Wilsons, darTZeel, Vinyl and Tubes

by rugyboogie on Opinions Please

Description

My room was purpose build using the ratio described by Floyd Toole from the Canadian Research council.

Have 20 dedicated 15 amp circuits, 4x20 amp circuits and 2 220 volt 60 amp circuits. The wall construction is 12" thick ,made up of a double wall of 2x4 studs at 16 oc with the studs staggered ,insulation (rock wool), t&g 3/4 plywood glued and screwed, then the drywall is glued with a v notch trowel. This room is so quiet the music can flow with absolutely no distractions. This is a great way to enjoy the music at the end of long day of work.

Many many changes have taken place since posting my system here.

Decided to repaint the room a much lighter colour to lighten things up for reading in the room.

Using the darTZeel pre amp with two different amps. The first amp in this system is the Wyetech Topaz 211 and second one is the darTZeel amp.

Both bring forth tremendous musical enjoyment albeit different presentations.

Mike L turned my focus back to vinyl after being at his home many years ago. Had my Lp and gear packed up until Mike opened up my eyes/ears.

Now LP playback is 90% vinyl and 10% digital.

Steve Dobbins came by last weekend to deliver and set up the KODO the Beat.

Tonearm on the BEAT is the Reed P3 along with the Kuzma Airline. Room for one more.......

Second table is my Verdier which I bought after visiting Mike L's place.

Using a FR 64s and purchased an ET-2 which will be upgraded to a 2.5 in the next month pending Bruce's schedule.

Studer Tape deck plays a role too but is limited due to lack of tapes. Having spent funds on vinyl rigs and arm/cartridges leaves the deck out side of the music room.

Thanks for reading and take care.
Read more...

Components Toggle details

    • KODO THE BEAT
    Custom build direct drive turntable by Steve Dobbins. Has a separate power supply and speed controller.
    Can accommodate three tonearms.
    • JC Verdier La Platine
    Great turntable
    • Technics SP-10 MKII
    Direct drive from the late 70s. This one is in mint condition. Will start building different types of plinths for the turntables that I have recently purchased. They will be made out of combinations of slate, alloys and homebrew plywood using veneers and an 80 ton press.
    • Kuzma Airline
    Airline
    • Fidelity Research FR 64S
    With VTA adjuster
    • Fidelity Research FR 24 MK II
    One Ikeda's early arms. Looking for an copy of the original manual of this arm.
    • Reed 3P
    12
    • Eminent Technology ET-2
    ET 2 will be shipped to Bruce Thigpen to get updated to a 2.5 version and get a full check over.
    • Dynavector XV-1S
    Great sounding cartridge
    • Ortofon A90
    Their latest top flight cartridge.
    • Lyra Kleos SL1
    Low output moving coil Kleos.
    SL stands for single layer
    • Empire 4000 DIII GOLD
    MM Cartridge from the golden era
    • Grace F9-E
    Had this one on my first Rega 3
    • Denon 103 R
    Denon MC
    • Denon 103
    Second moving coil that I purchased after buying the Kuzma Airline.
    • Allnic H-3000V
    Phono stage which allows the use of two MM and two MC
    • Loricraft PRC-3
    Lp cleaner
    • Audio Research CD7.5
    Reference CD player
    • Aural Symphonics Magic Gem v2t
    Very good power best that I have heard in my system. Powering the Audio Research CD-7.
    • McIntosh MR-78
    Great sounding FM
    • Wilson Audio Maxx II
    Great sounding full range speaker
    • Wilson Audio Puppy 5.1
    Wilson Watt Puppies
    • Wilson Audio Watch Center
    Center
    • Wilson Audio Watch Dog
    Wilson Watch Dog
    • Nordost Valhalla
    Nordost Valhalla
    Have this as my interconnect through out the system excapt for the zeel connect between darTZeel preamp and darTZeel amp.
    • Nordost Valhalla Speaker cable
    High resolution speaker cable
    • Stillpoints Dampers and Risers
    Isolation device
    • Theta Digital Casablanca max
    Casablanca III with Extreme Dacs
    • Sony VPL-VW100 Ruby
    Great looking projector and stunning picture
    • Stewart Screen 110
    Luxus Delux Gey Hawk
    • Slim Devices Transporter
    Computer based server with with its own DA
    • Balanced Audio Technologies VK-6200
    200 watt five channel Home Theater amp
    • Toshiba HD-XA2
    High definition HD DVD player with great upscaling on SD DVD
    • Dartzeel 18 NHB-18S
    Solid state preamp purchased and hoping for a Xmas delivery.
    Ordered with two phono stages.
    • darTZeel NHB-108 model one Version B
    Solid state amp made in Switzerland.
    • AUDIENCE ar12
    Top notch ac filtering 20 amp unit made for Wally of Wally Tractor fame.
    • Audience aR6-T
    Used for the amps at the front of the room.
    • Wyetech TOPAZ 211 A
    18 watt SET with the gold plated Audio Note Transformers.
    • Studer A810
    Vintage 1/4 inch 1/2 track.
    You have to hear it to believe it.
    Makes great vinyl sound like MP3.
    • Studer A810
    My second Studer. This will be used in another system.
    • Nordost Brahma
    Power cord for the Aestehtix IO
    • HOMEBUILD Amp Stand
    4 inch thick Jatoba ( Brazilian Cherry) wood
    • Sutherland TIMELINE
    Strobe light to check turntable speed. Two speeds only 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Very accurate and easy to use.
    • Allnic Speednic
    Strobe for Turntable to check speed accuracy.
    • HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEM ANALOG DISC CLAMP
    Record clamp/weight
    • Unknown Ebony LP weight
    Ebony disc weight
    • Custom LP racks Apple plywood
    Never enough room for LP storage, so I took over the front entrance with my wife's permission of course.
    • Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables
    Wanted a storage area with sliding doors to hide various tapes, LPs Blue rays and misc.
    • Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables part II
    Picture of sliding doors open
    • Canadian Tire Tool Chest
    Hold all of tubes,cartridges, footers, set up tools.
    • TEL WIRE HC Power cord 8 feet
    TEL WIRE HC Great synergy in my system. Beautifully finished and the Oyaide connectors are of the best quality. Extremely happy with them.
    • Acoustical-systems P2S
    Direct measuring and marking system made by Dertonarm. Quality is very high and very easy to use.
    • JBL Hartsfield
    Rosewood matched pair.

