Hey Mr Bender... how the heck are you?

mount_rose_music December 14, 2009 05:57

How funny the above post. With an open architecture house, I wanted something that filled the house with good sound, omnidirections do that well. The MBls do wonderfully off-axis. Things like Wattpuppies not so well. Simply a comment on a decision to use omnis.

Some people....

mount_rose_music December 14, 2009 05:56

geez. European stuff my wife likes, Amy Winehouse... always Diana Krall...Vanilla Sky soundtrack gets a lot of play

mount_rose_music August 01, 2009 04:32

well its summeer blueskipod, you in La Jolla?

mount_rose_music July 08, 2009 06:05

to lohjanimal, never tried the Boulders.. I can say definitively though, that in my house, the 9008s would have been enough. I usually only turn on one of the three transformers. Sometimes two, never ever three. THe sound degragation is quite noticeable, wonder why none of the reviewers ever mentioned it? SO save 30 grand.

Hi Bigamp.. still evolving, getting rid of the emm labs, i have had three repairs in three years. grrrr... don't know what to get... tried Burmester, pretty damn nice. I should post an update soon I guess.

mount_rose_music February 04, 2009 02:40

Hi Gabisiauk... I am very happy with what I have... not really looking to upgrade anything right now. I suffer not from audi nervosa... probably gonna start a music server and that is it!!

mount_rose_music November 21, 2008 19:51

Its either corner or rear wall, no choice. Glass on one side, couch on the other, my wife is only so forgiving ;)

mount_rose_music June 12, 2008 01:16

As far as a "deal" on 101s. It is my experience that some guys will spend a ton of time with you, and want to get paid accordingly. Some guys want to move the box and go away. They tend to be cheaper. Some guys will sell you from a million miles away. Personally, to me, a knowledgeable dealer who will help me optimize my system, let me play around with things, and really tries to help is worth a bit more. Afterall, the goal is to have the best system at whatever pricepoint one is comfortable with, and a really detali orientated dealer will help at this level.

Kinda like when you buy furniture. You can use the inhouse person to design for you, it won't be bad, or you can pay for an independant designer, and have an absolutely stunning interior from different mfrs.

Cheers,
C

mount_rose_music January 25, 2008 17:40

I probably spelled it wrong, it is a Budhist shrine thing she has. I stay out of her religion, she stays out of my stereo fix:)

mount_rose_music January 08, 2008 20:37

Gerrym5, thanks for the recommendations and compliments. I feel very fortunate with the view, the house and the system. All our way beyond my wildest dreams or hopes when I was growing up, they just kinda happenned. I think that first, I will ensure that the phono pre inside of the MBL 6010d is good, maybe bring in an Aestetix or Art Audio pre. Then I will attack the extra arms. What do you like about the Audionote wire? I have always liked Cardas cable, but never loved it. It always seems warm, inviting, and ultimately not very realistic. As turntable stuff is pretty hard to audition, I am going to have to rely on you guys' recommendations much heavier than in the past. Nobody that I know wants to bring a few arm/cartridge combos over to the house to let you borrow them for a week or two ;) no matter what the reviewers claim.

Thanks for the input,
Chris

mount_rose_music December 19, 2007 07:35

System edited: added pic of turntable, really doesn't do it justice.

mount_rose_music December 19, 2007 07:28

Hi Dev, thoughts? In my old house, I had watt/puppies in the home theatre. Then, as I had money, I wanted to redo the living room as we spent much time in it. So I went through listening to about 10 pairs of speakers, both in the house and at dealer's, and eventually just bought another pair of watt/puppies.

See where I am going with this? For me, if I like a sound, and I am going to listen a lot, then I am going to go with the sound I liked in the first place. I wanted to go with something cheaper, and ended up with actually a better system in the living room, and wasted a lot of money.

So my advice, go with what you picked already, or some iteration thereof:)

mount_rose_music December 18, 2007 14:12

Hi Pantherdude. I am not allowed in the kitchen, and my office and office bathroom has been totally taken over by her. Also, the home theatre room has been suborned by her kohantsa? and a nice bedroom setup for her mom. So.... I gave up two rooms for 1/2 of one:) that still needs her approval ... so I am not sure I gots the best part of the deal.

