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

[Uk Paul / Z:Axis Audio]

So after several failed attempts I did this week manage to get back up to Marc’s place to hear how his system has come along since my last visit maybe over a year or more ago. He has focused in on ancillary optimisation, keeping all the main boxes as they were on my first visit, so no major shift in sonic signature, but fine tuning with considerable success! Marc’s sound was held back on my first visit by some noisy tubes that has been sorted now, and what a difference it has made, much easier to just relax and hear music without distraction! This system is quite different to mine in presentation, ( and I think my ideals lie in between ), but after adjusting I found it a really enjoyable session going through some of my current test LP’s and also some of Marc’s choices, all good.. The standout improvements are the reduction in background noise, better transparency by a good margin, and with the addition of some of Max’s supertweeters after I suggested it, more air space to the overall soundstage. Add to that a tighter better focused bass with his optimising the Zu’s subs, and you have a genuinely enjoyable sound.. The Zu’s are the most influential component in Marc’s sound, no doubt, and while maybe not to everyone’s taste, they are working well in that great space. You do get a real 3d sound with great depth there Marc, quite striking!
LP’s used were - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds ‘Ghosteen’, Tord Gustavsen ‘What was said’, a 61 Sheherazade / LSO, Jeff Beck ( can’t remember which), while CD was Yuja Wang’s Berlin Recital (incredible) some James Blake & Bill Bruford. Sadly left my Monty Alexander / Harlem Express V2 in my Ayon so no chance to hear Concierto de Aranjuez that I love and use often.

So thanks Marc and Ra who unfortunately now have an expensive balcony to replace

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ah yes Paul, the balcony. Well it's another expense that is non audio. But as you've alluded to, my sound is in a place where I can prioritise the balcony and not feel conflicted on missing out on more audio toys.

Paul, I'm so pleased you confirmed w yr post here what I've been trying to achieve. With the new room it was instantly recognisable what I'd been short changed upon before. However the lump sum expended getting the room right precluded further big ticket purchases. Hence the need to refine my sound w mods and ancilliaries.

The good news is that I chose well, w fantastic results from spends on Sablon, Westwick, Stacore, Oyaides/Furutechs, Arya and Symposium.

And the cumulative effect at this point is removing veils that used to seeiously hamper my enjoyment of classical. As you heard, Scheherazade and Bach organ works on lp displayed great dynamics, tonal density, air, and critically, timbral accuracy.

I took a real risk in sinking $70k into the loft/audio room. That sum could easily have resulted in a lousy acoustic. So to avoid that risk, I could have easily settled on a smaller room in the chapel and installed a new system incl likely Apogees, big SS, Sgm digital. The fact that it didn't backfire on me, and indeed became the basis of a sound I could only have wished for just 4 years ago, fills me w great joy.

Ancilliaries/mods/system optimisation is the cherry on the cake as far as I'm concerned.

And the total transformation of my Zus into real all rounders, w great insight, immersion, accuracy and intimacy, is the result you heard yesterday.

Thanks Paul for confirming I'm on a good path.

 

[Ron Resnick]

“I took a real risk in sinking $70k into the loft/audio room.”

I think investing in an adequately wide, wonderfully long and perfectly symmetrical dedicated room was your least risky major component endeavor.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I had quite a bit of private advice that low angled eaves could easily have been a major negative, w the Zus being 18" adjacent at closest points.
12" deep abutting steels were another variable, and the fact that the eaves are the roof was another.

Such a large span area of flexy floor certainly was a major limiting factor on tt install until I discovered the Stacore.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I had quite a bit of private advice that low angled eaves could easily have been a major negative, w the Zus being 18" adjacent at closest points.
12" deep abutting steels were another variable, and the fact that the eaves are the roof was another.

Such a large span area of flexy floor certainly was a major limiting factor on tt install until I discovered the Stacore.

Fair enough.

 

[spiritofmusic]

The double joy is not just that I got away with a decent space, but that it turned out to be a great one, boosting the whole sound way more than I could have imagined. Indeed within 30 seconds of listening, I suddenly got what everyone talked about when they commented on listening in a great acoustic. And that was w speakers just plonked willy nilly in the room and cheap 99 cents power cords.

