Ooops - Tour three got posted before two.

Well, not much is happening on this floor. Two nice systems. The EDGE is still on the AN speakers - where we are performing some macro-dynamic shock treatments and seriously braking them in, using solid-state so we do not have to waste any tube life on the somewhat contrived process.

Some shots of the Audio Note and Walker turntables. No phono-preamplifier down here yet - so these sit here, appreciated only for their good looks.

The Marten Coltrane loudspeakers [on consignment] on the Lamm ML2.1 and Audio Aero Prestige

It has been foggy and rainy here - I took these yesterday - but today is much the same.

The latest change upstairs is the Audio Note Kegon Balanced 300B-based amplifiers on the Marten Coltrane Supremes. In comparison to the Lamm ML2.1 amplifiers that have been there for about 6 months, the albeit 3X more expensive KB’s are:

1. more dynamic, removing most if not all [that I can hear] of the reticence ceramic drivers have at the peak [most dynamic part] of the notes
2. More bass [we think we have to move the bass towers away from the way - hopefully just an inch or so]
3. More ‘macro’ separation - the instruments are more separated in sound and on the soundstage, micro separation is actually less than with the ML2.1, but this seems more natural [to me] and less artificially ‘etched’
4. More harmonically rich.

So, all in all, the Lamm ML2.1 held up quite well, considering the price differential - but at the same time we were very happy with the improvements we got with the KB’s.

We have been using Nordost ODIN for the crossover-to-amp connection for awhile - although in this case we are using a Cardas single-ended to balanced doohickey that likely degrades the sound - but it will have to do until we get a balanced ODIN interconnect.

We are also using ELROD power cords and Jorma Design PRIME speaker calbe on the main towers and their No.1 [bi-wire… the double run helps improve the bass noticeably] on the bass towers.

Here you can see the fog outside, as well as the KB’s in their enclosures. They look better [I think ] with the tops off of the chassis - but we have been picking up radio frequencies lately - and this seemed to help? [We haven’t heard anything for a day or so].

We are running the Emm Labs CDSA CD player through the Lamm L2 Reference preamplifier. We had out other ODIN interconnect between these two - and it KILLED - but now I think it is back on the back of the Brinkmann Balance turntable - where it also KILLS [though I think as soon as we get our Audio Note PALLAS interconnect back - we will put it on the turntable instead because, although it is not as good when you total up all aspects of the sound as the 4X more expensive ODIN, it is a lot closer to the ODIN - in the turntable spot - than the other cables were to the ODIN on the CDSA -> L2 link].

I am not completely sure that cabling this system with all ODIN [should we be able to afford it - we got that 8 meter run of Valhalla that also needs replacing] would be the best possible sound we could get on this [any] system [although we have lots of evidence that supports this hyposthesis] - but it sure would be nice to try it - and to be able to add in other cables when, if and where necessary for any flavoring that might be required.

The cool-looking equipment racks are the (HRS) Harmonic Resolution System’s SXR [left] and MXR [right]. The SXR is very flexible - and sounds 80-90% as good as the MXR - but the MXR just feels like quality - it is such as pleasure to touch it and be around it [and that extra 10% of performance is definitely worth the higher price in over the top systems - focusing on the turntable first].

The Edge Electronics amps on the Audio Note AN/E SEC Signature speakers actually sounds pretty good [and the AN SOGON bi-wire speaker cable helps some too ] - but the real achievement for us, here, is that we found a positioning of the speakers -in this octagon room - that actually seems to work. Finally. Still needs tweaking - none of the walls are symmetrical, nor are the beams located directly across from each other - so one speaker still seems more forward than the other … but only on certain frequencies! What a pain.

The front-end is Audio Note: the CDT Three transport and DAC 4.1x Balanced. They are running into the baby AN M1 preamplifier which, when our M9 gets here a-n-y d-a-y n-o-w, I want to snarf for my office system to use instead of the Lexicon DC-1 I am using now [for TV and computer]. I anticipate a vast improvement in musicality. Lexicon - phooey. After my $6500 MC-1 died, and it cost more to repair than to buy a used one - and the fact that it did not work right to start with [DTS], and there is no digital in [hello?] - I am happy that I have learned enough about this industry to know what is good value. It does make me spend a lot of time wondering about and analyzing what motivates people [like me] to buy X instead of Y.

Oh, I digress.

