After reading the rave reviews of LDR based Lightspeed Attenuator preamp I decided to give it a try. $43 price tag for the complete kit makes it a no brainer. I bought the kit from Uriah, also various parts from mouser.com and local radio shack. After a month of weekend work, the preamp is now complete in a nice aluminum case and Cardas RCA posts. And the sound? It's pretty good for a $43 preamp. More importantly I got a lot of enjoyment building this preamp which is priceless.

jylee March 20, 2011 01:51

Any thoughts on room treatment ?

zmanastronomy March 07, 2011 07:57

Messing with the idea of introducing Lightspeed Attenuator in the system. Last month I bought the kit and soldering iron for a fun side project. When I hooked it up to my system after it was built I was pleasantly surprised. Since then I've bought a nice aluminum case for it, and harness for battery powered operation. I don't need a preamp right now because I'm using an integrated amp, but it's nice to have a transparent preamp that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

jylee March 07, 2011 00:40

I stopped by the hifi store today and the Electra speakers were no where to be found. It was a bummer. I asked the owner about it and he simpy said that they don't generally do much with the Electra line but didn't say why they had a set or where they went.

He said that many customers that are interested in spending what the Electra series costs strongly consider spending a little more and going to the Utopia line. He indicated that the Electra was a very nice looking speaker and was best suited for someone that was looking for a particular level of "furnature."

In any case, I missed my chance to hear them.

mceljo November 11, 2010 14:24

I've heard Focal Chorus 800 series and they sound much like Electras. In fact I used to have CC800V center channel speaker along with my Electras. The speakers blended very well. Electras have better performance at frequency extremes, but the overall sound signature is very similar. You are not missing much with 836v.

jylee November 08, 2010 17:33

I picked up my IL-50s for about $450 including shipping from Harmon Kardon refurbished and then after using them for more than 6 years I sold them to my friend for $500 and included the RABOS kit that I had. Not a bad deal at all.

There was no comparison with my new Focal 836v and I can only imagine how great your speakers sound.

mceljo November 07, 2010 22:30

Hi Mceljo. I liked the old Infinity speakers. Infinity Intermezzo and Interlude series are probably the last hifi speakers they made. As good as they were, I don't think they can compete against newer Focal speakers in terms of resolution and transparency.

jylee November 07, 2010 12:06

I previously owned the Infinity IL-50s and have a friend that now owns my IL-50s as well as a pair of IL-60s. What are you thoughts on them for quality? I really like my Focal 836v speakers much better, but have not heard his IL-60s since my upgrade. I always like my 50's better than his 60's because I thought the 4-way design made them a bit too sharp on the high end and the 12 inch subwoofer was smoother making for an odd match. The 50's seemed to be a better match for my ears.

I have not heard the Electra's that you have, but my local store got a pair in recently so I hope to hear them soon. Simply beautiful speakers and I'm sure they sound great too.

mceljo November 06, 2010 19:02

I'm keeping ARC because the system became so much simpler without sacrificing much in the sonics. One area that Pass wins decisively is dynamics. There is so much more headroom and dynamics with Pass in handling all genre of music. VSi60 is sufficient in 95% of times. But it runs out of steam when handling the most complex passages in Mahler or Rachmaninov. VSi60 doesn't show any problem playing jazz or rock music even at high volume level, but only during the most complex passages of orchestral music. The bass response with VSi60 is very good. There is more authoritative and perhaps more generous amount of bass with Pass. With VSi60 the bass is tighter, and perhaps leaner and deeper.

I listen to music fairly loud, probably around 80dB in average with peaks reaching to 90 - 100dB. For this volume level I think VSi60 has barely enough power for 1037BE in 15 x 20 x 9 room. If you have large room or play music louder, then you'll need more power.

jylee November 06, 2010 16:46

Hi Jylee, Thank you SO much for the review. I see you are selling the Pass labs amplifier. What moved you to stay with the VSi60? I'm very interested in getting one now. Is the 50W enough to make the Focals come a live? I'm worried that it can not handle deep bass.
Thanks, Joe

joeyboynj November 03, 2010 15:51

Hi Joe,

Here are some of the thoughts about the question you asked me earlier about Pass XA-30.5 and ARC VSi60. Pass is a great great amp. It sounds warm, natural, dynamic, articulate and it is one fantastic SS amp. ARC is a great great tube amp. Although technically it's a hybrid amp with JFET input stage, the sound is unmistakably tube. There is this eerie realism in the sound with excellent detail and sound stage in both width and depth.

