Description

I have been involved into high end audio for about 7 years now .

My long time favorite preamps have been Audio research /Marklevinson i also owned a ML 431 and a graaf GM 200 power amp.

I am not very much a digital fan and i like the set up that i have now, although it might be a bit on the dry side of neutral, it is very dynamic and clean .

The thiel diamond tweeters are very nice especially with strings and voices , the attack of those high frequency units is phenomenal.

At the moment i just buy more records i enjoy especially flamengo music ,Manitas de plata being my favorite LP to spin
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Components Toggle details

    • VPI Industries scoutmaster signature
    very nice and dynamic sound , makes me wonder why i should spent more.
    • Nagra PL-P
    very dynamic/clean sound and very precise tends to be a bit on the dry side of neutral
    • Krell EVO 400 mono
    Very clean and dynamic sound , has to be under power a day to get the warmth in.
    • Koetsu urushi wajima
    very good cartidge, very dynamic great tracker not a dust collector. beatiful with voices
    • van den Hul the condor
    Open body so you have to be careful with it , great detail and dynamics light tracker
    • andromeda audio illusion diamond
    My own designs . They will stay within plus /minus 1,5 dB bandwith measured from 250 hz till 19 khz , measurements under 250 hz are very roomdependent
    • van den Hul Vde hul condor
    My repaired condor with the coilwires now shortened and behind the red cloth
    • Koetsu Urushi
    Urushi wajima again just before switchig to the Condor , Tracking weight 1,80 gram and all the settings are written down
    • SME 20/3 A
    its finally playing my favorite record ,Flairck :de eerste dag na je vertrek .
    meaning the first day after you left.
    • sme 20/3A
    Assembling the sme together with the importer takes me back to my youth ,assembling kit aeroplanes just kidding , man o man a whole lot of parts and the build quality is very good a lot of pride of ownership . maybe not at first glance but surely after you have assembled the whole thing
    • sme 20 / 3a
    screws and bolts , but a beautiful piece of construction
    • sme nice
    in between
    • sme 20
    A lot of parts
    • sme sme
    turntable
    • sme new
    this record clamp is heavy
    • vd hul condor
    sounds much better than the vpi arm /table combination , but at a price difference of course ,
    • SME Series V
    A light and a bit fragile feeling in comparison to the heavy jmw arm , but is a breeze to adjust and produces a precise sound
    • koetsu wajima
    Now mounted in the sme arm and playing its first tunes , i ll make a comparison after a while and write my expiriences down
    • koetsu and sme 5 wajima
    Japanese laquer
    • unknown , i ll ask! acoustic absorber
    acoustic panels , filled with ??? 120 cm , 60 cm 17 cm thick
    • absorbers ?
    room wih absorbers and measuring microphone (not in use). good stuff
    • koetsu vd hul modified koetsu urushi
    A koetsu wajima with a vd hul 1 stylus
    • london(decca) super gold
    My new reference cartidge moving iron(i think) with a comlete different technique of turning movements into electrical signals , output 5 mV so no transformer needed i think i plug it into the mm of the pre
    • london super gold
    MY new reference cartridge taken after a couple lps , and it doesnt sound dissapointing , first of all the transformer of the nagra is taken out of the signalpath , and it actually sounds very good but different fom normal mc s , but its to early for fianl comments
    • ayon audio spirit
    look im an audiofile , check out the cables
    • ayon audio spirit
    tubes
    • Convergent Audio Sl 1 ultimate mk 2
    my new toy , first impression heavy , it has the legend front panel
    • philips blue ray 9000 series
    blu ray player with dedicated audio output
    • Zanden 7000
    tube power amp with vol . control
    • studer B 62 VU B 62
    reel to reel recorder

Comments 110

Worse for me.........apart from 'locking me out' and not letting me in till I changed my Password.......when I went to my Systems Page......they had deleted it!!?
Only took me 4 years to compile but hey......have I got anything better to do?

halcro

Its driving me nuts too.

