I commissioned the first of his phono stages so I've had it a couple of years. I would say the sound is wide open, no limits. It is difficult to control the low level noise and hum but I think that is the price you pay for having a 2 stage phono stage that offers such incredible dynamics.My system is very efficient so that adds to the situation. Before this I had a Lamm that I thought was very good but compared to this phono stage it just laid there. I don't want to blow the noise out of proportion; at normal levels I don't hear any noise at the listening position between songs, but if you crank it up to concert levels you do hear some hum between songs. Small price to pay for the incredible sound it makes.

I moved last year and haven't updated my virtual system but will soon. I now have bass horns designed by Jeffrey and built by me. Triamped from a Behringer DCX2496. Incredible. Check the new picture.

herman June 13, 2008 03:44

I'm coming to your house, OK?

Anyone with that many LP's is a guy I want to be friends with :^).

albertporter June 04, 2008 05:01

How long have you had Jeffery's phonostage. Can you say more about its sound.

Paul

pcosta June 04, 2008 04:09

Herman, man looks like you're having fun!!!!!! Good, that's what this hobby is about!!! Have fun, enjoy the musik'........Regards......J.C.

baggs1 January 16, 2008 11:31

Your speakers bring to mind Dorothy's ruby red shoes in the Wizzard of Oz. With the rest of your gear I believe you would not even have to click your heels three times to be transported to a musical wonderland. Very nice set up. Glen

glenfihi October 03, 2007 01:17

You need to add to your music collection; a few LPs would help and get your mind off listening to the equipment.

hifimaniac September 23, 2007 05:10

I tried to set them to the same crossover F. Doing it out of balance would result in too much at the bottom since they both operate down there. You can change the upper cutoff but the bottom is fixed.

I did one channel at a time with my RTA. Turn one on and bring up the level until the bottom was about 3 dB below the mids. Then turn on the other one and bring it up until the sum of both woofers is the same level as the mids. Then do the same for the other channel.

I'll try the cap thing but I've never heard an electrolytic that improved anything. The small bypass makes more sense to me but I've got some electrolytics so I'll give it a whirl.

I did try the Altmann BYOB but it sounded like a SS amp to me; a very good SS amp but SS none the less. I see why people like them but I suppose I am hooked on SET harmonic distortion. Just sounds more real to me.

herman May 28, 2007 00:20

Herman, nice system! Consider tweaking your battery with about 50,000uf of small electrolytic caps in parallel across the battery terminals, and a .1uf RELcap or V-Cap teflon bypass cap across power at the DAC PCB. This should significantly improve all aspects of the Altmann's performance.

http://cgim.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/vs.pl?vaslt&1140494870&viewitem&o12

Dave

dgarretson May 26, 2007 00:30

Curious with the Dual (dual driver) setup... Do you actually Tune one pair ie.the Lower set to a bit deeper freq's and then the upper set for a Punch & Pop, or do you just run them all tuned at the same X-over setting for best results?
Sweet custom setup to the Duo's I am sure that was a fun Mod :)

undertow May 25, 2007 20:16

I have the PAA2 but here is the latest model, the PAA3 Not sure of the differences. It comes with a CD with test tones, but I use one of the Stereophile test discs (test cd 2 I think but I'm not home to check) to generate the tones for that purpose. One of them has warble tones at various frequncies and I play the one nearest the crossover point. I have the test equipment to generate a test tone but I think a warble tone is better since you might hit a room node with a single tone.

I can't comment specifically on the brass stands since I bought them with Duos that had the Omega upgrade. This combo is much better than stock Duos but I can't honestly say how much is the stands and how much is the Omega upgrade. I'm building some wood stands to try so I'll know more soon.

I would like to go back and re-visit the 3 pairs of woofers at some point. Since I sold one pair I found out one woofer I kept was wired out of phase. I corrected that so 3 might indeed be a step up. I'll wait to get a pair at a good price and try it again.

Funny you brought it up by my Altmann amp should be here soon. I have mixed expectations. I would like to think that my DIY amp is better but it would be nice to not have to hassle with tubes.

herman March 01, 2007 01:19

Hi Herman,
Some more details on the Phonic RTA, please? And how did you generate a tone at the x-over point. Did you use a tone generator or Cd, and if so then what was the unit or a reference point of availability for this exercise.
Did the brass rack free up the midrange and top end dramatically? What % would you rate it at.
Have you thought about the Altmann amp ever over the 300B's!
BTW very nice sound! I am envious of the 2 pairs of subs. I thought 3 pairs would be even better but I am glad I read your comments.

nevillekapadia February 28, 2007 05:11

Thanks Herman, I had indeed experimented with various position options (my xover has adjustable cut pints - it is in poition 6/10) and volume is at 3/12).

