I liked the sound of the iPhone ringing in the video ;-)

gallant_diva February 19, 2013 00:44

Mike, I have been absent from audio for mor ethan a year now and hardly peeked here. But when you think of systems here, I think of your system first. You are a dedicated man who has contributed to this hobby in an untiring manner. And now that I am looking at what improvements you made, I am like "wow" :)

Keep it up, pal.

By the way I am soon going to post my system here again.

gallant_diva February 17, 2013 23:32

Mike: I predicted you would convert to tubes, remember? Good to see you changes and the pictures... they are awesome.

gallant_diva November 20, 2011 04:46

Mike:

Very nice table indeed. ALso love you 'iLights"

I also see some diffusors on the wall. Are they hollow or stuffed?

gallant_diva July 13, 2011 23:50

Mike:

Drinking water quality will affect health which in turn will affect listening :-)

gallant_diva July 30, 2010 05:58

MIke:

Thanks for the information but I think it is expensive (may be worth the price though). By the way what makees you say we have crap power? ;-)

Did you know we have the cleanest water in the country?
According to the latest reuslt of the Envoronmental Working Group, the following are the top cities for drinking water:

Cities with the best water:

1.Arlington, TX
2.Providence, RI
3.Fort Worth, TX
4.Charleston, SC
5.Boston, MA
6.Honolulu, HI
7.Austin, TX
8.Fairfax County, VA
9.St. Louis, MO
10.Minneapolis, MN

Can someone do the electricity analysis please :-)

gallant_diva July 29, 2010 17:38

Mike:

It sounds very exciting (I am salivating). Is the same "separate transformer" that you mentioned to me you were thinking of installing? Do you mind telling (may be through PM) the total cost of this.

Is is interesting that you mentioned the "mid-night magic".
I have the same observation in my system. When I mention to my visitors the difference in the sound of my system between the day time and night time, some of them suspect I may be exaggerating but after listening they do conclude the difference is actually "day-and-night".

gallant_diva July 29, 2010 02:14

Mike: You said it so well and succinctly summarized the entire characteristics of the A90. I would just add tiny bit to what you said: The A90 covers the entire frequency spectrum and yet sings. And it has all the resolution and details and yet remains musical.

gallant_diva June 25, 2010 09:26

Congratulations Mike. I am sure many of the 1500 are a gem.

gallant_diva April 01, 2010 17:20

Mike: I have an LP by the same Chinese vocalist. I will see if I can get hold another copy. If I do, I will send it to you as a gift.

Regarding the auralex reflectors, I forgot to ask you what are they stuffed with. I have been using other kind of auralex diffusors on my side walls and front wall ( see my system side walls http://cgim.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/vs.pl?vaslt&1066703453&viewitem&o8) but I am interested in trying the reflectors you are using. I think they better be stuffed, otherwise they can affect bass.

gallant_diva March 19, 2010 23:30

I said "I think that should make the midrange gloom a bit more. "

Sorry, I meant to say lowering some bass would make the midrange glow and shine, not gloom.

gallant_diva March 17, 2010 03:36

Mike:

Allow me to thank you for your generous hospitality at your great listening room last Saturday. I totally enjoyed my visit and it was a great pleasure meeting you again after some 3-4 years. You are a great listener as well as a great host. Your room is a state-of-the-art and sounds much better now, thanks to all those well thought of recent mods you have done to it. I think you have made some very smart moves by reinforcing your walls, removing the bass traps (I myself do not care for those and have none in my room now). The room is less damp and thus has more life to it than before.

Needless to say, your equipment and software collection is awesome, especially your sources. Your greatest asset however is not your hospitality or equipment collection but the passion you have for this hobby, which has two implications: First, your passion contributes to the hobby by pushing the expectations of high-end audio to its limit. Second, you generously share all this with friends in audio. You are surely a star audiophile, shining right up there among the very best bunch.

It all started with my driving to your beautiful home nestled among spectacular trees in front of a gorgeous mountain. After chatting for more than 15 minutes, we were on to the listening business. We spent several hours listening to a wide variety of music, using some of disks and LPs that I had brought with me as well as your own collection. Your repertoire of audio gear includes the spectacular MM3 speakers drive by the Dartzeel electronics. The driving force behind the system is the mighty Rockport Serius III turntable and a very good CD player, in addition to the Technics and Gerrard turntables. And finally, the grand daddy of them all, the Studer Tape Deck. Nevertheless, I think the Rockport still stands as the king of all the audio gear you have.

