this room and system is the result of 10 years in High End audio. my
system has been stable for a couple of years (except for transport and
amplifier upgrades within the same brand). the room has been in the
planning stage for about 18 months and i actually moved in a little over
a month ago.
my audio philosphy is to have the system get out
of the way of the event. i like as pure and simple a signal path as
possible and, at this point, prefer passive to active gain stages. i
love all the formats and enjoy having lot's of music.....vinyl is my
favorite but i listen to at least 60% digital. the new room really
reveals the benefits of SACD over redbook.
the system and room
truely allow the event to be recreated before me. i love the way the
speakers disappear and i am transported to another place/time.
i have choosen my cables, sources, amps, speakers to have as little of their own sound as possible.
recently, i upgraded my digtial transport from the modified Philips
SACD 1000 to the new emmlabs CDSD.....this was a significant step upward
in performance.
i have written an article in Positive Feedback regarding my room building experience.....here is a link;
new version of these cables, a big step over the amazing TRSC model i have used for 10 years. fantastic performance.
WADAX SA Reference DAC
Wadax Reference Dac----state of the art dac with 2 separate power supplies. the best dac i have heard by a good margin. below is a link to a thread about my Wadax experience.
WADAX SA Reference Server with Akasa optical interface
ultimate state of the art music server using Roon. includes the Akasa optical interface.
CS Port LFT1 turntable w/arm
air bearing platter and air bearing linear tracking arm; string drive with zero feedback dc motor, low pressure, low flow air system with zero noise air box.
world class musical flow, nuance and delicacy, combined with authority and ease. serves the music completely.
Esoteric T1 Turntable
magnetic drive/rim drive idler turntable with torque adjustment.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/t1/top
Esoteric G1X Master Clock
Master Clock Generator for speed improvement for the T1 turntable.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/g1x/top
Wave Kinetics NVS
direct drive turntable
Durand ---Two Tosca tonearms.
gimbal bearing design. the finest tonearm i have heard.
one Tosca on the Esoteric T1 turntable
one Tosca on the Wave Kinetics NVS turntable
Primary Control 12" FCL tone arm
Field Coil Loaded uni-pivot tone arm. with power supply.
amazing natural and very high resolution tone arm. link below.
Experience Music/Intact Audio phono corrector + silver wound MC Trio SUT combo for three different tonearms.
bespoke tubed phono preamplifier. silver wound, with custom dual power supplies.
https://myemia.com/LR.html
LFD -3- Phono Cables DIN to RCA
3 sets of very high performance phono cables. amazing performance. built by Dr. Richard Bews in the UK.
one cable uses a DIN to RCA short Dongle + an RCA to RCA interconnect. the Dongle improves the performance of the DIN connection. details at the link below.
two Etsuro Golds, ---a pair of Reference MC Phono Cartridges.
duraluminim (A7075) body, 24 carat 'Kinpaku' Gold Leaf finish, diamond cantiliver. .3mv output, 4 ohms. these are both special versions of the Etsuro Gold.
one is mounted on the CS Port linear tracker.
one is mounted on the Primary Control FCL arm.
finest cartridge i have heard by a significant margin. WOW!
Audio Technica MC-2022 60th Anniversary cartridge
uses the unified stylus cantilever design. which results in extreme lack of distortion and linearity. maybe the best i've heard at musical truth.
mounted on the Durand Tosca tonearm on the NVS tt.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-mc2022
Koetsu Azule Platinum Stone Body, boron cantilever
.3 Mv output moving coil cartridge. mounted on the Durand Telos 12" wood arm wand tone arm and NVS turntable.
Miyajima Labs --2--Infinity mono cartridge's.
one Infinity cartridge has 0.7mil stylus for modern narrow groove mono pressings.
one Infinity cartridge has 1.0 mil stylus for early wide groove mono pressings.
https://www.miyajima-lab.com/e-mono.html
DS Audio Ion 001 Vinyl Ionizer
generates positive and negative ions to remove static charge from vinyl records. i use this with my NVS turntable.
https://ds-audio-w.biz/products/181/
CS Port Static Eliminator IME1 (two of them)
An unprecedented accessory focusing on cartridge friction. It suppresses the effects of static electricity and makes records clearer.
one is on the CS Port tt, one on the Esoteric T1 tt.
active isolation under 5 separate components: (1) the NVS turntable, (2) the MSB dac, (3) the darTZeel preamp, (4 + 5) both darTZeel mono block amplifiers. custom modifications by Taiko Audio add a linear power supply plus panzerholtz top layer + Daiza platform to provide full frequency resonance attenuation to each platform.
