Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades

[PeterA]

The sound waves from the stereo flow through and between Sarasvati's many arms and the bird's wings. Her ebony wood body imbues the sound with richness and warmth, and filters out harshness and noise.

Centered between the loudspeakers and near the front wall she diffuses any excess build-up of sonic energy.

She watches over the stereo, enveloping the room in a sense of peace and ease, and listens for any unnatural sounds. (I will ask her also to be on the look-out for any impending tube blow-ups.)

That is just awesome Ron. I think she will look great in your listening room but I hope she doesn’t get lost against the dark wood paneling.

 

[brad225]

That is clearly a tweak you won't see in anyone else music room. Wonderful carving.

When there is an impending problem does an arm stretch out and point a finger at the issue?

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . .
When there is an impending problem does an arm stretch out and point a finger at the issue?

That is exactly what I am hoping for. If not a pointing finger, I hope at least for the sound of swirling/swishing air directly above the impending problem.

 

[PeterA]

That is exactly what I am hoping for. If not a pointing finger, I hope at least for the sound of swirling/swishing air directly above the impending problem.

I think like in the twilight zone, if you look very closely you might be able to perceive a very slight smile on her countenance when everything is working.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

I have enjoyed our hobby for 27 years.

This is how the front of my listening room looked until 2014:

View attachment 21071

Due to a flood in this listening room in 2014, and to some ongoing repairs to my house, my stereo has been disassembled and has been stored under protective tarps for almost two years. Shortly after the flood I sold my turntable/tonearm/cartridge which I had enjoyed for about 15 years. (I got tired of certain things about the VPI TNT MK. IV.)

The work being done to the listening room, which is a mess and which currently has no sheetrock on the front wall, and which will take nine to 12 months to sort out, offers me the opportunity to:

(i) remove bookshelves and increase the width of the room by two feet,

(ii) install a balanced power system,

(iii) add additional dedicated AC lines,

(iv) hire an acoustic consultant to analyze the room and to recommend a comprehensive plan of room treatment,

(v) implement the acoustic treatment plan,

(vi) upgrade or replace my Aesthetix Io phono pre-amp,

(vii) research and purchase the last turntable and tonearm of my life, and

(viii) research and select a new cartridge.

My room currently is 17.5' wide, 25' long and 14' high. It is a dedicated space but not a closed-off, simple, rectangular room. The floor is wood planks over concrete slab.

The rear wall is a pair of glass patio doors with drapes over them.

Front the front wall, the right side wall is sheetrock for about two-thirds of its length, and then the last third, to the right of the listening position, opens into an adjacent room, about 10' wide and 25' long, in which I have located the turntable and phono pre-amp and LP storage. This set-up means that I pretty much sacrificed this adjacent room for any other use, but I like that the turntable is completely out of the line of fire of the speakers.

From the front wall, the left side wall is 1/4 bookshelves, then it opens to a narrow hallway to the left (which is to the left of the left speaker), then there is a narrow wall with an electrical panel, and then the last half of the room toward the listening position is open to my kitchen.

I am considering removing the bookshelves which would effectively increase the width of the entire room by two feet, to 19.5' wide. According to one room dimensions acoustic analysis calculator increasing the width of the room by two feet increases some theoretical acoustical problems (I think because increasing the width would make the room more square) but I cannot help thinking that the extra two feet of practical width would be beneficial, and that any theoretical disadvantage would be ironed out with the room treatment.

I have hired an acoustic consultant to analyze the room. She is unable to begin her work, however, until the sheetrock is back on the front wall of the listening room.

After consulting with several kind and helpful WBF members, and with Ross at Torus Power, I have decided tentatively to have an electrician run a new, dedicated 240VAC line into the listening room to power a Torus RM100 BAL. This would be a floor-mounted, not a wall-mounted, unit. (I am not yet sure how I am going to get a power cable from the Torus to the analog front-end in the adjacent room.)

I have one of Jim White's earliest Io phono pre-amps (with volume controls). I love the Io and I think it deserves an upgrade after all this time. I am considering (i) upgrading the Io to replace various capacitors and wiring with Aesthetix's highest grade components and (ii) adding a second power supply. Of course this also is an opportunity to consider other tube phono-preamps.

During the last few months I have enjoyed greatly the search for my ultimate and last turntable and tonearm. I have been struggling to choose between the Basis Audio Inspiration with Superarm 9 and the TechDAS Air Force One with Graham Phantom Elite. They are two of the finest record-playing systems ever made. At this level of excellence I believe there is no such thing as a wrong choice.

After extensive discussions with both A.J. Conti and Bob Graham (each of whom is an incredibly gifted and successful designer and a true gentleman!) I decided to order a Basis Audio Work of Art with Superarm 9.

The cartridge selection remains open.

I owned a vpi tnt 4 and hated to have to put air in the feet all the time and I sold it because of this.the pulleys we’re also noisy.not a good design.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I owned a vpi tnt 4 and hated to have to put air in the feet all the time and I sold it because of this.the pulleys we’re also noisy.not a good design.

