Bob's New Listening Room and System

[Bobvin]

Listening to Bob's system was an experience I will never forget, and one that I won't be likely to ever replicate in my own home, so a big thank you to Bob for hosting a wonderful evening of incredible music reproduction.

Thank you David for the kind words.

Another member of the Portland Audiophile Club who visited Tuesday had these nice comments about the system with the VYGER: “Detail, check. Imaging, check. Tonality and color, check. Emotion, check. A real revelation!”

With my current setup including Pilium and Alsyvox, my sources were not quite to the level I’d been hoping for. When the AMG v12 was my table, I’d have said I had parity with my dCS Rossini. Vinyl always won out but the delta between my analog source and digital wasn’t huge. Both were very enjoyable, but not quite in the upper echelon. And with the Taiko Extreme server (and XDMS-NSM) I can listen all night to digital without fatigue. Now the debate on the digital side is what will the analog out of XDMI bring on the Olympus platform, so holding off a DAC upgrade.

But the VYGER just catapulted my analog to a completely new level. Everyone (so far) has been gobsmacked. I‘m getting more pillows so there isn’t such a loud thud when people’s jaws hit the floor.

A particular track I’d listened to with MikeL I just couldn’t replicate in my room. I wondered how my room acoustics vs Mike’s may have contributed? Now with Vyger I realize the issue was my table, not my room. (oh, there is more of course.) But that particular track now reaches and sorts out the bass line in the 45rpm version of Stevie Ray‘s “Tin Pan Alley“ where before it just didn’t have the detail and clarity in the subterranean growl of that bass guitar. OMG its so fun!

 

[Bobvin]

Very excited to be adding something totally new and different… I have ordered a pair of Heretic 612s, and a Triode Labs 45EVO integrated amplifier for fun and demo purposes. For a while I‘ve wanted to add an SET amp to feed the Diesis Romas, so this promises to be an exceptionally fun new adventure for me. With the Vyger as a source I’m expecting a whole new world to open up.

And the Heretic speakers are also very high efficiency and from all reports are just plain fun. I’m not expecting performance like Alsyvox or Diesis, but the engineering choices are different from “conventional” in many ways and the results (apparently) speak for themselves.

Flea watt power on high efficiency speakers — I’m a total novice eagerly awaiting what lies ahead.

 

[cjfrbw]

Flea watt power on high efficiency speakers — I’m a total novice eagerly awaiting what lies ahead.

I'm guessing you'll like it. A different thing for sure.

It would probably be good for most audiophiles to listen for a while to some kind of effective 45 based system as a mental reference if nothing else. It would probably influence their judgement by comparison, not the least of which would be the high power mythos.

You don't have to worry if the 100th watt is making that sound, because there isn't any 100th watt. Maybe 3-4 watt transients at most.
And yet.....

 

[anomaly7]

Very excited to be adding something totally new and different… I have ordered a pair of Heretic 612s, and a Triode Labs 45EVO integrated amplifier for fun and demo purposes. For a while I‘ve wanted to add an SET amp to feed the Diesis Romas, so this promises to be an exceptionally fun new adventure for me. With the Vyger as a source I’m expecting a whole new world to open up.

And the Heretic speakers are also very high efficiency and from all reports are just plain fun. I’m not expecting performance like Alsyvox or Diesis, but the engineering choices are different from “conventional” in many ways and the results (apparently) speak for themselves.

Flea watt power on high efficiency speakers — I’m a total novice eagerly awaiting what lies ahead.

Oh my, looks like a great combo of integrated amp and speakers. Some fun!

 

[Kingrex]

Cool stuff Bob.
Is the TT a Rhapsody product?

What about the new 45 amp and speaker. I am guessing these are for personal fun. Rounding the knowledge

 

[Bobvin]

All are lines imported by Rhapsody.

Bob.east has been US distributor for Vyger for a very long time. The Heretic and Triode Lab brands are more recent.

