HiFi/Highend/Audio Gear

Alright my Lambo brothers who also share the passion for hi-end audio gear. Sorry to have you waiting; as afore-said, was on the road. So, came home & snapped some quick pics; regrets for their so so quality.

 

Looks like an awesome setup. Have you noticed any issues with the components between you and the speakers? I never liked having a coffee table in front of me for serious listening. Does it not make any difference in your setup, or is it just worth a little sacrifice for the convenience?

 

I'd almost forgotten about elevating cables off the floor... I used to have mine like that, but it's not so compatible with dogs. Personally, I think a stereo sounds better with a dog sleeping by your feet anyway.

Outstanding setup VCR !

 

Why elevate the cables ? Can you explain !

 

 

Looks like an awesome setup. Have you noticed any issues with the components between you and the speakers? I never liked having a coffee table in front of me for serious listening. Does it not make any difference in your setup, or is it just worth a little sacrifice for the convenience?

 

I'd almost forgotten about elevating cables off the floor... I used to have mine like that, but it's not so compatible with dogs. Personally, I think a stereo sounds better with a dog sleeping by your feet anyway.

 

Thank you! I don't have any issues with the components in front of me. At least none that I can detect thus far. The black racks in the pics are made of steel that's filled with lead shots & sand and are spiked (and adjustable for proper levelling). The shelving is granite/marble and are isolated from the steel frame. I don't even remember how much they weigh; let's just say no one wants to walk into them in the dark. You would notice that the mid-range cones are quite high so those won't be a problem. The lower box is a backward-firing woofer so the LF won't be aiming directly to the component then. Moving the components to the side or to the rear will add lengths to all the cables and that can be $$$ , not to mention the extra management for EMF/shielding etc... And yes, having man's best friend beside you while enjoying music would be a more enjoyable experience.

 

 

Outstanding setup VCR !

 

Why elevate the cables ? Can you explain !

 

And thank you! I'm going to sound like a lunatic if I explain the elevated cables in detail. Plenty of discussions on the web and filled with cynicism too. Basically, it has to do with the static electricity coming from the carpets causing interference to the signal flow. Before anyone says it, yes, it is a very subjective issue and there are a large number of factors to concern: type of carpet, humidity, structure of the cable (shielding, wiring matrix), location of the cable and the household electrical wiring just to name a few. My cables have very simple wiring matrix and shielding. The humidity is low and in the winter when the heater is on, it gets rather dry and static electricity is an issue. The carpet is a must for proper "room tuning" (i.e. instead of wooden, tiled or vinyl flooring). To my ears, I can hear the difference. As a side-line controversy, there is always the argument of "suspended/elevated" cables being dangled and thus --- in theory at least --- will be subjected to micro-vibration either from the signal flow and/or the sound wave during playback thus degrading the sound quality. So people invent something like a blanket (I kid you not) that goes on top of the suspended cables to "damped" the vibration. No, I am not that crazy...at least my ears aren't that good to tell a difference.

 

Acoustical dog is one of most versatile tweaks.

It can be used as a bass trap on the dead end, or as a "woofer" on the live end.

And it gets voice commands, no remote needed!

 

ps VCR that is killer set up!

LOL, I just realized that when I type in S.P.-1 (as in the Artemis Labs pwr amp), it gets turned in to "Swiss Cheese".

 

So, to correct, one of the pwr amps is A.L. "SP.-1"

Acoustical dog is one of most versatile tweaks.

It can be used as a bass trap on the dead end, or as a "woofer" on the live end.

And it gets voice commands, no remote needed!

 

ps VCR that is killer set up!

 

 

Yes, and it can produce the best woofer playback as it is "live". There was some weird article many years ago about cat lying on top on an amp actually improved the sound

 

And thank you!

19 big stereo systems from the years.

Are these setups aimed at music and you have a different setup for home cinema?

 

I'm looking to start kitting out a home cinema setup but starting from scratch (and with not a massive budget) bar the projector

19 big stereo systems from the years.

 

The problem with most of those newer systems is getting a 911 for Veyron money.

 

I've spent a lot of time listening to 2 of the "veyron-priced" speaker systems on that list, and with good equipment, the Acapella Triolon Excalibur and the Marten Design Coltrane Supreme are both stunning. My local dealer has had both in their main listening room. I've spent many hours listening to them... It's pretty much impossible to call speakers at these price points a good value, but in my experience they do justify their price tags.

 

 

BTW, do you guys mind if I post some of these photos to our local hifi forum?

