Pilium Audio in action-

[sonrock]

Today I’ve packed all the Hemingway cables and they’re ready to be collected soon to go back to my friend. It’s just emotional last night when I gave them a final listening to keep their sound signature inside my head. Definitely they’re in my shortlist for the ultimate cables and that’s it, no bother with anything else anymore.

Connecting my own cables back into the system plus some stock cables provided by dcs to get the full 4 boxes up and running, it’s just amazing to see even with very standard ones, those vivaldi boxes are still doing their magic either with streaming or properly recorded CDs.

As I bought my stack with one box each time, I can truly appreciate the improvements when a new one added into the system. I was a bit sceptical with the master clock as I had never had any jitters issues with my other boxes and not very sure how my system could be improved further with just a clock.

But I was wrong because as soon as the clock hooked up, everything has just simply become better. I can feel it is more “right” if it makes sense. Everything is still there in the first place but now has gone up a few notches.

Although my own cables have brought back the limitless dynamic, slam and sparkling from the system, I can still appreciate the differences that the master clock contributes to the overall quality and performance.

I’m just baffled with the new Varese as the timing is not great for me, especially after investing a fortune on the vivaldi stack recently to just find out they could become obsolete soon.

Although dcs has confirmed me Varese is just a brand new flagship line and everything else including Vivaldi / Rossini / Bartok will continue to be in production as usual, nobody knows when they’ll ditch those lines all together and replace with something else.

The price of the full vivaldi stack has almost doubled since it was introduced 12 years ago, so a late owner like myself has suffered a great pain financially and now the Varese .

Whatever dcs decides next with their products, I’ll definitely keep enjoying my vivaldi for awhile before thinking of something else. They simply sound stunning while looking gorgeous, so I’m blessed as an owner of this incredible digital front end.

In near future I will have opportunities to try other cables and let you know how things go. Have a great weekend everyone, especially a bank holiday if you’re in the UK.

 

[sonrock]

I have never had to bother much about digital cables before the vivaldi stack arrived. 5 BNC and 5 XLR cables alone for the digital connections.

It’s really staggering with so many cables needed for the system to sound at its best while we have plenty of choices out there.

Probably, this makes the journey more interesting rather than frustrating and annoying with what we can try in our own system.

Hemingway cables are no doubt fantastic but my friend couldn’t send me any BNC cables to try so I have no clue how they sound when comparing to what I have here.

As mentioned earlier, even with stock cables provided by the manufacturer, my system still sounds great. But how much things could be improved further with the right cables?

I was recommended by Dan and after having transferred some emails with Paul from Z:Axis, he’s very kind to loan me 3 of his flagship BNC digital cables to try here.

2 of the cables are new while the other’s had around 100h on it so it’ll take a couple of weeks for the burning in process until the cables are at their best.

However, even fresh out of the box, they sound absolutely beautiful. I can see the edginess and dryness of the stock cables have now gone completely. Music has become more natural, sweeter and purer.

Bass wise is very good although I can feel the bottom end is getting loosen here and there in sometimes. But I guess the cables are still new so we need more time to fully appreciate their capability.

 

[Lee]

I have never had to bother much about digital cables before the vivaldi stack arrived. 5 BNC and 5 XLR cables alone for the digital connections.

It’s really staggering with so many cables needed for the system to sound at its best while we have plenty of choices out there.

Probably, this makes the journey more interesting rather than frustrating and annoying with what we can try in our own system.

Hemingway cables are no doubt fantastic but my friend couldn’t send me any BNC cables to try so I have no clue how they sound when comparing to what I have here.

As mentioned earlier, even with stock cables provided by the manufacturer, my system still sounds great. But how much things could be improved further with the right cables?

I was recommended by Dan and after having transferred some emails with Paul from Z:Axis, he’s very kind to loan me 3 of his flagship BNC digital cables to try here.

2 of the cables are new while the other’s had around 100h on it so it’ll take a couple of weeks for the burning in process until the cables are at their best.

However, even fresh out of the box, they sound absolutely beautiful. I can see the edginess and dryness of the stock cables have now gone completely. Music has become more natural, sweeter and purer.

Bass wise is very good although I can feel the bottom end is getting loosen here and there in sometimes. But I guess the cables are still new so we need more time to fully appreciate their capability.

View attachment 135829

I can share an observation. I have the Rossini Apex stack and when I upgraded to Shunyata Omega, the sound did improve. I think digital cables are as important as a good phono cable.

 

[sonrock]

That’s great to hear Lee, I might be able to try the top Shunyata cables here, hopefully soon, and see how things go as my dealer is waiting to get their stock delivered before sending to me.

I don’t know which brand or materials have been used by dcs stock cables, but the gold plated connectors are very impressive. They do sound good tbh if you are not too analytical and focusing on the music more than the sound, especially with electronic and dance stuff.

However when more delicate music are playing e.g acoustic instruments going along (with vocal) in melodic jazz, or a guitar/piano solo or a sonata/trio piece being played then all the ugly corners of the stock cables are revealed.

