This was an experiment that got slightly out of hand. I had given myself a limit of $1500 per section--source, amplification, speakers. You can do pretty well for that, right? At the time, it seemed like a heck of a lot.
I had a simple system I loved when I was a young guy, built around vinyl and tubes. Then a big life change made the hobby impossible for almost 20 years. I started to ease back in around 1990. Having worked in audio I knew how dear it could get, so I made the $1.5K rule.
Two things happened: I made a little money, and I found some audio buddies who knew more than I did. The $1.5K-per-section rule turned into a $1.5K-per-upgrade rule. I've gone over that once or twice in the ten years this system has been in the making.
I think I did really well thanks to good advice, the Internet and plain luck. Like everyone else, I believe all my gear is great value. I still marvel when I listen. I say to myself, "How come I get to have sound this good?" Sweet, detailed, liquid, lively, dimensional, real-sounding.
No, it doesn't really give me a window on the original performance. That's for the true high end. But it does communicate the energy of the musicians, the sound quality of their instruments and the inspiration of the composers, in spades, with all kinds of music.
And there is a bonus. There are a lot of people around who love music, and believe the hype about CDs because they don't know the truth. They think digital blows away everything that came before it. They love CDs on my system... and then I put on an LP.
Charisma's top of the line as of end-2021. To my ear, this cartridge has no faults.
Well Tempered Labs Amadeus GTA.a
Even with a cost-conscious Denon DL103R, this turntable eliminates everything that bothered me about previous setups.
Apple Mac Mini 2012
Running iTunes and Pure Music software. Music library and backup on FireWire external discs. UpTone Audio MMK 12VDC board installed, powered from UpTone JS-2 linear regulated power supply.
WiFi is external, on a USB dongle, so internal WiFi and Bluetooth both turned off. USB connection runs through UpTone IsoREGEN powered by UpTone UltraCap 1.2.
Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB
Audiomat Tempo 2.9
Teo Audio Kronon
Klyne Audio Arts SK-5A
Refurbished, restored and upgraded July 2011 and August 2021 by Klyne Audio Arts.
Audiomat Aria
Tube integrated with 4 EL34s running mostly in Class A.
Atlas Ichor
biwire
Capriccio Continuo (ATD) Admonitor
Monitor section of two-box speaker (Verity Audio style). On factory stands. Italian.
TEAC V-8030s
My Nak was stolen and I got this from insurance. It's a very good deck, and I still need to make tapes sometimes.
JAS Audio Cu/Ag9 AC cord
Four of these cords in the system. One feeds the IsoClean power bar, the others the preamp and monoblocks.
Acoustic Zen El Nino AC cord
High-value budget cord, good on digital sources. One each on transport and DAC.
Target TT1
A wall shelf is the best turntable support you can have in most cases. This one is welded steel with adjustable spikes to support the shelf.
Black Diamond Racing Cones
Types 3 & 4, mixed, under preamp and transport.
Isoclean 106
Six-outlet power bar. Had a remarkable effect: seemed to synchronize the music. Must have.
Herbie's Audio Labs Grounding Bases
Stainless steel disc with a central dimple, sitting on a thick disc of damping compound. 20 of them in the system, in 2 sizes, placed anywhere there are spikes or cone tips, like under the TT base's spikes. Most noticeable effect of these is under the BDR cones and under the speakers.
Herbie's IsoCup Ball & cup footers
These support the tube monoblocks.
Herbie's Audio Labs Tube Dampers
These are used on both driver and output tubes in the Audio Space monoblocs. Well worth their cost in improved resolution.
System edited: Installed Lyra Delos last week. Finding correct VTA by trial and error. Initial results are very encouraging; this is a much more detailed cart then my Denon 103R, but just as musical.
System edited: Both main system sources changed. A Well Tempered Labs Amadeus is the turntable now ; digital source is a PowerBook G4 running PureMusic and an Apogee Mini-DAC with a FireWire connection. The turntable is an upgrade in every way. The Mini-DAC is not as refined-sounding as the Stellavox ST-2, but it allows increased resolution due to the FireWire connection to the computer and playback up to 24/192 (and on-the-fly switching).
