lucy in the sky

by kevn on
The ABL sursum 50A circuit breaker, one each for three dedicated lines - the first feeding the main power distributor, second for the distributed bass array subwoofers, and the last for the field coil speaker power supply, together with linear power supplies for satellite router., taiko dedicated router, and switch.
Ansus Mainz X distributor with quad bank of verifi audio puron conditioners, feeding the Swiss digital fuse boxes for farad super3 power supplies powering the modem and mother router on top shelf.
Custom holster for the SA-tt7 distributor - the C19 main power supply connector is secured to its port with a customised Furutech NCF booster bracket.
Power bank with custom brass clamp system to anchor connectors to their ports.
The nest of power cables - upper half fed from the SA-tt7 for all primary signal related equipment, and the lower half fed from two Furutech unfiltered distributors for field-coil driver power supply and subwoofer distributed array.
Incoming signal platform, above the main power bank - with satellite router, dc power distributor, and accompanying farad linear power supplies, each fed by swiss digital fuse boxes - as with all other cabling, no power or signal cable comes into contact with any other cable.
ASus mesh Wi-Fi satellite router with Farad super3 linear power supply sitting on a separate custom isolation platform strung between plywood cabinet sides. A farad super3 also powers the taiko dc distributor back of the shelf.
Taiko switch and router connected by generic DAC cables and the laboga ruby Ethernet cable to the asus satellite router, sitting top of the rack and fed by laboga dc power cables.
Upper tier rack rear - no two wires or cables come into contact with each other anywhere on the rack.
Mid tier shelf with CAD GC3.1 for earth grounds located between transport above and preamp below.
Lower tier rack rear - the shelf between the upper pre and lower amp houses another CAD GC3.1 between for signal grounds, power supply for WVL Son speaker, and external battery supply for preamp sitting atop. No two grounding wires, power and interconnect cables are touching, and are in complete isolation of everything else, from port to port, the simple advantage of a vertical stack in cable organisation.
Swiss digital fuse box plugged to taiko server.
The swiss digital fuse box plugged into the DAC - a basic adaptor connects the two components. An audiophile specced and designed adaptor would clearly better sound quality, but the immense gain already achieved just by switching in the sluggo presents convincing argument of the bottleneck the traditional fuse has always been suspected of, rendering the effects of all other connection interfaces secondary, in comparison.
Customised Furutech NCF power connector support booster for preamp external battery supply.
Rear cabling of rack - vertical racking draws the weight of all the equipment to just four points for mass damping, to side benefit of optimal cable management and avoidance of the classic snake pit - all cabling is suspended with no two in contact at any point - rubber tipped steel arms help drape the cables apart.
Customised perforated shelving with sandwiched plywood damping on vertically sprung isolation.
Side of vertical racking system, designed to be lifted off the floor on industrial retractable wheels and trundled back then lowered away from rear of right speaker.
Amp atop the custom base mass damper made of 10mm thick plywood compressed between 12mm and 4mm thick steel plates and supported by six revopod isolation feet. The vertical stack configuration finds greater harmonic equilibrium fully loaded in a single area of just four feet rather than horizontally spread out, with the base mass damper working in conjunction with the mass of the server at the top to minimise vibration transference and/or instability.
The rack base with the now retired Townshend seismic isolation corners.
The rack was previously supported by Townshend seismic isolation corners that were pushing the limits of their load carrying capacity. The current wellfloat deltas take the close to thousand kiloton load of the vertical rack with greater ease.
Wellfloat delta isolation bases have replaced the seismic corners to noticeable effect on refinement to soundfield and dynamics.
The vertical stack beginning with the server at the top, with equipment arranged from top to bottom in the direction of the signal path. The the server delivers better sound quality further away from the floor and ground plane, in being used at the crown of the rack as a mass damper for the tall vertical stack.
The now retired Foshan produced LM125 and LM129.
