Friday night listening
- Thread starter Carlos269
- Start date
I finally got some free time and made it to my listening room today. I been wanting to listen to my classic Mark Levinson ML-2 Class A monoblock amplifiers on the T+A Criterion TAL XM monitors.
For this system I’m using the ReQuest S4 servers as the source. The servers’ digital output stream is sent to a Z-Systems Audio Engineering sample rate converter.
The SRC upsamples the signal to 24-Bit/48Khz before it goes into my Goldmund Mimesis 12 DAC.
The Goldmund DAC outputs to Ed Meitner’s emmLabs Switchman 3 multichannel preamplifier.
The Switchman 3 preamplifier drives the pair of massive & classic Mark Levinson Audio Laboratory ML-2 pure Class A monoblock amplifiers.
The Mark Levinson ML-2 monoblock power the pair of T+A Criterion TAL XM monitors.
The sound of this system is organic and at the same time the T+A XM monitors’ ring-radiator tweeters produce a very high-resolution, detailed and delineated top end. These high-frequency drivers have a response out to 50Khz!
In general, a slightly different presentation than the Mark Levinson No.40 and Lamm Audio Laboratory M1.1 hybrid pure Class A monoblock amplifiers combo through the same T+A speakers.
The Goldmund DAC with its +6dB output setting and the emmLabs Switchman 3 make for a very dynamic and transparent pair. The wired remote offers such convenience and control to a high degree of precision gain steps to dial in the perfect sound output level from the listening chair.
This is another one of my musically satisfying systems, as exemplified on the new reference track:
For this system I’m using the ReQuest S4 servers as the source. The servers’ digital output stream is sent to a Z-Systems Audio Engineering sample rate converter.
The SRC upsamples the signal to 24-Bit/48Khz before it goes into my Goldmund Mimesis 12 DAC.
The Goldmund DAC outputs to Ed Meitner’s emmLabs Switchman 3 multichannel preamplifier.
The Switchman 3 preamplifier drives the pair of massive & classic Mark Levinson Audio Laboratory ML-2 pure Class A monoblock amplifiers.
The Mark Levinson ML-2 monoblock power the pair of T+A Criterion TAL XM monitors.
The sound of this system is organic and at the same time the T+A XM monitors’ ring-radiator tweeters produce a very high-resolution, detailed and delineated top end. These high-frequency drivers have a response out to 50Khz!
In general, a slightly different presentation than the Mark Levinson No.40 and Lamm Audio Laboratory M1.1 hybrid pure Class A monoblock amplifiers combo through the same T+A speakers.
The Goldmund DAC with its +6dB output setting and the emmLabs Switchman 3 make for a very dynamic and transparent pair. The wired remote offers such convenience and control to a high degree of precision gain steps to dial in the perfect sound output level from the listening chair.
This is another one of my musically satisfying systems, as exemplified on the new reference track:
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When recordings call for subterranean bass, you call in the massive and prodigious Wilson Audio WAMM VIIA (7A) subwoofer towers:
Improving on excellence - augmenting the Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush 4 tower system with the pair of Wilson Audio WAMM Series VIIA (7A) subwoofer towers:
The six tower system is massive and impactful. Still integrating and tweaking before doing critical listening and evaluation but the addition not only improves the infrasonic ambient information but also the bass region as the WAMM towers have relieved the Adrenaline Rush Bass towers and the four Rowland Research WL-500 amplifiers of the burden of the extreme low frequencies.
More to come from this formidable six tower reference system.
The six tower system is massive and impactful. Still integrating and tweaking before doing critical listening and evaluation but the addition not only improves the infrasonic ambient information but also the bass region as the WAMM towers have relieved the Adrenaline Rush Bass towers and the four Rowland Research WL-500 amplifiers of the burden of the extreme low frequencies.
More to come from this formidable six tower reference system.
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Was it just incredibly lucky that those WAMM subwoofers match aesthetically your Wisdom towers?
