Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive

[Cyrus]

Mike's organic orange, and the latter does not require salt and pepper to enhance flavor. Food for thought

Organic Orange + Virgin Olive Oil (Spanish, preferably) + Sea Salt. Try it. Might change one's "thought."

 

[Cyrus]

From the WSJ Obituary for Sally Schmitt (of French Laundry renown and more):

“One thing I’ve learned,” she wrote, “is that every time you try a new salt, you need to learn all over again how to use it.”

Apropos for our audio passion.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

From the WSJ Obituary for Sally Schmitt (of French Laundry renown and more):

“One thing I’ve learned,” she wrote, “is that every time you try a new salt, you need to learn all over again how to use it.”

Apropos for our audio passion.

I’m in Napa at a business meeting, some of our group did the “French Laundry” last night.

report was that it was epic.

 

[Elliot G.]

I’m in Napa at a business meeting, some of our group did the “French Laundry” last night.

report was that it was epic.

T. Keller is a master chef. Its an experience for sure

 

[Elliot G.]

I think you guys are hysterical maybe you should try eating in your sound rooms when you listen HAHA

 

[ctydwn]

Very interesting discussion/analogies. Sonic fare fusion. Might have to try different fruits/meats on top of components here and sea salt on my cables.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

well....this might be it...the last tweak step for my Wadax combo. 10 days ago, i had added a pair of Nordost Qpoint resonance aligners under both Wadax Ref dac and server chassis. which was a nice addition. so i ordered another Qpoint (my third) for on top of my dart preamp; and when i discovered there was a choice of a premium DC cable upgrade, i had to do it. so did upgrade all three Qsource DC cables from the standard (QSDC1.5ML) model to the Premium Qsource DC cables (QSDCP2MLP).

I'm not going to get too carried away here, but another small step forward. no; i did not determine how much was due to the better cables, and how much the third Qpoint on top of the dart pre contributed. at this point i don't have the patience to take the time to do that. maybe when i pull these out in a month or so to check on them i'll have a comment.

high points are.......more air and action around objects in the soundstage, a sense of real energy pulsing from vocals and other musical parts, and just a another slight added degree of ease and liquid flow. and when i push the volume on energetic passages, less stress to the music.....more immersive. these small wins are relevant. very impressed with these Nordost QRP products. i expect in a day or two when this all settles there will be more of these same positives.

next i get to play with my digital interface dials.....when i recover from two weeks of traveling.....and had no weekends to speak of for recharging. hard on an old guy like me.

 

[2ndLiner]

Go, Mike, go!

 

[Billygxx]

God this is depressing. I am never going to be able to retire!

 

[Gregadd]

Should we make this thread sticky?

God this is depressing. I am never going to be able to retire!

After the mortgage is paid and the kids finish college are you not just working for your hobby anyway.

 

[microstrip]

well....this might be it...the last tweak step for my Wadax combo. 10 days ago, i had added a pair of Nordost Qpoint resonance aligners under both Wadax Ref dac and server chassis. which was a nice addition. so i ordered another Qpoint (my third) for on top of my dart preamp; and when i discovered there was a choice of a premium DC cable upgrade, i had to do it. so did upgrade all three Qsource DC cables from the standard (QSDC1.5ML) model to the Premium Qsource DC cables (QSDCP2MLP).

I'm not going to get too carried away here, but another small step forward. no; i did not determine how much was due to the better cables, and how much the third Qpoint on top of the dart pre contributed. at this point i don't have the patience to take the time to do that. maybe when i pull these out in a month or so to check on them i'll have a comment.

high points are.......more air and action around objects in the soundstage, a sense of real energy pulsing from vocals and other musical parts, and just a another slight added degree of ease and liquid flow. and when i push the volume on energetic passages, less stress to the music.....more immersive. these small wins are relevant. very impressed with these Nordost QRP products. i expect in a day or two when this all settles there will be more of these same positives.

next i get to play with my digital interface dials.....when i recover from two weeks of traveling.....and had no weekends to speak of for recharging. hard on an old guy like me.

