Thanks, Skip, for the info. Researching these things turned up catalogs and spec sheets and its just like you said they are rated in kV, thousands of volts. Which stands to reason, being as they are trying to insulate high voltage lines, and in all kinds of weather.
Learned enough to know the curves are there because charges don't like to migrate around corners and curves. There are some that look the same from the top but have extra skirts underneath, and they all have higher kV ratings. Stands to reason.
If you come you will be welcome any time and you will be amazed- and the most amazing thing of all is when you realize its not the stuff you can see that makes it so good, but the things you can't. |
Mike (goes by oregon here) came by and heard the system last week. Here quoted in its entirety (and also on the System page) is his review: "From a recent visit"- that was me! I happened to be in the Seattle area, so I made contact with Chuck to see if he’d be available for a listening session. I belong to a group of audiophiles (better known as Audiofoos by our friends and spouses) and I have the pleasure of listening to some very high end systems. Folks who have dedicated serious time and money to get the best music/sound into their lives. Walking into Chuck’s dedicated listening room, I immediately sensed that it was special. ( Kid in the candy store feeling). Our voices had no echo as we discussed equipment and tweaks. His enthusiasm was calm and controlled. I could see that his objective was to allow me to relax and to listen for myself. After we agreed to a few selected LPs, Chuck graciously allowed me to sit in the sweet spot. We listened to a dozen LPs. Never was I distracted from the sound by comments or discussion. I was laser focused, my mind and ears totally engrossed in the music. Excellent tonal balance and wide, pinpoint soundstage! Bass was tight and articulate and seemed to be coming from everywhere, but well integrated with the music, band, performance. Never boomy or out of control. Crystal clear highs and vocal midrange brought the band into the room, or, when my eyes were closed, I was transported to the venue. In my opinion, Chuck has achieved audio nirvana- that thing about being drawn into the music and hearing more and more detail, hearing the inflection of the voice whether it’s pain, joy, or spite (Cry Me a River). Horns were smooth, never harsh. The sound was wide and big, speakers disappeared. Room is surrounded by 4 small subwoofers and one in front. Lots of tweaks that is common among the most dedicated audiophiles I’ve known (personally, I’m kind of lazy and I don’t have the patience). But, it is truly impressive how everything works and one realizes the it is the sum that makes this system sound fantastic. Chuck knows exactly what works. Look closely at his system notes for details. Each time he played an LP, he carefully attended to each record and a process of order. Cleaning the stylus, demagnetizing... Of course, I am not an expert, but I am a music lover. I loved what I heard. If you are ever in the Seattle area, invite yourself to Chuck’s place. He might be available and you can hear for yourself the results of one crazy, seriously dedicated audiophile. Thanks Chuck. I hope to hear the music again. Mike millercarbon- You are welcome any time. Hopefully next time warmed up, and in the evening, when it will be even better. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 |
If you like the looks, you should hear the sound.
Thanks! |
Thanks. Tweaks are just like components, they are not created equal. Some are much more effective and high value than others. The trick is to cover all the bases bringing everything up to around the same level. Everyone has their favorite. Its the speakers. Its the amp. Its the source. Its the room. Its.... whatever.
In reality its.... all of it. Together. Like you have found. Like everyone finds when they bother to try. Every little thing, and no one really any more important than any other, because it all adds together. It really is as simple- and as hard- as that.
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Yeah. As if its not amazing enough how well this stuff works, its maybe even more amazing how such tiny movements tweak the sound so noticeably. I never was able to get anything even close to too bright or hard with any of them, but was able to tweak the amount of sizzle on cymbals just by moving the ones on the front wall an inch or so at a time. My system isn't anywhere near hard or bright but a lot are and I can see how that could happen.
One that blew me away the most is on the back of the speaker by the port. Why these things work at all is a puzzler. Why moving them even a small amount is even more puzzling. How one on the back of the speaker pointed away and into a corner not only matters but makes a huge difference moving it just an inch or so is a mystery indeed.
