My Little Barn

[shakti]

The Revelation Audio Labs umbilicals sound very different to the stock cables. Deeper tighter bass, better extension, loses a little of the density of the stock cables.

The Revelation Audio Labs umbilicals have landed yesterday. They are gently settling in. It is too early to draw some final conclusions but the first comparative listening sessions have revealed an increased transparency with tighter bass.

My Revelation Audio Labs DC power chord recently arrived at my home, should have ordered them a feet longer,
as they are more stiff to handle, than the original cables.

First impression is positive, more transparent over the complete frequency band. Tonal balance is now more close to the EA-1200.
Vocals now do have better contour, over all a little "faster".

Could imagine, that users with over transparent carts might prefer the original DC chords.Using mostly warm or neutral voiced carts, this cables are giving my EA-2000 a nice and welcome (small) improvement.

 

[dcc]

The main system is settled for a while. I am considering acquiring new loudspeakers. This is a project for next year as it will involve some traveling to confirm my initial choice following some preliminary listening sessions. I also expect having the chance to listen to the loudspeakers in my system before acquiring them.

My little den system has evolved in parallel to the main system.

The Thorens TD 124/II turntable has been replaced by a fully restored and upgraded one sourced from Jaap Pees/Hanze HiFi (the previous one got fully overhauled by Jaap as well and now sits in my office system).





The upgrades are as follows:

• Audio Silente idlerwheel
• Swissonor non-magnetic main platter
• Retrotone upper-platter
• Woodsong upper-platter adapter hub
• Levin Design mat
• Sapphire thrustbearing kit from Woodsong
• Improved mushrooms and grommets
• Motor decoupler springs
• Separate power supply from Jaap Pees/HAT

The turntable rests on a custom made plinth from Artisan Fidelity fitted with Stillpoint Ultra SS feet. I mounted a Schroeder silver CB9 Carbon tonearm fitted with a Lyra Etna cartridge which feeds into a Sculpture A Silver SUT via a pair of Sculpture A silver phono cables.

A Symposium Svelte platform further isolates the turntable which is sitting on a wall mounted shelf.

The Krell EVO 202 Preamp, the Weiss DAC 501 and the Allnic H3000V phono stage that were previously sitting in the main system have moved in. I now use the Line Magnetic amp as a power amp controlled by the Krell preamp. The Krell preamp allows reducing the gain of each input. By doing so, I have a better control on the power output of the Line Magnetic.




The Nagra tape deck has been fully overhauled with new potentiometers, new switches and a new pinch roller. I added a second power supply so the QGB module and the tape deck have their respective power supply. An HRS platform further isolates the tape deck from the main rack.



The Weiss DAC 501 is used as a Roon endpoint so I can play my music library stored on a SSD connected to the NADAC combo (high rez files) and on a separate server (cd rips).

The full range Cube Audio Bliss C loudspeakers have been upgraded to the top of the line Nenuphar Mini Evo2 by replacing the drivers (I kept the former drivers for a DIY project).



Cabling has also been improved with a loom of Elpispandora loudspeakers and interconnect cables among others a bespoke pair with banana plugs for the Nagra tape deck.

Finally and just for the fun and the nostalgy, a Nakamichi RX-202 cassette deck is hooked to the system. To my surprise, I recently discovered that my son is listening to some obscure indie rock groups who are issuing their music on cassettes. His cassette deck went south. I have two RX-202 and gave him the spare one. Mine is mainly used to make copies for my son. I did some copies from the Nagra tape deck to the Nakamichi cassette deck and I was quite surprised by the sound quality.



All components are connected to Entreq ground boxes.

This little den system is mainly used during the week. I just need to fire it up and after 15 minutes, it is up and running whereas the main system requires much more time to settle and is primarily used during the weekends and holidays for long and intensive listening sessions.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am considering acquiring new loudspeakers.

Which new loudspeakers are you considering?

 

[dcc]

I am not fully decided yet. I already excluded some loudspeakers that were on my shortlist following some listening sessions that were not convincing.

Il still have some listening to do. As these will be my final loudspeakers, I don't mind taking all the necessary time to make an informed decision.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am not fully decided yet. I already excluded some loudspeakers that were on my shortlist following some listening sessions that were not convincing.

Please tell us which ones you did not care for.

As these will be my final loudspeakers, I don't mind taking all the necessary time to make an informed decision.

Take loads of time! As we all know -- but may not completely admit to ourselves -- the research, the auditioning, the plotting and planning is at least half the fun!

 

[dcc]

Please tell us which ones you did not care for

I won't put the whole list but will mention two where I had high hopes but that disappointed me big time.

The PMC Fenestria that were not engaging at all though they were driven by superlative electronics from Halcro.

