Wilsons, darTZeel, Vinyl and Tubes

by rugyboogie on Opinions Please

Description

My room was purpose build using the ratio described by Floyd Toole from the Canadian Research council.

Have 20 dedicated 15 amp circuits, 4x20 amp circuits and 2 220 volt 60 amp circuits. The wall construction is 12" thick ,made up of a double wall of 2x4 studs at 16 oc with the studs staggered ,insulation (rock wool), t&g 3/4 plywood glued and screwed, then the drywall is glued with a v notch trowel. This room is so quiet the music can flow with absolutely no distractions. This is a great way to enjoy the music at the end of long day of work.

Many many changes have taken place since posting my system here.

Decided to repaint the room a much lighter colour to lighten things up for reading in the room.

Using the darTZeel pre amp with two different amps. The first amp in this system is the Wyetech Topaz 211 and second one is the darTZeel amp.

Both bring forth tremendous musical enjoyment albeit different presentations.

Mike L turned my focus back to vinyl after being at his home many years ago. Had my Lp and gear packed up until Mike opened up my eyes/ears.

Now LP playback is 90% vinyl and 10% digital.

Steve Dobbins came by last weekend to deliver and set up the KODO the Beat.

Tonearm on the BEAT is the Reed P3 along with the Kuzma Airline. Room for one more.......

Second table is my Verdier which I bought after visiting Mike L's place.

Using a FR 64s and purchased an ET-2 which will be upgraded to a 2.5 in the next month pending Bruce's schedule.

Studer Tape deck plays a role too but is limited due to lack of tapes. Having spent funds on vinyl rigs and arm/cartridges leaves the deck out side of the music room.

Thanks for reading and take care.
Read more...

Components Toggle details

    • KODO THE BEAT
    Custom build direct drive turntable by Steve Dobbins. Has a separate power supply and speed controller.
    Can accommodate three tonearms.
    • JC Verdier La Platine
    Great turntable
    • Technics SP-10 MKII
    Direct drive from the late 70s. This one is in mint condition. Will start building different types of plinths for the turntables that I have recently purchased. They will be made out of combinations of slate, alloys and homebrew plywood using veneers and an 80 ton press.
    • Kuzma Airline
    Airline
    • Fidelity Research FR 64S
    With VTA adjuster
    • Fidelity Research FR 24 MK II
    One Ikeda's early arms. Looking for an copy of the original manual of this arm.
    • Reed 3P
    12
    • Eminent Technology ET-2
    ET 2 will be shipped to Bruce Thigpen to get updated to a 2.5 version and get a full check over.
    • Dynavector XV-1S
    Great sounding cartridge
    • Ortofon A90
    Their latest top flight cartridge.
    • Lyra Kleos SL1
    Low output moving coil Kleos.
    SL stands for single layer
    • Empire 4000 DIII GOLD
    MM Cartridge from the golden era
    • Grace F9-E
    Had this one on my first Rega 3
    • Denon 103 R
    Denon MC
    • Denon 103
    Second moving coil that I purchased after buying the Kuzma Airline.
    • Allnic H-3000V
    Phono stage which allows the use of two MM and two MC
    • Loricraft PRC-3
    Lp cleaner
    • Audio Research CD7.5
    Reference CD player
    • Aural Symphonics Magic Gem v2t
    Very good power best that I have heard in my system. Powering the Audio Research CD-7.
    • McIntosh MR-78
    Great sounding FM
    • Wilson Audio Maxx II
    Great sounding full range speaker
    • Wilson Audio Puppy 5.1
    Wilson Watt Puppies
    • Wilson Audio Watch Center
    Center
    • Wilson Audio Watch Dog
    Wilson Watch Dog
    • Nordost Valhalla
    Nordost Valhalla
    Have this as my interconnect through out the system excapt for the zeel connect between darTZeel preamp and darTZeel amp.
    • Nordost Valhalla Speaker cable
    High resolution speaker cable
    • Stillpoints Dampers and Risers
    Isolation device
    • Theta Digital Casablanca max
    Casablanca III with Extreme Dacs
    • Sony VPL-VW100 Ruby
    Great looking projector and stunning picture
    • Stewart Screen 110
    Luxus Delux Gey Hawk
    • Slim Devices Transporter
    Computer based server with with its own DA
    • Balanced Audio Technologies VK-6200
    200 watt five channel Home Theater amp
    • Toshiba HD-XA2
    High definition HD DVD player with great upscaling on SD DVD
    • Dartzeel 18 NHB-18S
    Solid state preamp purchased and hoping for a Xmas delivery.
    Ordered with two phono stages.
    • darTZeel NHB-108 model one Version B
    Solid state amp made in Switzerland.
    • AUDIENCE ar12
    Top notch ac filtering 20 amp unit made for Wally of Wally Tractor fame.
    • Audience aR6-T
    Used for the amps at the front of the room.
    • Wyetech TOPAZ 211 A
    18 watt SET with the gold plated Audio Note Transformers.
    • Studer A810
    Vintage 1/4 inch 1/2 track.
    You have to hear it to believe it.
    Makes great vinyl sound like MP3.
    • Studer A810
    My second Studer. This will be used in another system.
    • Nordost Brahma
    Power cord for the Aestehtix IO
    • HOMEBUILD Amp Stand
    4 inch thick Jatoba ( Brazilian Cherry) wood
    • Sutherland TIMELINE
    Strobe light to check turntable speed. Two speeds only 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Very accurate and easy to use.
    • Allnic Speednic
    Strobe for Turntable to check speed accuracy.
    • HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEM ANALOG DISC CLAMP
    Record clamp/weight
    • Unknown Ebony LP weight
    Ebony disc weight
    • Custom LP racks Apple plywood
    Never enough room for LP storage, so I took over the front entrance with my wife's permission of course.
    • Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables
    Wanted a storage area with sliding doors to hide various tapes, LPs Blue rays and misc.
    • Modified IKEA shelving Walnut gables part II
    Picture of sliding doors open
    • Canadian Tire Tool Chest
    Hold all of tubes,cartridges, footers, set up tools.
    • TEL WIRE HC Power cord 8 feet
    TEL WIRE HC Great synergy in my system. Beautifully finished and the Oyaide connectors are of the best quality. Extremely happy with them.
    • Acoustical-systems P2S
    Direct measuring and marking system made by Dertonarm. Quality is very high and very easy to use.
    • JBL Hartsfield
    Rosewood matched pair.

