Things have changed a lot over the past several years so I decided to change the name of the system. The biggest change, and thus the name of the system is that my piano has moved to our new addition. This was a huge improvement in the sound of the system, bigger than any change in gear has made. I still can t do a full room treatment but am working on it. The new addition was possible, in part, because of the success of our audio business.
It is a complicated story but probably of interest to some. A friend and I started an audio club, The Southern Alberta Audio and Visual Society. It has been going for 6 years, and still meets monthly. With time we became unhappy with the retail scene and started our own business. The business has morphed to include home automation, multiroom audio, security, home theater, lighting and electric blinds, but our love remains two channel. Because of the company, we are able to listen to a lot of gear and it has been wonderful. As we both have other jobs (I am a thoracic surgeon) we only get what we think sounds great. I am very happy with the sound, and just having come back from CES I can honestly say that there really isnt anything I thought would make me that much happier. This may be a problem as I should change the gear on a more regular basis. Fascinatingly, once the company started to make money, my wife was much more approachable about changing the system (odd that).
Please any comments I make must be taken with a grain of salt, I am a dealer but really just a music and audio nut like the rest of you. Im not trying to sell any of you anything.
Cycling is another passion (my wife says I have too many). Hope you like the pictures. Any suggestions are welcome.
Renes note prompted me to start the process to update my system description. I have not bothered to rename the system but things have changed substantially in the past year. The dps was upgraded to a 3, with the schroeder arm and zyx cartride. The groove + became the SRX and the rest is now Karan, also a long story. It is wonderful gear - but I am completely biased. The speakers are now the Piega CL 90X. Solid aluminum, each weighs 165 pounds which makes moving quite problematic.
I began on a search for the ideal table for our company and I think this is it. It has amazing sound, is a brilliant design, easy to set up and maintain and fairly priced compared to the competition. Add to that the ability to upgrade in a logical fashion and you can't ask for more. Willi Bauer, the manufacturer, cares only about the sound and it shows. He is a delight to deal with. This replaces the audiomeca romance, a wonderful table that is beautiful to boot. Having done so however, it is clear this table is far superior. I had the opportunity to listen to both with the same cartridge and this table retrieves more data, has lower floor noise and is more musical. I now have the dps 3 which is a subtantial jump in price, but also a big jump in performance. Willi had said this would be the case and he was right. The bass is much more solid than before. Now that Ayre has their new power supply I will have to see how this sounds.
Rega RB-250
Willi Bauer says it best, the only thing wrong with this tonearm is the price. It is too cheap, so people underrate it. Willi modifies it with a new weight, direct wiring and other things. It is simple to set up and maintain, and the sound is quite superb, though I have not tried other arms. I do have the dps schroeder on order but that will be a year.
Ortofon Jubilee
The Jubilee is a cartridge I am only now getting to understand. It does everything very well and is extremely natural sounding. It replaces a Benz Ruby 2 and in comparrison it is not quite as warm sounding, but is more natural. At its price, I think few can beat it. The same person has been designing Ortofons for nearly 50 years and his depth of knowledge shows.
EMM Labs CDSA signature
The latest version of the EMM gear. Ed lives in our city and is a great friend, and a super person. The latest changes are phenomenol. I now will listen to vinyl and digital equally, they are different, but the sound is so good there is no need to listen to vinyl if I have it in digital.
Tom Evans Groove SRX
When I chatted with Tom he said this was substantially better than the + and I doubted him. I was wrong, and it is adjustable. Extraordinarily black with great musicality. Modest in footprint.
Piega CL 90 X
Full range ribbons. These are smaller than the c10 ltd but actually produce a bigger sound, with more defined base. I suspect the all aluminum cabinet has something to do with it. I really prefer them on the stillpoints, no contest.
Crystal Cable Micro
Have been through a multitude of cables and these are excellent. Have had HMS and Audiotekne in the past and neither was superior. Not silly priced and the ease of use, and small size make them a delight.