Sounds like you have a few more than me. Have you tried ECT? Very similar looking only optimized to go on electronics. They are even harder to understand as they have a very similar effect on sound quality even though they go on (or even inside!) components.
Quadratic diffusion, eh? To wield language and numbers like that, I'm gonna guess... architect? Lol!
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Right. There are in fact some very good technical reasons why this is so.
The reasoning behind the center channel is its for dialog which is supposed to be coming from the screen which is assumed to be centered between the speakers. But, as anyone who has ever watched a movie would know, the characters aren't always dead center in the middle of the frame. Dialog can be coming from anywhere and in fact may not even be on the screen at all.
With stereo this is no problem at all. Everyone with a properly set up stereo knows perfectly well there is no problem whatsoever with sounds coming from anywhere in 3D space, which sometimes if the system is really good seems to extend even well off to the sides beyond the speakers. This happens naturally without any need for special processing effects.
With multichannel HT on the other hand and especially with a center channel this cannot happen without putting a processor in the signal path. The processor has to pan and scan and shift the sound around trying to emulate what is happening on screen. Even if it works, its still an extra component in the signal path. Putting unnecessary circuits in the signal path is never a good idea. |
Right. Some guy in Sweden bought your preposterous nonsense about a Firestone air spring made for trucks being the ideal 6 axis blah blah yada yada word salad and then paid for shipping exercise weights across the Atlantic. Good one. With every Numnuts SubHertz platform you get an autographed copy suitable for framing of your fake on-line university diploma too no doubt.
My system pics are up. Where are yours? From what you say it should be easy- just hold your iPhone up to a mirror and click. Or is it Android? |
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Many people dont have the resolution necessary with their system to bother about cables impact because they cannot even hear it in their system Yes and its a shame because many times its the cables that are holding them back. But for some reason anything that's not a speaker, amp, or other big box component gets short shrift. Even when people do go for cables its almost never with the same degree of effort they would put into speakers. Not a week goes by we don't hear someone say they listened to lots and lots of speakers. They travel to hear them. Compare that with how many times we hear about the guy who flew to a show to hear some cables. Never. Even though they are equally important. I put a huge amount of effort into these things. The Synergistic CTS cables alone, hours of research selecting and getting them was followed by more hours of research on the MPCs, which even after having Michael Spallone modify them with better diodes and caps then I still modified them further being hard wired into my power center and connected to an isolation transformer and finally coated with TC. The whole process stretched out over months. All that for one cable! Which granted is one fine cable. When I got it, right off the bat, wow. Impressive. Just an incredibly fine cable. But now? Night and day. The CTS is so much better with these mods you wouldn't believe. It is true that now its just so incredibly revealing its easy now to hear all kinds of otherwise buried in the mix kind of things. But they are there and always were. So I kind of wonder if its really just they are easy to hear because the system got better, or the listener got better at listening. They do tend to go hand in hand you know. |
The idea that "Home Theater industry has chosen to pursue quantity over quality" is misguided. No, its a fact. Unless you think 7.1=2. With few exceptions less expensive equipment, designed to bring affordability to the market, should generally not be compared to components costing far more. Right. Which is why I always talk value. I bet if you read through all my posts- which you should, its highly educational (and that’s not just me, I get PMs, okay?)- you will find I am borderline OCD on budgeting and value. It wasn’t more expensive gear that got me dissing HT. It was better sound for less. HT is a wasteland of bad sound- at every price point. George Lucas has always maintained that sound represents 50% of the motion picture experience and music has always been a major contributing factor. Yeah whatever. All the big video guys know people rate video quality higher when the sound is better. Just one more reason why if you want the best HT possible you need to ditch the HT dogma and go stereo. |