I think it'll be somewhat unfair to compare Pass with ARC because they are completely different beasts. Pass XA-30.5 defies the power rating and shows no problem handling the six woofers of 1037BE. It also boasts sound that's closer to tube than typical solid state amps.

ARC is much different sounding, and my ears are still being acclimated to the new sound. It has the tube mid range that no SS amp can reproduce. There are a lot of difference in handling of bass. The bass extension is excellent. However there is a lot less of them in volume.

As for the bass response, I'm not sure I would blame any of the amps for that. I think it's partly due to the bass-demanding impedance curve of Electra series. Pass is capable of delivering the thundering bass that otherwise cannot be handled by many amps, ss or tube. Also the higher than average output impedance of VSi60 will tend to bring out upper frequency more than bass. I don't think either presentation is overly wrong either. It's a matter of how much bass the listener wants to hear. With a dedicated subwoofer in the system the difference will be a non issue. However when I got XA-30.5 amp, I was able to get rid of Velodyne subwoofer that I also had at that time. I felt there is enough bass already without the sub, and there will be too much bass even when the sub was crossed at 35Hz.

Lastly, when I look at price/performance ratio, VSi60 scores very high in the chart. With VSi60 I was able to eliminate one rack space and interconnects and the system is simple and elegant.

Hope this helps, and I think you should definitely hear both in your system to decide. I don't think one setup outperforms the other setup outright. But there is enough difference in the sound and you'll probably form a preference towards one system.

jylee October 11, 2010 18:02

Hi Jylee, I'm in the market for a new integrated amp. Can you compare your Audio Research to the XA-30.5? I was thinking of getting a Pass Labs INT-30A which has the same amp as the XA-30.5 in it but also liked the VSi60 review as well. BTW, I own Focal 1027BEs. Thank you, Joe

joeyboynj October 04, 2010 16:46

Hi Jylee - Interesting update. I have a good friend who uses the Ayre QB-9 for his computer based system, so I have listened to it extensively, and I agree that it sounds wonderful.

Your decision to go with Windows 7 on your Mac Mini, given the fact that iTunes does not currently auto-detect sampling rate, is a good solution. Hadn't really occurred to me.

In any case, welcome to the world of computer based audio. Once I got the SQ issues worked out to my satisfaction, I never looked back!

bryoncunningham September 17, 2010 17:58

Going computer based transport. I've bought Ayre QB-9 DAC last month, and been ripping my CD collection. About 80% of the CD, DVD Audio and DAD are now in previous gen Mac Mini running Windows 7 and JRiver Media Center. Why Windows 7 on Mac Mini you say? I also use my Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard and iTunes. But I found Windows solution to be inherently more convenient when it comes to auto-detecting the sampling rate. With iTunes there is a need to restart iTunes program when changing music from one sample rate to another. Windows automatically adjust the sampling rate based on the music being played. I have also connected a touch screen monitor which works great with JRiver Theater mode interface. As for settling with old Mac Mini, it turns out that the newer Mac Mini has compatibility issue with Ayre DAC. Also a couple of small Nettops had issue with audio dropouts. Mac Mini is solidly built and it doesn't falter even when CPU usage goes up to 100%. As for the sound, Ayre DAC is just amazing. There is so much detail without sounding forward or lean. It's much easier to pick out individual instruments in orchestra. QB-9 is one amazing DAC.

