Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams
- Thread starter Steve Williams
- Start date
That is precisely the point and to infer from Mike's "+1" to kings rule's post that he was only teasing I find disingenuous at the very least
If it’s meant to be use a smiley with tongue or something to indicate it. But I still think it comes off too impersonal to be very humorous. Not sure I get the +1 problem.
It's been many months since I have reported on anything new or different in my system. I have found that over the past 3 years the biggest changes in my system came about with the use of Critical Mass Systems racks, Masterbuilt Ultra cables and Center Stage feet all of which was done gradually over the 3 years.
I have to admit that there was a time before those additions that I was seriously thinking of updating my speakers but TBH the changes I gleaned with those three additions always left me smiling and too many people have said to me that doing a speaker change might actually be a detriment rather than a benefit as the sound I have now was designed around my Wilson X2 Series ll speakers. So whilst there is every bit a chance that the effect will indeed be a benefit I have decided to leave that on hold indefinitely or at the least until I bring my end game to fruition.
I find that I have come to a time and place in my life where I have totally concocted my "end game".IOW what do I need to do to bring my system to its end point around which I plan on sailing off into the sunset. There was a time years ago where I found myself always moving things in, out or around always looking for something better and/or different in my system. Several years ago I returned to the analog domain with the purchase ofmy Tech Das AF1 and Studer A810 with a Doshi tape preamp. I was doing well over 75% of my listening to vinyl and tape with the remainder listening to CD's via my 12 year old PlayBack Designs MPS-5 which I have always liked as it is a DSD DAC which with the addition of the USB X-lll box allows the DAC to be used up to DSD 256 and hi res PCM files up to 24/192. I have a digital library of about 8 TB's which I intermittently played using J River with my lap top
I must admit that I enjoyed streaming music but the way in which I was doing it was far from pleasing and a bit too complicated.
I came to the conclusion that there is indeed many easier ways now to stream music with far better results. Fortunately I find the information I read from members here at WBF to be very enlightening and informative.
As a result I knew what I needed to make my system complete in every way to bring my "end game" to fruition.
So what is it, you might ask that is on my radar that will bring my system to its end point
I knew that what I was going to buy had to be future proof as well as supplying me with the very best music
I decided that I needed only 2 things
1. A music server
2. An up to date DAC
I have to admit that I have read virtually every thread here on WBF regarding music servers and DACs
So here we go
The one server that has caught my attention from the release of its very first iteration to its present day model is the Taiko Extreme manufactured by our very own Emile who is a prolific poster here at WBF when it comes to answering questions about the gear he manufactures
Darn but when I ordered mine, Emile found himself in a very good position as he was totally sold out and backordered for 6 weeks. I wanted to transfer my existing library from my NAS to the Extreme so I purchased one with 16 TB's of internal memory and a lifetime Roon membership
Emile called me 2 weeks ago and told me that my unit was ready to ship.and would arrive in 2 days. What he told me next however was the icing on the cake
Emile was making his first trip to the USA to catch up with a few of his dealers as well as visiting a few clients and it was his plan to make his first stop at my house in SoCal and then head for the Pacific Northwest before going back to Boston and NYC. He was bringing along one of his young workers Ted. Emile said that once the unit arrives and I have an ethernet connector from my router to the Extreme he would set up my unit remotely from his house before he leaves for the USA. I watched him do it and indeed he had me up and running in 20 minutes.My goal was to use USB rather than ethernet to connect to my DAC as I already had a MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable. It was easy to connect to my USB X-lll box and suddenly I had music.
I listened over the next 3 days to understand the unit as well as knowing that it needed 1200 hours according to Emile to charge those capacitors
After 3 days I had a good handle on the sound and was very impressed. I remember Emile had posted many weeks ago that of all the tweaks people were using on their Extremes he felt a good set of footers would suffice. Emile was due to arrive Tuesday and I knew it was a gamble to insert the feet on Monday, a day before he arrived as I knew how these feet take days to settle in.
I decided to use a set of the big Center Stage 1.5's as the Extreme was so heavy. Monday night predictably the sound was terrific . Emile arrived on Tuesday and the first listening session showed the degradation in the sound, The top end was bright and the bottom end was bloated. It was somewhat embarrassing as I think Emile was wondering "wtf"is going on here
Yesterday was a different story as the music suddenly had lost the brightness and the bass was far more articulate and well defined.
We both agreed though that there were limitations in the sound quality when played at DSD 256 which Emile felt was related to my aging MPS-5 DAC.