With those inflatable feet/pods I never was confident that they were properly leveled. I agree with you that it was not a great design.

 

[tima]

When there is an impending problem does an arm stretch out and point a finger at the issue?

If he'd let her out of that bag sooner, she mighta pointed at the cracked pipe or maybe the pipe wouldna cracked - godesses can be fickle when kept in a bag for that long. Maybe shoulda gotten a river goddess too.

Ron, I'd be cautious about this in your audio room. That looks a phoenix in front of her. Those things get ignited by the sun. One of the problems you haven't had yet.

If not a pointing finger, I hope at least for the sound of swirling/swishing air directly above the impending problem.

That might just be LA smog.

 

[Ron Resnick]

If he'd let her out of that bag sooner, she mighta pointed at the cracked pipe or maybe the pipe wouldna cracked - godesses can be fickle when kept in a bag for that long. Maybe shoulda gotten a river goddess too.

Ron, I'd be cautious about this in your audio room. That looks a phoenix in front of her. Those things get ignited by the sun. One of the problems you haven't had yet.



That might just be LA smog.

I am concerned that a river goddess might attract water to the house.

Thank you for this heat ignition warning, Tim. I will be sure to keep her out of the sun!

I originally wrote that "I don't think we have smog here anymore." But it turns out that science reports claim that a heat wave in the valleys during the Summer raised the ozone level. So I guess there is still some smog.

We are up the mountain, at about 960 feet above sea level. It usually seems pretty clear up here. With driving and economic activity radically reduced during the middle of last year, I think the air then was as clear as I have ever seen it here at the house.

 

[bonzo75]

Zagat and Michelin are very different.

Zagat ratings are very reliable for food taste.

Never trust someone that makes tyres for a living to rate food

Since here we covered some zagat and michelin discussion a while back, I found this excerpt on Michelin

Confessions of a Michelin Inspector - Luxeat

Gaining a Michelin star, or three, isn’t simply a mark of excellence, it means your restaurant status goes automatically from a great choice to a must. We had the great pleasure to speak to Chris Watson, ex-Michelin Guide inspector, about the complexity of this rating system, the weight of...

www.luxeat.com

"One star restaurant versus no star restaurant, you know one star restaurant carefully uses produce, that should be seasonal. It’s not about sustainability (that is a different topic), it’s about what is the best available locally. Being in London you can of course, use Scottish langoustine. In London, for a pseudo-French style restaurant, I don’t think it would be appropriate to use a Japanese fish. But simply put, it’s expected in Japanese restaurants in London to use Japanese fish.

Two stars is a step up, you are looking for more complexity in a dish. You’re looking for sometimes multiple ingredients, or techniques that are very difficult to do: make something that is incredibly complex, but that looks incredibly simple. Taste and balance. I look at the difference between the sauce of a one-star dish and the sauce of a two star dish. Nothing is ever written in stone. When you or I go for dinner, the difference between a one-star dish and two-star dish, when you look at it, you can look at the plate and say wow! At one star you don’t necessarily say that. Secondly, saucewise, when you taste the sauce at a one star, it should be deep, clearly identified taste, good flavour, umami. In a two star dish, it should have multilayers, you should be tasting different components, there should be an aftertaste, which was not there in perhaps the one star dish. It is a little difficult to answer. In short, it should be a more complex dish.

Three stars, for me… I still travel a lot and eat at two or three star restaurants on a regular basis. For me, three stars is all about consistency. Of course, getting three stars for a simple rustic pub – no, they are not gonna do that. It’s the grand class, Crillon, Tour d’Argent, Bocuse, Hotel de Paris,… I don’t think rustic pubs are ready to get three stars. But then again, you look at the French guide, issued very recently, there is Alexandre Mazzia, that is a good example. There is always an exception, I think you always have to look to a guide, which has to evolve, like the first vegan star… They have to keep up to date, the green award, the green star… I think they are recognizing sustainability, they have to keep pace, at the end of the day there is a huge population of vegans and vegetarians. Now all serious restaurants offer vegetarian menus, before, if you are a vegetarian, you would be happy to get an omelette. So I think the whole world is changing and a Guide must adapt to the trends.

The challenge is getting a third star. Between one and two is very easy to identify from a diner’s perspective, in my opinion. Where there are much more complex dishes, a much more elevated experience, more complicated, more depth. It’s all about cooking. The difference between two stars and three stars, for me, is about consistency, for most, menus themselves don’t change very much. If you look at the restaurants who are awarded three stars it’s all about consistency, between two and three stars. It’s faultless, absolutely faultless, all the time."

 

[Ron Resnick]

Very interesting, Kedar! Thank you!

 

[Ron Resnick]

For insight into the fourth star, I found this book to be extremely interesting and entertaining (especially since I was living in Midtown Manhattan at the time and enjoying top-rated restaurants, and my next-door neighbor was a lighting designer for and a personal friend of Daniel Boulud):





Within every fine restaurant there exist two worlds: the elegant, hushed environment of the dining room and the chaotic, explosive, high- tension scene behind the swinging kitchen doors. The ability to create dishes that are utterly sublime and turn them out at breakneck pace while simultaneously juggling kitchen crises, coddling demanding patrons, and managing overworked staff is what defines a four-star chef.

