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Post by SteveC on Jun 14, 2015 15:25:17 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jun 14, 2015 15:54:17 GMT
The Raven One looks to be a lot easier to operate now that it's at a lower level, Steve. Nice room. Was the 2nd TV system a compromise location?
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 14, 2015 15:56:48 GMT
If it sounds as good as it looks....
How much time did you spend on the room treatment and how much difference did it make ?
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Post by John on Jun 14, 2015 16:05:19 GMT
Nice system
Are those Avalon Speakers if so I nearly bought a pair but went down a different path
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Post by SteveC on Jun 14, 2015 16:34:17 GMT
Martin, I think having a turntable at a lower level is more traditional, but it does mean me having to get on my knees to cue up an LP!
Moving house, definitely means having to accept compromises. In my last home, the A/V equipment had it's own room and the layout was more traditional, with the TV screen centrally placed and I also had rear Meridian DSP33's for effects speakers. With incorporating everything into one main (albeit larger) living room, the headache was to find the best position for all the kit, sonically, and maintain domestic harmony! I had originally planned to put the A/V stand in the bay window, centrally between the Avalons, but when we moved in and everything was unboxed, I decided that too much daylight would be obliterated by putting everything in front of the only window to that room, so yes, a compromise was achieved by placing all the A/V kit in one room corner, with viewing from the sofa opposite. It does sound exceptionally good and I don't really miss the rear effects speakers, which I sold.
The upside for the hi-fi system is that the e
very fine imaging qualities of the Avalon Indras can be realised, without having an equipment rack stuck in the middle of your stereo image!
MikeMusic - The Acustica Applicata DAAD room treatments are a very powerful tool and, in my experience, both in my last listening room and the current one, enable a system to integrate well. Dominic Lye of Studio AV, Eton, who recently installed my Vivaldi DAC and Melco N1A, commented how the sound snapped into focus by orientating the two corner DAAD columns to redirect the diffusing elements.
Without DAAD treatment, the bass quality could be uneven, with a tendency to boom. The current room is 19' X 20' (not ideal in hi-fi terms) but does not have anywhere near the negative anomalies produced by my previous living room which measured 24' x 11' with the speakers firing down the long axis.
The beauty of DAADS (I have 4's, 3's and 2's) is that they are very portable and their effect is easily discernible and can be fine-tuned by careful orientation and listening.
John - They are indeed Avalon Indras, which I bought new, in February 2008.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 14, 2015 16:36:46 GMT
Thanks Steve
Room treatment is long overdue for me.
Kit, cables and supports have been the focus for the past 2-3 years
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Post by MartinT on Jun 14, 2015 20:36:48 GMT
Acoustic Sciences (TubeTraps) and GFK are both good passive room treatment companies.
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Post by SteveC on Jun 15, 2015 9:43:16 GMT
Martin, do you mean GIK?
In addition to the Acustica Applicata DAAD's, I have a complete GIK room tuning kit, consisting of 4 X bass traps, 6 X diffuser panels and a stand-mounted Monster bass trap, which are now surplus to requirements, due to moving all my hi-fi and A/V kit into
one room. They are still boxed up since the house move, so I must unpack them and put some photos on the site.
Room treatment can certainly enhance system performance and can be money better spent, rather than upgrading components!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2015 10:05:01 GMT
Hi Steve
Did you not take advantage of DCS's part ex policy form the factory?
Rav is dealing direct with customers and offering a guaranteed value on previous incarnations of equipment?
Room looks very nice Steve
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Post by SteveC on Jun 15, 2015 11:51:04 GMT
Hi Tony
Yes I did.
I was originally going to add a dCS Paganini Master Word Clock to my Paganini Transport and DAC, so that I could use the Melco N1A via a USB cable to the Paganini Clock. I had an extended loan of a Vivaldi DAC & Vivaldi Master Word Clock whilst waiting for a new black Paganini Clock and by the time it arrived, I had decided to go the Vivaldi DAC route.
I felt that I got a very good deal for my six year old Paganini DAC under the dCS factory exchange scheme. I now have until the end of the month to decide whether or not to buy a Vivaldi Master Word Clock on a "special deal!"
