1978 vintage horn speaker with rebuilt drivers from Great Plains Audio and Werner Jagusch crossovers. Replaced Harbeth M-40.2 Anni's. Big sound, very dynamic and very rewarding.
Quicksilver KT Mono
New KT Mono's with KT150 tubes, generating 100 wpc. Added Telefunken ribbed plate 12AX7's for refined tone, clarity and space.
deHavilland Electric Ultraverve 3
Most enjoyable and complimentary preamp I've owned, by a large margin. Responds well to tube rolling. Currently loaded with NOS Tung Sol's in all positions. Exceptional value.
Weiss Engineering DAC 202
Replaced an outstanding Audio Aero Capitole Reference DAC/CDP/PRE. I can't say the Weiss is better than the Audio Aero, but it's more neutral, which is a better fit for the rest of my system that leans to the warm/romantic side of neutral. This DAC is a bargain on the used market.
Roon Labs Nucleus
Roon Nucleus server paired with IFi Zen Stream as a Roon end-point, connected via Black Cat Silverstar SPDIF cable to Weiss 202 DAC. Streaming Qobuz. Surprisingly nice step up in sound quality and enjoyability from my previous Aurender N10 at 1/4th the cost.
KCI Silkworm RCA Interconnect
Gold based RCA interconnect cable. Outperforms the Purist Venustas it replaced by a large margin.
Silent Running Audio VR-2 & 3 isolation platforms
I tired of messing with the various footers on the market. These are the real deal... excellent construction, visually appealing and effective.
Salamander Synergy Triple 20
Cherry Finish
GIK Room Treatments Tri Traps, 244 panels and Alpha 4 diffusion panels
This is the 2nd room I've treated with GIK products. Highly recommended, especially 244 panels.
Acoustic BBQ 12 gage Dueland speaker cables
I've had significantly more expensive speaker cables from Stealth and Auditorium, but prefer these. I also use ja pair of these in my secondary system. Great bang for the buck.
iFi Audio Zen Stream
Acting as a Roon endpoint centered between a Roon Nucleus server and my DAC.
System edited: Several changes... 1. Replaced Harbeth M-40.1's with Daedalus Ulysses speakers. 2. Replaced Purist Venustas IC with KCI Silkworm. 3. Added REL Storm MK III subwoofer.
I LOVE the VAC 30/30... and I'm not just saying that because my 30/30 is for sale . There's a big part of me that thinks this may be an amp that I'll regret selling because it has a very seductive sound. I just could not help myself from moving up the VAC food chain with the Signature version 70/70. There was only thirty of the Signature version of the 70/70 made, so I pulled the trigger on an impulse buy. Still breaking in a fresh octet of 300B's, so it's still too early to know what the 70/70 Sig is capable of.
System edited: Added VAC Renaissance 30/30 MK III amp. Really impressive piece of eye candy. Drive's my big Harbeth's with no problem... plenty of of grunt and finesse... works well with rock, jazz and acoustic. Using a new quad of 300B's from VAC with one pair each of Sylvania JAN 6SN7 WGTA's and 1957 Sylvania green label 6SN7 GTB's.
Yes... I agree with the corner placement being ideal, but it was very difficult for my wife to stomach my current layout, even though this is supposed to be my man cave.
Pdreher, thanks for the response. Yes, they look pretty good. Just a small note on the placement of the GIK panels(or the equivalent RealTraps panels). Usually corner placement will yield better results in terms of addressing low frequencies down to 50Hz(or lower) as the effectiveness of broadband absorbers is higher when there is a gap between the flat panel and wall boundaries. Additionally, bass frequencies will usually gather at the corners of the room where walls meet perpendicularly so corner placement of bass traps is usually more ideal. I am guessing that the GIK panels work in the same principal. Just a thought.
Ryder, I have 8 GIK 244's. My room is far from ideal, so the panels are squeezed in where I had room (5 along the front wall & the other 3 along one side wall). I installed them way back when I had Dyn C4's and the improvement was quite significant as they helped reduce listener fatigue (my main problem with the C4's) and the music had a lot more focus in my room. I have zero problems with excess bass with the 40.1's and listener fatigue is a non issue. I highly recommend GIK... the staff is helpful, they are very inexpensive and I think they look good (my wife disagrees... no surprise there).
Pdreher, may I ask how the GIK Acoustics panels improve upon the bass of the 40.1s in the room? Are the areas of improvement solely in the bass department or it extends to the midrange and high frequencies? I am particularly interested if the GIK panels managed to overcome bass boom or bass overhang issues that may be masking the midrange articulation WITHOUT robbing too much life out of the music by absorbing some of the midrange and high frequencies. That is my greatest concern as the Harbeth is by nature a warm and smooth sounding speaker. I do not want them to sound even warmer and smoother by adding these bass traps. Are all your GIK panels the GIK 244?
