|
|
Post by bencat on Jul 28, 2023 11:55:35 GMT
Right this may well not be of interest to many on here but it seems sensible to put the details I have about my systems and how I use them .
Main System - Music room down stairs medium sized with French Windows on one side and old fire breast on the other .
Set up - Source - LIV Zen Music Streamer using Vortexbox 8 TB HD Logitech Media Server Software - Ehternet Wired Player Allo Digione Signature (on Raspberry Pi4) Picoreplayer Distro Allo Shanti Dual LPSU BNC SPDIF Output - Mutec MC 3 -USB (Coherence Systems Update) SBooster LPSU Input BNC plus Leo Bodnar GBS External Clock LPSU powered Out put via BNC - Upsampler dCS Purcell input BNC , Output DUAL AES/EBU plus BNC Clock connection - DAC dCS Delius Clock Slaved to Purcell , Input DUAL AES/EBU output analogue 6.5 V - Power Amplifier NVA S300 single ended input - Speakers Quad ESL57 on purpose built stands raising then about 18 inches from the floor and pushing forward to make the panel level with listening position . Each stand has four Aviationcs Anti Vibration Mounts (spring loaded) fixed to Granite coasters under each spike on the stand outriggers .
This is the latest incarnation but it has been a long road to get here . I have had an original Krell KSA 50 as power map along with a Croft OTL 3 recently tried a Leak Stereo 20 and also an XTZ 50 watt class A amp as well but all have been different but never all round better than the NVA so until I can find somehting better that i can afford that seems to be staying . Biggest up lift in sound quality has to be the addition of the Leo Bodnar clock . The Mutec raised things but not by the same amount . Using this just added a realism and natural quality to the music that I had not heard before and if you use digital and have a way to get it in the digital chain then I strongly suggest you try it . There are better clocks I am sure but they often cost a whole lot more and according to someone who has heard them all the LB gives you 90% of the sound quality and just works .
At one stage because according to common myth about Quads that my room was far too small and I was not able to pull them far enough away from the rear wall I had included a MiniDSP DDRC 22D in the chain so I could treat the room using DIRAC Live and in truth it worked very well but when I decided to remove it and just take the time to place the speakers carefully I found it was not needed and the sound now is better . This is not me saying that DIRAC does not work it does at a very high level and I use it in my other two active systems which are improved out of all recognition by what it does . It just seems because of the very unique way electrostatics work it get slightly in the way of the music and without it things open up that bit more .
So this is where I am at present and I think it will stay this way on this system aside from a service for the Quads . I have just this week bought a new used Mana stand and this will replace the huge one I have now . I am not expecting this to improve the sound quality but it will make things much neater in the room and draw less attention to the equipment which I think will lease my wife . Will add a little addition to this once the full change over has taken place but not expecting that there will be much to report .
|
|
|
|
Post by MartinT on Jul 28, 2023 12:38:14 GMT
It takes time to find a well-matched power amp.
I've been through Croft 4S, Leak Stereo 20, Chord SPM-1200C followed by 1200E. I've tried Parasounds and Magtechs and even a Linn Klimax. It was only when I bought the Belles SA-100 that I finally found an amp that got out of the way of the music while maintaining brutal control over my big Ushers.
|
|
|
|
Post by julesd68 on Jul 28, 2023 14:42:59 GMT
Right this may well not be of interest to many on here but it seems sensible to put the details I have about my systems and how I use them. It's always interesting to read about other people's gear, thanks for posting. I once had an NVA integrated from the RD days, excellent amp and I would have liked to have tried his power amps. |
|
|
|
Post by John on Jul 28, 2023 15:57:11 GMT
Nice write up
The NVA amplifier is a good amp and will be hard to beat at its price.
Nice to hear some more love going to the Leo Bodnar, its worth putting the best cable you can with it.
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Jul 28, 2023 18:46:01 GMT
Currently I have TF400 which is very thick and not able to be bent much but sounds good excellent . I know people do not believe that speaker cable could make any difference so what they will think about changing and listening to clock cable other than madness . Yet despite me being sceptical I have heard there and they are all different .
|
|
|
|
Post by MartinT on Jul 28, 2023 19:10:24 GMT
We listen to all opinions about hi-fi here, some of our ideas like grounding boxes, power cables and even clocks themselves get short shrift elsewhere because a vocal minority insists that such differences are all 'placebo'. Except ASR, who are exceptionally vocal.
