Any comments on your experience with cabling the Vivaldi. The range spent there could be enormous!!

bflowers October 07, 2013 22:42

Bflowers-- ! i have found that anything you add to your room will have an impact on the sound. whether you like the sound of that impact is a matter of taste.
the Giks were too obtrusive,and dampening,while the Auralex not doing enough in my room. The Vicoustix are just right for me and my ears, without adding too much or too little.their good looks is certainly a plus.
couple that with a hefty amount of wood diffusers and now my room sounds bigger then its boundaries, warm, dynamic and musical.
The Vivaldi is really all that the reviews are saying- a major break thru in digital playback sound.

ozy October 03, 2013 12:08

Icorem- Thank you very much(toda).
i tried going from dac to amps on a couple of occaisons with my esoteric mono dacs , and previously with my dcs elgar. in both incidents i preferred having a preamp in the middle. with the preamp, the sound had more solidity, more meat - on -the - bone and was much more musical. based on those findings , i didn't try going from the vivaldi dac to the amps.

ozy October 03, 2013 11:56

I'm in the process of designing a new room and am looking at some of the same products you are using in your room(vicoustic). What have you learned using various products in your room? Do they all have a different effect on the sound? Interestingly, I'm also in the process of purchasing the Vivaldi. I should have it in about 4 weeks. I would benefit from your experience with that unit as well.

bflowers September 29, 2013 23:51

Ozy

Great system - no other words.
I'm looking currently at the vivaldi dac alone (I wish i could afford the whole stack). Did you try it directly to the amp without the pre ?

icorem September 27, 2013 10:59

Thanks a lot jc,for your kind words, and astute observation.
Indeed, this system sounds as good as it looks.....:-)
Thank you again.

ozy September 19, 2013 08:10

Hey Ozy: .......Haven't heard you're system......But it's sure it sure bespeaks quality throughout..just on sight alone!!! Well done .....Kudos......J.C...(baggs1)

baggs1 September 17, 2013 00:33

Harve- pm sent.

ozy July 12, 2013 08:35

Hi Ozy-
Please pm me - trying to get some concrete info on Siltech cabling, as well as a contact. Thanks.

Harve

fplanner2000 July 09, 2013 10:10

Tboooe--- how illegal?LOL... Just kidding.
your system looks very nice as well.

ozy June 09, 2013 07:44

Lloyd-- i have to agree...... a bit extreme( but then again, it is high -end- audio afterall)but i'm sure effective.

ozy June 09, 2013 07:42

Ok I would seriously consider doing some illegal things for a room like that but alas, house prices are so expensive here in SoCal that I will have to be satisfied with my very modest 10x11" room.

tboooe June 08, 2013 12:55

Hi Ozy,

Thanks. I have heard quieter...but that guy actually separated the flooring in his own living room. The section of flooring which holds his equipment is specially poured concrete and totally isolated from the rest of the living room floor. Plus, he uses Halcyonics platforms under everything. Now THAT was a quiet noise floor!

lloydelee21 June 08, 2013 12:34

Lloyd-- Good to hear from you. pretty elaborate isolation system you got there. i bet that your noise floor is vanishingly low. Quite impressive....

ozy June 08, 2013 08:46

Kzhtoo- You are too kind.... thank for very much indeed.
This current system offers lots of attributes that previous systems, albeit good, were missing greatly.

ozy June 08, 2013 08:41

Hi Ozy,

That is good to know (that you prefer HRS bases to Stillpoints Ultra 5s). I own both but use them in different ways. After some experimentation, I found I like 'isolation sandwiches' for each of my components...probably due to my floor in some ways (wood over suspended concrete slab) but also my components.

- Electronics - HRS M3 or 3 HRS nimbus/couplers underneath plus HRS damping plate/ARtesania damping plate or Ultra 5 on TOP...in some cases more than 1...even up to 4-5.

That is 4 'sandwiches' for each of the Zanden boxes, 1 for preamp, etc. Fortunately, everything still fits neatly within equipment rack.

- Amp - Auralex isolation platform underneath and ARtesania damper on top with 20kg (45 pounds) of dense weight on top of the damper

- Speakers - 8 Ultra 5s in place of spikes
- Subwoofer - Auralex isolation platform under and 3 Ultra 5s on top...with 28kg (60lbs) of weight on top of the Ultra 5s.