System edited: August 2010, put a broadband absorber overhead. It's a wool carpet suspended on 2x2 spruce stringers about 9 inches from the ceiling. The panels belly down to give some extra room.
Result is very gratifying, this treatment did just what I wanted. Upper mid hardness and confusion is much reduced, bass response has fewer peaks and dips so double basses and so forth are easier to hear.
The big isolation tranny is very noticeable in the new pic. That went in in April, feeding the power amps, and removed a layer of confusion. Current plan is to relocate it to the "basement" and hardwire it into the dedicated line.
Luna, if you are running out of juice in triode with 30 WPC, you may need more sensitive speakers, not more powerful output tubes. You may be able to sub a KT88 in for the EL34, although it would only give you 5 or 6 more watts. Ask your dealer before you try it, or write the factory for info.
Hi Luna, yes tube rolling works well in the Nova M-34s. Right now I am running Mullard ECC83s and Heerlen 12AU7s in the driver stage, stock in the output stage. I like Ei, Siemens and Telefunken too, however, and those tubes sound different. You might prefer them with your Harbeths, they are a bit tighter and more detailed-sounding than the Mullards. Also, I have installed Herbie's tube dampers and Iso-cup footers. These tightened things up a lot without spoiling the sweetness and detail and I highly recommend them.
Thanks for the kind words, Shadorne. The 1.5K rule... I went over that on the preamp when I went to separates from an integrated, and I went over it when I bought my first and still only pair of floorstanders. If I had known enough to buy the right preamp the first time, I could have avoided the first overshoot. In the case of the speakers, though, the step up was just too big to be that cheap.
Also important to mention perhaps that the 1.5K, in a couple of cases, has meant fresh money on top of what the retiring unit sells for ! Other than that though, I have been very lucky both in finds on the used market and in good advice.
Timrhu, welcome back, and thanks. I guess I have been lucky, none of the changes in the last year have been bad ones. Along with the old faithfuls I have some new gear with great potential, but more than anything I now think tweaks are where it's at. The system won't sing without them, using them is like getting an instrument tuned just right. Your speaker plinths are a good example.
System edited: January 2009: a few more tweaks. EdenSound Bearpaw brass cones, some new Herbie's tube dampers and grounding bases. The system is beginning to sing. Listened with great pleasure to some Leclair trios played by London Baroque; there was much detail in the strings but also liquid sweetness and no stridency. A treat.
System edited: Have been working over the tonearm adjustments on the Cantus/Scheu. Initially I had the overhang too short and VTA too high. Soundstage was constricted, performance lacked energy, highs were emphasized. I got all those corrected and expletive deleted, what a great difference. Soundstage is way bigger, midrange has bloom, harmonics are sweet and right, lots of detail, voices float between the speakers, dynamics and energy are back in spades, bass when present is so deep and full I am afraid of airborne feedback. (Just a scare, though, it appears.) The Cantus is quite easy to work on and I enjoy it. The AT33PTG seems like a perfect match. Initially I had thought the Stellavox would bring a real challenge to analog in this system. Well, it has, but analog wins again.
System edited: Installed Stellavox ST2 converter. Listened until too tired to listen any more, but nothing fatiguing in the sound from this converter. Room treatments now more urgent however.
System edited: New power amps ( Audio Space Nova 34 ) and turntable/arm/cart ( Scheu Premier Mk II / Scheu Cantus / AT33 PTG. Vacation coming soon, don't have time to set them up :(
System edited: June 27 2008, observers will notice there is no power amplification in the system. My Shanling SP-80 monoblocks and their maple platforms have gone to new owners. They left while at their best, I had never heard them so good as when spiked to those maple blocks.
System edited: Added an Isoclean 106 six-outlet power bar as the AC source for the system. A friend proposed this to me, I would never have thought of it myself. The effect was amazing, even though I fed it at first with a fairly basic AC cord. The music without it seemed out of step, and harsher. This device does so much good for the music that it is now indispensable. The cord is now a JAS Audio Cu/Ag 9, another remarkable upgrade.
