Mac mini server sends music, stored in ALAC format, using Itunes, to Airport Express across the room. Airport Express feeds Benchmark DAC3 HGC connected directly by 0.5m XLR IC to Benchmark AHB2 power amp. Hyperion Speakers are biwired in "shotgun" fashion. Power cables are extremely short (less than foot) made of Belden 83803 (12ga Teflon) and Wattgate plugs. All components are plugged into Furman Elite 20PFi power conditioner. I
Bryantho, thanks. Good to know if acoustic panels don't work. AZ uses some copper in their silver cables - about 3% in AZ Silvere Reference and 1% in Absolute. Robert Lee stated that silver without any copper sounds flat, less organic. I've never had Nordost cable but according to reviews their house sound is extremely detailed, fast, revealing etc. Perhaps not the best place to find warm sounding cables.
I have the Hyperion 938 for a few years, and had tried a few others speakers but decided to keep the Hyperion for now. When I was looking to fix my room acoustic, I bought the DSPeaker anti-mode 2.0 dual core to try out. In my case it certainly helps to cure the bass boom. The DSPeaker can serve as a preamp and DAC as well. Imaging and sound stage also noticeably improved ( clearer, wider and deeper). You may want to look into it. Again, it all depends on your room acoustic problem. I also tried out the Nordost Heimdall interconnect to compare with my Acoustic zen silver. Nordost has more distinct instrument placements but probably not as " organic" as the AZ. They are both excellent cables for my system.
Hi Mapman, I enjoy my original Benchmark DAC especially after replacing stock OP-AMPs. I would like to try DAC 2 line but I'm even more curious about their new power amp that supposed to combine sound of class A with class AB efficiency. New Rowland amps might be great as well but are a little pricey for me. Fixing room acoustics is my current quest. I have 12 large wall panels waiting for hanging. My system sounds really nice with Hyperion speakers but it was a little bright with metal dome Paradigms. I don't have enough experience to judge but in my opinion class D amplifier delivers better highs (in spite of critics), with more body and less "splash" than previous class AB amp. Midrange has stunning clarity with absolutely no sibilance. I'm even afraid to make any change now. If you're ever in Chicago stop by - I have tons of good music and comfortable recliners.
What do you think of the newest Benchmark DAC 2 line?
I've dabbled with the idea of trying the pre/DAC/headphone amp model in my second system, just for fun and take a stab at the latest and greatest high performance, good value, DAC techology, but haven't quite gotten myself to pull the trigger yet. I find with computers and digital in general, the longer one waits, the more performance returns you get for the investment.
Yes, I use it with Wattgate plugs. I kept it to less then foot since everything is very close to power conditioner. I believe that negative effects of the cable are proportional to distance. I was thinking of replacing it with something more expensive (vhaudio.com ?), since I use about 2' total for amp and DAC. Also power conditioner comes with 6' stock cord. I might try to replace it with 3' variety. The problem here is conditioner that has 20A socket while most of cables come with 15A standard. It is possible to replace this socket but it might be better to avoid modification and just build my own cable.
Outside insulation on 83803 is pretty thin. It might require external sleeve (black woven type) but I'm too lazy and conditioner cord has priority. Conditioner has power factor correction with big inductor and capacitor storing energy. Better cord might help or might not - I don't want to spend to much on this. What do you think?
I have noticed that you are using the Beloden 83803 as power cord, I must day that it is a very transparency yet powerful sounding cable, it beat some of my expensive cable !
Bryantho - Yes I noticed it. It still can put image just in front but on many CDs image is wide and far behind (laid back). One of CDs I have, that sounds like that is Diane Schuur and Count Basie Orchestra. It feels like being there at the concert instead of concert in the living room.
I agree synergy is the key to great music reproduction. Also it really depends on your preference. I have heard many speakers (Proac, Merlin, B&W Nautilus,Von Schweikert, Wilson) in various systems and I found the imaging and resolution is up with the best out there. In my system with tube amps, it sounds fantastic. One thing I noticed is the deep sound stage, it is almost always in the back of the speaker (more laid back), regardless of amp or CD player I used. Wonder you noticed the same.
After talking with Robert Lee in Acoustic Zen, I decide to order the Satori shotgun with the jumper cable. Will see how it turns out.
