This new website is a consolidation of the previous (yahoo) Forum and (mac) Blog:
It is just starting but expect oodles and OODLES of content before too awfully long… right Dave? 🙂
I peaked at some of the other forums today…
I know, I know, I should know better.
Somebody pokes their head up to ask people to recommend tube amplifiers… I just imagine this person, afterwards, head fogging up, eyes going in circles…
I always wonder, should I post something? Like…
Buying an amp like this is like buying wine by what is the cheapest with the highest alcohol content.
OK, admit it, most of us HAVE bought wine this way (Mad Dog 2020 anyone?) , but we were young and stupid, or rather, young and desperate 🙂
But this is no way to buy an amp.
This approach gets people to the ASL Hurricane at $5K for 200 watts. It diesn’t help that HP says wacko things like “once in a decade an amplifier comes around that redefines state-of-the-art – this is such an amp”. He just forgot to mention ‘in the $5K price category’. Kind of missleading otherwise… Perhaps not a bad amp for $5K.
——
Then there is the ‘get the wine with the most alcohol, no matter the price’ folks.
OK, this what we looked for after we got our first job, … we wanted that EXPENSIVE rot-gut, right? Hmmmmm… hope I am not the only one who went through all these fazes of alcohol abuse …. And I can’t remember if Everclear goes into this category or the one previous…
This gets us the massive VTL, ARC, and BAT amps.
——
Next, a significant other may have stepped into the picture. Now we wanted something that was impressive, it no longer was REQUIRED to have the kick of a mule, and it needed a nice label and some nice flavor.
We may have tried orange schnaps, for example. 🙂 Quickly to be replaced by Amaretto and Kahluha.Or great Port.
This might correspond to say, Cary, Joule Electra or Jadis amps.
Our significant others have to like THIS, right?
And they do, for the most part.
But it may grow old, after awhile, like eating ice cream for supper every night. [Of course, some of us LIKE eating ice cream every night… or pie 🙂 ]
——
Next, we start looking at the GOOD stuff. Stuff that has enough character, but not too much character, to both entertain and astonish, but with subtlety, and in measured doses, containing enough mystery to not bore us right away yet enough truth to norish us.
The stuff that is considered good now, and will be considered good in 10 years, and, hopefully, in 50 years.
I wonder how many used-to-be audiophiles no longer count themselves among us, OD’ing on the bad stuff before they can find the good stuff?
I hope at least some of them get to the pie.
Thought this might be interesting …
As we mentioned previously, we setup a number of systems for the guy who is purchasing our Triolon speakers. This audition occured over a three day period.
The different sounds of the different setups are somewhat illustrative of our approach here to High-End Audio System Optmization [sorry, it looks so much more highfalutin when it is capitalized 🙂 ]. We started with a very good system, and slowly optimized it until it was, well, see below.
The first day I think we just played system 1 (below) and our Soundlab system, our Marten Coltrane system and our Marten Coltrane Supreme system. He had already heard Kharma speakers many times at shows, and our Audio Note system at this recent RMAF show.
He was very impressed by all the systems even though he had some (valid) concerns about the Soundlab system which was having some imaging problems on this new side of the room that we have recently put it on (we had the Adagios over there until a day earlier). Its always something that goes wrong… the walls went wrong in this case… Luckily everything else went very well.
System 1 [sorry, somehow we only got photos of about half the system setups]:
We started with the Audio Aero Prestige CD / SACD player with internal linestage running direct (no preamp) into the well-warmed up $140K Edge Electronics NL Reference ‘pyramid’ 800 watt solid-state amplifiers.We were using Nordost Valhalla interconnect and Valhalla speaker cable, Shunyata Anaconda power cords of all 4 kinds, with the Prestige sitting on a Fondato Silenzio platform and the amps sitting on Rix Rax ‘Outpost’ amp stands.
The Audio Aero adds a touch of warmth and drama and character to the tube-like big open sound of the Reference amps. The sound was big, juicy, with a very wide and very deep soundstage. All notes and dynamic swings were generated effortlessly. The downsides, if you can call it that, were that the imaging was fairly indistinct, the dynamics somewhat soft, from micro to mini to macro, and the overall resolution was good, but not great. This was as if the sound was painted with a big, gloriously colorful and fairly wet paint brush.