Jordan, isolation transformers improved soundstage, image, coherence, clarity, transparency--all of them things I associate with better resolution. In my location (downtown Montreal) they were very effective. In others, where AC power is cleaner, they may not make so great a difference.
Hi Timrhu, yep the Shearwaters have been there about six years. I try a new placement and they sound even better each time. Right now they're on the long wall, about 30 inches out.
The room is still untreated so I'm sure there's still more to be gotten out of them before an upgrade is needed.
Feb. 2008. Power tweak list, starting from the AC plug. Dedicated AC line -> Porter Port ->2x 600V 0.47 mF Auricaps -> Ensemble Powerflux cable -> Isoclean 6-outlet power bar -> 2 Topaz ultra-isolation transformers -> Ensemble and Acoustic Zen power cords.
February 2008. Amps moved to the floor beside the rack, placed on 3-inch maple platforms. What a difference that made. The bass is much better and there is more detail, more dynamics and less blur overall.
Right now the system is digital-only. My LP12 was sold last autumn. My carts have been rebuilt at Soundsmith and there will be a new turntable sometime this year.
System edited: changes at the source level. The Graham is gone, the DA -1000E converter failed and is no longer supported by Apogee. New arm to come, and second-string digital source has moved up to main while I look for a new DAC.
System edited: Feb. 19 2007, added Atlas opus digital cable. I've wanted to try this cable for a while, found one used (lucky!) but my transport is being checked out so no listening yet.
System edited: October 2006: thanks to a great friend I now have an Esoteric P-10 transport to replace my TEAC T1. It's a major upgrade, and I'll post my impressions once I get used to the new sound.
System edited: October 2005--added my "new" Graham arm to the list. Old faithful RB300 will be for sale soon. TT, amps & speakers still down after fire, haven't heard anything yet :)
Gilbodavid, those old tuners can be real treasures. Happy hunting! John's thread is a lot of fun and keeps tempting me to try a Decca--Lenco setup just to hear it. Thanks for sharing your impression after comparing that TT with your 401. If you ever try a Decca International/London pair, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks for the kind word! It's true, the TEAC deck is 80% a visual item. However my job is teaching second language English and I do sometimes need to make recordings for students, who only have cassette machines in class. Also, while we are of no fixed address--having been forced from home by fire--the 8030 has been serving as a headphone amp. (These are my excuses for keeping it, but really if I could allow myself a gear obsession, I would probably collect cassette decks.)
Psychic, thanks for dropping by. No, I don't actually think the T-1 is at the same level as the Klyne.
What the Yamaha does have in common with the Klyne is value for money. This particular (slightly cosmetically challenged) T-1 cost a long way under a hundred on eBay, and I defy anyone to find a better-sounding tuner for that much. I also defy anyone to find a better-sounding preamp at the SK-5A's Blue Book price.
I am not a big FM listener, but nobody who enjoys free music should be without a tuner. Would you care to suggest one to equal the Klyne for sound and value?
I regret to say I haven't had the pleasure of hearing a current Klyne preamp. If anyone else would care to answer this one, I would be interested. ( Interested in an academic sort of way, since a 7LX3.5 with phono is not in my financial future. )
I agree, a T1 is a very good deal. I can't claim credit for the choice, it was a friend's recommendation. I'm glad you like yours; I think I'll try to turn mine on a bit more often.
I like the amps' looks too--thanks. It's an advantage when I demo my hobby to friends. When a unit looks really sharp, non-audiophiles seem to be more receptive to the idea it might be worth its price.
NOS driver tubes help these Shanlings to be the best-sounding amps I've owned. Their internal preamps are easy to bypass and I look forward to trying that. These units also represent excellent value at the price, I think. Like everyone else, I try to make that a rule when I choose gear.
"Sweet" is a good word for the system's sound--thanks!
I do very little serious listening to radio. I've only heard this tuner bring in a live concert once, so most of the time what I'm hearing is the station's cheap CD player... ewww. Considering how little a T1 costs on eBay, though, IMHO its sound is terrific value. It doesn't seem to contribute any major tone of its own, and it's fairly detailed.