The sound was full, detailed, smooth, relaxed, precise and musical. You asked me to be “brutally critical and honest” and so was I. It was all music delivered by layers and layers of high quality audio rendered with extreme precision and fine touch. The system sounds neither like solid state nor tubes, and that is your philosophy. It should be neutral and I agree with that. However, I am in contrast a tube freak and that is where our taste may differ. But that is ok, it is like picking different favorite dishes from the same menu. One is not necessarily more right than the other.

The music I had brought with me covered an extensive range of music, ranging from female and male vocalists, classical orchestral music, jazz, world music, some Rock, choir, as well as some wild but musical stuff which I have collected from around the world. That included some astonishing Chinese music such as opera and vocalists. I was glad to know you liked all. We basically enjoyed every piece that we played because I do not like to waste time on any less than perfect stuff, so I did not bring anything sounding less than spectacular. The stuff that you played also was an equal match as well. The sound was simply glorious no matter what we played.
The bass was powerful. I had taken a special CD with Chinese drums which are my favorite tool for room shaking. They did shake the shelves and the backdoor. The speakers however remained calm and without stress, which is their best trade.

After spending a couple of hours on digital, we moved on to analog. I really enjoyed the Ella Fitzgerlad LP and other vocalists. The tone arm on the Gerard was the Reed arm. I was glad to hear the Ortofon sounding so well - since I have purchased one myself I do not think I will regret it. We played both the Rockport and the Gerard and made some interesting comparative observations. The Gerard sounds awesome too but the Rockport is without any contest. At the end it was clear that the Rockport is better even though the Gerard has some interesting characteristics in its own way. The A-90 was played on both the tables with different VTF. As you mentioned in a separate thread, the VTF on the Gerrad was less than 2.0 and it sounded good.

Finally, towards the last end of the four hour of focused, serious but joyful listening, the finale was “Jazz on the Pawnshop” played through the Studer. Befittingly, it was the best sound of the evening.

Criticism? Basically, none, even though I would have done a few things different myself. But it is your system so I cannot say anything. However, one suggestion which I have the urge would be to may be raise the midrange a bit (500-1K HZ range) or alternatively lower the bass, lets say, by 0.5 db. I think that should make the midrange gloom a bit more. I also think there can be a bit more flesh and body in the sound but that is perhaps I am used to good tube sound. My guess is you will eventually convert to tubes, may be when you upgrade in a few years to your next amp, but who knows :) But that is all really. It was very pleasant and wonderful evening, my friend. Thanks again. I look forward to your listening to my system.

gallant_diva March 17, 2010 03:25

I see. BTW, styrofoam also has some absorption and the skyline pattern also has some but the overall effect is minor compared to the benefit. But yes, styrofoam would be ideal for this diffusor and better than an absorbing foam and wood.

I tolerate some absorbption in my system because I have a tweeter which is fuller if not hot. But I would definitely want to try the styrofoam based skyline. Would you please let me get in touch with your friend who made it so that I can get some information from him about the material required. Thanks.

gallant_diva November 23, 2009 02:16

Sorry, I meant to say my aborption panel is now 6' by 2' (not 6' by 4').

gallant_diva November 23, 2009 01:27

Thanks for the detailed reply..........it answers my question very well. What you were saying all made sense until when you mentioned that the double panel made it worse. But then it all made sense again towards the end of your response when you mentioned that it is made of foam.

I am not expert on the subject but I have experiment a lot recently with both diffusors and absorbers., with the sole objective of improving imaging. If you look at the picture of my system, I have a red panel placed at the same place. Recently I have extended it 6' by 4' just like yours. Even though my speakers (dipole planar) are different from yours, we are experiencing the same effect.

First of all yours looks positively nice, as you mentioned. Mine is spoiling the carved painting it is covering but then the sound takes precedence over looks.

However, Mike, since your panel is also made of foam it is the absorbing effect that is affecting more than the diffusion effect. And the effect on imaging is that it is canceling the cross-talk between the two speakers, which in turn means more separation between the left and right speaker, which in turn means more focused central image.

So it works fine for you and also for me. The only problem is that the foam also sucks up some life out of music, even though the overall gain on imaging may be worth it. I want to replace my foam with wooden skyline panels. But you are right it would be awfully heavy and that is the concern. I will still try one though.

Another possibility is to find some other non-foam material which would not cause any absorption but would have the skyline diffusion to achieve the same effect.

I wonder if I could make a panel by using Styrofoam. I have styrofoam metro diffusors to cover my side walls. They stop side reflections but they do not achieve the same effect on the central spot. If I can find a good 2" by 2" Styrofoam rods, then a good skyline diffusor can be built.

gallant_diva November 23, 2009 01:21

Thank you Mike. I do not have nay plans to visit Seattle yet but if I do I will certainly be glad to come by. Your passion for the hibby is commendable as you host so many visitors. That requires time and energy.