System 2:
A ‘minor’ change, we put the Prestige on the HRS M3 Isolation Base and Nimbuses. This is a reference system for us here on these speakers. The dynamics snapped into place and the imaging firmed up compared to the previous system setup. This system strikes a nice balance between naturalness and resolution, between a gargantuan soundstage and pin-point imaging. It is this balance that kind of keeps a listener off balance, never really believing that the system is going to continue to manage to paint such large pictures with such finness.
System 3:
Next the Edge NL Reference amps were replaced with Lamm ML1.1 90 watt push-pull amps sitting on HRS Isolation Bases with Nimbuses. We probably should have moved the big Ref amps out of the way, but they are a heavy 220 lbs, and we didn’t want to (aka plain forgot) move them then – and then later they were trapped as more and more equipment was brought up from downstairs. BTW, we do all the heavy lifting ourselves, even though every single one of our very courteous guests always offer to help – we are the hosts, they are the guests. And anyway, we need the workout… because guess who gets to carry all this stuff back downstairs? 🙂
We do not run the Audio Aero directly into the Lamm very often – thinking it might be too ‘tubey’ of a sound. But it was not all that tubey at all. There was good resolution, still a nice large soundstage, good depth. It was, however, the slightest bit soft on the top and bottom. In many ways, it was very much like the Edge NL Reference amps, the Lamm ML1.1 being most like the ‘Refs of any of the demo amps here – and probably of most amps out there as well. A very good balance of resolution and naturalness and dynamics.
System 4:
As planned, we swapped in Emm Labs SE CDSD / DCC2 transport and DAC pair for the Audio Aero Prestige. The Emm labs (Meitner) was run direct into the amps using its internal linestage. Now this system is starting to do things that are hard to explain. The solid-state digital source is a natural balance to the push-pull tube amps – and it works. All the truth, the unexpurgated yet unenhanced details and resolution are provided to the Lamm ML1.1, and it is up to the amp to decide what to do with it. We trust this amp to do the right thing with that information stream – and our trust is rewarded. Now we have big, open, with enough resolution to tighten up the imaging and define the toplogoies of the soundstage, added micro-dynamics that communicates more of the subtle characteristics of the music.
System 5:
As we were talking about the sound of the Edge Electronics Signature One 400 watt monoblocks compared to the big ‘pyramids’, we just said, hey, you can hear for yourself. So the Edge amps were swapped in for the Lamm ML1.1. The amps were cold so we played a CD or two in the background as we waited the hour or so for these amps to get to 95% or so of their optimal sound [actually, a number of components were added to the system cold – and this got to be a pattern: Isert component into system. Listen casually. Wait. Listen carefully. Rinse and Repeat.]. Now, this is not a system that we play too often – the Edge Signature One amps are a very smooth and detailed sound – very much like the Meitner / Emmlabs CD / SACD player we had in the system. So the balance was likely to be, and was, a little on the very detailed but somewhat uninvolving side. The soundstage was smaller, the images more pinpoint but not as 3D-like, much more resolution and micro-dynamics, but less midi- and macro-dynamics.
At this point the Favorite was the Audio Aero Prestige CD / SACD player with internal linestasge running direct to the Edge NL Reference amps. Second was the Meitner CD / SACD transport / DAC pair running direct to the Lamm ML1.1 amps.
System 6:
Now we start bringing in the big boys, so to speak. We keep a straight face as we hook up the Lamm ML2.1 18 watt SET amps in place of the Edge Signature Ones. ‘They have to warm up’ we say (they were warm but cooled off during the Edge Sig One stopover). Hee hee hee. Bamm, the sound-stage width and depth expands to equal, if not better, that with the Edge NL Reference. Solidity, presense, dexterity, integrity, naturalness, purity – the midi-dynamics in the midrange are memorable. Note envelopes are as smooth and hypnotizingly fluid as ocean waves, as Pulitzer-prize winning as the notes coming from the Meitner.
We let this system stay up for awhile – wanting to establish this system as a milestone as we traverse further into the audition. It was now the favorite at this point. There is always this certainty that our visitors have that we do this to, I mean ‘with’ :-), that, after this kind of Rush caused by hearing what was previously thought impossible, there is this deep subconscious questioning about why would anyone want anything better than this? Nothing can be significantly better than this, can it?
