Ron’s New System

[Ron Resnick]

Making pancakes on Sunday morning . . .

 

[Ron Resnick]

Is that what you want? Smoother digital playback?

I think less manifestly "digital" digital playback is a good thing.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I’m just curious about the Torus getting enough ventilation underneath the couch. Looks a bit thight space there!? I know it doesn’t run extremely hot, but maybe something to look after and have in mind to check now and then.

i might personally be a bit concerned about a fire hazard. or at the very least smoke damage. combination of carpet and furniture lining and no space.

There is 2 inches of clearance above the device, and a quarter inch of clearance below the device. The air vents on the device are on the sides, not on the top. The side vents are unobstructed.

Even under the load of all five (low current) digital devices the unventilated top plate of the unit gets only very slightly warm.

 

[Thundersnow]

I think less manifestly "digital" digital playback is a good thing.

It’s interesting how people equate “smoother digital playback” as more analogue sounding. When comparing sources, up to using the Horizon, I always preferred analogue (and still do but less so with H) for its extension and sweetness in the highs and especially the more 3D imaging. So extension in highs and 3D is how I hear analogue over digital. Smoother doesn’t equate, not with top end digital. Only the H was able to bridge this gap to an extent.

 

[tima]

With the primary goal of cleaning up the rat's nest of power cables behind the stands, I got a Torus Power ToT Max isolation transformer (instead of just an outlet extension box).

Now all of the digital components are going into the Torus, which is on the other side of the wall, in the listening room and under the couch which is right up against the wall between the equipment room and the listening room.

Out of audiophilia nervosa I placed a 12" x 12" x 1/2" slab of Sorbothane underneath the Torus.

I don't know if I could reliably A/B it, but I have a feeling that the digital playback sounds a little bit smoother, a little bit "less digital."

I think less manifestly "digital" digital playback is a good thing.

So the Sorbothane mat is a tweak?

@Thundersnow characterized a less digital digital playback in terms of analog. Do you think a goal of digital playback is to sound less like itself or alternatively to sound like analog?

 

[Thundersnow]

So the Sorbothane mat is a tweak?

@Thundersnow characterized a less digital digital playback in terms of analog. Do you think a goal of digital playback is to sound less like itself or alternatively to sound like analog?

For me personally the goal is to sound like analogue, because in turn I hear analogue as more evocative of the real life instruments. Don't ask me why because I don't know, just my personal preference

 

[Ron Resnick]

All tape listening session tonight:

Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac

Mazzy Star's So Tonight That I Might See sounds somewhat believably like I am in the recording session. That's hyperbolic, of course, but, as is almost always the case with tape, the tape versus the vinyl contributes a relaxed quality to the sound, and pulls the instruments apart into a more believable sound-stage. And drums always seem to sound amazing on tape.

I never listened to the whole album before. There are decent songs on this album in addition to "Fade Into You."