Wow, fantastic looking system. Congrats! I love the look of those SGR Speakers.

audiohippo April 13, 2020 00:24

Some system photos updated.

drajreynolds May 13, 2019 01:22

Hello,

 

I was offered to buy from my local Acoustical Systems dealer the New Aquilar arm to replace the Brinkman 10.5 I have on my Bardo.

While it will be a costly adventure (the price il get on the Brinkman and the gap to pay for the Aquilar)

I am thinking about it.

 

The “Problem” is while the Aquilar get some “words” on the web around the forums (here in particular) its still didn’t known around and reviewed to determine (at least virtually) its benefits against other reference tone arms. I know it got the grand prix price in japan, but other then that (I cant read Japanese any way) I have zero ground to establish any differences that I might get from this $$ flip.

 

I will appreciates any thoughts, ideas, encouragements or diss to do it…

Hopping some one has experience with the two and can share his conclusions, or any one have a way to think it over cause’ I’m “Lost” J

 

 

 Thank you.

 

 

Dear Drajreynolds:

 

How are you?

It has been two month from my last post at your system, and here I am again.

I’m happy to inform you I went and bought the archon to replace my zyx airy3 and I’m super loving it! As you mentioned in our correspond – it is more musical but have a lot to his virtues above the rest, his neutrality and detailed in the right perspective are pure magic. It was a great but from my part, so thanks for drive me in to it.

 

Now About the Aquilar you mentioned in our previous, I was posting a question in the Analog sub-forum here on Audiogon, but I know you know them well and the Brinkman to compare so here I am again.

Can you point out the diferances between those arm and what can I expect if I mount the Aquilar on my Bardo instead of Brinkman top model 10.5 arm?

Thank you very much!

 

Yours, Aviad. 

byrdparis January 23, 2016 18:21

Hi Norm,

I removed the small sorbothane pad which supports the top plate and replaced it with a larger sheet of material called Poron for greater stability and less long-term maintenance (sorbothane has a memory effect over time and needs replacement - not something I am keen to do when it involved dismantling my turntable). I also use a constrained layer damped shelf atop the steel top plate of the Minus K with a damping layer of Poron in between.

Since my turntable has a large contact area with this constrained layer damped shelf it works to dissipate high frequency resonances from the turntable chassis. On the other hand, the Minus K's negative stiffness mechanism severs to filter out ultra-low frequency structural resonances which might otherwise find their way into the cartridge.

drajreynolds November 29, 2015 00:12

Hi drajreynolds, I own a Minus K also. What modifications did you make on yours?

Regards,
Norm

norm November 26, 2015 02:23

dear Drajreynolds:
thank you so much for your elaboration!
i am still waiting for my Brinkman+10.5 to arrive. i will mount my airy3 first to get things started and to get the Brinkman set familiar to my ears, but The Archon is indeed in a very short list of mine.

about the Axiom and Aquilar tonearms - i heard about them like i heard about the archon. but never had the chance to hear them in person or to get a good look on them personally. anyway, maybe if i will want to change the 10.5 in the future they also will be on the list for that.

thanks again and enjoy you system to great health and music/

byrdparis November 22, 2015 11:10

Hello Byrdparis,

Thank you for your kind words.

I have two friends with the combination of Brinkmann Bardo, 10.5 tonearm and ZYX Airy 3 cartridge. One recently changed the ZYX for an Acoustical Systems Archon and he said that he did not expect such a significant sonic difference, specifically the level of musical information recovered from the record grooves. I attribute this difference to the Archon's Shibata EVO stylus and the control of resonant energy (internally liquid-damped titanium alloy body).

Before getting the Acoustical Systems Archon my references were the Lyra Olympos and Takeda Miyabi MCA. The Archon takes the best attributes of each of these cartridges while ensuring compatibility with a wider range of modern tonearms. Of course, to extract the very best from this or any other cartridge one should never underestimate the true value of the Acoustical Systems Axiom or Aquilar tonearms. Yes, they are very expensive but I have seen audiophiles spend more on cables on the basis of the placebo effect rather than science.

How can I put this into perspective? I would rather have a Bardo with Aquilar tonearm as opposed to a Balance with a 12.1 tonearm. The retail price difference of $12,450 here in Australia would buy an awful lot of vinyl and a serious level of turntable isolation (e.g. Minus K BM-4).

drajreynolds November 21, 2015 01:20

dear Drajreynolds!
that is one of a great room and system! enjoy!
im just about getting a new brinkmann bardo with 10.5 arm and thinking about flip my zyx r1000 airy3 for the Arcon!
i see you have it for some tome now, can you try to write something about it ? i couldn't find any review on it unfortunately!

thanks a lot!!!

byrdparis November 19, 2015 23:45

Thank you for the excellent review and comparison. You room is a inspiration for me and I "borrowed" a few features for my music room. Thanks!