They were chosen for multiple reasons but the color match is certainly a big plus. My wife loves the color and finish on both the WAMM towers and the Adrenaline Rush towers. She says that they are her favorite pieces; so the aesthetics matter and as you said blessed that they match.
I’m actually listening to the system now. So what did the WAMM towers bring to the table or contribute to the sound and musical presentation???? In one word.... EASE
The musical presentation is now a more relaxed sound full of detail but even more natural sounding and further draws you into the music.
Psychoacoustics are such an interesting phenomenon....the integration of the subwoofers has helped to further detail the high frequencies with greater precision.
There is no going back from this six tower system.
My listening session lasted into 04:30 AM this morning and I got the system dialed in. What has been achieved, with the new configuration, is a higher degree of image focus and stability. The changes have yielded a greater perceived sense of realism. Fun, fun, fun.....I did not want to stop listening and enjoying the new realm of illusion.
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With my reference system dialed-in after the integration of the Wilson Audio WAMM Series VIIA (7A) subwoofer towers, I have spent the last two nights’ listening sessions attempting to perform more critical listening but have instead drifted into just listening for fun; and the musical selections inadvertently have shifted from reference tracks to music from my youth. The focused listening sessions have devolved into relax, fun and whimsical toe-tapping, head-nodding, knee-slapping and air-guitar & air-drumming sessions.
The great power of music has the ability to transport you to different places and times, while evoking emotions, without boundaries or limitations. A great system is one that draws you into the music and puts you into this altered state of illusion, without constraints, while nourishing the soul and challenging the mind.
That is where I’m at with my reference system. Not too interested in formal critical listening but more about just enjoying the old tunes and new ones that may not always be suitable for system evaluation.
My reference system has now sprawled into a monster, almost the size of my main mastering system, and although it looks intimidating with all of its massive components:
It has become a crucible of intimacy and a portal into musical bliss.
Here are a few pictures of the frontline components:
Having said all of the above, I did manage to record the new reference track on the updated configuration of the system and I’m interested to hear how much of the marked improvement is discernible through the sound on the video:
The great power of music has the ability to transport you to different places and times, while evoking emotions, without boundaries or limitations. A great system is one that draws you into the music and puts you into this altered state of illusion, without constraints, while nourishing the soul and challenging the mind.
That is where I’m at with my reference system. Not too interested in formal critical listening but more about just enjoying the old tunes and new ones that may not always be suitable for system evaluation.
My reference system has now sprawled into a monster, almost the size of my main mastering system, and although it looks intimidating with all of its massive components:
It has become a crucible of intimacy and a portal into musical bliss.
Here are a few pictures of the frontline components:
Having said all of the above, I did manage to record the new reference track on the updated configuration of the system and I’m interested to hear how much of the marked improvement is discernible through the sound on the video:
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Another great Friday night listening session on my master reference system. Continually impressed by the rhythm section. My hat’s off to the heavy hitting 1,500 Watts per channel of amplification down in the trenches delivering articulate and subterranean bass. They don’t get the exposure they deserve:
Carlos, I’m speechless ! What knowledge and a great collection of systems you created. Thanks for the tour and all the comparisons you took the time to provide. Amazing !! All of it.
Do you have a preference among the type 10, 10Y, and 801A tubes? I'm currently using the 10Y.
Thank you for the kind words. As you can tell I have been in audio for quiet some time and have explored just about every niche of this hobby. Along the way, I have assembled some very unique systems that are not only special to me on a personal level but which were put together with a certain goal in mind to capture that specialized topology and exemplify the niche that I was exploring at the time. My goal is to always seek out those components that dig deep into the music and provide the most musical engagement & enjoyment. Right now I’m on a deep dive into low power Directly Heated Triode - Single Ended Triode preamplifiers and amplifiers paired with ultra-high efficiency full frequency range single driver horn loaded speakers; and after years of research and experimentation I have arrived at a system that delivers the detail, nuance and conveys the emotions of the music in a very special way. More on this sound exploration to come.
