Taiko Tana-LPS-Setchi---listening
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
We have great results with a Setchi connected to the BNC input of the Tana. However the quality of the vibrational coupling of the Setchi to the base of Tana makes a big difference.
The panzerholz plinth under the Tana has two functions, minimizing the vibration felt by the electronics in side the Tana, and to give an accurate vibration pattern to the Setchi which sits on the Plinth and is connected to the BNC
Hi Steve,
There is indeed a larger Tana, which is based on the TS-140, on which the NVS fits very nicely
Best
Ed
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
indeed..looks like a TS150 which is a smaller footprint than the TS140. I would imagine it just fits...good enough for evaluation purposes.
let's just say, I was enough impressed by what the Taiko Tana did for the SGM, that I 'had' to hear what it did under the NVS. I measured and figured it would 'just barely' work. and I'm very impressed.
details when I have time.
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pictures of the Taiko Tana under the SGM from last Friday night.....just to get it all included in this new thread. I felt that opening a new thread on my Taiko Tana experience would be better than getting it all filtered inside the Herzan thread. I view the Taiko Tana as a whole separate thing from the basic Herzan. just my 2 cents, YMMV and all that stuff.
it's been a busy few days with the Taiko Tana TS-150 + the prototype linear power supply + the Setchi D2 grounding box. I set it up at noon on Friday under the SGM server, then returned from work that night and listened. I decided to go slow on posting my impressions, mostly to take my time to understand what was doing what......and not to allow too much of the shock and awe of initial impressions to be prevalent. I wanted a few sessions to solidify my perceptions. and this will be a drawn out process, as before i'm done I want to try it not only under the SGM and NVS tt, which I've obviously already done and am doing, but also under the dac box of the MSB Select II, and under the NHB-18NS darTZeel preamp. likely I will have it under the NVS for awhile, as I'm really enjoying it there and there is no hurry.
but back to my impressions of it under the SGM. i'd had the Hardpoint Serene footers under the SGM for the previous couple of weeks, and was happy with that and had posted previously about that. so when I installed the Taiko Tana I did move the Hardpoint Serene's to the second Select II power supply (which previously was using the Wave Kinetics A10 U8's) so my impressions are of the combo of both changes, the Taiko Tana under the SGM + the Serene's under the 2nd power supply. I wanted to get the full impact of the step up. i know where i'm going and it's with the Hardpoints under my MSB power supplies......so no reason to pussy foot around (for hard cases i plan on revisiting the SGM only case). this was a big jump up in information; it dramatically expanded the soundstage and resolved considerably more ambient content. much more textural and tonal shading and greater levels of bass articulation. it's like a light came on to reveal a larger room and more information about everything inside that room. i could see.
this was a startling degree of change, and why i hesitated to post about it Friday night. and this was only dealing with the server with the Taiko Tana and the Serene's with the power supply. the feedback from Ed and Emile was that the dac had the most significant degree of lift from the Taiko Tana. and obviously they have an SGM on hand to test with.
every type of music was improved. vocals had this reality to them particularly in the slight movements of the head and chest and mouth, piano's and strings of all types were more sonorous and harmonically complex, horns were smoother, more texturally complex and with more nuanced bite, every musical thing was more assured and authoritative, musical peaks swelled with more energy and held together better, etc, etc. i listened through Saturday and Sunday with lots of football both days. so a number of separate sessions, and my perceptions did not diminish.
how could a power supply and different top layer treatment make such a difference? some of Emile's and Ed's posts have already answered the 'why' so much better than i can, i'm not even going there. i would just be guessing anyway. but no doubt it's a significant difference. at some point i also intend to try my 'stock' TS-150 that's under the dart pre at the moment and try it back to back with the Taiko Tana on the SGM to have a base line of change. but that will be later........there is no hurry.
and all during these sessions i'm looking at my NVS tt and thinking how it might effect it.
but back to my impressions of it under the SGM. i'd had the Hardpoint Serene footers under the SGM for the previous couple of weeks, and was happy with that and had posted previously about that. so when I installed the Taiko Tana I did move the Hardpoint Serene's to the second Select II power supply (which previously was using the Wave Kinetics A10 U8's) so my impressions are of the combo of both changes, the Taiko Tana under the SGM + the Serene's under the 2nd power supply. I wanted to get the full impact of the step up. i know where i'm going and it's with the Hardpoints under my MSB power supplies......so no reason to pussy foot around (for hard cases i plan on revisiting the SGM only case). this was a big jump up in information; it dramatically expanded the soundstage and resolved considerably more ambient content. much more textural and tonal shading and greater levels of bass articulation. it's like a light came on to reveal a larger room and more information about everything inside that room. i could see.
