sbank's Austin City Within Limits

by sbank on VACAyre AcousticsAyreEver EvolvingLammVPIBATAqvoxSchitt AudioSynologySonoremicroRenduSound LabTechnicssp10SP10 mk IIShunyatakrellvintagePurist Audio DesignsnagraDynavectorSotaphoenixGetting thereCerious TechDenafripsPontusopicalRenduTel WireOyaide

Description

This is my music system which has been evolving for over 35 years.

Have had many different components of many styles. Have learned that synergy is everything and you have to trust your ears.

Also I've had had these systems in over half a dozen listening rooms. I've spent many hours working on room treatments and setup and believe the room/speaker interaction is the most important aspect of great sound that many hobbyists fail to optimize.

Vinyl is spinning about 80% of the time (Used to be 90% vinyl, but digital changes both sonically and user experience w/Roon & Qobuz have been a big improvement). After relocating to Austin, TX and getting the room optimized, I changed the analog side of the system, having sold tt, arm, carts & phono stage prior to the move. 
Most recent projects have been upgrading from microRendu and Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC to opticalRendu, SonicTransporter as Roon core, and Denafrips Pontus II. Later I added a number of NOS cables from Tel Wire, something I've wanted to do for more than a decade.

Previous pieces & systems included:

BAT VK150SEs & Silverline LaFolias, Nola Viper Reference III (with Lamm & BAT monoblocks), Acarian Alon V mkiii , Merlin VSM-MX, Atma-Sphere MA1mkII.2, Atma-Sphere MP3, Herron VTSP1a-166

Joule Electra LA150 and Berning ZH270, Pentagon PH3, CAT SL1MkIII, Merlin VSM-MX

Cary Rocket88 & Dehaviland 845 monos/Cary SLP2002/QuadsESL63USA

Avalon Radians/SpectralDMA180 & DMC20II/Meridian508

BAT vk5i & vk60/Von Schweikert vr4.5II

Chario Academy1/Air Tight ATM1

VTL ST80/ Acarian Alon II

Thiel 3.6 / Krell KSA 50

Vandersteen 2ci / Sunfire amp

Technics SP10mkII, EPA250 arm, SH-B3 obsidian base, custom 4kg ss mat, running with Signet 111E and Goldbug Clement II cartridges, Aqvox 2CI balanced phono stage
VPI TNT6HR w/12.7 arm, van den Hul Colibri XGP,   
Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm, Shelter 501
Sonore microRendu w/custom linear power supply feeding Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC
MacMini running Audirvana+ , too many CDs players & DACs to remember or care about


Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 21’ × 15’  Medium
Ceiling: 10’

Components Toggle details

    • Vandersteen 5A
    Loudspeakers in Cherry/Black
    5-driver, 4- way, time- and phase-accurate speaker system that incorporates a unique aperiodic, push-pull, powered sub-bass system, a battery-biased passive high-pass filter and an 11-band equalizer—in a “boxless” minimum-baffle, non-resonant enclosure system.
    • Krell FPB-300
    Solid State Class A Stereo Amp
    • VAC Renaissance Mark V Preamp with Phono
    balanced dual mono linestage and phono stage with external power supply. Running Amperex orange globes on the linestage side and a pair of Amperex NOS 60s medical grade Bugle Boys and one stock Mullard reproduction on the phono side. Planning on experimenting with NOS Mullard, Amperex and perhaps Telefunken for the single tube on the phono side.
    • Sota Nova Vacuum Series VI with Eclipse(Phoenix Engr. designed) Motor Controller
    Awaiting delivery of the new Series VI Nova table spring suspension turntable with vacuum hold down system, mag lev platter/bearing, Eclipse motor controller(designed by Phoenix Engineering) and Reflex clamp!
    • Dynavector DV-XX2 mkII
    moving coil cartridge
    • Ayre Acoustics QB-9 DSD TWENTY
    DAC
    • Sonore opticalRendu & LPS
    Audio Streamer/Renderer (Ethernet > USB) , Running Roon 's latest version, 1.8(at this time)
    • Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5
    Roon Core, and partial library on Samsung EVO870 4TB internal SSD. Remaining library on external Samsung T7 Shield 4TB USB SSD
    • Spin Planet Custom Amp Stands
    Maple amp stands with Eden Sound brass Bear Paw radiused footers
    • DIY Slipknot1 & Sbank Maple Madness Rack
    PerfectPlank Maple 1 7/8, McMaster-Carr Brass hardware, Star Sound Audiopoints footers
    • Custom Room Treatments
    Designed and framed by Sensible Sound Solutions. Assembled and upholstered by me using Guilford of Maine acoustical cloth.
    • SpinPlanet Custom Wood Diffusors
    BBC style QRD diffusors handmade of solid pine on 24" birch plywood base. Hand made in Delaware, USA.
    • AudioQuest Aspen Bi-wire Speaker Cables
    SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+)/PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER (PSC) CONDUCTORS

