Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
On the contrary Mrpaul... Please do tell us your detailed impressions of the Antipodes DX. G.
Steve, what isolator? What does it do? Is that something that we should all be looking at IRT our mac mini servers? Thanks so much for the help and thoughts in this thread.
I've had the Antipodes DX for close to 3 months. I became interested in it last year when Steve (audioengr) won "best of show" using it with his DAC and commented on it positively. If there is no objection I'll post some of my thoughts about it on this thread over the next few days.
AL - It is certainly possible to build such a server/DAC, but good SQ is expensive. Lots of isolation and separate power supplies required.

I'm not in the computer assembly business. I think my new Ethernet interface goes a long way to make the server a non-issue.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Hi audioengr, Hi Steve, I was hopeing that you would give some thought's about what I have been asking about here in the last few post, please give your opinion's, thankyou.
Ctsooner, you will be in my thoughts. I lost my Dad over the Christmas holidays and he was career Army/National Guard. It is a tough time, even when they are older. I was impressed with the quality of friends and comrades that showed up to pay respects. For me, the military honors were special as they reminded me of the sacrifices made by those who serve to keep us safe, and how proud of them we should be.

On audio topics, I remain interested in servers and I am where you are with a dedicated tricked out Mojo Mac mini, with external linear PS, external AV drive, internal SSD, 5V USB power isolation (do not use power from the mini), and filtered USB. I am currently looking hard at Antipodes but I agree the better/best servers seem expensive for what they are (basically computers). The main benefits of the best servers, like Antipodes, over our minis seem to be running the Linux OS, a few optimizations of noise that are not feasible with the mini (no fan, etc.), and better isolated USB outputs. I have not jumped yet for the same reason as you, because pricing is likely to come down, and sound quality up, as manufacturers figure out what folks want and how to best deliver it. I would like to see a really good server made in the USA and the main options I am aware of are the Baetis and CAPS servers.

As you guys explore and hear options, it would be nice to have an active thread dedicated to servers. I started one in August titled, "State of the Source: Server, computer....or what? and while a few folks provided input it eventually fizzled out for lack of interest.
Thanks guys. Got to spend about 2hrs with just my dad and two siblings yesterday. I don't think he'll be there in a few hours when we go back. Family flying in from CT today and daughter in from Univ of New Hamp also. Purple heart from WW2 and just a stand up guy. Started in audio when we went to a local dealer at age 9. All Pioneer gear when it was decent. I just tuned up that TT for my brother and it still works, lol.

Matt, thanks, I'll call when I can. I want in on this server deal, but like we said, until more companies get involved the costs will stay very high. That's why I went the mac mini route properly done. I went to a few dealers and they too are kind of waiting on better servers at lower costs. I think we cold see the choices double or more over the next year. My concern is that many of these units will still be the all in one deals. That's going to be great for folks who's systems don't need dedicated servers. I wan to hear what Linn has done as I know they have a few and I'd also love to hear what Naim has done as I haven't heard Naim gear in over 20 years.
Sorry to hear about the paternal losses.

I lost mine last year and have not been the same since. You really lose a part of you…

Best wishes to both of you, even you Matt after all these years…the pain never fully goes away.
CStooner, treasure the remaining moments.
I have been enjoying my new PS Audio DirectStream DAC now for two months, and it never ceases to put a smile on my face!

Almost every album I listen to now has content I was not enjoying before, it might be a quiet guitar on one channel, some backup singer, a small amount of percussion, etc. This unit really brings out the detail I find is lost with other DACs.

I'm very happy with this unit.

Like other comments on this forum, I was concerned about buying the unit "sight unseen", but if you purchase the unit from an authorized dealer, you have 30 days to return the unit to PS Audio.

If you are like me, you won't think of returning it!
CTSooner - so sorry to hear that. My sympathies and thoughts during your hard times. I lost my Dad while I was in Med school, he was only 49. Hardest thing I ever had to deal with. PM sent with phone #.

I've been researching music servers like crazy.