[Oops, somewhere in here we replaced the Valhalla interconnect that was running between the Meitner and the amps with Jorma Design ‘Prime’. This added another quantum step up in sound-stage definition and harmonic purity and resolution].
System 7:
The (very warm) 20 watt Audio Note Kegon SET amps are rushed upstairs to replace the Lamm ML2.1. This system, with the Meitner running direct to the Kegons, with INDRA interconnects instead of the Jorma Prime, was our primary reference system with these speakers. It is hard to describe all the things it does well, because we are SO familiar with it and we have described it so many times in the past. But, one of the most obvious differences now was the bass. It was VERY natural yet Impressive yet well-defined. These amps grip the speaker with an iron (make that Silver) fist at all frequencies, but it is most noticable in the bass, where other amps have the most difficulty.
This system was starting to pick up some ground loop hum, and so we replaced the Jorma ‘Prime’ with INDRA interconnect, correctly predicting that the WBT connectors on the Prime were picking up some nasties. The INDRA reduces the resolution and clarity and imaging somewhat, but has a purity that, in my opinion, works very well with the extreme purity of the sound of the Meitner.
At this point, there is an understanding now why we rave about these amps all the time. But, to get this sound, let us not forget the other players: the Meitner, the HRS bases, the Shunyata power cords, the INDRA and Jorma Design Prime and the Valhalla speaker cable.
But we rush to set up the next systems. Time is running out, it is the last day, and we want to spend the most amount of time with the system we think is the Most Optimized of them all…and we have a few more iterations to go…
System 8:
We add the Audio Note M10 linestage which replaces the internal linestage of the Emm Labs DAC. NOW we really have controlled bass. Never heard these speakers do this before. But before we enjoy it we have to deal with our ground loop hum, which is back again.
Do to the occasional (we hope) people who are very confused about electrical things yet get hired to do electrical inspections here in Wonderful Boulder County – the grounding of our dedicated lines are messed up. Yes, we can fix them sometime (it won’t be easy) but until then… Until then, Mike and Neli get to have a nice family discussion about cheatering (that would be me) and why not to cheat (that would be Neli) in front of our guest, and after messing some with groundwire we finally cheated and lifted the ground on the entire system.
We’ve said it before, the M10 is like having another Kegon, or maybe more like a Kegon with 40 watts instead of 20, or perahps like ‘no need to Bi-amp it, M10 it’. Everything is much more controlled, accurate, dynamic, well-formed, solid….
System 9:
Oh, wait, now we want to add back in the Jorma Design ‘Prime’ interconnect [I swear, I started getting blisters on the tip of my Switch-turning-off-and-on finger :-)]. It goes in and replaces the Valhalla. How can the Valhalla be called muddy? It can’t. But it was, in comparision!
Bamm, off everything goes again and another Prime goes in to replace the INDRA. Another increase in resolution and harmonic integrity – but not as much, leading us to put another checkmark in the box supporting the proposition that it is the first Prime that makes the most difference.
System 10:
Bamm, Neli tells me that they all want to replace the Valhalla speaker cable now with Jorma Prime and Jorma No. 1 speaker cable (this is a tri-wired system and we only have one bi-wire Jorma Prime at this time). OK. Fine. But it is getting dark quick, so flashlight in hand, Neli and I change the speaker cables to Jorma. Not quite fast enough, we have to move a lamp over to shed some light to tell which are the red and which are the black connectors… important things like that.
Before we headed out to load up on Indian food, to let the system warm up and settle in some, it was apparent (to me, anyway, but I think I was much more interested than they were in hearing this particular change, as I have been thinking a lot about the difference in the impact on a system’s sound of the Prime interconnect versus the speaker cable) – that the sound-stage and imaging RELAXED. It felt like there was an easier and much smoother transition as the musicans, or their sound-engineers, moved things around on the stage. That, before, the soundstage was blotchy, that images jerked from place to place and clung to certain spots. Now, the soundstage was no longer constipated.Now it flowed…
This increased sense of continuity was also somewhat apparent in the dynamics as well: whereas before it seemed like there were maybe, say, 100 different ways a note could go from soft to loud (and back again) now there were 1000.
There were other improvements as well – the resultant being that the system felt whole now, having everything be wired with 100% Jorma Prime (except for the Jorma No. 1 speaker cable on the bass towers) seemed to allow the Prime’s capabilities to shine through, all the way from source to speaker.
