What did you do to your stereo rig today?
Comments
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I had some time* -- and some fairly hefty metal strapping-- and a hacksaw...
so...
finally...
today I did a little redneck New Hampshire frugal Yankee style time alignment of the 'super' tweeters on my much-beloved Frankenaltecs. :cool:
Before:
Somebody... somewhere (ASR, IIRC) kinda constructively busted my chops about my, umm, opportunistic tweeter mounting, umm, opportunity, so I've been meaning to do something about it.
After:
You know -- I really am lethargic... so this is, like, a major achievement for me, OK?
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* see what I did there?
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DividedSky wrote: »
A couple of examples here
Follow up from MapleShade... the Ambrosia Maple has holes in it. Either from a beetle, fungi or possibly both. I will include one section from their email. I'm sure there will be some chuckles regarding mention of the holes resulting in enhancement of sonic performance.
"What is Ambrosia Maple?
Ambrosia Maple is the traditional name for a form of red maple found locally in Maryland and Virginia. It has distinctive long, tapered streaks running with the grain, streaks of a contrasting brownish or slightly purplish-grey hue. This striking coloration is also sometimes called Ghost Maple or Wormy Maple. At the head of each of these beautiful streaks is a pair of tiny holes bored by the adult Ambrosia beetle in which to lay its eggs—and to simultaneously lay down a unique fungus species. The eggs hatch into larvae that are incapable of digesting the maple; instead, they cultivate and feed on the fungus which flourishes by digesting the maple for the larvae, a remarkable example of nature's symbiosis. The tree's sap carries away the “runoff” from each larva's miniature mushroom farm, thus creating the pattern of lovely long stains that characterize this unique form of maple. There are no larvae left after the 3 to 6 years of drying; they all develop into adult beetles and fly away within a couple of months after the eggs are laid in the living tree.
The small holes and their associated streaks appear to varying degrees across all of our maple products. Besides their striking looks, they actually slightly enhance the maple's sonic performance. Because of the inherently variegated grain and patterning of Ambrosia maple, every platform, stand and shelf we manufacture is unique. We show a representative sampling of these natural grain and coloring variations in our Ambrosia Maple With Clear Finish Gallery."
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 -
This quote from their site kind of cracked me up.
While it is true that coloring maple with pigmented wiping stains yields unsatisfactory results the "special toned finish" comment is well...not so special. It's done all the time by furniture manufacturers and restoration/refinishing businesses. A dye is added to the clear coat and the mix is sprayed on. This results in a very even color tone over the entire piece because the color is in the finish not in the wood. It also results in greater transparency and depth.Coloring maple is surprisingly tricky; standard wood stains give very mixed results. So we hired a finishing specialist to work with the Amish to develop for us special toned finish blends with a multi-step finish tailored to the unique problems of staining Ambrosia maple.
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 -
I'm going to comment on this also.
I do not believe maple has any sonic performance advantage over any other wood species. If anything, MDF would be a better choice than any wood species due to density and in particular, uniformity.Besides their striking looks, they actually slightly enhance the maple's sonic performance.
A side note and personal observation. At every CAF I've been to the Mapleshade room sounded worse than any other.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 -
They have a lot to say about the subject:
"Maple's sonic superiority over all other woods is old news to every violin and piano maker since Stradivarius and Steinway. Instrument makers taught us to NEVER use commercial, kiln-dried maple. The kiln's high heat weakens the wood's fibers, thereby deadening sound. Air-dried maple is less colored and closer to the sound of our master tapes than any other platform material—audibly better than harder or softer or denser woods, and notably better than kiln-dried maple or, worse yet, maple butcher blocks (excessively damped by their multitude of glue joints and their kiln-drying)."
• MDF is the worst sounding wood product; it kills treble, smears detail and produces thuddy bass. Plywood is a slightly better but still way behind solid maple.
• Glass, granite, or slate are even worse sounding than MDF and make treble sound harsh while weakening and dulling the bass.
• Hi-tech damped composites strongly deaden overtones and dynamics.
• Myrtle or exotic tropical hardwoods sound better than plywood but are tonally colored and suppress detail. -
They aren't making musical instruments.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 -
I believe they consider the equipment rack and/or speaker stands to be an instrument of sorts.
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Musical instruments need resonance and tone. Pretty much the exact opposite of what you would want in an equipment rack.
But I also have my gear sitting on ventilated closet shelving, so there's that- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
You heard it here first, putting your gear on wire racks make for the best sound.
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I agree! 😜- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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From what I recall from the Mapleshade catalog, the late Pierre Sprey was so over-the-top enthusiastic about the sonic qualities of his maple products that I could not believe what I was reading. It likely prevented me from trying some of his other offerings.
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Anyone else smell that? It......it smells a bit like snake oil and the smell just got pungently strong on this particular page of the thread.
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. ~ -
The only thing I can smell is @Hermitism's Wireworld cables, that damn stench is permanently etched into my brain.