Guido - great to hear from you. I couldn't open the link on my iPad. I'll try it on my computer later. I agree with your feeling on battery, ultra caps, etc. Even a well implemented robust linear power supply can make a unit sing, as long as it gets a healthy supply of clean and relatively unrestricted electrons. I am fortunate that my new room has very clean AC to start with and with a 4 gauge run from main panel to dedicated sub-panel and isolated 10 gauge runs to each outlet, there is practically unrestricted power getting to each unit. Battery power done wrong can actually limit power supply, so as we all know, just putting batteries in doesn't make it better.

My room is hopefully going to be ready in about 2 weeks. I'm waiting on my 9m XLR interconnects to arrive and my side wall baffle diffusers which were on backorder a few weeks.

Then I can start to pursue some more DAC evals and maybe try borrowing a music server or two.
Matt, will you please text me your number again. I'm in FL as my dad is dying, but I wanted to touch base when I get the chance as you are I are on the same page and I wanted to speak with you about it, but I'll go off on a tangent on the board, lol. Thanks.
Hi Matt, flugel (Kanstul 1525) and trumpet (Adams A4 Large Bore) are totally amazing... These days I am experimenting with mouthpieces: Curry, ACB, and soon Flip Oakes. MPs make an enormous difference on the total sound of a horn, without any of them necessarily being the "best"... Each creates a unique Nirvana.... And with prices ranging from $56 to about $350 a piece, you can experiment without too many adverse reactions from the "Bposs".

Btw, this is what my A4 sounds like, using a relatively shallow ACB TA-3CS Heavy mouthpiece:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53640097/ACB%20-%20Adams%20A4%20trumpet%20brushed%20silver%20plate%20--%20192K.wav

On battery supplies... Batteries are a draconian way to isolate a line level device from AC grundge... But is it the best way? For one thing, ultra-caps are superior at delivering broad/fast transients... Furthermore, a well designed AC supply should be able to isolate the device as much as a DC battery supply... Case in point is your/my Criterion... Sounded identical in my system, whether I fed it from batteries, or through its SMPS.

G.
Hi Guido! How goes the Flugelhorn'ing?

The Aurender W20 is completely off the grid. Totally battery driven... Intriguing, isn't it. And I was just told that they introduced native TIDAL control within its proprietary ipad app at CES...

Just not sure I want to spend more then $10K on something so, uh, outdatable...
Wisnon, operating an external Samsung 850 Pro connected via some SATA cable through a DC battery might improve some audible parms... I contend that eliminating the cable all together will improve time coupling by a couple of nanoseconds if nothing else... And a DAC-wide battery power or even better an ultra-cap PS would benefit the entire DAC device.

As for the bit twiddling, it is performed because of general purpose machines doing mountains of read/writes that tend to fragment the storage map. in our case, such background storage management demon need not be activated at all.
"A Streamer Dac is not the same as a pure streamer! I have said this repeatedly. A pure Streamer is a digital device and can have only digital volume control."

Wisnon - not sure why your getting so frustrated. No one is refuting your statements. Your information is welcome and, uh, informative. Lol. I was just telling Audiolabyrnth that the component he wants exists already. There are Music server/DAC's available with analog balanced outputs, such as Lumin.

A DAC/streamer (like what Steve will be offering) is different from a DAC/music server (which also includes software to select and control the music from wherever it's stored) like the Lumin. Everyone wants a slightly different product.

For me, I want a music server with built in SSD, linear power supply, audiophile grade through and through. There are actually a lot of these out and more every day. But what many of them lack is the ability to directly access an iTunes folder on my Mac (so I don't have to copy everything already in there to another drive or location), and truly native access within the music server to stream off of services like Tidal and Rhapsody (some have this Antipodes, Auralec, TotalDac I think). The native streaming service will unquestionably be integrated into ALL next gen music servers. The only music server I know that can currently access my iTunes folder is Antipodes (they signed the license with Apple 3 weeks ago to integrate that access). It's a $23- license you pay for with the devise.

So there are already produces from one extreme to the other available. But I think it will take one or two generations for we audiophiles to figure out what we really want and need to have a variety of choices that all do exactly what we want. I would prefer the top tier design philosophy and implementation of the Aurender W20 or the Baetis, but neither has native streaming of Tidal nor access to the iTunes folder directly. And both (Along with the TotalDac) are truly designed for AES or SPDIF output to get their best result. While the Antipodes and Computer Audio Designs are truly designed to work best with a usb DAC like the ODSE or pending ODSX.