As mentioned above, I’d been wanting to have an SET amp to use on the Diesis which sound amazing with Pilium, but before joining with Rhapsody I’d always been a high power tubes guy (Audio Research). I don’t really miss (high power) tube sound with Pilium offering such amazing liquidity, but Diesis high efficiency just begs to be fed something a bit different.

As Karen Summer wrote in her thread, most musical information doesn’t reside at the extremes so this of course is the wheelhouse of SET amps. I heard an SET setup many years back up in Seattle fed with a First Sound preamp (can’t remember the amp brand) and I was stunned by the liquidity and natural sound of voices. It has always been on my mind to get a taste of that.

I’ve told my wife many times if the world goes to hell or for some reason we need to sell off all the audio kit, I know I could assemble a very, very pleasing system for a fraction of the price what is in-house now. A Triode Lab integrated, a pair of Heretic speakers (about $10k each), a turntable and some wires, I’m in business.

 

[Kingrex]

All are lines imported by Rhapsody.

Bob.east has been US distributor for Vyger for a very long time. The Heretic and Triode Lab brands are more recent.

As mentioned above, I’d been wanting to have an SET amp to use on the Diesis which sound amazing with Pilium, but before joining with Rhapsody I’d always been a high power tubes guy (Audio Research). I don’t really miss (high power) tube sound with Pilium offering such amazing liquidity, but Diesis high efficiency just begs to be fed something a bit different.

As Karen Summer wrote in her thread, most musical information doesn’t reside at the extremes so this of course is the wheelhouse of SET amps. I heard an SET setup many years back up in Seattle fed with a First Sound preamp (can’t remember the amp brand) and I was stunned by the liquidity and natural sound of voices. It has always been on my mind to get a taste of that.

I’ve told my wife many times if the world goes to hell or for some reason we need to sell off all the audio kit, I know I could assemble a very, very pleasing system for a fraction of the price what is in-house now. A Triode Lab integrated, a pair of Heretic speakers (about $10k each), a turntable and some wires, I’m in business.

I have to come to Portland to pick up my Audio 845. Maybe we can plug it into your system to give a listen to the two. Not sure when it will happen. It's been 6 month in the repairs.

 

[Bobvin]

I have to come to Portland to pick up my Audio 845. Maybe we can plug it into your system to give a listen to the two. Not sure when it will happen. It's been 6 month in the repairs.

Ping me Rex, if I have things sorted I’d be happy to have some comparison fun.

 

[Bobvin]

On the previous page WBF member anomaly7 (David) posted about his visit several months back. At the time I had no information telling me writes and posts on what is now the "Audiophile Foundation" website, previously San Francisco Audio Federation (Foundation?) David dropped some new prose there recently with much more detail about his visit. Have a read for yourself, David's a very accessible writer... (Thanks David for the kind words.)

https://sfaf.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=794405&item_id=103260&

 

[Bobvin]

I was thinking it would be fun to share my experience as I’ve been rotating in Diesis, Alsyvox, Estelon speakers, now with a Jadis amp coming in, and how my new Olympus server has been such a MAJOR upgrade vs my excellent Extreme server and, as it turns out weak link which was the Rossini DAC. (and discuss how I’d known the limitation of the DAC existed but wasn’t sure where the deficiency lay.)

So here’s a pic of my new Olympus taking up residence in the listening room. I had moved my Extreme up onto one of my racks to make room for the VYGER pump box, but decided the Olympus deserved to be on an amp stand (like the Extreme previously). Looking through the crossover cables of the Botticelli X…





(The Extreme is still in residence but has a new owner — it’ll be shipping out on Monday.)

Here’s a great picture of my listening space with the Estelon X-Diamond Mk II.

 

[WBF Team]

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[WBF Team]

Hello and good afternoon to all of you. This thread has been scrubbed of all posts and dialog that debated the policies of the WBF. They remain visible to the team for future reference and consideration, but have been publicly removed from the thread so that we may resume with a clean thread, void of any distractions.