I've also picked up ARC VSi60 following the raving review from Stereophile. It's been a couple of weeks with VSi60 in my system, and I can say everything that was said on the review is true. There is nice bloom and intimacy in vocals. The sound stage and imaging is excellent. So far so good.

jylee September 15, 2010 18:55

Replaced VTL-5.5 with Parasound JC-1. Installed three new 12AX7 from RAM labs to EAR phono stage. Rearranged the speakers to improve imaging.

Electras love to have large space between the speakers. I've pulled them apart about a foot more than before. Also adjusted the toe-in angle to be not as aggressive. Combined with the change in the preamp, the sound stage is more spacious, and there is better imaging for instruments in the sound stage.

jylee June 07, 2010 16:32

I love my XA5400ES. It completed my system and I don't anticipate changing anything for a long time, except for occasional tweaks.

jylee January 20, 2010 18:17

How is the XA5400 treating you these days? Are you going to let it stay?

mcroth January 19, 2010 20:59

Thanks Bryon. Yes I'm still using the CD and SACD old fashioned way. I've tried computer based audio early on in the late 90's. I've ripped all my CDs in 192K bitrate first, when the storage was still quite costly. The lossy sound was not very appealing, but I liked the convenience. The storage cost came down considerably in a few years, then I've re-ripped the CDs in 320K AAC. At 320K the sound quality was still lossy, but acceptable in general. Now the storage is dirt cheap and everyone can afford lossless formats. But I've lost the inclination to go through the CDs for ripping cycle again. :) Perhaps I'll try again in the future.

jylee November 07, 2009 13:22

Jylee - You have a very impressive system! I also have a Focal speakers (1007be) and a Pass Labs XA30.5, so we seem to have similar tastes. I see hundreds of cd's "decorating" the wall in your photo. Ever have thoughts of computer based audio?

bryoncunningham November 06, 2009 23:32

Replaced the stock B&O MMC 20CL cartridge with Sound Smith SMMC 20CL. Sound Smith cartridge is more modern sounding with good detail retrieval and throws huge soundstage. I like it a lot compared to more traditional and warm sounding B&O cartridge. The setup sounds pretty good with huge advantage in ergonomics with automatic cue and stop compared to conventional tables.

jylee October 29, 2009 00:01

Mike, thanks for dropping by. Playing records on turntable brings back nostalgia. I like the convenience of CD, but LP provides a different level of enjoyment. :)

Lensman, I like my VTL preamp a lot. My TL-5.5 provides all the goodies of solid state preamp such as freq extension, dynamics and detail. Also the midrange is much more fleshed out compared to solid state preamps, and the soundstage is enormous in size. The only problem I had with my preamp is the noise level. I don't know if it's specific to my sample or not, but the noise can be heard about 3 ft away through the tweeter and mirange. However, my speakers are pretty sensitive (93dB), and the noise seemed to have decreased with different input tubes. There might be better preamps at around $4k, but I can't think of better one under $3k. Be warned as this is a one way street. Once you are accustomed to the tube preamp, there is no going back to solid state. :)

jylee September 28, 2009 14:25

Hello
Just curious without reading everything here how you've like the VTL. I'm thinking of going tube pre and considering this without hearing it yet. I'm using a Linar zere feedback, class A, dual mono, JFET pre. Great for sure. But I've always loved tube sound. What brought you do buy this and what did you compare it with? Thanks,

lensman September 28, 2009 11:18

Hey. That looks great :). Pass and JM 1037's must be a great combo. VTL to boot as well. Like I mentioned before, those speakers must really like that room. I see you added a TT. So did I, yesterday. Keep on playing and enjoying your system.

mikeduke September 27, 2009 16:20

Picked up a nice Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000 turntable and EAR 834P phono stage. I've always wanted to own a B&O fully automatic linear tracking turntable in the 70's and 80's. After thirty some years now I do. :) I bought it from an old couple who stored it in the garage for years. It's in a very nice condition with the original MMC 20CL cartridge.

jylee September 26, 2009 15:21

Jylee, I really appreciate this great writeup and your perspective. This helps me to get one step closer to determine what Pass amp I would like to try.

plinko September 16, 2009 19:45