Left speaker rear with WVL son in place, tellurium black diamond jumpers; supra subwoofer cabling/connectors attached
Custom speaker cable and speaker power cable lifters. The power cable for the speaker field coil drivers are loosely slung under the speaker cable by means of zip ties.
isolation platform for previous cube nenuphars.
Previous room uncorrected nearfield listening with now retired cube nenuphar speakers.
WVL SON set up - centreline of drivers are 2.4m (8’0”) apart with listening position 1.85m (6’2”) from plane of drivers. There are four subwoofers in a distributed bass array - two each placed in front of, and behind the listening position, all completely asymmetrically to the layout of the main speakers and to each other.
The listening room is irregularly shaped, entirely open to the right, with the heavy curtain draped left wall about three feet away from the left speaker.
WVL Son right speaker rear - the spec steel screws for the passive diffuser rim were replaced with softer brass bolts for firmer bite and greater resistance to corrosion from tropical humidity. Tellurium Q black diamond jumpers under test.
The power supply for the field coil driver WVL Chicago has been located in a vented cabinet equidistant between the speakers for greater ease of separation with the speaker cables, and with close proximity to the dedicated and unfiltered main power outlets.
WVL Chicago set up - same location as the SON, but with listening position set three inches back, with less toe-in for the lower bass modules, and with the midrange/AMT module angled to point directly at the listening position.
Nearfield listening with field-coil driver dipole speakers simulates realism unlike anything else.
Listening space relative proportions from above.
Front view of right speaker - the elac omni-directional tweeter sits on a custom brass armature, mounted onto the four threaded holes of the speaker base originally intended for its proprietary feet. The entire assembly sits on townshend isolation podiums to effect of more fleshed out realism and incisive bass.
The top-mounted acrylic surround framing the mid range woofer and Mundorf air motion tweeter. The Elac omnidirectional tweeter sits on the inside of each speaker.
The elac ribbon tweeter along the inside face of the main right speaker - its twin knobs adjust for sensitivity and crossover. Fed from main speaker cables by Lavricables master line silver jumpers. The tweeter is isolated from its plinth by three audio-technica brass isolation feet with polymer-based contact pads.
Inakustik pure silver jumper cables to the elac tweeter fed off the main speaker cables through the lessloss speaker firewalls.
Junctions between speaker binding posts, lessloss speaker firewalls and subwoofer taps; and main speaker cables with the spade receiving end of the firewalls, and the omni tweeter silver jumpers.
Knurled brass locking bolt head of the elac tweeter support frame. The frame is braced on either side of the main speaker by way of a brass tongue sandwiched between the upper and lower side frame plates, and against the recessed brass fastening screws of the main speaker top plate.
The brass side frame arms of the ribbon tweeter support has been designed to resist the twisting moment of the cantilevered weight it carries, with a sandwich construction on the side mid-spans to secure a notched tongue against the recessed bolt holding the main speaker steel top to the audio frame body of the WVL
Side support arm of the omnidirectional tweeter frame - four bolts lock the sandwiched plate to the flat shoulder brass plates.
Rear of speaker showing custom brass support frame for elac tweeter mounted on rear inside arm of the WVL speaker plinth.
Underside of the tweeter plinth - designed with both rotation and a locking swivel support arm to fine tune the tweeter location, the plinth also incorporates an adjustable tail lift to support heavier jumper cables.
With rear panels in place for downtime.
With rear panels removed for listening sessions
Exposed rear of Chicagos showing the three massive field coil drivers, with the lessloss speaker firewalls sitting between speaker binding posts and speaker cable.
Mid woofer field-coil driver with crossover plate seated just beneath.
Lower bass woofer module and audio frame base seated on townshend isolation podiums. The custom brass frame support for the elac tweeter utilises the threaded holes originally intended for the proprietary WVL speaker feet for attachment and mounting.
customised tri-columned foot for each corner of the elac tweeter frame - triangulating the foot allows for a central screw-bolted connection to the stock WVL speaker base.