The rack is the Rix Rax Grand Hoodoo. The turntables, the Walker and the Audio Note, are not hooked up for some reason. It is always something that needs doing with 4 systems. And we are always running out of what seems like would be the Purrfect power cords and cables for a given situation. ODIN cables seems especially hard to free up around here

The Marten Coltranes loudspeakers, on consignment, on the Lamm ML2.1 amplifiers driven by the Audio Aero Prestige CD/preamplifier. A nice system - but it needs a little optimization - A HRS platform for the Prestige would work wonders, I think, but all 12 are in use elsewhere. The Kharma Mini Exquisites speakers are taking a breather - but can be easily swapped into either of these two systems in this room.

The small system room. We are going to eventually move this system a little higher in the rainbow of high-end audio. Not that we [especially me] do not like this system - but people come here expecting the stars - and they are not [usually] all that interested in the moon.

… here is how they look, well, how they looked a couplea days ago, anyway.

The Lamm ML2.1 are still driving the Marten Coltrane Supremes loudspeakers. That is Nordost ODIN interconnect connecting the amps to the Marten crossover box. We have the Jorma Design PRIME speaker cables on the main towers, and a bi-wire [i.e. double run] of Jorma Design No. 1 speaker cables on the bass towers. The bi-wire run sounds much beefier than the single wire run on the bass towers.

The rack : HRS MXR on the right and SXR on the left. Lots of good good black things here. The Nordost THOR power distributor being the silver outlier [oh, and the Meitner CDSA. That’s what I get for not looking at the photo while I type]

We put the Nordost ODIN on the back of the Brinkmann Balance turntable, connecting it to the Lamm LP2 Deluxe phono stage. In a quick test of the Audio Note PALLAS cables in place of the ODIN - the musicality was very ‘right’ and the soundstaging was more evenly laid out, I thought, but the uber-resolution and detail [I have a hard time writing about details without clarification after that last post ] and uber separation of the ODIN was really awesome. Neil Young sounded edgy AND emotional AND listenable - and if you are a Neil fan [we we are] you know this is the promised land.

That said, at 1/4 the price, the PALLAS is a contender with the big boys hangin’ out in the $10K+ category and these need to be heard if your cables play in these leagues. Good deals in this business don’t stay around for long….

After some optimization, we ended up with a real potpourri of power cords. We got the big ELROD supplying power to the THOR. This really opened up the soundstage and at the same time made the sound more forward [in a good way] and immediate.

Then we have the old Acrolink 7..N.. something [how are we supposed to remember all of these numbers? Kind of like the Acura cars these days. Anybody remember the Legend? That was a name I could remember] running into the Lamm L2 Reference line stage power supply. This added a level of refinement that was juuuuust right.

Let’s see, we have the Valhalla power cord on the Lamm LP2 phono stage and the smaller ELROD on the Emmlabs CDSA. I forget how we got to these and what they contributed. Something good no doubt

Downstairs we have the Kharma Mini Exquisite speakers on the Edge, driven by the Audio Aero Prestige CD/SACD player using Nordost ODIN speaker cables and the Audio Note system at the other end of the room [that was yesterday. Today we moved the Kharma back to the other side of the room for an audition because we are still playing too much with the AN speaker placement in this here non-symmetric octagonal room. Actually we are still struggling with the Kharmas placement too We have just been struggling longer with the Kharmas and are more confident that we are much nearer perfection].

These are our Audio Note SEC Signature speakers on the Audio Note Kegon Balanced amps and Sogon speaker cable.

We still have our little AN M1 Phono preamp in the loop - so sounds are a little muted, and we can’t use balanced cables to the Kegons… but it sounds pretty good and in some ways nothing here sounds better. But… lots of work to do on this system p the upstairs system has been scarfing up all the good power cords and cables and vibration control too, the stingy thing ].

Always one system looks like we are snubbing it… but, hey, we got to face one way or the other - so we will always be treating one of the systems with No Respect… I think all of our systems have a Rodney Dangerfield attitude sometimes….

Closeup of the Edge / Audio Areo.

Finally the smaller system. The system that it is just fun to sit and listen to. We slipped in some SOGON interconnects (about $3K on a system that is about a $15K system) and it sure makes it easy to just hang out and chat. Sometimes we forget that we can chat in the other rooms too

… and system Three has none.

Both RixRax equipment racks are now over on the second system. We wanted the added capability to compare two turntables, two phono stages, and the Audio Note Ongaku to the Kegon Balanced to the Kegon.