I know of David Weinhart but do not know him. He was pretty insistent I come up to his showroom whereas my dealer has been very good at coming to my house. I would much rather audition things in my home, with my stuff, once I picked out the speakers, than go anywhere else... too many variables and this stuff is too expensive to make mistakes on. I once bought Revel Studios because they sounded great in a showroom, but I never could cotton to them at my house, no matter what I did with them.

mount_rose_music December 18, 2007 03:28

System edited: Just added a turntable finally. Used Transrotor Tourbillon with Graham arm and Orpheus cartridge. I am using the internal preamp of the 6010d, which may or may not change. I want to run in the system, and think about the tonearm cable. It came with a Cardas Goldencross? Any suggestions for a cable change would be appreciated. This turntable is absolutely stunning looking though. Why get this particular system? I figure a three motor system inherently should be pretty good, and one has to start somewhere. The Graham is highly rated by most everybody, I like how it looks as well... in practice however, it seems pretty tweaky though, I'm kinda scared of messing with it. The Orpheus I have heard in two different systems, and hey, if I am really concerned, I can try more arms and cartridges, I can mount three after all. I can say that it is much more transparent and detailed than the previous basis 2001 and Koetsu Black that I had before.

mount_rose_music December 16, 2007 19:31

Hey Dev, you should post some pix of your system. Would be fun to see. ..and ...your Bentley when you get it;)

mount_rose_music December 15, 2007 22:11

nice deal, Dev. Glad you like your new MBLs. You may very well like the amps you are getting, and I am not surprised the Pass are good matches. They could very well end up the winners. I ended up getting a great deal on the amps, and they are, afterall, voiced for the speakers. I not have the time nor connections you seem to have to get all those amps, very jealous you get to try the CATs with them.

Cheers,
C

mount_rose_music December 15, 2007 17:47

Hey Snopro, I actually have a little bit going on, the rug was picked specifically for diffusion, and it has a pad under it. The plant and rack actually do diffuse the sound, I've tried the rack on the side, and gotten a different balance. And the fireplace rock is actually much more diverse in terms of different depths and angles than it looks in a pix. The couches, too, are very absorbant, I had them done in microfibre vs leather as it is more acoustically absorbant. AND, the ceiling is much like an acoustic venue, it arcs up from the state about 6 feet. So its not so bad. But it will be fun to try and fix it, while I get WAF:) If I was still a bachelor...I'd make the whole back wall a maple resonator. put the coach right agains the slider, get rid of the coffee table, and move my chair up..... wives, jeez.

mount_rose_music December 09, 2007 18:46

snopro, thanks, it sounds pretty darn good, but now I am going to start a little room treatment soon,so it will be Bitchin;.

mount_rose_music December 09, 2007 03:45

Hi Tellyfung. I have tried many speaker cables and overall, the Taras are my favorite by far for these speakers. I am using The One biwires. Most everybody I know who tries the Taras with 101e's ends up keeping it. The Tara has added a little extra bloom and realism for me in the midrange, and it seems to attenuate the high end just a hair, and the MBLs are tipped up in the high end. It is a pretty deep soundstage, although not particularly wide. So I have my speakers farther apart relative to the listening area than I ever have. I have been carefully building the system I have. First was source, then speakers, then preamp, then amp, and then speaker wires. Next up, final decision (sure) on interconnects.

mount_rose_music November 29, 2007 04:23

Hi Molly,thanks for your kind words and words of wisdom re room treatments and turntable. I am very surprised, based on what I have read, that you like the SME better than the Walker, but, hey, nice to know. I think for room treatments, I am going to build a resonator as part of the fireplace, maybe move the rack to the side and put another natural shakti solidifier (read: plant) on that side, I don;t have any 45 degree angles in the house, so probably I need to diffuse rather than absorb. I tried an absorber for fun directly in front of the fireplace, it wasnt good. It fact it really took some life out of the music. I have a mid-l0w bass hump that I need to address though.

Thanks again,
Chris

mount_rose_music November 16, 2007 03:41

Hi Des, I am suspicioning that you will like the 600.5 with the 101s. M BLs tend to be a tad sweet, and the 600s should counter that. Hey, the Bentley GT convertible is a sweet car, my friend has one and loves it. Gotta envy you for that. oh yeah, speakers are about 60" apart, but again that is part of the first reflection thing I am trying to change.