After Indian buffet dinner (the food was kind of bland,.. how can they make bland Indian food??? How embarrasing, since we picked the place. Seems like Mike and Neli need to catch up on where the good Indian food restaurants are again.. and add a few pounds in the process I bet 🙂 ) we played a few songs from each of about a dozen CDs. Played it fairly loud, since it was our last night (volume set at ‘7’ for those who grok Audio Note volume controls, driving a high-gain amp on 97dB speakers 🙂 ). It was kick ass.
Classical music was so much more realistically laid out, both dynamics and imaging – such separation and definition, not quite at Real, of course, but there was a lot of stuff now that we didn’t know that we were missing before this [we never had the Jorma Prime combined with the M10 here before].
Played some of Lady in Satin as well, the 3D nature of her voice and the way she moved – it was much more like being in a cabaret than sitting in a livingroom.
And…
We heard this same system for a few more days after our guest left and then performed the swapping out of the front end for the Audio Note digital to see what THAT would do [see previous post].
No, we did NOT try adding analog to system 10 – creating system 11. Have to save something for next time, right? 🙂
By then the M10 will be broken in (it is only 5 weeks old at this point).
And it will be the Marten Design Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers that we will use to navigate even further out into the Audiophile Gulf Stream, ….
in Audio Aero / Audio Note / Edge / Emm Labs / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / HRS / Jorma Design / Lamm / Reviews / Showroom 1 / Sounding Off
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Well, CES 2007 [YES! 2007! Really!] is coming right up.
We plan on doing a nice big show report again – with much more emphasis on high-end audio at T.H.E. Show and on Cool New Stuff the main conference in the conference center and less on the CES high-end audio show, not at the Alexis Park but at…the Venetian this year.
But we will try to get several pictures of EVERY room again, no matter if it is in a place where they probably charge people to walk on the carpets. 🙂 Being exhibitors at RMAF, we really appreciate show reports that have photos of all the rooms, including rooms that, oh I don’t know, maybe have $500K (or $150K) of equipment and sound better than the other rooms? Nahhhhhhh.
It is so strange to see show reports that do not have photos of one’s room – it is like the room Never Existed. Like Back to the Future – you only THINK you were an exhibitor at the show, but somehow you have been Erased From Existance.
So, OUR show reports try to cover everything – unless we get uninvited to do so. Nobody gets erased if we can help it. 🙂
Our report will be located here: CES 2007 Show Report
We have requests to keep an eye out for the new Revel ultima 2 and Apogee loudspeakers. Any other requests?
We took a highly optimized system this week and compared the Meitner CDSD transport / DCC2 DAC, both Signature Editions
against the
Audio Note CDT3 transport and DAC 4.1x Balanced
The price of these two combos is approximately the same, about $22K.
This is the test system:
Acapella Triolon Excalibur, Audio Note Kegon 300B SET amplifiers, Audio Note M10 linestage, Jorma Design Prime single-ended interconnects and Jorma Design Prime bi-wire speaker cable on the midrange horns, Jorma Design No. 1 speaker cable on the bass towers / plasma tweeters. All platforms and power supplies on HRS M3 Isolation Bases. Power cords all Shunyata Anaconda, either Alpha or Vx or Helix alpha or Helix Vx.
Just for grins, I added it up and this is about a $350K system [without the Edge NL Reference amps].
Sounds like it too.
The Emm Labs-based system.
The Audio Note-based system
In the Emm Labs corner the advantages were that they had been on two or three days – so they were wamred up and settled in.
The disadvantages during this test were that the M10 linestage is not yet broken-in, and the M10’s stiffness and inability to relax at its current age (about 5 weeks) plays against the weakness of any solid-state digital source: that is being a little too analytical.
In the Audio Note corner the advantages were that the rest of the components were Audio Note components, and this is one of the few product lines in the world where components from a single manufacturer actually enhance each-others performance.
The disadvantages of the Audio Note in this test were that they had only been on between one and two hours. Also the transport was by necessity nearly in front of one of the bass towers (the big, HEAVYYYY Edge Reference amps got trapped behind all the components early on during the recent marathon audition performaed on this system, which kind of pushed all the other components out into the room farther than is normally the case).
The Audio Note DAC 4.1x Balanced is a stock piece of equipment – no tubes were rolled to enhance performance.
