Picture Medley
Just some fun pictures we had laying around on the hard disk…
Closeup of the diamond tweeter and ceramic midrange of the Marten Coltrane speaker. This is the walnut version of these speakers and the wood is starting to take on a nice rich patina as it ages.
The Edge NL Reference 800 watt ‘pyramid’ amplifier. This picture really captures the sleek metalic look of the amplifiers.
Closeup of the top of the Edge NL Reference 800 watt ‘pyramid’ amplifier. Here you can almost see how nice it is to touch these amplifiers, the powder coating feeling very nice, almost soft, to the touch. The cap on top and the way the sides are fastened makes the amplifiers water tight (and maybe even dust tight, which would be nice… see below).
The EMM Labs Meitner DCC2 at dark on an HRS M3 Isolation Base. This picture captures the color-coding of the buttons nicely, as well as showing a how the volume knob is so much fun to turn by hand.
The Lyra Titan cartridge on a Brinkmann tonearm. This picture does not show it perfectly, but there is this feeling of the loooong tonearm snaking out fron the depths at the back of the turntable, the head ready to strike with it diamond tooth into the platter.
Closeup of the Brinkmann tonearm. Ah, engineering. Lovin’ it.
Closeup of the Lyra Titan cartridge. Dust. There are lots of little dust particles, perhaps hairs from the wool carpet. They do not look serious enough toimpact the sound. But they are everywhere…
The Blue Magic Diamond cartridge on the Walker tonearm
Closeup of the Blue Magic Diamond cartridge on the Walker tonearm. More dust particles.
The Brinkmann Balance turntable control buttons. Left is 33 rpm, right is 45 rpm, center is OFF.Sometimes we turn it on and off just for the fun of touching the buttons.
The Nordost Vidar cable burn in device. More pictures from the post a few days ago.
The Nordost Valhalla cables on the back of the Marten Coltrane loudspeakers. I like the reflections of the cables and binding posts in the shiny carbon fiber on back of the Coltrane.
The Nordost Valhalla cables on the back of the Marten Coltrane loudspeakers. More reflection. These are the EU-safe WBT binding posts.
The Nordost Valhalla cables in sunlight. I like the pattern of shdows the various layers of conductors make. When this picture is blown up large, this looks like a work of abstract art. Or maybe industrial art.
Closeup of the Nordost Valhalla cables in sunlight held against the blue sky. You can really see how the cable is constructed. As desribed on the Nordost website:
“Each conductor is made from optimized diameter solid 99.999999% oxygen free copper that has 78 microns of extruded silver on the surface. The surface of each conductor is highly polished before a high precision Micro Mono-Filament wrap is applied.
The Micro Mono-Filament is helically wound over the conductor. A precision FEP jacket is then extruded over the conductor. A number of proprietary methods are used in this difficult and extremely precise manufacturing technique that reduces dielectric contact by a factor of more than 80%. Extremely mechanically stable, the conductors are effectively suspended in inert air, preventing oxidation. ”
Well, hope this all was as fun for you as it was for me!
The Nordost “sharp” cables, the WBT “waowy” binding posts, The Lyra’sa none-playable in conventional arms needles, EMM Labs SACD digital nightmare and this funny ceramic midrange drives… Wow, are you guys inertial to put those things together in order to threaten people. Is it sort of audio Halloween?
Hi Romy,
Halloween? Well, I guess the prices *are* enough to put the scare into most people.
Ya know, no matter how ‘nightmarish’ the components may or may not be on an absolute scale, our job is to offer the best sound *commercially available* for people who just want to go about their normal nice daytime lives and who do not want to spend a lot of time in haunted dealerships trick or treating and dodging wolfmen.
If the research community can scare up some significantly better, commercially viable, alternatives in those lightning-powered laboratories of theirs, we are all ears and eyeballs and will work like the devil to promote it and get it into people’s listening parlors.
And if some (all?) manufacturers do indeed have a faint resemblance to Dr. Frankenstein, well, I have yet to see (while sober) any audio equipment come to life. But if any do, I am *definately* prepared to take pictures of it for the blog.
[But, seriously, it was really supposed to be a *beauty pageant*, not a halloween party. Maybe if we had a swimsuit competition next time…]
I do not think I mention prices anywhere. This subject does not bother me. When I called if Audio Halloween I meant the scare perforce and it has nothing to do with the “commercially available” audio. Furthermore, the Nordost, the WBT, the Lyra with contemporary arms, the ceramic MF driver and the EMM Labs have nothing to do with the “people who just want to go about their normal nice daytime lives”. Those components are so horribly perform in each own individual class that form my point of view they are the tools for convert normal people into audiophile zombie. Interestingly that any single person who I know and who have the compellations of above motioned products is a zombie, and his/her thinking and listening habbits clearly indicate it. That why I felt that your post with images is a Halloween parade of the ugliest costumes….
Rgs,
Romy the Cat
Hi Romy,
Yeah, I figured that was what you meant but I wanted to try to humorously address a few of the larger issues rather than duke it out, component by component, trying to show each other the errors of our ways.
Yes, of course; we disagree with the ‘so horribly perform in each own individual class’ description. These components are excellent. Each of these components, like geniuses, do something very, very well. But they really should be in the right environment in order for them to perform at their best. Put them in with inappropriate components, you get inappropriate sound. Put them in with shit components, you get shit sound.
Converting people into Zombies?
We are not responsible for people enjoying their systems so much that they relax and become complacent about their search for the best system or slow down their exploration of types of music that they are not familiar with, no longer trying to find something that ‘really sounds great on the system’.
Well, then again, maybe we are 🙂 but lots of people lead busy lives and just want to relax and enjoy music and not make it their life’s mission.
I don’t think this makes them Zombies…
Take care,
Mike