That last Acapella picture for example.

 

 

Are these setups aimed at music and you have a different setup for home cinema?

 

I'm looking to start kitting out a home cinema setup but starting from scratch (and with not a massive budget) bar the projector

 

I am sure VCR can help you!

 

 

The problem with most of those newer systems is getting a 911 for Veyron money.

 

I can believe that, lots of snake oil in highend and lots of numbers just for numbers sake.

 

Meanwhile in other end of the spectrum..

Bought today something cheap for my bedrooms EBTB Pluto F:s.

 

A 12dB/oct 100Hz hipass filters, whole sound transformed as the monitors no longer need to play too big notes and no more endless phaze errors with Subterranean Subwoofer.

Dear Lamborghinisti,

 

Ohhhh.....what a cool thread. High end audio usually gets odd stares when you try to explain it lol.

 

I've been into audio since I was a kid. My first upgrade was to Yamaha equipment. My first venture into the esoteric was with with old Dynaco tube amps with modifed "virgin commies" tubes

 

I've gone from Accoustat 2+2's to the very first pair of Martin Logan Monolith 3's. Serial # 000 and 001 to the Meridian Digital system

 

With the Accoustats, I used a Classe DR 3 Class A amp with MIT music hose cable. That was mated with a Jadis JP 30MC and a Lynn Sondek LP12. I think I had a Saec arm and Grado cartridge. For the interconnect, I used Gryphon Guideline with WBT connectors.

 

When I upgraded to the Martin Logan's, I kept the JP 30 MC, but changed the amps to Michaelson & Austin Mono block tube amps using 8 EL-34 tubes each....matched sets of course. I added a REL Stadium sub.

 

I then got Satellite with the Optical out on the Sony A2 receiver. To bring that to the system I used a Meridian 518 processor with a Meridian 563 dac.

 

By this time, every time the satellite would lose signal for a second, it would send a sharp spike and blow out a tube on the Amps. With having to replace by matched sets and the fact it played havoc with HVAC system, I pulled it all out and went with the full Meridian Digital system

 

I started with the DSP 5000's and upgraded from there.

 

Current System

 

 

 

Front Meridian DSP 6000

 

Center DSP 5500C

 

Rear DSP 6000

 

Sub REL Studio III

 

Meridian Digital cable with WBT connectors

 

Meridian 861 reference processor (not in pix, just pulled for upgrade)

 

Nakamichi CR7 Tape deck....yes tape! lol

 

All analogue interconnect Gryphon Guideline solid silver strand cable with WBT connectors.

 

All digital interconnect MIT Reference Digital Coax Cable

 

Stands are steel spiked filled with lead shot at the base with alternate fill of sand/ lead shot / sand / lead shot.

 

My former Meridian 500 transport rested on a separate stand with Goldman cones isolating spike cones.

 

All power cable is MIT Z cord II's with Hubbell Hospital grade plug upgrades.

 

Power comes in on 2 dedicated circuits with Panamax surge protectors to Panamax line conditioners to each piece of equipment plugging into separate MIT ISO DUO's and for the sub and speakers, MIT ISO DUO HC (High Current)

 

Each circuit each has a MIT Z Stabilizer on it.

 

I was running a Sony 1272Q 3 gun projector with 8" tubes. I could no longer get parts for it and went with a tiny Panasonic 60" Plasma (Very happy with the picture )

 

The Sony was run through my Faroudia DVP 3000 Line scaler. At the time this was the bleeding edge with 1080i! lol

 

Well, the Plasma was run with the Faroudia with a Meridian 586.2 DVD player through component. Recently, the Meridian gave up and that $5000.00 Player was replaced with a $120.00 Sony BlueRay Wi-fl player yesterday. It bypasses the $20,000.00 Faroudia with a Monster Cable M 1000 HD (600HZ ) HDMI cable to the plasma running 1080p

 

In the pix, you will see one of the component cables running to the "video" terminal as I'm still waiting on the Monster Cable.

 

I just added the Sony Google Streaming player. I'm very excited about this as I can now play Pandora and UTube Videos through my Stereo now. Unfortunately, it outputs only with a Digital Optical out. Not to worry, the 861 uses the de-jitter circuitry of the 518....so not too bad.

 

I still haven't connected it yet as it relies on a visual interface and you can only use HDMI....still waiting on the cables.

 

 

BTW, the computer has nothing to do with the stereo. It sits on a stand I wheel out so I can listen to music while I do business work, FB and Lambopower of course I use a wireless mouse on a stand and a wireless keyboard on my lap.

