System edited: Added Audio Note CD player. I was never happy with the Rotel CD changer. I auditioned a Classe CD10 player. I liked the detail of the Classe. But in some respect it was allmost too perfect. It was like a piece of lab equipment, very accurate but sterile compared to the AN. The Audio Note brought about a somewhat less detailed presentation but is much more enjoyable. The soundstage is full , pianos now sound like pianos not a sharp unnatural plinking of the keys. My biggest complement to the AN is I now can listen for hours without analyzing the performance of my system. I enjoy listening now.....

flickkit October 19, 2004 20:14

System edited: Installed Hal-o tube dampers.

flickkit August 01, 2004 20:24

System edited: Sounding amazing since the Zingali HM112s "broke in" Like somebody threw a switch...

flickkit July 31, 2004 03:09

Flikit,
By the way Zingali will take a couple hundred hours to break in. The prev. US distributor warned me, and he was right
I was not familiar with the Oto.
I enjoy mullard 12AX7 in my cd player. so smooth.
The 18" echobusters was all I could get away with in my house. I tried the ceiling corners and got out voted 1-0
have fun with the system.
Ron

dcktr April 17, 2004 06:00

My Oto intergrated amp is indeed a tube unit. It uses 6BQ5 and 12AX7s. Im currently waiting for some RCAs and some Amperex tubes to come in and Ill try those. I checked out the room some room treats and most will not pass the spouse test.. Oh well. BTW those echo busters look kinda like a set of Magnepans. Look for the jacks :)

flickkit April 15, 2004 21:28

Flikit
Congrats on the HM-112, Awesome
Bi-amp with low watt SET on top and they will even further amaze you. Zingalis scream for tubes, being able to control those horns with a bias control tube amp is great.
I am in the process of adding a pair of dedicated 20A lines, did it make a difference for you?
I have all signal cables, the power cable changes I made, I did not hear the difference, but speaker cables after burn in, yeah, it is better.
I also have a large entertainment center between my speakers, speakers are too far apart, but WAF keeps them where they are. At least with the hm-112, they are too heavy to move around once you have them where you want them. Spike them. Another great cheap tweak,
With that speaker placement, try an Echo buster behind them, it will enhance the imaging and soundstage, and meets the WAF. I thought it would be BS, but really did make a difference. These are the only room treatments I tried, but I am sure that I could use even more help here. There is a pair for sale now on A'Gon at good price.
So many great choices for DAC, I think this is where I spend next years audio dollars.
Ron

dcktr April 15, 2004 06:20

System edited: Just added the zingali HM112 to my system. A fellow goner notified me of their availability. They are expensive speakers and I cant afford them so i bought them. thanks Doc. These things are amazing.Just imagine the best youve heard....these are better. True for about most of us I think. Only trouble is they have skewed my system HEAVY on the speaker side. Now I have to work on the rest. BTW I heard these hooked up to an Audio Note Ongaku Intergrated Amp at Deetes Sound Room. Im speechless.........

flickkit April 15, 2004 04:59

thanks for apature info,I have an entertainment center in between my speakers,had same problem as you,moving speakers closer helped,when time permits Im going to try moving ent.center out of room to see what effect that has on sound,,

raytheprinter April 15, 2004 00:29

System edited: I just added the Zingalis to my system. I figured I couldnt afford these but fortune smiled on me and I was able to get these dream speakers. Thanks Dcktr. The only bad thing is the system balance has been tipped heavy on the speaker side.

flickkit April 14, 2004 00:29

Unfortunatly? Fortunatly I dont live by myself. The entertainment center stays. I have moved the speakers around quite a bit. I keep pulling them out She keeps pushing them back. I noticed a horrible problem that revealed itself as "wandering image". Vocals would move back and forth in relation to pitch. On certain recordings it was unbearable. Another example was on Dire Straights "Your latest trick" the trumpet and Sax at the begining were spread across the entire "stage" not focused at all. I was beginning to think there it was an equipment problem. Well..... Moving the speakers in front of the corners of the entertainment center (the beast) solved all the problems. Posistioning of instruments and vocals locked right in. At least I know my equipments fine. For serious listining I just have to pull the speakers out.
I really like my apature cables. When I first hooked them up I thought they were horrible. I tried diferent hook-ups. Mono posting as opposed to bi-wiring, jumpers in, jumpers out. It got to the point where I just couldnt listen to it. This caused me to post "Speaker cable Voodoo"
(which has been removed from the forum). I finnally let the thing play for a long weekend while we were gone. I dont know the science behind it but when we returned it was a new system. Detail was improved bass was tighter an overall improvement. I hooked my old wires back up and could not believe the difference. The Apatures were way better. I would definatly recommend them. I recently removed them and hooked them up to my friends Odessy sytem driving Magnepans. He now wants a set. So much for silver not working with magnepans.
As far as my Integrated amp goes I really do think its a great unit for the price. For the price seems to qualify my opinion of it. I really dont mean to do that. I'm not an expert by any means but I've heard some systems costing thousands more in some of the "high end" shops in the area and all it does is reinforces my opion that I made a good purchase. Nothing I've heard in the solid state home entertainment shops made me lust after them. Now the higher end Audio Note items in Deetes Sound Room in Sacramento gave me some envy but I'm happy with my oto.
Thanks for the input and questions. I'll check out the DAC mentioned. I pretty sure that my source will be my next step. Allthough I heard some Zingali HM112s today.....
Damn I beginning to feel like a junkie...... Thanks again!

flickkit March 25, 2004 04:10

Audio Note makes some great products. Your line stage I am familiar with and it is very revealing. The DAC to try is the Benchmark DAC1 for two channel "redbook cd" and dvd-a. It's available for a 30 day trial from Benchmark Media Systems. I have B&W speakers (Matrix 804's), and a friend has your speakers, and I totally agree with Ellery and Ykk above. B&W's are capable of quite a deep soundstage. Try pulling them out a couple feet and I'll bet you will hear the difference. Also I aree with Ellery about amplification. Audio Note preamps have microdynamic shadings that are unbelievable...but only if you have a power amp that does this. I am currently auditioning a couple audio note amps in my system with my ARC LS3 SS line stage, and these Audio Notes (which have 8 watts per channel!!!) kill my 200 watt solid state amp for two channel listening (would not suggest it for home theatre!!), but how about a nice tube amp that will take advantage of your awesome pre? Just some thoughts. But very nice looking system that you should be proud of. Again, try the Benchmark DAC1. Enjoy!!!

jack46527 March 18, 2004 15:33

Hello Flickkit,Im still working on getting dedicated line,,I was wondering how you like your Apature cables?

raytheprinter March 18, 2004 03:45

I just linked to this after reading your recent mi fi post...I looked at the pictures first before reading the responses and I agree with Ykk...if you are able to do some rearranging in the room, pulling the B&W's (I have the same speakers) out into the room does wonders for the soundstage. I also think that you would be much much happier with the sound if there was not such a monstrous AV center between the speakers. "Why hide the gear?" is my personal opinion for whatever that is worth...I'm curious also about the amplification...I'm running a Bryston B60 integrated, but considering upgrading to a tube pre/ SS amp seperate combo...from what I understand, Audio Note is quite high end...do you think that you may reap more benefits from better amplification also?...jusy my 2c

Ellery

ellery911 January 16, 2004 01:13

Looks very nice. I wonder if you have tried placing the gears outside the nice cabinet, will that change the musicality of your system? Also, have you tried placing the speakers in front of the cabinet, will that change the sound stage? Not necessarily one way is better that the other, just want to know how different placements change the music quality.

ykk January 14, 2004 16:13