I'm a tube guy, you see; but seven years ago the winds of circumstance blew into my room a pair of 1993 B&W Matrix 800s. So I'm enjoying a (quixotic?) journey to make them sing with valves. They're designed to mate with big solid-state iron, but surprisingly are 93 dB efficient and drop to 3.4 ohms at lowest.
I took care of the bottom octave-and-a-half with a pair of REL 212/SE. They are amazing. Then with the low end a solved problem, we made our first amp upgrade in a decade: The Ayon Spirit III Mk 4, a KT150-based push-pull with 65 watts a side. It's settling in nicely.
I'm delighted with my DAC, a PS Audio Directstream with ethernet rendering from an internal Bridge II. Recent upgrade of its power cord, to an Audioquest Tornado, underscored the importance of source; it was a two-second, no-question improvement. You can't *improve* the signal downstream from your source -- you can only hope not to muck it up.
Roon on an iPad ties the whole thing together and sends me down a rabbit-hole of discovery nearly every time I sit down.
Perhaps the finest speaker that could be bought with money in 1992. (My friend reminds me that you can drive a Honda Civic off the lot today which will smoke a 1992 Lamborghini.)
Ayon Audio Spirit III Integrated Class A
65 watts per side in Pentode mode. KT150 power section. Zero negative feedback.
REL Acoustics 212SE
Precision and power. I use a high-level connection from the amp, and dial the crossover and volume low enough that you can't locate the subs with your ears.
PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge II
This thing is stunningly good for the money.
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
It doesn't have the current to feed an amp, but on source components it's a no-brainer night-and-day improvement. No problems with this unit for nine years now.
MIT Cables Oracle v2.1 spk
From 2003, custom-terminated at the factory for bi-wiring the 800s.
AudioQuest Tornado Source
From regenerator to DAC.
AudioQuest Thunder Power Cord
From wall to amp.
AudioQuest Water XLR interconnect
From DAC to amp.
Pangea Power Cords AC-9
AC-9s from wall to Power Plant Premier and from wall to subwoofers.
Small Green Computer Sonicorbiter SE
i5 NUC runs Roon Core server in a separate room.
Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet Cable, Cat 6a
This cable blew away the MonoPrice Cat 6a it replaced. Highly, highly recommended.
Boltz Custom
Not the last word in isolation, but I let the wife pick this one for aesthetics. The glass shelves rest on DIY norsorene half-globes from a scientific supply company.
DIY Absorption Panels
Three hand-wrapped panels of 2"-thick Owens-Corning 703 fiberglass. They're positioned to kill the first-reflection points on the right wall for the right and left speakers, as well as tame some echo behind the left speaker.
GIK Acoustics CT Alpha Series Corner Bass Trap
In rear corners.
PorterPorts AC Outlets
Another product that hits my sweet spot for price to performance.
Melody (Onix) SP-3
My first hifi purchase, a $500 find on Craigslist! 38-watt push-pull. Tubed with Russian NOS 6P3S-E's in lieu of 5881s. I shall never part with it.
@cymbop Not to make you jealous or anything but with NYE on a weekend I did mail order for the 30th/31st. Bizarrely I was shutout for the 30th but got floor seats and good ones for NYE! My first ever new years show very excited and it will be show # 100 for me. I hope all is well in your world bro!
Just stumbled onto your system, very nice. I like the vibe. I just picked up a mint pair of Rosewood 800’s and also have a Rel S5. Curious as to where you have the crossover set at? I’m glad to see someone rocking the Matrix series. Seems like most people now just bash them. This is my 2nd pair of 800’s as I sold my original set ( bought new 98-99) in 2004. That was my biggest regret of a sale I have had.
Also, congratulations on having your system be featured on the Audiophile Daily Show,...did see that some weeks ago and he chose a great system to show off!
@cymbop I had the good fortune to be able to hear Russ' system finally after all the months of delay due to COVID-19, with his new Ayon integrated amp and another update to the software in his DAC. I'd heard the system right before all the shelter at home and unpleasantness fo the last 1+ years with the new subs and it was a great system however this time around it had attained a whole new level of musicality, imaging and top to bottom coherency. Everything has come together, in a word, perfectly for Russ with his system and it was another incredible time listening to great music and marvelling at how great that system and room together as a music-making machine.
Thanks Russ! Sorry it took me awhile to post this; I've been off Agon for quite a while.
