47 labs anyone heard their ware?

[mullard88]

Hi muralman1,

One of my favorite pieces to listen to is "La Campanella" found in "Nojima Plays Liszt".

My flatfish is set on an Arcici stand.

 

[JackD201]

Mullard,

Perhaps one of us should give Muralman a tip on where to get his hands on Appasionata. That's one heck of an album to test how well a system does piano. I only have the LP, I believe you have the CD as well?

Jack

 

[muralman1]

Hi Jack and Mullard. Reference Recordings co-developed HCDC, which my system convulses over. Anything that purports to, "improve CDs," has me running the other way. I do see Nojima plays Ravel listed as a 16 bit CD. I will get that. I don't see La Campanella there. I don't do vinyl. Given how stellar Reference Recordings CDs are on my system, I am going to be their best customer, for straight 16 bit, that is.

I looked up Arcici. You are using their air pad? I devised something that completely negates all vibration. I have to do that, because this 100 year old house vibrates with the music. The suspended wood floor bounces. My player sits on top of a piece of Mission style furniture I had made for my audio. This is a worst case scenario. My granite tile sits on a, "Gee, why didn't I think of that," padding. I can drive music to extreme loudness.

 

[JackD201]

Are your Scintillas on Granite slabs too?

 

[muralman1]

Are your Scintillas on Granite slabs too?

No, they sit on the Douglas Fir floor boards. The speakers weigh 150 lbs. each.

 

[JackD201]

I just asked because there's a chance your already great bass could get even tighter and more tuneful if you lessen the sympathetic vibrations from the sprung floor. Of course if you are happy with the over all performance, just ignore me. My suggestion may just as much make things worse rather than better anyway.

 

[muralman1]

Jack, point well taken. I am going to have someone put a support beam under the floor joists. That should keep the floor from bouncing, but the all wood structure will still transmit vibrations. That is where my air foil pad soaks it all up.

 

[mullard88]

Hi jackD201,

Are you referring to the lp of Appasionata performance by the little Japanese lady? If I recall correctly, is it an RCA pressing? If that is the one, I do not have it on cd. The Appasionata cd that I have is a test disc of MIT. It is also a very nice performance. I recall that Alon Wolf used this cd to set up the Magico M6 speakers.

 

[mullard88]

Hi muralman1,

My Arcici stand is the imperial. I do not have their air pad. Let me get back to you on "La Campanella" after I return from my weekend trip.

 

[muralman1]

That would work fine on a slab floor. 99% of homes in the Sacramento region are built on a slab. A thick Berber carpet in the sound room, and you are good to go.

There were a couple things missing in my last transport. Deep bass was easily one of them. The Flatfish really does retrieve more bass than other transports I've tried. But, there is something else new. I couldn't put my finger on it. The music flows lyrically. What is that? Since I have designed, and intend to sell my vibration absorbing audio platform, I had to go back the the 47 labs site to get the dimensions of the Flatfish. That is so easier for me than doing it myself. I just can't get myself to stop the music. So, I was at the 47 Labs website, and a word caught my eye. Koji wrote, "Now you can hear how much HARMONY and bottom-end information was obscured under those mechanical stresses (caused by box transpors)."

 

[nephilim]

Congratulations muralman1. I do love the 47 Labs sound. I wrote a review of the Shigaraki transport and DAC for a local forum a while back. The 47 Labs sound is one that just gets it right if I may oversimplify things. I eventually did own it and was sad to let it go when I was forced to choose due to space constraints. Enjoy!

 

[JackD201]

Guess who the lucky guy was when Keith/Nephilim had to choose I'm considering getting a Power Dumpty. Should I level-up on the Shiggie's power supply or upgrade my Stax amp for a tubed one? Decisions, decisions!

 

[muralman1]

Thank you JackD The Flatfish plus my modded AN make the music real. I must have read your review, I would think. I read a lot of your posts, and am amazed at your depth of knowledge in the audio field. I have to confess, I am a babe in the wilderness when it comes to audio tech. I do know live music well, especially classical.

I am trying to usher in fall here in Sacramento by playing the Four Seasons. I hope it works. I have had my fill of century temperature readings.

 

[mullard88]

Hi muralman1,

Just looked at my "Nojima Plays Liszt" cd. It is number RR16 by Reference Recordings. La Campanella is the second cut.

On another topic, if you intend to be RR's number one fan, perhaps you should consider acquiring a Berkeley dac to decode the RR cds that were encoded with HDCD technology.

 

[muralman1]

Hi Mullard88,

Thank you for the advice, but, the HDCD encoding is not universally liked. I hope you understand my amps have special needs. I have spent 6 years searching the wilderness for answers. The Audio Note DAC would be Kimura's choice between that and the Berkeley. The AN DAC has no oversampling or filter add ons. That leaves the signal intact.

I should add..... My Scintilla system doesn't sound analog. It sounds like live music.

 

[JackD201]

Muralman, you are very lucky that Henry was born. Not many speakers have had amps made specifically for their unique power requirements. HH is a very nice person to boot. I can thus understand the synergy you are enjoying.

 

[mullard88]

Hi muralman1,

Understood and you are one of the most fortunate audiophiles I've had the pleasure to touch base with.

 

[muralman1]

Jack201, Henry is indeed a gentleman and a scholar. So, you know he owns and loves the Apogee Scintilla. At one time Henry owned all the models of Apogee save the Grand. The Scintilla is his favorite. I first heard of Henry nine years ago at the old Apogee forum. He had made a huge 85 watt class A amp for his own use. After a couple years, Henry sent me a class A amp for sale. I had Pass Labs X 600 amps at the time. Henry's amps won the day.

Another Scintilla owner told me of a class D amp that sounds better than anything he had had working his speakers. I bought an ICE amp. It made a weak, but focused sound. I sent it to Henry, who built an amp around the ICE module, and was off running.

Henry changed my audio life. I just had to piggy back on his own interest in bringing out the best in Scintilla sound.

There is more to it than that. Even after Henry created the best preamp for class D, it still took me years to reach where I am now. Some other manufacturers had to improve their products before I could build this system. Schottkey had to make a diode that was a fully open gate to all frequencies. Speltz had to widen his product line. I had to stumble on a speaker cable design that brings it all in. Did you know Henry uses my speaker cables?

 

[muralman1]

Hi muralman1,

Understood and you are one of the most fortunate audiophiles I've had the pleasure to touch base with.

Thank you, mullard88.

 

[muralman1]

Ok, this Flatfish is the very best of all transports. Everything has broken in (new cable, reworked preamp, and flatfish). The sound is dumbfoundingly real. I keep looking over if the dynamics are ripping my ribbons apart.