This is my main system, which is constantly evolvig. I tend to swap in or out a component every couple of months or so. Latest change on the horizon will be speakers as I'm evolving to more of a home theatre capable system.
Hi Samhar, Yes, the Joule 160s are running perfectly again. I got 16 new power tubes and everything is so stable now. I can't imagine using other amps. If you are about to get your amps serviced, I recommend contacting Rich Brkich at Signature Sound in upstate New York; he is an expert, a pleasure to deal with and is very familiar with the Joule amps. He uses a pair of 100's as his personal pair.
Hi Zephyr, thanks for the kind words. I should update my photos as I'm in an apartment now and the listening area is not quite as pretty as the old house I was sharing. I now use a HRS platform under my turntable, which is probably my primary component of concern in terms of isolation. I'm also experimenting with using sistrum stands under some other components. I find them to be hugely effective under my speakers but the jury is still out on other components.
I just got my variac (that I use with my Joule amps) repaired and a fresh set of 16 power tubes and all sounds glorious on Tidal now. Am spinning some discs too to enjoy the Thor phono stage which was also a lovely addition. I think I'll look at cable upgrades and maybe a new DAC in the future.
Added a Doshi linestage. I haven't done any careful a/b comparison against the Syrah, but overall am quite happy with the Doshi - if I had to pinpoint the differences, it would be slightly lower noise floor and more weight and depth to the soundstage, but the Syrah may be more airy and rich. Not sure. It might be six of one and half a dozen of the other. I do miss having the remote control that the Syrah has ;-)
Hi Lapierre, my listening room is quite big - about 900 square with almost 11 foot ceilings, so I felt the need to get the larger sub. Also, I got a great price on it - it's in perfect condition and ended up being cheaper than a used JL Audio F-113 ;-) I'm renting though, so if/when I move, I may need to sell it. So far so good though, it really is filling in the bottom end nicely and disappears. The remote control and microphone setup really allows the sub to be dialed in so well. I'll post pictures soon, when I get the room tidy.
Thanks Samhar, I am loving the new upgrades. I'm still experimenting with speaker placement. So far the Avantis are not disappearing to the degree my Virgo IIs once did, but I think they are just more fully with regard to placement.
System edited: I recently purchased a pair of Joule Electra VZN 160 OTL amps and a pair of Audio Physic Avanti III speakers. I now have two pairs of speakers (I still have my MBL 121 monitors), so I need to sell one pair - both pairs of speakers are very different, with strengths and weaknesses, so am pretty indifferent to sell either pair. I'm enjoying the system updates and new room. I don't think I can go back to solid state or class D :-)
System updated: Just added Shakti Halographs (nice - they really work) and also ordered a pair of Joule Electra Grand Marquis VZN-160 amps - can't wait to get them :-)
Hi Lohanimal: I really haven't compared this MG-1 tonearm to any other arm apart from the Origin Live Silver which I once had, and this air-bearing arm is much better in every way. The materials used in this arm are mostly plastic (the headshell, arm, and the tube on which the arm slides). The housing at the side which connects to the air tube is metal and is qhite heavy. Overall, I think it's essentially a copy of the Air Tangent arm, but with more cost-effective materials.
I haven't found any noticeable difference between the standard arm or the more expensive one. I think the designers feels that the lighter the arm the better, but perhaps that's just a philosophy on which one may hold a different opinion.
I tried using the damping trough, but it did not fit well (didn't align perfectly), so I couldn't get it working to try it. I guess I could somehow construct my own - might try that as a project some time.
Overall though, the arm seems to be a bargain. I wouldn't be surprised if the performance of this arm matched that of far more expensive air bearing arms, yet this thing costs a small fraction. One other air-bearing arm you might consider is the "Conductor" which seems to be well thought-out and better materials, but again - it's at least twice the price.
Anyways, best of luck - I'd be very surprised if you can find a tonearm at close to the performance of this one for anywhere near the price. If you do let me know. Happy listening!
Hi Jswarncke: I went directly from the Spectron Musician III to the SE mkii with Bybee filters. So, it's hard to judge the impact of the Bybees in isolation. Overall though, even though the amp is not broken in yet, and supposedly needs a long break in period, I find the sound much better in every respect. Two key points I could make are as follows: 1) I feel the amp sounds different from any other amp I've heard, and in a good way. There is an effortless, open, natural presentation to the music. I'm getting goosebumps on certain passages where I was not getting them before.
2) There is virtually no distortion at high volumes - I end up playing music louder because it sounds better loud, where previously I'd have to keep the volume at a reasonable level to avoid some distortion. In particular, there are one or two female vocal tracks I have where the vocal is so high pitched and loud that it sounds like it's coming from within my head, not from outside. It's almost eerie, again in a good way. Previously, I'm sure such volume on similar passages would cause me to cringe. Instead, now I have goosebumps. I'm very happy with the amp.
