I have been in this hobby over 30 years and in that time have had the pleasure and good fortune to own many many high end components and gear. My goal in the past 6 years was to progress to a smaller footprint than my big Genesis speakers with Vitus monos, and still have great sound. I just didn't have the room in my new home for the big system AND all the boxes and crates! LOL.
I tried a number of fantastic products over those 6 years......Manley, Zanden, the amazing D'Agostino, Coincident, Backert Labs, Vitus, APL, Jeff Rowland, Emm Labs. I'm finally settled on my MSB/ EMM DV2 combo, with Absolare Stereo amp and Tannoy Speakers.........bit of a mix for cables, with Echole Omnia, TEO, Stage III Gorgon and Musica Bella Kuala2 power cables. Pics to come.
The newest and greatest from Tannoy, the Gold Reference series. Still breaking in the system but loving it!
Six years later, very very happy with these speakers. They gave me exactly what I was looking for stepping down from my 4 tower Genesis speakers. Still wanted great sound, emotion and soul and a much smaller footprint. On top of that they can pound out some unbelievable bass, and drums, when I kick things up. I've tried many different amps with these speakers, to get what I feel is right. I finally feel like I've hit a home run with the Absolare/Tannoy combo....just unbelievable.
Absolare Passion Hybrid Stereo
The latest amp from Absolare. Released end of May 2020. Just breaking it in. Fabulous tone and soundstage already. Added some NOS 12AU7 tubes from the 1950's and 1960's and this amp just loves them.
MSB UMT Plus
Plays and Spins everything digital, including 3D BluRay. Awesome.
MSB Technology Dual Signature Power Base
I was using a desktop power supply for my MSB UMT Plus. Switched to a new Dual signature power base from MSB. Love the improved performance.
EMM Labs DV2
Latest and greatest from EMM. Picked up new July 2020, with newly designed remote. Awesome unit. Improvement in Soundstage depth, tone, timing, bass, voice. Without a doubt my last DAC.
EMM Labs NS-1
Added the EMM Labs Streamer, NS1. This will be my 1st time steaming, looking forward to the convenience when not spinning discs.
Tripoint Troy Signature NG
This is the third Troy I’ve owned, amazing gear.
Stage III Concepts Gorgon Interconnect
Sold the Purist and moving to the Stage III Concepts top of the line Gorgon. It's on order and should be here within 2 weeks. Loved the Purist of course, fantastic cable! The Stage III stuff I'm interested in because of the body it adds, even moreso than the Purist. Love that big beautiful romantic sound......will see soon just how different it is from the Purist, or not!!
PS Audio P15
Added the PS Audio P15 power regenerator. Upgrade from the P12. Very very happy with the performance of PS Audio Regenerators. I have everything plugged into it.
Stage III Concepts Medusa Speaker Cable
Stage III Concepts Cerberus Jumpers
Best Jumpers Stage III sells……..the Tannoy Love them.
Musica Bella Kuala2 power cords
Design and build by Mike Vice with Bybee influence. Check out Clement Perry review.
Stand: Home made
I made my stand using a double layer of Maple, so it's 3.5" thick on the shelves. Weight is easily 300lbs. This made a serious improvement in the sound. Really seemed to literally anchor the music in place. Was a lot of work and it's not perfect by any means, but I'm very very happy with the results.
Critical Mass Systems Centre stage footers
IsoAcoustics GAIA
Put these footers on my Tannoy and the results are fabulous. The speakers now sound like they weight 1000lbs.
Walker Valid points
These were laying around doing nothing so put them under the digital gear. Not sure if they made much difference as I've had lots going on in the system lately, but I do love the look and extra height they give the gear for airflow.
QSA Black/Red Receptacle
Wow, love these! Thought I would try the Red Receptacle first, loved it so much I immediately upgraded to the black/red!!
HRS S3 Platforms
A couple of HRS Platforms for the EMM Labs gear.
Hemingway Creation Power Cord
I owned the Hemingway speaker cable and loved it…..thrilled to get some Hemingway back in the system via this Power Cord.
Vitus mono amps are in the system and performing wonderfully. Not really much to say about them, they are essentially better in every regard to my 33H's. The biggest difference is in sound stage and detail. Overall a very nice upgrade which gives me a good understanding of the difference between an older reference amp and a newer reference amp. Even though the Vitus is better in every regard, the difference is not night and day, it's not a paradigm swing.