 

Shamile

Thanks for posting Shamile.

I am interested in your acoustical treatments.

 

Curtains and acoustic panels for 500-5000Hz range are easy fixes, adding diffusion is harder task and hiding a bass absorber is very hard to do while retaining overal design plan in living rooms.

 

I know digital processors like Antimode are very effective for bass domain (for room modes), but I would like to keep my signal path relatively short, "keep it simple, stupid" is my motto on hifi/highend and so I am more interested in room treatments.

My music system is here:

 

Not home audio but high end car audio...

 

Heard a few Focal speakers on a sound board this week powered by a Mosconi AS100.2 amplifier. All prices, MSRP.

 

165 KR2 - $949

165 KR - $699

165 V30 - $549

165 VB - $300

 

Just listening for tonal balance, I liked the two cheapest ones (Polyglass line) more than the two expensive ones (K2 Power).

 

I listen for treble smoothness and fullness in the midrange and midbass. The k2 line was just too thin and bright for my liking. It sounds ok on it's own but then after switching to the poly drivers, you ask "where's the rest of it?".

 

The Polyglass line have a sound a home audio guy would prefer. Less experienced listeners would probably gravitate to the more expensive lines as it "pops more". This is not a knock on those people as I was one of them 6 or 7 years ago. It is what it is, and very few people if any have top shelf scotch tongues when they start out.

 

You could do a lot to tune these speakers to sound different but it begs the question of why should one spend a big premium?

 

This trend is not just Focal but also Morel, DLS and most likely Dynaudio too. Other brands like Hertz, Hybrid Audio and a few others are probably the same way at the very high end. It wasn't always this way -- somewhere in the mid to late '90s, the brighter/thinner voicing caught on in the US, and the big name guys followed suit. It didn't hurt that this sound is easier and cheaper to obtain.

 

If I had to go out on a limb and name a car audio company that makes better products as you go up in price, I'd probably say Phass. Beyond their construction methods and materials used, they seem almost uninterested in marketing compared to the rest, and that is a common trait I see in a lot of the boutique home audio brands I love.

 

The real secret is going big on a good amp, then worrying about the speaker second.

I had a 13" Polyglass sub which I always installed to next car when I chanced cars, it took ANYTHING I throw at it, and lasted almost 10 years of rough raping to make it break. superb product.

Old thread but I finally got around to ordering the stuff.

 

Went with Sennheiser HD650, DacMagic 100 and Woo Audio WA-6 as recommended. Will be around 3 weeks till the amp gets here

Some time a go, I sold my Transparent cables and ordered another pair of custom made ViaBlue SC-4:s, now I have two matching pairs with customs lenghts and heads so that all of my cables are just the right length.

The ViaBlue company has outstandingly good customer service!

 

HDVD 800 is finally here!

 

CH 800 S balanced cable...

 

AudioQuest Power and USB cables...

 

 

Time to take her out...

 

Definitely look appealing...

 

 

Some Macro shots using the olloclip and the 5S:

 

Power button, I always get turned on seeing blue stuff around knobs...

 

XLR connector...

 

I'm gonna spend some quality time with it using my HD 800 headphones and will later post my impressions, it will require some time to burn in so I'm looking forward to it.

Keep us posted please Vahid as I'm interested to learn the results. Any specific reasons on the AQ pwr cable?

Keep us posted please Vahid as I'm interested to learn the results. Any specific reasons on the AQ pwr cable?

Will do VCR. I can tell you that it improves the HD800's bass in every way and that has always been my issue with the 800! About the power cables, well the amp doesn't come with a power cable, some did actually get one which was hidden very well in the box...not me.

 

So I went with the NRG-4, well that was the only thing available. Anyway, I really doubt they would noticeably improve on anything other than the placebo department for reasons I'm sure you already know.

Some time a go, I sold my Transparent cables and ordered another pair of custom made ViaBlue SC-4:s, now I have two matching pairs with customs lenghts and heads so that all of my cables are just the right length.

The ViaBlue company has outstandingly good customer service!

 

I personally can't hear any difference using different reasonable quality connectors/speaker cables/power leads/digital cables. OTOH some studios hard solder all interconnects but that might actually come down to connection reliability more than sound quality.

 

I personally can't hear any difference using different reasonable quality connectors/speaker cables/power leads/digital cables. OTOH some studios hard solder all interconnects but that might actually come down to connection reliability more than sound quality.

Spent 25+ years around construction equipment and I'm lucky I can hear a police siren