Visit to Marc C.'s (SpiritOfMusic's) House in England

[spiritofmusic]

Peter, when I installed it a decade ago in my old apartment, my room acoustics and power delivery, musical interests, and me as person, were completely different.
My power in London was really corrupted, live/work apartments around me online all day, light industry up and down my road.
Balanced power and especially Entreq grounding at the time really suited what I needed.
But I never went to the next step of opening up clarity, transparency and neutrality on acoustic music like jazz and classical.
Life out here out of London has brought this whole new lifestyle of dozens of classical concerts annually, in so many different venues/acoustics, and I've really become a fan and more discerning in the sound I want at home.
As the rest of my system has evolved (vinyl front end new motor, plinth/footers, mat/puck, tonearm/wiring and Straingauge special order stylii/LPSU plus Stacore, major SETs surgery and superior preamp tubes, and Airblades addition to Zus), my remaining sonic logjams or bottlenecks have become identifiable.
And several months ago, visitors strongly suggested I consider disconnecting the balanced transformer, suspecting it was hampering a sound they otherwise quite liked.
In addition to Blue58 also having expressed doubt over the unit.
And so a few weeks ago, out it went to be replaced by the specialist Doepke consumer unit/circuit breaker pieces.
And a voyage of real discovery as for five weeks solid, there has been a phenomenal daily unfolding and rebuilding of my sound, each improvement underpinning the next.
In the whole time I've been in this hobby, these last five weeks have been the most remarkable, not an exaggeration to say I'm in a wholly different place with how previously underperforming jazz and classical was compared to now, and my burgeoning appreciation of classical at home.
This DG remaster series is totally tremendous sonically with these changes.

 

[spiritofmusic]

And you thought when you installed it that it was an improvement. Do you attribute this change of opinion to more exposure to live music or to something else?

What other stuff can you remove from your system or set up?

I've already tried returning to stock footers and fuses, and the SQ is worse.
As things stand, power delivery and grounding are the two areas only that have benefitted from going simpler or stripping out.
I'm likely to stick as is, so happy am I with this result.

 

[Ron Resnick]

And you thought when you installed it that it was an improvement. Do you attribute this change of opinion to more exposure to live music or to something else?

Good question!

I, too, am confused, Marc.

Putting it bluntly, if you are correct now, why and what were you mis-hearing back then when the isolation transformer and the Entreqs went into the system?

 

[the sound of Tao]

Well, it looks like I'm on a roll of stripping stuff out.
After much ribbing I should divorce from by balanced power transformer, I've gone ahead by replacing with specialist Doepke RCCD and MCBs, to truly amazing effect.
Now a long-term Entreq skeptic in my circle has strongly pushed me to trying my system with the grounding boxes disconnected.
And yes, I'm hearing the benefit.
Not as radical night and day as the Doepkes, but another step closer to reality.
I'm using the newly arrived DG remastered Bruckner's symphonies box set to gauge the changes, and after a couple of hours they're plain to hear.

You went through a cycle of giving up Entreq and then got back on it again a while back Marc… I’m also neither anti nor pro any of this particularly and think context is a factor though I’d figure if it’s not needed it’s good to go with less than more… too much tweak can easily be more problematic than too little and just enough obviously the best plan. Are you happy with the changes on less optimised replay than the DG remasters?

 

[pjwd]

Good question!

I, too, am confused, Marc.

Putting it bluntly, if you are correct now, why and what were you mis-hearing back then when the isolation transformer and the Entreqs went into the system?