Description

My second digital system began as an experiment to see how much I could better the sound quality of the first. It will forever be in a constant state of evolution. With foundational knowledge that power means everything in a good set up, I put all my effort into getting right what I didn’t with the first system - power and connection. The ‘boxes’ had to be obviously well matched, but the primary task at hand was everything else that brought power to the boxes and connected them. I wanted to do as little as possible with room acoustics by way of panels and/or active digital systems which would manipulate the signal for room correction, without sacrifice to sound quality, to which my nearfield listening position, and the atypical irregularity of my listening room helps greatly. All exposed walls in front of the plane of the speaker driver’s were treated to thick drapes on tracks (curtains basically) in order to create a wide range of different sound absorption configurations. The listening room is eccentrically rectangular, with practically no right side wall, and the left side enclosure begins three feet away behind the left speaker, then drops back to five feet in front of the plane of the driver. The speakers are placed with drivers six feet from the front wall, eight feet (2.4m) apart, with the listening position  seven feet (2.1m) equidistant from each driver. The back wall sits six feet (1.8m) from the listening position. The ceiling is almost ten feet high, with the full height drapes on tracks along the close left side wall and across the back wall reducing the amount of morning light coming into the space, while allowing for adjustability with unwanted reflections.

The audio rack is a custom mobile steel vertical frame for ease of complete cable isolation, with retractable wheels and Wellfloat delta isolating feet to handle a kiloton of weight. Low frequency independently sprung plinths made from 6mm perforated sheet steel damped in a 6mm and 10mm plywood sandwich create thin vertically isolated shelves, while the CMS footers under each piece of equipment takes care of high frequency horizontal vibrations.

A great variety of different streamers, servers, dacs, amplifiers, preamplifiers, isolation products, power distributors and cables have passed through this system, for extended comparative listening sessions.

More vital than how the system sounds now, is the way my listening abilities have developed over the past years. 
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 18’ × 26’  Large
Ceiling: 10’

Components Toggle details

    • Wolf von langa wvl 23239 Chicago
    Field-coil-dipole bass/midrange drivers with 1608cm2 cone area / dipole silk paper field-coil midrange driver / custom mundorf dipole air motion transformer / adjustable stereo base width  and time alignment at listening position / 95db sensitivity / 35hz to 25khz frequency range. Townshend isolation podium base with customised integrated omni-directional tweeter support brass frame.
    • Wolf von langa wvl 12639 SON
    Field coil bass/midrange driver with passive cone and dipole air motion transformer / 93db efficiency / 25hz to 25khz frequency range / Townshend podium isolation.
    • Tellurium Q Black diamond speaker jumper cables
    For the biwire speaker binding posts of the SON
    • Cube Audio Nenuphar (retired)
    stock single driver full range TQWT floor standers - 92dB sensitivity / 30Hz to 18kHz frequency range / custom isolation stainless steel frame. An amazingly coherent speaker with nuance and resolution of mids but lacking critical balance of the entire frequency range.
    • Tekton Design Moab (retired)
    With beryllium tweeter. The classic ‘wall of sound’ speaker type, with cabinet colourations added to every track to the result of homogenised effect. Terrific depth of bass, to quite the lack of nuance.
    • Townshend Audio Seismic Isolation Podiums
    Size 3 / E cells for WVL Chicago
    Size 2 / D cells for WFL Son