Cheers,
Chris

mount_rose_music November 16, 2007 03:36

Dev.. let's see I answer your questions one at a time.
1. MBL no offers all silver, although I could paint them I suppose... still an option, once I am pretty set, then I will make this acoustically and aestetically better. I spent too much time changing cables, etc, to do new fireplace until I am reasonable??? done.

2. The room is 13 feet wide, I have them closer than optimal I am sure, but it is so the couches don't get in the way of the first soundwave. The soundstage ends up being deeper and less wide, but you definitely want primary sound waves coming at you before the diffused. Other systems, including my quasi-home stereo, I always dampen the first reflection point on the walls, this one I cannot on one side. So the couches actually, because the speakers are sort of inside of them, act to damp some reflected waves.

3. toe-in... It just seems to help the soundstage, and helps tighten the base. and makes a better stereo image. I know what you are saying about the omnis... but I experiment with my stuff infinitely to get my best sound, and they sound better toed-in exactly like that. Imaging on 101s is not razor sharp like watt puppies anyways, it is a little more diffuse, which i think is a good thing, as to me, it makes it seem like each instrument or vocal is its own, unique point source.

4. 9008s... I loved them, I ordered them, they weren't going to come in for awhile, and I was made an offer with trades I couldn;t refuse. I do not use the 3rd amplifier switch on 9011s as it adds a little bit of dynamics, but to me, at the expense of a tad bit of distortion. In fact, for smaller ensembles, I switch off the second amp. According to the dealer, the third switch is for bigger rooms than mine. I will tell you though, that the 9011s have scary scary scary scary dynamics... The closest to live I can imagine, i have to be careful on certain songs.. for instance... Bolero.... something I never really worried about with tubes. I would get the 9008s under most circumstances, they did fine in my room.

5. I would have loved to have heard these with Cats. Paul Hales, who was the president of Hales Designs, told me those were the best amps he ever used, and his stuff had pretty complex impedence curves at times. I know they sounded gorgeous at his factory. I would have loved to try those or the VTLs, but I knew of nowhere to get the CATs, and couldn't audition the VTLs in a timeframe acceptable to me. I loved how the vtls s400 sounded on JMLabs Utopia Be... I really liked the sound of my Mac on the 101s, but not enough cojones... let me know how your CAT sounds.

Cheers,
Chris

mount_rose_music November 13, 2007 03:55

Vinyl, vinyl, enough with the vinyl! oi. vey vinyl...vinyl.... seriously... in my old system I had a benz micro glider, basis 2000 and pass xono, and it kicked butt on any cd player I had (linn magic, krell 20i, wadia 861 but that was decently close) Then I added a Koetsu Black and used the internal option of the 6010d, and it didn;t sound very good. Now I didn't spend a whole lotta time adjusting it in, I was busy with other upgrades, but it really didn't do it for me on the first few listens.

On order right now is a transrotor orfeo 30/20/10 and graham arm, not sure what kinda cartridge to get. I've been waiting for months for the graham arm, anybody else have this problem? but now I have another problem, if I get the turntable, I can't really get a top loading cd player IE the 1611/1621 combo, which is just visually stunning at least, and incredibly smooth and transient. I may just cancel the turntable combo if the arm takes any more time...grrr... so I am thinking transfiguration orpheus, only because so many people I respect seem to use them , AJ Conti to name one. Why get rid of the basis? Just because I heard the transrotor with triplanar and shelter, it sounded very good, and then it looked exquisite. Also for whatever reasons, the combo I have now just no soundy good, and again, i freely admit it could be me just not spending enough time dialing it in. What happens mostly is I come home from work, stressed, and pop in a cd and make trouble go away... like a glass of wine for most people. The ritual of cleaning the vinyl, zapping it, etc, mostly, I end up just too tired or lazy to go through that much... but then again, nothing beats Aja on heavy plastic

mount_rose_music November 13, 2007 03:21

System edited: The Tara Power Screen is a big improvement in this system over the Shunyata Hydra 8. Instruments sound like instruments. A metallic sheen that the system had is now gone. Wanna see MOST of the cable contenders I have been messing with.. see the posted pix.. The one thing I can say definitely is that my system does not like anything much with Silver in it, it may be because 101s have tipped up highs, but it is what it is. Still gotta do dedicated lines... and I could rant about sound treatments, but with the view I have, I am not going to cover the windows(30 feet long stretching from ceiling to floor). If you look closely, between the rug, the plant, the rack, the vase on the rack, the fireplace screen, the heavy couches and pillows, you can see a lot of subtle room treatments not obvious to a novice in acoustics:) Tried the 1611 1621 combo, smooth smooth smooth, but I am not sure realistic. I think dealers listen so much that they do not necessarily like real, they like easy on the ears... I try to use live music as much as I can to compare, I play tenor sax and flute, my daughter plays cello and drums..... now if my wife could only sing we could be the Kinda Diana Krall trio Cheers. C

