Description

I like the WP 8's ability to reproduce whatever the Joules can send their way. Speed, they can handle the Joule's lighting fast attack transients. The wonderful harmonic textures, decays and inner details the Joules reproduce are handled deftly by the WPs. The bass is strong, tight, detailed and textured.
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Components Toggle details

    • Basis Audio 2500
    Active suspension with oil and spring.
    • Basis Audio Vector 3 Tonearm
    The 3 is less congested providing more inner detail with more extended hi's and bass. It has a VTA micrometer that will help with finer adjustments.
    • Basis Audio Signature motor
    Had original motor upgraded to Signature. The new Signature is quieter with less cogging.
    • Basis Audio Revolution Belt
    "It occurred to A.J. that the belt itself may be playing a role. He measured a range of the belts on hand, selecting the most accurate (consistent thickness), and found that the tighter the tolerances, the lower the speed variation and better the sound. So how to increase tolerance was the question. A.J. embarked on a crusade that eventually led him to design his own process and apparatus which grinds the belt and to an astonishing accuracy of one-ten-thousandths of an inch!"
    • Basis Audio counterweights
    Lighter main weight with two smaller fine tuning weights positioning larger weight as close to pivot point as possible should result in a quicker reaction time.
    • Walker Audio Ultimate Precision motor controller
    With Valid Points and Control Discs and upgraded teflon circuit board. The improvement in the total presentation is impressive, smooth and clear were the first impressions. The bass seemed more pronounced and better defined; the highs were smoother resulting in a .."more natural sound".
    • Air Tight PC-1
    Just a fantastic cartridge!!!! Loaded at 240ohms, VTF @ 2.1grams. "Like most vinylphiles, I've listened to a lot of fine moving-coil cartridges over the years. The Air Tight PC-1, TAS' 2006 Phono Cartridge of the Year award-winner, is, IMO, the best yet in nearly every aspect of phonographic reproduction - the most complete." - Jonathan Valin, 2007 Golden Ear Award Winner, The Absolute Sound Issue 173, August 2007 "In plain English, the PC-1's magnets produce a much stronger magentic field, greatly lowering noise and coloration and greatly increasing resolution in every regard. Details are clearer, timbres are truer, air is more plentiful, dynamics are more lifelike, and stage width, depth, and height are expanded... a leap forward in moving-coil design." - Jonathan Valin, 2007 Golden Ear Award Winner, The Absolute Sound Issue 173, August 2007
    • Koetsu Urushi Black
    Warm with detail.
    • Koetsu Rosewood
    I need to remount this cart and find if my recollections are correct!!
    • GamuT CD-3
    The best player I heard at my pay grade in my system, coupled with the Joule LAP-150 Mkll it produces an enjoyable sound.
    • Joule Electra LAP 150 MK ll
    The top unit is the separate power supply, the bottom is the pre/phono. Me likey!!!! Changed the tubes to: 3 x Amperex 7025 '66 in 5751 sockets 2 x Amperex JAN 7308 '62 in 6DJ8 sockets
    • Joule Electra VZN-160 Grand Marquis MKV Musicwood
    OTL immediacy/speed, wonderful inner detail, dynamic, delicate, attack matched by incredible decay AAAAA+++++ piece of gear!!!! A privilege to own a joy to listen through!!! The amp themselves can be tuned by adjustments to the voltage with the variacs, biasing the 6C33CB's between (25) to (33) and with a dial provided for adjustments of negative feedback creating the sound you prefer. Presently running Amperex Holland 7025's and Amperex Holland 6DJ8's.
    • Wilson Audio WATT Puppy 8
    I've been changing positions and tuning by ear only. I measure at the top outside rear corner of the Puppy for both back and side wall numbers. This allows a fixed point for side and back wall numbers while toe in is adjusted, this corner being the easiest spot on these speakers to permit this for me. My normal listening db level is 72db to 83db so I'm optimizing the placement for this volume range as I think the boundary distances are dependent on the db level. The outside rear corners are now at 39 3/4" to back wall and 23 3/4" to lt side wall and 23" to rt side wall. The celling rises from 9 1/2' at lt wall to 10 1/2' at rt wall. The tweeters are 101" apart and my ears are 120" from the tweeters with a sliver of the inside of the WATT visible. This is the best sound I've had in my room!!!