For Paul to also say confidently the room needs zero additional acoustics help beyond the simple GIKs panels install I already have, was great to hear.

 

[Uk Paul / Z:Axis Audio]

Your room is good Marc, no doubt, I'd take it in a flash..

 

[spiritofmusic]

Just not the balcony Lol.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Aiming for at least 4 system visits this year. To catch up w friends and hear maybe radically different presentations. Good comparators to what I've achieved.

Blue58 w the new, universally loved Sablon Reserva 2020 Usb cable on his SGM server/Aqua Formula XHD/newly modded xovers AG Duos.

Hopefully to HeiHei to hear the system Ked has raved about, Lampi digital/top Audionet amps/Wilson Benesch spkrs, in what I've been told is one of the sweetest rooms out there.

Aiming for return visit to UK Paul and his sublime Z Axis Audio system. New cart, phono, digital, amps, and spkrs. New everything. His previous system remains my high point for consistency and transparency, let's see where he's impvd things.

And a visit that I can't say much about, other than I'm really excited to hear something that promises to be amazingly special.

Will I want to throw my Zus in the creek outside on coming back from any (all) of these visits?

 

[cjfrbw]

Will I want to throw my Zus in the creek outside on coming back from any (all) of these visits?

You will miss the agony and the ecstasy.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, the agony will be my back going out.

Seriously, two of these systems (Paul's and HeiHei's) promise to be hugely neutral, transparent and linear.

The other two (Blue58's and special guest's) promise to be magical and evocative. I already know the former v well, but looking to hear a "final piece of the jigsaw puzzle" uptick w the new Sablon Usb. If I hear things right away, I'll know what the fuss is about.

Listening to systems has got me moving my system in the way it has. I've tried to emulate some of the best presentations, and avoid the errors of those I've hated.

Zus in the creek hasn't happened...yet!

 

[Uk Paul / Z:Axis Audio]

• Aiming for at least 4 system visits this year. To catch up w friends and hear maybe radically different presentations. Good comparators to what I've achieved.

Blue58 w the new, universally loved Sablon Reserva 2020 Usb cable on his SGM server/Aqua Formula XHD/newly modded xovers AG Duos.

Hopefully to HeiHei to hear the system Ked has raved about, Lampi digital/top Audionet amps/Wilson Benesch spkrs, in what I've been told is one of the sweetest rooms out there.

Aiming for return visit to UK Paul and his sublime Z Axis Audio system. New cart, phono, digital, amps, and spkrs. New everything. His previous system remains my high point for consistency and transparency, let's see where he's impvd things.

And a visit that I can't say much about, other than I'm really excited to hear something that promises to be amazingly special.

Will I want to throw my Zus in the creek outside on coming back from any (all) of these visits?

Since your last visit Marc, these are the changes in no particular order:

1. Esoteric KO7 > Ayon CD-Tii Signature (DSD) transport
2. Concert Fidelity DAC 040/BD > Ayon Reference Stratos DAC
3. Concert Fidelity 080LSX2 pre > Concert Fidelity CLS050 pre using Bendix 5992 output tubes, 1955 production.
4. Xer0 Ultimate power cords added to CF CLS050 pre, Ayon x 2.
5. Xer0 Premium power cords on ZL200's & Allnic H3000
6. Final revisions made to B52 RCA Interconnect's
7. SE version of our Symetrica utilising new Furutech NCF output sockets
8. 2 x new Aidas cartridge models as we are UK distributor now since being so impressed with the Panzerholz Diamond. We have Malachite Rainbow (2.6k GBP) which is a stone cold bargain, and the recent Mammoth Gold mk2, (7.2kGBP) which is simply one of the best carts I have had the pleasure of hearing, it simply digs deeper than anything else I have heard..
9. KR Lampi 5U4G > RK Series KR5U4G in Allnic H3000 PSU
10. The biggie and most recent; Martin Logan Spire > Franco Serblin Ktema. (still very new but 'oh my' )

So yes, quite a bit! I still have the other system which will all get set up in the new factory sound room, probably not until May once the room is completed.

