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

[spiritofmusic]

Thank you for your reply. I am truly happy for you!

Appreciated. If ever there was a time to step off, this is it.
What's fascinating is that the changes are so deep and widespread, I can't quite keep up with them.
Not just a simple case of more bass, or less stridency.
Taking the system closer to live music was never more apparent than going with these changes.
From a kind of rock solid secure foundation to the music, clarity and transparency thru the mids, energy and air higher up.
And from this greater resolution of detail, and tonal/timbral appreciation.
I do think if I hadn't got deeply into live classical, I might not be registering this quite so directly.

 

[Kingrex]

Westwick 8K balanced power transformer
Entreq Silver Tellus, Silver Cleanus plus Olympus Minimus, nine Apollo ground cables.

That sounds excellent? Is that what your removing for a direct from wall with a good breaker and duplex?

 

[Kingrex]

Spirit, your Europe, right. Make sure you have all copper comb bus on the breakers and all the neutral, ground bars are also copper.
You can get in the holes on the neutral and ground bars with a dremmel and 2000 grit paper on the spindle. Remove all tin. Flip the paper over and rub jewlers polish on the back and dremel again to a bright shine. Use soap and hot water and a pipe cleaner and get all the polish out of the holes. Dry and apply Deoxit G100 over a day or 2 with layer on layer. Very thin. Not thick. Use a qtip and swab the hole. No polish should be left behind. You will hear a greater calm and quiet with less noise floor. A panel done right is sensed as a reductrion in glare and noise as large as adding an isolation transformer. But different. Its just clean pure copper to copper.

FWIW, a chop stick can also have the paper and polish paper wrapped around it and the work.done by hand. Lock the bar in a vice and work slow.

You only need to do the holes from the main and any earth ground and audio branch wires.

 

[Lagonda]

Spirit, your Europe, right. Make sure you have all copper comb bus on the breakers and all the neutral, ground bars are also copper.
You can get in the holes on the neutral and ground bars with a dremmel and 2000 grit paper on the spindle. Remove all tin. Flip the paper over and rub jewlers polish on the back and dremel again to a bright shine. Use soap and hot water and a pipe cleaner and get all the polish out of the holes. Dry and apply Deoxit G100 over a day or 2 with layer on layer. Very thin. Not thick. Use a qtip and swab the hole. No polish should be left behind. You will hear a greater calm and quiet with less noise floor. A panel done right is sensed as a reductrion in glare and noise as large as adding an isolation transformer. But different. Its just clean pure copper to copper.

FWIW, a chop stick can also have the paper and polish paper wrapped around it and the work.done by hand. Lock the bar in a vice and work slow.

You only need to do the holes from the main and any earth ground and audio branch wires.

R.I.P Marc ! Thank you doctor Kevorkian !

 

[Kingrex]

You can ditch all your filters and achieve a sound. Everything is about creating a sound. Marc is right in that many people are so close to their system they loose sight of what they have creates. I feel Cable fanatics fall into this catagory. The owner creates a sound, then one day they change a cable and hear another sound and get carries away on another buying spree.

I know filters do good in the right installation. I always specify non filtered circuits as well as via a Torus to the amps and front end. You have to have options to allow tuning. I have so much air in my system now, and my ampd have an excellent front end and power supply where they sound better direct to the wall. The Dartzeel sounded better in the Torus. The front end and especially the digital equipment has a notable reduction in noise and uptick in naturalness via the Torus. I think Marx will strip it all back, but slowly insert some stuff back in appropriate locations.