I am asking this question because a friend of mine recently had his room done up with RealTraps panels and reported a massive improvement. He had a total of 18 pieces of Mondo/Mini/Bare traps in his room that looked more like a full-fledged recording studio than a domestic listening environment.
Tom - It's been about 4 months since I owned the Calypso/Mac system, and this system is still very new to me, so it's somewhat tough to compare. I haven't had much time to experiment with the new system, really only putting in about 8-10 hours of quality listening. Just last night I tried a new (to me) Siemens 6DJ8 driver tube in the CJ Prem 140 and it really seemed to make a difference, but I don't want to commit after only listening to one CD. The new system can play noticeably louder without losing coherency, and the soundstage is larger too. I'm waiting for some SED 6550's to arrive to see what that does for the amp and also have another driver tube (Amperex PQ 7308) to try as well so I'm still in the research phase with this new system... but so far it's going well and I have no regrets.
As far as the speaker grills, I always leave them on... just removed them to show them off for the picture, as I think they look sharp without the grills.
Thanks Tom... It's system's like yours that I use to justify feeding my audio addiction. Every time I've tried to downgrade I regret it. The McIntosh MA2275 is a very nice integrated & I would definitely recommend it to folks looking for a well built, wonderful sounding tube integrated to drive efficient speakers, but it lacked the drive, body and transparency of my tubed separates.... and my big Harbeth's just needed more power.
System edited: My experiment with trying to simplify my system with integrated amplification was relatively short lived (3 months). I'm back to tube separates and all is well again! This go-around I've stepped things up a bit, going with the powerful Conrad Johnson Premier 140 tube amp (140 WPC). This amp is very well balanced and seems to do everything right... authoritative & dynamic when the music calls for it, yet subtle and sweet on quieter passages & vocals. Really a nice, beefy amp from a reputable US company and built to last! Also landed the rarely available (used) Signature version of the Aesthetix Calypso... man is this preamp sweet! Using Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7's (the best IME) and IEC Mullard 6922's. I loved the standard version Calypso with NOS tubes and regretted selling it... but learned my lesson and now have the Signature version which is truly outstanding. I highly recommend both the standard and Signature version of the Calypso... a great company and great gear!
System edited: Simplified things by selling my separates and moving to an all tube integrated. The McIntosh MA2275 is awesome with my Harbeth's... excellent synergy and plenty of power! I'm very happy I made this move. Also sold off my power conditioner and a power cord. Now, everything is plugged straight into dedicated outlets and my system has never sounded finer, due in large part to the addition of the MA2275. I love the simplicity that an integrated amp provides and I've had to make no sacrifice in sound... it's actually been an upgrade and I've saved some money selling off my separates and peripheral gear.
Phreher, The 40.1 would be my last upgrade but i am done for now. I am 90% happy with the HL-5 and need to be very sure before Ill take a move. To me, upgrading has never been 100% guaranteed; it's like hits and misses and I always ended up having tradeoffs. I went the other day to have a listen to the D38R (ProAc) which is twice the price but cannot say Yes, replace them! I have been enjoying a lot of music since the HL-5 arrived and should be satisfied for a while.
Luna - The 40.1's bass is very full and could be percieved as somewhat boomy I guess... but it's a very well integrated speaker IMO. Much better sounding than any speakers that I've used in the past in combination with a subwoofer.
I do have (8) GIK 244 bass panels throughout my room and would recommend them if you want to try 40.1's or any truly full range speaker for that matter (unless you have a huge room).
I've also found thru experimentation with tubes that bass response can be fine tuned if you use a tube amp and or tubed preamp.
Thanks Pdreher, It seems your basement is sized very close to my room. If they worked fine in yours then they should work as well in mine. The only area of concern is too much bass. A lot of people are saying they produce a more bass than the HL5. I don't like boomy bass but I like the sound bigger and more dynamic. Could I ask if you have used bass traps?
Luna - I've not heard the HL5's, but can tell you that the 40.1's have very robust bass response and good dynamics. Your room size will be fine for the 40.1's IME.
Hi Pdreher, Thanks for your input on this thread. It is a great read. I am also a new Harbeth owner. I have a room simular to yours(24 x 14fts) and wonder if the 40.1 is too large? I love everything about the HL5 but wish to have more on the bass and dynamics. Could you give some advise? Thanks.
Srwooten - I recommend white label Amperex in the 6922 slots. In the 12AX7 slots, I've had good luck with both Mullard CV4004 Platinums (neutral and full bodied), as well as Telefunken smooth plates (leaner than the Mullards, with great midrange). The Telefunken smooth plates (12AX7) are my preferred tube with my system, as my system errors on the side of warm... mostly due to the leanings of the Harbeth's and the Jade Hybrid Gold IC's.
Now that you have had your Calypso for quite a while which of the tubes are you still using with it? Would those be your recommendation now, or did you prefer some you tried in the past? I have a Calypso coming to try in my system while I get some work does on my Pass X-1, and when I get it back I'll need to decide which Pre to keep. Your opinion on tubes would help me out! TIA!