It's surprising what you hear when you improve the acoustics of the room ... so much of what we do is a chain of compensating errors that are difficult to unentangle

 

[tima]

Peter, when I installed it a decade ago in my old apartment, my room acoustics and power delivery, musical interests, and me as person, were completely different.
My power in London was really corrupted, live/work apartments around me online all day, light industry up and down my road.
Balanced power and especially Entreq grounding at the time really suited what I needed.
But I never went to the next step of opening up clarity, transparency and neutrality on acoustic music like jazz and classical.
Life out here out of London has brought this whole new lifestyle of dozens of classical concerts annually, in so many different venues/acoustics, and I've really become a fan and more discerning in the sound I want at home.
As the rest of my system has evolved (vinyl front end new motor, plinth/footers, mat/puck, tonearm/wiring and Straingauge special order stylii/LPSU plus Stacore, major SETs surgery and superior preamp tubes, and Airblades addition to Zus), my remaining sonic logjams or bottlenecks have become identifiable.
And several months ago, visitors strongly suggested I consider disconnecting the balanced transformer, suspecting it was hampering a sound they otherwise quite liked.
In addition to Blue58 also having expressed doubt over the unit.
And so a few weeks ago, out it went to be replaced by the specialist Doepke consumer unit/circuit breaker pieces.
And a voyage of real discovery as for five weeks solid, there has been a phenomenal daily unfolding and rebuilding of my sound, each improvement underpinning the next.
In the whole time I've been in this hobby, these last five weeks have been the most remarkable, not an exaggeration to say I'm in a wholly different place with how previously underperforming jazz and classical was compared to now, and my burgeoning appreciation of classical at home.
This DG remaster series is totally tremendous sonically with these changes.

Good for you!

Stuff accretes to audio systems over time. Particularly stuff that while spendy is not too spendy. Footers, power cables, electricity conditioners, this acoustic thingy, that acoustic thingy. Over time it layers in like mold growing on top of fungus on top of dirt.

It was revelatory for me when I removed two power conditioners, eleven acoustic panels, eight special speaker footers. I went from fancy audiophile power cords to ching-cheng, went from top-of-the-line audiophile ICs and speaker cables to industrial level simple wires; I removed a really nice isolating platform from under my turntable. All of it collaborated to damp energy, to devitalize sound in one way or another. The result was an overall boon to vivacity, a sense of music making over signal manipulation. Better dynamics, better flow, more information, less constriction. Unicorns shat musical ducats and the oceans rose ... well ... maybe not but none of that stuff has returned.

 

[bonzo75]

I can't do this to you guys. The Grand Old Duke of York, marching his 10,000 men to the top of the hill, and then marching them back down again.

Or like Forrest Gump, who ran for many days and all followed him, then turned round to say I’m tired and going back home

 

[spiritofmusic]

Good question!

I, too, am confused, Marc.

Putting it bluntly, if you are correct now, why and what were you mis-hearing back then when the isolation transformer and the Entreqs went into the system?

What is mis-hearing, and what is hearing differences/differently?
Your Q doesn't have a straightforward answer, my power was such a negative factor in the old apartment that first a main conditioner, then balanced power, and finally Entreq all changed things significantly from "stock".
I am guilty of latching onto attributes sometimes without seeing the bigger picture.
Balanced and Entreq absolutely then and there provided compelling upticks.
Remember, I'm not going back to "stock" on power, I now have audiophile grade Doepke breakers installed.
For *whatever* reasons, this is *so* embarrassing my previous attempts at clean power delivery.
In such a way, that the system is transformed in every way.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I

Or like Forrest Gump, who ran for many days and all followed him, then turned round to say I’m tired and going back home

I *am* tired, Ked. Lol

 

[Chop]

I've already tried returning to stock footers and fuses, and the SQ is worse.
As things stand, power delivery and grounding are the two areas only that have benefitted from going simpler or stripping out.
I'm likely to stick as is, so happy am I with this result.

Hi Marc
So, what you are saying is that at a point in time & based on where your system was and where you lived, adding an Isolation transformer and Entreqs improved your sound. You then improved the system in several ways and some time later (now), the system is better without the transformer and Entreqs. I don't think this is surprising and I don't think it invalidates your original opinion.