    The best ever speaker isolation platforms.
    • IsoAcoustic gaia isolation feet with customised speaker isolation platforms IsoAcoustics GAIA (retired)
    Speaker isolation for the nenuphars had to be customised because the speaker employs passive downward porting for its bass frequencies, with a back tilt for greater bass impact to the front of the speaker - with clear gaps of 40 to 41mm at the front and 5 to 6mm at the rear of the speaker base to the floor, it was not possible to use any isolation products just off-the-shelf: regular OEM feet would have just raised the speakers a level height off the floor, ignoring the designed back tilt of the speaker for wave throw and something like the Townshend podiums would have put a damped platform right where a solid floor surface was planned to be for the downward exiting low frequency waves. The customised platforms are made of 6mm thick stainless steel and plate, cut and welded to design in order to be lift each speaker to it’s designed angled height off the floor surface, in tandem with three Gaia 1’s for each speaker, calibrated and matched by weight of speaker to Isoacoustic’s specifications. The jump in sound quality, of natural and dynamic timbre throughout, nuance of bass, and fleshy rather than ‘wet’ realism, was unexpected and gladly welcomed.
    • Lessloss C-Marc loudspeaker firewall
    These little skin filters sit between loudspeaker cable and speaker binding posts to help eliminate high frequency noise pollution from the signal. Counterintuitive as it may seem, having added  points of contact along the final part of the signal chain, these small tubes of tech create a subtle but clear lowering of the noise floor, lifting the music to greater clarity and air.
    • Siltech Cables Royal triple crown speaker cable
    These cables brought a significant change to the realism of sound in my system - a small bottleneck cleared to allow more upstream to come through. I have not heard such change to sound balance or realism in any cable regardless of cost, as I have in the siltech triple crown cables. The Nordost Odin Gold come close, but are let down by a subtle exaggeration to the high frequencies, besides being a handful to route and handle. The only other speaker cable I would consider, the siltech aside, would be the Inakustik LS-4004 pure silver cable, the best performance for money I know of.

    Custom cable lifters made from plastic subsoil drainage piping and zip ties.
    • Tellurium Q silver diamond speaker cables (retired)
    stock locking banana connectors with custom plastic cable lifters made from flexible subsoil drainage piping and zip-ties.

    Good all round cable, but in final estimate, not worth the cost over the super affordable duelund v2 speaker cable.
    • Silversmith Audio Fidelium speaker cables (retired)
    These cables were originally used between the AS125 211 amp and the Tekton Moabs, followed by the Cube Nenuphars and then the WVL Son speakers, in all cases to a loss of balance in the low frequencies. The cables are decent value for the money, but lack authority and nuance of bass.
    • Duelund Coherent Audio V2 speaker cables (retired)
    Where the silversmith fideliums lack control over bass frequencies, the duelunds fail to bring life to the highest frequencies.
    • Elac 4Pi omni-directional tweeter
    The little elac tweeter was chosen on account of its 360 degree ribbon driver. Many super-tweeters feature considerably more focused dispersion, with the Arya Audio Airblade topping out at 180 degrees, to effect that they compete with the tweeter/s of the main speaker instead of performing the role of subtle augmentation, being the primary idea behind the typology - in many cases, the Airblade itself functions best when turned away from the listening position for its benefits to be best heard as reflections off the front wall. The disadvantage with super-tweeters has been the inevitable strength of the high frequency sound wave emitted over its narrower dispersion band. Not so with the Elac 4Pi - with its fully omni-directional wave dispersion diffusing the intensity of the signal, the elac delivers the most nuanced rendering to the space and air of each recording in a manner as seamless as if it came from the main speakers. The timbre of strings from violin and guitar especially, take on truly palpable realism.