OK. There really weren’t any surprises during this shootout.
I know, BOR-ing.
But I think it was still interesting because it was illustrative of the struggle that occurs in all systems: between organic sound and resolution, between Naturalness and Realness.
This system with the Emm Labs, and with the assorted ontourage, was HIGHLY resolving, both in spaced and in time. After a number of experiments, I am willing to conjecture in public 🙂 that it is the Jorma Prime that added the ability to resolve things in space to such a high degree, and the M10 handled the resolution in Time.
VERY highly resolving – note envelopes started, stopped, rose, fell, pulsated, swelled, burped and groaned just like they should – EXACTLY like they should.
Notes were placed in 3D exactly where the engineer wanted them to be placed – and new insight was gained about how these guys, and hopefully gals, often play with the knobs on sound boards just a bit too casually, let’s say – often distracting the mind of the listener a little too much like people who use too many fonts on a single page [hey, we really TRY to keep it to two or three fonts around here. Really].
The bass was amazingly tight compared to what we are used to on these speakers (the addition of the M10 added the ability to milk everything from the Meitner in this respect).
[Just to be clear – this is a big sound, resolving on a relative basis and in proportion to all of the frequencies from say 28Hz to 50K Hz. It does NOT mean resolution in the sense of the pyrotechnic wonders that shove unwanted details of the leading edges of notes from 1K Hz to 3KHz eschewing true resolution in either space or time for a quick slamm-bamm-thank-you Impressiveness.]
Any weaknesses to this system, which was probably one of the crowning achievements in home audio at this time?
This is more of a psychological thing, and a system is not usually all one of the other, having to do with how much a person has to focus, and some might say even concentrate, on the sound before they are sucked in. Of course, a system has to be at least pretty darn good if it can suck a person in at all with any kind of reliability.
In your home, late at night, with the lights low and a glass (or bottle 🙂 ) of wine, if you do not get sucked in, then your system has Problems. Conversely, if you are at an audition at a high-end audio dealership, somewhat uncomfortable, hearing unfamilair music and trying NOT to forget that you have an appointment with a dentist in a few hours – then if you get sucked in – that system has to be Mighty Fine!
Anyway, the only weakness that this system had, in either conventional or unconventional sense, was that it took a little more relaxation and focus to get ‘sucked in’ and absorbed by the music than one might hope. Once ‘Absorbed’ , it was a heck of a ride, often resulting in mouths hanging open in a kind of slow motion ‘ooooooh, THIS is what it was like to be there when this song was recorded’.
OK. Switching to the Audio Note digital.
Well, this took care of the Absorbtion Factor. Very natural sounding and engaging.
Perhaps even better solidity in the soundstage. Striking even.
But, as you all probably expect – there was less resolution – the leading and trailing edges of the notes were not as well defined – although the bass notes were noticably tighter after two hours of warm up playing a a few CDs.
OK, here is where I am going with this.
We, and I presume most of you, want something right SMACK inbetween these two sounds. We want the best of both worlds (hey, why not? 🙂 )
We want the sound to sound Real, or actually Realer than Real, since Real has problems and why bring THAT baggage into our system if we do not have to. And we want it to be so engaging, so absorbing – so much magnetism that it physically stops us in our tracks and we must struggle to find our way to the closest chair so we can not have to waste brain cycles with standing up – having to be reminded every once in a while to BREATHE [I am sure we have all been struck breathless by our systems – who says audiophiles don;t live on the edge?]
And, what I want to say here, is that I think BOTH of these digital sources, on this system, can walk this line between Ultimate Resolution and Ultimate Absorption (or Magnetism).
As the M10 breaks in the Meitner-based system will evolve to be more Absorptive – it is already like a bear trap, ready to spring upon the unwary listener if they give it a seconds notice.
And as the Audio Note-based system warms up, moving the transport away from in front of the bass towers 🙁 and perhaps even rolling a tube or two – the resolution will match that of the solid-state solution. Why do I beleive this? Because the Kegon and M10 both have the resolution of, if not more in many senses, of solid-state gear.
OK, so with some work they can sound alike? If that were true (and I predict it is true to a high degree, to the point where one must carefully define ‘alike’ to tell them apart) then how to choose between them if one must have one or the other for their system?