In The Fourth Star, award-winning author Leslie Brenner goes inside those swinging doors to explore the realities behind Daniel, capturing the dramas that arise in the insular, high-pressure milieu of a world-class kitchen. New York’s food establishment had been stunned when Daniel Boulud’s newly opened flagship restaurant was awarded only three stars from the New York Times. From that moment on, it became Boulud’s unspoken mission to regain the four-star rating that he’d previously garnered during his tenure at Le Cirque and then at his own first restaurant. That he was striving to do all this on an unprecedented scale, turning out nearly four hundred meals in a few short hours of service—meals that had to be absolutely perfect every time—made this goal all the more ambitious.

Brenner paints a portrait of a remarkable French chef at a pivotal moment of his career, as Boulud relentlessly drives his staff to the peak of excellence.

The Fourth Star provides full access to every aspect of Daniel, investigating everything from the maître d’s table assignment policies to the internecine politics of advancing up the culinary ladder.

 

[morricab]

For insight into the fourth star, I found this book to be extremely interesting and entertaining (especially since I was living in Midtown Manhattan at the time and enjoying top-rated restaurants, and my next-door neighbor was a lighting designer for and a personal friend of Daniel Boulud):


View attachment 82316


Within every fine restaurant there exist two worlds: the elegant, hushed environment of the dining room and the chaotic, explosive, high- tension scene behind the swinging kitchen doors. The ability to create dishes that are utterly sublime and turn them out at breakneck pace while simultaneously juggling kitchen crises, coddling demanding patrons, and managing overworked staff is what defines a four-star chef.

In The Fourth Star, award-winning author Leslie Brenner goes inside those swinging doors to explore the realities behind Daniel, capturing the dramas that arise in the insular, high-pressure milieu of a world-class kitchen. New York’s food establishment had been stunned when Daniel Boulud’s newly opened flagship restaurant was awarded only three stars from the New York Times. From that moment on, it became Boulud’s unspoken mission to regain the four-star rating that he’d previously garnered during his tenure at Le Cirque and then at his own first restaurant. That he was striving to do all this on an unprecedented scale, turning out nearly four hundred meals in a few short hours of service—meals that had to be absolutely perfect every time—made this goal all the more ambitious.

Brenner paints a portrait of a remarkable French chef at a pivotal moment of his career, as Boulud relentlessly drives his staff to the peak of excellence.

The Fourth Star provides full access to every aspect of Daniel, investigating everything from the maître d’s table assignment policies to the internecine politics of advancing up the culinary ladder.

I got to see this first hand at a Michelin Star restaurant in France (Le Atelier du Painter). We got the Chef’s table that was essentially in the kitchen. We saw the whole production behind the scenes. When a dish was served the Chef would come over and explain his culinary creations. It was not all Gordon Ramsay explosive but there were teams working different aspects and those overlapped a fair bit from what I could discern. Great fun!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have come to the view that the Grado Epoch3 is not likely to be a good compliance match for the air-bearing, linear-tracking Bergmann Odin.

My ZYX UNIverse Premium is definitely going on the SME 3012R. But to use the Grado Epoch3 I would have to get a Reed 5T instead of the Odin.

 

[brad225]

Ron, how are things progressing with your listening room. I can't be the only person that is curious.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for asking. I'm thinking the big stereo will be playing music sometime later this decade.

 

[microstrip]

(...) It’s faultless, absolutely faultless, all the time."

Something that, unfortunately, intrinsically does not apply to stereo sound reproduction.

 

[brad225]

Thank you for asking. I'm thinking the big stereo will be playing music sometime later this decade.

That doesn't sound very encouraging. Is everything alright?

 

[PeterA]

Something that, unfortunately, intrinsically does not apply to stereo sound reproduction.

Fransisco, Here you have just answered my lingering question about whether you view the glass as half full or half empty.

 

[microstrip]

Fransisco, Here you have just answered my lingering question about whether you view the glass as half full or half empty.

No, Peter, it is not a question of perspective at all, it is simply a question of statistical analysis of a system that is not able to reproduce a fac simile of reality and does not aim at it. We can never have the 100% consistency referred in Bonzo post in stereo.

 

[Ron Resnick]

On PeterA's Natural Sound thread Morricab posted: "Believability is a good term . . ."

I did not want to contribute further to polluting Peter's thread by discussing there general audio philosophy topics not directly relevant to Peter's system.

I am picking up Brad's comment here because I think believability is a good term. It is a one word version of "suspension of disbelief" which I think is a very good concept. I think "suspension of disbelief" bakes into a singular conclusion one's personal subjective sonic preferences and sonic sensitivities and sonic priorities.

In my personal case, with my musical genre emphasis on vocals, my opinion about systems and sound -- applying my sonic preferences and sensitivities -- often boils down to the question: "How much do I believe that this sounds like a live person is singing in front of me?" When comparing components I often ask myself: "Which of these components makes me believe more easily that a live person is singing in front of me?"