Auralec Aries is a very neat little affordable tool that does a lot. It's a temporary solution for many of us. Even the top stores will sell an Aries with a full DCS stack and a Baetis or Aurender server to access streaming on line music. But I don't think it really sounds any better then a properly done Mac mini with external power supply or equally prepared PC server.

As I said, I'm learning and still deciding. As of right now, the unit that, I think, would do it all, is the Antipodes DX. But I don't know how much better it will really sound then my Mac Mini. I'm trying to arrange an audition.

JKMNOP- I have fully auditioned the DirectStream ( read way back in the thread) and I admit it is a great product. But to my ears the ODSE is in a completely different class!
Also, to do a proper streamer Dac, analog preamp, one would need an army of programmers and support staff to maintain, support and inprove the control point software...those neat apps that everyone loves.

Lumin and Auralic have like 20+ such people on their staff. Yes, there are generic version of such software that can be used, but the support requirements would kill a one man operation...
A Streamer Dac is not the same as a pure streamer! I have said this repeatedly. A pure Streamer is a digital device and can have only digital volume control.

I dont understand the confusion here, as I never said a Streamer Dac cant do analog VC. A Dac must be in the chain to get to analog and to thus have analog VC.

Lumin is a DAC, this Krell mentioned above is a Dac. No problem to have analog VC with a DAC, no matter what other upstream functions are in the box.

Devialet amps are Streamer/Amp/Dac and I am pretty sure they have analog VCs. Others like Goldmund have the speakers with built in amp and Dacs an you use a digital processor to stream to them.
Lumin makes a Music Server/DAC/balanced analog out. All you need is an amp I think.

I'm figuring out a lot with music servers. Wow are they different.
audioengr, did you read winson's post to me?, I believe a streamer can be built with a high quality analog volume control with dac built in, the krell kps 25sc unit back years ago was an all in one pre-amp and transport and dac, pure class A on top of that, anything is possible?
Guido,

In addition to the constant bit shuffling to facilitate speed optimization, there seems to be power related issue too that you can flesh out from this thread:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/battery-powered-solid-state-drive-tweak-really-works-23292/

SD cards are already optmised for streaming. Just look at the high speed photography/video market. Audio is thus trivial for SD card tech.

Keith, again I remind you that a Streamer is still in the digital domain, so no chance of an analog vol control there. You would need an embedded Dac to first convert to analog. Only analog can go straight to norml power amps.
Wisnon, what is the concern for SSDs or other solid state mass storage module housed inside the DAC chassis?
I just received my PerfectWave back from PS Audio. Had it upgraded to DirectStream. It is far and away the best $3,000 I've ever spent on any audio equipment. You said you wanted "Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile."; IMHO this is it. I have Kharma CRM 3.2 speakers, speakers often deemed "analytical", and before this upgrade I was considering swapping them out for something more "musical". Now I can't get up from my couch. This is one of those rare pieces of equipment that makes you want to listen to your entire library anew. It's simply beautiful.

Lastly, reviews of this unit talk about detail retrieval. This is quite true but not in an aggressive fashion. Your reaction isn't, "Wow! That's a lot of detail." but "Hmmm. I hadn't noticed that."

Post lastly, I've never auditioned or heard another top-end DAC so I may not know what I don't know, so.... Good luck.
Thankyou audioengr, that would be awsome if you did make a statement streamer with a quality volume control to be used straight to amplification, you would be the first!, there would be a huge market doing so, I would buy quikly from you if you done this.
Matt,

I am going to have a full day listning session with the Dartzeel Ethernet dac/Integrated amp (the one soon to be released) in 2 weeks, i will let you know.

USB stick is a no-no for ultimate performance and NAS(ties) have too many issues in terms of signal degrading connections. Packetized data gives problems.

Ultimate performance (IMHO- informed by some insiders I know and respect) will come from optimized SSDs and SDXCs, BUT not sure they should be in the dac box. Given that, all this may end up in the speaker, like Linn Xact, Devialet Phantom or Goldmund Metis lines.

