What did you do to your stereo rig today?
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Your shrubbery will, at the very least.Jay
SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0 -
Last weekend I assembled and installed a Mapleshade Samson V.5 3 shelf rack. Prior setup was a beautiful Danish solid rosewood console, but it wouldn't hold everything and I also got tired of working blind with preamp, phono stage and CD player enclosed on 3 sides.
I also felt I could get some improved performance- I'm happy to say it was actually a much bigger leap than I expected. It improved imaging quite a bit (? in part due to smaller overall size and less vertical slabs of wood between my speakers) and it notably "relaxed" my high end and seemed to bring more overall resolution and depth/solidity of low end as well.
Since both this and my prior console sit on slab concrete in a basement listening area, I wasn't convinced there would be this much to gain. My turntable sits on an HRS M3X isolation platform, so I didn't think there would be a lot of isolation gains there but I was clearly very wrong. I am a happy camper!
Only downside, is the maple slabs have some small holes here and there- don't know if it would be from termite exposure during their long curing process or what. I have reached out to Mapleshade about that issue today.
Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
DividedSky wrote: »I also felt I could get some improved performance- I'm happy to say it was actually a much bigger leap than I expected. It improved imaging quite a bit (? in part due to smaller overall size and less vertical slabs of wood between my speakers) and it notably "relaxed" my high end and seemed to bring more overall resolution and depth/solidity of low end as well.
Nice looking setup. I DIY'd a similar rack design and experienced the same improvements you describe by eliminating what were, essentially, walls on the side of my old rack and between the speakers. Congrats and happy listening!➀Speakers: Polk1.2tl's (Uber Mods) ➁Pre/Amp/DAC: PS Audio BHK Signature & 250, DirectStream ➂Cables/IC's: MIT S1Bi-Wire/S1 Balanced +Avel Lindberg 1000VA "Dreadnought" ➃Power Conditioner: PS Audio P15 Power Plant ➄Power Cords: Core Power Technologies Gold, DH Labs Power Plus DIY w/Neotech NC-P301 & P311ends ➅Streaming: Roon ROCK on wifi'd NUC, TP-Link WAP, & Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark, Emperor Double Crown Clock, Black Modernize LPS, PS Audio AirLens⟿Ω☯☥☮⟿🔊♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬ -
DividedSky wrote: »I also felt I could get some improved performance- I'm happy to say it was actually a much bigger leap than I expected. It improved imaging quite a bit (? in part due to smaller overall size and less vertical slabs of wood between my speakers) and it notably "relaxed" my high end and seemed to bring more overall resolution and depth/solidity of low end as well.
Nice looking setup. I DIY'd a similar rack design and experienced the same improvements you describe by eliminating what were, essentially, walls on the side of my old rack and between the speakers. Congrats and happy listening!
Nice. My imaging was really good prior, but I had my fingers crossed it would jump up a level and I'm so glad it did. My next move is to bite the bullet on 5 meter interconnects and move the rack out from between the speakers. I am doing that primarily to allow a retractable screen to come down in the space for movies/sports but I think it will be even another notch up in imaging and sound stage.Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
Pics of the holes in the wood?
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A couple of examples herePrimary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
DividedSky wrote: »DividedSky wrote: »I also felt I could get some improved performance- I'm happy to say it was actually a much bigger leap than I expected. It improved imaging quite a bit (? in part due to smaller overall size and less vertical slabs of wood between my speakers) and it notably "relaxed" my high end and seemed to bring more overall resolution and depth/solidity of low end as well.
Nice looking setup. I DIY'd a similar rack design and experienced the same improvements you describe by eliminating what were, essentially, walls on the side of my old rack and between the speakers. Congrats and happy listening!
Nice. My imaging was really good prior, but I had my fingers crossed it would jump up a level and I'm so glad it did. My next move is to bite the bullet on 5 meter interconnects and move the rack out from between the speakers. I am doing that primarily to allow a retractable screen to come down in the space for movies/sports but I think it will be even another notch up in imaging and sound stage.
That's a great looking Rack full of Gear
I think the worm holes add a little character.
I also use 5 meter I/C's after moving the Rack to the side wall. Single Ended, with no signal loss that I can discern and the center image has improved as well.
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That's not termite damage. It's from one of the many types wood borers that would have been active when the tree was alive. It would have been nice for Mapleshade to have filled the holes before finishing the boards.Only downside, is the maple slabs have some small holes here and there- don't know if it would be from termite exposure during their long curing process or what.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
DividedSky wrote: »
A couple of examples here
They are there to give character to the wood... and they enhance the sound quality by eliminating plank noise.
The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Wormholes
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Mike Reeter wrote: ».
That's a great looking Rack full of Gear I think the worm holes add a little character.
I also use 5 meter I/C's after moving the Rack to the side wall. Single Ended, with no signal loss that I can discern and the center image has improved as well.
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Wow- really love your set up there as well. Great to hear about your experience bouncing things outside. The toughest part about 5m of good interconnects (mine will be balanced to monoblocks) is that the cost would allow me to go quite a bit up the food chain if the lengths were shorter. The Music Room gave me a good price on Audioquest Earth, so will see how that goes.
Thanks everyone for the wormhole intel. Seems appropriate given my love for psychedelic rock. I don’t really mind them but agree it would have been nice for them to be filled or maybe mentioned by mapleshade. In addition to the performance improvement, I’m really happy with how well built it is and the ability to easily adjust and level each shelf was fantastic.
Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
DividedSky wrote: »Last weekend I assembled and installed a Mapleshade Samson V.5 3 shelf rack. Prior setup was a beautiful Danish solid rosewood console, but it wouldn't hold everything and I also got tired of working blind with preamp, phono stage and CD player enclosed on 3 sides.
