this room and system is the result of 10 years in High End audio. my
system has been stable for a couple of years (except for transport and
amplifier upgrades within the same brand). the room has been in the
planning stage for about 18 months and i actually moved in a little over
a month ago.
my audio philosphy is to have the system get out
of the way of the event. i like as pure and simple a signal path as
possible and, at this point, prefer passive to active gain stages. i
love all the formats and enjoy having lot's of music.....vinyl is my
favorite but i listen to at least 60% digital. the new room really
reveals the benefits of SACD over redbook.
the system and room
truely allow the event to be recreated before me. i love the way the
speakers disappear and i am transported to another place/time.
i have choosen my cables, sources, amps, speakers to have as little of their own sound as possible.
recently, i upgraded my digtial transport from the modified Philips
SACD 1000 to the new emmlabs CDSD.....this was a significant step upward
in performance.
i have written an article in Positive Feedback regarding my room building experience.....here is a link;
new version of these cables, a big step over the amazing TRSC model i have used for 10 years. fantastic performance.
WADAX SA Reference DAC
Wadax Reference Dac----state of the art dac with 2 separate power supplies. the best dac i have heard by a good margin. below is a link to a thread about my Wadax experience.
Arya RevOpod isolation footer (32 used under the 5 Wadax Chassis).
height and tension adjustable. the Wadax dac, server, and server power supply chassis all use 8 footers, so it's critical to be able to adjust height and tension to have an even support for optimal performance. RevOpod's are unique in those attributes making them ideal for this use.
https://www.arya-audio.com/revopod
CS Port LFT1 turntable w/arm
air bearing platter and air bearing linear tracking arm; string drive with zero feedback dc motor, low pressure, low flow air system with zero noise air box.
world class musical flow, nuance and delicacy, combined with authority and ease. serves the music completely.
Esoteric T1 Turntable
magnetic drive/rim drive idler turntable with torque adjustment.
with the deletion of my NVS turntable, i was able to move the Taiko Tana active isolation shelf to under the Esoteric T1. this has upgraded the performance of the T1 significantly. objectively small changes, but musically quite profound up tics in realism and immersion. more nuance, greater music focus, better bass articulation.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/t1/top
Esoteric G1X Master Clock
Master Clock Generator for speed improvement for the T1 turntable. significant improvement in music realism.
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/g1x/top
Durand --Tosca tonearm.
gimbal bearing design. Tosca is on the Esoteric T1 turntable
Primary Control 12" FCL tone arm
Field Coil Loaded uni-pivot tone arm. with power supply. mounted on the Esoteric T1 turntable. amazing natural and very high resolution tone arm. link below.
12 inch tonearm, stainless steel. used for the Sumile mono cartridge.
https://glanz.tech/e/collection/mh1200s1000s900s/
Experience Music/Intact Audio phono corrector + silver wound MC Trio SUT combo for three different tonearms.
bespoke tubed phono preamplifier. silver wound, with custom dual power supplies.
https://myemia.com/LR.html
LFD -3- Phono Cables DIN to RCA
3 sets of very high performance phono cables. amazing performance. built by Dr. Richard Bews in the UK.
one cable uses a DIN to RCA short Dongle + an RCA to RCA interconnect. the Dongle improves the performance of the DIN connection. details at the link below.
two Etsuro Golds, ---a pair of Reference MC Phono Cartridges.
duraluminim (A7075) body, 24 carat 'Kinpaku' Gold Leaf finish, diamond cantiliver. .3mv output, 4 ohms. these are both special versions of the Etsuro Gold.
one is mounted on the CS Port linear tracker.
one is mounted on the Primary Control FCL arm.
finest cartridge i have heard by a significant margin. WOW!
Audio Technica MC-2022 60th Anniversary cartridge
uses the unified stylus cantilever design. which results in extreme lack of distortion and linearity. remarkable neutrality and ability to dig out detail and keep it natural and musical.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-mc2022
Murasakino Sumile Mono phono cartridge
MC cartridge for mono records, .04mv output. tracking force 3gms. finest monaural cartridge i have heard. competes on musical refinement with the top stereo cartridges.
