Replaced the Audionet electronics with Soulution 511+525. Went from CD based digital rig to a file based one using the Vivaldi Upsampler and Melco as a digital library.
Replaced the Audionet electronics with Soulution 511+525. Went from CD based digital rig to a file based one using the Vivaldi Upsampler and Melco as a digital library.
The Reed 3P is a wonderful, very musical arm with lots of features for "on the fly" corrections.It can be matched with many cartridges, however it is not the easyiest to mount - not a plug and play arm but once it is properly mounted it is one of beast arms I've heard.
Upgrade to my analog rig - added the Brinkmann Balance 2 arm turntable with the RONT power supply to replace my Garrard 301. Upgraded the Zyx cartridge to the Optimum and replaced the great Audionet PAM G2 phonostage with the excellent Soulution 550.
As objective as I can be - I never heard a better overall speaker than Vivid.
If I had the funds I would have go higher in the chain while I'm not missing any note. I had Harbeth speakers before but I auditioned many speakers before deciding on the Vivids (Rockport, Wilson, Raidho, YG, Magico to name a few brands) - they are that good...
My entire digital, ICs and speaker cables are the Zensati Authentica - not cheap but amazing IMHO. The dampening plates came along with the Artesania stands but can be sold separetely.
Under the Steve Dobbins Gararad 301 TT I use stillpoints ultra 5 which are extremely expensive but turned out an excellent upgrade over the ultra ss.
Just replaced an excellent Zyx Universe ii cart with a Zyx Universe premium. I didn't believe it can get better than the Uni2 but the premium is truly magnificent. Thanks to Mehran of Sora sound. I'm in analog heaven now.
Just added the Zyx Uni2 cart on the zyx headshell and ring. Excellent cart - sweet sounding with tons of detail. Mehran of sora sound is the greatest guy.
After some magor updates in the system - I've posted the new pics with the additions of The Audionet Pre G2, the NVO phonostage, the Reed 3P tonearm and the VDH Colibri xgp cart.
Yes. I needed some minor acoustic treatment as my room "behaves" pretty good acoustically so the Gik panels behind and the vicoustics in the corners did exactly what needed.
Dan The rack is custom made by a local carpenter with the addition of some stillpoints underneath. I didn't compare the 2 dacs as I bought first the Vivaldi dac and added the Scarlatti pieces to complete the dCS stack (if I had the cash I would have gone Vivaldi all the way....).
I still own the Audionet and I don't see any reason to look elsewhere. I know that the US price is quite hefty when comparing to its european price and I believe that is one of the reasons that Audionet is not a well known brand in the US (I'm from Israel and hence i'm dealing with european price). These are truly magnificent pair of amps. I can't describe a signature sound since there isn't such - they are very neutral and crystal clear. They throw an excellent focused soundstage with tons of power and excellent build quality. They killed every amp I auditioned - Ayre mxr, Pass xa-60.5, MSB etc. I love them so much I need to jump on the Audionet top pre but that's also a pricey investment. Hope I helped. What other brands dis you consider and what is the rest of your setup ?
System edited: Updated my system for the late changes - bought a Scarlatti transport and an aurender music server for the digital rig and added mm cart option to my analog rig with the lounge audio lcr phonostage.
System edited: updated the system after the recent changes : got the scarlatti transport and added an Aurender muisc server as well. added mm cart option to my analog rig with the lounge audio lcr phonostage.
Thanks for the nice words - indeed those vivids are remarkable. My room doesn't suffer that much from bass problems and consulting one of vicoustic dealers here, he said that I can use the wavewood just to smooth the corners as the superbass can overkill. So far I'm happy...
System edited: After a few months I spent looking for a different amp i've pulled the triger on Audione Max to replace the Pass xa 60.5 The Pass is a good amp but my speakers demanded a more powerful amp. With the Audionet I have a full dynamic range and with excellent transparency and excellent focused soundstage.
Hi First of all if I had the cash I would have gone with the vivaldi stack although those scarlatti pieces are mathched to work with my vivaldi dac. They added a tad more resolution but more than that opened additional air and space within the music - very much closer to analog sound. I don't mean you can't live with the vivaldi dac alone which is pure magic but those pieces added a few more notches in performance.
System edited: I have re arranged the listening room and moved all electronics beside the monoblocks to the side with a huge change in width and focus of the soundstage.Also added the scralatti clock and upsampler to the vivaldi dac.
System edited: System edited - Purchased the dCS Vivaldi DAC. Although its insane price it is the pinnacle of digital reproduction. Also got a Lyra Delos cart and uploaded some better pics.
I had the pass xa 60.5 prior to buying the Vivids. I just love the Pass sound signature when i'm aware it isn't tops in bass control but overall i'm happy. I'm open to try other amps. What do you have in mind ?
The Harbeth has indeed a treble to die for especially for its price range. The Vivid has all that with great realism and great musicality, adding some more on the low end with better resolution than the harbeth. They dissapear in the room like no other speaker creating a huge soundstage. I listened to various Rockport models, amongst them the Avior and Atria and found them somewhat boring and uninvolving.Good luck on your upgrade task anyway.
The Vivid's are on my shortlist quite some time and I had to raise the funds. Those are truly amazing pair of speakers. I had before Harbeth shl5 which are amongst the best VFM in highend speaker world.Having said that, both in performance (and in cost..) Vivid is in a different league. Very realistic, very musical and with the right amount of detail.
System edited: Just loaded my past year or so changes. Added a VPI SSM based analog rig and my last purchase of the excellent Vivid G3 speakers.Also changed cabling completely to a Zensati set on digital and Mg audio on analog.
System edited: System edited: Added a Bel Canto dac 3.5 to the Esoteric x05. Excellent upgrade to the digital setup. Added realism and detail. Music just sound right with the bel canto dac.
Wooden stands for the harbeth are custom made with assistance of a photo loaded to the harbeth forum in harbeth.co.uk website. Thanks for the kind words.
