Tidal La Assoluta system

[LL21]

Yesterday it was exactly 14 days ago that I inserted the Emperor NG in the LA system. Important (or should I say: the most critical?) audio components - both Tidal La Assoluta loudspeakers, the Wadax reference dac and the Wadax reference server - are connected to it. While say the first one and a half day or so of playing was overwhelming (in a good way) the ‘misery’ started thereafter: harsh, thin and emotional not involving sound for the most time. However, after 14 days at last I am experiencing - albeit now and then - some beauty again. Although the sound is still not ‘full’ or ‘saturated’ and ‘pure’ enough to my taste, other aspects - such as for example openness, dynamics, transparency as well as a majestic presentation - are getting more and more impressive. But it is going very slowly indeed and I have no idea how much more time is needed. A cooker might be needed not only to speed up things but maybe also to let the Emperor NG fully mature. However, I have no cooker available so maybe I should get one?

Congrats, Audiocrack. How long are your cables and how many? I recall that it took 5-8 days for things on the original Tripoint with 2m cables...but when we did the much larger dual Entreq Plutons + infinity T with 4m-5m of grounding cable (a number of them)...it took 2-3x as long. And then one day it clearly snapped into place. From around 6pm until 3am, it came alive very steadily.

Your Emperor NG is probably 50%-100% bigger/more 'stuff' than dual Plutons + Infinity T box which weigh a combined weight of around 79kg. Plus the gauge of your cables is huge...

 

[Audiocrack]

Congrats, Audiocrack. How long are your cables and how many? I recall that it took 5-8 days for things on the original Tripoint with 2m cables...but when we did the much larger dual Entreq Plutons + infinity T with 4m-5m of grounding cable (a number of them)...it took 2-3x as long. And then one day it clearly snapped into place. From around 6pm until 3am, it came alive very steadily.

Your Emperor NG is probably 50%-100% bigger/more 'stuff' than dual Plutons + Infinity T box which weigh a combined weight of around 79kg. Plus the gauge of your cables is huge...

Thanks Lloyd. The Tripoint grounding cables I am currently playing with are my ‘old’ Tripoint cables because no new cables were shipped simultaneously with the Emperor NG. Tripoint’s new top of the line grounding cables (as the Emperor NG) take an awful lot of time to built and Miguel is working on them as we speak. The grounding cables I am using at the moment are fully burned in, so the shifts are (only) caused by the Emperor NG itself. However, the latter is the most transparent ‘grounding’ unit ever built (by Miguel), weighs considerably more than the former top of the line ‘grounding’ unit, the Elite NG mk II, while all the metals of the Emperor NG we’re chemically treated. Furthermore the Emperor NG employs - for the first time in the history of Tripoint - silver for all its filters. Apparently this new unit needs much more time to fully mature; the three days on the cooker at the Tripoint factory were clearly not enough.

 

[LL21]

Thanks Lloyd. The Tripoint grounding cables I am currently playing with are my ‘old’ Tripoint cables because no new cables were shipped simultaneously with the Emperor NG. Tripoint’s new top of the line grounding cables (as the Emperor NG) take an awful lot of time to built and Miguel is working on them as we speak. The grounding cables I am using at the moment are fully burned in, so the shifts are (only) caused by the Emperor NG itself. However, the latter is the most transparent ‘grounding’ unit ever built (by Miguel), weighs considerably more than the former top of the line ‘grounding’ unit, the Elite NG mk II, while all the metals of the Emperor NG we’re chemically treated. Furthermore the Emperor NG employs - for the first time in the history of Tripoint - silver for all its filters. Apparently this new unit needs much more time to fully mature; the three days on the cooker at the Tripoint factory was clearly not enough.

Interesting...I think that Entreq uses Silver in its mix, possibly in its ground cables? Not exactly sure. Tungsten has been one of the new metals they have introduced into their new line which I like a lot more than their earlier line which I elected not to pursue because of the Tripoint comparable.

In any event, the challenge you have is that once the new grounding cables arrive...you have to do this over again...as you know, disconnecting the cable is such a 'painful' thing to do! The 'reconnection' can take days...let alone if you are also burning in new cables.