Now, let's all please get back to discussing some of the incredible systems and gear presented to us from Bob.

 

[Recordsguy]

The Wilson dealer came on Sunday and spent six hours WASPing the Alexias. They are pretty close to the back wall, much more than I would have imagined. And the tweeters are 12.25' apart, which has my listening position about 15' back. I had some older, broken in REF gear for the setup, then just swapped in my new REF10 and REF75 yesterday. I found new positions for them today, and they now have 4 hours.

I spent a couple hours listening tonight in the almost darkness, with the meters turned off. That little REF75 is quite the amp. It drives the Alexias fine. And the room sounds quite good even with only the tube traps in the corner. If I run the volume up into the 90+ db range I hear things getting a little reverberant and confused with rock and orchestra, so there is some work to be done acoustically, but not so much I am not enjoying the hell out of having music again. (And tonight with a nice little Italian red! Wine that is!)

View attachment 17671

One word...BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[Bobvin]

And now @ Rhapsody Out West, the arrival of a classic… a Jadis DA88s MkII. I’ve been yearning to hear all my speakers with some tubey goodness, and I had a listen @ Rhapsody in NYC when I visited a few weeks back. When I embarked on the “listening room” adventure I sold my Audio Research 160 monos. But knowing Daniele, who makes the Alsyvox, listens with a 12w stereo tube amp in his development process I’ve wanted to hear it for myself.

The DA88s is 60w classA output, so plenty for the Alsyvox, more than enough for Diesis, and plenty too for the Estelon. In Brooklyn, listening to digital with Olympus I/O and Jadis, the Jadis had all the speakers singing with a particularly beguiling tonal richness I found captivating. Now in my own room I’m expecting some very long nights listening.

I never really expected when I returned to the hobby about 20 years ago I’d be converted to the “more systems are better” camp, but like wine different flavors are fun to explore.

 

[tima]

And now @ Rhapsody Out West, the arrival of a classic… a Jadis DA88s MkII. I’ve been yearning to hear all my speakers with some tubey goodness, and I had a listen @ Rhapsody in NYC when I visited a few weeks back. When I embarked on the “listening room” adventure I sold my Audio Research 160 monos. But knowing Daniele, who makes the Alsyvox, listens with a 30w tube amp in his development process I’ve wanted to hear it for myself.

The DA88s is 60w classA output, so plenty for the Alsyvox, more than enough for Diesis, and plenty too for the Estelon. In Brooklyn, listening to digital with Olympus I/O and Jadis, the Jadis had all the speakers singing with a particularly beguiling tonal richness I found captivating. Now in my own room I’m expecting some very long nights listening.

I never really expected when I returned to the hobby about 20 years ago I’d be converted to the “more systems are better” camp, but like wine different flavors are fun to explore.

View attachment 162463

Looks like a prime candidate for tube rolling ... heh heh. Try it with some EL34s and NOS 12AX7. Have fun!

 

[Bobvin]

Looks like a prime candidate for tube rolling ... heh heh. Try it with some EL34s and NOS 12AX7. Have fun!

Yep… once I get a good feel for the sound with the stock tubes, I’m sure some experimenting will be done. The stock tubes are TungSol kt120s, TungSol 12au7, and electro harmonix 12au7. I have some NOS currently in the TriodeLab 45 EVO, so I have some on-hand. And a couple buddies are tube-geeks so different flavors will be sorted and sifted. The sound with the stock tubes was amazing when I visited the mother-ship back in October; I have three pairs of wonderful speakers to rotate in so this is going to be fun. Hoping to expand my audiophile bona fides.

(Rhapsody is a Jadis dealer, so I won’t publicly share tube rolling impressions, and I’ll only perform demos/auditions with the stock tubes.)

 

[Ron Resnick]

I will be very interested, Bob, in your ongoing thoughts about the Jadis sound. I absolutely love the sound, but it began to gnaw at me a little bit whether I was giving up too much resolution in return for that "beguiling tonal richness."

