Latin,
Jeff's a good guy! I had a very nice conversation with him at CES last week. As usual he had one of the best sounding rooms at the show. He's very adapt at achieving a natural sound and avoiding the typical hifi sound like many of the rooms there.
Charles,

charles1dad January 18, 2014 13:13

Agear,

Yes, almost everything came from Jeff at Highwater Sound. First the Tron preamp, then the TW and recently the BP amp. After hearing his system a few years back I knew that I had found the sound I wanted and just took his advice on building a system from that point on.

latinsamba1 January 18, 2014 12:40

Beautiful system. I see High Water Sound's fingerprints ....???

agear January 17, 2014 20:17

Hi Loki,

The Windfeld and Black are both excellent cartridges (I own both). I'm loving the Silver Meister MKII SPU as a great all around cartridge and that would pair beautifully with the RS-309D arm at a very reasonable price. I have been enjoying it on everything from classic rock to jazz and classical. It does it all.

The GT2 was built for me by Auto Associates of Canton, CT about ten years ago. We started with a 1977 chassis that had been rebodied with 1997 GT2 Evo bodywork and then built it into an all out 2200lb PCA GT1R car with 700hp Motec turbo engine, 935 suspension, etc. The irony is I have never once tracked it and basically only take it out for the occasional joy ride. Total overkill but a lot of fun.

latinsamba1 January 05, 2014 13:42

Latinsamba1,
I truly can't wait. It will be a long 6 months till the amp/preamp get here (house won't be done till then, and currently live in a small townhome with wife and two under age 3. Been stuck with headphones since my son was born). I was planning on the RS-309D unless Jeff has better idea at that time. Hopefully before then I'll make it back to NYC and have chance to listen to some different cartridges at Jeff's. Ortofon Windfeld and Cadenza Black seem to obvious choices, but would like to hear some of the Miyajima choices for comparison (TW GTS/Raven 10.5/shilabe sounded awlfully good at RMAF this year). Would like to play with some SPU cartridges down the road, but need a good all around cartridge to start with (not many styles of music I don't listen to). Totally off the subject, who built your 993 Evo? My DD/track car is a 997 GT3.

loki_ut January 04, 2014 19:00

Loki,

I am quite sure you will be thrilled with the Tron/BP 300B/Aristotles/TW combination! What cartridges are you planning to pair with the Ortofon arm? I'm assuming you are talking about the RS-309D?

latinsamba1 January 04, 2014 13:53

Hi Latin,
At RMAF 2011 I heard the Tron Telstar driving the Cessaro horn speakers and it was some of the very best sound I heard at the entire show. I'd love to hear the Tron Discovery vs the BP with their premium new power supply.
The Tron amplifier options must get pretty pricey.
Charles,

charles1dad January 03, 2014 13:27

Jet,
Hi, when you get the time post your impression on your system page if you don't mind. Curious about how they mate with your amplifier/ system.
Charles,

charles1dad January 03, 2014 13:17

I have new EML 300b XLS with about 40 hours of burn in on them. A step up from my Sophia Mesh to be sure. Built like tanks :)

jetrexpro January 03, 2014 12:31

Hi Charles,

I have heard both the Tron and BP in the same system and prefer the Tron. It is unbelievably powerful and transparent. That said, the BP is one heck of a fine amp for a fraction of the price. I am very happy with it and find that it also has very impressive drive and balance. It has taken my system to a higher level.

I am sure there are even better tubes than the Sophia Carbon plates but I have a brand new quad that I use with the Manleys for now. EML makes really high quality tubes for the money and I would love to try those in the future as well.

latinsamba1 January 03, 2014 10:11

The Sophia carbon plate is a pretty good 300b especially in comparison to the EH tube. If you ever get the chance try the EML XLS or their mesh plate 300b. These are superb and compete with the excellent Sophia Royal Princess and even the marvelous JapaneseTakatsuki . The better the amplifier the more apparent is the sound of the premium level 300b tubes. Your amplifier will reward you. These tubes are all well beyond the carbon plate relatively speaking.
Charles,

charles1dad January 03, 2014 07:23

Latinsamba,
I believe that your Border Patrol is a top quality 300b SET and will absolutely reveal the effects of using better quality tubes. That new power supply option is quite special I'd bet. What makes you so sure that the Tron 300b amplifier is unquestionably better than a tricked out BP? Did you hear them side by side? You're having much enjoyment with your system, keep it up.
Charles,

charles1dad January 03, 2014 06:55

Latinsamba1,
Thanks for the quick response. Sounds like 300B EXD it is. The power and impact of the single power supply version was both my and Gary Dews concern. The Aristotles are certainly not inefficient, but are on the cusp of what most people would try with a 300B which speaks volumes about Gary's design.

