This system brings lots of enjoyment. My room is 20 feet by 30 feet with 12 to 18 foot ceiling. This is a very open and live sound not much damping to the system.
Modright tube modded Oppo 105 with separate tube regulated power supply sitting on top of sound anchor mount in wall stud
Basis Audio Debut Gold mkV
Basis Debut Mark V with Vector Arm Vacuum hold down platter with ZYX Ultimate 2 Cartridge sitting on Sound Anchors Wall Mount in Stud
Valve Amplification Company Signature 2A
VAC Preamp with Separate Power Supply
Aesthetix Io Eclipse
Io Eclipse with Dual Mono Power supplies
Valve Amplification Company Phi 300.1a
VAC Phi Monoblocks
ESP Loudspeakers Harp
ESP Harp Loudspeakers with two 10 dual voice coil woofers, two 6.5 inch Kevlar Scan Speak Mid's, two 1 inch Seas Tweeters (One in front and second on side out of phase and 6db lower than front) Drivers in front D'Appolito Array
Lloyd thanks for your nice comments. I agree with you. I just added a refurbished Technics 1506 reel to reel machine with a tube bottlehead tape stage to bypass the internal electronics of the unit. I'll post my findings on this when I get a few tapes.
Agear the Lampi compares very well to my analog rig. It has the same bloom, warmth, 3D as my vinyl setup. I feel the vinyl gives me a little more of there there than the digital, but not by a big margin. My point is you now have to spend a big some of money on analog to beat this Lampi. I can go from digital to vinyl and back again with no problem. In the past when you went from digital to vinyl it was hard to go back to digital until a few days passed. Don't get me wrong the digital setup I have now took lots of patience and hard work to achieve this great sound. I had to address vibration control, the right digital cable, power cords, and NOS tubes. I kid you not without the above the sound of the Lampi was thin, mettalic, and I did not want to listen very long. I wish you many hours of music bliss at the L7 is their top effort. I needed balanced capability or I would have went with the L7 as well.
Pradeep your welcome to hear them if in the area. Thanks for the remarks. I will be posting new pictures soon on my website as I am now using the Lampizator Big 5 dac.
Lissnr, thanks no I wish I could play the piano as well. The ESP speakers are wonderful and I had them for 15 years. I changed to the Rockport Altairs and couldn't be happier. ESP has a new Concert Grand that I would love to hear as well. The VAC amps are wonderful push pull amps, but my single ended Absolare is in another league.
I think the biggest change to my system so far was the addition of the Basis Super Arm 9. This is where the source starts and I'm telling you I never had this great of sound in my life. This tonearm is a game changer. Gone is any grain in the top octaves and in its place is a purity and beautiful tonality. I now have such a solid bass foundation that I think I'm now hearing the Rockport speakers for the first time. I just may stay up all night, which I have never done before. Of course this sound wound not come about without the Absolare amp and preamp and the Rockports. I also added a bunch more cables from Absolare's sister company. I just switched the power cords that go directly to the Richard Grays with his wire. Again a huge difference. This was not easy to do as the Gray's come with a 20 amp connector on the back. I can't wait until all this wire breaks in including the new tonearm wire in AJ's arm. The ZYX cartridge only has 20 hours on it. The Aesthetix Phono stage with their new caps have to get about 200 hours on them according to Jim White to sound its best. All I can say is I'm as happy as a pig in mud. I will report back as hours accumulate. Of course I have not even fulled around with the loading of the cartridge and the VTA of the tonearm. In do time in do time.
Salectric, yes original pressings of classical records sound way better. I'm talking about recorded music from late 60's to the 80's. I'm not talking about RCA Living Presence or Mercury records. I'm talking about Decca, London, Harmondy Mundie, Jecklin, Lyrita, Columbia 6 eye, BIS, EMI, Erato, Mylodea of Russia for example. These originals give you the tone and naturalness that your talking about.
Yes Jfrech including 45's. Charles brought over 1st and 2nd pressings of jazz pieces that I had on 45 and there was no contest. I will not buy another 45.