I agreed and told him my new DAC is on order and hopefully will arrive soon. Once everything was running to Emile's satisfaction I decided no ore listening. I wanted to show Emile and Ted some of our coastal beach towns and took them for a ride through Dana Point Harbor to admire all of the yachts in the marina. From there we headed north and had lunch in Laguna Beach right on the sand. After that we headed up the coast through Newport Beach and then up to Huntington Beach where we walked the pier and saw all of the surfers. From there we headed back to Newport Beach and walked Fashion Island and for fun I took Emile and Ted into Niemann Marcus where they might want to buy some gifts to take home.....until they saw the prices
It was now time to get them to the airport for the next leg of their journey.
By the time I got home and settled to listen again, the system had been playing for about 10 hours. Listening now, it was as if the clouds had parted and everything had begun to settle. I simply could not believe how good it sounded As I sit here today, I would say the CS 1.5's are almost settled in and by tomorrow I'm betting it will be sounding great . This Extreme is truly remarkable and I know that with the new DAC, I will be in audio nirvana and my end game will be complete.
I won't mention the DAC yet but most of you know what I am on record here saying what in my opinion is the best sounding DAC for my ears
Stay tuned for the epilog to the story...........
Here are some photos of Emile, Ted and I
I have to admit that there was a time before those additions that I was seriously thinking of updating my speakers but TBH the changes I gleaned with those three additions always left me smiling and too many people have said to me that doing a speaker change might actually be a detriment rather than a benefit as the sound I have now was designed around my Wilson X2 Series ll speakers. So whilst there is every bit a chance that the effect will indeed be a benefit I have decided to leave that on hold indefinitely or at the least until I bring my end game to fruition.
I find that I have come to a time and place in my life where I have totally concocted my "end game".IOW what do I need to do to bring my system to its end point around which I plan on sailing off into the sunset. There was a time years ago where I found myself always moving things in, out or around always looking for something better and/or different in my system. Several years ago I returned to the analog domain with the purchase ofmy Tech Das AF1 and Studer A810 with a Doshi tape preamp. I was doing well over 75% of my listening to vinyl and tape with the remainder listening to CD's via my 12 year old PlayBack Designs MPS-5 which I have always liked as it is a DSD DAC which with the addition of the USB X-lll box allows the DAC to be used up to DSD 256 and hi res PCM files up to 24/192. I have a digital library of about 8 TB's which I intermittently played using J River with my lap top
I must admit that I enjoyed streaming music but the way in which I was doing it was far from pleasing and a bit too complicated.
I came to the conclusion that there is indeed many easier ways now to stream music with far better results. Fortunately I find the information I read from members here at WBF to be very enlightening and informative.
As a result I knew what I needed to make my system complete in every way to bring my "end game" to fruition.
So what is it, you might ask that is on my radar that will bring my system to its end point
I knew that what I was going to buy had to be future proof as well as supplying me with the very best music
I decided that I needed only 2 things
1. A music server
2. An up to date DAC
I have to admit that I have read virtually every thread here on WBF regarding music servers and DACs
So here we go
The one server that has caught my attention from the release of its very first iteration to its present day model is the Taiko Extreme manufactured by our very own Emile who is a prolific poster here at WBF when it comes to answering questions about the gear he manufactures
Darn but when I ordered mine, Emile found himself in a very good position as he was totally sold out and backordered for 6 weeks. I wanted to transfer my existing library from my NAS to the Extreme so I purchased one with 16 TB's of internal memory and a lifetime Roon membership
Emile called me 2 weeks ago and told me that my unit was ready to ship.and would arrive in 2 days. What he told me next however was the icing on the cake
Emile was making his first trip to the USA to catch up with a few of his dealers as well as visiting a few clients and it was his plan to make his first stop at my house in SoCal and then head for the Pacific Northwest before going back to Boston and NYC. He was bringing along one of his young workers Ted. Emile said that once the unit arrives and I have an ethernet connector from my router to the Extreme he would set up my unit remotely from his house before he leaves for the USA. I watched him do it and indeed he had me up and running in 20 minutes.My goal was to use USB rather than ethernet to connect to my DAC as I already had a MasterBuilt Ultra USB cable. It was easy to connect to my USB X-lll box and suddenly I had music.
I listened over the next 3 days to understand the unit as well as knowing that it needed 1200 hours according to Emile to charge those capacitors
After 3 days I had a good handle on the sound and was very impressed. I remember Emile had posted many weeks ago that of all the tweaks people were using on their Extremes he felt a good set of footers would suffice. Emile was due to arrive Tuesday and I knew it was a gamble to insert the feet on Monday, a day before he arrived as I knew how these feet take days to settle in.