It is by knowing one’s preferences – that when one of these solutions is NOT optimized, is the sound still going to be acceptible? Can one live with a little less resolution or is it better to have a little less ‘Reach Out and Grab Ya’ (and this may very well be system dependent – especially if the rest of the system is not well-balanced in this respect).
Well, that was long. Hopefully it was helpful, or interesting, or…at least illuminating of the real dilemnas one faces when optimizing systems – we are always striving for that balance, that knife edge, where Everything Wonderful Happens At Once, during Each Note, Every Song, Every Album, Every Day.
The gym was closed so….
Moved seven 60 lb or so HRS platforms, two 120 lb Edge Signature One amps, two 90 lb Lamm ML2.1 and two 90 lb. ML1.1 amps, two 20 lb. M10 Galahad power supplies downstairs… but it seemed like a lot more. 🙂
The Showroom 2 Coltrane Supreme system
The Audio Note equipment that was upstairs is now on this system: CDT-Three transport running into a DAC 4.1x Balanced into the M10 linestage into the Kegon 300B SET amps.
The Showroom 2 Coltrane Supreme system equipment rack
The Showroom 4 Coltrane / Lamm / Brinkmann system
We are pretty familiar with this system – but not in a small room like this. Also would prefer it on an HRS MXR rack but, oh well, this is Thanksgiving, not Christmas, and we are happily trying to figure out what to play on what system as we roll from room to room after yesterday’s feast (after which Neli is still very fit and thin 🙂 – but Mike? Mike thought he would never need to eat again, … at least until breakfast anyway 🙂 ).
The Showroom 3 Soundlab / Kharma system
OK, it was getting close to (past) time to eat so we didn’t get this setup yet. After dinner tummy sizes were interfering with the ability to move…
We plan on using this system to hear the Emm Labs running direct into the Edge Signature One amps into the Kharma Mini Exquisites – we haven’t heard this before.
Old location of Showroom 1 equipment rack
Oh, and we moved a bookcase full of CDs upstairs. This was piled sky high with CDs and DVDs in front of the Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers. Now it is upstairs where the old Showroom 1 Rix Rax equipment rack used to go (although it only had the Emm Labs CDSD transport on it, connected by 10 meter long optical cables to its DCC2 DAC in the front of the room).
Where will the little Rix Rax equipment rack that was here go now? Geez, it is always somethin’….
or… “Emm Labs on the Edge”.
or… “DCC2 on the hearth”.
The DCC2 was sitting here because we swapped out the Emm Labs CDSD and DCC2 front end for the Audio Note CDT3 and DAC 4,1x Balanced front end on the Triolons with the Audio Note M10 pre and Kegon amps… to see what it would sound like, of course – and it looked so cool with the brushed aluminum against the granite rock – just had to take some photos.
Oh, so YOU want to know what it sounded like?
More later…
… but it wasn’t a clear win for either. Very much a matter of taste and trade-offs – and very much expecting both systems to converge, by themsleves, over time to sound much more like each other than they did here in this quick test.
These pictures are taken from the landing above the livingroom. Using a wide-angle lens, the size of things are somewhat distorted, things are not exactly how they appear – but you get the idea.
We still have amps laying around as we try and ‘learn’ the sound of the current configuration befoew we change it.
Showroom One From Above.
The chair behind the couch is only backwards because sometimes I like to sit leaning on the back of the chair – not because I listen to the system backwards… 🙂
Showroom One From Above.
The Nordost Valhalla speaker cable is kind of left laying on the carpet in front of the system – sometimes it just takes too long to put something away when we could be instead putting in another CD into the Meitner.
The Lamm ML1.1 amps are still resting over on the right side of the room, the Edge are shining up at us behind the couch to the left there, and you can see just one of the Lamm ML2.1 amps over by the Rix Rax which has the Emm Labs CDSD transport on it.
If you look closely you can see the orange optical cables snaking along the left in front of the hearth from the CDSD transport to the DCC2 DAC.
Showroom One From Above.
This is a view that is more like what a human might see as they listen to the system from the second floor landing. It sounds like listening from a balcony – quite nice but not like the audiophile-grade experience below.
Well, I thought people might enjoy these photos. It is not too many listening rooms that have a vantage point like this!
We just survived one of those (3-day long) tornados where we setup a system to someone to hear, then change it… then change it some more.