stanwal

Owner
OK thanks peter , i will just wait and see what happens.

andromedaaudio

Andro, I had the exact same problem as you describe, and then yesterday, it suddenly worked fine. I have no explanation.

peterayer

Owner
no i tried it , thats not it , thanks anyway.
Actually it says that i am logged in , but when i try to go to my virtual system , or my threads , it asks for my pass word again and when i enter that, it asks for it again and again .
i send a mail already to audiogon

andromedaaudio

When you log in try NOT engaging the 'remember me' box. My computer is very finicky about cookies and AA's cookies are not accepted. Worked for me.

newbee

Owner
What the f@#$k is wrong with the (new ) audiogon site , i cant even log into my own page anymore , i send them a mail days ago , but no reply and no improvement , anybody else with problems ???

andromedaaudio

Owner
I just made a trade in offer on Mark levinson 33 mono amplifiers i dont know if i get them ,...450 kg shippingweight!!!!!
I hope the beasts arrive .
Convergent power amps would also do .
I dont know if they are better , but changing is interesting.
My favourite woofermaterial is definetively eton hexacone material , not paper, paper is to soft in my opinion , it will do in mids though.
Although I do like the wilson (focal) bass also but the ones i can buy dont have the efficiency i am looking for .

andromedaaudio

Owner
Merry christmas fellow audio enthousiasts.

I added a picture from my latest purchase .
A 47 inch lcd led television 400 hz full HD and a 9000 series plilips blu ray player with " dedicated" audio output meaning bigger transformers as i understood .

Well fantastic imaging if there is such thing as high end viewing this would be it but i am sure there is bigger out there .
Leaving only one desire: meaning building bigger speakers with ultra stiff materials .

andromedaaudio

Owner
System edited: Picture of the new mid in use in system pics , has the same working surface as the thiel , so works the same internal volume. mid efficiency increased by 1 dB

andromedaaudio

Owner
hey there ,
Have been very busy trading the volatility on the stockmarket lately ,and i expect another big leg down in sept okt (put options)
Have been very happy afterall with the cat pre .
Plans for a new loudspeaker system have evolved
Its gonna be a modular system .
Bass unit consisting of a 11 and inch 13 inch woofer.
I have grown a little bit tired of the of the ultra clean/smooth sound with thiel units .
I am looking for something clean but more friendly/forgiving .
D appolito high / mid with papercomposite mid and softdome highs
Housing will be ultra rigid .
The drawings are made it just has to go to the cnc shop

andromedaaudio

Owner
Game changing pre amp .

I started listening to cds s as well and find them quite involving , unbelievebale i never thought it could happen .
It changed my opinion about ceramic materials as well , ceramic drivers dont have a hint of hardness anymore not even the tweeters .
It not only controls and reproduces sound it makes it come alive again, the sound is full of control and nuances and more detail .
I think i m gonna buy a legend and a jl2 or 3 and call it a , although i like to have big transistors hanging around , the legend pre will be in the system anyway , at some time .
A 6550 tube amp with power and triode sound , i cant wait .

My second system will be ML 32 /33

andromedaaudio

Owner
it has been a very good deal , the hardness is now completely removed from the system , this pre reminds me of the zanden .
Strong points :
quit , both phono but certainly the line stage
triode magic , meaning natural flow and hearing deeper into the music /movies .
Improved bassextension.
bigger soundstage with sharper images .
superb phonostage although i have not tested a low output mc (it has 57 db of gain as far as i know ).
it makes listening simply more involving.
I wish i could use some of the cat caps in a speakerfilter.

andromedaaudio

Owner
System edited: New toy !!! Traded my plp in for the ultimate mk2 , serial no 10307 , it has a legend frontpanel , first impression its heavy compared to the nagra. I ll ad some comments later

andromedaaudio

Owner
No , someone who builds his one , isnt likely to buy off the market , although i have owned dynaudio and avalon.
I do like magico , the V 3 being my favourite.
I could live with a number of speakers/types from avalon wilson,dynaudio, kharma and also magico and others i have not heard .
I have enough plans for higher quality designs myself although the current is also wonderfull , the ceramic mid /diamond high being off enormous resolution combined with a very fast/light woofer , although it will be replaced with one with a litle more efficiency .
There are 2 dutch reviews of the diamond , i translated one , if you google you find it , it sounds like ....glass

andromedaaudio

Are you leaning towards Magico speakers?