It’s just interesting to see how the sound can be improved, small or big, when changing cables even digital ones in the system.

 

[heihei]

Paul's cables are great, and very good VFM vs the big boys!

 

[sonrock]

I know, some brands even with 75%-90% discount of their top cables are still more expensive and surely the performance is nowhere 75%-90% better than his cables .

I think Paul’s been doing a great job starting from an audio enthusiast and technical know how to bring more affordable products with great sound quality to the commercial market.

 

[sonrock]

Maybe time for good music after awhile now . For everyone who loves sax in particular and beautiful music in general, this song is simply fantastic ^^

 

[Whbgarrett]

Recently swapped in a new amp and preamp from Pilium and can say that in this case mythology > science.

 

[sonrock]

Please can you give us some more ideas of how the new Pilium combo vs your Audionet combo? For me, myself alone, Pilium and magico are heavenly made together with amazing dynamics and musical performance.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Audionet wont have the drive on that type of load to match Pilium ..!

 

[Whbgarrett]

Please can you give us some more ideas of how the new Pilium combo vs your Audionet combo? For me, myself alone, Pilium and magico are heavenly made together with amazing dynamics and musical performance.

Sure. The first thing I did was swap out the Stern preamp for the Olympus, leaving the Heisenberg monos in place. The Olympus was more resolving and sounded more organic. It also threw a more 3D soundstage, with notably more height and depth. But perhaps the most striking improvement was the increase in transparency. It was akin to the additional measure of transparency you get when you go directly into an amp with a very good DAC, except even more so and in this case all of the benefits of the preamp (dynamics and soundstage size, etc.) are of course preserved. Next I changed out the Heisenberg monos for the Zeus stereo amp. This change resulted in the aforementioned improvements being even more obvious (dare I say amplified , with the transparency and organic (real) character of the sound being most notable. I would also say that the Zeus provided more articulate and a bit deeper bass, with more slam.

In aggregate, the improvement here was of a quantum I would normally associate with placing a dramatically better source into the system, rather than the more incremental improvement one might normally associate with a change in electronics (especially if not crossing over from SS to tubes or vice versa). That surprised me somewhat (although pleasantly so), as the Audionet gear sounds very good in its own right. Relatedly, I was very happy to hear that my source and speakers were more than able to allow me to hear this fairly dramatic improvement. Perhaps most importantly, my wife, who is an accomplished jazz vocalist with a very discerning ear and knows what real instruments in a room sound like, was just blown away by the aggregate (she did not listen with the just the Pilium preamp) difference, and says I done good.

 

[Whbgarrett]

Audionet wont have the drive on that type of load to match Pilium ..!

Indeed, my observations, as reported in my response to Sonrock, would seem to bear that out.

 

[sonrock]

Fantastic and huge congratulations for your choice. It seems the Pilium amps have been doing a great job for you, particularly with the magico M project speakers. After using my Q5 for 10+ years, I can imagine how much better it could be in your system

The Pilium amps have very neutral sound, it’s not bright or warm or anything but just projecting music in the most honest ways from the source. If the source is decent then you’ll have a decent sound, if not then that’s it and you can’t get away with it.

With the totl stereo and pre that you’ve got over there, just simply enjoy the music and let everything flow naturally.

 

[sonrock]

It’s been more than a month since I received Paul’s cables and it seems they’re fully burned in now, therefore I can see how they sound at their best.

As my clock is with dcs tomorrow for them to change the display because it’s not as bright as my other boxes, so I am using 2 of Z:Axis bnc cables here between the transport - dac - upsampler and the results are absolutely fantastic.

Honestly I have never tried to compare Paul’s cables to mine, but they do meet all my expectations and I can feel the “silver” sound here.

My crystal cable bnc is also made in silver while the chord signature bnc conductor is silver plated, so I can hear the similarities without comparing them side by side.

Paul’s cables sound very neutral and smooth but not lacking of dynamic and bass at all. I think the bottom ends have been improved and fixed after the burning in period to reach the optimal performance.

I am not using any switch between the router and my upsampler for streaming or any fancy cables at the moment as I am waiting for my own to be built and delivered later. So even with stock cables provided by dcs, streaming from qobuz via mosaics app sounds absolutely fantastic to my ears.

Paul is making 2 more bnc cables for me so I will use all 5 Z:Axis BNC cables here in my stack and I am sure they’ll sound fabulous.

The following song is just beautiful with the female vocal, acoustic instrument and how everything blended together. I listen to all types of music and have a good number of favourite songs from artists around the globe who not use English. Hopefully it’ll give you a taste of how things work here

 

[sonrock]

I’ve just come back home after attending the Maverick show today, hosted and demonstrated by forum members, very interesting to see all sorts of things there from very old - discontinued speakers to modern stuff like dcs vivaldi etc.

It’s even better to learn that money raised from auctions at around £7,000, cash donations not accounted for just yet, have been sent to the local charity directly on the day .