The foundation of all systems should be an all copper panelboard with polished contacts, fresh breakers, 10 awg branch wires to a good duplex. All grounds and neutrals must be star bonded to the utility and earth.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Well, out goes the Westwick 8kVA balanced power transformer, to be replaced by Doepke RCCD and MCBs. Recently I just had the transformer switched off, now it's been physically removed.
After three days of slightly mixed results, the fourth and fifth day are showing a lot of progress.
Critically there's a real boost to image density, and with the stage now being also wider and deeper, I'm likening this to the analogue of greater pixellation.
This feels like a real step change to a much more realistic sound, no hypeing up of any aspect of the frequency balance, just a much more resolute sound in terms of tangibility and substance.
A greater foundation, and more stable presentation.
As my last serious system-wide change, it's proving to be really beneficial.
I also know there's likely more positive changes to be had in the next several weeks.
--
As things stand, all that's left for me to concentrate on is a CDP service/clock upgrade and mods package, and allocating funds for future tubes and stylii purchases, I have my eye on Audio Note molybdenum 211s.
--
Ridding myself of the Westwick is the only time I've seriously gone back on a major system-wide change/optimisation, and together with the Burmester 948 conditioner that I used to run that I also fell out of love with, I'm fully aware that these units have been blind alleys for my sound, any positives they brought indeed came with more negatives.

Everything.
The whole lot.
Nothing Less.
Check post #1968
NB Not MikeL's Equitech, but a UK alternative.

i'm unconvinced that Marc's Westwick = Equi=tech 10WQ wall panel system. my wall panel system is no rack mount, it weights almost 400 pounds, over 300 of which is the transformer.

not saying i know, or don't know. but i have conventional panel power outlets next to my 10WQ sourced outlets in my room, and from time to time do the compare. not close musically. it is important to be open minded and open eared.

OTOH nothing is forever, and it's all in a system context and matter of taste too.

 

[spiritofmusic]

i'm unconvinced that Marc's Westwick = Equi=tech 10WQ wall panel system. my wall panel system is no rack mount, it weights almost 400 pounds, over 300 of which is the transformer.

not saying i know, or don't know. but i have conventional panel power outlets next to my 10WQ sourced outlets in my room, and from time to time do the compare. not close musically. it is important to be open minded and open eared.

OTOH nothing is forever, and it's all in a system context and matter of taste too.

I thought I heard a rumour that there was some understanding between EquiTech and Westwick for the latter to service the UK market.
Certainly I'm not making any correlation re quality between the two companies.
I know Westwick have supplied many recording studios, incl David Gilmour's.
And I'll freely admit Mike, your positive narrative over your EquiTech was pivotal on me going balanced.

 

[spiritofmusic]

That sounds excellent? Is that what your removing for a direct from wall with a good breaker and duplex?

I had my Westwick daisy chained from an RCCD to three MCBs, supplying six lines to six duplexes. And that RCCD came off another two.
Don't ask me why I ended up with three RCCDs. I believe one was in effect a bypass circuit, one was for power entry to my room, one dealt with the daisy chaining.
I'm not sure there's another setup like this that I can make a meaningful comparison to.

 

[spiritofmusic]

R.I.P Marc ! Thank you doctor Kevorkian !

As that well known audiophile Harry Callahan said, "a man's gotta know his limitations".

 

[bonzo75]

As that well known audiophile Harry Callahan said, "a man's gotta know his limitations".

He also recommended trying these circuit breaker tricks on the day you feel lucky punk

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I thought I heard a rumour that there was some understanding between EquiTech and Westwick for the latter to service the UK market.
Certainly I'm not making any correlation re quality between the two companies.

agree we just don't know about that part.

I know Westwick have supplied many recording studios, incl David Gilmour's.
And I'll freely admit Mike, your positive narrative over your EquiTech was pivotal on me going balanced.

i know lots of studio's in the USA use my exact Equi=tech model or one level down or up with the same build and technology.

 

[Lagonda]

As that well known audiophile Harry Callahan said, "a man's gotta know his limitations".

Harry did like to get his hands dirty, question is do you feel lucky Marc ?

 

[Lagonda]

He also recommended trying these circuit breaker tricks on the day you feel lucky punk

Shit, i make a cup of coffee, and you beat me to the punch Ked And no, my coffee is not brewed at the right temperature !

 

[spiritofmusic]

Harry did like to get his hands dirty, question is do you feel lucky Marc ?

I'm always feeling lucky until I get unlucky.