peterayer

Owner
So it looks like its a deal, i do have to pay a little bit extra though .
I ll be having a CAT ultimate mk 2 playing probably this week its a 2008 model , see what that changes things , i havent even heard it but i like suprises , it did have a good review in soundstage.
Ill be posting pics and comments off course

andromedaaudio

Owner
Today i went to a shop show and listened to zanden again and octave jubilee (these poweramps are big and gorgeous) very controlled clean with a lot of slam .
One set was magico v2 with nagra vps ,pll and vpa monos
I have yet to hear a (tube) system sounding so clean as nagra .
The other one was magico m5 with the octave and zanden 3000.
Nice stuff but my own sounds also very nice and clean.
Got my new speaker ideas almost worked out.

andromedaaudio

Owner
Actually im gonna make 2 new models : one is a improved version of the illusion diamond , IDI .
With a custom cnc machined thick 6000 or 7000 series aluminium baseplate and high tech decoupling devices , no spikes .
The front will probably be made of high grade aluminium or celeron (iso pf ), ultra rigid hard modern composite material.
This all to achieve maximum clarity and resolution.

The other model will be high tech old school .
2 260 mm paper woofers ,a paper mid and a newly designed and very well executed soft dome.
Housing probably all celeron or 6000 series aluminium, all cnc machined high tech designs .

And all designed to play neutral and loud without strain because i am not the typical audiofile music listener i usually like to step on the gaspedal.
Playing loud , pure and neutral without strain is actually what defines "high end sound" to me

andromedaaudio

Owner
Hoera! finally got a perfect second hand copy of AC/DC s highway to hell, i got the AC/DC collection almost complete

andromedaaudio

Owner
In strive for soundperfection or different sound for that matter , i m gonna build another loudspeaker .
Its not going to go in the ultra high resolution /stiff membrane direction of diamond and baked aluminium .
Instead the mid will be made from a paper composite and the tweeter will probably be a conventional fabric dome .
All with neodymium magnet drives where possible.
In the enclosure i will change things a lot , not because a special mdf housing(braced ) doesnt sound good , but i want to take things in the extreme.
Ultra stiff housing made of highly modern industrial composite materials with sufficient dampening.
and see where that takes things , at least the energy prduced by a loudspeakerunit will not go lost in setting the housing into vibration.
Of course the freq response must be flat , i only want neutral soundreproduction not a sound i like , it must sound like a swiss clock.
Although it" might" be going a little bit up under 250 hz as we listeners perceive this as being right reproduction of sounds.

andromedaaudio

Owner
System edited: Added a picture of my latest holiday/hobby ,...nature . Jungle trek in madidi national park bolivia , one of the best parks in the amazon region. One problem though ...the rain season and that is musquitos .

andromedaaudio

Owner
Old ????

Im just 42 , i dont know what the life ecpectancy is in the states i hope its not that bad .

greetz hj

andromedaaudio

nicely done old man

vernneal

Owner
Correction: its a moving iron i have to get into the design more , and it is not just good on good(high resolution) recordings , child in time /deep purple in rock sounds better also for example.
{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decca_Records#Decca_Special_Products}
This cartridge might be a game changer for me , ive always gone with the low output mc ,high gain phonostage path but i think thats about to change .
I might buy a secondhand kondo ksl M77 or M7 with internal mm phono stage in the future and also go higher in the london cartridge line .
The kondo amps are about as pure of a signalpath one can think of and they have the tube(presence) i suspect.
And a rockport sirius 3 or continuum would be nice also but out of my reach

andromedaaudio

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