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According to Thomas Mayer the circuit design is the dominant factor in the sound, so my observations will of course not be universal. Ironically, since Thomas Mayer does not seem like a big fan of tube rolling, I’m now in a better position for the comparison of the 10, 10Y, and 801A tubes with one of his one-of-a-kind masterpieces. I’m currently listening through a set of Hytron JAN VT-62 (801A), which at some point will be substituted with a pair of Sylvania VT-25 (10Y), some very rare Mazda 3-T20 (ceramic base and graphite plates 801) and the even more rare National Union NX 10 R globe tubes (perhaps the most beautiful tubes that I have ever laid eyes on). Some impressions and thoughts on these tubes to come.
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Over the past several years I have been exploring low power Single Ended Triode (SET) amplifiers including 300B’s, 2A3’s, 45’s, 46’s, 801A’s and the mighty & ultra rare AD1’s to name some. I have used them with great success in multi-horn systems and with single driver monitors, some of these systems have been documented in earlier posts on this thread.
While I have been satisfied and continue to be impressed with the detail and intimacy that these Directly Heated Triode (DHT) preamplifier & amplifiers and horn base systems offer, they have been delegated to systems outside of my main listening rooms as they have frankly not challenged my reference Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush based system for supremacy. But having heard the magic that the SET/DHT/Horn devotees revere, I have been driven to find out just how far these type of systems can go. To put things in perspective, all of my systems have been assembled with great thought & consideration, sound excellent and I enjoy them for their unique presentations.
I have been researching and driven to find the best components to assemble a new system to challenge what is possible with this system topology. In my search, I did not use cost or how expensive a component is as a basis for exploration and I’m not interested in trophy hunting or becoming a member of the flavor of the month club, the only goal has remained what best for sound reproduction.
While I had high efficiency horns and speaker components that are between 97dB and 102dB, I wanted to find an ultra high efficiency driver speaker system that would allow me to explore the full potential of my lowest power SET/DHT amps. Next I wanted to eliminate the crossover, as I have done with my actively crossover’ed horn systems as going through a passive crossover is a power loss that these flea power amplifiers cannot afford. This brought me to focus on full frequency range single divers. After spending years researching full range single drivers, including Lowther, AER, Feastrex and Yamamura modified/coated Lowthers, I learned about the Stefan Stamm drivers that he designed and produced for Loth-X. I read about their amazing speed and how Stefan had studied the Lowther and the AER designs and addressed their design limitations. The Stamm drivers were available in two different revisions, the original triaxial with a whizzer and a later version without the whizzer that resembles the latest Fostex full range drivers. Loth-X developed a series of speakers that featured the Stamm driver, of various sizes, with the larger sizes providing lower frequency extension, albeit at the expense of some image focus because of the energy stored in the larger cabinets. Check out the flagship in the Loth-X Stamm series, the “Bard”:
Single driver, 24Hz-20kHz at 108db with 1 watt input.
I have been looking for the Loth-X Polaris and Troubadour speakers with the original version of the Stefan Stamm drivers for quiet some time and I finally bought a pair of these very rare folded horn speakers in mint shape. With their huge Alnico magnets, 104dB efficiency and with a flat 8 Ohm impedance these fabulous Stamm drivers allow me to play all my low power amplifiers.
....... more to come.
While I have been satisfied and continue to be impressed with the detail and intimacy that these Directly Heated Triode (DHT) preamplifier & amplifiers and horn base systems offer, they have been delegated to systems outside of my main listening rooms as they have frankly not challenged my reference Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush based system for supremacy. But having heard the magic that the SET/DHT/Horn devotees revere, I have been driven to find out just how far these type of systems can go. To put things in perspective, all of my systems have been assembled with great thought & consideration, sound excellent and I enjoy them for their unique presentations.
I have been researching and driven to find the best components to assemble a new system to challenge what is possible with this system topology. In my search, I did not use cost or how expensive a component is as a basis for exploration and I’m not interested in trophy hunting or becoming a member of the flavor of the month club, the only goal has remained what best for sound reproduction.
