I really enjoy the simplicity and purity of SET based systems. It's been nearly ten years but I'm finally getting to a great spot with my setup. Thank you Highwater Sound.
Raven AC with the new 3 motor pod and Black Night feet.
Horning Aristotle Ultimate Zigma
96db efficient horn loaded speakers with the latest updated drivers.
TW Raven 10.5
I just had to have this to go along with my Raven AC. Awesome arm!
Ortofon RMG 309
Vintage 12" tonearm completely rebuilt and rewired with Cardas copper internal wiring
Fidelity Research FR 64S
I just added a vintage FR64S tonearm to compliment my Ortofon RMG 309. This is the copper wired version and I must say it sounds quite good with the SPUs!
Shun Mook Record Clamp
Ebony record clamp. Phenomenal...
Ortofon Windfeld
85 hours on it now and has been a very nice upgrade from the Cadenza Black. More open, more nuanced and higher resolution while retaining ALL of the musicality of the Black.
Ortofon SPU Silver Meister MKII
Faster and more detailed than the Meister GM while still retaining all of the SPU traits.
Ortofon SPU Meister GM
Copper wire 1990's Meister. Full bodied with fantastic tone.
WSS Platin Phono
1.5M phono cable for the Ortofon RMG 309.
Ebony Armboard DIY
Made this Gaboon Ebony armboard myself using a milling machine and a armboard as the template.
Ebony Armboard DIY
First attempt at an Ebony armboard (right). Shown next to another armboard. Will use this for now while I make a final polished armboard. This armboard will serve as the base for my Ortofon RMG 309 tonearm with the SPU cartridges.
Tron Seven Ultimate Preamp
Full function preamp with line and phono in one box. Built to Ultimate spec with exotic resistors, silver wiring and silver transformers.
Border Patrol SE300B
Great little 300B amp. It's modest 8 watt power rating does not convey its real abilities. A very nice match with the Hornings.
Manley Laboratories Neoclassic 300b PP/SET
300b monoblocks switchable between SET (12wpc) and PP (24wpc). Outfitted with Sophia Carbon plate 300b tubes, VT-231 RCA or Ken Rad, NOS VT-229 RCA and NOS Tung Sol 5U4GB
SRA Ohio Class
SRA custom Ohio platform for the Tron preamp
SRA Ohio Class
Sits underneath the Raven AC turntable. Pretty much mandatory because I have subway trains running directly underneath my apartment building!
SRA Custom
Had a set of SRAs made custom for the Manley monoblocks. Very noticable improvement.
Furman SPR-20i
Regulates the voltage to a steady 120V and cleans the power. Best sounding conditioner I have used.
Audience Au24e
Very clear, fast and detailed with tight and punchy bass. 1.5m
Audience Au24e Interconnects
1.5m pair that runs between the preamp and the amps. Clear and detailed just like the AU24e speaker cables.
Stealth Audio M7000 V10
1.5M 20A power cable with silver connectors running from the wall to my Furman conditioner. The improvement in resolution and overall musical flow was not subtle...Power cables matter folks.
Edensound Terrastone slabs
I use Edensound slabs under my Border Patrol amp and power conditioner (BDR cones under the Furman). Nice sonic improvement and keeps the gear off the floor.
Timbernation Custom Low Bench
Chris at Timbernation made a beautiful solid walnut low bench to my specs to hold the Raven AC and Tron. The bench is 50" wide x 24" deep by 12" high. Keeps the gear out of the soundstage and looks great.
TW Turntable Mat
I really don't understand what the debate is about here on Agon. The mat is a significant improvement on the Raven AC. No A/B was necessary.
Garrard 301
Just for fun. Heavy custom Baltic bitch plinth bone stock 301 with my Ortofon RMG 309 and Silver Meister MK2 SPU riding shotgun
Denon DL-103r Panzerholz
The humble 103R which I added as a casual daily listening cart to spare excessive hours on my Windfeld. I removed the plastic body and installed a Panzerholz wood body. Big improvement
Denon DL-103r Ebony
Ebony wood body. Great tone very enjoyable cartridge.
Denon 103R Green Malachite
UWE green malachite stone body on another 103r. Paired with Ortofon LH-9000 heavy headshell on my RMG 309 for a high mass combo. Amazing organic tone but very dynamic and big soundstage. The best of my 3 bodies for 103R.
Pure Sound P10/T10
Added the very good Puresound P10 MM tube phono and matching T10 MC transformer to be able to run the Garrard 301 via the Tron line stage.
Installed a pair of 1963 12AX7 Mazda silver plate tubes in the Tron replacing the OEM Sovteks. My listening impression is that they add a bit more delicacy and air to the top end while improving bass definition. Good dynamics. They have slightly less gain than the Sovteks but are completely silent. I have not tried the Telefunken or Amperex alternatives but feel no need given how good these sound. Not a massive improvement but a very satisfying little tweak overall.