By the way millercarbon has one of the most good looking audio system I have seen here and with good sound I bet...I am a bit envious :) ...Hopefully my sound is amazing also, if not, I would kill myself after looking at it... I like the way cables are cleanly guided to the gear particularly Thanks. It is indeed quite good. Has been for quite some time now. But the last year or so- Herron, Koetsu, Swarm, Atmosphere, and the acronyms CTS, ECT, HFT, PHT, and finally PPS - its on another level now. The cables weren't always like that. Speaker cables yes, for like 20 years. The rest was a more gradual process. The one constant is they all started went from spacing/routing, to using wood or tape or whatever to hold them in what looked like it might be better routing, to finally replacing the jury-rigged stuff with ceramic insulators. Then because I am such a pain, even to myself, I took it all out and put it back, just to see if it was worth it. This really is a pain. First because I love it when the sound improves but feel physical pain when it goes the other way. Which it always does whenever cables are moved around. Even being careful there's still at least several minutes of settling and it could easily be hours. That part is a pain. Especially when the differences are slight. Even if you're one who thinks this is all BS, think of it this way. Imagine there is a difference. But not "a" difference, but a whole range of differences. Because there is. So there is a range of changes when cables are moved around. And there is a range of differences when they are routed or elevated. So let's say elevating a power cord is an improvement. But its improved by an amount that is less than being moved around makes it worse. In that case you did something better, but it sounds worse at first, and only after an hour or so are you able to be sure it really is better. All these things I have done. Over and over again. It really is better. |
Should probably say something about my record clamp. Its my own design.
Built from some cut up BDR Shelf material. Look real close at the platter, there's a small black washer that fits around the spindle. Made from laminated carbon fiber in my shop, its just thick enough to hold the record about a millimeter higher than the platter. The underside of the record clamp is dished out.
The way it works, as the clamp is screwed down it pushes the record down onto the platter. But since the center is higher it pushes the edges down first. So even a warped record is forced to lay flat. Also the whole record is pressed into the platter evenly from center to edge. Holds the record flat like the VPI ring clamp, without the ring.
This clamp works so well its almost like a vacuum hold down. Whatever air was between the record and the platter is pressed out. The effect is so strong that when the clamp is removed the record stays stuck to the platter for a second until finally air rushes in and it pops up.
Its not a fancy 2 piece design like a lot of reflex clamps. Basically it is nothing more than a 1/4-20 thread insert in a piece of carbon fiber. Not counting the BDR Shelf, which was scrap, it cost next to nothing. Yet it sounds better than any other record clamp I have tried. |
mijostyn- Oz, I could make an incredible combined system with absolutely no compromises. I would just turn off the theater stuff for serious listening.
Steward Screens are extremely well made and are well dampened. Hung correctly they do not buzz, rattle or affect the sound in any way. You could do a retractable screen but I am sure mc will tell you that there is no way you can get a retractable screen perfectly flat leading to some distortion of the picture.
The only problem is that doing it in a manner compatible with a high end Hi Fi system is very expensive and I feel no need to spend that money. My Hi Fi system is in no way compromised by the screen on the wall or the projector hanging from the ceiling it is just another sound source on the inputs of my preamp. The last guest I had over to watch a movie wondered where I had hid the surround speakers. Right. No compromises. Whatsoever. Meanwhile, like Mike implies, if I tried to have five or 7 or 7.1 or whatever instead of 2 that would definitely involve a whole slew of compromises. In fact, my system actually got better as it evolved over time, even with the big screen. Look at the old system, back when most of the components were on a rack with the TV on top. The rack was big and high, and I had to drape a thick blanket over the TV to damp the reflection off the screen. Yes you could hear the difference. Oh, interesting story. Someone said you need a center channel. Ha! I had a guy over one time get up and look under the blanket. Why? "I was sure you had a speaker in there." Safe to say you do not do that unless you are really convinced there’s a speaker in there. So yeah you do not need a center channel. Not if you know how to do stereo right. Anyway when the screen replaced the TV that was huge. The rack went off to the side. The turntable did have to move a bit further to the side but it already required a long interconnect so no compromise there. The equipment in the center went on the floor which being spread out and low improved the acoustics. Big screen. Big sound. No compromises. Just like Mike said. |
shkong78 Nice system OP
It would be nice to have a chance to visit your listening room.