    The tweeter sits on a custom frame integrated with the main speaker base, with lateral support from the audio frame of the WVL speaker. The tweeter frame has been fabricated from brass for the relative dampness of the material in relation to the required strength, and has been designed to be retrofitted or removed independently of the main speaker itself. The assembly for the tweeter frame is incremental, beginning with the level adjustable feet screw-bolted to the existing threaded holes originally intended for the proprietary feet supplied with the main speaker. The main speaker together with tweeter support frame thus rest on the same speaker base, with the entire assembly seated on the Townsend isolation podiums.
    • Inakustik LS1205 silver air speaker jumper cables
    The Inakustik line of silver cables have consistently been found to be the best value for performance through listening comparison with many others. In this particular case, by a wide margin. Connecting the elac tweeters to their respective channels via the main speaker cable junctions to the lessloss speaker firewalls, the LS1205 cables were customised with black sleeving instead of the standard white throughout, rendering them indistinguishable from the air copper cables. Sound quality from this addition is extraordinary - for inexplicable reasons, the realism of decay with piano strikes, strong instruments, the resonant air in whatever venue the track was recorded in, everything comes to life with the cables put to the omni-directional tweeters.
    • Lavricables Master line v2 silver speaker jumper cables (retired)
    These cables replaced the omega mikro flat cables to considerably greater realism in spatial texture and detail - its sound quality to cost value is extremely high.
    • Omega Mikro Ebony speaker jumper cables (retired)
    Connecting between speaker binding posts and Elac 4Pi omni-directional tweeter, these were the first cables used for the function. Far from the best value for their performance, fragility and durability aside.
    • Rythmik Audio F12SE subwoofers
    Four F12SE servo-assisted subwoofers in an asymmetrically configured distributed bass array. Fed from pure silver power cords from lavricables and supra subwoofer signal cables split wired from the high level signal path of the speaker binding posts. The subwoofers sit on basic douk audio spring isolation feet for the high amplitude vibrations experienced by low frequency excursions inherent in subwoofer drivers, which neither revopods, isoacoustic apertas, or other subwoofer specific solutions were able to tame. Currently working on an idea that will incorporate Townshend audio sprung isolation.
    • Lavricables Grand line power cables
    For each of four subwoofers.
    • darTZeel NHB-108 MKII amplifier
    With CMS 2m isolation, this amp delivers a midrange and upper ranges with a realism I’ve not heard in any other amplifier. While its performance with bass frequencies may not be the very best, it still holds its place as one of the most balanced amplifiers available at any price.
    • Line Magnetic AS125 tube amplifier (retired)
    18W 211 SET power amp - NOS RCA 211 power tubes / NOS Sylvania 6SN7 drivers (80s) / NOS Telefunken 12AX7 input tubes (80s) / / Hifi Tuning supreme fuses

    The amplifier that began and tuned the journey of my second system was also ultimately what held it back, it’s western electric based hand-wound transformer insufficiently coiled to deliver the highest frequencies for timbre and air.
    • Kinki Studio EX-M7 power stereo amplifier
    This amp may not be in current use in the system, but of all the tube and solid state amps tested and demoed in my system, it represented the powerful equation between value and cost so well, it stayed while others were returned. In relation to everything the best amplifiers do, which is to get out of the way of the signal in merely amplifying it, this little black box may lack refinement in the mid and higher frequencies as compared with the Dartzeel NBH-108 model2, but I almost all other aspects, walks among the best. Armed with its internal fuse replaced with a solid rod of graphene, equivalent in a sense to the magnetic circuit breaker the Dartzeel amplifier employs, the kinki amp takes a leap up in sound quality very, very close to levels usually the domain of Pilium and the Swiss amp army.
    • Arya acoustics Revopod isolation
    six in total for isolating the base mass damper the amplifier sits on.
    • Western Electric NOS RCA pink-sleeved twin-braid cables
    with ETI research silver link banana RCA connectors and pink cotton dielectric between preamp and amp.

    These affordable interconnects brought balance of midrange realism, nuance of low frequencies, fullness of bass depth and an uncanny sense of space to the soundfield, over and beyond the zeel 50ohm interconnects, uncomfortable as it sounds.
    • darTZeel 50ohm interconnect (retired)
    sitting between the preamp and amp.