Comments 296

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Owner
Opticaltee
I just saw your system with the big Dunlevy set up, really nice. I bet there great for the theater set up. In regards to the extreme vs superior dac's I honestly have to say I never listened to the superior dac set up. My local dealer only made demo's with the extreme dac's. He never brought in the superior dac's for the Casablanca's. He is now out of business. In regards to the better DVD player, I am waiting (have been for two years now) to get the Blue Ray or the HD DVD.
Finally there is some promise that it really will be for sale in the next few months. Then I will see if either format really takes off. If it does then I will choose but only once the movies companies back it. Samsung is rumored to have a Universal player that will play both hi def formats. I can hardly wait to see what unfolds.

rugyboogie

I see that you have the same controller and dvd player as I do except you are running extreme dacs. Which ones do you have? Do you think that it would be better to upgrade the dac from a superior to an extreme or trade out the 59avi for a Compli? I love your system by the way. Someday when I can afford it I will upgrade my speakers to the Wilson line, but my Dunlavys are awesome for what I paid for all five. Probably less than your pups. Thanks.
Todd

opticaltee

Thanks....and good luck with your LP journey.

henryhk

Owner
Henryhk
I am using the cables that came with the unit. Between the ASR power supplies (two of them) and the ASR battery you must use their cable due to the fact that the are terminated with their own connectors. I also use their AC power cords that come supplied with the ASR for the power supplies. I have not had a chance to play with other power cords. The battery AC cord is not supplied, their thought is once charged it does not matter which type of cable is used to charge the battery. I have used my Brahma and it made no difference. I visited Mike L. on my visit to the USA. What great music he gets in his room (Siriusly). After the visit I have decided to get back into Vinyl. Leaning towards the Galibier,SME and the Basis. The sound at Mike's place especially with LP's was awe inspiring. Therefore my quest begins.

rugyboogie

what sort of cable are u using btwn ASR's battery supply and the main unit? the exclusive 2 has two power supplies as well making it 4 boxes....do u use the cables provided or aftermarket cables? if the latter what have you found works best?

henryhk

When I bought it, it had already been modified with lead sheets on the top plate and sides of the power supply, so I don't have to tweak any more:)

bart_nl

Owner
To Bart nl
Nice system for any age let alone 19 years of age. Yes the dust with electronics components is always a hassle. I found that a ostrich feather duster works best and I always use the remote control, so no finger prints to clean. With the Emitter power supply try using a dampning rubber mat cut into strips to lay between the plexiglass cover and the walls of the unit. Then play with the torque on the allen screws. Also try shielding the power supply inside with a sheet of lead. Happy tweaking and enjoy the music.

rugyboogie

Now I have my own emitter playing at my house for a few weeks. I can say its a great amp but it has one weakness. It looks great but men that thing collects a lot of dust.