Ampex twin ATR-102----one 1/4" and one 1/2" reel to reel master recorder
hot rodded by ATR Service Inc----Andrew Kosobutsky. significant upgrades over stock. each interfacing with hot rodded Ampex MR-70 preamps. the new tape deck performance standard in my opinion.
active isolation under 5 separate components: (1) the NVS turntable, (2) the MSB dac, (3) the darTZeel preamp, (4 + 5) both darTZeel mono block amplifiers. custom modifications by Taiko Audio add a linear power supply plus panzerholtz top layer + Daiza platform to provide full frequency resonance attenuation to each platform.
Taiko Audio Daiza isolation platform--22 used in the system
Panzerholtz Platform with spiral cutouts reducing mid and high frequency resonance while retaining life and energy and not changing tonality.
22 Daiza platforms in the system of various sizes under every piece of the signal path.
Evolution Acoustics 'system' power cables
a new version of the TRPC model i used on my darTZeel 468 mono blocks for the last 10 years. a big step up.
Sablon Audio King power cord
used on the Wadax Reference Server power supply.
https://www.sablonaudio.com/power
Absolute Fidelity power interfaces
power cords specifically designed for either motors (tt and tape decks), amplifiers, and components. 11 in the system.
Tripoint Audio Troy Signature
Grounding box for chassis grounding the darTZeel 458 mono block amplifiers + grounding the passive main towers of the Evolution Acoustics MM7 speaker system.
Tripoint Audio Elite
Tripoint Elite grounding box. this does chassis grounding for my sources. it uses a a pair of Tripoint Thor SE Master Reference ground cables for my dart preamp and the MSB Select II dac. there are also 4 Signature Silver ground cables to the two arm boards of the NVS tt, the power supply of the NVS tt, and the SGM server.
Equi=tech 10WQ
10kva balanced Isoltion transformer and distribution panel.
Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium duplex outlets
10 in the system. used with 10 Furutech covers and frames. uses NCF (nano crystal formula) material to reduce noise by emitting negative ions.
Wave Kinetics A10 U8 decoupling footers
8 sets-of-4 in the system for individual tuning of each piece of gear.
Auralex T-Fusor diffusers
i use 20 of these. 6 each on the front side walls, and 4 each front ceiling and rear ceiling.
Klaudio Record Cleaning System
automatic record cleaner
Acoustic Revive RL-30 mKIII CD-LP demagnatizer
for demaging any disc.
Furutech DF-2 LP disc flattner
will remove warps from Lps
Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Anniversary Ed.
will cook any cables
Winds ALM-01 Stylus Force Gauge
easy accurate, repeatable, measurments.
i-Tower by Koncept LED floor lamp
(3) are used. best audio light ever. 2 'warm', 1 'cool'.
Quietrock THX 545 drywall
specialized drywall with a 1/4" metal layer. used in my front sidewalls to establish proper room boundaries.
thank you for the kind comments. congrats on having a great system.
i did the change from EA double to triple run run power cords and speaker cables. then to the SYSTEM level for both which was a bigger jump than the previous one. i do recommend it highly. i've not heard better.
there is a chance in my pending speaker change not sure those speaker or power cord cables will work with the horn speakers i'm considering based on lengths, so could need to sell them. or not. too soon to know about it yet. prefer to keep these but don't know. so you might keep in touch just in case.
I am still using the Tinn recommended system of dartzeel amp and preamp and mm3 speakers.
I am also still using the double run speaker cables from Evolution Acoustics.
Curious as to whether a jump to triple run EA cables is worth it in your opinion or think best to get the system Evolution cables.
Most of my cables in system are Synergistic Research other than speaker cables so Alternatively could go that route but like the idea of using Evolution cabling for the speaker unless you would recommend another.