Thomas Thanks, and you're welcome any time. Its on Rose Hill in Redmond, just east off the 405, Kirkland-Redmond Exit 18. Tonight we are into 30 days since the first Total Contact, it really does open up, just exceptionally good tonight. I know its a good 90 minutes but PM for details if you can. Chuck |
Your three "embeddings" are my vibration control, electronics, and acoustics. Whatever they're called or however they're defined they are all vibrating with the music. People who think its necessary to change components are simply basing it on a weak and simplistic - and totally arbitrary- concept of what is a component.
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millercarbon likes to see tubes glow and cables up on little stands etc. It makes him happy which makes his system sound better. Actually its the system sounding better that makes me happy. And the tube glow, that's for photography. I listen eyes closed.I do hope you are kidding by the way. |
The methods pertaining to these 3 embeddings TRANSFORM COMPLETELY the
audio system, at any price, and does not only increase slightly a S.Q
already there by virtue of the electronic component quality by itself.
No I will repeat it: it transform it completely. Perhaps there is
exception to this rule, but most of the times this rule apply, and I
dont know any exception myself... Me neither. Congratulations on being one of the few with the ears and the mind to have figured this out.
I'll side with millercarbon here. Two channel audio is king. I do not
have enough room or money for a separate theater. I have found for
myself at least that as long as I have a BIG screen and a patently
ridiculous amount of bass power I am a happy camper as far as movies are
concerned. I could put surround stuff in but I would rather buy another
cartridge. We watched Ford vs Ferrari last night and the wrecks kicked
you right off the sofa. Works for me. Right. And with a DBA not only is the bass super powerful, but usually the sound tracks are good enough it will be perfectly 3D holographically integrated with the soundstage and have all the same you-are-there qualities as any well-recorded audiophile music track.
Oh MC, I also use a Steward Greyhawk. Nice screen. It still is faded
during daylight hours. Not sure if a laser projector will fix this. That's the industry standard. But you still need ambient light control. No projector made can compete with daylight. That's the first decision to face when building a HT, will it need to be good with the lights on? Because that will rule out projectors. The problem is the screen. It has to reflect light. And it can't choose which light, its gonna reflect it all. So the room has to be dark. A brighter projector will definitely help Mike. Putting it as close as you can will increase intensity. But as long as you have a screen nothing will ever be as good as a nice dark room. |
“HT experts tell you.” Solid gold! Good one. The way movie soundtracks are produced, you would need a minimum of 5
discreet channels, not including the subs. Right. In order to reproduce 5 channels you need 5 speakers. 5 amps. 5 channels of everything. Right you are. Open and shut. Never argue an unwinnable position. You do not have a decoder, a
center channel, nor rear channels. Right again. Been there. Done that. Sounds like crap. Not sure why. Don't care why. Only care about sound quality. Sound quality uber alles.Now to be fair there was one good thing about surround: the bass was a lot better. But that's because I was running full range surrounds.Now here's a question for you: do you run full range surrounds? Do you run all identical speakers front center and surround? Seriously. I want to know. Because if you don't, that's another compromise you are willing to make that I am not.
I ... assert that he would have been further ahead to go
lighter on the tweaks and pursue more earnestly superior components,
particularly the digital source and the amplification. The only reason that's even on the table is you're reading posts instead of listening. No one who's ever sat and listened would say that. Quite the opposite. I've had people tell me they will never again think an expensive amp is necessary.This is something I've been comparing and evaluating comprehensively for three decades now. One $60 set of BDR Cones elevates the performance of anything you put them under so much you'd have to spend something like ten times as much to get that improvement in a better component. This is not me talking. This is not me tapping the keyboard. This is me actually putting them under lots and lots of components and comparing.Replace Cones with Fuse, HFT, ECT, PHT, power cord, interconnect, etc etc adjust the values a bit (tweaks are not all created equal- and some are a whole lot better than others) the same idea holds. Its ALWAYS better to tweak than to upgrade.This goes especially btw with tweaks like diodes, caps, wires, etc. People who say otherwise, almost always it turns out they've never even tried to find out. Its rough, I know, to find imagination out of line with the real world. Oh well. I have found
tweaks to be insipid in comparison to the gains from superior
components, cables and speakers.
