Had Pass Labs Aleph equipment until 6 years ago when I replaced it with Devialet 400 monoblocks. Used them in a 12 x 23 x 8 shared space. Recently moved to a new house with space for a dedicated listening room and decided to return to my analog roots in an end-game way. Went preowned on most of the electronics and still spent a lot but the music is remarkable. A lot of credit has to go to the luxury of a dedicated room and the opportunity for abundant acoustic treatment. Did not plan it this way, but my budget turned out to be about 1/4 preamp, 1/4 amplifiers, 1/4 cartridge/tonearm and 1/4 room treatment. The imaging is pinpoint, the sound articulate and crystal clear. I believe room treatments made the biggest difference.
Black Diamond Racing Shelf for the Source; Boca ceramic bearing; Sota Total Eclipse SAMA with Swagman Labs LPS; modified base and suspension with Black Diamond Racing Cones, Herbie's Audio Lab Tenderfeet and Pucks, Rotalocks.
Eminent Technology ET2 Tonearm
High pressure manifold with upgrades; manometer
DS Audio DS003 Cartridge and Equalizer
Roon Labs Nucleus Plus
Tony Pardo LPS; Qobuz
Sonos Connect 1st Generation
For her Spotify account
SolidSteel Equipment Rack
Vintage; Model 410
AudioQuest Niagara 1200 Power Conditioner, Vodka Ethernet Cable, Carbon USB Cable
Vodka between Startech and Nucleus Plus; Carbon between Nucleus Plus and Vinnie Rossi L2S
ZeroSurge 2R15W Surge Protector
For Pass Labs monoblocks
Furutech Power Cords
DIY
Indiana Michigan Power Electrons
2 dedicated 15 amp circuits
Environmental Potentials EP-2050-EE
Whole house surge protection
Zu Audio Event Interconnects
JL Audio CR-1 to Dayton SA1000
Empirical Design Interconnect
Phono cartridge to phono equalizer; Phono equalizer to preamp
Vicoustic Various
Front wall: Multifuser Wood 64 MkII and Flexi Wave Ultra; Ceiling: Multifuser DC3; Front corners: Super Bass Extreme Ultra; Front and Side Walls: Wavewood Diffuser Ultra MkII
Proac Tablettes, and Linn Isobariks (terrible speaker). Read about Wilson Benesch and the science behind their design appealed to me so I tried a pair of Trinities. Magical, but bass shy. The Vectors were from the next generation and shared components with their top-of-the-line speaker, The Cardinal. They design virtually all of their components and manufacture something like 90% in house. Their form factor is very similar to Magico, but while Magico uses the brute force of a big block of aluminum to house their drivers, Wilson Benesch uses technology and carbon fiber. I get the impression it is virtually the same stiffness in a much more compact and lighter package. They also use a 2 1/2 way design that allows the mid range to operate without a crossover, which I think is responsible for some of their coherence. I will not call them the poor man's Magico because I think they stand on their own and can directly compete, although it a lower price point.
They are not well known in the United States and their marketing is weak but I believe they are very popular in Europe and even more so in Asia. They don't need the US market. I would say it is our loss.
I know many people emphasize tweaking cables, power cords, fuses, etc. I've been putting my money into room treatments and once that gets settled (if ever), then I'll start looking at the more subtle tweaks. Room treatment can make a significant difference, far more than electronics and tweaks. The skyline diffusers on the ceiling made the room open up.Next to speakers, I don't think anything influences the sound more.
I can say I've always been fond of the British sound having owned Kef 101s and 105.2s, Proacp
Thanks for commenting on my system. Your setup looks really good, well done!
Love the room and the treatments. I agree with one of your earlier comments, room treatment done properly makes a significant difference. You also have great equipment. How do you like your WB speakers? They are always of interest to me as I'm partial to British speakers. If I ever replace my Reference KEF 107's, WB would be on my short list. Thanks again for the comment.
Thank you. The treatments are listed below. For much of the Vicoustics products, I have used a German company. Even with shipping, the prices are superior to domestic suppliers.
Vicoustic Various
Front wall: Multifuser Wood 64 MkII and Flexi Wave Ultra
Ceiling: Multifuser DC3
Front corners: Super Bass Extreme Ultra
Front and Side Walls: Wavewood Diffuser Ultra MkII
Superb room and nice attention to acoustics. My number one recommendation is you need LARGE towers for this size room. I went exactly through that process in my house of stereo. Size does matter.