this was a startling degree of change, and why i hesitated to post about it Friday night. and this was only dealing with the server with the Taiko Tana and the Serene's with the power supply. the feedback from Ed and Emile was that the dac had the most significant degree of lift from the Taiko Tana. and obviously they have an SGM on hand to test with.
every type of music was improved. vocals had this reality to them particularly in the slight movements of the head and chest and mouth, piano's and strings of all types were more sonorous and harmonically complex, horns were smoother, more texturally complex and with more nuanced bite, every musical thing was more assured and authoritative, musical peaks swelled with more energy and held together better, etc, etc. i listened through Saturday and Sunday with lots of football both days. so a number of separate sessions, and my perceptions did not diminish.
how could a power supply and different top layer treatment make such a difference? some of Emile's and Ed's posts have already answered the 'why' so much better than i can, i'm not even going there. i would just be guessing anyway. but no doubt it's a significant difference. at some point i also intend to try my 'stock' TS-150 that's under the dart pre at the moment and try it back to back with the Taiko Tana on the SGM to have a base line of change. but that will be later........there is no hurry.
and all during these sessions i'm looking at my NVS tt and thinking how it might effect it.
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Sawasdee Mike,
The Setchi D2 grounding box is connecting only to the Taiko prototype power supply?
Tang
Sunday afternoon after my football (my Seahawks won), i decided to try the Taiko Tana on the NVS. this was a bit of a logistical challenge as the TS-150 footprint is too small for the NVS, but after measuring it turned out to be close enough and with small enough expected overhang to likely work, and obviously you can see the pictures on the previous page; it did work. then i had to figure out where to locate the LPS and it's plinth, i finally realized it could be on the floor and that the power supply umbilical would be long enough.
in this case, rather than replace passive the Hardpoint Serene footers as on the SGM, we are replacing a big gun, the stock Herzan TS-140. so how would it do?
it was another significant step up. it was not exactly the same exact differences as with the SGM and digital. what was now going on was 3 main things.
everything was more continuous. more complete. like there had been tiny gaps or degrees of roughness in the music before that were now filled in perfectly. a really spooky effect. notes decaying into infinity and so delicate and ethereal. and the tonality and rich harmonic life that all this brought made it more easy and natural. more liquid.
separation. layering. front to back, side to side, up and down. and so easy and natural. and the energy and growl or tension increased dramatically.
and the jump factor, impact, startle factor, with a 100% natural leading edge and sense of real power behind it.
all three of these factors work together to push the reality factor much higher......more suspension of disbelief.
all these areas had been good already with the TS-140.....this was an improvement in degrees.....not good and bad. but these 3 areas were easy for me to pick out.....and did result in a more involving musical experience. so Sunday night and Monday morning i did enjoy these performance increases in the vinyl. would a TS-140 version of the Taiko Tana be even better? likely i will get the chance to find out. Ed tells me he can do an in-home upgrade to the Taiko Tana level with my TS-140.
in this case, rather than replace passive the Hardpoint Serene footers as on the SGM, we are replacing a big gun, the stock Herzan TS-140. so how would it do?
it was another significant step up. it was not exactly the same exact differences as with the SGM and digital. what was now going on was 3 main things.
everything was more continuous. more complete. like there had been tiny gaps or degrees of roughness in the music before that were now filled in perfectly. a really spooky effect. notes decaying into infinity and so delicate and ethereal. and the tonality and rich harmonic life that all this brought made it more easy and natural. more liquid.
separation. layering. front to back, side to side, up and down. and so easy and natural. and the energy and growl or tension increased dramatically.
and the jump factor, impact, startle factor, with a 100% natural leading edge and sense of real power behind it.
all three of these factors work together to push the reality factor much higher......more suspension of disbelief.
all these areas had been good already with the TS-140.....this was an improvement in degrees.....not good and bad. but these 3 areas were easy for me to pick out.....and did result in a more involving musical experience. so Sunday night and Monday morning i did enjoy these performance increases in the vinyl. would a TS-140 version of the Taiko Tana be even better? likely i will get the chance to find out. Ed tells me he can do an in-home upgrade to the Taiko Tana level with my TS-140.
hi Tang,
the Setchi D2 connects to the BNC connector on the TS-140 body, not the LPS. i have to admit I've not done any A/B with and without the D2 yet......so i cannot offer any feedback....yet. but it's on my list of stuff to do.
warmest regards,
Mike
ok; now we have curveball time. that completely unexpected thing that happens and you just have to stand back and go......really? i am going off topic here a bit but it's relevant to my whole system situation. the Taiko Tana direction has been brewing since almost a year ago now and it arrived on Friday. the timing was not mine......it happened when it could happen.