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Jul 28, 2023 20:37:01 GMT
Frankly having been involved in that sort of argument before my answer is still the same .placebo drugs in many cases work and the patients get better . So if making the music sound better long term then if it is placebo then so what the music still sounds better .
|
|
|
|
Post by MartinT on Jul 29, 2023 11:03:15 GMT
placebo drugs in many cases work and the patients get better That may be so but our common experiences (many of us have visited others' systems and heard the effects quite clearly) show that it's not placebo. |
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Jul 29, 2023 13:15:57 GMT
Martin I you and others do know as you say but there are sadly people who not only swear this is not possible but will also not try or go an listen . It is to these rather sadly closed mind individuals that I make that statement . But these things do matter and make a difference just there are so few people with the knowledge and equipment that can test for it and show the results .
|
|
|
|
Post by palace on Jul 29, 2023 14:33:02 GMT
Martin I you and others do know as you say but there are sadly people who not only swear this is not possible but will also not try or go an listen . It is to these rather sadly closed mind individuals that I make that statement . But these things do matter and make a difference just there are so few people with the knowledge and equipment that can test for it and show the results . I have not tried any clock change other than Stan Beresford changing the clock in my Caiman SEG + the 50 mod along with the super cap mod large improvement that over a couple of weeks got better still, even when I changed the RCA phono sockets from board to chassis I could hear a difference slight but an improvement. As for the fuse I replaced it with a ceramic sand filled one of the correct value whether it improved things I can't say as I fitted it when everything else was done, I did the same with all my other internal fuses maybe placebo but I think not. 30 years ago I replaced 2 thin power leads feeding a dual mono amp & noticed a big improvement, recently I replaced my Hydra single 4 way mains plug with 4 thick solid leads festooned with clip on ferrites feeding the pre & power amps, phono stage & tuner. I replaced them with 30 amp unshielded cable using the clip on ferrites large 3 pin mains plugs with 10 amp Busman fuses & extra large IEC plugs, again slight improvement was it leads or new clean contact surfaces?. I do not know whether expensive fuses are better, on a pension with 2/3 other expensive hobbies + the bank of mum & dad, other than a lotto win I am unlikely to find out. The same is true with speaker leads, my OTA Quad 57's work with TNT inspired cross-connected coax cable having tried many leads & amps. It really pisses me off that people hiding behind their keyboard & screen rubbish anything from power leads to valves/tubes or fuses without listening to them you find them on most types of forum's in my case shooting & car as well as HiFi, their theoretical knowledge & qualifications probably far exceed mine, I have spent a lot of time with PHD's, members of Royal Societies etc I was able to talk to them whilst they were waiting to give evidence to Parliamentary committee's, above all I learned from them & friends in the Judiciary to keep an open mind until you can prove/hear otherwise. |
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Jul 29, 2023 14:34:25 GMT
Right following on from the above saga for my main system here is an even more winding road for my second system which is currently a Three Way Active .
Source - LIV Zen Music streamer using Vortexbox and Logitech Media Server - Player - Logitech Squeeze Box Touch USB Out to Audio GD Digital Interface with 5V LPSU then SPDIF out from this to Audio-GD DI-2014 Reclocker and then out from that to - DSP Unit - MiniDSP DDRC 22 D this is a full DIRAC Live with LPSU XLR digital out to Digital Crossover MiniDSP 8x4 RCA Single ended out to Amplifiers 2 x NVA S30 and one NVA S20 power amplifiers into my stacked that is two per side Speakers which are KEF 103 Ref from the Mid 70,s These have had the passive CR taken out and have had additional binding posts added with direct wire to Treble and Mid/Bass drivers on the top pair and Mid/Bass only on the lower pair . CR points are at 290Hz for the low bass then the Mid units take over from 290 Hz up to 3000 kHz then the Treble units handle from there up to 20000 kHz .
So above is how it is now but it started out with a single pair of KEF 103,s which I used passive and really liked . Then after a visit to the Wam Show at Kegworth were I had a room I heard a number of DIY active systems and was really taken by the results achieved . Having zero mechanical skills there was never going to be me making a diy speaker so instead decided to make my KEF 103 two way active using a MiniDSP 2x4 HD unit . Got this working and via in room measurements got some decent results . Then added DIRAC Live to the MiniDSP with a firmware upgrade and things got very interesting indeed . Using this early version of DIRAC just pushed the sound quality that bit further . At this time I was using 2 x Quad 405 as the amplifiers and things were really sounding just as i wanted . Then a friend on the Wam Tony suggested that if I added another pair of KEF 103 and put one on top of the other they would raise the treble to about the right height without the need for a stand . Well I listened to this and thought that is right you know little realising that going for a three way was going to lots more complicated and needing to buy additional things like a cross over and separate DIRAC unit . Not to mention another stereo power amp . But I went with it anyway and at the time I had an NVA S20 in my kitchen system which I liked and was able to buy two used S30 amps at very decent prices so the quads were out and NVA in .