Bryantho - I really like AZ Satoris (I use Shotgun version) but I cannot really tell how good it is because of my limited experience. The reason for Satoris, other than glowing reviews, was a little bit of fullness (that some people complained about) in the lower midrange that works perfect with my class D amp (said to be too lean in the lower midrange). I had Audioqest Indigo before that sounded thin so I'm not sure how "full" are Satoris but I hear more of chestiness on male voices. Other than that it is much cleaner and faster than Indigos while having some silkiness (mostly on voices).
My interconnect is 0.5m XLR AZ Absolute. I was targeting used Silver Reference II for about $450 but saw Absolute for $600 and could not refuse that. I had Audioquest King Cobra before that was already pretty neutral in tonal balance. Absolute just improves clarity and speed (being silver cable). As far as I know both cables have some copper in the silver: Silver Reference II 3% and Absolute 1%.
I know that short 0.5m cable is difficult to sell but it is most likely my final cable and since it is non-perishable item I invested more (perhaps too much). I also believe that twice shorter cable is twice better.
Hyperions are amazing. Not only that sound is relaxed with my class D amp but also for the first time I hear natural clean sibilants (pure "s" instead of "sz"). My amp as well as Benchmark DAC1 have opinion of being little bright but with Hyperions it is perfect synergy. My brother has similar warmth wit NAD amp and Cabasse speakers but highs are rolled off and detail is lost. In addition it doesn't have snappiness/dynamics of my system.
Matrix II has also great reviews but is likely to be warmer.
I bought from Audio Advisor for about $20 pure copper gold plated jumpers (just solid wires) to replace stock jumpers between tweeter and midrange. Each box gets own connection/cable.
I re-terminated speaker end myself with spades crimping first and soldering later but it is not easy thing to do since each cable has about 10 individually isolated thin wires plus one stranded wire that has again about 10 very thin strands.
Since you are a Hyperion 938 owner, I like to ask your experiences in cables. Here is my current set up. Speaker: Hyperion 938 Amplifier: Sonic Frontiers Power 2 (GL re-issue KT-88) Pre-Amp: Sonic Frontiers SLF-2 (Amperex 6DJ8) CDP: Marantz 8001 (Considering a Raysonic CD 168) Speaker Cable: Gregg Reality shotgun (Considering AZ Satori SG) IC - Acoustic Zen Matrix II and DCCA I found the Hyperion is very detail and revealing with pin-point imaging. Sound stage is wide and deep, and is more lay back rather than up front. Would like more mid-range presence and warmth. Any recommendations about cable or should I move to a tube based CDP like Raysonic?
I agree - monoblocks and short speaker cables would be better but my XLR ICs are only 0.5m and the DAC is on the next shelf - it wouldn't space them much (maybe a foot). Now I have only 6' cables. I read often that people use over 20' cables (ICs or speaker cables). I cannot imagine rooms so big that speakers are spaced 40' apart. It's more likely matter of convenience to keep preamp on upper shelf. I keep everything at almost floor level. It is a little unfortunate since Benchmark does not have remote control. Exercise is good for me anyway. Weiss Minerva, that I mentioned, has digital volume control with dithering and it works really well. Itunes has also digital volume but I'm suspicious of sound quality. I'm not sure I would trust it. It can go crazy and blow the speakers. Hyperions are rated up to 200W and that's what my small Rowland can output on 6 Ohm with high distortions (nominal 150W/6 Ohm).
Mono amps require only short SCs. Just a thought. I find the IC's light load allows longer reaches without suffering deterioration.
I have found if left and right channel IC magnet come in contact with each other they cancel each other out. The design of the IC I am using runs the negative magnet wire through a coiled positive wire. I cannot believe that is a perfect arrangement. I have ideas how to improve the arrangement.
Muralman - ICE carrier (that about 1%comes out) frequency is too low (about 500kHz) to radiate with typical cable length (even with 1/10 wave antenna - below it it drops really fast) but it still can couple and the shield is important. Mentioned Belden has double shielding (braid and foil) and is inexpensive. I strongly believe, as you do, that cables are evil and don't improve anything. Twice shorter is twice better. If I would buy short power cable it would be 3' - more than 3x longer that my Beldens.
There are no components in my system that can be bought currently in any store. I stopped reading reviews on the net and magazines years ago. Early on I was lucky to put my trust in an unknown amp builder. My trust has been rewarded immensely. Even though the first sound was forgettable, it was the best my system sounded. I changed DACs. My amp builder produced a killer preamp. Speltz taught me how foul the cable companies are. My speakers are arguably the best at bringing out all the music embedded in any disc. That I knew before I bought them.