I am still evaluating the Qsource and Qpoints - after reading your introduction a few days ago I could not resist getting three Qpoints and cables. Unfortunately my Vivaldi is now on its way to upgrading and it will take some time to come back ...

 

[Alrainbow]

God this is depressing. I am never going to be able to retire!

Sure you can ignore mikes threads lol

 

[Al M.]

God this is depressing. I am never going to be able to retire!

It depends on your attitude towards the hobby. You can simply decide to jump off the merry-go-round.

I find reading about this stuff fun, but does it make me want to spend much more money than I already have? Not really.

 

[dcathro]

It depends on your attitude towards the hobby. You can simply decide to jump off the merry-go-round.

I find reading about this stuff fun, but does it make me want to spend much more money than I already have? Not really.

Mike is like the Rafael Nadal of this hobby, who puts everything all in.

It is OK to be an Ash Barty and just be happy.

 

[Rocoa]

well....this might be it...the last tweak step for my Wadax combo. 10 days ago, i had added a pair of Nordost Qpoint resonance aligners under both Wadax Ref dac and server chassis. which was a nice addition. so i ordered another Qpoint (my third) for on top of my dart preamp; and when i discovered there was a choice of a premium DC cable upgrade, i had to do it. so did upgrade all three Qsource DC cables from the standard (QSDC1.5ML) model to the Premium Qsource DC cables (QSDCP2MLP).

I like very much the Nordost QPoint with my datTZeel 108 too.

 

[Kingrex]

When I was at Mikes, I accidentally showed up about 1.5 hours early. I was sort of the bastard guest left to just listen for a very extended period of time. At no point ever did I find the playback exhausting or fatiguing. Erase from you mind the notion that a Wadax combo is in any way difficult to listen to for hours upon hours. It is not. The best way to put it is its just right.

 

[microstrip]

It depends on your attitude towards the hobby. You can simply decide to jump off the merry-go-round.

I find reading about this stuff fun, but does it make me want to spend much more money than I already have? Not really.

If I ever decide to stop any expenses or upgrades in this hobby reading about other people adventures buying and trying new gear would become a waste of time. IMHO this hobby involves active participation - or in some cases a dealership, surely.

Changing gear without spending would be great, unfortunately I could not find a way to do it!

 

[Al M.]

If I ever decide to stop any expenses or upgrades in this hobby reading about other people adventures buying and trying new gear would become a waste of time.

Or still fun and entertaining.

IMHO this hobby involves active participation

Sure, I still participate actively as well, but that doesn't mean you have to spend tons of money all the time. I cannot believe how much better my system sounds with the same core components (digital, amplification, speaker system) than 3 years ago, after lots of detailed fine-tuning of set-up, acoustics and power delivery. My latest acquisition is a Furutech 609 distributor, for $ 2K, which makes another significant difference. But that is very different from expenses of $ 20K or $200K.

Granted, Mike has painstakingly fine-tuned his system and room as well, very much to his credit. Yet I cannot evade the impression that many audiophiles give up far too early on their components without fine-tuning the system, and change gear like underwear instead. And they'll never realize the potential of what they already have at a given moment -- not even close.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

high points are.......more air and action around objects in the soundstage, a sense of real energy pulsing from vocals and other musical parts, and just a another slight added degree of ease and liquid flow. and when i push the volume on energetic passages, less stress to the music.....more immersive. these small wins are relevant. very impressed with these Nordost QRP products.

i'll double down on all three comments.......the next night. more of each tonight.

i expect in a day or two when this all settles there will be more of these same positives.

same 10 days ago......evidently the Qpoints do take a day or so to come up to full blast.....

 

[jeromelang]

Granted, Mike has painstakingly fine-tuned his system and room as well, very much to his credit. Yet I cannot evade the impression that many audiophiles give up far too early on their components without fine-tuning the system, and change gear like underwear instead. And they'll never realize the potential of what they already have at a given moment -- not even close.

Can't help wondering:

Change gear = change underwear

Detailed fine-tuning of set-up = shifting positions of the anatomy?