I have suspected for a while that the things we do to improve our system at any point in time depends a lot on how "mature " that system is at that point in time. Some improvements make things worse: I know you and I both like the Symposium approach to energy transmission, but when I first introduced them the sound got worse - I could suddenly hear the effect of a glass shelf.
My point is that its really hard to make improvements that last "forever". Maybe before you improved other areas the system simply wasn't letting you hear the constrained dynamics from the Isolation transformer and Entreqs. To me what you've found is perfectly logical. Its very helpful of you to stick your head above the parapet and say "I May have been right then but I'm not now".

 

[Argonaut]

He moved !

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hi Marc
So, what you are saying is that at a point in time & based on where your system was and where you lived, adding an Isolation transformer and Entreqs improved your sound. You then improved the system in several ways and some time later (now), the system is better without the transformer and Entreqs. I don't think this is surprising and I don't think it invalidates your original opinion.

I have suspected for a while that the things we do to improve our system at any point in time depends a lot on how "mature " that system is at that point in time. Some improvements make things worse: I know you and I both like the Symposium approach to energy transmission, but when I first introduced them the sound got worse - I could suddenly hear the effect of a glass shelf.
My point is that its really hard to make improvements that last "forever". Maybe before you improved other areas the system simply wasn't letting you hear the constrained dynamics from the Isolation transformer and Entreqs. To me what you've found is perfectly logical. Its very helpful of you to stick your head above the parapet and say "I May have been right then but I'm not now".

Yes, that gets to the heart of it. Our systems may be the same in essence, but can sound very different in different acoustics, and with different power.
What is apparent in retrospect is that despite getting seemingly positive changes using this transformer and Entreq, those changes didn't translate to better playback of acoustic genres jazz and classical, where tonal differentiation and timbral accuracy, and transparency, are critical for a truer to live presentation.
Critically, the combination of dramatically better room acoustics on the move here AND a vastly increased regular exposure to live classical in dozens of different venues, has maybe "recalibrated" both what I appreciate, and then expect to hear at home.
During this time, made serious inroads into improving my base system, especially major transformation work to my TT, dropping noise floor of SETs, expanding the frequency range and acoustic dispersal of my Zus via the Airblades.
It's as if all these changes were audible, but still hidden or obscured by my choices on power delivery/mains noise management.
Leading to the most recent group of visitors liking so much about my sound, but feeling things were being held back.
"Marc, you have the basis of a great sound, things could be better".
How right they were.

 

[bonzo75]

"Marc, you have the basis of a great sound, things could be better".

Is this the audio equivalent of exes saying you are a great person, one day you will make someone very happy.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Good for you!

Stuff accretes to audio systems over time. Particularly stuff that while spendy is not too spendy. Footers, power cables, electricity conditioners, this acoustic thingy, that acoustic thingy. Over time it layers in like mold growing on top of fungus on top of dirt.

It was revelatory for me when I removed two power conditioners, eleven acoustic panels, eight special speaker footers. I went from fancy audiophile power cords to ching-cheng, went from top-of-the-line audiophile ICs and speaker cables to industrial level simple wires; I removed a really nice isolating platform from under my turntable. All of it collaborated to damp energy, to devitalize sound in one way or another. The result was an overall boon to vivacity, a sense of music making over signal manipulation. Better dynamics, better flow, more information, less constriction. Unicorns shat musical ducats and the oceans rose ... well ... maybe not but none of that stuff has returned.

Haven't gone quite as far as you, because some de-tweakification hasn't borne fruit.
But I now look at an 80kg coil, daisy chained with *three* RCCDs, and wonder how "lossy" my system was for over a decade.
I was also beguiled by the change in bass nature of my system when the transformer was first installed, and this likely biased me in favour.
What's fascinating is that now stripping out the Entreq grounding has "pared back" the sound a little more, leading to greater resolution and less smear, in addition to losing the pumped low end from the transformer.
I found with my Arya Revopods versus IsoAcoustics Gaias trial to replace stock spikes under my Zus, that the Gaias pumped up bass presentation was initially seductive, but soon became apparent as "one note", the bass changes that I've now become aware of that the transformer and Entreq wrought are deleterious to true fidelity.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Is this the audio equivalent of exes saying you are a great person, one day you will make someone very happy.