We put the Kehon Balanced amps on the Kharma Mini Exquisites.

The tops have been off so we can stare at the internal electronics for awhile But the tops will be back on soon enough… 1) they take up a lot of room just laying around, 2) the safest place for the tops of the chassis is on the chassis, and 3) just to get the aesthetic effect of a system that does not have exposed tubes.

Since our Audio Note M9 Phono preamp is still to arrive, we are using the Audio Note M1 phono preamplifier to drive the Kegon Balanced. We also had the M1 on the Ongaku integrated for awhile, to get a feel for the sound of the M1 in the system that we are so very familiar with.

The M1 is a very nice pre and I, personally, want to keep it here forever. At the price it sells for on Audiogon sometimes, $700, it sounds more like a $5K to 10K pre - and it always surprises me.

All the low-end AN gear surprises me - I keep expecting a more discordant and harsh sound - like the low end of every other line of equipment. But nooooo, this has more harmonics and warmth than the top-of-the-line, which is more neutral and detailed and transparent and realistic.

The end of the rack is now ALFULLY close to the speaker. But we figure the trade-off is worth it - that we can configure some great sounding systems that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to hear.

The Audio Note Kegon Balanced on the Kharma loudspeakers.

The Audio Note Kegon Balanced. On first blush, the M1 pre + Kegon Balanced amps is very, very competitive with the Ongaku integrated amp.

I would say more neutral [OK, nothing has that 211 sound except 211-based tube amps and the Kegons are 300B-based amps] and more transparent - more separation …and solidity?

We’re still listening…

The Soundlab system without a rack looks pretty darn cool itself. The Audio Aero Prestige is sitting on a Rix Rax amp stand.

Yes, that is a Nordost ODIN between the Prestige and Edge Signature One amps.

The Ongaku is now in System Four in Listening Room Three (L3). We haven’t hooked it up yet - this is still a AN Oto integrated-driven system.

Just an update as we finally, for the first time since the lightning strike, have all 4 systems powered up at the same time. A little worrisome… but it is a good feeling.

The main system, with Lamm ML2 amplifiers, Nordost ODIN and Jorma Design Prime and ELROD doing the cabling

Digital for the front end, Audio Note and Lamm.

The Brinkmann Balance turntable is not hooked up, no phono preamp and no shelves, we purloined them for a system downstairs for a bit.

The Kharma system with the Audio Note Ongaku integrated and EMM Labs CDSA SE Upgraded.

The Walker Proscenium Gold Signature turntable - also for sale up on Audiogon. The Audio Note TT3 Reference turntable and Lamm LP2 phono preamplifier.

The Soundlab system driven by the EDGE Signature One amps and Audio Aero Prestige CD/SACD player with linestage.

The little Audio Note system with OTO integrated amp.

[… previously on Audio Federation…]

[… as we return to our story…]

:-)

The Kharma Mini Exquisite speakers [the Lamm ML2.1 amps are out on audition]. At reasonable volumes, this combo is SO seductive.

Sometime we should all have a sit down and talk about what is a reasonable volume. This is probably the area of most divergence among audiophiles, by which I mean some people like it always around 80 - 85 dB and some like it always around 110 dB, and lots like it in between these SPLs. This is a WIDE range, and a system optimized for one level may not necessarily do so great at the other extreme.

The equipment driving the Lamm ML2.1s [The Walker has been moved so that work can be done on the light switches that melted during the lightning strike]

The room from the Kharma’s eye view. Those are the soundlabs in the back there and the red leather command chair in the front.

The equipment driving the Ultimate Soundlabs. Neli set up three digital on this systems: Audio Note, Emm Labs, and Audio Aero for people who want to do a digital player taste test. It is somewhat compromised, everything running through the Audio Aero Capitole CD Player’s built-in preamp, but it does help people understand the CHARACTER of the different player’s sounds.

And the main system upstairs. Still not positioned 100%, as Neli annoyingly reminds me. We just need to play a few dozen records and start the speaker positioning rumba: play, listen, move, listen, move, play something else, repeat.

The 3rd listening room is still a mess: Adagios, our RMAF Audio Note system and rack, trade-in Nolas, DeHavilans, cables galore,…. it is a very expensive Mess.

First off, daughter got successfully married to her first husband (hey, one can’t ignore statistics - or heredity , relatives have come and gone, and time to get back to work….

