines of my electric heater to power the VTL amps. The improvement is substantial. A lot cleaner image with very nice (clean) transients (eg. piano). Base is also cleaner and fimer. There is still a grain on the top end.
Next try is to replace the IC between the preamp and poweramp and the PC on the preamp. For both of them will try Purist Dominus.

jfarkas August 08, 2004 10:18

Gregm. Thanks for your advice. I am not sure about the origin of the grain. For sure I see big impact on changing the PC's. Also, when my system was in the US I had dedicated lines and separate grounding pole, which made nice improvements. So my first instinct says clean up the power.
By the way out of those 3 missing PC I received the first one (Harmonix) yesterday. I tried on the CD player/transport. Made very nice improvement towards the direction I am looking for. Expect the two other cords (Anaconda VX’s next week).
Will try to borrow a Nordost IC, what single core speaker cable would you recommend? The tranny will be more difficult. Would need to find a 2.5kW 1:1 tranny, that is not easy.

jfarkas June 13, 2004 07:39

Thanks for all of your kind comments and complements. I admit we enjoy quite a bit that room. It has a vaulted, tall, wood covered sealing which is quite nice acoustically. I have a curtain behind the sofa to reduce reflections.

Jond, I will post a picture about the electronics. I have only a few boxes so it is easy to hide. Will have my camera back next week.

Gregm, yes those are the covers from the Utopia on the wall. Instead of putting in storage we hanged them there. I think it looks cool and it is quite practical. It is easy to take off to protect the speakers when it is needed.

Besides the esthetic arrangement the distance of the speakers is quite unique. My "imaging freak" friend recommended this setup and it makes a magical experience on a well recorded music. Have any of you played with similar speaker setup?

On a power question: I am trying to clear up glare on the top end. (By the way 3 of the power cords have not been installed, they are on their way. Did not expect this many responses after the post so I put them on the list in advance).
I am considering getting an Equitech 5Q which could source my whole system (5KW) it is running on 208V so could take back to the US. Have you had experience using this unit with high powered amps?

In a short term will "take the bullet" and disconnect my electrical heaters (it is very common heating setup in France and it is summer now) to "create" some dedicated lines (would need more power on those tube amps to heat the house in the winter). I am also about to get some high quality outlets. Will keep you posted (it will take a couple of weeks to do that).

Thanks again for your comments and pls do not hesitate to post your experience.

jfarkas June 07, 2004 16:58