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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 18:18:19 GMT
I just realised my first decent system was put together exactly 50 years ago this year when I was a student completing my first degree. It was a Garrard 301, Decca International arm with mk 2 cartridge, Armstrong 222 low powered amp and home made Wharfedale speakers with 15'/8' and super 3 tweeters in home made boxes which were about the worst examples of carpentry skill you can imagine. Still, it was very loud and impressive although living in a fairly squalid flat in Liverpool 8, keeping records clean was a problem and record noise was a huge distraction.I put the system in a Healds cabinet so plenty of rumble from the Garrard.
So 50 years later, what equipment do I listen to? Well here's a list of the system today (different from yesterday and certainly will be different tomorrow).
Sources:
Aurender s10 digital storage, player and Tidal streamer
Squeezebox Transporter
DCS Verdi disk transport (not spun a disk in almost a year!)
Digital processing
DCS Scarlatti upsampler, masterclock and DAC (Vivaldi stack on order as replacement
Custom
BVA Masterclock based on Oscilloquartz BVA oscillator
Preamp
Ayre KXR
Poweramps
Halcro DM88 monoblocks
Speakers
YG Anat Reference
Subwoofer
Wilson Watchdog mk 2
System Supports
Harmonic Resolution SXR stands with M3 platforms, HRS feet and dampers
Power Supply
30A discrete mains spur
PurePower 2000+ regenerator and battery back up (great but currently awaiting repair)
Kemp Electics power block
Vertex distribution block
Siltech Octopus Reference distribution block
Cables:
Power
Siltech Ruby Hill and Ruby Mountain for analogue.
MIT Magnum for digital
Running Springs for high power supply
Digital
Siltech Princess AES/EBU
Siltech Golden Eagle BNC/BNC and RCA/RCA
MIT
clock cables
Siltech Golden Eagle firewire
Analogue
Siltech Forbes Lake and Princess XLR
Siltech 777 and Vertex Hirez for subwoofer and bass amp
Speakers
Vertex HiRez
MultiRoom components
DF Solutions audio and video distribution network
Crestron Adagio audio networking
Sonos upgraded by Dr Gert Volk to provide better psu and clock
Control
Crestron (although currently waiting upgrade which is taking me a while)
Ipad running iPenq for Squeezebox and Aurender Conductor for Aurender.
Video
Since main system also used for 2 channel sound for video, main source is Russ Andrews Sky Box (yes, it is worthwhile, unlike much of his upgrades). Audio and Video fed through Lumagen Radiance XD processor and then audio upsampled through DCS, video is Pioneer KRP600m.
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 18:19:47 GMT
Pics to follow. then I'll try and explain how the system grew and the current equipment choices were reached.
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 18:46:59 GMT
 This pic was taken late last year and quite a bit has changed. The clock in this pic is central lower level and is a Quarzlock rubidium clock which was replaced by the BVA in December. this room is quite small and we had got planning permission late 2013 for an extension with a custom music room which would have been ideal. However shortly afterwards we were hit with a major flood during the big storms which caused 18" of water to flood the ground floor. Repairs took around a year and, for the time being, we've lost our appetite to be living in a building site so small room will have to do for a while longer. ill update with recent pics shortly. |
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Post by John on May 27, 2015 18:50:53 GMT
Wow
Some system
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 19:36:56 GMT
Might be worth tracing back the path I took with speakers and the reasons I bought what I did. After early Wharfedales, I was a quick convert to Quad ELs 57 speakers. The wonderful transparency made up for any power and bass limitations. First time I heard them was just a total revelation: I just couldn't believe music reproduction could sound so like like. For the next thirty years I was hooked on none box speakers and fast lightweight transducers. Soon the Quad limitations became an issue. How to get more bass and higher power handling? Easy, just buy another pair and stack the.. God, stacked Quads are ugly but sound improvements made it worthwhile. This pic is a library pic but gives a good idea of what the assembly looks like  |
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 19:52:41 GMT
When I moved on, next choice was a strange one and happened because I met a guy from GCHQ who had a pair of Dayton Wright speakers that he wanted to sell. Full range electrostatic with high power handling and better low end grunt, I had to buy, didn't I? If you've never heard of Dayton Wrights, don't worry, neither has 99% of the hiding world. A somewhat eccentric speaker from a strange company. Some background on the company here: www.dayton-wright.com/DaytonWright.htmlSo, great sound, why change. It's all due to those Hifi comics which, back in the day, we're all we had to read about hiding. Remember, this is still before such things as personal computers or the internet existed: the dark ages! |
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 20:04:27 GMT
This is what came next. Anybody want to guess what they are? They are full range electrostatics with a built in 100watt transformer less valve power amp  |
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Post by ChrisB on May 27, 2015 20:20:41 GMT
I know what they are, but I won't spoil the fun by saying!