 

[spiritofmusic]

That all looks fascinating. If you can build upon yr previous presentation without losing it's extremely linear and evenhanded nature, you'll have really struck on something. Your sound the day I visited was in many ways the most consistently impressive one I've had the good fortune to hear on visits. We both agreed that maybe some lack of midband/upper bass "shove" or solidity was a possible shortcoming, and I know you feel the Ktemas will remedy this while maintaining the positives of the MLs. And if the new cart builds upon the Aidas Panzerholz that I heard that day, your sound could really be one to beat.

Your comments to me since yr visit have really been encouraging. For the first time since forever, I'm totally content and happy w my sound. My analog has totally come up as I've learnt to properly set it up, the Stacore and new arm building on the boost I got a few years back adding a bespoke dual mono LPS to the Straingauge cart energiser.

The Eera cdp has outperformed since day one, but getting my tt to vie with it, means I have no more analog/digital cognitive disconnect, enjoying all sources immensely. Sablon interconnect and power cord and SR fuse plus Rollerblocks isolation have absolutely boosted the tone and texture of digital, closing the gap to the magic of analog.

Getting my Nat Utopia preamp noise right down via finding 6n23p Reflektor NOS tubes and Tubulus Argentus DB25 cables to pre psu has really opened up transparency and low level detail retrieval, this step has been critical to the whole system sound being boosted.

Last but not least, opening up and tightening Zus performance, first w Duelund caps and Lundahls subs transformers upgrades, adding Townshend supertweeters for greater high end air, and critically, eliminating stock spikes, previous Rollerblocks footers, and instead installing Arya Audio Revopods footers, and being extremely strict w myself in dialling in spkrs positioning and subs settings, has eliminated a major source of frustration I had running Zus for years, namely dissatisfaction w subs integration.

Throw in the total slam dunk positives of system-wide Sablon cbls, Westwick balanced pwr, Oyaides dedicated lines, Furutechs duplexes, SR fuses, to address power re tone, bass foundation, 24/7 consistency of dynamics and low system noise, and Symposium Acoustics being the most cost effective and neutral approach to vibn management, and my approach to whole system/environment holism has really paid off. And then the room...

The last week has been fascinating. One lp and cd after another has gone thru my system. Often the suspension of belief is near total, w music freed of the spkrs and the mechanics of music making seemingly invisible. And that's just on classical music where my system invariably never excelled before. On my genre faves that Zus always do well on, I'm getting new found appreciation of what Zus can do, as new facets of air, microdynamics and timbral accuracy add greatly to the enjoyment of prog, fusion, ambient and electronica.

I've never had these levels of musical enjoyment, insight and intimacy before. I am one v happy audiophile and music lover.

 

[spiritofmusic]

A really massive milestone in my system development and indeed total musical enjoyment from my hifi.

No matter how hard I tried a few years back, it became painfully evident I could never really get my system, notably the Zus, to excel w acoustic music, in particular classical.

So, I still enjoyed my classical lps, but performance hamstrung by issues of timbre, transparency and dimensionality.

Well, I've wrung the changes, and had a real epiphany tonight. Me and Ra went to the Valentines Concert at Ely Cathedral, a fantastic venue for live music, to hear the Piccadilly Sinfonieta, playing Handel "Arrival Of Queen Of Sheba", Mozart "Piano Concerto K414", Susan Parks soprano singing Puccini, Verdi, Delibes, Gounod, and Bizet.

And then Vivaldi "Five Seasons". Yes, I know...again. But I can't ever tire of Seasons.

So loved the concert, as did Ra. No problem passing on Muse in a souless stadium w crap acoustics from now on. We have our fantastic evenings re classical in lovely venues fortnightly as part of our new life away from London.