    MULTI-LAYER CARBON-BASED NOISE- AND CROSSTALK-DISSIPATION SYSTEM: 
    DOUBLE COUNTER-SPIRAL GEOMETRY

    FOAMED-POLYETHYLENE INSULATION (FOR ALL POSITIVE CONDUCTORS)

    DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM WITH RADIO FREQUENCY TRAP
    • Tel Wire Power Cables HC Cord & Cord
    HC Cord - large 9 gauge OCC single crystal, ultra pure copper. Terminated with genuine Oyaide 004 series with Beryllium copper bases and platinum & palladium plating. HC with 20amp connector on Krell amp connected to 20amp dedicated circuit

    Cord - OCC single crystal, ultra pure copper. Terminated with genuine Oyaide 004 series with Beryllium copper bases and platinum & palladium plating
    • Tel Wire Connect XLR
    OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) single crystal copper of the highest purity available. Terminations are Xhadow Silver RCA’s that are hand-picked by Chris Kline, Jacketed cotton

    (phono stage to preamp)
    • Mogami 2534 Interconnects
    Mogami Neglex 2534 quad cable w/ Neutrik XLRs 20' pair amps-to-preamp
    • Inakustic Reference USB Cable
    German USB cable used between opticalRendu and Denafrips Pontus II DAC
    • Audioquest Niagara 1200 & NRG-Y PC
    Power conditioner & cable for front end of the system.
    • Vinyl Stack Ultrasonic Record Cleaner
    Paired with a 10L 40hz Ultrasonic tank and following the formulas and process suggested in @rushton's thread and www.positive-feedback.com  article.
    • Eden Sound Terrastone Footers
    Terrastone Bearing Isolation Footers under preamp and DAC.
    • PS Audio Juice Bar
    6 outlet power strip for networking accessories
    • Walker Audio Valid Points
    resonance control devices
    • ERS Paper RFI/EMI Control
    ERS paper to fight airborne RFI/EMI
    • Hart Big Willy MK3 Record Cleaning Brush
    Described in detail in M.Fremer's Analog Planet Shootout video and review video. It's a brush that cleans dust off records. Way more effective than the Acoustech grounded large brush that it replaced

Comments 267

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Owner
Added Yamamoto Soundcraft Boxwood headshell and Jelco magnesium headshell to use with the Signet and Satin cartridges.

sbank

Owner
 Test post 11/23 @ 1:33pm EST

sbank

Owner
Going to be comparing a pile of borrowed record weights, clamps and a few platter mats on the new SP10mkII. Any learnings on these topics is appreciated.

sbank

Owner
Adding a trio of cartridges of older vintages: Satin 21B, Signet 111E and Technics EPC-205mkII.

sbank

Owner
Awaiting delivery of completely refurbished and restored Technics SP-10mk2, which includes a fully reconditioned and calibrated SP-10mk2 deck, SH-10E power supply, EPA-250 tonearm with original Technics tonearm cable, EPC-205 II cartridge with a brand new Jico stylus, and the SH-10B3 base. Also adding a couple of cartridges, a rare vintage Satin 21B and a Signet 111E. 

Plenty of experiments coming with footers, platter mats, record weights. Future will bring possible plinth changes & tonearm rewire...Ideas welcomed on all these. Cheers,
Spencer


sbank

Owner
VPI TNT6HR, 12.7 arm are sold. van den Hul Colibri XGP is heading to VDH in Netherlands for service check/confirmation and will be sold on eBayUK shipped from Netherlands.
Time for something new...drumroll...I mean, old. 

sbank

Owner
Nolas are sold. I was fortunate to find a great deal on the Sound Labs and to have amps that are up to the challenge. For those with the room for tall electrostatics and amps to drive them, I haven't heard their equal.

sbank

Owner
Thanks, Jeff. I've heard the Lamm phono stage and agree with your comment. Maybe someday... :-)

sbank

Congratulations on a great system. Sound Labs presentations at CES (THE Show) were consistently one of my favorites. I'm happy to hear that the Lamm M2.1's are up to the daunting task of driving those speakers.