 

[spiritofmusic]

agree we just don't know about that part.

i know lots of studio's in the USA use my exact Equi=tech model or one level down or up with the same build and technology.

My narrative isn't anti balanced power, or anti Entreq. It's that my particular install maybe wasn't optimal, and that what's replaced it has hugely outperformed expectations.
And that certain stuff can truly become surplus to requirements or even deleterious.

 

[Kingrex]

My understanding is your RCCD is a main Arc Fault Device. In other than North America, the panel has a disconnect switch, a high ampacity Arc Fault Switch (RCCD in your case), then multiple small breakers to the loads. Usually there are 2 to 3 RCCD that then feed small breakers to loads. They don't usually go one to another. There is usually a primary on/off switch that has feeder breakers that drop to the individual RCCD that handle circuit breaker loads.

Sounds like you had a main RCCD that acted as a split bus to a second RCCD. The primary probably ran loads like heat and ranges and the second bus. The second bus probably runs the circuit breakers to duplex loads in the house.

I would try and get all audio off the second RCCD and onto the first. . I would also feed the isolation transformer off that first RCCD and use a singe Doepke breaker on the load side of the transformer to the room. I am pretty confident that properly applied, you will find an isolation transformer is a benefit on some of the gear. Not all.

I also don't know what your isolation transformer is. There are a lot of less than optimum filters out there. Isolation transormers included. I find the American audio systems I hear are very colored. Its the aluminum based loadcenter to a Shunyata filter with Audiophile cables to a high power amp and low efficiency speakers. Its a sound built upon layers.

I performed over 120 rebuilds of power before I reciently started telling people I have no time. Power is one of the single most influential components in the audio chain. Most people never get how important it is. They may toss in a couple dedicated lines and that is a good start. But its more than that. The best electrical distribution is very simple. All copper with a star grounded utility/earth/audio branch supply. You don't need anything else. That will trump everything. Filters do help in many cases but people over filter.

 

[Kingrex]

Can't comment on panel grounding, I'm assuming my audiophile-friendly electrician took care of this.
Wiring is all-Oyaide, 2017 vintage, into Furutech duplexes, six lines supply up to twelve pieces.

Oyaide is excellent wire for behind the wall.

 

[Kingrex]

For the record, the Entreq coming out isn't being replaced by anything.
That's simply a step of pure elimination of one "extra step" that is now surplus to requirements.
But my balanced transformer disconnection and elimination of multiple stock circuit breakers is being replaced by specialist treated breakers, one specialist RCCD instead of three stock, and three specialist MCBs instead of three stock.
I'm convinced now these are like any excellent audiophile upgrade, but eliminating a massive coil that has a tendency to be hummy, and daisy chaining via too many breakers, can only now be looked back by me as a blind alley.

Exactly what I was posting later. Simple, straight and with quality parts. . Thats the best. I am sure you are hearing far more expressive and natural music now.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Exactly what I was posting later. Simple, straight and with quality parts. . Thats the best. I am sure you are hearing far more expressive and natural music now.

Yep, I certainly am. It's almost as if I'm hearing my 101dB efficient Zus for the high efficiency beasts that they really are, rather than less dynamic and snappy as shown in contrast.
So, less noise and greater flow, more "shove".
What's also been fascinating is how sonic changes have happened in layers, each layer then supporting the next layer revealed, on an almost daily basis, for five weeks.
I've never had a systemic change where so many attributes have become audible, but the previous attribute revealed remains unchanged.
This is not at the expense of holism in the sound. Ie not a bass change, followed by a staging change.
Almost as if musical expressiveness is a multi-layered phenomenon, so many parts to the whole picture.

 

[spiritofmusic]

One fascinating outcome. Even with the new circuit breakers, some albums just refuse to open up.
This includes a much-anticipated Rhino Records remaster of Yes/Relayer.
It had sounded overly soft and lacking the snap and dynamics of the original pressing.
But with the Entreq disconnected, the remaster is redeemed, a real clarity unheard before.
Final indicator my Entreq days are no more.