You have an ICE amp. How you knew to get Belden cords and end them is beyond me. That is exactly what I use. Their shielding is necessary.
I have been to shows. They are fun. I don't know any big one in Chicago. The most notable are in New York, Denver, and Las Vegas. I really want to show my system at one of them. My friend's amps, same speakers, my cables...... We need to work out the funds.
Muralman - thank you for encouragement. This hobby is often trial and error and a constant learning process. Many things from the point of electronics don't make any sense and best measured amplifier has often most unpleasant sound.
Do you know of any incoming show - I've never been to any? I live in Chicago area and the closest Hyperion dealer is in Pennsylvania. I bought speakers on reviews (speakers of the year of many magazines and speaker of the decade in "Enjoy the Sound"). In this particular case show would be a great help.
What amazes me is how you stumbled on the same path I had set for myself a couple of years ago. That was when I heard a Sony 999 Modwrite SACD player on my rig. The obvious disparity between that and my at the time simple NOS DAC I knew I was on the right track.
Other than that, your system parallels mine. You have wonderful speakers. If you have synergy, then that is all that counts,
Muralman - My experience is very limited and I started by picking components with best reviews trying to guess possible synergy. I put my system in "Done for now" category since I have already nice working system and big problem with room acoustics that needs to be addressed. There is no rush and digital processing is getting better every year. I need more experience as well (store demos, shows etc.).
I heard jitter didn't make it's entrance until filters were employed. I haven't a clue what it sounds like. Oversampling DACs sound contrived on my system. I have argued that signals are like any radiation, and that they are extremely fragile. The inventors of the everywhere transistor were scientists. They used their knowledge of quantum mechanics to accomplish making the transistor. Quantum mechanics tells us you just can't even look at the very small, signal, and electrons, without distorting them. My system proves that to a T. I have had some very expensive overspamplers in here, and my NOS DAC smoked them every time. Frankly, it does a good turn at embarrassing a lot of NOS DACs too.
Muralman - I struggled for a while with brightness of Paradigm speakers trying to improve it with best tweeter I could find until I realize that it is much more difficult than it sounds and treble were only a small part of the picture/problem (I admire you for designing and making own cables). I posted system when I finally got speakers that I'm happy with. Clarity of the midrange is just amazing and the tweeter just does everything right. On the top of it there is this relaxing silkiness in the sound that brings musicality while keeping open treble and a lot of slam. Hyperion copied pretty much Wilson Puppies look but designed their own transducers. Midrange driver does not have bottom suspension (spider web) and uses very large diameter coil that requires huge magnet (while it is still overhang type of motor). In addition ferrofluid is used as a suspension (in 6" midrange!). All this makes membrane lighter and very fast. Some reviews call it electrostatic like.
As I understand it Mac sends data to Airport Express in ALC format that I use for storage so there is no conversion. I don't have dropouts other than once in couple of weeks for a fraction of a second. I have two 1TB Fantom GForce drive (great drive) with firewire interface - one for storage and one for the backup.
Benchmark ignores jitter but it involves filtering - sort of compromise. I read somewhere that filtering algorithm is causing some problems with transient/pulse response and there are new devices that filter better. For instance few months ago Stereophile reviewed Meridian CD player (read review online) that uses new scheme but is very expensive ($16k). They described the sound as the best they ever heard.
I feel that I will stay for long time with Hyperions and possibly try different class D amp but first is to investigate how digital processing can improve the sound. What interests me now is Weiss Minerva DAC and also possibly NOS DAC if it works with Airport Express (Jitter!). Jitter is a noise in time domain but it is very strange type of noise that exists only when signal exists. It produces sidebands at very low level but audible since not harmonically (like THD) related to the root signal. Now take complex signal and jitter will make hash - lack of clarity. At first with Benchmark I had impression that some instruments have to be missing because sound was too clean (some call it sterile). Now I believe that digititis is in the processing and better DAC will get me closer to Nirvana.
Hi Kijanki, I was taken aback at the newness of your system post. Is this another?
I look at your system, and I notice you have simplified my simplify by using air transport. How does your Mac converse with the Benchmark.?
Talking of Benchmark, with your system you might try an NOS DAC, Mine has been improved immensely by letting my amp builder borrow it, so to speak. Mainly, tossing out the English sound diodes for some hot Shottkes does the trick nicely.