jeff1225 May 26, 2015 12:51

Hi Jeff,

I will do my best to describe the sonic differences between my modified Lamm LP2 Deluxe and the Jeff Rowland Cadence with BPS-1 battery power supply. First, you must understand that the Lamm LP2 is always partnered with my modified Lamm LL2 Deluxe while the Cadence is always partnered with the analogue stepped attenuators of my MSB Technology Signature DAC IV Plus. Why you may ask? The answer is because the Lamm LP2 has a very high output impedance of 3,500 ohms and modest gain (63 dB) and therefore needs the signal conditioning of the LL2. The Cadence with its very high gain (74 dB) and low output impedance (79 ohms) can easily drive ten metre interconnects through a passive attenuator to my active line level crossover. I want to hear only the music with the least amount of editorialising, hence the minimalist approach. I will eventually get around to running the Cadence through my Lamm LL2 linestage and this could be sonically interesting.

With that preamble out of the way allow me to describe the sonic qualities that both combinations possess. The sound with LPs from RCA Living Stereo (originals and Classic Records reissues) and Mercury Living Presence (Classic Records reissues) is a very close approximation of the real thing with tremendous illumination of the spatial relationships between each instrument or instrumental section and the auditorium. Timbres are true-to-life, images are completely stable with all of the body and acoustic weight that one hears live. There is an almost complete absence of any electronic fingerprint.

Please note that both units use the very best step-up transformers from Jensen USA and that these are very ideal matches to my available moving coil cartridges.

Now to the key sonic differences. Compared to the Lamm duo the Cadence/passive attenuator pairing has a lower noise floor which allows even more musically relevant information to come through the speakers and into the room. The macro dynamics are superior as is the weight and ultimate extension into the very lowest octave with the solid state option. The Lamm duo puts slightly more emphasis on the midrange by comparison while fleshing out the third dimension of individual images in a truly unique way.

I hope that these comments prove helpful. If you have any other questions or would like me to expand or clarify any of the above then please let me know.

Best regards,
Aaron

drajreynolds May 26, 2015 11:35

Thank you very much for the kind compliment on my system, Cerrot. I am not a rich man so I have worked long and hard to get to this point while making many sacrifices along the way. I have done this because I love music and the positive influence that it has on my life.

drajreynolds May 26, 2015 11:13

Can you give us a comparison between the Lamm and Rowland phono's?

jeff1225 May 25, 2015 14:51

Beautiful, just beautiful.

cerrot May 25, 2015 13:17

System edited: Jeff Rowland Design Group Cadence phono preamplifier with BPS-1 battery power supply added.

drajreynolds May 25, 2015 02:52

No problems, Kevin.

Elson is a very knowledgeable guy in the world of vacuum tube electronics and he is extremely critical of ALL commercially available products, including many "famous" audiophile brands. His workmanship is second to none in my experience which is why I trusted him with a soldering iron inside my Lamm electronics. I suspect that the Finemet autoformer volume control from Japan and Elson's power amplifiers would be a very interesting partner for the SoundKaos Wave 40 loudspeaker.

drajreynolds April 15, 2014 07:36

Cool. Thanks for letting me know! I've read that his amps are quite good.

kevinkwann April 15, 2014 02:35

Hi Kevin,

The modifications to the Lamm electronics were performed by Elson Silva here in Sydney, Australia.

drajreynolds April 14, 2014 23:09

Who does your modification work?

kevinkwann April 14, 2014 02:17

System edited: Added photo and specifications for the newly arrived Acoustical Systems ARCHON moving coil cartridge.

drajreynolds April 11, 2014 02:32

System edited: Deleted Lyra Olympos LOMC cartridge and added Acoustical Systems ARCHON LOMC cartridge. Updated description and photo of turntable to reflect recent performance enhancements.

drajreynolds March 19, 2014 23:55

System edited: Added photos and descriptions for the Acoustical Systems UNI-Protractor and UNI-P2S.

drajreynolds February 25, 2014 03:50

Thank you for those kind words, Gadmanrdh. I have used knowledge and understanding to build a system where the goal is the highest possible fidelity with respect to the original source material.

Recordings of acoustic music from labels such Decca, Klavier, Mercury Living Presence, RCA Living Stereo, Reference Recordings, and BIS really do present a close approximation to the real thing, transporting the listener to another time and place with great emotional engagement.

Right now I am listening to the Sibelius Symphony No. 2 by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux (part of the recent CD box set called Decca Sound - The Analogue Years), highly recommended!

drajreynolds February 16, 2014 00:38

Very, very nice. Congrats. Clean lines, uncluttered, awesome gear.

gadmanrdh February 15, 2014 14:34

Thank you for the nice words, Devilboy.

I have owned the SGR Audio MT3F active loudspeaker system for over 5 years now, having met the very talented people behind the product over 6 years ago during a visit to Melbourne, Australia. During this time the product has continued to evolve and improve with my investment protected. The current iteration, called the MT3.2, made its international debut at the 2013 CES.

drajreynolds January 11, 2014 22:00

Nice room. Very easy on the eyes. Those speakers look interesting. How did you hear of them?

devilboy January 10, 2014 22:15