The finish is exceptional and for every side of both speakers, the venner matches almost perfectly. if you've got the room size, the Eufrodites would be perfect. The Chopins would be a $ jump for me that would keep me from working on my other stuff.
I heard the Border Patrols with the Voltis at the Show, but not the S10. I'm going to upgrade/tweak my front end first and still hang on to Sam's amp. When I'm done with that, I will require any other amp consideration to first be inserted into my own system before making a choice. This will finish off my main gear and then I will replace all my cables. There will only be tweaks after that. By then, I'll be old and enjoying my music. Which daughter of mine will inherit the system...hmmm?
I love the finish on your new Aristotles. I have considered upgrading mine to the latest spec or may go for the Eufrodites when funds permit. If you are considering an amp change I know you would LOVE the Border Patrol with your speakers! I have also heard the S10 in Jeff's system driving the Cessaro Chopins and that was just magical.
Oh and FYI all of my impressions on the base SE300B are with the stock Electroharmonix tubes!!! The amp only has about 50 hours on it and I will eventually swap in the Sophia Carbon plate 300Bs and upgrade the other tubes. Based on what tube rolling did for the Manleys I expect the BP has even more untapped potential.
Beautiful setup, and I find myself faced with like choices. I just picked up my Aristotles at the RMAF Show, so plucked them out of Jeff's room. Love them, with eyes focused on Border Patrol as well, so it's sweet when our personal choices about gear becomes mutual. Enjoy, enjoy!
I bet you certainly are having plenty of fun ! Your system must sound quite natural and lifelike. I've always wanted to hear the Horning speakers along with a curiosity to hear a Phy driver based speaker. Latin, consider this, you may have excess gain in your system(your speakers are pretty sensitive) given the very low settings of the volume control required. How much gain does your preamplifier and amplifiers contribute individually? Charles,
The Manleys are great all-around 300B amplifiers but the BP SE300B has the slight edge in it's ability to convey micro musical nuances and a more organic 3D presentation. Bass performance is about equal between the two in SE mode but the Manleys would win in PP mode with 24 watts on tap. With the SE300B my listening volumes are 9-9:30 versus 8:30-9 with the Manleys due to their slightly lower output (which was to be expected). My musical taste is 30% classical, 30% jazz, 20% acoustic and vocals and 20% rock. For this mix and the 96db Hornings the Border Patrol is the winner in my view. If my speakers were only 93db efficient and my tastes were more heavily rock and large scale classical the Manleys might be the better choice.
I have had fun playing with both amps over the past few months but cannot help but wonder what an upgrade to the BP S10 configuration (with dual power supplies) would sound like. I imagine it would be very special :)
Latinsamba1, I have read many good comments regarding the Border Patrol amplifiers, congratulations. How does it differ from your Manley 300b amplifier? I imagine that both of this SETs sound fine with your Hornings. Charles,
System edited: Added a Border Patrol SE300B amplifier a few months back to mix things up a bit. Thank you Jeff at Highwater Sound! This is the base single external power supply model but let me assure you it puts out a very robust sounding 8 watts. A great match with the Hornings.
I have only logged a few hours on the Windfeld but it is already superior to the Cadenza in my system. Wider soundstage, more inner detail, bigger dynamic swings, better bass detail, more 3D presentation and a lower noise floor. The amazing thing is that the Windfeld retains ALL of the musicality of the Cadenza - ie you don't just get more resolution at the cost of an analytical sound.
With this cartridge I now feel that further major improvements in my system would come from upgrading other components (amps and speakers) rather than from the analog chain.
Yes, I might take a ski trip out there next month. I'm not so sure I could convince my girlfriend to make a stop for a listening session though :(
So I decided to go with an Ortofon Windfeld after talking with Jeff and have about 12 hours on it so far. Right out of the box it was clearly a step up from the Cadenza Black. It still needs more hours but my initial impressions are that it provides yet another level of resolution and inner nuance, a wider soundstage, better bass detail and an even lower noise floor. It does all of this while retaining all of the musicality of the Black. It's an amazing cartridge.
The AN-e's are apartment friendly and the W.A.F. is high since they are designed to live in the corners. They play all sorts of music quite well which very important for me since my listening runs from current rock pop to clasical and large orchestra to jazz. After reading about your wonderful speakers it sounds like they also play many types of music with much satifaction.
There is some voltage fluctuation which is why the Furman is critical. I had a PS Audio PPP before but the Furman sounded better in my system. Eventually I would like to daisy chain a IT-Ref 20 to the SPR-20i to clean the power further but there are other system priorities first. I'd love to have dedicated lines but that would be difficult in my apartment.
Your system looks very engaging as well. I have never heard the Audio Note speakers but I love how they can be placed right in the corners. Kudos on building your own 300b amplifier!