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 20:39:01 GMT
Chris, there's no prize but well done for not revealing they are Acoustat X speakers.
I read a review in one of the comics on those speakers driven by a Rapaport preamp. The review really raved about them and I was hooked. I drove across to Peterborough to the main dealer for them, had a good demo and agreed a deal (interest free credit - gets me every time!).
I brought them home to be greeted by my soon to be ex wife who said "either they leave or I do". Easy choice really.
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Post by ChrisB on May 27, 2015 20:44:59 GMT
Hah!
There can't have been many pairs in the UK, I wouldn't have thought.
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 20:54:36 GMT
Chris, I'm not sure exactly how many but Ken Proctor at the Peterborough shop became a good friend and I remember him saying they had sold maybe six pairs of the Acoustat X.
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Post by MartinT on May 27, 2015 22:06:44 GMT
Dayton Wrights! Haven't heard that name in decades. Great blog, please carry on  |
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Post by aurender on May 27, 2015 22:31:16 GMT
So just me, the cats and the acoustats. Big house in Cheltenham. Nice listening room. Acoustats playing music produced by my Goldmund turntable, Breuer arm, Kiseki cartridge but how I got that is another story.
Long term friend who shares my passion for good sound still says that the Acoustats were the best sound he has ever heard. I reckon he has cloth ears. One of us is right, maybe both! All I'll say is he walked out of a live show in London complaining the sound was too bright and the sound staging was terrible.
We all agree that the Acoustats were very very good. Subsequent Acoustats such as the 2+2 my friend in Camden Town had always lacked the transparency and immediacy of the direct coupled Model X.
Of course direct coupled valve amps operating without output transformers have one big problem and that, ultimately, brought the relationship to an end. The problem? Well if one of the valves goes down the results can be a bit unpredictable on the amp and speakers. Several reports of similar problems including the possibility of fire put me off a bit so I fixed them up and sold them soon after. Like selling your favourite old car, I regretted that but it was time to move on. So, hooked on full range electrostatics, starting to have a bit more money to spend, new wife who actually encouraged me to buy decent audio and probably had a better pair of ears than mine to help judge sound quality, I went shopping.
We're talking about early around 25 years ago now. Absolute Sounds had started to bring in interesting new brands such as Audio Research and Martin Logan and Krell. What next for me?
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Post by ChrisB on May 27, 2015 23:15:25 GMT
Dual/NAD/Kef+79 strand?!
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Post by aurender on May 28, 2015 3:02:45 GMT
Chris, now your just being nasty because you didn't get the prize for the Acustat question
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Post by aurender on May 28, 2015 3:50:42 GMT
Martin Logan CLS, another take on getting the compromises right on a full range electrostatic. Large curved radiator gave full range, reasonable power and good radiation pattern for high frequencies. Results? Excellent for small scale music although a tad light on dynamics for large scale music. Sad really: it came so close to ideal at a very good price for the quality level.
Then another problem which was unique to this speaker. If it rains (and it rains a lot where I live) the efficiency of the speaker drops and the high frequencies get curtailed. A bit frustrating really since the rainy days are often the days when I wanted to stay home and listen to music. Ah well, maybe the Martin Logan wasn't so wonderful after all; maybe a reliable full range electrostatic with good dynamics really did not exist.
Ok, what next? C'mon Chris, another good guess?
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Post by aurender on May 28, 2015 4:00:42 GMT
Well, to give you a clue, here's a pic of the same model  |
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Post by jandl100 on May 28, 2015 6:05:51 GMT
Interesting comments about Martin Logan CLS - I have had the 2z model a couple of times and enjoyed them a lot. But for me they were very curtailed in the bass, no real deep bass to speak of at all. I used to think of them as the world's largest mini-monitor. That was the main drawback for me. Limited dynamics? - not really, although 400wpc of Bel Canto class D amp behind them certainly helped achieve happiness.
I tried integrating them with a sub, but was never really convinced.
P.S. --- can you please get rid of that awful photo with the damn footballers! Ugh.  |
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Post by danielquinn on May 28, 2015 6:21:38 GMT
It helps to date it. 15 February 2014.
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Post by ChrisB on May 28, 2015 6:24:41 GMT
Now surely everyone knows what brand those ones are but not necessarily the model - RS1B's?
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