By the way you are also weclome to visit me.

yes, Winston's new disks are amazing. By the way, I would appreciate your comment on the skyline diffusor that you have on th wall behind the speakers. I am thinking of making a DIY kind.

gallant_diva November 22, 2009 05:21

Mike:

Long time no talk.

The Hong Kong made CD that you mentioned is excellent. I myself have it and several others similar works of art. Somehow, I find Far East Audiophile recordings to be much better.

With regard to the skyline diffusor, I am doing it a DIY panel. Did it have a good effect on your imaging?

gallant_diva November 18, 2009 19:39

Mike:

These are the wonders of Internet forums, which let several jealous people jump to their keyboards and bring out their own frustrations, on the name of freedom to speak.

I have been a victim of this too, although mine is very humble setup compared to yours. There is only one solution to deal with these: IGNORE THEM. Trust me, the more you explain, worse it can get. There is no need to debate such things on a rational basis.

Do not let these comments affect your hobby and enthusiasm.

Having met you in person, I can attest that you are a great and generous indvidual.

cheers.

gallant_diva February 04, 2007 19:49

I am posting my response to what you said on the Digital Product Review thread.

I am so glad that my suggestion for moving your speakers apart has worked well for you. That is great. I was also glad that you also liked and kept my suggestions for some changes in the tweeter setup. This is the best reward for me when a fellow listener benefits from my suggestion.

As I expected your system could have better imaging and more layering of the soundstage. I would also imagine you have more depth now. There are just so many parameters in system setup, including the electronics and room acoustics that it is impossible (at least for me) to just follow dealer's advice or manufacturer's recommendations. Ultimately, you are the judge because it is your system and you are living with it.

As far as I am concerned, I can only wish to listen to your system again, now with these changes. I just have this "bad" habit of constantly tweaking my system and fine tuning the positioning of my speakers. I think it stems from the fact that Apogee are very fussy when it comes to placement. It has taken my years to find their optimal placement. Recently, I made some changes in the resistors and caps in their crossover, and I end up moving the speakers one inch wider apart on each side. Such is the atrocity of this hobby that even a small component change can warrant a big system wide change.

Congatulations

gallant_diva June 24, 2006 21:47

Hi Mike:

Thank you for your gracious hospitality. It was one of the most satisfying listening sessions I have had at someone's house. I probably can write an article, or a set of articles, each describing separately your house, your garden. your system, and your hospitality itself :)

Folks, this system kicks butts, especially with the Sirius turntable, which in my opinion totally justifies every bit of its "coveted" price tag. It was vintage analog at its glorious best.

The room and its surrouding areas are simply awesome, a state-of-the-art that is highly professionally done, offering the best of aesthetics as well as acoustics. Well done, Mike, well done!

Mike, we had so much to talk about, in terms of music, amps, sources, cables, and speakers. I would love to visit you again if I am ever in that area. You are very welcome to visit me as well.

Thank you again and my sincere congratulations on your great achievements in reaching the frontiers of this hobby.

gallant_diva June 04, 2006 07:51

awesome, stunning, and spectacular. Mike, you set a new standard in audio passion!

gallant_diva March 07, 2006 04:10

very interesting product this Equi=tech is. Thank you for introducing this, Mike. I was looking for something like that.

GD

gallant_diva September 14, 2005 06:38

Mike, you give a very accurate description of what a dedicated listener goes through, as opposed to the guy who is immediately happy with every change he makes.

Once I compared a very cheap audio component with a hugely expensive one. I ended up buying the cheap one but I went through something like the following sequence: eye browse raised, became curious, found interesting and intriguing, started to like, impressed, disbelief, doubts, impressed, very impressed, totally in love.

Normally, this does not happen if you dislike something very obviously.

Congrats on your new speaker.

gallant_diva July 02, 2005 00:55

Mike:

Your setup is totally impressive, showing your love for audio and taste in room setup. Congratulations!

I am currently going through a major change in my own setup. I am building a new house with a dedicated media room. A lot of thoughts have gone into designing and building that room, but with a modest budget. The house is now complete and I am ready to move, naturally my audio stuff will move first. I will start posting some pictures on my system.

Your room gives me some ideas and inspiration as to how to setup the interior. I particularly like your shelves for CDs and records. I will also do extensive acoustic treatment, all in DIY style.

Again, your room is awesome. I do have a humble suggestion though. I would buy a listening chair with its back height lower than your ear level. With your ears free of any obstacle and the sound reflection from the back wall will make tremendous improvements in your sound quality. And of course, such a seat can still be comfortable and exotic in its looks.

GD

gallant_diva November 23, 2004 02:06