Well done on the system upgrades....I look forward to having even more time to cut from the day to listen to music, great food and great conversation!
Haha @cymbop , or should I say Rusty, I just happened to be watching the Audiophiliac Daily Show and saw a very familiar looking system! Well done man you deserved the shout out!
Thanks Rix! I'm lucky to have a wife that likes minimalist design, even when it's maximum size. ;-) She digs their looks so much I think I may never be able to convince her to try a different speaker.
I'm an amateur bassist, so yeah, got to get that bottom end right.
The Ayon amp has been here over a year and it is a peach. Class A and no negative feedback means it doesn't have iron-fisted control the Matrix 800 woofers; but on the flip side I've got immediacy and imaging for days.
What unusual speakers I thought to myself.. I might have to investigate a little more online about them.
I found this: When I mentioned to my wife, Lynn-Jane, that perhaps a less obtrusive
finish such as black ash would make them more domestically palatable,
she came back with "That's about as effective as rearranging the deck
chairs on the Titanic!" We presently have a standoff between
speakers and spouse. She hates the way they look but loves the way they
sound (a true love-hate relationship). I guess I get to keep them.
It's the amplifier I like the most, to look of, beautiful. We had a direct stream (black) at the factory, I spent a lot of hours listening to one - good product indeed.
Seems you might like a little bass? But, you love a lot of bass!!!
What a beautiful room! I really like how you made your living room look so much like a dedicated listening room and remains a comfortable living environment. Digging the Matrix 800!
@cymbop Well I would have no idea if it wasn't for Phish.net and being able to save my shows on their site. With the Dead back in the day I lost track in the 40s plus a lot of lost stubs due to levels of intoxication lol. And I actually know someone named Jon, not Fishman, who's seen more shows than me.
@jond holy crap! I'm not a real fan 'cause I lost track of my definitive count after 40ish shows :-). It's possible you've seen more Phish than any Jon not named Fishman.
@cymbop I'm at 94 and I hope counting, 2020 would have been Tahoe, SF, and Dick's putting me over the century mark but no dice. Fingers crossed for 2022. And yeah those 800's in 770sqft may be a problem! :)
Cymbop great system and loving those old school B&W 800's talk about filling up a room! And digging the wall treatments as well a pattern I know well. ;)
Thanks Tvad. ;-) I know it appears capable of blowing you away like the Maxell ad guy, but with tube power it sounds more delicate than it looks. I'd bet our systems sound more like each other than anybody would guess.
Thanks, TJ! Like you, we tried really hard to build a listening room that's also a living room.
The Zus ended up with the former owner of the B&Ws. They were a lot of fun, and great transducers for $1000. But there's hardly a comparison. Tone is good and dynamics are lively, but they don't cast images so well and they're not quite as efficient as the company would have you think.
The Matrix 800s are just a different league of a thing. With 65 watts of tube power, they sound incredible at listening levels up to about 85 dB, but can lose some image focus if I get greedy for more volume.
Just dropping in to check out your system cymbop. Wow! Looks amazing and a fantastic place to enjoy music and life in general. From your comments it looks like your foster care of the B&W has become a full fledged adoption. Pretty great. Do you ever compare them to the Zu? Do you still have the Zu somewhere? Surprised they did not make it into your secondary system if so. I picked up my amp for repairs and the tech had heard good things about Zu speakers. I haven’t had the pleasure personally. I am on the hunt for something new but I am leaning toward something like an Altec 604 in a custom cabinet.
Russ's system is one of the most enjoyable and musically gratifying systems I have ever heard. Music is at the center of life in that home and he and his wife are such wonderful people to know who truly appreciate great music.
Thank you Russ for my prior visits,...I cannot wait to hear what the addition of the Ayon has done!!!
Cymbop, seeing that Phish poster on the rear wall just cemented my aspirations in becoming an interior decorator - my wife agrees after seeing that picture. In all seriousness, Phish looks great in your living room!
Ketchup, It's funny: I don't listen to much recorded Phish on the hifi. In terms of studio recordings, Billy Breathes is tops though I have a soft spot for most of Fuego as well. For live recordings, a big yes on the Island Tour in '98 and generally anything in '97. But perhaps my favorite of all is the outtakes from the 5/7/98 Bearsville Studio sessions. Give a listen to Limb by Limb and NICU as works in progress!
We do a lot of Couch Tour through the hifi. We put a computer monitor on a stool between the speakers, and USB the audio feed into my DAC. It's a lot of fun.