mount_rose_music November 11, 2007 07:41

added recent pix, but audiogon ate the edit

mount_rose_music November 11, 2007 07:20

should post tonight. Haven't updated the pix for a year.

mount_rose_music November 09, 2007 16:36

dgad...I am surprised as well, but it is what it is. I have a dealer who has transrotor.. triplanar and 901x... I want him to bring it over. The only other thing I can figure is that maybe the phone section of the 6010d may not be a good match, or a good phono section, but the analogue rig as is just is not good, relatively:(
thanks for your input.

mount_rose_music April 06, 2007 07:47

Glenhifi, thanks. I think my wife would rather have it hidden in bottom room though ;) her friends tell her they wouldn't allow it in their house, good thing I owned the house before I married her!

mount_rose_music March 28, 2007 06:07

System edited: Finally I make an amplifier decision... and the big change, after 4 monthes and 7 different amps was.... big MBLs. I didn't want an all same brand system, I didn't want those "coffins" as my wife calls them. But welll, by selling every single extra piece of hifi I have collected over the past 12 years to a more than fair dealer... here they are.. the big 9011s! Without, bashing other brands, the MBL amps gave me the headroom and oomph that I could not get from my beloved tubes, the bass oomph that allowed me to, for the first time, get rid of my also beloved Rel Stentor II that were required for Watt Puppies, Alto BEs and Revel Studios. There are other very fine amps out there, and this very careful, very thought out upgrade has taught me that complete system matching is most critical. I am many months into this and I still have to do power conditioner comparisons, try to get a dedicated circuit in that room, check different pre-amp to amp cables, and probably continue to mess around with speaker cables. Tried Nordost Tyre with Magic Woofer, bad... changed the bottom of the biamp to Acoustic Zen shotgun and satori, still sucked. Replaced the bottom end with Heimdahl, pretty good. changed the nordost for satori on top, and shotguy on the bottom, better. Magic Woofer on top, Transparent Super on bottom, bad bad bad. Think I need to keep looking for ultimate speaker cables and no, I am not so crazy as to try what MBL recommends, the Tara Labs Zero. No cable unless gold braided with EMC shielded enclosure is worth that much in my opinion. Then again, six months ago I would have said there is no way I would buy the 9011s. I am going to try a Transrotor table with Triplanar arm. The Basis 2000 with Rega 300 and Koetsu black sounds like crap conpared to the Meitner rig. But, the Meitner rig has had the CD replaced 4 months ago because it broke with the CDSE, and that just broke, which has really broken my heart as I love the sound, but don't want to keep sending a unit back. 18,000 stuff shouldn;t break twice in four months with two different units. Quite frankly, when most of my old Krell stuff broke 8 years ago, it got me so upset that I left the hobby for 7 years. So cable recommendations, power conditioners and turntable rig recommendations are solicited now. I am going to use the preamp in the MBL preamp...no room on my rack for a different preamp..pix to follow, thanks for looking.

mount_rose_music March 28, 2007 06:01

bflowers.... haven't tried yet. The Halcro DM-88s are actually very very good, as opposed to my opinion of the older Halcros... I need to try them single ended vs balanced in the current mode, and then I try the Boulders, the only way I can get a home demo on the Boulder is to prepay the entire cost, which kinda sucks.