Lots of work on the speakers to get them ready to accept direct inputs and disconnecting the treble unit on the lower pair . At the same time they were painted matt black and this spruced up the appearnce no end . At the same time DIRAC Live had been evolving and had reached a new different engine based software and is currently at DIRAC 3 . As well as making this easier to use and understand for a novice it has also greatly increased the sound quality that the final filter produces .
So this is where I am with my second system which currently is sounding the best it ever has much of this is to the set up of DIRAC but there was a very real increase in quality when I used the two Audio GD units daisy chained . This has had a similar effect to adding the Leo Bodnar clock to my main system the Audio-GD DI-2014 has a very good clock fitted internally and a very good internal power supply for both the clock to keep it temperature stable and the DDC part of the unit as well . Finding this very different path to using an external clock has really convinced me about the value and importance of this element of the digital chain . Having an accurate and above stable clock to which everything is synched to just makes things sound better.
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Aug 23, 2023 13:56:32 GMT
Right I read quite a few of the blogs and things on here and as a fairly new member could i make a suggestion when you mention things like Magic Scientist Contact enhancer put a link in to where in the UK you can buy it or mention that it is only available from US etc . Just a suggestion . This is a little tale of how things can go wrong for you without really doing much at all and having a decent facility with digital tech .
Now for years I have run Logitech Media Server as my music library and this has in the main resided on various Raspberry Pi units from earliest to the Pi 4 8GB . I have used max2play and Picoreplayer Distros to load LMS on the Pi and since the very early days I used the Pi as a server only shutting it down as player and also wireless , bluetooth and anything not needed to function as a server. This may well be overkill but in my view anything which could use CPU speed or power which is not being used does not need to be there . I have also always used an LPSU to power the Pi .
Now later this year I will have a room at the Wam Show near Barnsley (Room 240) and as such I will need to take a Music server and Library to use with the system . I could use my Laptop but that is frankly noisy and a backward step . Earlier this year I replaced my Pi with a Vortexbox in the guise of a LIV Zen which was Innous before the name change . Main reason for this was it was cheap and that I could install a really big hard drive which will hold all of my music both today and going forward. So I had my original Pi4 doing nothing and it seemed simple flash a new sd card with an up to date version of Picore set it up with a USB HD with my music on it and I had what I needed to get things sounding good in my Wam Show roo.
Now I have done this process probably twenty or thirty times and know the routine of setting up and the order of things to do . As always I had a spare LPSU a cheap Chifi one so format the sd card download Picore then let Balena Etcher do its thing . All done and confirmed place the SD card in the Pi attach an ethernet cable then power it up . All at this stage goes as I expect it and find the URL and straight on to Picore Webpage . Then resize the SD card , choose the Audio out (none in my case) , change the name to LM-Server , install LMS . So far so good . Go on to configure LMS and this I think I could do in my sleep I know what plugins I need to add which ones to remove and then Mount the HD , First issue the SSD HD I attach is not showing up at all . Well not a disaster switch to a standard 2 TB USB HD and it appears and it is mounted. Then as normal after showing LMS were to find my music it starts up with scanning the HD . Given the size of my library I know this is not goiwn to be a quick job . So go and have a cup of tea and a quick chat with Linda . Back up and find the scan has stopped midway and is stuck . CLose down via the Web Page and try again . Same result .
Sit quietly and have a think decide to pire up the Three Way Active system to have some music while I work . Turns on goes to the right page music appears to start and is showing as playing on the screen but no sound . Fiddle with that for a while but no amount of rebooting gets any music . Just turn it off and decide to deal with one thing at a time . Had a little time while waiting for all the reboots etc to think and recall a similar issue when setting up an LMS in a friends house . The Pi 4 is quite a hungry little beast and your power supply needs to be at least 3 Amp to keep things working 4 Amp is better . So I swap out the chifi LPSU for a Sean Jacobs one I have power things up do another clean install and start again .
This time the 4 TB HD I would like to use with the Pi shows up straight away so that gets mounted and the LMS install is as before as is the scan starting from the top once again . So off for another tea and chat and have to listen to Linda's assertion that I am foolish and should just get simple plug and play items , well she does have a point but were is the fun in that . Back up and things have progressed as they should and a full scan has concluded with 68500 songs loaded . Now start the process of removing unwanted plugins and adding things like BBC Sounds , Radio Paradise , Material Skin etc . Reboots along the way . Then try and get the settings on all these done and the LMS just will not reload the opening page just hangs. Well enough for me for that day switch my systems off and leave LMS on with another reboot back in the morning .