But who cares if it sounds right?? I don't.

bart_nl

Owner
To bartverwaaijen
Yes the Emitter II exclusive with battery was not very expensive in Canada. USA price $28000????? ASR was allowing dealers to buy direct but no more. The distributions rights for North America were bought by a US company and in turn raised the price a whole lot. Somebody is making a lot of money. My dealer is quiet upset, but such is life. The ML gear that you see is used for my home theater set up . For my two channel set up I use the ASR. I find that I enjoy the music more so with the ASR that with the ML. Maybe I will find a great preamp and again use the 33s for my two channel. Don't get me wrong the 33s are really good. But for now the ASR is my ticket.

rugyboogie

Owner
ML 33 for the Wison Watt Puppies. ML 335 for the Wilson Center Watch and the ML 33h for the Wilson Cubb II. Each ML 33 outweighs each Watt Puppies by 180 LBS. Have the ASR phono stage on trial right now. Bought the clearaudio cartridge alignment gauge for my Oracle. I will be tuning tonight. Does anybody know the the tracking weight for the black Koetsu? My memory tells me 1.6 to 1.9 grams. Thanks

rugyboogie

Fabulous looking! Those Levinsons are even bigger than the Wilsons!

Which Levinsons are drining which - you have three sets of amps?

dmurfet

Owner
System edited: Added the Norost Thor and the Sony scd-1. Bought the ASR basis for the phono section and setting up turntable.

rugyboogie

Owner
To Hobby
Looks like you have a great sounding system as well. Where and what type of chairs are you using in your Second system. They look really comfortable. I neglected to say that in my system the Watch Dog sub is used for both theater and in the two channel set up. Balanced in theater mode and single ended for two channel.
All I need to do is flick the switch on the Watch Dog to go from balanced or single ended input. That makes it simple for in my set up.

rugyboogie

Owner
For my theater set up I use the 33s amps for the Watt Puppy's which are for the left and right. The 335 amp, one side only of the amp for the Center Watch, the 33h' s are used for the rears speakers which are the Cubs II. All of them are connected to the Casablanca via balanced cables. The source for playing the DVD's is the Pioneer 59 AVI . The video signal is sent via DVI cable to my Sony VPL-wv 100 (The RUBY 1920x1080i) . All of the speaker cable, interconnect and digital cables are all the Valhalla's. The Theta, ML31.5,30.6 Mac Intosh MR78 and the Pioneer are all pluged into the Thor. Thor to wall is the BRAHMA.
For my two channel, the ASR is used to power the Watt Puppies. I use two sets os Valhalla speaker cables. One Meter from the 33 in theater set up and 2.5 M for the ASR in two channel. The source is the ML31.5 as the transport and 30.6 as DAC. Just bought the Sony scd-1 but have not hooked it up yet. The turntable is not seeing any action right now. Shopping for a phono section, ASR, VTL ,The GROOVE are all in the running. The Casablanca is used only for theater only. It's set up is really flexible and in my opinion it's the best sounding processor by far.

rugyboogie

Rugyboogie,

Seem to me as a very nice system. Could you please explain more where the different components have a role in the system? Which amp do you your for each speaker? And how connected the Casablance with your Levinson gear?

Thanks

hobby

Owner
I will post new pictures this coming weekend. Bought a new digital camera that will allow me to shoot in manual mode. Did buy a Sony scd-1, delivery this week.

rugyboogie

The system set up just oozes "come listen to me"

Think you mnight be a bit far away for me though! Could you take a wide angle picture of the while system?

dmurfet

Owner
Hi Mattnshilp
Yes I agree , just bought 16 elevators from Ryan at cable elevators. I have also used syrofoam cups to bring things up off the floor. The mit evo 850 are to heavy for the foam so thats why the bulk. (I will Post new photos) Just bought the kubala sosna Emotion to try out. They have a 30 day money back and am awaiting their arrival.

Thanks for your suggestion
Mike

rugyboogie

Rugyboogie,

Nice system! I just picked up an ASR Emitter I Exclusive that I will be trying with an incoming pair of Talon Firebird Diamonds (along with a few other amps I have acquired).

I know it's a little suggestion, but I would try separating out those cords behind the Emitter and raising up the speaker wire off the carpetting (try the ceramic wire elevators or buy dowels from home depot and tye 3 5" long dowels toegether Tee-pee style). I think you will find another layer of noise removed and your tonality will improve overall.

When you get to a system of your level, little changes make big differences (as yo know, I am sure).

Again, great system! Enjoy...

-Matt

mattnshilp

Great system. I have been hearing great things about the ASR Gear for a long time. I decided to match my Watts w. Tubes, but honestly for the hassle free approach I am jelous. I am sure you have less noise & tons of power. Enjoy it.

dgad

Owner
Harry's praise is on the button.

rugyboogie

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