parallel to this direction for me was my use of passive footers, the Hardpoint Serene and Trinia. at first, about 6 weeks ago, i had one set of Serene's on the SGM, then i purchased 2 sets of the new version, the Trinia's, and then ordered 2 more sets of Trinia's.....which arrived......yesterday. so i'm in the middle of this Taiko Tana investigation and here are more passive footers. i already know they work well, but where should i try them now? easy to simply put the two new sets under the SGM and the 2nd power supply (to go with the original 2 sets of Trinia's already under the other MSB power supply and dac box), which then leaves a set of the Serene's left over.
i look around and see the Tripoint Troy Signature on it's stock footers sitting there on my hardwood over concrete floor behind the dart 458's. this is last night (Monday) after the previous Sunday night and Monday morning I've already listened and established a new vinyl reference. so i unplug the Troy Sig, roll it onto it's back on the carpet and remove the stock footers, and then gently place it on top of the Serene footers and reconnect everything.
imagine somehow making your amplifiers more accurate, more focused, and more agile.
adding these attributes to what the Taiko Tana had already delivered to the vinyl was quite astonishing. and I've debated all day with myself, should i even post about it? it just confuses the issues. but it's really what i'm doing. tweaks. resonance control and various approaches to grounding or otherwise optimizing your signal path. it's all interconnected. how can it not be? Emile has posted about how the piezo effects and grounding effects are intertwined.
i cannot say if there are not 20 other passive footer products besides the Hardpoint Serene/Trinia that will supercharge your Tripoint Troy Signature; but no doubt that the Hardpoint delivers the goods in my particular system. and i'm going to quickly figure out a way to get a set of those puppies under my Tripoint Elite posthaste. low hanging fruit if you've already got the Tripoint kit.
parallel to this direction for me was my use of passive footers, the Hardpoint Serene and Trinia. at first, about 6 weeks ago, i had one set of Serene's on the SGM, then i purchased 2 sets of the new version, the Trinia's, and then ordered 2 more sets of Trinia's.....which arrived......yesterday. so i'm in the middle of this Taiko Tana investigation and here are more passive footers. i already know they work well, but where should i try them now? easy to simply put the two new sets under the SGM and the 2nd power supply (to go with the original 2 sets of Trinia's already under the other MSB power supply and dac box), which then leaves a set of the Serene's left over.
i look around and see the Tripoint Troy Signature on it's stock footers sitting there on my hardwood over concrete floor behind the dart 458's. this is last night (Monday) after the previous Sunday night and Monday morning I've already listened and established a new vinyl reference. so i unplug the Troy Sig, roll it onto it's back on the carpet and remove the stock footers, and then gently place it on top of the Serene footers and reconnect everything.
imagine somehow making your amplifiers more accurate, more focused, and more agile.
adding these attributes to what the Taiko Tana had already delivered to the vinyl was quite astonishing. and I've debated all day with myself, should i even post about it? it just confuses the issues. but it's really what i'm doing. tweaks. resonance control and various approaches to grounding or otherwise optimizing your signal path. it's all interconnected. how can it not be? Emile has posted about how the piezo effects and grounding effects are intertwined.
i cannot say if there are not 20 other passive footer products besides the Hardpoint Serene/Trinia that will supercharge your Tripoint Troy Signature; but no doubt that the Hardpoint delivers the goods in my particular system. and i'm going to quickly figure out a way to get a set of those puppies under my Tripoint Elite posthaste. low hanging fruit if you've already got the Tripoint kit.
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now backtracking to the MSB Select II and SGM now all 4 chassis sitting on the Hardpoint Trinia's (as the Taiko Tana is now under the NVS), how does that compare with the Taiko Tana under the SGM? and now with the Serene's under the Tripoint Troy Signature?
overall better mostly, but not quite as good in some ways.
with the Taiko Tana under the SGM but without the Serene's under the Troy, we had a bit more overall detail and ambience. the Taiko Tana allowed for greater levels of information. but the energy and focus is now better as a net gain. overall i prefer it now.....but would like to add that greater level of ambient info. i'm thinking the Taiko Tana would be a step up put back under the SGM, or the dac box. which we will get to along the way here.
overall better mostly, but not quite as good in some ways.
with the Taiko Tana under the SGM but without the Serene's under the Troy, we had a bit more overall detail and ambience. the Taiko Tana allowed for greater levels of information. but the energy and focus is now better as a net gain. overall i prefer it now.....but would like to add that greater level of ambient info. i'm thinking the Taiko Tana would be a step up put back under the SGM, or the dac box. which we will get to along the way here.
i hope i have not muddled things up by combining these two product uses, but it seems like a natural thing for me to do as this has been my plan. the timing of it at the same moment was not the plan.
I am definitely not complicating my turntable situation with any Panzerholz platform. But for the set-up under the Io I am open to upgrade options. Is Taiko offering the external power supply on a standalone basis? I am wondering if we can simply use the Taiko outboard LPS as a direct replacement for the Herzan external power supply.
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