Return switch on and access both the Vortexbox and the Pi LMS and both are ticking along nicely able to update the plugins and sign in were needed on the new LMS and switch players from one server to the other playing music all the while . Turn on my Active Three Way and it sits there looking at me all smug and just plays as it normally does . I touched nothing as I left it last night and had not tried anything this morning but now both servers are working perfectly and are available to any player . Sometimes this is what happens I have no idea what the issue was yesterday or why it is fixed and working today but this is digital life . The music is still wonderful and I can forget about things now till the Wam Show knowing I have a nice portable source of good quality that I can use for the whole weekend .
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Aug 24, 2023 9:23:37 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Aug 24, 2023 12:44:45 GMT
So things fired up to day and the \Three Way Active system is sounding sublime with real bite and texture listening to Foxy Lady by Harry Manx and loving the delicate guitar and vocal interplay . As often happens with digital things have settled back down and every thing is playing nicely . later today may well start my Wam Show play list .
|
|
|
|
Post by MartinT on Aug 24, 2023 14:34:52 GMT
As often happens with digital things have settled back down and every thing is playing nicely . It's great when that happens, so very satisfying. Conversely, it can be a nightmare to troubleshoot when it just doesn't gel properly. |
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Sept 22, 2023 13:41:53 GMT
Delight for me is that at least two of my systems are going in the right direction and sounding as good as I have ever heard them . One thing being on this forum has taught me is that changes need time . Things and even full systems need to settle back down after a change . I also know from your advice that using Tara Labs burn in can shorten this . But I find it fascinating to listen to the changes as they settle over a few hours of music. So my main system is just getting better quieter not detailed an above all more natural listening to an oboe playing right now an all the moodiness and timbre are clear and on show . Three way active is also sounding fantastic I will be putting in NVA interconnects soon but just loving the Music so being lazy . Sadly my two way active is not the same change of control software for my MiniDSP DDRC 24 has meant I needed to do a complete new DIRAC Live session and during this it looks like on of the Linn Sara tweeters has a fault and stops working above 3kHz . In most speakers this is just a simple replacement job . But on the Sara the tweeters are hard glued in place and getting them out is a job that requires skill and patience neither of which I have . Will have to source some replacements first then take a deal breath and on a day when Linda is out get to it .
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Apr 1, 2024 12:52:36 GMT
This is just an up date and way of me getting the frustration of the last few days out of my system . I have just changed my broadband / fibre provider . After quite a bit of searching I found the cheapest was going to be Virgin Media . So booked it and the engineer came on Saturday . First clock up no direct cable to the house as I had never had Virgin before . So had to be installed with a tap in to next doors boxed . Second issue was I wanted to use the Hub as a modem in to my existing router so all the settings stayed the same . Just could not get the modem to connect to the internet . So in the end had to use the Virgin hub . Then found I could change the Wireless service name but not the password . So then had to go round the place and change all the Wireless devices . Then as I use D-Link unmanaged switches with SFP on each floor of course they had to play up . Virgin Engineer had to go so left to me . Avery slow and deliberate reboot of every device including the router got things working . Then used the router controls and fixed the ISP of my music server . Then found I had issues with my LMS transporter saying it could not connect with dhcp server . This was not Sunday and I just did not have the time to do a complete fix . Today took the Transporter up to the room were the router was and direct connected the two . Set up then went as it should and it was connected and playing . Then used the online router control and made the url for the Transporter fixed as well . Fitted it back in to the music room system and after a horrible hang on first set up it connected and music was restored . So at least things are up and working now and sounding back to what I have become used to . Have now realised that if at the end of this contract Virgin will not offer a good deal then I may have to go through all this again . At least that is eighteen months away .
|
|
|
|
Post by mattspl on Apr 1, 2024 13:04:41 GMT
There is nothing worse that keep changing internet providers.
What annoys me most is that my router is right next to my Hifi, so the engineer has to work leaning over the left speaker and beside the Dac. Terrifying.
|
|
|
|
Post by bencat on Apr 1, 2024 13:13:57 GMT
In truth I only needed an engineer this time because it was Virgin any other provider just gets my line from current provider then when it goes live I just set up my current router with the new providers sign in and bingo things just carry on as normal. Not too sure if when this contract ends is it as simple to do the switch back to another supplier .
|
|
|
|
Post by mattspl on Apr 1, 2024 13:19:59 GMT
I have Vodafone at the moment and when they did the installation, they had to put in all their own line and equipment as they said they aren’t allowed to use another providers.
|
|
