Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
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I have decided (subject to change) to run a 100 amp circuit from a 200 amp service panel in the kitchen to a W A Benjamin Electric subpanel on the outside wall of the listening room. (This is the same location at which the Torus Power unit would have been mounted.) I will replace the ineffective single ground rod which came with the house and which grounds the main service panel coming into the house with two standard copper ground rods six feet apart.
That conventional dual ground rod will be used to ground the service panels and the Benjamin Electric subpanel. The Benjamin Electric subpanel will have an isolated ground bus. Both my new vertical chemical ground and my new horizontal chemical ground will be able to be connected individually or together to the isolated ground bus on the Benjamin Electric subpanel.
To the listening room we will run four 20 amp 120V circuits and two 20 amp 240V circuits. To the equipment room we will run two 20 amp 120V circuits and one 20 amp 240V circuit. The 240V circuits are primarily so I have the flexibility to add a floor-mounted Torus Power balanced power/isolation transformer device in the future. The Tower Power balanced power devices require 240V input.
Nothing is changed with respect the wiring and the outlets planned. I will use the JPS in-wall cable and Furutech GTX-D (G) gold outlets. The outlets will be ground isolated from the service panels and connected to the isolated ground bus on the Benjamin Electric subpanel.
I am not worried about lightning strikes, and I just cannot get comfortable with passive filters like the SurgeX.
That conventional dual ground rod will be used to ground the service panels and the Benjamin Electric subpanel. The Benjamin Electric subpanel will have an isolated ground bus. Both my new vertical chemical ground and my new horizontal chemical ground will be able to be connected individually or together to the isolated ground bus on the Benjamin Electric subpanel.
To the listening room we will run four 20 amp 120V circuits and two 20 amp 240V circuits. To the equipment room we will run two 20 amp 120V circuits and one 20 amp 240V circuit. The 240V circuits are primarily so I have the flexibility to add a floor-mounted Torus Power balanced power/isolation transformer device in the future. The Tower Power balanced power devices require 240V input.
Nothing is changed with respect the wiring and the outlets planned. I will use the JPS in-wall cable and Furutech GTX-D (G) gold outlets. The outlets will be ground isolated from the service panels and connected to the isolated ground bus on the Benjamin Electric subpanel.
I am not worried about lightning strikes, and I just cannot get comfortable with passive filters like the SurgeX.
Sounds good Ron...as usual it seems you have been doing a lot of homework on this...btw, since i have never had 'dual voltage' in the same home, what happens if you plug a 120V piece of equipment into one of your 240V outlets? Is it like plugging a 120V piece of equipment into a UK outlet (ie, "poof!...and a puff of smoke and melting plastic")? (i've actually done it by accident, so that description is from experience, the hard way.)
Ron if you run 100A two phase service, you only get 50A per phase (and they can't mix unless its for 240v). It takes two 120V phases to make 240V.
You would have your amplifier sockets on two different phases, each phase with 10A to spare. However you can only use that 10A with a 10A breaker. You'd have two 10A services available for the equipment. That is, if such a thing is made. However that same 10A on each phase could create one 20A 240v service that you could use for the equipment. Then you could use a transformer to step it down, which would provide 120v at 40A which could allow two Furutech sockets.
However if you're not going to have the balanced unit at the service box, check on prices for 240v to 120v isolation transformers. You may save some $ on the whole deal while not making a compromise if the transformer is going to be essentially on the equipment rack.
You would have your amplifier sockets on two different phases, each phase with 10A to spare. However you can only use that 10A with a 10A breaker. You'd have two 10A services available for the equipment. That is, if such a thing is made. However that same 10A on each phase could create one 20A 240v service that you could use for the equipment. Then you could use a transformer to step it down, which would provide 120v at 40A which could allow two Furutech sockets.
However if you're not going to have the balanced unit at the service box, check on prices for 240v to 120v isolation transformers. You may save some $ on the whole deal while not making a compromise if the transformer is going to be essentially on the equipment rack.
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The prong configurations on 120VAC plugs and 240VAC plugs are very different, and a device with a 120V plug simply cannot be inserted into a 240V outlet.
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Here's an interesting caveat. Yesterday I was asking JackD if I will need special AC adaptors to charge my devices while at his house in Manila as it is 230V. Jack said they use the same plugs as the USA and there is no problem charging although that poof of smoke thought scares me
If Jack has a charger for your Apple devices, that would be safer. While the "lightning" connector end will supply the 5V required by iPhone/iPad, the transformer would almost have to be different to work. If Jack's audio equipment, etc is all run off standard-configuration "120V-type" plugs and receptacles, yet is 230V, then there may be some unfamiliar electrical wiring or phase of which I'm unaware.
Lee
I have been trying to understand the subtle sonic differences between the Koetsu Coralstone and the Koetsu Blue Lace. The innards of those cartridges are the same; the only difference is the type of stone from which the body is made. The difference in pricing is due only to the relative rarities of the stone at the time of manufacture.
After discussing these two cartridges with members who have one or both of them; with three Koetsu dealers; and with a friend who has had five Coralstones, I have concluded there is a consensus that the Blue Lace is very slightly more extended in the frequency extremes than the Coralstone, and that that has the effect of making the Coralstone very slightly more midrange-focused. These differences between these two cartridges by all accounts are very subtle.
I have been trying to understand the sonic differences between the Air Tight PC-1 Supreme and the new Air Tight Opus. There the consensus seems to be that the cartridges are very similar, but that the Opus is slightly more transparent and slightly higher in resolution, without losing any of the midrange naturalness of the PC-1 Supreme. So I suspect the Opus beats the PC-1 Supreme.