What does Linn Marketing say? The speaker IS the source. LoL

Just MHO and food for thought.
Audiolab - No plans to build a streamer. I have other projects on my plate right now.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
02-02-15: Ctsooner
I can't wait to Steve's DAC up and running in my system, I could use the built in super drive but have been told that a remote usb drive is best as you can buy a much better quality one. Plexor was the name Steve game me, but when I went to their site, they seem to only be for window's systems.
CTsooner, in my experience with external optical drives (which as a disclaimer I'll mention is limited to Windows and Linux operating systems, and to non-audio applications), you would get much better reliability and consistency of performance across diverse media, as well as greater speed if you choose to use it, if instead of purchasing an external USB optical drive as such you were to purchase a standard size internal drive intended for desktop computers, and mount it in a **good quality** powered external enclosure which provides a SATA interface internally and a USB interface externally.

I note that the one optical drive Plextor currently offers is that kind of internal drive. Having essentially no Mac experience I can't say this for sure, but my suspicion is that even though it is described as being for Windows operating systems it would work fine with a 2009 Mac Mini when interfaced via USB through an external enclosure.

You can find suitable external enclosures at Newegg.com, which is my "go to" place for computer parts and accessories. Here is one such enclosure that looks promising, although I have no experience with this or other currently listed models. If you click on the "see questions and answers" link to the right of and slightly below the photos, you'll find a couple of people mentioning that they are using it successfully with Mac Minis.

Newegg also sells the Plextor drive, btw, for $30 in OEM form or $37 in full retail form. I presume the OEM version comes without box, manual, and mounting screws, although mounting screws are supplied with external enclosures in some cases, apparently including the one I linked to.

Regards,
-- Al
Regarding storage and playback, I encourage you to read about Paul Pang blog and Jplay.eu forums as well as Computeraudiophile subsection on storage (in this order). Personally I use a NAS system: Synology. I currently recommend Enterprise drives. The top drive keeps changing. I have Hitachi. I also purchased mine through Simplynas.com. This was by far cheaper than individual units through Newegg or Tom's, etc.

I also never thought I would have beyond 10 TBs of music either. The catalog grows quick.

The current trend I read is transferring a sub-section of music to a playback SSD drive that your server draws from. I personally do not do this.

Read these sources and your will be well versed on the topic.

Cheers.
Ok, two questions then. First what drive unit would you purchase for a 2009 mac mini. Then where would you store it? Do you set up a NAS with firewire or just a double bay hard drive in RAID 1?
Also please share models that you use and love. I can't wait to Steve's DAC up and running in my system, I could use the built in super drive but have been told that a remote usb drive is best as you can buy a much better quality one. Plexor was the name Steve game me, but when I went to their site, they seem to only be for window's systems.

Matt we had this talk last week about servers/DACS and where they are headed. I totally agree with you.
What I mean is that the DAC is going to BE the front end. USB memory stick or Ethernet NAS or whatever. Digital front end is transitioning.

The DAC will likely also access Internet streaming sources like Tidal and other on line streaming sources. I think the closer the source gets to the dac, the better. And once a usb solid state drive can hold an entire collection (red book or even hi-rez) things will really get interesting. And we are practically there.
Not so sure that Ethernet connection will last. Too many pitfalls connecting to a NAS(ty) for ultimate performance.

Drive capacity goes up as prices fall.

Who wouldnt like their entire library in the top pocket for absolute total mobility?

My 2cents
I have been auditioning speakers in the city and had the opportunity to hear some ultra $$$ DAC's as well. I will be hearing a few more in the next few weeks also.

It's SO hard to isolate the performance of an individual component when listening to completely different systems in completely different rooms. But in the end I can give a nod to all of the upstream components if the system engages me and does what it is supposed to.

All were the top level product of their brand: Meridian, Emm Labs, DCS, MSB. I could see any of them in my system but Meridian and DCS both require multi component systems to get the most out of them, while MSB and Meitner are standalone DACs. I will be hearing the CH Design DAC/streamer next Monday along with equally esoteric and expensive speakers.