Comments 296

Showing all comments by dgad.

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Chris,

Would love to know your initial impressions of the 28Bs. Thinking of going there myself but no ability to demo. I am trying to reduce my tube hassles as I don't have the time I used to to check bias etc.

dgad

Mike,

Curious if the Wytech has enough power to handle the Maxx IIs. At one point I considered them.

dgad

Rugyboogie,

Just some setup notes. I have mine pointed at my ears. I used to have them pointed to my shoulders but the center fill was weak. I took a lot of time moving them around 1 inch at a time. 1 inch forward, wider etc. You can hear it all. Too wide and the image compreses on the side wall. Too narrow and you lose separation. To back and the sound gets muddy. Forward improves things up to a point.

The Thor indicates that it has surge protection. It is listed on the website.

All the best.

dgad

I use the Jack for all sorts of things. I wonder if you can find one for less elsewhere. I am anti power conditioning as an absolute. By that I mean that every piece of equipment will react differently. It is system dependant. If you feel you need it where you live try it. I have the Nordost Thor. Nothing huge, but I have some surge protection now for my equipment.

dgad

Do you have the optional Jack used to move the speakers off of their casters. It is amazing & very usefull?

dgad

Rugyboogie,

Yes I use the sub on 2 channel. My room total volume is very large w. very tall ceilings going up to about 16 feet in the center. Without the sub everything is great but the bass is missing. I am not running any multichannel in my system. I doubt I will as my room logistics don't allow it. I need to change my house first. A much too big expense.

P.S. with the speaker against the wall you probably won't need the subwoofer. But once you bring them out into the room into the zone of neutrality the subwoofer helps a lot. Over the weekend I will be updating some general system pictures without giving any listings as to what is going on. I have a lot going on these days in my system, leading to a lot of confusion as to what direction to take.

dgad

Congrats on the coming addition. What color? What color grills. You must be so excited. Leave out the Tact IMO. You can adjust the angle on the head very easily to fine tube the treble. The Maxx IIs are amazing. You won't stop listening. Just rest your ears for now. All kidding aside, it will be fun to compare notes. Leave them on wheels for a while as you fine tune.

dgad

Curious if you actually use the AT666 or do you find it a pain. I don't use my outer ring that much as I get lazy. It sounds a lot better but centering it etc just takes time. I read the instructions on it & it seems to be time consuming. I am sure it makes a huge difference. One of the big things I have noted between super tables & regular tables are the last few major details & this is one of them.

dgad

Curious about your final impressions on the Nordost Thor? The superiority & addictive nature of vinyl is dissappointing for me. Too much music on CD that I only listen to in my car these days. What cartridge are you using?

dgad

Rugyboogie,

You are very welcome. You will be enjoying more than you can imagine. I look forward to seeing where you end up.

dgad

For the money get the Ikeda if you use a cartridge that requires a high effective mass arm. There are lots of great cartridges & tonearms these days. Most of them tend to have low compliance and require high effective mass. If you can do a tangent tracker go for it. I am curious about the new one from Music Maker. It is very reasonably priced.

dgad

Great system. I have been hearing great things about the ASR Gear for a long time. I decided to match my Watts w. Tubes, but honestly for the hassle free approach I am jelous. I am sure you have less noise & tons of power. Enjoy it.

dgad

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