I have been trying to understand the sonic differences between the Air Tight PC-1 Supreme and the My Sonic Lab cartridges. (There is a new MSL cartridge, called the Signature Platinum, which I have not yet heard and I have not found anyone who has heard it.) There seems to be a reasonable consensus that the Air Tights and the MSLs are very similar sounding (they should be as they are designed by the same man) but that the MSL, in general, may be a little bit more dynamic and a little bit more extended in the frequency extremes, and that the Air Tight is a little bit warmer or sweeter in the midrange.
While I value the higher output (.5mv) of the Opus over the lower output (.3mv) of the Coralstone to make life easier for the Io, I think the Io should be able to amplify the Coralstone without too much tube noise. While the Basis Audio Super Arm 9 is large and heavy, I do not know its specific effective mass. Assuming that insufficient effective mass of the tonearm is not an issue I think I have to try the midrange magic of the Koetsu Coralstone.
A friend who currently has both the Coralstone and the Opus says that he usually prefers the Opus which, he finds, is slightly more transparent and slightly higher in resolution, and slightly more extended in the frequency extremes than the Coralstone. He says that the slightly less extended high frequencies of the Coralstone make the Coralstone slightly more midrange-focused than the Opus. I liked the midrange-focused character of the Benz Micro Ruby 2. I am always concerned about perceiving extended high frequencies as brightness. I affirmatively liked that the Ruby 2 was a little rolled off in the highs.
I heard one of the stone body Koetsus at Absolute Sounds in London, and I loved it. I did, indeed, think the midrange was fantastic. I heard the Opus myself at T.H.E. Show Newport and I did not find it bright at all.
This is all splitting hairs, but I think am more comfortable dialing down slightly the high frequency extension and opting for a slightly more midrange-focused presentation. I think that suggests the Coralstone.
Having written all of that I still would like to hear both cartridges in the same system. I just might have to visit my friend who has both of these cartridges on his turntable!
Fatigue from high frequencies comes from dirty power more than anything, unless something is rather wrong. I wouldn't worry about the cartridge being an issues. In fact I've found somethings that are toward "bright" to sound the best when they're not being filled with noise and poor power factor.
Ron I'm tickled that your turntable will be the centerpiece of your system far beyond any other part. As important as speakers are, electronics are of a higher focus for me. It looks like you believe this to a point as well.
Ron I'm tickled that your turntable will be the centerpiece of your system far beyond any other part. As important as speakers are, electronics are of a higher focus for me. It looks like you believe this to a point as well.
I don't know. I feel strongly that, from time to time, I have felt fatigued from digital playback, from bright cartridges, from bright speakers . . . irrespective of power issues.
The turntable will be the focus -- as I listen only to LPs.
I am afraid we look at the "which component is most important" question differently. I select the speakers first, and then the electronics.
The turntable will be the focus -- as I listen only to LPs.
I am afraid we look at the "which component is most important" question differently. I select the speakers first, and then the electronics.
I will stand by the power being the typical culprit. As its about as rare as possible to see truly good power care, I have to experience poorly designed things myself to conclude that it's indeed them to blame.
Speakers and amps do have to chosen in conjuction, really, but I would never sacrifice the quality of electronics for an upgrade in speakers unless we're talking at a questionable, indistinguishable perhaps, difference. I would say you've made the distinction the turntable is first.
Speakers and amps do have to chosen in conjuction, really, but I would never sacrifice the quality of electronics for an upgrade in speakers unless we're talking at a questionable, indistinguishable perhaps, difference. I would say you've made the distinction the turntable is first.
Mystery revealed... I think many of us had a hunch that would be the choice. Although Genesis was a wild card after a few comments later after the initial response. You certainly are not ever going to feel that you made a terrible mistake and wish to retract the decision!
Thank you, Lee! The speakers will be ready long before my house is repaired and the listening room is able to accommodate them. I hope I will be able to install the speakers in about 12 months.
So . . . the last big decision is cables. I am interested in Basis Audio cables and MasterBuilt cables. Both brands do not use networks, and both brands claim that their cables pass waveforms without adulteration.
The distance between the Io and the Pendragon bass towers might be almost 30 feet, so I would consider switching to XLR cables. The Io has a true balanced input and output. The Pendragons have true balanced inputs and outputs. The VTLs do not have true balanced inputs. (The N.A.T. Magma New SEs have true balanced inputs.)
The distance between the Io and the Pendragon bass towers might be almost 30 feet, so I would consider switching to XLR cables. The Io has a true balanced input and output. The Pendragons have true balanced inputs and outputs. The VTLs do not have true balanced inputs. (The N.A.T. Magma New SEs have true balanced inputs.)
No, I am not changing the electronics. I consider the Io a lifetime keeper. I still like the big VTLs. (I also like that I can drive to Jim at Aesthetix and to Luke at VTL in case anything goes wrong.)
But I would be very curious to try N.A.T. Magma New SE amplifiers on the Pendragon ribbon panels.
I am not personally aware of anyone using tube amplifiers on the Pendragon ribbon panels so it will be a very interesting experiment! I know that I liked JA-200s on the Infinity IRS Vs at Lyric Hi-Fi in Manhattan, and I liked Audiocrack's tube amplifiers on his Genesis 1.1s.
But I would be very curious to try N.A.T. Magma New SE amplifiers on the Pendragon ribbon panels.
I am not personally aware of anyone using tube amplifiers on the Pendragon ribbon panels so it will be a very interesting experiment! I know that I liked JA-200s on the Infinity IRS Vs at Lyric Hi-Fi in Manhattan, and I liked Audiocrack's tube amplifiers on his Genesis 1.1s.
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