Goal is a wide open sound that's "alive" and draws me into the music. Bi-amping the Maggies was a huge step forward.
Front end rationale:
* Empire 208 turntable/Sonik Sircle tonearm -- this year's project was a major re-envisioning with a 1" aluminum baseplate + 3/8" steel + 2.25" MDF surrouned by a damped 3" thick walnut frame. About 90 lbs now.
* VPI Scout: probably the weakest link today, but nice for playing mono records with Ortofon 2M Mono cartridge
* Shelter 501-II cartridge is an easy listener, but could be a bit livelier.
* Dynavector DV20XL cartridge is dynamic, but could use more refinement.
* Modwright Transporter is simply great sounding. It was so good that I had to make significant upgrades to my vinyl playback to elevate it again
Amplification rationale:
* The First Sound Presence made a huge difference. Until I tube-rolled some frame-grid Amperexes, I found it a bit dry.
* The pair of Citation II amps were completely rebuilt using the Jim McShane mods and PIO caps for coupling and power supply bypass. They power the treble panels on the Maggies
* The Innersound ESL provides plenty of control and punch on the bass. The combination of bi-amping and speaker stands makes bass perform very well on the small Maggies.
Speakers:
* The Maggies work well in this room. They need a lot of space, and in stock form are somewhat veiled. Modding them brought them alive!
* When I connected the Maggie drivers directly to my amps, the illusion of presence was amazing! I had to roll up the socks to get to the original crossover & disconnect it, but it's completely reversable.
* The active crossover was custom built using the original Magneplanar asymetrical crossover points, and the Linkowitz labs MT1 module. The improvement over the crappy internal crossover was not subtle (as they say)
* the Audiokinesis SWARM subwoofer system cancels all the bass unevenness of my previous sub. Great bass anywhere in the room.
Overall I'm satisfied enough that I'm putting most of my money into software these days, rather than hardware. Bi-amping has been a nice change, and ultimately more rewarding.
The room is a wreck (man-cave) but the sound is terrific. Very happy.
Generates exact frequencies needed to keep the Papst motor on speed in the Empire
VPI Industries Scout
11-years old, still sounding great with Ortofon 2M Mono cartridge
Phoenix Engineering Falcon digital motor controller
clean 60hz signal for keeping the VPI exactly on speed. Instant switch to 45rpm.
Aesthetix Rhea
Rich and rewarding, puts meat on bones. Requires tube rolling to get it quiet, but very worthwhile. Looking forward to Signature upgrade
Modwright Transporter
Music Server
First Sound Presence Deluxe Mk-II
Newest component
Linkowitz Labs MT1 Custom Crossover (active)
Replaces the crossover in the Magneplanars allowing direct connection of the driver elements, one element per amp channel
Harman Kardon Citation II
Extremely high bandwidth vintage amps, highly modified. Pair (2 amps) run as monoblocks 120wpc. Completely rebuilt using Jim McShane upgrades for power supply, grounding, and PIO caps; makes a terrific treble/mid amp for Maggies
Innersound Electrostatic
ESL300 amp used to power bass panels on Maggies
Magnepan MG-1.6qr, Biamped, w. Mye Stands
Bi-amp with custom active crossover: Citation on treble panel, Innersound on bass. Big improvement also when adding Mye stands! More solid bass. i almost never use the sub any more.
Audiokinesis Swarm
Distributed 4-sub system for pairing with planar speakers, designed and built by Duke LeJune
Speltz Anti-Cables
two pairs of magwire cables, one for each speaker driver element connected directly to each amp (bypassing the internal crossover)
Analysis Plus Copper Ovals
does little wrong; used throughout the system
Sound Design 5-shelf
black
Behringer DEQ2496
Used for examining room modes, and as an A/D convertor for burning LP's to CD-R
Philips CDR-870
Used to burn audio CD-R's from LP's so I can listen to my music in the car
System edited: Basically unchanged for the past 3 years -- a record. Biggest change was modding the Empire with a new plinth and walnut frame. Added motor controllers for the two turntables (very worthwhile). Added a mono cartridge on the VPI.
System edited: Active projects in shop: Empire 208 turntable, Atma-Sphere M60 monoblocks, Audiokinesis Prisma speakers. All being added to system this year. Don't expect this to beat the Maggies system, but so far M60/Prisma combo looks like a huge dynamic pairing.
Hi Tzh21y, The First Sound was definitely worth waiting for. It replaced a current-production Audible Illusions Modulus3a that was hand-built for me by Art Ferris at AI (not done on the production line). That was a really lovely sounding unit, but a bit weak in the bass. Lovely mid-range though!
Previously I've had a LOT of different preamps. I've had preamps from Wright Audio, Mapletree Audio (the Ultra4 SE), McIntosh C20, and a really nice (but noisy) Conrad-Johnson Premier 14. Maybe a couple more too. A couple of Audio Research pre's and some McIntosh solid state ones come to mind. I've found the preamp to influence my system's character more than most other components.
By comparison to all of these, the First Sound is quieter and more dynamic: absolutely no tube rush even with the volume cranked up, and just a huge dynamic range. It preserves the harmonic integrity I expect to get with a tube preamp, but it does so without adding any euphonic "bloom" to the music. Everything emerges crystal-clear, but without the hard edge that solid state preamps seem to add. Of course, if you like a round, rich, warm sound then I wouldn't recommend it.
The build quality is another big advantage of the First Sound. The wiring is all point-to-point, no circuit boards, and there is a HUGE bank of electrolytic capacitors more worthy of a power amp than a preamp. No congestion on large, complex orchestral passages with this baby!
It has 4 tubes, of which two are OA2 cold-cathode rectifiers. So really there are only 2 6922/6dj8/7308 tubes, which is nice if you like to tube-roll to optimize your sound. Most of the time, I'm very happy with a set of 1960's frame-grid Amperex 6dj8's. The Siemens E188CC's that came with mine produce a spectacularly incisive and clear/extended sound, which really brings some jump to my system when using tube output amps. But many of the Siemens and Telefunken tubes make the First Sound a bit too astringent for my taste. And most of the Mullards I've tried have had wonderful mid-ranges, but rolled-off highs in this amp, although I have a pair of CV2493's that I'm fond of for female vocalists. So the Amperex's are a nice compromise most of the time.
I'd highly recommend the First Sound! System-dependent, of course. It has no balanced inputs/outputs, for instance. And you have to be willing to put up with two volume controls (left channel + right channel), and no remote control.
I think it brings the music back alive. It doesn't seem to harm the music, and it is super-extended in the bass and treble as well. Definitely worth your time to audition in your system!