If you have a change, demo a Lamm phono stage, you'll be amazed!

jeff1225

Owner
Added handmade BBC style QRD wood diffusors at the back corners of the room where the walls meet the ceiling.

sbank

Owner
Added Ecco Audio custom linear power supply by Vince DiNenna to power the Sonore microRendu. It is taking performance to an obscenely high level, especially in terms of value for price. Digital sound quality is now staggeringly better than ever. 
Visitors have been uttering phrases like "spooky, lifelike, uncanny, & real".

sbank

Owner
Sound Lab A3 Electrostatic Loudspeakers up and running. They really are amazing in many ways. I feel fortunate to have them. IMO, the key to getting good sound with large panels is plenty of power and plenty of room. These just seem perfectly sized for this room, and the Lamms are up for the job. 
Goosebumps! 

sbank

Owner
Adding Sound Lab A3 Electrostatic Loudspeakers en route to me shortly. Expecting plenty of setup tweaking will be needed to get the most out of them. Excited to to give them a try, as I've always been a fan but until recently didn't have the right amplification to pull it off. Advice welcome!

sbank

Owner
Adding Sonore microRendu streamer/renderer and a custom linear power supply to replace MacMini running Audirvana+. Will use DLNA output mode and run Lumin as control point app on my iPads and BubbleUPNP on my Android phones. 

Very excited about this potentially game-changing component. I've been reading about its development for some time now, and finally scheduled to receive it as one of the initial purchasers in a long closed waiting list. I am not the type to jump on as guinea pig with new designs often, but everything about this product and design team made a huge impression on me. Listening experience with others' Sonore products helped too. Cheers,
Spencer

sbank

Owner
Added a Synology DS415+ NAS drive with a pair of 4TB Western Digital Red drive units. Wiring with Blue Jean Cable CAT6A to both router and Mac. Will make the new NAS primary digital library location using Lacie HDD as another local backup which I'll keep in another location. 

RAID not reliable as backup, cloud services too slow for any large collections...so let's make backups & let's be careful out there! 

sbank

Owner
Ddriveman,
Thank you. Why don't you listen to the LA300ME first, share your thoughts and then I'll tell you what I thought were the stengths/weaknesses of the LA150. Would hate to bias your experience. 
I knew Jud and can tell you that the ME, a tribute to his wife, was a piece of special importance to him. He put a lot of love into it! enjoy,
Spencer 

sbank

Nice system and great experiences. I see that you once had the Joule LA150 preamp. How does that compare with the oreamps you've had or experienced. I've recently acquired a LA300ME but have yetto fully test it in my system. Your thoughts and comments will be much appreciated

ddriveman

Owner
Schiit's in the house! Breaking it in now...psyched.

sbank

Owner
Adding a Schiit Audio Gungnir Multibit DAC to replace the Oppo 105D. Although the Oppo is a great all-around player, I was not taking advantage of the great video performance, etc. As a stand-alone DAC, the Gumby crushed the 105D in my rig thanks to a friend who brought his over for a comparision. 
My next move will be to upgrade from the 2009 Mac Mini to another renderer. 
Improvements in digital audio continue to amaze in terms of sound quality and value. 
Still favoring analog, but the differences are far less than years ago. Couple that with a large collection of digital recordings of live concerts and I am enjoying digital more than ever.  

sbank

Owner
System edited: Adding Schiit Audio Wyrd and 2 Audioquest Carbon USB cables between the Mac Mini server and the Oppo DAC.

sbank

Owner
Hi Steve,

Great to hear from you! You are welcome to come by for a listen anytime.

Each time I roll tubes I am again inspired by your fastidousness. Think you'll enjoy hearing the Bugle Boys in the Lamms, et al.

I've been playing with some headphones the last few years, too. PSBs M4U1s serving me well now.

Philly Area Audio Group is doing great, although I must admit my bias, as I was recently elected President.

Send me a PM or email ([email protected]) so we can plan to get together and catch up.

sbank

Nice to see you have done so much with your gear. I don't come around your way as much as I used to but would love to hear your rig and catch up. I have to get in touch with PAAG if it still in existence. I am reduced to headphones right now.

mechans

Owner
It's all relative. From my perspective, the Darkside is reel-to-reel!

sbank

I had a problem finding a reputable tech for my Supratek when she quit a while back,but all is well.Slipknot does have quite a system,I envy you guys that are so far into the Darkside (vinyl)!

raytheprinter

Owner
Both sound good as long as accompanied by a nice chianti.

Let's skip the Fine Young Cannibals jokes...

sbank

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