While I had high efficiency horns and speaker components that are between 97dB and 102dB, I wanted to find an ultra high efficiency driver speaker system that would allow me to explore the full potential of my lowest power SET/DHT amps. Next I wanted to eliminate the crossover, as I have done with my actively crossover’ed horn systems as going through a passive crossover is a power loss that these flea power amplifiers cannot afford. This brought me to focus on full frequency range single divers. After spending years researching full range single drivers, including Lowther, AER, Feastrex and Yamamura modified/coated Lowthers, I learned about the Stefan Stamm drivers that he designed and produced for Loth-X. I read about their amazing speed and how Stefan had studied the Lowther and the AER designs and addressed their design limitations. The Stamm drivers were available in two different revisions, the original triaxial with a whizzer and a later version without the whizzer that resembles the latest Fostex full range drivers. Loth-X developed a series of speakers that featured the Stamm driver, of various sizes, with the larger sizes providing lower frequency extension, albeit at the expense of some image focus because of the energy stored in the larger cabinets. Check out the flagship in the Loth-X Stamm series, the “Bard”:
Single driver, 24Hz-20kHz at 108db with 1 watt input.
I have been looking for the Loth-X Polaris and Troubadour speakers with the original version of the Stefan Stamm drivers for quiet some time and I finally bought a pair of these very rare folded horn speakers in mint shape. With their huge Alnico magnets, 104dB efficiency and with a flat 8 Ohm impedance these fabulous Stamm drivers allow me to play all my low power amplifiers.
....... more to come.
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I had been focused on optimizing the preampfification for the new system. I have enjoyed the use DHT preamplifiers with 300B’s, 26’s and my favorite 01A’s tubes as you can see in my documented systems on this thread but lately I have been using Tribute Audio AVC’s wound by Pieter Treurniet in the Netherlands with Silver wire on nano-crystalline Finemet cores. The tone of the Silver Tribute Finemet AVC’s is very organic, clear and rich in harmonics. Beautiful
little devices:
Wanting to take things to the extreme, I decided to plan on commissioning a custom DHT preamplifier that incorporated the Tribute Audio silver wired Finemet AVC’s with an active DHT 01A output stage, BUT then I found that someone had already built such a preamplifier and that he had actually taken it much further than even I had planned for the design of the custom preamplifier.
From Germany comes a monster of a massive preamplifier:
This preamplifier checks all my boxes and more: DHT, all silver wired, silver wound nano-crystalline Finemet cores, massive separate power-supply robustly designed, silver Tribute Audio silver wire wound Finemet OPTVC’s and silver Lundahl input and out balanced transformers, all silver wound Finemet heavy irons, all silver signal paths and more.
The man behind this masterpiece, is none other than Thomas Mayer. This is a pretty unique 10Y Silver preamplifier like no other.
More to come.
little devices:
Wanting to take things to the extreme, I decided to plan on commissioning a custom DHT preamplifier that incorporated the Tribute Audio silver wired Finemet AVC’s with an active DHT 01A output stage, BUT then I found that someone had already built such a preamplifier and that he had actually taken it much further than even I had planned for the design of the custom preamplifier.
From Germany comes a monster of a massive preamplifier:
This preamplifier checks all my boxes and more: DHT, all silver wired, silver wound nano-crystalline Finemet cores, massive separate power-supply robustly designed, silver Tribute Audio silver wire wound Finemet OPTVC’s and silver Lundahl input and out balanced transformers, all silver wound Finemet heavy irons, all silver signal paths and more.
The man behind this masterpiece, is none other than Thomas Mayer. This is a pretty unique 10Y Silver preamplifier like no other.
More to come.
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With the Loth-X speakers, with the original version of the Stamm drivers, and Thomas Mayer 10Y Silver preamplifier in the house, it was time to put together the system and hear if it lived up to the promise.