Hi Milpai: Thanks for the suggestion - I must try the blanket suggestion.
Yes, the RedWine 30.2 didn't work for me although I tried it with two other more efficient speakers too and it didn't float my boat. I'lll be getting a Spectron Musician III in the next couple of weeks, so that should do the trick nicely. I'll probably later upgrade it to the SE Mk ii version, but it should satisfy my needs for a few months till the upgrade bug hits again.
System edited: System edited - addition of MBL 121 speakers. Very nice. Although, I need to get the right amplifier now.. Will update speaker photos soon.
Hi 3tpower, I sold on those Acuhorn horns a few months ago. They were in my system for only about 2 months. Overall I was pretty unhappy with them. I found them way too lean an uninvolving. They were a stunning looking speaker, but really didn't do anything well. These JM Labs really do the trick though.
Hi Spencer, I know what you mean - the speaker change often the greatest potential to change the character of the sound. I really didn't like the Acuhorn 155 horns I had before (the JM Labs certainly was an even bigger upgrade in that case), but before that I had the Virgo II. Surprisingly, while I do really like my JM Lab Divas, there are things about the Virgo II that I miss. They have an uncanny ability to do most things just right, and the imaging is probably better than the Divas or most other even more expensive speakers, for that matter.
The Universe offered me an upgrade (in my system) in every area of the music, with no cons, shortcomings or tradeoffs - the improvement is so unambiguous. Still, it was a very expensive upgrade, and I was tempted by the VDH Colibri as another, more cost-effective option. Sbank, I see that you have the Airy 3, like I had before. I think you'll find the Universe to be in a completely different league compared to the Airy. Next step for me is some longer ICs, power cords and power conditioner...it never ends...
System edited: Replaced my ZYX Airy 3x cartridge with a new ZYX Universe S-SB. The difference is pretty huge, as expected. It's really taken my system to a new level, especially compared to other recent upgrades. I hope my tonearm is doing the cartridge justice though - am tempted to get something like a Schroeder, but no funds for that yet.
Hi Ecclectique: Yea, the 842s sound great. It's hard for me to make good a/b comparisons vs the 300bxls I had before, especially so as I've been changing speakers to these new horns, but I believe the 842 was a good direction to go with. I had to get the tubes biased professionally (no automatic bias cathode in the amps) by Nick at Truesound (tsound.com), and he measured the power output at as much as 30wpc, so the tubes seem to be providing more power, beyond the 22wpc that the amps are typically rated at. The tubes look fantastic too, and the packaging and individual warranty cards per tube gave me great confidence in the build quality of the tubes. I trust I'll be enjoying them for at least the 4,000 hour rating on the tubes.
Paggusset, I was driving the Virgos with a pair of KR Audio 6000s (which I still have). They are rated 22wpc, and to my ears they drove the Virgos just fine. I'm unsure of the ohm setting on my KRs but am guessing they're at 8ohm. I believe the Virgos sould benefit from more power than 22wpc, but I really had no issues. The Virgos (especially mk. II) are amazing value at their used pricepoint.
Hi Paggusset: Yea, I was really happy with the AP Virgo II, but was in a position to spend a bit more, so I thought I'd get a bit more speaker by spending more. Yea, the Acuhorns look amazing - the finish is incredible, and they are quite imposing, but somehow have a good WAF factor as while big, their front profile is narrow, making them look quite refined. Am still rearranging and experimenting with speaker placement and support. To complicate matters more, I have an opportunity to get a pair of JM Lab Diva Utopia locally for a good price, so may change speakers again. I think the Divas will mate better with my evolving home theatre direction. Hence, I'll likely sell on these Acuhorns.
Hi Gregadd: Thanks - yea, the speakers look absolutely stunning. I'm still breaking them in and figuring out how to get the best out of them (I may invest in some custom Sound Anchor stands).
Yes, alas, I unfortunately have to put the turntable at the bottom of the rack, because when I had it at the top of the rack, it moved when people walked across the room (there is a basement underneath, so the floor is suspended). I had the stylus skipping now and again. It's such a shame as turntable support was a key requirement when I purchased this rack, so am disappointed that it doesn't support my turntable effectively. I don't think this is a criticism of Adona per se, in that most racks would probably move a littel on my floor, but still - I would have just stayed with concrete blocks had I known I couldn't perch the tt atop the rack.