Cheers!
C

mount_rose_music January 09, 2007 16:41

Loxodrome.. thanks:)

mount_rose_music January 04, 2007 23:11

tboooe
I think it is a wonderful preamp...very very transparent with a hint of sweetness is about the only thing I can find wrong with it. I always had ARC preamps previously. I can't say enough good about it except the price:) thanks for the compliments on the system, gotta show a new pic

Sorry it took so long to answer, I am demoing Halcro DM-88s recently:)

Cheers!
Chris

mount_rose_music January 04, 2007 23:10

System edited: Added the MBL 6010d to the mix... great preamp and it gives me the ability to add 4 amps...so maybe I can still have tubes. Tried Nordost Heimdahl, Transparent Ultra, Nordost Frey on the high side of the MBLs and actually, for much less money, the Acoustic Zen Hologram II sounded better, and the Satori sounded better than all the above on the bass of the bi-wire... I replaced the Synergistic with Nordost Valhala between cd player and amp, and it was much more transparent, a little less body, better soundstaging, definitely more "natural".. I had also tried Harmonic Tech Pro Silway II, transparent Ultra and Harmonic Tech Magic cables, but the Valhalla trumped them all, at least in this spot. Also tried the Meridian 808 for fun against the Meitner.. OWWW... not good. I had to makey the Meridian go bye bye fast. Nice when you get confirmation that what you bought is pretty damn good. Now then, gotta find those perfect amps... have demoed the MBL9008a (really good, but only demoed them about 2 hours, and also the Halcro DM88s, which seem to get better with time and experimenting with the setting in the back of the MBLs, they seem to get pretty congested with orchestral or complex passages, but I can say they are worlds better than the previous Halcros... much more musical. I got fooled once in awhile with the MBLs, but not with the Halcros, at least thus far. MORE TO COME.......Stay tuned...

mount_rose_music December 27, 2006 22:08

I love your posts. No pretentiousness,, no axe to grind with anyone, looked at some of your other ones. You are the second person that has recommended the Boulder, but I am such a damn glass head. You may not need the REL, but I have yet to have speakers, including two iterations of WattPuppies, JMLab Altos, Revel Studios, that didn't benefit in varying degrees by adding a sub just to fill in the lower level. Play the theme from Mission Impossible, or the Eagles live Hotel California, and I think you'll see you will want to keep the REL. Course, hving not used solid state for about 8 years, maybe not;)

Cheers and thanks for the input,
Chris

mount_rose_music November 30, 2006 18:50

Bflowers, Nope, no help, just one at a time, the rollerblock IIs are little, not really hard, the sub was a little trickier, I bet with a Studio you will need hepl, though. No issues with stability thusfar, although I have no little kids around. You are the second person telling me I should check out the Boulder amp,,, but... I am such a tube kinda guy... but... I have never had any uber expensive SS amps like Boulder, Krell Master, or MBL... You like your Maxx's? WattPuppies were my overall favorite before these:)

mount_rose_music November 28, 2006 23:05

System edited: Added Symposium Rollerblock series 2, 3 ea under the speakers, better microdynamics, better inner detail.. pretty good tweak. Put Rollerblock JR, 4 ea under the sub and the difference was incredible. No more one note bass. The bass drum just came alive.. this has been the best tweak I have ever heard in my system, thusfar that is.

mount_rose_music November 16, 2006 22:58

My dealer doesn't have MBL amps in stock, sadly. The more I listen, even with using an amp on the bottom, the Mc just doesn't quite have the dynamics required to drive these properly I think. The reality of dealers, in my opinion, anymore, is that they just want you to buy from the showroom if you can. Have you ever heard of anybody not a dealer able to demo a turntable, a tonearm and various cartridges at home for instance? If you find one that does, by all means let me know. Even here on Audiogon, so many of the ultra-tweaked systems are dealer's systems, not a hobbyist's. I love when scribes of audio magazine's suggest trying out this or that piece, and then they go on to say they don't get the "gestalt" for a month or two, or it had to break in, or a magic cable made all the difference, but that we readers shouldn't depend on what they say. Okay, who wants to loan me 3 five thousand dollar cartridges to play with in case I buy one? And set them up on my table?

mount_rose_music November 13, 2006 18:31

This is why I put the start of the upgrade:) I may do curtains, or I may get one diffuser/ absorber to put directly in front of the glass for serious listening. The sliding glass door opens up, and actually makes it sound much better, so I have to do something. I am probably going to do the fireplace with wooden diffusers, even home built, but I want to build monoblocks in underneath, so until I pick those out, I cannot do the back wall.
Amps I am thinking... I tried the mc2000 with VT100 on th bottom and it sounded terrible. First I am going to try the mc501s as the gain should match with the MC2000. If that doesn't work, then VTL Siegfried, Audio Reseearch monos, MBLs will be on the agenda.

mount_rose_music November 07, 2006 19:25