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I love my Mapleshade rack, and it is a 1000 times better than my old rack. However, when I bought it in 2013 I had different gear than now. If I was buying new I would get a 5 shelf single wide rack, and two one shelf platforms for the amps, but I can live with the current rack.
Old rack.
New rack
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. -
Today I pulled my Arcam AVR30 out of my system and returned it to Best Buy. This is the second unit I had in my system and it suffered the same failure as the original one dead. I lost signal to all my HDMI connections to the point where the TV would flash on and off almost like a red light at a stop sign. After rebooting the AVR it lost all of the DSP information that needs to process signals.
These units have been nothing but trouble for Arcam from the beginning and I am almost embarrassed that I even tried these things. The people at Magnolia have been very very helpful and are getting a brand new in the box AVR 20 which has been less problematic than the AVR30 have been. Hopefully this will work out better than what I had in the first place because it still has the same preamp sections as the AVR30 had. The difference is the AVR30 uses class G amplification whereas the AVR 20 uses AB.
The bad news is my rig will be down for a week and a half to two weeks while I’m waiting for the new one to come in.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 -
Bummer! I know you like the sound, But I’d run after 2 failures.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. -
That was my initial reaction to. Arcam has a new lineup coming so I was able to get 1500 off the AVR20, in a sealed new box. If it fails I am back to square one, as the new line is a thousand dollars more across the range.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 -
Arcam whilst known for their sound quality is unfortunately more well known for their gear failures, particularly their AVR's. You might consider looking elsewhere.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 -
I already have... thinking Yamaha CX-a5200 or the Marantz 8805aArcam whilst known for their sound quality is unfortunately more well known for their gear failures, particularly their AVR's. You might consider looking elsewhere.
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 -
Don't get the Yamaha. Your ears will thank you and you would just be wasting your time/money. I know they market, "Natural Sound" but they are nowhere close to it.....and IME? Completely underwhelming.
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. ~ -
nooshinjohn wrote: »That was my initial reaction to. Arcam has a new lineup coming so I was able to get 1500 off the AVR20, in a sealed new box. If it fails I am back to square one, as the new line is a thousand dollars more across the range.
Will this new line likely be the first full line to be produced since the Samsung acquisition? I believe they released one line since that happened, but I think it was pretty much done and set to launch before that acquisition was finalized.Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
Discogs -
I have a Yamaha 3070 for HT, it does a great job for theater. For 2 channel though, definitely no where close- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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Agreed. Perhaps I should have clarified more. His use would be for both. While he may like it on the HT side of things, I don't think he would be impressed at all for his current speakers on 2-channel listening.
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. ~ -
From history regarding lots of things:
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY!"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
I prefer third times the charm...BlueBirdMusic wrote: »From history regarding lots of things:
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY!
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 -
BlueBirdMusic wrote: »From history regarding lots of things:
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY!nooshinjohn wrote: »
I prefer third times the charm...BlueBirdMusic wrote: »From history regarding lots of things:
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY!
how do you feel about:The early bird gets the worm,
but the second mouse gets the cheese
PS and now I've got that Ian Hunter/Mott the Hoople song (also covered by Great White) stuck in my head, too...
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Added the black anodized aluminum trim to my XPA-2. The original owner preferred the silver, removed the black and lost them before he sold it to me. The black seems to classy it up a bit.2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout. -
The CX-a5200 is a pre/pro. The problem I have had with Yamaha is their amplification, as it is very dry and sterile sounding. Given that I will be using my tube amps and a different brand of 7 channel amp for the rest, I am thinking it might work.Don't get the Yamaha. Your ears will thank you and you would just be wasting your time/money. I know they market, "Natural Sound" but they are nowhere close to it.....and IME? Completely underwhelming.
Tom
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 -
nooshinjohn wrote: »
The CX-a5200 is a pre/pro. The problem I have had with Yamaha is their amplification, as it is very dry and sterile sounding. Given that I will be using my tube amps and a different brand of 7 channel amp for the rest, I am thinking it might work.Don't get the Yamaha. Your ears will thank you and you would just be wasting your time/money. I know they market, "Natural Sound" but they are nowhere close to it.....and IME? Completely underwhelming.
Tom
Hey John.
I started my HT journey with Yamaha. I have now had 2 different Marantz pre/pros since and would highly recommend the 8805A over the CX-A5200.
In fact, the 8805A is what I currently have running in my theater and it does an amazingly good job with anything I throw at it acoustically. I would even go so far as preferring it when specifically listening to 5.1 mixes of stuff vs listening to the same mixes downmixed to 2.1 in my 2 channel system.
In the end, obviously, your ears are your ears. But coming from someone who used to be a pretty heavy Yamaha fan-boy, go Marantz. You won't regret it."Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
Thanks for that input. While I am looking into other options, I am still going to give the Arcam AVR20 a fair shot in my rig. The AVR30 was stellar until it went belly up. I am hopeful the replacement will be up to par as far as reliability goes...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
