My listening room is (19.5x15 with 8 foot ceiling sloping to 11, w/four dedicated 20amp lines). This is probably the biggest and best change I have made to my system.
I recently made drastic changes to my equipment. I went from high power (ARC VT200) and 'Stats (Martin Logan Prodigy's) to an SET amp with Avantgarde horns. I added the Aesthetix Callisto, and upgraded some PC,s as well.
Recent tweeks have included the Realtraps, NOS tubes, home made diffusors and maple butcher block, Lead blocks for components, Valid Points....... and a VPI record cleaner
I would love to get some feedback and/or comments from fellow Audiogoners, any advice is appreciated.
Upgrades include: Cardas internal wiring throughout, Cardas Power cords, Cardas jumpers, Black Diamond Racing footers and pucks.... Cactus Green!
Art Audio PX-25
6 glorious SET wpc!!! Low gain version w/Cardas conncects and stepped volume. NOS tubes: Amperex 6922's, RCA 12BH7's, Herbies tube dampers, valid points.
Aesthetix Callisto Signature
All NOS tubes at this point... Telefunken AX7, Mullard 6922 goldpin, RCA 6SN7/5692's... The biggest improvement came from the Genelex NOS KT-66's.
Audio Research Ref. Phono
Tube phono stage
Garrard 301
I restored and built the plint. Added the Triplanar and Holy Cow!!! This thing is a killer!
Triplanar VII
Tonearm........ Nice
ZYX Airy 3S-SB
.24mv
Theta Miles
Balanced
Alesis Masterlink
A great tool for production work (mastering home recordings), burning CD's etc.
Purist Audio Designs Venustas
3-meter XLR pair from pre-amp to power amp
Purist Audio Designs Venustas
1.5 meter pair RCA phono pre to pre-amp
Purist Audio Designs Venustas Bi-wire
Bi-wire 3 meter set
Purist Audio Designs Venustas XLR
1 meter XLR CD player to pre-amp
Audioquest Ski XLR
Balanced IC's from CD to Preamp
Hovland Music Groove II
Phono Interconnects Turntable to Phono Pre
Argento Reference Level 2
one on the Art Audio power amp and one on the Aesthetix Callisto
Shunyata Anaconda VX
1.8 meter for Theta Miles (digital)
Zoethecus 5 tier
z-slabs
Zoethecus 3 tier
3 tier stand with Z slabs
Walker Valid Points Valid Points
Resonance control
Realtraps Mondo, Mini, HF absobers
Room tuning products
My own Diffusors
Oak Diffusors......... I use these at the first reflection points to good effect (loosly based on the RPG model).
My own Maple butcher block
2 inch piece under the Art Audio. 4 inch under Garrard with decoupled pod for the tonearm.
I have actually tried to contact Loricraft about their power supplies, but never got an answer - on repeated attempts. $4800 seems pretty steep..... what would the Loricraft do that a PS Audio Powerplant wouldn't?
Chris
I really think the next trip for the Garrard is going to be a Shindo platter/bearing.
The Universe is definitely not up to speed yet. Probably around 50 hours playing time total. I'm teaking but should probably wait for it to settle a bit more...... It's hard to be patient sometimes.....;-0
Well.... I had an accident and broke the cantilever off my Airy 3..... Oh my God. Pretty much the stuff of nightmares. I was going to replace it with the same thing since it was such a nice sounding cart..... In the end I became weak, overcome with Audio-neurvosa; sweating, shaking, my ears ringing.... And it was so easy..... Just a phone call to Mehran of Sorasound and bam..... I'm the proud owner of a new ZYX Universe!
It's still not broken in all the way, and I still have a little tweaking to do, but it does sound better. Huge amounts of better???............ Well no.... Just a sort of "much more magic" better..... I like it.
I have been here before but I must say this is simply a beautiful room, with fantastic gear, you are a lucky man! Your room from what I see is in my top ten favorite rooms I see here..............great job!
Kevin and HiFiblue..... Thanks for the nice comments.
Yes, I have a pretty large assortment of Realtraps (Mondo, Minitraps, etc.). They seem to be the best bang for the buck from the reading I was able to do. I needed something to even out the bottom end in my room without killing the higher frequencies and making the room sound dead...... These fit the bill and my room sounds much better with them installed. I use the ASC's primarily as diffusion (with reflective side out). They give me a bit of a "deeper" soundstage. The diffusion that you see on the side-wall, I built myself and are at my first reflection points...... overall, I think the room sounds real nice. I was able to build it with some nod towards my stereo and good acoustic principles.
I really love my Art Audio PX-25 and Joe Fratus has got to be one of the nicest guy's I have ever met..... He has gone WAY out of his way to help me out many times.
I have seen the Minus-K stuff and it looks pretty cool.
Overall I am really happy with my sound at this point and am glad I moved from the 'Stats to SET's and horns.
Hi Chris, Great gear, great room, great music storage shelves! It looks like you've mixed some RealTraps Mondo(?) by the left speaker with ASC Tube Traps by the middle of the front wall. What are you using, that looks like a diffusor, on the left wall? Any treatments behind the seating position or on the right wall?
I know at one point in time you were exploring bi-amping with your ML speakers. Like you, I have the same PX25 amp and when I met Joe Fratus of Art Audio at the Montreal stero show in April he said it'd be better to bi-amp with either another PX25 amp (although I wanted SS for the bass) or one other model of his amps (whose name escapes me now) so as to best match the two amp's sonic characteristics, impedance etc etc. Matching a SS amp with tubes would be dicey - different speed etc etc.