Mike - not your first rodeo… what you have in mind is a sea… SEA change but I know you to be a considered thinker and doer ! Wishing you all the best in this change and in the pursuit of music
darTZeel 468's are sold. bought a Trafomatic Elysium SET and Tara 30A preamp and want to switch to Horn speakers. so that is why my MM7's are also up for sale....along with my darTZeel NHB-18NS preamp.
my speakers, which weight 600 pounds x 4 towers = 2400 pounds includes delivery in the Continental USA.
hi Kevin, hello to Malaysia. i'll try my best to answer. understand i'm not the most technical person.
fist of all my room is in a barn, a separate building from my house. i have broadband cable service into my home and use the cable service modem. then my home network is hardwired copper into my barn and comes to a network switch upstairs in my barn. this particular network switch does have a linear power supply. that LPS is behind my upstairs cabinet so i cannot tell you the exact brand and model. but the network switch is the 'Netgear Prosafe 5 port Gigabit, model GS105, from there i have a 2" conduit downstairs to my room. inside this conduit i have both copper CAT6a and fibre optic. in the past i have used both, but right now i'm using the copper.
then downstairs in my listening room i have two network switches stacked.
the CAT6a is plugged into a Nordost QNET switch with a Nordost QSource LPS. from this i use a Sablon Audio 2024 Ethernet cable into a Reiki Audio Superswitch with a Prolinear UPS linear power supply. from that to my Wadax Reference Server i use the Rakustream network cable.
then from my Wadax Reference Server to the Wadax Reference Dac i use the proprietary Wadax Akasa optical interface.
broadband fibre high speed network -> generic modem -> home LAN copper ->network switch with LPS -> CAT6a -> Nordost QNET -> Sablon Ethernet -> Reiki Superswitch -> Reiki ethernet -> Wadax Server -> Akasa optical -> Wadax dac.
Hi there Mike, I’m kevin from across the bigger pond over in Malaysia ; ) - I was wondering if you might be able to share what primary modem and router you are using from your digital front, what linear power supply is feeding them, and which DC cables you might be using? Sorry for the probe - few post details of these and I’m in the process of getting advanced research done for my own system : ) - kevin
nope. pulled my 468's off the market and decided to keep them. and honestly it was never about performance.....only someone had got me thinking about a change for change sake, and i realized i did not really need to do that. if you have an interest i suppose i would talk about it, you could PM me. but no intensions of offering them for sale again.
congrats on the NVS, it is a fantastic tt. i needed to sell one of my 3 tt's to fund some cables for my digital so it went away, but might get another one at some point. it should be wonderful with those arms.
I understand you have officially parted with the NHB-468s (I was thinking of making an offer on them on Audiogon when they sold) - what amps are you using / considering now?
Also, it seems I picked up your old Wave Kinetics NVS. Setting it up now (no Durand tonearm though - Graham Phantom and Basis Superarm), but looking forward to getting it up and running.
last update to my system page was last July 23', 11 months ago.
just updated all my pictures reflecting especially on my new racks and how it looks.
new stuff/changes
1--new Massif Audio Design racks plus Nordost Footers
massifaudiodesign.com
2--new Glanz Audio MH-1200S tonearm plus Sumile Mono cartridge (subtract the Miyajima Labs Infinity 1.0 and 0.7 mil carts) 3--subtract the NVS turntable 4--move the Taiko Tana Herzan active system to under the Esoteric T1 turntable (nice performance boost) 5--new Wadax Reference Server power supply 6--new Wadax Akasa DC cables taking the Wadax to "Level 4" 7--new Massif Audio Snakewood record weight.
@mikelavigne Your hifi setup is absolutely breathtaking! I like the fact that you made the room acoustic treatment as important as the gear because we audiophiles tend to get caught up in the Hifi equipment and forget about the room.
I remember visiting you 15+ years ago - and the system was amazing then. It has evolved into nothing less than an audio Shangri-la. Amazing and inspirational. If I can only find a barn to buy down here in San Diego :-)
completed the first wave of new gear listings. added the Wadax dac & server, the EMIA phono, the Esoteric T1 tt w/clock, the -2- Ampex ATR-102 1/4" and 1/2" reel to reel decks with the MR-70 preamps.
lots more detail to add, but the big stuff is listed now.
