Some photos:

The tops are now on the new Audio Note Kegon Balanced amps. Even with the old $700 used M1 serving as preamplifier, these amps are killer. Very controlled. Very perfect. Like the Nordost ODIN interconnect, it can be hard to find any flaws [we try, it is our job to try, I guess. Haven’t found one yet, unless it is the lack of 211 sweetness. Surprisingly, I do not miss the 211. Not sure why. Maybe the M1 is sweet enough. Or that I have finally outgrown the 211. Time will tell, I guess.]

We are using empty Walker Vivid boxes to hold up the big ELROD power cords [I think it looks cool, but is this kind of like product placement in movies? I guess it is better than using boxes advertising Mastercard and Visa I know what you are thinking. That this is supposed to be a family blog. What’s next? Neon lights? Sorry, I’m in a strange mood today ….].

Also, Nordost ODIN speaker cable is making its way through the photo.

The old high-gain Audio Note Kegon amps are in the background.

A better photo of the Sound Lab U1 system we demo’ed yesterday.

A close-up of the elegantly compact Soundlab system.

We need to make room and are selling some gear that is just the kind of stuff that some of you may be interested in:

Edge NL Reference 800 watt pyramid amps (demo)
Soundlab Ultimate 1 electrostatic loudspeakers (demo)
Walker Proscenium Gold Signature turntable (demo)
Marten Coltrane loudspeakers (used)

These are all the top performers in their particular category - more or less just like everything else we carry. There just aren’t that many of these that come on the market at demo/used prices. If you want one of these, now is the time.

The Edge NL Reference amps are sitting waiting for a new owner. We need to make room people, the Kegons, both pairs, the Ongaku, the Lamms, … We got amps coming out of our ears….

They are up on Audiogon if you are interested.

The Soundlab Ultimate 1 loudspeakers are playing music while waiting for a new owner. We got amps coming out our ears and speakers coming out our…. ears too. We got four systems and still we always have at least a couple of great speakers just sitting around for months on end.

The Soundlab U1 are still the best electrostatic speakers and are up on Audiogon.

The Walker Proscenium Gold Signature turntable is ready for a new owner. Also on the infamous Audiogon.

Here are some photos of the pieces that come with…

We have the compressor and large damping chambers up on a bookcase in the room next to listening room #2

The compressor.

The large damping chambers

The Walker motor controller.

Another view of the motor controller.

The small damping chambers sit nicely next to the rack.

A closeup of the small damping chambers

A pair of Marten Coltrane loudspeakers that we had here a long time are available - the owner is moving and is selling their entire system. It is not on Audiogon but please, if you are interested, contact us immediately.

OK, back to our normally scheduled programming.

We have decided [actually years ago, but we get attached to things] that equipment that has been on the floor for more than two years should find a new home. We shouldn’t hog things to ourselves for years and years.

The above two items, the 800 watt Edge Reference ‘pyramid’ amps and Soundlab electrostatic ULTIMATE speakers have been on the floor for 5 years.

They are up on Audiogon, in case any of youse is interested.

Otherwise, hopefully you will see things evolve a little more quickly, and see things change a little more frequently here at the house on the hill.

But we do get emotionally attached to things - they give us so much pleasure over the years, It is like seeing one’s youth leaving, bit by bit.

Why oh why does it have to go some part of us whines.

And the other part says the alternative is stagnation, which is worse.

OK, no. Not starting a philosophical thread. Sorry. [though it is that time of year…. ]

Kharma Mini Exquisite speakers on Audio Note Ongaku, driven by Meitner CDSA CD / SACD player, 100% cabled by Jorma Design Prime cables.

Very small, very exquisite system.

Upstairs we had the player across the room, so always connected it to the system using he 10m Valhalla interconnects. So this was the first time we heard the Kharma speakers, and later the Marten Coltrane speakers, in a 100% Jorma Prime system.

Yummy.

Sonically, it was just more of what we heard upstairs, taken to a higher level. Specifically, more PRESENCE. Voices were just THERE. Bass seemed even tighter as well, though that might be the smaller room.

The chairs are turned away so that people can hear the Soundlab system in this photo.

Later, we put the Martin ‘Coltrane’ speakers in this system. First time we heard the Ongaku on the Coltranes. Compared to the Kegons, the Ongaku seems to control different frequencies, … differently. It is sweeter than the Kegons - but not sweet in the sense of warm, but perhaps in the sense of more color, and a better sense of the ‘right’ note decay.

The Kharma and Marten are worlds apart in this kind of uber-system, and, to generalize, the Marten in a more neutral speaker, more even top to bottom, soundstage behind the speakers, and the Kharma is a more exuberant speaker, very high-resolution in the mids and upper mids, soundstage in front of the speakers, and probably can’t be beat on vocals.