System edited: Added the TEO interconnects and the Tripoint Troy. I will be putting new pics on right away and you will notice I have taken off the speaker grills on the Genesis. I was talking to Gary Koh and he mentioned that for small rooms I should try taking off the side wings on the mid/tweeter panels. I love the result, plut alot less of a fooptint.
System edited: I have added the MBL6010D and feel I am done in preamp searches, and buying and selling for a while to come. Also added some Bybee ic bullets.....love the Bybee stuff. I put some amp stands under the Levinsons which had a very nice affect for the money, and some Combak Harmonix footers for the Universal player. I also put some new power outlets in the wall, the Porter Ports, which initially blew me away, but not sure anymore.......I think they might just be going through a break-in thing as I only have maybe 40 or 50 hours on them! Whether I "like" them or not, I could not go back to the .98cent Home Depot outlets.......I may try other brands of high end outlets though, get the right one and they will be wonderful I'm sure. Just the way the outlets grab the power cord is so much better.......
Roger Wilco Joe!! For those not in the know, I just picked up an MBL6010D and am comparing it with the Atma in my system!
It's way too early to give any feedback yet......I have 2 hours listening to the MBL under my belt right now! It has not settled in by any means, arrived cold and lonely, so I will warm it up and make it feel at home and do a real comparison on the weekend!
I can say at this time, they are both exquisite! I would say brothers from a different mother! Wonderful components.
Hmmm, A-S vs Joule preamp........I knew this was coming! I can sum it up somewhat, although not very scientific if you don't mind!
The A-S really took me by surprise......I sat there listening, confused. I have had so many components and power cords and ic's, sources, amps, blah blah blah. With each one I could assess what they did to the bass, mids and highs, as well as sound stage,etc., etc. With the Atmasphere it was like.......sitting in a concert or lounge or whatever venue, listening to the band. I could no longer assess the normal things I used to! I mean, when you are in the particular venue listening to the "band" do you say to yourself......hmmm how is the soundstage.........the midrange, whatever....those things kind of disappeared and I was listening to the artist now, for the first time, and not the particular aspects of the music.
That said, I still love the Joule. The Joule provided a romantic edge to the music that touched me deeply at times. It's a difficult and confusing thing comparing the two. I can provide an example using video comparison! When watching a music video on DVD you hear the music see the artist and enjoy to whatever degree you and your system can go. Now watch the same music video on Blu-Ray. Now all of a sudden you see the blemish on the artists face, the bald spot, the dirt spot on the shirt! Has that taken away from the performance or the romance, has it distracted you.......are you disappointed the performance you thought was incredible and perfect you now see the flaws in?
Bottom line, the Joule is very romantic, I loved it, it was emotional, I cried at times. The Atmasphere puts the performers in the room, literally. It did not put them in the room "better" than this or better than that....because nothing I have tried can be mentioned in the same discussion with respect to "put them in the room". Nothing I have used has any business using that phrase compared to the Atma!!
So, Joule of Atma........Joule very emotional, Atma is very "there", hear the missed notes the human side of every performer, because they are right in front of you.
Where does that leave a person......I don't know, that's why I'm confused! Do you prefer to listen to an absolutely perfect sweet rendition of a performance on recording or do you want the artist in the room with full disclosure and exposure no matter what!
It's great to hear about and see the further changes in your system! I can relate to getting angry on the cable roller coaster with the related escalating costs. I am presently using VH Audio Symmetry Copper interconnects with amazing results. I cannot believe I spent much more over the years with various manufacturers though I cannot claim to have ever spent THAT high as on the Sakras :-) I take it from what you write that you are enjoying the system just as much (if not more) and have additional money back in your pocket to boot?!? Enjoy the music!