Stillpoints Various
I was introduced to Stillpoints at the Montreal Show and was very impressed. I really don't consider them accesories but necessary. Under my speakers the improvement in soundstage, height and bass is quite remarkable and I have tried taking them out and can't stand it. Under my turntable the diffence is also enormous. My room is such that if they are not under, walking in certain areas will cause the tonearm to skip. I can jump now and nothing happens. Also used under the transport for good effect but not as noticable as the first two.
Custom Stand Own Design
Custom stand made of MDF and sand filled plinth. It is wonderful to look at. It also holds at least a thousand cds with the disc socs. See the pictures in my section
Audiotekne Powersupply
I have had this for some time. It is from a small japanese firm and weighs the same as a piece of lead. It is a bit quirky in that the recepticles don't have a ground but I am slow to change. I use some of their power cords as well and I did compare this against the state of the art unit with at least 7000 worth of equipment and I found no diffence.
Audiotekne Powersupply
Large beefy transformer but I know very little of the technology. Adds a lot and compared very favorably to a very expensive setup I tried in the system.
Gary - you really should upgrade your system. You have been having the Schroeder No2 arm on your DPS for a while now ;) - And there are other new additions I am missing.
Great choices of gear and a stunning aesthetic look too - I hope this biz goes well - I agree about the local retail choices - home automation and HT is where it at these days. The sales volume in simple two channel audio are not enough to compete and quantity trumps quality...
Sorry I didn't see this. Thanks for the comments. I know the piegas you were talking about and the person, they were c10s and are very nice. These are the limiteds and I think even better than the c10 standards you heard.
As for the one box, I have heard both in my system. Ed is a good friend of mine. The two are both outstanding though slightly different. I keep the two box because I like the preamp a lot and to replace would just mean another box.
Nice system Gary! I once heard some Piega speakers at an Audiophile's home in Toronto and they were really great sounding, also driven by tubes amps but from the Granite company as I recall. Have you considered moving to the single box EMM player or would that be considered a sideways (or backwards?) move as I've heard it's his best piece of work to date?
I will give you a shout. It was a major effort to get the piano out of there, I could have one hell of a stereo for the cost. But it is worth it and the kitchen is awesome.
I would vote for the Cervelo instead of the tt, there is more to life than audio and a great bike is a work of art. I chose not to go with compact (in fact they sent the bike with the new campy one) because while it is great, I am getting old and the hills of italy are not getting any smaller. I have never had a triple but figure I wan the bike for a long time - ergo the triple
Much nicer !!!! I'm sure the music is a whole lot different. I see you upgraded to the SE components and have a new TT. I bought a Cervelo instead of a TT !
Nice wheels as well ! Unfortunately those Ksyrium ES's can't be rebuilt to take a Powertap hub. One upgrade to consider would be a compact crankset. I first rode one in Girona Spain last September and fell in love with it. Beats the triple. I have last year's FSA K-Force compact on my new Cervelo. The new one is lighter and has ceramic bearings. Would love to bring my new bike back to Alberta for some real climbs.
The piano is beautiful (it is quite old and when we moved it we had it refinished to great effect) but I think it wrecked havoc on the room from a stereo point of view. It also created a cluttered feeling that was not aesthetically please to me wife or I. You can see a picture of it in the old state in my 'other' system listed. I do believe the piano resonates and that the stereo was really 'playing' it. With it gone I now have much better sound stage and the instruments sit where they should. I guess you could think of it like this, its great to have the piano in the room, but if you had drums, a cello and a harp, it might not be optimal for any of the instruments.
The piano is in a new addition and looks great and sounds wonderful. I will try to upload pictures. No one who has seen it has felt that it has been anything but beneficial to our living space.
I would never discourage you from your consolation prize.
I am delighted by the presence and beauty of my Steinway M in my listening and audio room - our "music" room - but would love to hear more about your experience moving your piano away from your system.
It did occur to me that a piano resonates.
Yet there was something counterintuitive about thinking that a piano somehow detracts from the acoustics of a room where music is played?!
I suppose if my beloved piano is really holding back my system and room, I can always recycle the funds into more and bigger gear and cables as a consolation prize.