Taiko Audio Daiza isolation platform--22 used in the system
Panzerholtz Platform with spiral cutouts reducing mid and high frequency resonance while retaining life and energy and not changing tonality.
22 Daiza platforms in the system of various sizes under every piece of the signal path.
Adona Zero GTX rack---3 of them--each 4 shelf.
all three with 27" x 21" turntable top.
solid rack for best direct floor connection.
Evolution Acoustics 'system' power cables
a new version of the TRPC model i used on my darTZeel 468 mono blocks for the last 10 years. a big step up.
Sablon Audio King power cord
used on the Wadax Reference Server.
https://www.sablonaudio.com/power
Absolute Fidelity power interfaces
power cords specifically designed for either motors (tt and tape decks), amplifiers, and components. 11 in the system.
Tripoint Audio Troy Signature
Grounding box for chassis grounding the darTZeel 458 mono block amplifiers + grounding the passive main towers of the Evolution Acoustics MM7 speaker system.
Tripoint Audio Elite
Tripoint Elite grounding box. this does chassis grounding for my sources. it uses a a pair of Tripoint Thor SE Master Reference ground cables for my dart preamp and the MSB Select II dac. there are also 4 Signature Silver ground cables to the two arm boards of the NVS tt, the power supply of the NVS tt, and the SGM server.
Equi=tech 10WQ
10kva balanced Isoltion transformer and distribution panel.
Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium duplex outlets
10 in the system. used with 10 Furutech covers and frames. uses NCF (nano crystal formula) material to reduce noise by emitting negative ions.
Wave Kinetics A10 U8 decoupling footers
8 sets-of-4 in the system for individual tuning of each piece of gear.
Auralex T-Fusor diffusers
i use 20 of these. 6 each on the front side walls, and 4 each front ceiling and rear ceiling.
Klaudio Record Cleaning System
automatic record cleaner
Acoustic Revive RL-30 mKIII CD-LP demagnatizer
for demaging any disc.
Furutech DF-2 LP disc flattner
will remove warps from Lps
Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Anniversary Ed.
will cook any cables
Winds ALM-01 Stylus Force Gauge
easy accurate, repeatable, measurments.
i-Tower by Koncept LED floor lamp
(3) are used. best audio light ever. 2 'warm', 1 'cool'.
Quietrock THX 545 drywall
specialized drywall with a 1/4" metal layer. used in my front sidewalls to establish proper room boundaries.
Chalk this system/thread up as another reason why I can't get enough of this site. An excellent system going into what is obviously going to be a very well designed and executed room. Thanks for posting the images, especially the ones showing the details of the room, and for sharing your experiences!
if you go to my picture gallery ('mikel' on www.audioasylum.com or use the link below) and scroll to the bottom 5 pictures you will see about half my cabinets are now installed. these cabinets are about 2 weeks later than i thought (2 months later than my original expectations) but they are beautifully built. it is difficult to get too upset when they turned out so good. after the cabinets are fully installed and stained (just a clear coat over the maple) i'll be about one week from move-in.
what is not yet completed and installed is the diffusers inside the left side frame, the entire right side diffuser panel, and the front diffuser panel.
Dear Mike, in Europe 02-09-04 means September, 2 2004, just to help you regarding Rolando's e-mail... For me too is difficult to remember the difference between european and american dates. Hope this helps, bye. Luca.
Mike, 02-09-04 in Europe is September, 2 2004... just to help you about Rolando's e-mail. It's very difficult also for me to remember that the date is inverted respect our habit. Cheers, Luca.
Fmpnd, i hope you can make it in the Spring (or October). next time you can stay here at my place.
you are completely correct. after this project.....if i even 'think' about spending any more money for quite a while i'll likely be 'sleeping' in the new room......that is, until she boots me out.
i loved those 'Blues' in Woodinville although sitting in the near-field is not typically recommended at 130db's.
i just searched my e-mail archives from Feburary 2004.....and did not see your e-mail from the personal website (i assume The Audiophile Club of Athens site). i also did a general search of my e-mails for your name (both Roland and Rolandus).
in late Janurary and Feburary 2004 i was in the process of moving (which with my system, 3500 Lps, 3500 cds and everything else) was a real nightmare. also, i changed ISP's from one e-mail address to another (i still have both). it is very likely that in all that mess it got lost.
i sincerely apologise if i missed it or accidentally deleted it. in any case, resend it and i would be happy to respond.
when my room is complete (if it ever is) it will be the end of 18 months of hassel......many things have fallen thru the cracks in my efforts to improve my room.....i just hope it will have been worth it.