And here's the thing. I played classical lps tonight for a couple of hours after returning from the concert. And there is no dramatic SQ shortfall. Sure, home audio doesn't fully match up, it never can. But but but. Transparency up. Dimensionality in spades. And critically, timbral accuracy is, ahem, very accurate Lol.

This quantum leap in realism off my classical collection in relation to what I'm hearing from live has kinda happened all at once, but effectively has been a 3 year process. From room blank canvas allowing much more linearity, less harshness, fewer anomalies...to new tonearm locking down bass foundation and extended frequency response above...to Stacore and optimised analog setup aiding greater delicacy and air...to Sablon cbls loom facilitating greater tonal and timbral accuracy...to optimised Zus positioning/subs settings/Revopods isolation boosting speed and reduced fuzz/overhang...and other changes.

My main genres have all benefitted, but the truly great joy I'm currently experiencing is this total revelation in the most difficult music to get right. Classical.

I'm back to buying classical vinyl in way greater numbers after a period a few yrs back where I was giving it a miss.

What a fantastic, totally unexpected bonus. And hugely supports my decisions to sweat the details rather than scrap system and start from scratch.

 

[morricab]

A really massive milestone in my system development and indeed total musical enjoyment from my hifi.

No matter how hard I tried a few years back, it became painfully evident I could never really get my system, notably the Zus, to excel w acoustic music, in particular classical.

So, I still enjoyed my classical lps, but performance hamstrung by issues of timbre, transparency and dimensionality.

Well, I've wrung the changes, and had a real epiphany tonight. Me and Ra went to the Valentines Concert at Ely Cathedral, a fantastic venue for live music, to hear the Piccadilly Sinfonieta, playing Handel "Arrival Of Queen Of Sheba", Mozart "Piano Concerto K414", Susan Parks soprano singing Puccini, Verdi, Delibes, Gounod, and Bizet.

And then Vivaldi "Five Seasons". Yes, I know...again. But I can't ever tire of Seasons.

So loved the concert, as did Ra. No problem passing on Muse in a souless stadium w crap acoustics from now on. We have our fantastic evenings re classical in lovely venues fortnightly as part of our new life away from London.

And here's the thing. I played classical lps tonight for a couple of hours after returning from the concert. And there is no dramatic SQ shortfall. Sure, home audio doesn't fully match up, it never can. But but but. Transparency up. Dimensionality in spades. And critically, timbral accuracy is, ahem, very accurate Lol.

This quantum leap in realism off my classical collection in relation to what I'm hearing from live has kinda happened all at once, but effectively has been a 3 year process. From room blank canvas allowing much more linearity, less harshness, fewer anomalies...to new tonearm locking down bass foundation and extended frequency response above...to Stacore and optimised analog setup aiding greater delicacy and air...to Sablon cbls loom facilitating greater tonal and timbral accuracy...to optimised Zus positioning/subs settings/Revopods isolation boosting speed and reduced fuzz/overhang...and other changes.

My main genres have all benefitted, but the truly great joy I'm currently experiencing is this total revelation in the most difficult music to get right. Classical.

I'm back to buying classical vinyl in way greater numbers after a period a few yrs back where I was giving it a miss.

What a fantastic, totally unexpected bonus. And hugely supports my decisions to sweat the details rather than scrap system and start from scratch.

Five seasons??

 

[spiritofmusic]

Nice catch Brad lol. Yes it was SO entertaining, they added another season.

 

[Uk Paul / Z:Axis Audio]

Monsoon?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, it's certainly flooding season here in the UK if scenes from Scotland and Wales are anything to go by. Ironically, Norfolk where we live is theoretically the highest flood risk area in England, but we're actually least likely to actually flood. I was very close to pulling the plug on not buying the chapel.

 

[christoph]

Nice catch Brad lol. Yes it was SO entertaining, they added another season.

...and another epiphany
You have your epiphanies almost weekly lately

 

[microstrip]

(...) And then Vivaldi "Five Seasons". Yes, I know...again. But I can't ever tire of Seasons. (...)

I also like to listen to them as long as it starts with Summer ... Just tired of Spring, make it Vivaldi "Three Seasons" for me!