System edited: This fall I swapped out the Joule LA300ME for the Atmasphere MP1 Mk3.1 With the Atma, I am able to use a cheap in from pre to amps. I was able to sell my Very Expensive Stealth Sakra for the Mogami mic cable! I think everyone knows how much the Sakra is..........I have over $20K (list price) in Sakra cabling........the Mogami cost to replace, $10 plus XLR connectors! Yeah, you read that right.....unbelievable, and enough to get a guy angry really! I have been on this cable rollercoaster for years, and the Atma/Mogami combo enabled me to get rid of over $20K in ic cable! (Twenty Thousand!!) I have also updated my Faroudja Universal player. I have always loved this unit and was looking to spend some serious money on an upgrade! After MUCH looking and auditioning, emailing, reviews, etc., I just did not know where to go with my source! So, for now I decided to play it safe and invest in an upgrade/mod on the Faroudja. I sent the unit to Chris Johnson of Parts Connextion in Toronto. For a very reasonable price compared to a new high end upgrade, I was able to put the Faroudja on the "juice" and keep it in the system. I continue to love it even more, and should get a number of years on it again, before looking to upgrade. By that time there should be some better options out there for my needs! One last upgrade/addition to the system at this time! I finally pulled the trigger on getting some Bybee Golden Goddess SE speaker tails......although I don't think they call them Golden Goddess anymore! Too bad, because they certainly are golden! What a wonderful addition to the system. Last but certainly not least, I sold the Sakra from my source to the pre and replaced it with a Golden Oval XLR. The Sakra was RCA and the new Atma only accepts XLR, so the Sakra had to go. I was not about to spend the money they wanted for a new Sakra, so went with the Golden Oval instead......so far I'm liking it very much!
System edited: Made a few changes. Stealth Sakra on course and pre to amps. Also added Isoclean Supreme Focus power cords on all components. Along with that I swapped out the Anthem Statement Processor for the Proceed AVP2......I really like the Anthem, but it was just way to deep technically to fully utilize.
Good to hear from you Mark, hope you are doing well!! For the money, you need to do the fuses Mark. If you are able to do three at once, that would be really interesting! I think your amp will love it!! My Genesis amp probably had the original fuse in it, which apparently starts to oxidize, whereas the silver won't......for the money it's a no brainer, and please let me know how it works for you!
As for the Isoclean Supreme Focus! I think I'm done with power cables.......unless there is a paradigm shift in technology this is it! When starting on this cable journey, I initially went from the stock cable on my components to the Python Helix, and of course there was a very very nice improvement! So,a person thinks, well if I upgrade again and get that same hit, wow.......but it never happens! You spend lots of money and, ah yeah ok sure maybe a little better here or there, but all for a big cost! When I put one Supreme Focus in, as good as my upgrade after upgrade cables were, I got that hit again, a jump. I figure this must be it! Sure, it's possible there is something better out there, but it can't be much better, and it's going to be lots of cash and have to be new. The Supreme Focus on the used market are a decent price compared to anything new!
Bullot (Shane): It's great to hear from you on your latest and greatest experiments and upgrades! Hope all is well...I'll give those fuses a try as well since that is one area where I've never given much thought our time. My big Edge NL 12.1 should clearly benefit from such a swap as might my pre-amp power supply.
C1ferrari, get the fuses!! Like I said, I paid $45 for the fuse, and have previously spent thousands that did not give me near the same impact/upgrade. In my system it was like going from a stock power cord on a component to a Shunyata Anaconda Helix!! Worth the cash(?)......you bet! One thing though, apparently there is a proper direction to put them in.......I have not experimented with that, must have got it right the first time! Supposedly some folks have noticed that if you put them in, in the wrong direction, it sounds pretty bad! So, if that happens flip them around! Hopefully with four per component that won't be too arduous! Good luck!
System edited: I have recently changed all my power cords to Isoclean Supreme Focus, and feel my power cord search is over for good......nice feeling. I have also, on order, a Stealth Sakra for my source and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. One thing that I did do on the cheap, and it absolutely blew me away, was to change one fuse in my Genesis Servo amp to a high-end silver fuse.......price was $45 and the difference it made from top to bottom was amazing, seriously amazing!!
Thanks Vito! Yes the Joule has more than enought gain. When I ordered the Joule I talked to Simon about designing it with an HT byepass, I think the cost was around $250. I ended up designing it without the byepass and use it like a separate volume control for the L and R speakers whether the HT is on or not! I actually prefer it that way as I can go right from the source to the Joule without going through the Anthem to the Joule. (This keeps the main L and R channel as clean and direct as possible)
Great looking room! Does the Joule preamp have enough gain with your Levinson 33H amps? Also does the Joule pre have a HT bypass to use with the Anthem SSP? Enjoy! Thanks. Vito
Hey there Mark! Always good to hear from you! Well, I think the only thing new audio wise are a couple of Isoclean Supreme Focus power cables, 20 amp for the power conditioner and 15 amp for the preamp.......they are very impressive, wouldn't mind a third! Other than that, think I'm on pause for a while, pause and enjoy. I actually have Steve of Gabriel Gold sending me their new Rapture R speaker cable and ic for a try out, that should be very intersting!