    Aside from a very high level of performance in the realism of midrange and soundfield, these interconnects bring a high degree of nuance to the lower frequencies, trading off only the final bit of grunt to bass depth.
    • darTZeel NHB-18 NS mk2 preamplifier
    With CMS 2m isolation.
    • Line Magnetic AS129 preamplifier (retired)
    tube preamplifier - NOS RCA 6J7 amplification tubes (70s) / NOS RCA 274 (5U4) rectification tube (80s) / Hifi Tuning supreme fuses

    This preamplifier, cost for value, was easily one of the best components in the system, doing everything preamplification is supposed to do. Everything else levelled in my listening space, it came close to equalling the Pilium Ares preamplifier at close to five times its cost, with A/B listening required before the strengths of the Pilium could be identified over the LM129.
    • Siltech Cables Royal triple crown XLR interconnects
    Together with the siltech triple crown speaker cable; an amazing lift to realism of sound in my system.
    • Western Electric NOS RCA braided cables (retired)
    with ETI research brio rhodium-plated banana RCA connectors between DAC and preamp.

    A component level of an interconnect cable in this specific system, specifically between the DAC and preamplifier. It elevates sound quality to realism in body and air. Its effectiveness between the preamp and amp varies depending on specifications of each, working qualitatively better for solid state rather than tube amplification.
    • Ansuz Acoustics P2 RCA interconnects (retired)
    Between DAC and preamplifier.
    • WADAX SA Atlantis DAC
    current reference DAC with CMS 2m isolation. 

    Compared in the same listening space with a large variety of other DACs of multiple price points, the wadax atlantis possesses a degree of realism unparalleled by almost all others. It is more realistic than the stock MSB select II DAC in every aspect of timbre, soundfield, mid range, nuance and control of bass, bettered only in the highest frequencies and finest details. The select II exhibits better soundstage when running on XDMS, but even so, is unable to keep up with the depth of realism with the wadax on roon, which it’s architecture was built around and upon as a foundation.
    • Siltech Cables double royal crown USB (retired)
    The monocrystalline silver double crown replaced the laboga ruby USB for a month, until it became apparent its gains in nuanced bass and heightened air was too marginal to make up for lack of overall balance and loss of realism in the mid range.
    • Holo Audio May KTE DAC (retired)
    stock - previous reference DAC.
    • Computer Audio Design CAD USB filter (retired)
    Connecting laboga USB cable to DAC.
    • Laboga Ruby USB cable
    Connecting taiko extreme server to DAC, the laboga ruby is the most balanced USB cable heard in the system. Coupled with its mid range frequency nuance and magic outdid the others, including range topping cables from black cat, jorma, salon audio, nordost, argento, and siltech.
    • Sablon Audio Reference USB Cable (retired)
    Connecting between server and DAC.
    • Computer Audio Design USB II-r cable (retired)
    Connecting between server and DAC
    • Tellurium Q Silver diamond USB cable (retired)
    Connecting server to DAC.
    • Tara Labs Digital ism AES cable
    Connecting PS Audio transport to DAC.
    • PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream Memory Player.
    with CMS 2m isolation. Fed with the Furutech v1 power cable, the transport performs at a shocking high level, even if not with the same refinement or realism as the extreme server/wadax DAC combo.
    • Taiko audio SGM Extreme server
    With CMS 2m isolation.
    • Auralic Aries G2.1 (retired)
    stock wifi streamer - much better externally streamed with ASus mesh satellite router with Farad super 3 linear power supply. No difference in sound quality hardwired, with or without audiophile switches and Ethernet noise reduction bandaids.
    • Critical Mass Systems Centre stage 2m footers
    For server, DAC and power supply, preamplifier, amplifier, and transport.
    • Taiko Audio Switch and network card
    Connected between Taiko router and extreme server with 0.5m DAC cables.
    • Laboga Ruby Ethernet cable
    Connecting satellite router to taiko router, and between taiko switch and taiko extreme.
    • Taiko Audio Router / dc power distributor
    connecting between ASus router and taiko switch with 1.2m sablon audio ethernet cable and 0.5m DAC cable.
    • Laboga 5.5/2.5 dc power cables
    Feeding taiko switch and router.
    • ASUS Computer International Zenwifi ax6600 satellite and mother routers
    Each fed by Farad super 3 linear power supplies with custom silver power cabling and sablon audio Ethernet cables to stock network supplier modem.
    • Chord Company Groundaray
    Twelve groundaray bullets plugged into the unused terminals/ports of various pieces of equipment - three into LAN ports of modem and two routers; two into USB ports of server; three into BNC and RCA ports of DAC; and four into RCA and XLR ports of preamp. The groundarays make the greatest difference to sound quality plugged into source equipment, removing haze and all the edge that characterise noise. Are passive grounding solutions such as the CAD grounding boxes and these groundarays better than active solutions with their connections to power outlets? Time will tell.
    • Sablon Audio Ethernet cable
    For connections between modem and ASus mother router.
    • Computer Audio Design GC3.1
    One each for signal and earth ground cables, with a combination of CAD and Bibacord ground cabling.
    • Swiss Digital fuse box 240V - 10A / 4A / 3.15A / 2A / 0.8A / 0.5A
    The little device that will fundamentally change how electrical protection systems for audiophile equipment are designed, has replaced the traditional fuses in my server, DAC, and all farad super3 linear power supplies for my modem, routers, and switch. Another serves the power supply for the field coil drivers of the WVL speakers, with four more for each subwoofer in the distributed bass array. The swiss digital fuse box is the single greatest value for cost addition to my system.