Ked, everyday you've known me has been better than the day before.

 

[spiritofmusic]

He moved !

I did!

 

[spiritofmusic]

It's surprising what you hear when you improve the acoustics of the room ... so much of what we do is a chain of compensating errors that are difficult to unentangle

Yes, very true.
But I was also rather closed on my attitude to the transformer and Entreq.
Both provided such positive upticks when I was trialling them/had them installed, that I didn't look beyond.
Entreq is a fascinating case in point. It did so much to ameliorate noise back in my previous noise-ridden apartment, that it seemed a total boon.
Yet, much less here on day one of install, yet seemingly enough to keep it's place.
But with power much more "straight line" without the transformer, and power *seemingly* being less adulterated up here (although as I've been informed, I can't assume that with farm machinery and transformers nearby pumping crud back into the grid), the Entreq doesn't perform the magic trick it once did.

 

[spiritofmusic]

You went through a cycle of giving up Entreq and then got back on it again a while back Marc… I’m also neither anti nor pro any of this particularly and think context is a factor though I’d figure if it’s not needed it’s good to go with less than more… too much tweak can easily be more problematic than too little and just enough obviously the best plan. Are you happy with the changes on less optimised replay than the DG remasters?

The DG stuff, and Tone Poets etc sound very fine indeed.
I made a bit of a breakthru on my TT becoming more revealing and tonally differentiated and timbrally more accurate in the last few years with Stacore isolation, new motor, plinth, mat/puck, arm and armwire, new Straingauge stylus choice and LPSU, and this is now all coming to fruition with the opening up of my whole presentation via these power changes.
It's very hard to convey the changes wrought by all this.
It's a totally new record collection.

 

[pjwd]

Yes, very true.
But I was also rather closed on my attitude to the transformer and Entreq.
Both provided such positive upticks when I was trialling them/had them installed, that I didn't look beyond.
Entreq is a fascinating case in point. It did so much to ameliorate noise back in my previous noise-ridden apartment, that it seemed a total boon.
Yet, much less here on day one of install, yet seemingly enough to keep it's place.
But with power much more "straight line" without the transformer, and power *seemingly* being less adulterated up here (although as I've been informed, I can't assume that with farm machinery and transformers nearby pumping crud back into the grid), the Entreq doesn't perform the magic trick it once did.

Yes I trialed an entreq device years ago .. I though they may have a silver and copper anode in a low conductive matrix that did some clever hoovering on ground but... nada
On the other hand a small balanced trannie on front end gear provided a positive result .. of course I have changed stuff since then so maybe time to pull it out
Same problem occurs in medicine where efficacy may not meet trial results .. humans are pathologicaly optimistic... thank goodness

I just spend the weekend socializing with a mains power engineer .. you can be sure power is contaminated everywhere
No getting away from it

 

[spiritofmusic]

Yes I trialed an entreq device years ago .. I though they may have a silver and copper anode in a low conductive matrix that did some clever hoovering on ground but... nada
On the other hand a small balanced trannie on front end gear provided a positive result .. of course I have changed stuff since then so maybe time to pull it out
Same problem occurs in medicine where efficacy may not meet trial results .. humans are pathologicaly optimistic... thank goodness

I just spend the weekend socializing with a mains power engineer .. you can be sure power is contaminated everywhere
No getting away from it

Sure. It may be that grid voltage fluctuations are less of an issue here in the Sticks, ground impedance more favourable.
I'm more minded to think that my sheer brutally awful room acoustics back in London in combination with worse than usual adulterated mains power, plus a system that wasn't on it's own merits as good as it could have been, produced my singularly sub par aggregate outcome.