One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

[LL21]

The reason those of us that go with big systems is not to play loud but rather to get the advantage of being able to play with less stress on the individual transducers to reach normal sound pressure levels...Add a room where you have full wave development at 20 Hz ... and you get that over the full spectrum...

...Unmentioned by anybody is the heroic efforts that have gone into the power for the room. Not just audiophile stuff but the back room. The AC power supply uses filtration normally used for industrial security printing machines and other devices that require extreme stability at overkill KVA.

...The difference is that Jim's pressure wave is so large and enveloping that they extend past field of view. Think I-Max. This is what live music is like that most systems fail at. ... As Jerry puts it there are peaks in some material where we've been conditioned to anticipate the inevitable cringe but here and if I may be allowed to brag a bit and at home, when those moment come, there is no break up

There is no magic going on here. It's care for the small signals, consistency throughout the spectrum and low distortion through good basic design and the provision of more than sufficient headroom. Those are the baseline performance parameters. ...either system can be set up accordingly as Steve witnessed in a mater of a couple of minutes to get in the ballpark. This flexibility is what drew us to these speakers. In the early years our purists friends said we were cheating LOL. These days where powered subs and even DSP are now very much accepted we no longer get accused of that!

Great post, JackD201...articulate and knowledgeable as ever....and particularly can relate to/understand/appreciate from some level of personal experience your quotes from above. I know XV1, fas42 and Jadis have already posted their concurrence, but its SUCH a good post, i thought i would repeat it as well, since it bears reading or re-reading for some of us (me, anyway).

 

[JackD201]

Thanks Lloyd

 

[JackD201]

Hello Jack,

On Steve's pictures of Jim's system I noticed a Lampizator Golden Gate dac. Do not know what kind of server/computer Jim is using but were you able to listen to the GG? If so, can you let us know how it performed in Jim's system? Thanks.

Hi Rudolf

He uses the Lampi Komputer and an Emm transport. Jim just got a boatload of KR tubes (45,PX4,300B and rectifiers). Lucky duck has a brother for a KR distributor. LOL.

We played analog almost exclusively. I must say that the Lampizator DACs are deserving of their reputation. So far I've only heard them with the stock 101Ds and the sound is sweet,sweet,sweet

 

[Audiocrack]

Hi Rudolf

He uses the Lampi Komputer and an Emm transport. Jim just got a boatload of KR tubes (45,PX4,300B and rectifiers). Lucky duck has a brother for a KR distributor. LOL.

We played analog almost exclusively. I must say that the Lampizator DACs are deserving of their reputation. So far I've only heard them with the stock 101Ds and the sound is sweet,sweet,sweet

Thanks for this update Jack.

 

[microstrip]

(...) There is no magic going on here. It's care for the small signals, consistency throughout the spectrum and low distortion through good basic design and the provision of more than sufficient headroom. Those are the baseline performance parameters. As for tone color that's where Jim can do his salt n peppering to taste by choice of tubes, carts, headblocks, tensioning etc. Of course we all have different tastes and Jim and I have our own preferred "sound", mine being more sloped and Jim being more linear. Our difference however is more in our bass response preference. I prefer slightly looser and softer bass and more of it. Jazz club upright bass feeling as I don't listen to classical music as much as he does. That said either system can be set up accordingly as Steve witnessed in a mater of a couple of minutes to get in the ballpark. This flexibility is what drew us to these speakers. In the early years our purists friends said we were cheating LOL. These days where powered subs and even DSP are now very much accepted we no longer get accused of that!

I would say that besides the factors that you refer (the small signals, consistency throughout the spectrum and low distortion through good basic design and the provision of more than sufficient headroom) the real magic is in the implementation and the people behind it. The very large room opens a fantastic opportunity, but great expertise and resources are needed to get all benefit from it.

IMHO it is not the question of the quantity of watts or its distortion figure - it is mainly the quality of the watts and how they match with the system. It is not the question of using the best cable in the world - it is a question of using the best for this particular system. And yes, we are finding that the more adequate are also some of the best in the typical rankings ...

We learn a lot and very little from this type of great threads. They open our minds to what is possible to get from sound reproduction, even without listening. The claims made by those who listened force us to think and debate about aspects that transcend the vibration of air. We learn about equipment and in this particular case, from the designer of the heart of the system, the fantastic VR 111 speakers. But I think we should not try to create rules for other systems or in any try to transpose the performance of equipment in this system to other ones. IMHO there are no firm scaling rules in this hobby.

Thanks again to all, particularly those who were fortunate to listen to this system and shared their experience with us!

 

[Steve Williams]

Hi Rudolf

He uses the Lampi Komputer and an Emm transport. Jim just got a boatload of KR tubes (45,PX4,300B and rectifiers). Lucky duck has a brother for a KR distributor. LOL.

We played analog almost exclusively. I must say that the Lampizator DACs are deserving of their reputation. So far I've only heard them with the stock 101Ds and the sound is sweet,sweet,sweet

we were so taken by Jim's analog that for 9 hours he played vinyl and tape. I was hoping to her the Lampi gear but honestly it wasn't missed and there was no one begging to hear digital

 

[Mike Lavigne]

we were so taken by Jim's analog that for 9 hours he played vinyl and tape. I was hoping to her the Lampi gear but honestly it wasn't missed and there was no one begging to hear digital

Myles Astor and his wife Heidi were here 6-7 hours last Saturday and other than when he walked in we never listened to the Lampizator Golden Gate either, I started playing vinyl and tape and the idea of digital never even came up.

seems normal to me.

