Very nice system! I also have a Well Tempered Amadeus Mk.2. Was wondering what you used under the feet of your turntable. The Amadeus seems quite sensitive to footfall near the rack of my system.

mr_m October 02, 2014 00:33

System edited: Finally got some decent pics of my most recent upgrades. The system is sounding better than ever! Let me know what you think.

dazzlingmd October 01, 2014 18:14

For anyone who is interested, I got an XTZ room analyzer Pro and it identified a big room mode at 38hz, suggesting a -22db correction. I attenuated it down about 15db with a McIntosh MQ 107, and the boomy bass issue is completely gone. One of the most immediate and dramatic changes to my system ever. And very easy. It's really singing now!

dazzlingmd August 03, 2014 20:12

Thanks! The PrimaLuna is an integrated, but I'm only using it as a power amp right now since I got my hands on the Allnic L-3000 preamp. Strange, I know. But it's sounding great right now so I'm going to leave it alone.

If you're in Denver at some point let me know and you're welcome to come by and hear how it sounds.

dazzlingmd June 25, 2014 22:56

Awesome system Dazz! I love those Merlins. Dam nice turntable too! I could spend a whole evening in your room no problem. Whats the PrimaLuna For? Is that a Integrated amp? I have a Primaluna Prologue 3 Preamp on another smaller system it has a huge SS and really makes any solid state amp sound a lot warmer and sweeter. IMO.

mattmiller June 25, 2014 22:11

Thanks! I think the recessed area will work even better once I hang the TV on the wall behind it (but that wall needs a bigger TV in my opinion!).

I appreciate your input on the bass traps. I wondered about the front porting since the typical recommendation is to put them in the corners behind the speakers. I'll move them around to different places and see if that makes a difference. I'm about 9.5 feet away from the speakers, but right up against the back wall, and I think it might be that reflection that's the problem, so the back wall may be where I need help.

I've spent about 15 hours over the last 3 weeks adjusting VTA, VTF, damping, loading, etc., along with speaker positioning, and none of it seemed to have a significant effect on the boomy bass issue. And it's also there with the digital front end, so I don't think it's the table after all.

And it's really not a bad boominess, just enough such that in some recordings, it bugs me a little bit. And after all, we're all obsessive enough that if it's not perfect, we will keep trying to make it perfect!

dazzlingmd June 24, 2014 17:57

I'm a Merlin owner, too. I love your setup! I really like the recessed area as a solution for placing your gear. I might do something similar when I get my new music room.

I would not associate boomy bass with Merlin speakers. That said, I did use bass traps with my Merlins when I had them in a 14x13 room. They didn't seem to make much of a difference for me. I had the traps set in the corners behind the Merlins. Merlins are front ported, and I sat relatively close to the speakers at 7.5 feet away, so perhaps the bass traps behind the speakers had less of an effect in my system.

I did experience boominess through my Merlins once, but the cause turned out to be my vinyl setup. I played around with vta and cartridge alignment, and the problem was solved.

thaluza June 23, 2014 21:19

Ok, here's the newly-upgraded system. Let me know what you think! And if anyone has experience placing bass traps, let me know that as well.

dazzlingmd June 23, 2014 16:55

Loved it, and still have the dynavector as a second cartridge, but jumped on a deal on a Transfiguration Orpheus, which does take it up another notch, not in a dramatic way, but adds a certain richness across the spectrum without losing any of the amazing detail of the dynavector. Very similar overall sound, though.

dazzlingmd June 21, 2014 02:54

I have the original WTA w/ your same cart and phono stage. How are you liking it?

drubin February 22, 2014 00:12

UPDATE: I bit the bullet and got myself a WT Amadeus mk2 table and dynavector xx2 mk2 cartridge for Christmas. Am I in for a treat? Will there be a huge difference immediately?

dazzlingmd December 11, 2013 23:12

Tempting, but no.

Any thoughts on my next turntable? What about Clearaudio or TTW tables? I've looked mostly at VPI and Rega, but am wondering about some of those as well. And if anyone has a George Warren table, I'd love to hear about your experience as well.

dazzlingmd November 30, 2013 22:47

Run away from home.

schubert November 27, 2013 17:44

By the way, I should have mentioned that I've been thinking about a turntable upgrade. Maybe a Rega RP9, or a VPI Classic, something in that category. I also loved the George Warren turntable I saw at RMAF 2013 last month, but that's a little pricier.

Thoughts on what might match well with my system?

And I'd love to think about great pre-amps as well, but see my above caveat about needing the processing for now. The Marantz is a very neutral-sounding pre-amp which can still process all of the things I need it to for home theater right now, so I think it's about as well as I can do until I have a dedicated music system. I welcome other suggestions, though.

dazzlingmd November 26, 2013 21:19