I really think it is Graham who pushes back about the phono switch, at least that's the gest I get talking to Jeff. I will still push him to put it in. My big picture plan is not far off yours. If all goes well, Tron Pre and BP 300B will be here this summer (Aristotles are sitting at Jeff's till my house build is complete). Next Summer will aim for TW GTS with Ortofon 309 arm/cartridge. Long term would like to eventually add the TW Raven arm, thus my desire for the dual inputs. Like you, can then use the Ortofon to play around with different cartridges. Eventually adding a Seven Phono may make sense if both arms happen, could always send the Pre back to Graham and have him remove the phono switch at that point.

loki_ut January 02, 2014 19:56

Loki,

The BP 300B is a beautiful sounding amp. Plenty of power and bass impact with all of the 300B midrange attributes. I have about 200 hours on it now and still using the stock Electroharmonix tubes. I'm sure when I swap my carbon plate Sophia tubes in it will be even better! For the money I believe you would be VERY hard pressed to do better in a 300B amp. I plan on keeping it until I can afford a Tron 300B someday.

On the phono section, I asked Jeff about adding a second input to do away with the hassle of swapping phono cables back and forth. It would make A/B comparisons much easier. He felt that doing so would slightly degrade the sound quality which is not a compromise I am willing to make. The reality is that I generally listen to a cartridge/arm for a few weeks before feeling any urge to change. I have been listening to the RMG 309/Silver Meister for the last 35 hours and I must say it is a stunning combination. Really meaty organic sound with great speed and detail.

latinsamba1 January 02, 2014 09:35

I am as well interested in your Border Patrol review.

Thanks and happy new year!

jetrexpro January 02, 2014 07:34

Any follow up thoughts about the BP 300b now that it's had time to settle? I'm heading that way also this summer. Was just talking to Jeff about 300b with EXD upgrades vs S10 with dual mono setup. His inclination was toward putting the money toward EXD upgrades. Also, have you considered sending the Tron back to Graham to add a second phono input? He has done dual inputs on the dedicated Seven phono. Jeff thinks with a little coaxing he would also do it on the Pre (that is the second part of the plan this summer).

loki_ut January 01, 2014 08:44

Good to see you put your tools and skills to good use. Another problem with the Ebony is the constant changing of its flatness, and the expansion and contraction, and potential to split.
Nice work, I am jealous of your tools.

pcosta December 05, 2013 10:45

System edited: I finally made the Ebony armboard for my second tonearm. This was a first attempt but came out decently. Ebony is a bit tricky to machine because the wood tends to crumble and chip easily despite its high density. I also machined a 2nd stainless riser to go with this armboard on my lathe. I will use this to test out my Ortofon RMG 309 vintage arm and SPU cartridges. Hopefully the sonics make this whole exercise worth while!

latinsamba1 December 04, 2013 11:27

System edited: Added 2 SPU cartridges to the rotation. Silver Meister GM MKII and a Meister GM. Both fantastic sounding (I have already heard them on a friend's system). Will have them up and running soon on my Raven AC. Can't wait!

latinsamba1 November 22, 2013 15:43

Hi Pcosta,

I agree it would be much better to have a dedicated phono stage. The 2nd arm and cartridge are an Ortofon RMG 309 with the Silver Meister MKII SPU. I have heard both the AE85 and the AE90 on Jeff's system and just love the organic SPU sound. I'm hoping the Silver will give me the classic SPU sound with the detail I'm used to from my Windfeld (ok now that's maybe too much too ask :) I will eventually want a dedicated phono stage with both MM and MC so that I can someday add even more arm and cartridge combinations.

latinsamba1 October 29, 2013 18:57

Latinsamba1

I started off like you with only one phono input on my Tron Syren. I later added the Seven Ultimate after I added a second tonearm. I really got tired of switching cables. Now I have three inputs in total, with different gains option because of the SUT's at my disposal and what came inside the two Tron's

pcosta October 29, 2013 17:08

Hi Jarraa,

The preamp has only one phono input which I had spec'd out at +68db for MC. With the table going to two arms soon (and maybe 3 in the future :), it would be better honestly to have the separate line and phono stages but the Ultimate preamp was significantly more affordable than having 2 boxes in Ultimate spec (and also the extra ICs and PC of similar quality!). I don't expect to be constantly switching back and forth between the arms during each listening session so it's a compromise I can easily live with for now.

The tubes are a pair of 12AX7s and a pair of 5687s. On the latter, the tubes are aready JAN type so I've only swapped the 12AX7s. You were right about letting the tubes settle - the sound improved a bit more today :)

latinsamba1 October 29, 2013 15:07

A couple questions.

1) Your tron preamp came with 2 MC inputs?
2) Besides the 12ax7's, what other tubes does your preamp take?

jarraa October 29, 2013 08:07

Hi Jarraa,

That's good news :) I only had a 2 hour session yesterday after changing the tubes but I like what I hear so far. I've got a second arm and cartridge that I will be adding to the TW as soon as I finish making a custom DIY armboard (out of black ebony). Still waiting for the WSS phono cable as well but very excited about things to come.

latinsamba1 October 29, 2013 07:38

wait 48 hours to a week :)

1) Every time you move the Tron, it sounds worse for a while.
2) Let the tubes settle in for a week.

Should increase your satisfaction a bit more.
-assad

jarraa October 28, 2013 21:19