I think i reached the best possible sound out of them (which is pretty good) but might to upgrade the woofers with PRO versions or a third party woofer some AG owners use.

Thanks for your feedback, it was appreciated.

Fernando

flg2001 February 15, 2007 03:04

I don't have any magic bullets for you. Bass integration is fundamentally very difficult and your issue could be integration with the horns, or integration with your room, but most probably a combination of both.

I've never heard the older style woofer so I can't comment about the differences. I assume the newer model is better but can't confirm that. If I recall the crossover point isn't adjustable on the older model which might be giving you some trouble.

Small changes in the position of the woofers can help with bass response in your room, but that moves the horns as well. Two pairs of woofers was a major improvement for me and spreads the nodes around but that might not fit your budget.

In stock form the woofer sits a little forward of the horn drivers. My horns are free standing so I pushed my woofers back to align them which helped. Unhooking the woofer from the poles that hold up the horns would give you more flexibility in placement, however the horns will fall over unless those poles are attached to something.

I use a Phonic RTA to measure mine. It is normal to tend to turn the woofers up too high when doing it by ear. With an RTA you can also check to be sure the woofer and big horn are in phase at the crossover point. You can also do it by ear. Either way play a tone near the crossover point then listen/measure with the woofer hooked up both ways. The louder way they are in phase.

You can also try reversing the phase of the tweeters to see which sounds better to you.

herman February 05, 2007 14:43

Herman - I own Avantgarde UNOs (original version) with Jadis amps (DA50Sig); and fighting to integrate the bass modules - where should I start? Upgrade subs to PRO, decouple horns from sub?

Thanks for your feedback

flg2001 February 03, 2007 12:59

System edited: added some DIY diffusers

herman January 25, 2007 01:22

System edited: update: bought a Palm TX to wirelessly control iTunes playback from anywhere in the house. Very cool.

herman December 17, 2006 18:05

The problem with USB DACs is you have to have a cable running from the computer to the DAC. To date there are no wireless USB hubs even though Belkin keeps saying they are going to introduce one. No problem in some situations but there was no practical way for me to run a cable. That leaves wireless and the only audiophile wireless other than mine is a $1,200 modified Airport Express from Empirical that outputs spdif.

Altmann claimed that optical spdif was the preferred method to feed his DAC and jitter didn't matter since he had a jitter reducer. Spending $100 for the AE plus the Altmann was much cheaper than the Empirical so I tried it.

Sounds wonderful. Best digital I've ever had by a huge margin and that inludes a Naim CDX2 an Ayre and other high end players.

I could put the battery behind the rack or in a box but it is a dedicated room so looks don't matter much to me and it's easier when I have to recharge it. I have no problems with the looks of the Altmann either but that could also easily be placed in a case if it bothers you.

herman December 16, 2006 19:41

that altmann car battery DAC sure aint pretty... why not get a USB DAC?

melomaniac December 16, 2006 06:31

System edited: added Placette 100K RVC

herman December 01, 2006 18:26

The room is about 14 x 17 with 8 foot ceilings. Carpet over concrete, thick solid rock walls on 2 sides, wood walls on the other 2 with wood ceiling. Not a huge room but just big enough for the Duos. The important thing is that it is my room to do with what I want. My wife has the rest of the house.

I now am down to 2 pair of woofers. Two is definitely much better than one but three pair didn't improve anything.

herman October 18, 2006 15:50

looks like a small room? how'd you cope?

must say that rig looks like it'd be dynamic as hell. i'm drooling!

rc

rhyno October 17, 2006 23:16

System edited: Updated speaker system to Duo Omega with brass stands and 3 pair of 225 woofers. An amazing transformation from the stock Duos which were already very good. This also tamed the last little bit of edge I was hearing with the Altmann DAC.

herman October 17, 2006 18:13

System edited: Updated to include the Altmann Attraction DAC

herman September 24, 2006 00:47

Hello Herman,

Have you received your Altmann Attraction DAC yet? What options did you order (JISCO, optical input, higher sample rates)? May I ask what transport, digital and analog interconnect cables you are using with it? Have fun with your system, it is looking great.

All the best,
Aaron

drajreynolds September 23, 2006 00:26

Great LP collection! Nice to see!

linnie01 September 02, 2006 12:58