Some changes ; Sold the Delos and gifted the Fidelity Research cartridge… Picked up an Ortofon RS 309 D for tge second arm on the DP-75 along w Koetsu Urushi - Black and Entre SUT…. Core Audio diffusers on order for Spring room fun…..
Jim, Spencer, thanks for the updates. What a pleasure it is to hear another's excellent system. I am sure it was a blast. Salmon is the king of fish—I love it hot smoked.
@noromance This rig sounds so natural! The analog setup unflappable, heard mostly w/ the Kuzma cart. No aspect of the sonics jump out as overly prominent, #goldilocks. Over 5 days I logged a good number of hours, hogging the sweet spot( sorry @tomic601 ) with a huge smile. Across genres every record showed its own nature with remarkable timbre and timing. Most important of all, everything came together to create that remarkable pull that makes you want to listen to MORE, MORE, MORE. My experience was an important data point in my subsequent decision to purchase Vandersteen 5As.
@noromance Hi Brian - it’s heavy salmon fish season so sorry for sloooooooow response. thx for asking. I got it fairly well sorted w HRS isolation base and couplers. The Kuzma likes the arm. I am holding off on investment in 12” arm for a bit as in Fall.. whole system moves to a dedicated room…. Best to you. Both @spiritofradio and @sbank heard the system during Pac Audio fest and can provide an unvarnished opinion…..
Jim,Lost your contact info since discussing steelhead, surf and dogs. Looking for an opinion on a piece I just picked up in the digital world. Thanks Dave H, MTK NY.
@sbank Thanks Spencer - coming from you that is high praise ;-) The Arm on the SOTA is a modified Sumiko FT3. Buddy has it in his system now. I may haul the Brinkmann / Triplaner / Lyra North this Spring….
@mglik Mike - thanks for the + comments and improvement ideas. Vandersteen make a base for the speaker made out of granite w constrained layer sandwich ( HRS technology ) and 150# of mass. The amps have built HRS hanging truss dampers built in. Essentially a constrained spring. As you probably know, spring on springs can yield 60 db + as well as cut, so will not be adding. The HRS dampers are the blue donut on the amp photo. I understand Townsend, i use HRS on most of my gear.
I would only highly recommend Townshend Podiums for the speakers and amps. I have never had such an improvement with them.
It is like your $70K speakers turn into $140K ones. I know it is hard to imagine better with those but I don’t exaggerate. The Podiums would replace the spikes. The improvement in the amps is not as much but also great.
Ah, I see. Makes sense. I've a 25R with some DIY mods - 4 x bulk foil input resistors in the input circuit, and main HT electrolytic cap replaced with a Clarity Cap. Big upgrade. I also use these tubes in first 3 tubes -not in regulator. In your case with the 12BH7A, you'd only need a pair. Look at replacing the buffer tube with an ECC99. They take about 20 hours to open up but I find them exceptional. http://psvanetube.com/wordpress/store/products/shuguang-custom-12ax7-lx-special-edition-pair-low-noise-triple-mica/
@noromance I dunno my single chassis RS is just phono and the REf5 is only line stage. I probably could have bought an ARc ref something phono for what i have into the Croft, Long story including a trip back to Glen. I am hopeful it will sing !!!
@gdnrbob Poverty Bay yes named for the lack of much to eat year round, probably also code for bad fishermen ! No RtR in that listening room - brought that experiment to a halt for a variety of reasons - mostly lack of source material at anything less than insane $$$$. The mobile rack has a high speed B77 half track that gets used for a variety of projects. I guess I should edit the system.
You are using the Naim UnitiServe 2 TB as a source into the Aesthetix DAC. I guarantee way, way better results if you upgrade to a UnitiServe SSD and then use a streamer in front of your Aesthetix DAC. I had your set up and now have an SSD/UnitiQute 2B going into an Aesthetix DAC. I use a Sonology drive and by the way the Eclipse upgrade on the DAC is unreal.