What I am coming away with is that for most of us, spending $25-75k on digital is not just unrealistic, but unwise. If you spend that money on speakers, amps, preamps or an analog table/rig can last forever and will never truly be outdated. While even the most sophisticated digital nay sound great forever, it will likely be replaced by something better and be outdated within 5 years.

And the Dac of the future will unquestionably directly link to and control an Ethernet NAS drive.

We are at a technological crossroads for DAC's. I think things will change dramatically in the next few years.

And did anyone else just hear that Jay Z's investment company just bought TIDAL streaming????
Audioengr, question for you, Are you going to build a streamer?, one with balanced out's and a volume control is what I need!, to be used straight to amplification, an analog quality volume control would be sufficent, let's talk about this, an all in one box solution like this would win!
The problem with USB is two-fold:

1) common-mode noise on the cable that is not completely rejected by the USB receiver

2) poor software on the server device

#1 can be mitigated with filters or galvanic isolation. I have done both.

#2 can be mitigated by using a Linux-based server properly configured with good playback software and CODECs

Short of doing both of these, you will have some sonic issues with USB

If you do both, it will be identical in performance to Ethernet renderer, assuming both are implemented similarly. Implementation is everything.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
I am not sure that Dac with Ethernet port is a good idea if the barrier from the crud that packetized data like Ethernet (and USB) brings gets thru.

The idea behind the SSR I mentioned above is to stop that cold and get to spdif (OK) or better yet i2S. The Transport has been the neglected stepchild for far too long.

Please read the post by Barrows I linked above very carefully to understand the KEY point I am making.
Wish I understood more of this. Think I'll be sticking with USB servers for the OSDE as Steve said the USB is the best input on his device. So many choices, lol...which is good.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/ca-academy-2/

at this site there are several articles on Ethernet input and advantages/disadvantages compared to a music server.

I have on loan a unit from Waversa from South Korea which has both inputs (USB and Ethernet). Speaking with two friends over there, they believe uniformly Asian audiophile market has moved away from USB for the reasons Steve Nugent mentioned previously on this thread. In essence I found the Renderer (Ethernet input) is a magnitude better than USB.

Setup is more complicated and playback options are somewhat limited. This is the downside I found so far. Maybe others could chime in here.

The renderer (dac with ethernet) has an IP address. You use a remote that can be a portable device app or another computer. The remote only tells what files are sent from your source (HD or NAS or Internet) to your DAC. Some dacs have volume control, like this one. However, if used, the DSD over PCM will no longer work as the bit length is altered and DSD signal cant be determined in the PCM 176 sample rate.

With the IP address, you (or the manufacturer) are able to make processing adjustments remotely, alter other settings or implement firmware upgrades.
Please be aware that the Signature Rendu is not the same as the regular (basic) Rendu ($1200 or so). It is an all out assualt and the key is the PDN design by John Swenson who is well known online. I copy Paste Barrows explanation. He consults for Sonore and PS Audio.


barrows - 01-07-2015, 11:18 PM Report Post Reply
Hi folks, let me give some technical information about the differences between the Rendu and the Signature Rendu. The Signature Rendu uses a transformer which is ~4 times the price of the transformer in the Rendu. The Signature Rendu uses (2) oscillators (clock circuits) which ~10 times the price of the ones in the Rendu. The Signature Rendu comes in a beautiful custom chassis (made in USA) costing ~6 times more than the Rendu chassis.

OK, so above you can get an idea on some of the parts costs increases. Here are the technical details which make the Signature Rendu sound better: 1. transformer is high quality Plitron Toroid, and it is cased in a sub-enclosure to guard against EM leakage.
2. the power supply is more robust, uses special ultra fast/ultra soft diodes, has more smoothing capacitance, and uses premium quality parts in all positions. 3. The Signature Rendu adds an additional output-reclocking board. This board holds the oscillators, the isolators, and the re-clocking and SPDIF/I2S output circuitry. This board is the key to the performance increase over the regular Rendu. The output board is isolated from all noise generated on the Ethernet receive board (high speed processor noise). On the output board clean clock signals are generated without interference from the Ethernet board. All signals are re-clocked just before output from the clean clocks.