Patience is a virtue!!!!!

 

[Audiocrack]

Interesting...I think that Entreq uses Silver in its mix, possibly in its ground cables? Not exactly sure. Tungsten has been one of the new metals they have introduced into their new line which I like a lot more than their earlier line which I elected not to pursue because of the Tripoint comparable.

In any event, the challenge you have is that once the new grounding cables arrive...you have to do this over again...as you know, disconnecting the cable is such a 'painful' thing to do! The 'reconnection' can take days...let alone if you are also burning in new cables.

Patience is a virtue!!!!!

Yes you are completely right, Lloyd, that (dis)connecting (grounding) cables is no joy at all, in particular with my tube amplifiers. However, I agreed with Miguel that before the new Tripoint grounding cables will be shipped to me they will not only be connected for a long(er) time to his cooker but they will also be connected to an audio device in order to expose them to a ‘regular’ current. Hopefully this will avoid the ‘misery’ of burning them in.

 

[LL21]

Yes you are completely right, Lloyd, that (dis)connecting (grounding) cables is no joy at all, in particular with my tube amplifiers. However, I agreed with Miguel that before the new Tripoint grounding cables will be shipped to me they will not only be connected for a long(er) time to his cooker but they will also be connected to an audio device in order to expose them to a ‘regular’ current. Hopefully this will avoid the ‘misery’ of burning them in.

Smart move. There is always this moment in the middle of burn in when you wonder...is this all about to terribly wrong? Am I going to have to rebalance the entire system after this is done? If the manufacturer can do more of that for you...the better...

I have been allowing the QSA IEC Jitter Plug - Gold settle into the back of the Torus power conditioner which drives the entire system. At 148 hours I got quite nervous but that subsided around 350-400 hours...and now I am just enjoying observing how the sound is continuing to shift slightly. 660 hours so far...pretty remarkable after around 450 hours...but it has still been shifting slightly. And I am starting to listen more carefully to test tracks...and it is nice to 'recalibrate' my ears on those recordings as I start to hear new things not heard before...and other things sound slightly different...more to come!

 

[Audiocrack]

Smart move. There is always this moment in the middle of burn in when you wonder...is this all about to terribly wrong? Am I going to have to rebalance the entire system after this is done? If the manufacturer can do more of that for you...the better...

I have been allowing the QSA IEC Jitter Plug - Gold settle into the back of the Torus power conditioner which drives the entire system. At 148 hours I got quite nervous but that subsided around 350-400 hours...and now I am just enjoying observing how the sound is continuing to shift slightly. 660 hours so far...pretty remarkable after around 450 hours...but it has still been shifting slightly. And I am starting to listen more carefully to test tracks...and it is nice to 'recalibrate' my ears on those recordings as I start to hear new things not heard before...and other things sound slightly different...more to come!

Fully recognize the nervousness; these huge shifts are getting on my nerves as well. But no other option than keep on playing and hoping for the best (according to Miguel only the passing of time is already helpful as the conductivity of silver is getting better as time passes)

 

[Marcus]

Hello Marcus,

May I ask you if you are using your 20th Anniversary Edition Premium effectively for ‘cooking’ cables only or maybe also for burning in other audio components, such as (pre)amps, etc? Which benefits are you experiencing after ‘cooking’?

Just for cooking cables and capacitors. Never tried it on other components. At the the end of 24-36 hours of cooking, cables sound “broken” but after a day or two everything comes together and don’t experience any ups and downs afterwards.

 

[Audiocrack]

Just for cooking cables and capacitors. Never tried it on other components. At the the end of 24-36 hours of cooking, cables sound “broken” but after a day or two everything comes together and don’t experience any ups and downs afterwards.

I might try ‘cooking’ the filters of Tripoint’s Emperor NG. And just that I understand you correctly, Marcus: you ‘cook’ your cables (only) once, that is not periodically? I believe some people think cq believe that cables profit from being ‘cooked’ periodically because after a while the positive effect of the initial ‘cooking’ vanishes.