I also felt I could get some improved performance- I'm happy to say it was actually a much bigger leap than I expected. It improved imaging quite a bit (? in part due to smaller overall size and less vertical slabs of wood between my speakers) and it notably "relaxed" my high end and seemed to bring more overall resolution and depth/solidity of low end as well.
Since both this and my prior console sit on slab concrete in a basement listening area, I wasn't convinced there would be this much to gain. My turntable sits on an HRS M3X isolation platform, so I didn't think there would be a lot of isolation gains there but I was clearly very wrong. I am a happy camper!
Only downside, is the maple slabs have some small holes here and there- don't know if it would be from termite exposure during their long curing process or what. I have reached out to Mapleshade about that issue today.
Looks really nice. Enjoy! -
Mike Reeter wrote: »
That's a great looking Rack full of Gear I think the worm holes add a little character.
I also use 5 meter I/C's after moving the Rack to the side wall. Single Ended, with no signal loss that I can discern and the center image has improved as well.
Love your set up as well and glad to hear that bouncing your gear to the outside was a positive change. 5m interconnects can be eyewatering, especially when you compare to what you could get in shorter length. The music room gave me good pricing on audioquest earth so I’m looking forward to trying those.
Appreciate the intel on the wormholes. Given my love for psychedelic space jams, it seems appropriate 🤣. Overall I’m so happy with it and I don’t really mind them but I do agree it would’ve been nice for them to have been filled or perhaps mentioned by MapleShadePrimary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
nooshinjohn wrote: »DividedSky wrote: »
A couple of examples here
They are there to give character to the wood... and they enhance the sound quality by eliminating plank noise.
Plank noise is the only thing worse than standing waves!Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
Are there worm holes on the opposite side and if not can the slab be turned around? Nice system you have.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin -
Good question. Since the rack is assembled by the owner, it can be turned over. However, after disassembling the rack it would be very irritating if the other side also had the holes. My four shelf Mapleshade rack is worm hole free, but the bottom shelf is beat up from dealing with the amps on the bottom.
Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Each side has a fairly similar number of worm holes.Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
Get out your tricorder and check for traces of tachyons or gamma particles, as these could be a sign that the Borg are attempting to use those wormholes as a conduit from the Delta Quadrant...DividedSky wrote: »Each side has a fairly similar number of worm holes.
The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
DividedSky wrote: »Each side has a fairly similar number of worm holes.
If it was me Mapleshade would be getting a call as I'm sure that rack wasn't cheap. I can't help but wonder what their explanation is going to be. A small issue getting by quality control is one thing but those holes had to be seen by multiple employees. -
I'm also curious to hear what they say.
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Jesus, now I know why I don’t visit this thread.
My self esteem is in negative territory now.
I think my dingus shrunk at least half the distance to the goal line.I plan for the future. - F1Nut -
The Amish people who craft their maple slabs don’t believe in modern devices, including wood filler.
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Honestly I think the holes add character... But that's just me- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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Honestly I think the holes add character... But that's just me
Trey, you and I may be in the minority on this one but I just so happen to agree. It's part of the history (story) of the wood itself.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
motorstereo wrote: »DividedSky wrote: »Each side has a fairly similar number of worm holes.
If it was me Mapleshade would be getting a call as I'm sure that rack wasn't cheap. I can't help but wonder what their explanation is going to be. A small issue getting by quality control is one thing but those holes had to be seen by multiple employees.
I put in an email to them late morning on Friday and didn’t hear back yet but I imagine I will hear from them in the week ahead. Of course I don’t know what their process is for inspection but I do know that the wood slabs and finish are done by an Amish subcontractor and packaged by them. It’s really only noticeable on the top slab- primarily because I just have one component up top.
Regardless, I tend to agree with the viewpoint that it’s a pricey rack and they probably shouldn’t be there… or at least should be fewer in number. But I also agree with Tom and Trey that they add a little bit of character. To me these slabs should be considered B stock so I am hoping it can be priced out as such with a partial refund. I would certainly consider that a reasonable resolution and I definitely want to keep the rack based on both performance and looks.Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
nooshinjohn wrote: »
Get out your tricorder and check for traces of tachyons or gamma particles, as these could be a sign that the Borg are attempting to use those wormholes as a conduit from the Delta Quadrant...DividedSky wrote: »Each side has a fairly similar number of worm holes.
🤣🤣🤯🤯
I wish this response had been my 100th post John (making me officially legal/eligible to have bought your Goldfinger)!!!
💥FrankPrimary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
I dunno about b stock. Wood is a naturally occurring product with all kinds of knots, splits, cracks, etc. Most manufactures have disclaimers on their site spelling out as such.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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I dunno about b stock. Wood is a naturally occurring product with all kinds of knots, splits, cracks, etc. Most manufactures have disclaimers on their site spelling out as such.
Fair enough. Gauging everyone’s thoughts on this is helpful to me in determining what is reasonable, so I appreciate your perspective on this.Primary: Doshi V3.0 pre and phonostage, Vandersteen M5-HPA, Vandersteen Quatro CT, AMG viella, Goldfinger Statement, AQ Niagara 5000, AQ IC and power cords, Mapleshade Samson V.5
Secondary: Nakamichi PA7, Nak CA5, Polk LS90, Sota Sapphire, Sumiko MDC800, Van den hul Crimson -
I’m in the “they add character” camp, but perhaps Mapleshade should have let you know about the possible imperfections.
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Just wanted to share a photo, even though this isn’t in my rig:
Tandberg TR3030 Stereo Receiver. Not something one comes across everyday.CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC
DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)
Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777
Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)
Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150
Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i
Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart
Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.