There are somewhere between 40-50 rooms in total and a few really stands out for me. Particularly the DIY 4 ways active speakers mixed between open baffles and dual 8” woofers in an open cabinet, that’s probably the best sound of the show.

As the UK houses are small, so the hotel rooms, hence most exhibitors set up their system on the length side that makes very close field listening position and boomy in some rooms where the speakers are big. Most of the time, pillows, mattress and blankets are used for acoustic treatments .

Also today is the first time that I’ve encountered the Fortex vintage speakers. They’re big with 15” woofers, sitting in close range with some big bass tracks make it a bit boomy, but it’s down to the room instead of the speakers themselves. Cello and voice sound absolutely great and natural although after half an hour, I had the feeling of “paper sound”. If they were serviced by Kendrick sounds from Japan, it’d be incredible I believe.

Actually I see that we can have a very decent sound without spending a lot of money on hifi, but it takes a lot of time, effort and knowledge to get there. However you can’t get there with cheap and low quality stuff as that how things work.

Finally, the spotlight of the day goes to the panel with an amazing cover picture painted on top, lovely stuff. Enjoy the music everyone!

 

[sonrock]

Some more pictures

 

[heihei]

Sure. The first thing I did was swap out the Stern preamp for the Olympus, leaving the Heisenberg monos in place. The Olympus was more resolving and sounded more organic. It also threw a more 3D soundstage, with notably more height and depth. But perhaps the most striking improvement was the increase in transparency. It was akin to the additional measure of transparency you get when you go directly into an amp with a very good DAC, except even more so and in this case all of the benefits of the preamp (dynamics and soundstage size, etc.) are of course preserved. Next I changed out the Heisenberg monos for the Zeus stereo amp. This change resulted in the aforementioned improvements being even more obvious (dare I say amplified , with the transparency and organic (real) character of the sound being most notable. I would also say that the Zeus provided more articulate and a bit deeper bass, with more slam.

In aggregate, the improvement here was of a quantum I would normally associate with placing a dramatically better source into the system, rather than the more incremental improvement one might normally associate with a change in electronics (especially if not crossing over from SS to tubes or vice versa). That surprised me somewhat (although pleasantly so), as the Audionet gear sounds very good in its own right. Relatedly, I was very happy to hear that my source and speakers were more than able to allow me to hear this fairly dramatic improvement. Perhaps most importantly, my wife, who is an accomplished jazz vocalist with a very discerning ear and knows what real instruments in a room sound like, was just blown away by the aggregate (she did not listen with the just the Pilium preamp) difference, and says I done good.

Interesting. I've heard very little that would tempt me away from my Stern & Heisenberg, but Pilium is one of the few, having heard Son's system and a number of show systems. My sense is that their sonic signature is quite similar - quite a full saturated sound, but within that, neutral, and with a great sense of dynamics, focusing on a strong leading edge. Would you agree?

I think that between the two, the Heisenbergs are the star of the show, and that the Stern is very good rather than awesome. Again would you agree?

How do the Piliums compare price wise with the Audionet?Looks like the pre is quite a bit more, but the power amp is in the same ballpark.

 

[jmpsmash]

What cables are everyone using between their Pilium pre and power amps? What have you tried and what works and not work?

 

[Whbgarrett]

Interesting. I've heard very little that would tempt me away from my Stern & Heisenberg, but Pilium is one of the few, having heard Son's system and a number of show systems. My sense is that their sonic signature is quite similar - quite a full saturated sound, but within that, neutral, and with a great sense of dynamics, focusing on a strong leading edge. Would you agree?

I think that between the two, the Heisenbergs are the star of the show, and that the Stern is very good rather than awesome. Again would you agree?

How do the Piliums compare price wise with the Audionet?Looks like the pre is quite a bit more, but the power amp is in the same ballpark.

HeiHei,

Apologies for the very delayed response here. Work has been beyond busy. I think you are on target when you point to the Stern preamp as note being the star of the Audionet Scientist Series show. In point of fact, as noted in my post, I started with just the Olympus preamp from Pilium, running it into the Heisenbergs, and that change redefined the sound quite a bit, as described. The subsequent change to the Zues amp provided more of those characteristics noted, but did not redefine the sound nearly as fundamentally as when I put the preamp into the system. That said, I do think the Zues further improved the sound as described in my original post. Of course my observations take nothing away from the wonderful qualities of the Audionet gear, which I fully intend to keep and press into service in a second home in the near future.

 

[Whbgarrett]

What cables are everyone using between their Pilium pre and power amps? What have you tried and what works and not work?

I am currently using MIT MAX-SHD between the pre and power amps, but will be rearranging the setup so that I can use Vyda HFC in that spot. I am currently using Vyda between the source and the preamp, but need to move the rack closer to the amp to make the second set of Vyda interconnects that I have on hand work, as they are not long enough to use right now. That said the sound is very good with either set of interconnects, but I am looking forward to having the option to compare all MIT and all Vyda, after moving the rack. Curious to hear what others are using as well.