I'm very happy with the North Star gear too, because I have three digital sources (Transport, Satellite DVR and home theatre PC). The DAC allows easy switching with loads of inputs (I've one to spare), and the combo looks great - the modern look seems to compliment the more old-school look of the Supratek gear.
Sbank, thanks for your thoughts on my system. Yes, I've been meaning to look at some room treatments. Challenge is I'm only renting this house, so am weary of making investments that are somewhat specific to this current listening environment. Still, I guess I should consider tube traps and the like - stuff I can move to a new house. Will get photos of the new speakers up this weekend - they look amazing, especially in this room.
Hi Ecclectique: Thanks for your advice on the tubes - your advice is encouraging, as it's the same advice KrAudioProducts gave me too :-) - I'll be getting a matched quad of cryogenically frozen KR 842vhd tubes this week.
I don't have the full story on how/why the amps were modded , but my understanding is that they were done so to accept a tube like the 300bxls tubes, rather than the previous tube that the amps came with (which apparently only lasted a few hundred hours, proving to be very expensive to replace on any ongoing basis). Also, the amps originally were built with a transducer (not sure what this is really), but apparently that was a bit of a design mistake, so the mod took care of that too. All told, the mods are a bit of a puzzle to me.
Fingers crossed the amps will sing with the new tubes. I'm also hopeful that the power output of the tubes will be able to drive my Virgos well. it's a concern I've always had given that the Virgos are 89db efficiency and operate at 4ohm load. I've been tempted to get more power, although these KR amps do sound sweeter than my old Blue Circle BC2 hybrid monos which were supposedly 65wpc.
Hi Goodo23: Those spikes under the Supratek are actually part of a Sistrum 001 stand. Sistrum stands are pretty amazing resonance reducing devices. I use a pair of smaller Sistrum stands under the speakers. I found the impact on speaker performance to be enormous. On equipment, it's less dramatic, and to be honest, I haven't even done much a/b testing there. The stands are not cheap though. The particular one I have (had) under the Supratek is about $350 new. Again though, I think the performance improvements for the speakers was the most telling.
Hi Smccull, I don't run any HT processor or any surround sound - just two channel stereo. MY HT setup is just on the video side. So, sorry I can't comment on HT passthrough issues. I don't think you could go too far wrong with the Syrah though - it's probably the best piece of audio gear I've ever purchased, and others seem to be using the passthrough on the Syrah with no issues - might be worth checking the 'Preamp Deal of the Century' thread just to make sure though.
Hi Guys, thanks for the extra input. Gregadd, I'm guessing you're right that the Virgo would benefit from more power - I may try that some time. Although, my previous amps were 80WPC (hybrid tube/transistor design - Blue Circle BC2 monos), and I do think the KR sound better. Although, maybe I can't drive the Virgos as hard. If I get cash some day and sieze the opportunity, maybe the KR Kronzillas would do the trick.
Hopefully, I don't need to go for a more expensive cartridge, this ZYX Airy 3x-sb cost be a pretty penny ;-)
I'll most likely keep the system as-is for a while, till I get some more spending money (which will be some ways away, alas).
Hi Tim, I can't say I've auditioned many other speakers, although would love to take the plunge on an upgrade at some point in the future. I know that speakers on my shortlist would include JB Lab Mezzo Utopia (used) - I'm guessing they'd be an upgrade to the Virgos in many areas, althogh am always worried about sacrificing the imaging that the Virgos provide. Would also be interested in moving to Virgo III or Avanti III - would be more certain of the upgrade, without risk of inferior imaging to the Virgos. I'm also interested in moving to lower power SET amps and getting horn spekers like Cain & Cain, or maybe even Avantgarde - a bit different no doubt, but a direction I may try.
Yea, I have gotten my hands on some nice popular pieces of equipment. Of the ones you mentioned, I've found the Supratek to be the most special. I've had a few preamps, and the Supratek was a shocking improvement to all I've had before it. Next step for me is surely a Cortese.
Hi Tim, yes I had the same worry when I got these amps. Well, all I can say is that the Virgos really sing with the amps. I was very happy with the match. I think 22wpc is very close to the minimum power to really work with the Virgos though - I wouldn't go lower than that. Before the KR audio amps, I had Blue Circle BC2 hybrids which run at 65wpc if memory serves. I find the KR sound better in my system. My guess is that you would like the tube power with the Virgos.
Hi Raytheprinter, yes the system is a joy to listen too. I do particularly like my supratek. Would likely only consider upgrades in the Supratek line. Good luck with your Chardonnay. I'm sure you'll find it will blow away whatever it is you have now - that was my experience.
System edited: Just updating virtual system to latest additions/changes. Next upgrades likely include Power Conditioner, cables and maybe preamp (to another Supratek).