I notice your voltage fluctuates between 117 and 123. I am in Brooklyn (park slope) and my apartment's line voltage is between 124-126! To protect my precious 300b filaments I bought a Variac and can control the voltage my amp that way. To complicate things, all of the vintage power and filament transformers I bought when building my amp where rated to see a line voltage of 115, so I had quite an adjustment to make to get my 300b filaments to 5 volts. I hired an electrician to run dedicated lines from the fuse box. Since I live on the first floor and the fuse box was only 10 feet away from where my equipment sits it was very easy.
Your system looks very apartment friendly and must sound wonderful! Congradulations!
I went ahead and ordered a Windfeld. I'm looking forward to hearing what it can do in my system and I'll be sure to be extra careful with this one!
The extra power from your 845 monoblocks must sound really good with the Hornings. I'd love to see pics of your system when/if you decide to post them :)
I agree about the amps. I had a push pull KT-88 based triode amp before. Same wattage as the 845's now, but the 845's made the speakers open-up like it was a totally different system. This amp has balls and allows the lowthers to still be delicate.
Windfeld is definitely a better cart, no two ways about it. Ortofon seems to have good synergy with that tonearm and phono stage too.
As for Lyra, I don't have much experience with it. I heard it once on a linn in a completely different system and it sounded pleasant. Maybe someone else can chime in. Jcarr visits the board frequently. I only suggested Lyra cause of your Tron phono being 100 ohms.
Just a thought, if you like Ortofon ...maybe sticking with it would not be a bad idea.
I think you are right about the Black. It is likely more the difference between your amps and mine and not the cartridge. You also have the Lowther 65 drivers which are a major upgrade from my 45s. I have heard the Black sound much better on another system so I know that it is capable of a lot more. However, I heard the Windfeld on that system and it was even better yet. I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to upgrade the cartridge even though other areas of my system can also be improved upon :)
Thanks for the input on cartridges. Which Lyra model do you think would compare favorably to a Windfeld?
First of all, really really sorry. Done that before. Sucks!
What is your tron Seven Phono loading set at? If it's 100 ohm's, like mine, then the candidates are:
Ortofon Windfeld. Lyra Miyajima
not sure what else is optimal at 100 ohms.
About the black being rounded. I have one (See below for my system) and it does not sound rounded or lacking in dynamics. Clearly the Windfeld will give you more of everything and retain the musicality (which btw, has a lot more to do with your tron ... the ortofon does its job well ...tons of resolution and neutral).
What lowther do you have in your horning. The 45 or the 65? I changed it out to a 65 and what I felt was masking/rounding the music went a way. With that said, if I lost a black, would gladly upgrade to a Windfeld :)
-Assad system: Raven 2/10.5/ Ortofon Black / SRA Tron Seven Ultimate Line + Ultimate Phono (100 ohm) [ Mazda Grey plates in phono, Tungsol skinny's in line) Puresound M845 (RCA rectifier, Sylvania bad boys) Horning Aristotle Zigma ultimate/ Symposium ultra platform underneath Quad ESL 57 rebuilt by PK (swapping transducers in and out as mood permits ...without hopefully breaking anything :) ) Telwire PC's for everything except wss pc for tw mc WSS IC's and SC's Furman SPR20i / Silver Circle Juice box 1/ dedicated 10guage cryoed line to Furman.
Just as I was settling in with a few recent tweaks to my setup the unthinkable just happened...As I was changing records my sweater sleeve snagged the stylus of my Ortofon Cadenza Black and completely snapped the cantilever off!!! Not a good day :(
So basically a total write-off with only 400 hours on it and now in the market for another cart.
Any suggestions for my arm and table? I loved the musicality of the Cadenza Black but sometimes felt the sound was a bit too rounded. I would like something a bit more dynamic and resolving without losing the wonderful musicality of the Black.
Some possibilities may be the Ortofon Windfeld or Miyajima Kansui. I have heard both on TW tables and they are superb but quite a bit more money. Any other suggestions for my setup that won't completely break the bank?
After only 8 months with the Raven AC I made the decision to get out of digital entirely. I found myself listening to vinyl 100% of the time these days and just wanted to free up funds for more vinyl (ok and maybe some minor upgrades :) So I sold my excellent modified Sony SACD player and now it's a vinyl only system. I'm a relatively young guy who grew up on digital and I'll say that I never would have predicted this move until the TW AC.
Who else here has made the same move? Any regrets?
I got the Furman over a year ago on Jeff's recommendation.
The voltage here in NYC fluctuates quite a bit (from 117 to 123 volts) which would affect the bias on my tube amps. I had a Power Plant Premier previously but had some reliability issues with it (the factory gave me a brand new replacement which I promptly sold).
The Furman has operated flawlessly and I feel it also sounds more neutral in my system (a cleaner and more natural sound). It handles my entire system with plenty of headroom to spare.
A few months now with the Raven AC and I'm finding it to be so much better than even my initial impressions. It's allowed me to finally stop obsessing over gear and just listen to great music! No desire to make any changes soon but I may eventually add another tonearm and cart just for fun. Has anyone ever tried a vintage Fidelity Research FR-64/FR-7z combo on this table?