    • Purist Proteus Provectus I/C pre > amp
    All copper
    • Purist Proteus Provectus S/C amp>speaker
    Copper
    • Purist Aqueous 20th Anniversary P/C CDP
    This is has been moved from the CDP to the LAP-150 Mk ll.
    • Purist Musaeus P/C pre-amp power supply
    Using to the Joule LAP-150 Mk2 power supply. Will try different cords eventually. This pic is when it was connected to CDP.
    • Purist 20th Anniversary P/C wall to VZN's
    To the tube section of the amps
    • Purist Musaeus P/C 15A to Walker control
    Cable upgrade for TT motor controller.
    • Solid Tech Rack of Silence 4
    Quieter and much nicer to look at than my old racks.
    • Black Diamond Racing The Shelf (2)
    Two 21" X 19" X 3/4" shelves one under TT and one under the pre amp give quieter backgrounds with much greater detail "Made entirely of BDR’s proprietary Carbon Fiber Composite materials and finished with clear acrylic on both sides for an elegant and understated appearance, the BDR Shelf is massive and extremely non-resonant, absorbing enormous amounts of vibration: a BDR Shelf is only ¾” thick, yet it is 25x less resonant than an 8” thick granite slab and has 4 times the vibration absorbing power of 2” thick MDF!"
    • Black Diamond Racing The Shelf (2)
    Two 19" X 15" X 3/4" shelves one under the Joule LAP-150Mkll's power supply and one under GamuT CDP. "Made entirely of BDR’s proprietary Carbon Fiber Composite materials and finished with clear acrylic on both sides for an elegant and understated appearance, the BDR Shelf is massive and extremely non-resonant, absorbing enormous amounts of vibration: a BDR Shelf is only ¾” thick, yet it is 25x less resonant than an 8” thick granite slab and has 4 times the vibration absorbing power of 2” thick MDF!"
    • Solid Tech Rack Of Silence ROS 1
    Amp stands with cross braces suspended by springs and amps feet sitting on Sims Novcom pucks.
    • Solid Tech Rack Of Silence ROS 1
    This is a picture of the ROS 1 Ref without the spring suspension. Currently set up with 1.6
    • Acoustic Sciences Corporation Tube traps
    (2) 16" Supertrap tube traps, (2) 11" Tube Traps, (2) 9" Tube Traps,(2) half round 11", (2) half round 9"
    • Real Traps Mondo Traps
    (4) traps at first and second reflection points
    • GIK Acoustics 242 & 244
    (2) 244 on top of the record cases, (3) 242's on front wall, (1) on wall behind chair
    • Mint LP Mirror protractor
    Fantastic tool for checking stylus alignment
    • Cable Isolators ESD
    Made of Electro Static Dissipative Polyurethane. The jury is still out on the effect these have on the sound but they have helped separate and organize the cables.
    • Sims Vibration Dynamics Navcom silencers
    Used between Rack Of Silence and BDR shelves under preamp and CDP. They are also under the acrylic shelves under Direct satellite box and Walker speed controller shelf.
    • Purchasing Department I-Mac & inter net
    Without this tweak the rest would have been near impossible, at best very difficult and a lot slower.
    • Hickok 539 b
    Roger Kennedy digital mods and calibration. A must have for matching sections, power tubes and to protect equipment.
    • VPI 16.5
    This was a great buy it really make record cleaning a snap!!!!
    • Digital Tachometer no name
    Reads strip of tape on the side of the platter.
    • PHONIC PAA2
    The PAA2 can perform full acoustical analysis using its real-time spectrum analyzer. Thirty-one, one-third octave bands are displayed on the screen real-time with selectable response times (35ms, 125ms, 250ms and 1 second) and weighting options (Flat, A and C). The operator needs to select the SPL (Speaker Pressure Level) range (30-90 dBSPL, 50-110 dBSPL, 70-130 dBSPL) for the test being run. The user can select any of the center frequencies and display the level that was measured with the numbers displayed above the real-time graph. The peak level can also be displayed for reference. There are a total of sixteen memory locations for storing data. The measured spectrum data can be stored to any one of ten memory locations. Averaged data from any or all of the ten memory locations can be stored to the remaining six memory locations.