I just installed my new Basis Super Arm 9 to replace my older Vector Tonearm. I can't believe the difference. The sound of the instruments are now much more fleshed out with tons of body. I am getting such a sense of ease and a total silent black background which is amazing. I know A.J.'s new arm is very expensive, but I hate to say that it is worth every penny. It beats my old arm and I don't even have any hours on the new tonearm cable. The Super Arm 9 has a direct connection from cartridge pins to the connectors that go to your phono stage. The old arm in comparison is thin, not as 3D and a little bright in the upper mids. I think the new arm now is so low in resonance and coloration that its like hearing my vinyl collection for the first time. I can say now with out a doubt that I'm getting the best sound I ever had. I can clearly hear that I prefer the original pressings of my Jazz records vs any new 45 reissues. The new reissues sound like one put a blanket over the soundstage. I will never spend any more money on them.
Jfrech, I think the limiting factor in your system right now are your amps. I think you will truly be blown away on how great the Altair's can sound. I have imaging, depth of soundstage width and height very similar to what Babybear describes. You are in for a treat. Keep us posted.
Jfrech, there is nothing the VAC does better than the Absolare. The VAC is 150 watts per channel triode and 300 watts pentode. Don't get me wrong the VAC is a great amp, but the Absolare is in another league. I don't see any problems with the Koda.
My system just took a leap in sound quality. I just received Psvane WE845 tubes. Right out of the box the sound is the best I ever had. The slight brightness or glare in the upper mids is gone. The blame was the Shuguang treasure series 845 tubes. I am getting a much more relaxed organic sound. I am also getting much more natural dynamics. The detail is much more refined but just as extended. I not only have a sense of fullness in the mids, but also a fullness in the top end. I wonder what will happen on full break in. I kid you not the tube change was like changing a component. I would say at least 50% change for the better.
Dave I can tell you that the Absolare gear has a similar sound to the VAC, but has a much quieter noise floor. Inner details stand out like I never heard before. I will probably get the short Absolare stand not the tall one you saw in pictures.
Dave, thanks and yes as I have the Signature version of the Absolare. I can tell you right now that the Absolare is the best sound that I ever had. I have had the VTL, VAC, and Audio Research. Jeff
Arnie, FEDEX screwed up again. All three crates left customs in NJ. Two came directly to me and the other one went to Chat. Tennessee. They had to do a tracer and resend back to MI. I was surprised that the preamp just arrived and will be putting it in the system as I type. I will let you know on my feelings shortly.
Don't be envious all the Rockport speakers are great. The best tubes so far are the Create 5AR4, Sylvania black plate coin base Clear Top 13EM7, and Tungsol black plate 6SN7's from 40's to early 50's. I have clarity and liguidity at the same time.
Tboooe, I have pictures under individual components, just click the pictures. I will let everyone know about sound when these are fully broken in. I can tell you right now that the sound is so open and transparent without being lean or bright.
Good news the piano movers arived today just two days after I received my two big wood crates. Two guys moved them into position, uncrated them and placed them in my room. Wow do they look stunning. I have about five hours on them now and they are beggining to open up and sound less restrained. It's going to take about a month and a half to put 400 hours on them as I can only play them 12 hours a day. I already like them better than my ESP's which I had for 15 years. I will post pictures tomorrow.
Bob you read it here first. The Altair's should be shipped out tomorrow. I am excited, but I need a moving company to put them in my room over 500 pounds a piece.
Jfrech, thanks I live in Michigan. I have the Esoteric Speaker Products (ESP) Harps. I really like these speakers as they have a beautiful tonality that is very natural like live instruments. I am just hoping the Altair's can match or beat mine in this area. If they can't I will not keep them. You can see my speakers under the ESP title.
Charles was just here and we compared his records with the same cd's and it was pretty close. I thought the vinyl was a touch more dynamic on the leading edges and maybe the outlines of the instruments were a little bigger, other than that too close to call. Digital sure has improved since the early days.
Knghifi, the ESP's have that automatic angle in their design. I don't tilt the speakers at all. Shawn from ESP wants the sound to cross in front of you. He use to be part of the team that designed the Beveridge Electrostatic speakers and his design is to mimic some of it. By the way the ESP is 96db efficient, but does go down to 4 ohms. It likes a lot of power.