Also, the Kharmas prefer larger rooms and the Coltranes smaller.

Again, just generalizing.

The soundlabs!

Finally, the SoundLabs get a chance to breathe…. Nice to have them back out from behind the Coltrane Supremes…

And speaking of the Supremes… here we see them all nicely polished up by Neli.

The aesthetic of these speakers, tall vertical, wooden, in this room with its tall vertical wooden beams - is striking now that we are getting used to the whole idea that they are FINALLY up here.

or “Round ‘em up, Head ‘em out”

or “We’re just going to pieces”

or “Break in Two Systems, Two Systems, Two Systems in one”

Breaking in Sound Lab Ultimate loudspeakers and Audio Note M10 preamplifier together - using the EDGE Signature One amps and Audio Aero Capitole CD player driving them over on the floor to the right [Oh, you can’t see it in this picture, but you can see the Nordost Valhalla interconnects snaking across the floor there].

This is all just a temporary setup. We are breaking in each notch on the M10 volume control. We got up to ‘5′ yesterday, but that was driving the little Kegons pretty hard - and the Coltranes were getting pretty loud.

But over here, on the still somewhat inefficient Sound Lab speakers - with a solid state amp… we are doing ‘6′ today and will do notch ‘7′ tomorrow. That ’should’ be enough, the Marten Coltrane Supremes (which made it through customs, yay!) are much more efficient than even the Coltranes, so notch ‘7′ should be plenty loud enough for the show…?

Every time we up the volume a notch, the M10 sound is bright and annoying for several hours and the pre lets off another waft of New Electronic Component Smell [Yummmmmm. Is this the only reason we buy TVs and computers and $50K preamps, to be able to experience this smell? Nahhhhhh].

This M10 + Sound Lab speaker-centered system sounds surprisingly good. The Sound Labs really like upstream equipment that errs on the warm side (as opposed to the more icey Parasound or Pass Labs soild-state amps, the former is usually shown witht eh SoundLabs at CES and the latter is to be at this RMAF show in the IsoMike room), and even warmish cables help - like the Pranawire Cosmos speaker cables.

The latest Sound Lab upgrade did seem to tighten the bass quite a bit and increase the midrange dynamics as well - adding perhaps 3dB? of efficiency. Still breaking in, but I noticed that the unfamiliar bluring of images in the soundstage that I heard when we first starting playing the SoundLabs after their upgrade has almost completely gone away.

The old Marten Coltrane system, going to pieces Time to box up most of this system, and move the Marten Design Coltrane loudspeakers to listening room 3. The Sound Labs are going to go over here, next, after the show - and how we get around them when we go up and down the steps is still to be determined.

The current state of listening room 3. Most of the system proper is going to the show, including the Acoustic Dreams rack.

We want to put the Marten Coltranes in here after the show - but they sound best with the Lamm ML2.1 amps and the HRS MXR rack. But the Kharma Mini Exquisites sound best with the EDGE amps… it will be hard to build a system that is optimized for two different speakers like this… not to mention the Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers.

And then there is the HRS MXR equipment rack problem, or rather lack of problem: we want a double wide on the Coltrane Supreme speaker system in listening room #2,and another one upstairs so we can play a turntable in listening room #1 (it is the only thing that will work on our very bouncy floor) - but we currently only have one rack….

So little time (and money) and such a long Wish List.

Our Soundlabs are temporarily gutless - we sent their innards back to the factory for a couple of upgrades:

The Soundlab Ultimate loudspeakers, with Kharma’s Mini Exquisites in front and a EDGE Signature One monoblock amp behind

The Soundlab Ultimate loudspeakers, where the transformer goes when it is here.

The U1’s should be a good deal more efficient when they get reassembled - and their sound will be as good (or better!) as it was before.

Can’t wait!

A complete report will be forthcoming when we get everything going again and broken in…

or… “Running Out of Room Here at Audio Federation”.

or… “The Beauty and the Beast”

or… “It really sounds pretty darn good, considering…”

or… “So, we keep stacking speakers choo-choo style like this and we are going to find ourselves to be sitting nearfield”

These pictures were taken right before a demo of the U1 electrostatics moved the Kharma loudspeakers to the side.

The Mini Exquisites sounded really good with the EDGE Signtaure One amplifiers - even though the Sound Lab loudspeakers were right behind them… more or less.

But we have no choice; we’re running out of room here unless we do something radical.

And Neli has her eye on getting in some MORE speakers…..?

I liked it better when she was collecting amplifiers….

Wide angle view of Listening room #2 - with the Sound Lab U1 loudspeakers behind the Kharma Mini Exquisite loudspeakers in a demonstartion of the 27th kind of positioning hell.