    Prior to the final configuration of fuse boxes in my system, they were tested on all downstream equipment which employed fuses that could be replaced. The effect on these yielded better sound quality than any power cord change, but not as dramatic an improvement as with their effect on source equipment, meaning from the DAC and everything else before that, including linear power supplies for switches, routers and modem. The effect on the modem and mother router was almost equal to that of the server.

    Above and beyond power supply being the most vital part of any sound system, the swiss digital fuse box has shown it is specifically on power supply to source equipment that creates the greatest difference to the dynamics, timbre, and realism of sound depth, more than any other part of the signal chain in a digital audio system, with just one significant exception. The preamplifier in my system is the Dartzeel nhb18ns, which employs an external battery power supply. This being the case, I did not think the replacement of its fuse with a sluggo would be of any consequence whatsoever. I was wrong. From initial belief that source equipment benefitted most from the digital fuse box, I was stunned to hear the tremendous effect on the sound depth and timbre of realism brought by the graphene sluggo in the mere battery power supply of the preamp. The fuse within the pre has not been replaced with a digital fuse box and sluggo because it’s battery supply is hardwired to the pre, and the fuse within will require opening up the pre to replace - leading to more difficulty than I am willing to currently endure. But the experiment would indeed be one to attempt some day.

    The set up currently has graphene sluggos in the server and DAC, the external battery power supply for the preamp, all linear power supplies for the modem, routers and switch, and rhodium coated tellurium sluggos for the subwoofers.
    • Farad Super 3 linear power supplies
    With custom level 2 silver cabling and fuses replaced with graphene coated sluggos, for power feed to taiko dc power distributor, modem and mother/satellite routers.
    • Puron 240v line conditioner
    These are plugged into three sets of power distributors - five into the distributor powering two Farad super3 linear power supplies for the modem/mother router front end; one for the first shielded and unfiltered distributor for the subwoofers and Farad LPS for the satellite Wi-Fi router; and four more into the second shielded and unfiltered wall outlet feeding the power cables for the preamp and Furutech power vault unfiltered distributor.
    • Furutech Project v1 cables
    Connecting Furutech power vault unfiltered distributor to amplifoer, CD transport, and linear power supplies for the asus satellite router and taiko dc distributor.
    • Inakustik AC-4005 air reference power cable
    Currently connecting Furutech power vault distributor to dedicated e-TP609 ncf wall outlet, and between distributor to preamplifier, server, and DAC. This cable performs at a level equal to and exceeding range topping power cables from Ansus, Nordost, and Siltech.
    • Inakustik AC-4004 air reference power cable (retired)
     Formerly feeding amplifier and dc distributor for the taiko switch and router.
    • Ansuz Acoustics C2 power cable
    stock power cords between power vault distributor and power supply for field coil speakers.
    • Shunyata Research Alpha NR V2 power cable (retired)
    For connection between Furutech wall outlet and preamp external battery power supply.
    • Lavricables Grand power cable
    For power connection to all subwoofers.
    • Synergistic Research Powercell SX (retired)
    With all components previously connected except for the power amplifier high voltage input and the preamplifier. This power distributor was disappointing.