 

[Marcus]

Yes, only once, so don’t know if this “periodical cooking” really works or not. With so many cables in the system, I don’t have enough willpower and obsession to this every few months. Maybe I’ll try this when I’m retired.

 

[Audiocrack]

I am going to try to stabilize Tripoint’s Emperor NG by connecting it to a cooker. After (i) the feedback from Marcus, (ii) talking to Alan of Audiodharma and (iii) reading the following review of Marshall Nack - https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/the-latest-audiodharma-cable-cooker/ - I have decided to order Audiodharma’s top of the line cooker. It will certainly take 3-4 weeks before this unit will arrive in Holland and probably at least another week to fully burn in the Emperor NG. Patience, patience ….

 

[Audiocrack]

In the past I used two separate powerlines with (two) Oyaide (power)cables of exact the same length and two identical powerstrips. One powerstrip was only used for digital audio components and the other one only for analog audio components. However, at a certain moment in time I switched back to using one powerline/powerstrip because I had the feeling that this ‘single set up’ sounded somewhat more continuous and coherent. In this ‘single set up’ the digital components (Wadax reference server and dac as well as the Zanden 2000p cd-transport) are of course connected to the same powerstrip as the analog components (my Kondo Gakuoh poweramps and G-1000 linestage).

Three weeks ago I inserted Tripoint’s Emperor NG in the LA system. Although clearly not fully burned in and stabilized yet this new top of the line ‘grounding’ station is already incredible transparent: I have never before in my audio life experienced an unit that - apparently - removes so much distortion that it provides uncanny insights on what is going on in the audio chain and how well or bad the music was actually recorded. But this extraordinary transparency also came at a price because something something was clearly wrong: the system did move me emotionally anymore.

So after consultation with Miguel we decided to disconnect the Wadax reference server from the (one) powerstrip I was employing till yesterday; servers are ‘notorious’ in the sense that they produce an awful lot of distorsion/noise. The idea behind going back to two separate powerstrips is of course to ‘protect’ all other audio components from the ‘noise contamination’ created by the server. And bingo! I am definitely ‘not there yet’ - for the obvious reason that the Emperor NG needs (much?) more burning in time - but I experienced immediately much more serinity and beauty in tonality. The ‘emotional click’ is back.

 

[LL21]

In the past I used two separate powerlines with (two) Oyaide (power)cables of exact the same length and two identical powerstrips. One powerstrip was only used for digital audio components and the other one only for analog audio components. However, at a certain moment in time I switched back to using one powerline/powerstrip because I had the feeling that this ‘single set up’ sounded somewhat more continuous and coherent. In this ‘single set up’ the digital components (Wadax reference server and dac as well as the Zanden 2000p cd-transport) are of course connected to the same powerstrip as the analog components (my Kondo Gakuoh poweramps and G-1000 linestage).

Three weeks ago I inserted Tripoint’s Emperor NG in the LA system. Although clearly not fully burned in and stabilized yet this new top of the line ‘grounding’ station is already incredible transparent: I have never before in my audio life experienced an unit that - apparently - removes so much distortion that it provides uncanny insights on what is going on in the audio chain and how well or bad the music was actually recorded. But this extraordinary transparency also came at a price because something something was clearly wrong: the system did move me emotionally anymore.

So after consultation with Miguel we decided to disconnect the Wadax reference server from the (one) powerstrip I was employing till yesterday; servers are ‘notorious’ in the sense that they produce an awful lot of distorsion/noise. The idea behind going back to two separate powerstrips is of course to ‘protect’ all other audio components from the ‘noise contamination’ created by the server. And bingo! I am definitely ‘not there yet’ - for the obvious reason that the Emperor NG needs (much?) more burning in time - but I experienced immediately much more serinity and beauty in tonality. The ‘emotional click’ is back.

Intuitively, I think that makes sense. While a single system approach does keep ground loop risk to a minimum, the noise/hash of the digital and analog is often recommended to be separated. In our case, since we cannot do that, we have the entire system running through the Torus...BUT the sources and preamp run through a Burmester 948 conditioner and then into the Torus (amps and subwoofer go straight into Torus)...and the Burmester itself isolates the digital plug inlets from the amplification inlets (in this case the preamp). So we have 'some isolation' in the system.