Thanks for your kind words about the room.
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Post by daytona600 on Jun 15, 2015 11:51:20 GMT
very nice system indeed
room treatment & a RCM essential purchases
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Post by SteveC on Jun 15, 2015 12:04:24 GMT
Thanks Scott
I have a VPI record cleaning machine in my study. As you say, an essential purchase for all that vinyl collected during the 70's, 80's & 90's!
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Post by MartinT on Jun 15, 2015 12:44:16 GMT
Oops, typo, yes I did mean GIK. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2015 22:23:28 GMT
Nice sofa Steve. Those legs look great..
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Post by SteveC on Jun 27, 2015 10:10:50 GMT
Well, It's been an interesting week!
I have had the dCS Vivaldi Transport and Master Word Clock for an extended home audition and have spent many, many hours listening to these extraordinary components in my system.
Build quality is exemplary (as well it should be) and the Transport is BIG! but has the smoothest, whisper-quiet disc mechanism I have ever encountered!
The amount of detail that can be extracted from CD (up sampled to DSD or DXD or plain vanilla) is startling. It is an imaging monster and the soundstage in and around the speakers is awesome with fantastic depth to the musical presentation. CD's that I always considered 'challenging' have been rendered intelligible for the fist time and strands of complex classical recordings are separated out and so easy to follow.
The dynamic range is spectacular and I have been listening at a lower volume level than normal.
I was impressed when I swapped my Paganini DAC for a Vivaldi, but the addition of the Vivaldi Transport and Master Clock has brought a whole other level of listening enjoyment!
Anyone want to buy a kidney?
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Post by SteveC on May 8, 2017 13:39:05 GMT
After neglecting this thread for nearly two years and inspired by the ASBO meeting just over a week ago, I thought it was worth revisiting and going back to where it all started!
The year was 1970. I was fourteen years old and my initial interest in music had been brought about by listening to my older brother's LP's that he had left behind when he moved out of the family home. My parents had a aged valve radiogram with an autochanges deck that was accessed via a drop down panel that doubled for the short, medium and long wave tuning scale!
The selection was narrow and consisted of the Beatles, Please, Please Me and Hard Days Night albums, The Rolling Stones and Searchers. The Classical choice was between Grieg's Peer Gynt and the Mercury pressing of the 1812 Overture.
Still, it was the spark that lit the flame of the journey and love of music that I have been on ever since.
For the Christmas of 1970, my parents bought me an Alba record player (one of those royal blue vinyl covered boxes, where lifting the lid revealed the autochanges deck and two controls, one for volume and the other for tone! The sound exited a rather tinny, frequency-limited oval speaker, behind a mesh grille, but it did the job. The LP's that came with it were rather dire and consisted of the usual Days Catalogue fare of The Batchelors, the musical Hair and a classical soundtrack compilation which featured music from 2001 A Space Oddysey and a few other pieces including Elvira Madigan (still my favourite piece of Mozart).
This situation lasted for about a year to eighteen months, before I persuaded my parents to update the ancient valve radiogram and we acquired a rather excellent PYE 'Black Box' stereo, which had an up to date BSR turntable and controls for volume, balance, bass and treble! Output was to a nice pair of wood veneer stereo speakers and the sound was rich and highly enjoyable (compared to what had preceded it).
The trickle of records now became a flood, as I purchased new albums by Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, as well as a proliferation of chart singles, which was to lead me in another direction in 1973.
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Post by SteveC on May 8, 2017 13:46:50 GMT
The PYE 'Black Box' stereo system that paved the way for my introduction to hi fi separates.  |
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Post by MartinT on May 8, 2017 14:08:47 GMT
A Pye Black Box was not a bad initiation into the world of hi-fi at the time. Very nice! Your two classical starters were good choices, too.
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Post by SteveC on May 9, 2017 11:16:47 GMT
1973. Glam Rock was in full swing and a stint as a DJ at the local youth club lead me to buy a mobile disco and go on the road! Q. What is better than one turntable? R. Two. Together with amps, speakers, light show and a growing collection of music!    |
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Post by MartinT on May 9, 2017 11:42:22 GMT
What were those decks? Garrard? BSR?
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