Many changes are taking place in our system. First we have gotten in the unbelievable TAD CR1 speakers. This was a multi year search for a reference quality speaker that would play well with OTL's and could be used to check mixes on our audio/video post production work. We auditioned numerous top quality speakers, all of which got rave reviews or mentions from reviewers. Quite a few of them were outstanding performers.

But upon hearing the TAD's in our system, it was evident that designer Andrew Jones had done something unique. With millions of dollars in resources for R&D (Pioneer is the parent company) TAD has created a transducer that takes audio reproduction to a new level of fidelity, truthfulness and pure enjoyment.

The coincident arrangement of the drivers creates a wonderfully accurate point source, with excellent imaging, specificity, tonality and soundstage depth. Is vapor deposited Beryllium the next in driver technology?

Any Audiogon members visiting the Big Apple, please look me up at triodepicturesound.com (or contact me via Audiogon) just to say hi and give us your opinion.

The second big change for us is the purchase of a commercial loft in Manhattan for our video/audio post production and hi fi listening facilities.

We will be building out the facility, power, acoustics, etc. over the next several months.

emailists April 27, 2011 22:13

Hi Peter,

The Halcyonics clarifies much of the spectrum. I believe I had posted some further thoughts when I first got it when it was fresher in my mind, you may be able to search for. The thing is that the unit actively cancels vibration up to about 100-200 hz I think then it works passively, so just shutting the unit on and off doesn't tell the whole the story of what it's doing.

emailists April 13, 2010 15:06

System edited: Last year we moved into a loft - the biggest change has been the room. It really allows the system to breath. I had a guest listen to Bill Evan live at the Village Vanguard on vinyl, and it turns out he was recently at that venue. He thought our new space sounded very much like it did a few weeks earlier at the Vanguard. The Raven one table is sitting on a Halcyonics platform, on the floor for now.

emailists March 05, 2010 09:44

Thanks Jim,

I am known as Triode Picture + Sound, and located in Manhattan.

emailists May 07, 2009 17:30

Just wanted to update my system to make the disclosure that I have made the transition from mere audiophile, to being a dealer for just a few of the products I feel passionately about. (one being the atma-sphere amps and preamps, the Soundsmith Strain Gauge, just last week PS Audio, plus a new cable company named Performance Reference.) I know that in the current economy, this is rather poor timing, but luckily, audio will not be my main source of income, but rather my film and tv production work. I feel this affords me the opportunity to not have to push products I don't believe in and don't use in my own personal system every day. It reminds me of the old adage, how do you make a million dollars in the high end audio business... start with 5 million. But hopefully this hybrid approach of combining my editing facilities with an audio showroom will allow me to continue my audio endeavor in a low key, low pressure environment.

emailists May 03, 2009 17:17

I rotated my entire setup 90 degrees so the system is now firing down the long wall. This improved the quality of the bass response tremendously, and gave me better depth and deleniation. The sound stage is not as wide now, since the room is only about 11 feet wide, but 27 feet long.

Also having the speakers much closer to the side walls has caused me to have to deal with first reflection points, which I tamed using some 2" acoustic foam
pyramid panels. I may want to try Realtraps for better aesthetics, but acording to a chart I saw in the mids and highs the foam seems to do as well.

One of the things I really love about this hobby is the huge improvement I got just from changing the setup and speaker position.

On the new Warner Bros. LP release of James Taylor's Sweet Baby James, the guitars are amazingly lifelike, and I hear unamplified acoustic guitars from close up often enough to know what they should sound like.

emailists March 17, 2008 04:22

Outlier - what type of floors do you have - Mine are concrete - so perhaps that has something to do with my success using the Sistrum stand. Also you can see the Sisrum sits on a 1" slab of slate, which itself is on a wooden rack.

CDC - I wish I could get some audiophile friends over here to confirm what I am hearing. I really believe that the ceramic cabinets Cerious uses are the best that current audio has to offer. They are rigid, yet lossy and thus dont need any absorbent material in the cabinets. Wrapping your knuckles on the cabinet is like hitting a black hole. It comepletely absorbs the energy from your hand. They make magic and realsim at the same time, and offer shocking performance at the price.

That being said, I suspect in the next few months some lucky east coast A'gonner is going to get the buy of a lifetime. I am thinking of going to the Polymer Logic speaker. I know their cabinet can't be as good as the Cerious, but from everything I have heard from owners, the diamond midrange makes music like no other.

It's just a shame I dont live in a house where I could have a second system or a dedicated home theater. If I did, I would NEVER sell these things. And of course I wont sell them til I am 100% convinced that the Polymers are right for me (and my rather narrow room.)

emailists December 20, 2007 04:50

Just in case anyone cares, I took the pictures with the tubes in total darkness with a long exposure, and used an led flashlight to light up the turntable.

I also replaced the Sistrum SP003 under my turntable with the correct size SP-1 I had been waiting for to come back in stock. Extremely nice upgrade with more solididity throughout the spectrum. Even pops and tick sound different after inserting this stand, like they are grounded.

emailists October 28, 2007 11:06

Major tweek alert!

Last night I upgraded the fuses in my MA1's and H-cat to HI Fi Tuning fuses.

I am totally shocked. The increase in inner detail, purity and immediacy of female voice is stunning. There is also more subtle details poping out and improved imaging outside my speakers.

Also a substantial increase in midbass resloution, tunefulness and amplitude.

It is also as if the register of reproduction shifted down an octave or two. Hard to describe.

Next I'll try replacing all the fuse holders with cro'd Acme fuse holders and then after that using Quicksilver Gold on each of the fuses - hopefully I'll get a nice benefit)

emailists September 01, 2007 10:01

WHart - You can definitely hear my system if you'd like. I am in Nyack from time to time as well.

emailists August 29, 2007 00:05