 

[Audiocrack]

Leaving aside for a moment the nasty shifts caused by (burning in) Tripoint’s Audio Emperor NG ‘grounding’ station the LA system has evolved greatly - in say the last half year or so - and sounds more impressive than ever before. Steps like a. Pure, oxygen free copper platforms for all audio components (including the two powerstrips I am currently employing), b. Mass loading the Wadax reference dac and server as well as two Tripoint Audio Elite NG’s and the Emperor NG with (again) pure, oxygen free copper slabs, c. Adding 8 of Hifistay’s Absolute Point footers (they are Hifistay’s reference footers) and d. Adding quite a number of RevOpods (inter alia under the Wadax reference dac, Wadax reference server and the two PSU’s of the reference dac) all made a significant difference for the better.

Another device I would like to mention once again is the Aardvark isolator. What it is doing in battling distortion in the digital domain is really impressive! In one of my previous posts in this thread I referred to a review of Roy Gregory. Here is a link to another review of this device:

AARDVARK ETHERNET ISOLATOR by Ron Cook

BACKGROUND For the last several years, the changes in my system have all been attributed, in one way or another, to tweaking! I have not changed components or loudspeakers, but I have changed speaker cables, AC powercords, and fuses. I also added the RevOpods into my audio rig to improve...

stereotimes.com

So if you do not believe me, please have a look at these two reviews of this great sounding Aardvark isolator.

 

[Audiocrack]

Tripoint’s Emperor NG ‘grounding’ station is gradually getting better and better (although way too slowly for my taste: very likely I need the Audiodharma cooker for fully stabilizing it and maximizing its performance; that is also the reasoning of course why I have ordered this cooker). But during the good shifts - and these shifts are already mesmerizing - the Emperor NG in combination with the LA’s and the other audio components very clearly shows which recordings are really great and which ones are only good (or even less). Recently I bought the following recording in dxd format :

 

[Audiocrack]

This recording of Pentatone of the ‘Babi Yar symphony’ of Shostakovich sounds really outstanding in its original dxd format. A must have for especially those audiophiles who love large orchestral pieces of composers such as Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich.

 

[Audiocrack]

 

[Audiocrack]

A few weeks back I bought the above dxd file (the original recording was made in dxd) of various works of Bela Bartok. The recording engineer was Everett Porter who was also responsible for many recordings in the RCO Live series of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam. This recording was favorable reviewed bij quite a few reviewers and sounds in my LA system quite impressive in its dxd format. I noticed today it is one of nominees on the Nativedsd website for recording of the year (orchestral recordings). You will not be disappointed by this recording.

 

[LL21]

A few weeks back I bought the above dxd file (the original recording was made in dxd) of various works of Bela Bartok. The recording engineer was Everett Porter who was also responsible for many recordings in the RCO Live series of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam. This recording was favorable reviewed bij quite a few reviewers and sounds in my LA system quite impressive in its dxd format. I noticed today it is one of nominees on the Nativedsd website for recording of the year (orchestral recordings). You will not be disappointed by this recording.

I agree...it is excellent. I also got it several weeks ago and really like it. I am generally not a fan of Bartok, and I enjoy this one.

 

[Audiocrack]

I agree...it is excellent. I also got it several weeks ago and really like it. I am generally not a fan of Bartok, and I enjoy this one.

Is it not an interesting phenomenon that truly outstanding recordings sometimes have the effect that you start appreciating certain pieces of music much more than ever before? It happened to me for example with the various Prokofiev orchestral recordings of Challenge Classics in their (original) dxd format (with Bert van der Wolf as producer and recording engineer).

 

[LL21]

Is it not an interesting phenomenon that truly outstanding recordings sometimes have the effect that you start appreciating certain pieces of music much more than ever before? It happened to me for example with the various Prokofiev orchestral recordings of Challenge Classics in their (original) dxd format (with Bert van der Wolf as producer and recording engineer).

Absolutely.