Comments 268

Showing all comments by lloydelee21.

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Hi Samhar,

My rack has similar thickness shelves and otherwise, has minor differences:
1), The cabinet sides are on the edge, so the shelves do not extend beyond the sides
2) The cabinet sits on top of 1.5" thick slab of slate to decouple from the floor...I am told NOT to couple the slate and cabinet together
3) Finish is piano gloss, african mapele...almost black-brown, "rippled wood" finish...laid out in matched butterfly across all sides.

Hope that helps...good luck and keep us posted!!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Hi Samhar,

So I finally replaced the Mullard 7308 with an Amperex 7308 (US, gold pins)...wow. Check out the EAT tube damper forum you've posted on before in order to get the full details. In my system and to my ears, Amperex 7308 is a replacement I intend to keep...and buy more!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Hi Samhar,

Did not get to the Amperex 7308 yet...finally got my custom equipment rack delivered. 3" thick birch ply rack with black african sapele veneer and high piano gloss lacquer...sitting on top of 1.5" slab of slate (decoupled)...weighs like 300lbs or something. Huge difference in control, took away some of the darkness, bass depths feel half-octave lower and more accurate...deeper soundstage...and waaay more detail. Whispers, echos...
So I need to let this settle in before I can test the amperex.
Stay tuned!!! Thanks.

lloydelee21

Thanks, Samhar! I have finished burning in PAD Dom Ferox and will now go back to stock CJ to compare!

lloydelee21

Thanks Samhar. Look forward to your thoughts...I will do the same. I have spoken with dealer who sells Stealth and PAD...after lengthy discussions, I ordered PAD Ann Contego and Dominus Ferox...Contego for Amp, Ferox for CJ and for Velodyne dd18 sub. I was surprised that soundstage widened and spaciousness increased 5%-10% after auditioning Dom Ferox on sub.
I will also let u know when I've got Ferox in the CJ Act 2.
Thanks!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Thanks, Dave_b. that is really helpful. i will give it a shot and see. i have a good friend who owns Transp Ref MM and swears by it. thanks again.

lloydelee21

Hi Dave_B. Thanks for your advice. Are you saying, compared to Tranp Ref, that the PAD Dom and Ann Contego surpress noise too much?

Just so I am clearly communicating, all I am doing is replacing each component's stock cable with either a PAD Dom or Ann Contego. So far, the DAC, amp and sub have all benefited greatly...so I am adding one for the pre.

And because I do not have enough plug outlets, I went with a PS Audio Quintet (hopefully the least invasive conditioning)...for the DAC and pre. Your advice is welcome!! Thanks.

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Hi Samhar. thanks for your advice! i had a great experience upgrading the stock PC from the wall into the PS Quinet conditioner...with a PAD Ann Contego. Since the PS Quintet conditioner was feeding my dac and pre, i kept going. i put in Dom Ferox from DAC into PS Quintet...enormous benefits. Then i Dom Ferox into Gryphon (will replace with Ann Contego)directly into the wall.

As a result of these benefits, i have decided to go for a Dominus Ferox from CJ Act 2 into Quintet. I spoke with CJ and they said stock cables are great...but sometimes if your system really gets great benefits from upgrading other component PCs, it could relate to the power coming into your home...in which case let your ear be your best guide.

i will let you know when it arrives! thanks for any further feedback when you´ve got your PC testing done!

Lloyd

lloydelee21

Hi Samhar. Great system...I've read your adventures with interest! I see you added PAD 20th Ann Contego PC to Act 2. I am considering the same change for my Act 2. What changes did you note from stock cable? Thanks for your advice!

Lloyd

lloydelee21