I am glad I still have my JA100s.

 

[Bobvin]

I will be very interested, Bob, in your ongoing thoughts about the Jadis sound. I absolutely love the sound, but it began to gnaw at me a little bit whether I was giving up too much resolution in return for that "beguiling tonal richness."

I am glad I still have my JA100s.

I was always a tube guy up to adding Pilium. The Pilium certainly offers more resolution than did my prior Audio Research amplification, and of course better bass control, grip, and other SS attributes. After several years I’m in no way dissatisfied with making that switch—I could live happily with the Pilium sound (or lack thereof) I haven’t missed “tubes.”

But, folks coming to audition speakers often want to hear SS vs tubes and I want to be able to offer that. “Resolution” isn’t the final word in enjoyment of listening to recorded music. I know, for example, the TriodeLab 45 EVO isn’t a great amp to drive the Diesis if I were a classical music lover, but oh-baby that amp with those speakers, with the vyger as a source, and some blue-note jazz recordings offers “realism” despite the limitations of 1.5w SET power.

I’ll stick with my wine analogy… I like different flavors and presentation of fermented grape juice. Some is more fruity, some is more earthy, some is delicate, some is powerful, and some are intoxicatingly complex. I think why people, even if they have a single system, are continually upgrading and tweaking. There is no “perfect” system just systems that are musically satisfying for the owner. Until the itch needs scratching.

 

[mxk116]

I was always a tube guy up to adding Pilium. The Pilium certainly offers more resolution than did my prior Audio Research amplification, and of course better bass control, grip, and other SS attributes. After several years I’m in no way dissatisfied with making that switch—I could live happily with the Pilium sound (or lack thereof) I haven’t missed “tubes.”

But, folks coming to audition speakers often want to hear SS vs tubes and I want to be able to offer that. “Resolution” isn’t the final word in enjoyment of listening to recorded music. I know, for example, the TriodeLab 45 EVO isn’t a great amp to drive the Diesis if I were a classical music lover, but oh-baby that amp with those speakers, with the vyger as a source, and some blue-note jazz recordings offers “realism” despite the limitations of 1.5w SET power.

I’ll stick with my wine analogy… I like different flavors and presentation of fermented grape juice. Some is more fruity, some is more earthy, some is delicate, some is powerful, and some are intoxicatingly complex. I think why people, even if they have a single system, are continually upgrading and tweaking. There is no “perfect” system just systems that are musically satisfying for the owner. Until the itch needs scratching.

I’ll drink to the wine analogy, cheers!

 

[Bobvin]

Regarding the new Taiko Olympus…

Remember when you were a young audiophile and visited a friend’s place whose system was just significantly better? It kind of recalibrated your understanding of what’s possible? The new server is like that for me, only I get to go down every day and have the pleasure of hearing that next level in my own rig. It really has been that kind of change, for more than the typical “component level” upgrade — the Olympus (with my Pilium kit and the Alsyvox) has been ‘emotionally’ transformational. I’m not trying to be hyperbolic at all. Last night’s listening session I really found myself getting so much more the emotional expression of the musicians. Its been a long while since I’ve had that kind of deep connection to the music.

Listen, for example, to the first track “Nihavent” on Joel Grare’s album “Paris - Istanbul - Shangai” , this is audiophile gold with respect to recording and performance and I’ve played this track many times — but with the Olympus now reasonably well run-in last night I was moved by the performance in a way I’ve never been. The same emotional connection occurred on many tracks. A new performance I just found on Qobuz by the 80’s pop band “a-ha “: “take on me” had me grinning ear-to-ear. A song I’d heard at least a hundred times on the radio but the MTV - Unplugged / Edit version was completely new to me and I was just smiling at the quality of the recording and performance. I felt happy to discover that song as completely new. So much fun.

Bravo Emile & Team Taiko, your creativity is bringing much joy to this old audiophile.