The tightness, solidity of sound is stunningly better, but the tonality has never changed and if anyting with the intensity of the note being stronger, so too has the intensity of the 'tonal sweetness' increased which is beautiful. My two cents.

Fortunately, I got nearly all of my HRS stuff 2nd hand...and since it is rare to find Ultra 5s second hand...I am kinda glad to hear about your conclusions preferring HRS! Nevertheless, for the Wilson X1s, Ultra 5s are the only tonally neutral solution I am aware of besides Magico QPods due to the weight. I've heard great things about Harmonix but understand they will alter the sound.

lloydelee21 June 08, 2013 05:56

Wet my pants! Ozy, you have top 5 system on Audiogon. Absolutely amazing! I'm a Focal fan myself. Electra Be with Pass gear, which is a footnote compared to the world class system you assembled. Congrats on such an achievement and thanks for sharing.

kzhtoo June 08, 2013 04:03

fgiannetto- thanks alot!
You will love the HRS mxr rack- it is such a perfect combination of form, function and beauty.
The only footers that i found to work well with the hrs bases are the original stllpoints universal dampnening units with the risers or without.
I have tried the ultra 5s and didn't care much for the results.
The HRS bases get you that much further in the vibration control quest, in my experience.hope this helps.

ozy May 14, 2013 13:50

Hi Ozy, great room and system! I have an HRS MXR double wide on order. Right now I have Stillpoints Ultra 5s under most of my front end. I plan on removing all of the Ultra 5s when the HRS shows up. Curious if you had ever compared Stillpoints to the HRS base? Thanks

fgiannetto May 13, 2013 18:29

Jfrech-- yes, it does seem that anything you move in /out of the room or add/subtract into the room affects the sound, one way or another.
The HRS racks are so nice looking that keeping them in the middle of the front wall serves dual purposes- an eye-candy, and a diffuser/reflector to boot.

ozy May 12, 2013 10:55

Hi, Ozy, I kinda wonder about that to...a bit of diffusion with the rack in the middle. We have similar room arrangements. I really just don't have a good spot on sides...I could move all the front end equipment all the way to the rear..but then it's 50ft of interconnect vs 3 ft.

I know others say this is important...and I ams sure it'll change something...everything seemingly does!

jfrech May 11, 2013 07:51

Hi Hakan,
Thank you for your kind words. i have not experimented with different placements of the front end racks.they have been in that location since i moved into this dedicated room. in a sense, i feel that placing the racks in the middle behaind the speaker should act as difffusers.
I'd put more emphasis on speaker/listenning seat placement and relationship.
Happy and enjoyable listening!

ozy May 10, 2013 15:11

Hi Ozy, you have a nice system and room, happy listenings. I have a quick question for you, I am considering moving the front end gear away from back of the speakers to side wall and close to the listening seat distance. Even if currently the audio racks are not so close to speakers (I see from your system photo that your audio racks are almost at the similar distance to speakers as my setup) I am considering moving away further might be better and just leave the power amps near to speakers at the front wall part of the room. Have you considered placement of audio rack to side or rear walls previously? I see that your room as similar to my room is a dedicated listening room so that you can have the luxury of audio rack placement while considering longer interconnectors from preamp to power amps. I will be glad if you have some thoughts/feedbacks on that.

Happy listenings,

Hakan

number95 May 06, 2013 10:56

Dev--
yes,i have been room busy lately....
ASC-added 8x20"tube traps stacked in the corners. so far ,the most effective bass tamer/tuner.not only did they flattend out a peak around 36hz by a great margin, it 'cleaned' up the mid-bass, in the 70-200hz areas.
RPG- added 8 flutter free maple wood panels, to tame some of the 'zing' in the room. also noticed an improvement in overall ambience.
VICOUSTIC-- replaced all of the Gik panels with the vicoustic' wood wave panels(a combination of foam/wood), and cinema round panels(front wall).
overall the room is alot livelier.it feels and sounds bigger,and yet it is quiet without being too'dead'.
i have tried the latest stillpoints footers with mixed results. the ones that have been most effective for me were the original universal resonance damping units.

ozy April 12, 2013 12:49

Hr1-- you are most welcome.anytime.

ozy April 12, 2013 12:34