I decided to use a set of the big Center Stage 1.5's as the Extreme was so heavy. Monday night predictably the sound was terrific . Emile arrived on Tuesday and the first listening session showed the degradation in the sound, The top end was bright and the bottom end was bloated. It was somewhat embarrassing as I think Emile was wondering "wtf"is going on here
Yesterday was a different story as the music suddenly had lost the brightness and the bass was far more articulate and well defined.
We both agreed though that there were limitations in the sound quality when played at DSD 256 which Emile felt was related to my aging MPS-5 DAC.
I agreed and told him my new DAC is on order and hopefully will arrive soon. Once everything was running to Emile's satisfaction I decided no ore listening. I wanted to show Emile and Ted some of our coastal beach towns and took them for a ride through Dana Point Harbor to admire all of the yachts in the marina. From there we headed north and had lunch in Laguna Beach right on the sand. After that we headed up the coast through Newport Beach and then up to Huntington Beach where we walked the pier and saw all of the surfers. From there we headed back to Newport Beach and walked Fashion Island and for fun I took Emile and Ted into Niemann Marcus where they might want to buy some gifts to take home.....until they saw the prices
It was now time to get them to the airport for the next leg of their journey.
By the time I got home and settled to listen again, the system had been playing for about 10 hours. Listening now, it was as if the clouds had parted and everything had begun to settle. I simply could not believe how good it sounded As I sit here today, I would say the CS 1.5's are almost settled in and by tomorrow I'm betting it will be sounding great . This Extreme is truly remarkable and I know that with the new DAC, I will be in audio nirvana and my end game will be complete.
I won't mention the DAC yet but most of you know what I am on record here saying what in my opinion is the best sounding DAC for my ears
Stay tuned for the epilog to the story...........
Here are some photos of Emile, Ted and I
A straggler on the back of this boat
it was a whirlwind visit but rewarding in every way
Big thanks and a huge shout out to Emile for taking the time to stop in SoCal and easily making me a believer in his Extreme
I haven't stopped listening
Roon.....OMG where have you been hiding. The metadata it supplies is simply amazing.
I subscribed to Qobuz and to Tidal HiFi and am simply amazed at the sound.
I have had the unit on and running now for about 10 days and it is changing daily as to sound quality. I am still however nowhere near 1200 hours
What also amazed me is that Emile copied my entire digital library from my NAS to the Extreme in 6 hours whereas it normally takes me about 10 days to do it. He imported the data using the Extreme which transfers data at 1 Gb/s whereas with my laptop I was restricted to 100 Mb/s so in essence it was 10 times the speed. Then to see wha Roon had done to and how it organized my library was amazing
OK, I am a believer and a looking forward to the final piece of my end game puzzle, my new DAC....stay tuned
Big thanks and a huge shout out to Emile for taking the time to stop in SoCal and easily making me a believer in his Extreme
I haven't stopped listening
Roon.....OMG where have you been hiding. The metadata it supplies is simply amazing.
I subscribed to Qobuz and to Tidal HiFi and am simply amazed at the sound.
I have had the unit on and running now for about 10 days and it is changing daily as to sound quality. I am still however nowhere near 1200 hours
What also amazed me is that Emile copied my entire digital library from my NAS to the Extreme in 6 hours whereas it normally takes me about 10 days to do it. He imported the data using the Extreme which transfers data at 1 Gb/s whereas with my laptop I was restricted to 100 Mb/s so in essence it was 10 times the speed. Then to see wha Roon had done to and how it organized my library was amazing
OK, I am a believer and a looking forward to the final piece of my end game puzzle, my new DAC....stay tuned
Congratulations Steve. But Emile was probably answering my mail asking when my Extreme will be delivered ...
Congratulations Steve. But Emile was probably answering my mail asking when my Extreme will be delivered ...
as I quickly learned and would give the same advice to prospective Extreme owners.... let Emile set it up. This is his baby and brain child. It’s not his first rodeo. Truly he will have you up and running even remotely. Let him do the setup. There are so many things that can be changed. He asked me with each one and he did the input. I’m happy with the outcome.
Congratulations, Steve! I am glad you are liking Qobuz! It has definitely made me more of a believer in the streaming concept.
At some point I will be following you into the streaming end of the pool!
PS: I think I know which brand of DAC you like. I think it is the same one I like!
At some point I will be following you into the streaming end of the pool!
PS: I think I know which brand of DAC you like. I think it is the same one I like!
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