I’m writing this in Firefox, which has a built in spell checker, so if all goes well my posts will read a little more like English and less like Mikeish.

So… the ro0ms are pretty much the same as they have been…

We have the Kharma Mini Exquisites upstairs waiting to be tried with the Audio Note Ongaku, Driven by the Emm Labs CDSD/DCC2 (the CDSA is out on audition - for those that want transparency and musical truth, this is an amazing deal at $10K, the bar has been raised significantly).

The Mini’s are somewhat hard to drive, so we’ll see if the 25 watt Ongakus do it or not.

The dream system - Marten Coltranes driven by Audio Note Kegon amps and the Audio Note M10 preamp (with an Audio Note digital front end - CDT3 and DAC 4.1x Balanced). We’ve taken most of this system to Rocky Mountain Audio Fest shows - but not with the M10, which adds C-O-N-T-R-O-L. Kind of a Kegon++ type sound. A slightly rounder sound than the Lamm ML2/L2/Coltrane/HRS system/Jorma Prime - our other reference Coltrane system - we might take the former system to CES next year.

The equipment rack. Duh.

The Marten Supremes need to go upstairs - yes - at 300lbs for the bass units (includes the 50lb spikes on the bottom) Neli is pressuring Mike to get the to a gym…. but we might just hire some guys we know - who handled the Triolons several times and will be happy to see that these are REASONABLY-sized speakers for a change.

Finally, out smaller system room. The Audio Aero Prestige CD/SACD player into the Audio Note Otto integrated into Audio Note speakers. Very nice and immediate and uncompressed. Otto still breaking in though….

The closeup view…

We moved the Marten Coltrane Supreme speakers over to in front of the Soundlab U1 speakers and the Marten Coltrane loudspeakers over behind the Kharma Mini Exquisite speakers. The ‘Supremes’ are slowly making their way upstairs.

The Marten Coltrane Supreme speakers driven by Lamm ML2.1 amps and Lamm L2 preamp. Source is the Brinkmann Balance turntable with Lyra Titan cartridge and Audio Aero Prestige CD / SACD player / linestage.

The system sounds good - at the volumes we play it at (i.e. below 100 dB) the bass tower’s rear-firing ports did not seem affected by the proximity of the SoundLab speakers. The main towers, being sealed, also did not have too many adverse affects [we still need to move the bass towers farther back, away from the front of the main towers - which improves imaging significantly].

The thing about these speakers, which has been unexpected, is how ‘intimate sounding’ they are. Unlike most (all?) other speakers that produce a large soundstage, which have a somewhat dominating influence, distancing the musicans from the here and now in some way that is hard to explain right now - the listening experience here is more like listening to monitors. Like the musicians are playing music Just For Me.

Still don’t know what to make of this - or whether other people will appreciate this or not. But there is a lot more ‘affection’ for the music in this context - it is much more approachable.

On the other side of the room, behind the listening chairs, is the now sparsely settled showroom 2 with the Marten Coltranes waiting behind the Khamra Minis. This will be the configuration we will use, along with a pair of Audio Note speakers standing by, when the ‘Supremes’ make it all the way upstairs into the big showroom #1.

The main listening room is the same as last week, with the Audio Note Ongaku driving the Audio Note AN/E SEC Signature speakers, but with the Emm Labs CDSD / DCC2 SE digital as source replacing the Audio Aero Prestige, which has moved downstairs…

This room did experience a major amp shootout, more in the next post about that…

The showroom #4 is also the same, with the Kharma MP150 amps driving the Audio Note speakers, which at 98 dB are very eifficient… with the Audio Aero Capitole CD player / linestage as source, this system sounds really good. I’d like to hear any other digital amp, or most solid-state amps for that matter, do that.

Showroom 2 has seen lots of changes…

First we had the Emm Labs CD / SACD player with built-in linestage driving the Audio Note Kegons into the Kharma Mini Exquisite loudspeakers. THAT was nice…

The we moved the Meitner upstaitrs on to the Ongaku (can you say transparency? separation? purity albeit not as warm and enaging as the Audio Aero Prestige, but more convincing. So many flavors.) and did the front end with the Audio Note DAC 4.1x Balanced and CDT3 transport and M10 preamplifier.