Really? Which ones have you tried? |
HT experts will tell you that you need to have the left/right speakers set up so that the image is continuous when panned across the stage - to the center speaker - and to the other speaker. Right. Experts will tell you. That's the difference. Experts will tell you to do something, you will just go and do it. Me, I will see. What if the experts are wrong? Which they are. You should come and see and hear. Sounds pan and move across the sound stage beautifully. Anyway, look at what you just wrote: to the center speaker - and to the other speaker. Is that what you want? The sound to come from the speaker? Really? Isn't it better if it sounds as if there are no speakers at all? As if the sound is part and parcel of the video? It seems to me that is a whole lot better. Everyone who hears it thinks so too. Spread the speakers farther apart and guess what, music sounds better. Video soundstage suffers. It's all a trade off. Tell you what. You come and hear my system, and THEN tell me the sound stage suffers. Steve Clarke, the guy who first photographed my system 16 years ago, when contacted recently and asked if he remembered my system the first word that came to mind was "holographic". That was with these same Talon speakers in the exact same place as today. Only now with all the other improvements it is vastly, unbelievably more holographic. Vastly. Unbelievably. I really wish you could come and hear it. If you really believe what you're saying, boy would I love to see the shock on your face when you experience just how far off what the experts have told you is from reality. I prefer to have a big screen, soundbar and sub in the living room and NO video crap in the listening room. Car crashes and dinosaur stomps need not have the highest in fidelity for me. Okay, so now at last we get down to it: you don't care about audio quality when watching movies. My standards are equally high for both. I simply am not willing to sacrifice quality in one for the other. You are. As are a lot of HT people. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify that. |
Okay. Good one. Or if not good, then at least valid.
So, speakers optimized for two channel listening. What does that mean? Well for one it means awesome rock solid imaging in a 3D wide and immersive sound field. Which is what I have. Check.
So now help me out here- how is that any different with a picture? |
Home Theater done right means that your serious music listening system is in another room . So then I would have two rooms, each one exactly like the same, with the stereo exactly the same, only one would not have the screen on the wall. Brilliant. Its this kind of thinking that has kept people from discovering just how awesome music AND movies can be. |
I don't even want a dim pilot light near the screen as any extraneous light affects the picture.
Yeah that's covered in my System description. When watching a movie the vast majority of the light in the room is coming from the screen itself. The movie lights up the whole room. I have never in a dozen years been aware of any light other than the movie itself. Of course if you stare right at it you will see it! This light scatter problem is one reason I chose the Stewart Grayhawk screen. I found an installer who let me do a beautiful side by side comparison. We hung different screen materials so we could see the same video on the different screens literally side by side. A white screen is only a teeny tiny bit brighter. Barely noticeable. Whites are a shade whiter, but you would never notice any other way than side by side. Contrast however is a LOT better with the Grayhawk. Light control with a white screen is paramount, as any stray light- any at all- washes out the image. The walls are painted a neutral gray. Deliberately, because yes background colors around the screen affect your perception of colors on the screen. I did my research. Distance, geometry, the works. Its a first-class professional level installation in every respect- including lighting. What you can't tell from the pictures, and this is almost impossible to photograph, is the one time light can be a problem is watching when its really sunny outside. The shutters aren't air or light tight, and even stray sunlight coming in is distracting. But this almost never happens, as its just not used much when its sunny outside. |
Thanks to the guys who motivated me to get off my audiophile a$$ and take some pics, The System in only 2 days has 505 views.