 

[Audiocrack]

we were so taken by Jim's analog that for 9 hours he played vinyl and tape. I was hoping to her the Lampi gear but honestly it wasn't missed and there was no one begging to hear digital

That is fully understandable as a (really) good vinyl set up 'beats' digital in my view, including the GG. That said I was curious anyway whether the GG can holds its ground in Jim's system: some visitors with very good ears prefer in the Tidal LA set up my (admittedly beefed up) Zanden combo to the Lampi GG while others, although admitting the GG has a sound if its own, love it and prefer the latter.

 

[Steve Williams]

I wish I could tell you because the Lampi and the Komputer were the first pieces of his equipment that I took pictures of and I enquired about which tubes were being used and that was the end of the conversation as no one was begging to hear it.

 

[LL21]

That is fully understandable as a (really) good vinyl set up 'beats' digital in my view, including the GG. That said I was curious anyway whether the GG can holds its ground in Jim's system: some visitors with very good ears prefer in the Tidal LA set up my (admittedly beefed up) Zanden combo to the Lampi GG while others, although admitting the GG has a sound if its own, love it and prefer the latter.

Most interesting to see your [beefed up] Zanden still does so well for those with good ears when compared with other great digital.

1. What do YOU think/prefer?

2. What actually are the differences between the sound?

 

[Audiocrack]

Most interesting to see your [beefed up] Zanden still does so well for those with good ears when compared with other great digital.

1. What do YOU think/prefer?

2. What actually are the differences between the sound?

Ok if we talk/mail offline, Lloyd? The topic of this thread makes it appropriate, I think, to exchange info regarding your question offline. Ok?

 

[microstrip]

we were so taken by Jim's analog that for 9 hours he played vinyl and tape. I was hoping to her the Lampi gear but honestly it wasn't missed and there was no one begging to hear digital

Steve,

We have now a lot of of details about the room and system. Considering the average time of vinyl and tape, in 9 hours you probably listened to more than 15 recordings. Do you (and the other lucky listeners) want to give us some details about the recordings, particularly in classical (my main interest ...)?

 

[bonzo75]

Hi Rudolf

He uses the Lampi Komputer and an Emm transport. Jim just got a boatload of KR tubes (45,PX4,300B and rectifiers). Lucky duck has a brother for a KR distributor. LOL.

We played analog almost exclusively. I must say that the Lampizator DACs are deserving of their reputation. So far I've only heard them with the stock 101Ds and the sound is sweet,sweet,sweet

Loved the 101d till I heard the various KRs. Px4 is right now the running favorite on most systems, the special Lampi edition for EML globe 45 might be better (will soon find out)

 

[bonzo75]

Both Detlof and I preferred the beast plus the MSB by far to his stock (unmodified) zanden

 

[jeff1225]

Myles Astor and his wife Heidi were here 6-7 hours last Saturday and other than when he walked in we never listened to the Lampizator Golden Gate either, I started playing vinyl and tape and the idea of digital never even came up.

seems normal to me.

Since I moved into the garage two years ago I just haven't been compelled to set up my digital. I'm just having too good a time with the analog.

 

[fas42]

we were so taken by Jim's analog that for 9 hours he played vinyl and tape. I was hoping to her the Lampi gear but honestly it wasn't missed and there was no one begging to hear digital

In 30 years I've never played with analogue myself, vinyl or tape. Digital has all the necessary attributes to produce convincing sound; but one may have to work harder to eliminate all the gremlins that degrade the quality below what's necessary - and I have yet to hear analogue on anyone's system that makes me think that I'm missing out on anything by not going there ...

 

[PeterA]

In 30 years I've never played with analogue myself, vinyl or tape. Digital has all the necessary attributes to produce convincing sound; but one may have to work harder to eliminate all the gremlins that degrade the quality below what's necessary - and I have yet to hear analogue on anyone's system that makes me think that I'm missing out on anything by not going there ...

Frank, have you heard a good analogue system in the last 30 years, and if so, could you describe the best analog sourced system that you have heard and why digital sounds at least as good to you?

 

[fas42]

Frank, have you heard a good analogue system in the last 30 years, and if so, could you describe the best analog sourced system that you have heard and why digital sounds at least as good to you?

Numerous times. The first one, 30 years ago, used a Goldmund Reference, which was heavily tweaked to get the best from it, and on the recordings the owner chose was very impressive; in a special very high end only show in Sydney in early 2000's they did the Coal Train track - that was as good as I've heard vinyl, and I had zero complaints about the sound. By contrast, that same track, on vinyl, at the recent audio show was quite dreadful, with the gear it was "demonstrating" - in the home of a vinyl "nut" some years ago the best playback was exemplary, but it also sounded quite wretched at times, with piercing treble to give one an instant headache.

Poor digital shows the same flaws to me as it does to everyone else - nominally OK, but at its heart the presentation is flat, with poor detail, lifeless; the "music" goes missing ... . This is flawed playback, the boring quality to the sound is a form of distortion - but this is fixable, I have done so over and over again. And when it's "fixed" all the good things that people hear in decent analogue are there in spades; the key thing is that one is unaware of anything being wrong with the sound, there is nothing but satisfying music present in the listening - which is why it "sounds as least as good as analogue".

 

[Audiocrack]

Both Detlof and I preferred the beast plus the MSB by far to his stock (unmodified) zanden

A (much) better clock does wonders. The same applies to (i) proper isolation - in my case Halcyonics/Accurion active magnetic devices -, (ii) top of the line pc (in my case the Tidal pc's I wrote about elsewhere on WBF) and (iii) (of course) three Shun Mook feet. With all this the Zanden combo is a 'killer' player, Ked.

 

[Audiocrack]

Ok if we talk/mail offline, Lloyd? The topic of this thread makes it appropriate, I think, to exchange info regarding your question offline. Ok?

Something wrong with your mailbox Lloyd?