    • Synergistic Research SRX power cable (retired)
    Connecting the powercell to the Furutech shielded wall outlet.
    • Furutech power vault - shielded/unfiltered distributor
    The power vault has outperformed the 240v SA-TT7, no easy feat. Together with the Inakustik 4005 power cable feeding it, the uplift to power delivery was sufficiently distinct not to require A/B listening in comparison with the SA-TT7 in the system. The power vault currently sits in its wall mounted custom isolated holster bracket.
    • Sound Application SA-TT7 240v (retired)
    Almost everything we speak about in reference to the sound from our speakers, be it timbre, nuance, pitch, accuracy and balance of frequency range, ‘air’, soundstage or ‘musicality’ is due to one thing only - completeness of depth of field; from a global sense of what is perceived in width or placement of voice and instrument in a quartet or entire orchestra, to the smallest detail of human voice in its journey from throat to the particular way it emerges from the space of each unique mouth, or the specific character of fretwork a guitarist is able to pull from the sounding hole of his or her instrument - accuracy and completeness in the reproduction of depth of field and nuanced dynamics in audio playback is what characterises realism in sound quality. In both depth of field and dynamics, the SA-TT7 does it better than anything else I have ever heard my system plugged into…..until the Furutech power vault.
    • Furutech #1 and #2 e-TP609 NCF unfiltered AC Power Distributor
    with internally rewired CB10 cabling enhanced with NPS1260 contact fluid, installed as a six plug wall power banks with Furutech NCF booster bracing for all outlets; and hardwired to the house mains distribution panel with Furutech CB10 10 gauge wiring to a 50amp circuit breaker.
    • Wellfloat Delta isolation base - 20mm height
    Four isolation bases for each leg of the tower audio rack. The one kiloton capacity of the deltas have replaced four Townshend seismic isolation corners that were barely holding up to the extreme load of the rack.

Comments 4

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Owner
Sorry, I’d meant to say, the seventh was for replacement of all fuses for the farad super3 power supplies to the modem, mother/satellite routers, and dedicated taiko extreme router and switch. 🙏🏻

kevn

Owner
Thanks for your kind words, lalitk : ) - don’t wait any longer, just add one to your server first! 

zlone, there are seven additions/changes I made to my system that stand out above all others in almost equal proportion, in relation to greatest lift in sound quality. The first was the Taiko extreme server. The second was my change of speaker cables to the siltech triple crown. Third would be the addition of the wolf von Langa Chicago speakers. The fourth was addition of the Taiko router and power distributor to the signal chain. Fifth and sixth would have been the replacement of the fuses in the taiko extreme server and wadax Atlantis dac. And the seventh was the total effect of replacing all the fuses in my farad super3 linear power supplies with the Swiss digital fuse box.

The fifth, sixth and seventh tweaks were the most unexpected and shocking of the lot. And, obviously, the most value for dolllar, in comparison the first four which were magnitudes of cost greater than the fuse boxes. I believe the fuse boxes mark the beginning of what will be the biggest developments and changes to equipment protection technology in the years to come. 😉

kevn

Very, very cool. Does any category of tweak stand out as having the greatest impact?

zlone

@kevn Beautiful well thought out system. I really admire your attention to the detail. Still on fence with Swiss fuse box, may be someday :-)

lalitk

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