I am not going to make a lot of friends with the second one but I could not hide my disapointment after listening to the Alsyvox Botticelli X driven by very powerful Aries Cerat power amps. Everything was fine until I put solo piano pieces of classical music. The treble could not handle the complex musical passage. Neither the loudspeakers nor the power amps were defective. I won't further comment as the distributor at the time is a very close friend (he is also a WBF member) and this was quite an embarrassing moment.

 

[Lagonda]

I won't put the whole list but will mention two where I had high hopes but that disappointed me big time.

The PMC Fenestria that were not engaging at all though they were driven by superlative electronics from Halcro.

I am not going to make a lot of friends with the second one but I could not hide my disapointment after listening to the Alsyvox Botticelli X driven by very powerful Aries Cerat power amps. Everything was fine until I put solo piano pieces of classical music. The treble could not handle the complex musical passage. Neither the loudspeakers nor the power amps were defective. I won't further comment as the distributor at the time is a very close friend (he is also a WBF member) and this was quite an embarrassing moment.

Have you used dipoles or omnis in your room before ? The area behind your speakers become much more important than with conventional speakers.

 

[dcc]

This was not in my room and there was plenty of space behind the speakers in a fully acoustically treated room by SMT. I mentioned that I won"t further comment.

I owned dipoles in the past (Infinity IRS) and I had about 2 meters between the speakers and the front wall. I actually kept the same arrangement with my current loudspeakers.

 

[Lagonda]

This was not in my room and there was plenty of space behind the speakers in a fully acoustically treated room by SMT. I mentioned that I won"t further comment.

I owned dipoles in the past (Infinity IRS) and I had about 2 meters between the speakers and the front wall. I actually kept the same arrangement with my current loudspeakers.

Maybe your current set-up is not ideal for dipoles or omnies ! Talking from many years experience.

 

[dcc]

Again, the listening did not take place in my room.

I never had any issue when I had my dipoles during 12 years in my own room. They were professionally set up and the active cross over allowed for easy fine tuning. Though these dipoles were a little bit different than the usual ones as they integrated absorbing material designed to damp the rear radiation https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/infinity_irs_epsilon_loudspeaker/index.html

But I do agree with you that having large panels at my place would be challenge that I am not considering to take hence I am more focusing on slick and tall loudspeakers with D'Appolito designs.

 

[dcc]

Thanks to trade shows taking place this weekend, I am able to arrange home demos of the two pairs of loudspeakers I shortlisted to become my ultimate loudspeakers. I got a first demo yesterday and the next one is scheduled on Monday. Life is fun.



I will report once the second demo is completed.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am able to arrange home demos of the two pairs of loudspeakers I shortlisted to become my ultimate loudspeakers.

Which are the final two contenders?

 

[dcc]

The Audionec EVO3 Signature and the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two.

 

[ashandger]

Many thanks for sharing your impressions. If you get to audition the Stenheim Ultime 2 or another Stenheim model then please share your impressions? Also, could you please share the name of the solo piano album you mentioned above? Many thanks and happy hunting.

 

[ashandger]

Just noticed you had posted while I was typing my note. VERY interested in hearing your impression on the Stenheim Ultime 2. Did one of the shows have them connected to Dartzeel 108s? If so, did you get to hear this system? Would appreciate any impressions you could share. Many thanks.

 

[dcc]

I will put all my notes together after the second demo on Monday. This may take a few days as I will be on business travel right after.

I can already confirm that at one of the shows, I listened to the Ultime Two connected to two pairs of darTZeel 108s whereas at my place, they were bi-amped with my own electronics.

The solo piano album is the Haydn Piano Sonatas Hob. XVI: 48, 50 & 51 by Alfred Brendel (Philips). I usually take the first movement of the Sonata 50. This has been one of my test records for many years.

 

[Ron Resnick]

The Audionec EVO3 Signature and the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two.

Very interesting finalists! Thank you!

 

[ashandger]

I will put all my notes together after the second demo on Monday. This may take a few days as I will be on business travel right after.

I can already confirm that at one of the shows, I listened to the Ultime Two connected to two pairs of darTZeel 108s whereas at my place, they were bi-amped with my own electronics.

The solo piano album is the Haydn Piano Sonatas Hob. XVI: 48, 50 & 51 by Alfred Brendel (Philips). I usually take the first movement of the Sonata 50. This has been one of my test records for many years.

Wonderful. Many thanks for the feedback and looking forward to reading your impressions.

 

[dcc]

Two pictures of the contenders. I will do a write up in a separate post next weekend.

 

[StreamFidelity]

Two pictures of the contenders.

This looks very elaborate. Visually, both fit, but of course it depends on the sound. I am very curious about your report.