To give the new system a fair chance, I decided to use the same source that I use for my Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush based reference system, my custom Roon/HQPLAYER servers into my one -of-a-kind LampizatOr DSD-only DAC. I tried both the balance silver Lundahl transformer XLR input and the single ended RCA input, which goes straight to the Tribute Audio silver wound Finemet OPTVC’s, and preferred the single ended inputs and output which bypass the silver Lundahl transformers and send the signal only through the Tribute Audio silver Finemet signal path. For amplifier, I choose to use my new custom 46 SET/DHT, but will experiment with my other SET/DHT amplifiers later.
After experimenting with positioning the Loth-X Troubadours, the speakers were set up slightly further apart than an equilateral triangle and toed-in with their center axis pointing slightly at the outside of my ears.
The end result is absolutely fantastic with high resolution detail, nuance, organic tone, accurate timbre, and incredibly speed & articulation. The sound is elegant, delicate and with great flow & PRAT.
This system is worthy of the center stage in my main dedicated listening room and for now has given the Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush system a rest. No, it’s not perfect but then again what is? The depth of the soundstage is not as deep as with the Adrenaline Rush reference system and the lowest bass register is missing, BUT surprisingly so is the desire to add subwoofers. This system delivers pure toe tapping and head nodding musical enjoyment.
I experimented with the speakers grills both uninstalled and installed and with the grills off the sound is slightly clearer but with the grills on the sound has slightly more body and density. I preferred the sounds with the grills on but will continue to listen both ways with the other amplifiers to make a final assessment.
The Loth-X Troubadour’s cabinets are solidly made and reflect quality construction and execution.
Here is a picture of the Stamm driver through the speaker’s grill.
and a close up.
If you get a chance to listen to any of the Loth-X Stamm series speakers please do and you will be very impressed by what you hear, these are definitely special drivers.
I have been listening to this system every day since I installed it and so far have not been tempted to make any changes, we will have to see how long this last before curiosity gets the better of me but for now, enjoying the music and listening to all genres of music with pleasing results.
More to come as my explorations and discoveries continue.
To give the new system a fair chance, I decided to use the same source that I use for my Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush based reference system, my custom Roon/HQPLAYER servers into my one -of-a-kind LampizatOr DSD-only DAC. I tried both the balance silver Lundahl transformer XLR input and the single ended RCA input, which goes straight to the Tribute Audio silver wound Finemet OPTVC’s, and preferred the single ended inputs and output which bypass the silver Lundahl transformers and send the signal only through the Tribute Audio silver Finemet signal path. For amplifier, I choose to use my new custom 46 SET/DHT, but will experiment with my other SET/DHT amplifiers later.
After experimenting with positioning the Loth-X Troubadours, the speakers were set up slightly further apart than an equilateral triangle and toed-in with their center axis pointing slightly at the outside of my ears.
The end result is absolutely fantastic with high resolution detail, nuance, organic tone, accurate timbre, and incredibly speed & articulation. The sound is elegant, delicate and with great flow & PRAT.
This system is worthy of the center stage in my main dedicated listening room and for now has given the Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush system a rest. No, it’s not perfect but then again what is? The depth of the soundstage is not as deep as with the Adrenaline Rush reference system and the lowest bass register is missing, BUT surprisingly so is the desire to add subwoofers. This system delivers pure toe tapping and head nodding musical enjoyment.
I experimented with the speakers grills both uninstalled and installed and with the grills off the sound is slightly clearer but with the grills on the sound has slightly more body and density. I preferred the sounds with the grills on but will continue to listen both ways with the other amplifiers to make a final assessment.
The Loth-X Troubadour’s cabinets are solidly made and reflect quality construction and execution.
Here is a picture of the Stamm driver through the speaker’s grill.
and a close up.
If you get a chance to listen to any of the Loth-X Stamm series speakers please do and you will be very impressed by what you hear, these are definitely special drivers.
I have been listening to this system every day since I installed it and so far have not been tempted to make any changes, we will have to see how long this last before curiosity gets the better of me but for now, enjoying the music and listening to all genres of music with pleasing results.
More to come as my explorations and discoveries continue.
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