In this case it was for the gentleman who bought the Triolons – he wanted to hear several of the amps we have here on them, and we wanted him to hear what these speakers are capable of. We spend a lot of time optimizing the sound here, and we wanted to ‘share the love’.
To do this we sort of had to cannibalize the other systems…
Decimated showroom 3
Decimated showroom 2
Lamm ML1.1 amps taking a rest
Lamm ML2.1 amps and Edge Signature One amps taking a rest
The final system setup.
This and the next photo were taken after the day had been 100% overcast, and then the sun came out. It was yellow outside, everywhere – being outside was like wearing rose colored glasses.
The final system setup consisted of Audio Note U.K. Kegon 22 watt SET 300B-based amplifiers, Audio Note M10 linestage, Emm Labs CDSD and DCC2 signature editions, Jorma Design Prime interconnects and Jorma Prime speaker cables on the midrange and Jorma Mo.1 cables on the bass towers. Everything was on HRS M3 Isolation Bases and Nimbuses. Power cords were all Shunyata Anacondas.
One of the Audio Note ‘Galahad’ power supplies for the M10 preamplifier.
So, what do you people think of our solution to the Kobayashi Maru scenario for where to put the power supplies for the M10?
I think Neli’s idea to stick their butt in the general direction of the main preamplifier box was great (helps their umbilicial cords reach without creating that ‘suspension bridge’, or rather ‘trip wire’ that is oh so likely in times like these). They are out of the way of the speaker’s drivers, especially the bass woofers, but there are probably resonance build ups being so close to the wall like that.
This system front-end, including amps, although very similar to the configuration we took to RMAF 2006 this year, has never been paired with these particular speakers. We’ve come close in the past, but we only had the M10 three days the first time we had it, and just got enough Jorma Design Prime cable very recently. We learned a few things by both incrementally changing the system (like how good the Jorma Prime cable is), and by putting our reference system we usually pair with the Marten Design Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers on these speakers.
Like what the added solidity provided by the (as yet still unbroken in) M10 did to the nature of the instruments and the listening experience. At least, I think it was the M10 – or it could have been the Jorma Prime speaker cable. It was probably both.
There was a 3D nature to the whole presentation that was very convincing. It was MUCH more like being in a nightclub than we have ever heard before. I guess I usually associate the feeling of being in a studio with some amount of artificiality, treated walls, and mixers… but this was much more like REALITY. Even the smaller instruments, especially in classical pieces, had a solidity and convincingness to them.
I guess that is primarily what I noticed about this sound in comparision with our standard Emm Labs -> Kegons using the Stealth INDRA interconnect and Valhalla or Jorma No. 1 speaker cable. That not only was the musician ‘solid’ and present and convincing, but that the musician’s guitar, and strings, and arms and face… all had a solidity and presense like they do in real-life – we just don’t pay attention to these kinds of cues, usually. We don’t go walking around listening to reflections of sounds off of things. We take them for granted. It is only when they have been missing (like in most audio reproduction systems) and then appear (in a specially optimized system) that we point to them as say WOW!
A lot of this wow comes from the increased dynamics and control over the speaker that the M10 seems to bring to the party, along with the added ease of the Prime cable in being able to consistantly place and locate instruments where they are supposed to be – along with the added resolution it brings to deliniate the small subtle clues that tell us about what we are hearing.
Wahoo!!!
Now it is back to put this system configuration down on the Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers, now that they have been broken in all of almost four weeks… 🙂
You saw the Brinkmann Balance turntable photos, and now you’re gonna get the Walker photos. Know ye that these are not of the Walker Black Diamond turntable – which debuted quite recently (we do have some pics of it in our RMAF show report last month).
The Walker turntable sits on a Rix Rax Grand Hoodoo equipment rack. It sound better here on the bare maple than on a Fondato Silenzio base on the maple – we tried, twice, in very different rooms. We haven’t tried a HRS M3 Isolation Base yet – it would have to be custom built because of the weight and size of the Walker.
Magic Diamond’s Blue cartridge. Peraps best described as ‘analog tape-like’.
For those of you clammering for more! more! check out these galleries: Walker Proscenium Gold Signature Photo Gallery and Walker Proscenium Gold Signature Unpacking and Setup Photo Gallery. This last gallery of photos was taken with an old camera – not quite as luxurious and detaled as the newer cameras… but you get the idea.
Enjoy!