Much more control and control and, uh, control. Everything was as it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, the 18 watt Kegons have found their first speaker that they just could not get the hang of - at loud volumes - and we’ve driven just about everything here with the Kegons except the soundlabs. The 18 watt Lamm ML2.1 also has problems with controlling the Kharma speakers at loud volumes. Based on what we have found, they really sound best, if you want them to go loud, with the Edge Signature One and Kharma’s own amps (the MP 150) if you want transparency and openness and control, and the Lamm ML1.1, a 90 watt push-pull tube amplifier, if you want tube musicality and openness and control.

We have yet to try the all powerful Ongaku at 25 watts on these though…. Maybe tomorrow?

For showroom 3, which is in the same room as showroom 2, we have…

The Soundlabs taking a break, but not the Marten Design Coltrane speakers, Lamm L2 preamp, LP2 phono stage and Brinkmann turntable / Titan cartridge. Audio Aero Prestige is performing digital source duties.

This is one of our favorite systems. However…

We had to position the Coltranes in front of the Soundlab U1. Impromtu but it seems to work pretty well. I mean, needs lots of trweaking - but we think it will work! The Coltranes like being close to the front wall, and the Soundlabs are kind of a wall…

Now Neli wants to move the Supremes over here on this side of the room [and in front of the Soundlabs!?] , as the dedicated circuits on the other side seem like they are picking up FM radio, secret transmissions from Mars, and other weirdness on several different systems that have lived down at that side of the room.

I now think it is ghosts.

But Neli, if her expression is any indicator, thinks otherwise.

… have seen us iterate through a lot of different systems…

Main room with Acoustic Zen Adagio and Audio Note AN-E SEC Signature speakers and Ongaku amplifier, driven by Audio Aero Capitole

Listening room 2 with Marten Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers driven by Audio Note Ongaku amplifier and EmmLabs digital front end.

A close up of the components. This is the whole system, these 4 components. Nice and tidy for a change…

However, though this system reached a level of musicality and approached the sound that we are looking for this system have - it was too bizarre having two preamps in the loop, the preamp in the Ongaku serving to try and match the SPLs of the midrange to that of the bass amplifiers. It worked, but…. We might try this again - but for now….

… we changed this, we now have the Lamm ML1.1 push-pull amplifers on the Supremes.

… which will chaneg for an audition tomorrow, assuming they can get up the driveway and up the stairs - which is not a given anymore with this Monther of all Winters the world has on its hands.

Back upstairs again, after the unphotograhed step with the Acoustic Zen Adagios being driven by the Audio Aero Capitole amplifier…

We got the Audio Note Ongaku amplifier driving the Audio Note AN-E SEC Signature speakers, with the Audio Aero Prestige as front end this time. We spread the speakers wider apart also, to see just how wide a soundstage we could get and possibly get some reinforcement from the nearby wall and horns

But in either position, the Audio Note speakers filled the room nicely. The midrange even approached the capability of the big horns to fill the room, and the bass - once the horns are gone we can try to position the little guys much closer to the wall - the bass is decent and satisfying but does not match the 4 x 10 inch woofers in a sealed cabinet… yet.

In fact, we will likely have 3 kinds of bass in this room: the big relaxed bass of the horns [no we will not mention their brand name - they can do their own marketing for a change], the ultra accurate and ultra powerful bass of the Marten Coltrane Supremes, and the very natural sounding, horn-like bass of the Audio Notes. How cool is that!!!

We’re going to have to post sometime about how it is not about what is ‘best’, but about is most ‘insidious’, and particulary, the number of ways it can be configured to be ‘insidious’. Insidious in that it produces a sound that gets into your head and just takes over.

The Audio Note U.K. Kegons amplifiers are on the Kharma Mini Exquisites, with the Lamm L2 preamplifier and Audio Note digital front end (and Audio Aero Capitole as well, in shootout formation). We then put the Kegons on top of HRS platforms, which is how it sits tonight.

Tomorrow we may get a chance to put the Mini Exquisite speakers over on the Supreme system in an all Audio Note configuration - with the Kegons to start, and Ongaku later if our snow shoveling arms hold out.

Finally, we have the system in listening room 3, area #4, with the little Audio Note speakers with the Kharma MP150 amps driving them, the Audio Aero Capitole serving as CD player and preamp.

Kind of a hodge podge system as we are in the process of breaking in the speakers - but it sounds darn good….! Neli likes it and her office is across the way. These are high-efficiency speakers and they reveal that the 1st watt of the Kharma amps is really quite good sounding, regardless of it being solid-state, digital in fact.