OK, so how much difference sonically??? That is for the user to decide, as in all things with high end audio, there are diminishing returns: higher performance comes at a exponentially higher price. The original Rendu is very good, the Signature is better. The Signature is for the person looking for the best SPDIF/I2S source for their DAC, without compromise. Many people might be happy with the original Rendu. But do not listen to the Signature if you want to get the original.

I consult for Simple Design/Sonore.
My Interchange renderer will do the same thing and be priced in the $1500 range. It will have I2S, AES and S/PDIF coax outputs just like the Off-Ramp. It can be upgraded with my Dynamo power supply for $699. Available this summer.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
CStooner,

You could the $14K Dartzeel "Danalogue" that is about to be release. Its the LHC-208 and its an Ethernet Dac (to 384PCM (DXD) and DSD128) and 200 wpc Integrated amp in one. For darTZeel, that is very "cheap".

Otherwise, just get a Sonore Signature Rendu for $3k (Streamer) and that will take Internet input and output in RCA Spdif or HDMI (i2S - PS Audio standard). What makes this special is that John Swenson consulted on this one and it has a reworked power distribution network on the input and isolates the transport from polluting the Dac, especially via i2S (I think he uses giant magneto resitives).

An extract of his burb here:
"On isolation, I have been including full isolation between digital sections and mixed signal sections for many many years. I do not use optical isolators, I do not like them at all, I prefer the GMR (Giant Magneto Resistive) isolators made by NVE. I think they work way better than opto isolators."

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/mac-mini-version-computer-audiophile-pocket-server-music-server-step-step-17666/index10.html#post370186

Finally I think Steve is planning Ethernet input in his latest Dac
How do you do ethernet instead of usb? I don't fully understand how to not use a server. Sorry, crash course need, lol.
I am very familiar with allnic and the D5000.

To be clear. In order to test the digital realm the signal passed through the dht tubes. I had mine sent off to So Ca for independent testing. It too tested poorly but sounded excellent. Even the engineer commented to this effect. There is something inherent to the DHT tubes that create poor results. My unit test results were symmetric and poor. I do have an extra set of tubes. I do not have the testing equipment and my ears do not hear a difference between channels or an overall improvement between them.

Interestingly Waversa tests are perfect. I have no explanation.

The DHT dac is an excellent dac. I give it higher marks than the engineer who felt the Resonnance invicta mirus is currently top dac. Best measurements and best sounding. I have no experience to say either way. It sells for only 5k.

Sunil - he is wonderful on all fronts. I would not hesitate doing business with him. He also has a demo program which I highly recommend. Never purchase on reviews alone. I did for the EMM dac and was a financial mistake.

Anyone interested in Allnic gear and wants an unbiased perspective pm me.

I have a to b tested allnic to the odse. Both have unique qualities. I did sell my odse for the diamond SX with ethernet input. I currently have a dac with both ethernet and usb input. Ethernet is a magnitude better, eliminating the server.

Check out my allnic review for those interested. Call Sunil and demo before purchasing. Demo both the odse and decide for yourself. Empirical also has a demo program. Your system, your ears, your money. They all are great people to deal with.

Cheers!
I agree that the ultimate test is in the listening, and nothing else really matters. However it is interesting to note that all of the claims regarding the cause of the Allnic DAC's poor measurements refer to its fragile vintage tubes that were apparently damaged in shipping. However some of the worst and most disturbing measurements were in the digital section of the DAC, not the analog stage. Best of luck with your room acoustics, and we look forward to your further findings in due time. Good listening!
Oh. I met with Sunil of Care Audio today and secured an Allnic DAC demo when I'm ready. For any interested in Allnic, 3M, or Vicoustics gear should give him a call. He's good Audiophilio.

The report from the Allnic importer is that the DAC tested by Stereophile had 3 bad tubes and the distributor was never notified. I'll let my ears decide.
Remember I had the 077 preamp and 911 mk3 stereo on loan for 2 months from Burmester and it was the best reproduced music I had ever heard. Not just from my own system, but ever.

I actually acquired a pair of 911 mk3 monoblocks. I am literally oozing from every audiophile orifice I have (sorry for the image) with excitement. My room is SO close to done. Of course my side wall vertical diffusion treatments are back ordered and not due for 2-3 weeks. But all other treatments will be in by the end of next week.

Stay tuned.