Isolation looks very important to you - have you heard of an interesting company called Minus-K? They are a scientific company that as a biproduct of their main work now offer audiophiles very impressing amp stands . . . just FYI.
As a matter of fact, when I was looking for new speakers I was directly comparing the Duo's to WP-7's. They are both great sounding speakers IMHO, but sound (presentation wise) very different. Both have great tonal balance and are very extended at the frequency extreems.
Where I think the WP's excel: they have great sound staging (big deep and wide) and really disappear. They have incredible resolution and are very detailed.
The Duo's on the other hand excel at: they are absolutely supremely dynamic- they jump!.... a snare drum sounds like it's in the room with you. They have great tonality and are very natural sounding (I do not hear any "horn" coloration).....
In the end the Duo's sound more like live music to me than the WP's .The WP's are more high-fi (very pretty sounding Hi-Fi though). I think the WP's have more resolution and may have better high frequency extension, but I think the new Omega's might up the Duo's in this area. I really like the idea of using an SET amp too.... six watts rock!
The Garrard..... Well, I made the plinth myself. It is made from two, two inch thick peices of hard Maple (glued together) with the seperate arm pod made of Birch filled with lead shot and capped with Ebony. The sides are Zebra wood. It's sitting on BDR cones and pucks and another four inches of hard Maple.
I have never heard the Shindo, but find it interesting (however, 20k seems pretty excessive (the platter is 4k!!)). I think the 301/401 debate is somewhat moot; both are engineered slightly different but are basically the same machine. I think there is probably more difference in the way you treat it than the machine itself. The Garrard is the best turntable I have heard..... Well, maybe I should say it's my favorite. It's not absolutely quiet (I'm working on it though), and it doesn't have hyper resolution. What it does do is keep really good speed stability, explosive dynamics, killer bass, and great tonality..... It has DRIVE like no other TT I have ever heard.... Period.
If your ever in Austin, TX drop me a line.... You can hear a Garrard/AVG system and drink some good Anejo Tequila.
I have a couple of questions for you: 1.I'm very curious about the Avantgarde Duo's...have you heard them against Wilson Watt Puppies by chance? Any comparisons? 2.The Garrard: 301, 401, Shindo...what's the best version if you know? Dying to hear one of these in a situation (I have an SPJ La Luce but am looking to expand the table collection) other than a CES show. 3. Who built your plinth for the 301? Looks great! Thanks for your time...Jason
I Listened to a lot of speaker cables in my old system (Martin Logan/ARC) and you can read my review/shootout that I posted here on 'Agon. I still use the Purist stuff and really like it.
I recently listened to a bunch of IC's (Audioquest Sky, Nordost Red Dawn, Cardas GR's, etc.) and greatly preferred the PAD Venustas to the others. The Venustas are very quiet, with a real nice tonal balance. Compared to the AQ Sky I initially thought the Venustas were a little less resolving. However, the more I listened the more I felt the Sky were spot lit on top and I was acually hearing more with the PAD's.
I would highly recommend that you call the Cable Co. and ask to borrow a few pairs from their lending library..... It's a great way to try a few things for an extended period in your own system.
Interested to learn more about your speaker cable selection, did you tried other options before arriving to the PADs?, I am using Cardas Golden Reference bi-wire on my AG UNOs, but curious about other options, including Nirvana.
Added a second Argento Level 2 Mk. II PC. I don't know if I should be spreading the news on these cords or not.... I might drive the price up even further ;-) They are the real deal!
Good to hear from you again. I snuck a peek at your system.... Wow, those Atma's look serious. I bet they sound serious too..... And I have to think your journey is bringing you large amounts of enjoyment.
I am really happy with the changes in direction I have taken too. The Avantgarde's and Art Audio amp is a great pairing. The addition of the Garrard 301 is pretty astounding too. My system has achieved a great sense of musical drive and explosiveness now..... From playing in bands and mixing live music for years I feel like I am getting closer to what that feels like, only in my litening room.... :-))
I am still searching for the last ounces of refinement at this point. I guess it's like thay say; it's that last 5% that's so hard to get.
Hey Chris, long time no talk. Seems we both have totally changed directions from the ARC/ML combo...I've gone to less effecient speakers and higher power!!! Funny how this journey can lead down different paths.
The AVG's are a lot more lively than the Logans. They give me the feeling the music is more "in the room", if that makes any sense............ It's a discription I had heard before I owned the horns, but couldn't quite understand what people were talking about until I experienced it for myself. I think the major caveat I would give you is you really need to make sure the AVG's are set-up correctly..... They can sound pretty "wrong" if they are not dialed in right.
Mine do not have the Omega upgrade (I would really love to hear that version), but have other upgrades including Cardas internal/external wire, BDR cones, etc. I guess you can never tell when another sound might catch your ear, but at this point I can't see myself moving away from horns.
Hi Chris, could you describe the differences between electrostats and horns? Currently I listen to Dunlavy SC-V speakers, which are a sealed box design with D'Appolito driver configuration. I'm a bit curious how horn speakers like yours would sound in my listening room. Do you have the Omega upgrade? Have you ever listened to the Avantgarde Trio?