Mike, since you were the one responsible for turning us onto the Kharma/Tenor combo, I may be biased when I say that, with that room, those amps, that digital front end and that turntable if you get the diamond tweeters, you may NEVER leave the room!! Maybe, on second thought, you shouldn't get them, your wife may hate both of us!
I really loved Seattle and Portland last year when we came out so it would be a pleasure to come back out and hear that incredible system in your room! Maybe I can get JT to take us to Mother's again for some good food (then again, he may take me to Taco Bell). I promise not to drag you out to Woodinville and blow out your eardrums again! LOL!
PS - congrats on the Positive Feedback gig - long overdue!
Frank, thanks. i'm trying to stay patient. i did finally get my cabinets handled so the room should be done by the end of September (if the creek don't rise).
you need to visit....so you can tell me what i am missing by not having the Diamond tweeters.
Wilson has the philosophy of complete control of every octave.....make the music submit to technology. enormous grip and extention.....great energy projected, detail, lack of strain.....very visceral. Wilson is also capable of subtlty and nuance....has excellent tonal color.....excellent clarity.
Kharma gets out of the way of the music. it's approach is simple but deep. Kharma uses a serial crossover (very simple)......there is a special coherence and clarity i have not heard with any other speaker. i feel closer to the event......it has textural complexity and micro-dynamics that really speaks to my sonic priorities. Kharma still has excellent extention top and bottom but more as a service to the music and not unto itself. the Kharma disappears......the event remains.
HI Mike, all in your system, especially the room, is simply unbelievable... May you give me an opinion about the difference in sound between Wilsons and Kharma ? Thank you very much. Cheers, Luca.
i'm frustrated with the slow progress on the costruction project for my new room. there has been progress on the ceiling so i have posted new pictures that show how the ceiling will act as a bass baffle. click on the link below and look at the bottom 5 pictures in the gallery.
Thanks for your response. I think you are probably right on the money. My current system is full ARC reference gear with Vandersteen 5 speakers. With Tubes and full sound of Vandersteens, the DCS seems to work well. Based on your recommendation, I am definitely going to give emmlab a listen. I am also thinking of upgrading to Avalon Opus or eidolon, more organic sound of emmlbas may work just great. fyi, my analog rig is lingo linn/ekos, koetsu rsp, ARC ref phono. Sounds great...but hopefully one day I can get the rockport!!!
thanks Hooper, this damn room project is really kicking my ass at the moment.....i see light at the end of the tunnel....and it is the damn train about to run me down.
the windows came in wrong (it took 6 weeks to get them), the doors aren't completed yet, the cabinetry is not even ordered yet (maybe today this will be handled), etc. etc.
today hopefully i'll post more pictures.
i'm glad it is entertaining to SOMEONE.....
i am anxious to hear about the VR-9's......they should be pretty special.....i'll look forward to your impressions. i know Lakefrontroad really loves his VR-11's.
yes, i have tried the dCS in my room but it was a couple of years ago. i have heard the dCS's current top level more recently in shows and in friends systems so i think i have a fairly good feel for that sound.
i prefer the emmlabs DAC6/modified Philips SACD 1000 to the dCS. to my ears, the dCS is more mechanical/flat sounding. we are talking small degrees here.....not night and day. also, system context.....if someone's system uses a warm tube amp and warm speakers the dCS might be the perfect balance. i try to stay very neutral thru my system and the emmlabs gives me all the resolution of the very best digital but also that orgainic and natural sound, it also fills the soundstage more similarly to my Rockport tt than any other digital.
it has been explained to me by those that (are supposed) to know that the pro-audio ST Optical interface that emmlabs uses is jitter-proof.....whereas the firewire interface that the dCS uses is jitter-prone. this proprietary interface of the emmlabs is it's performance advantage. i am no expert on these things but my ears tell me that it makes sense. the fundamental 'flatness' of digital is absent from the emmlabs sound compared to any other digital (unless a tube output stage is coloring the sound).
the new CDSD transport takes the emmlabs to another level with a lower noise floor and more weight and presence.
very nice system...by the way, have you tried DCS for digital? I am considering them, but have not heard the emmlabs/philips. your expert knowledge here would be hightly appreciated.
the barn had no heat except a small electric unit in the 3/4 bath. i have radiant floor heat in the main house....but decieded to go with an electric heat pump (which is dedicated for just this room) in the barn since i will be doing serious listening with everything closed up. it has 4, ceiling mounted, input vents and 2 returns so the velocity is minimal and there is ZERO noise. the main unit is in the attic but not above the listening room.
the HVAC was designed into the room by Rives Audio and the return air duct work you see in the front corners also act as bass baffles.