That's a lot of views... to have no one ask about the tube glow shots. ;-) |
Right. Almost pure nostalgia- all working order but none connected.
That's a Pioneer TX-9100 tuner, bought new by me in about 1974. The Kenwood integrated has gone away but that tuner, between the looks and the memories its just too sweet to part with.The Technics SL-1700 is the reason I have the Miller Carbon. It sat in storage all through the 80's while I moved around after college. Then after building a really good CD based system Robert Harley said try records. So I pulled the Technics out of the box. Discovered the cantilever got bent. Straightened it out. And sure enough, it killed CD. When a busted table beats your CD you know your CD is beat.Should probably sell both. They're worth more now than when new! But for now at least I will put up with the clutter... for the sake of the memories.
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@millercarbon Would you please talk about the acoustic treatments in the room, particularly the wainscoting that appears to be soft fabric.
Also the room looks to be very absorptive and I don’t see any diffusers.
Room acoustics. Well first of all the room is 5/8" sheetrock over 1/2" sound board. Its a remodel so the back wall also has at least another 1/2" of siding under the sound board. Learning is a process and what you see was mostly done 30 years ago. Yes the wainscoting is fabric, over a very thin polyester for appearance. Wouldn’t do it that way today but over the years I have learned there’s a lot more to acoustics than treatments. Everything you put in a room including yourself affects the acoustics to some extent. You can for example make a very lively room sound dead with enough furnishings. You can also diffuse sound as I have done with component placement. But yes I do have a diffusor or two in mind. To break up flutter echo between the front side walls. But this is all just primitive old school acoustics. The REAL acoustic treatments are the tiny little Synergistic Research HFT things you see stuck on the speakers and walls. Forced to choose between full on professional cost no object GIK Acoustics remodel and full complement of HFT I will take the HFT in a heartbeat. My DIY acoustics is a lot better than nothing. But nothing is better than HFT. Read my review. Read David Pilchers comments. Millercarbon, I find any lights near or around my screen very annoying but they do not seem to bother you. Did you have something done to your eyes? Yeah in the rush to post I neglected to shoot some pics of a movie. Will be doing that this weekend. Hard enough getting the tube glow to show. But I have some ideas. The lights of course are off for movies. |
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That must have been a prodigious amount of work! The turntable materials you've machined are really nicely done. The bearing, platter, and motor are a collaborative effort of advanced audiophiles led by Chris Brady who started Teres Audio to sell the parts and whole turntables they developed. The bearing and platter were machined by Chris's brother Bryce. You could buy the bearing, platter, motor, or whole complete turntable. I started with the motor, which at that time was belt or string drive, by using it on my Basis 2005 table. This was my "proof of concept" and when it proved to be a lot better than the Basis gave me confidence to build the table. I was at first going to upgrade the Basis with a BDR Source Shelf. But the Basis is a suspended table. The BDR plinth would weigh a lot more. And besides what is the market value of a piece of black acrylic? Because that's all it is. (VPI owners, are you getting this?) The Basis sold for $2500, almost exactly what I paid for it new nearly 10 years prior. (CDP owners, are you getting this?) This offset a lot of the cost of the Miller Carbon. I worry that people see the pictures, imagine the prices, and miss out on what an extreme high value system this is. Anyway, I did design the table myself. Cut the BDR Source Shelf on a band saw. Machined and cut the threads in the BDR "nut" that holds the bearing. Sanded and polished the finish. Modified the bearing and motor. Practically every step involved a trip to one or more machinists and/or composites professionals to pick brains and evaluate options. So I didn't do it all but still, yeah, it was a fair amount of work. Thanks for the reminder. After 16 years I almost forgot. @millercarbon Good info on the transformer. I may try one someday. Have you tried it since without it? Well that's the thing. Its one thing to say you used 4 ga wire. Its quite another to convey to people just what that means. A 4 ga wire is about as thick as a pencil. Even that doesn't get across how inflexible and unwieldy it is. Not to mention nothing is made to accept that wire. Its too thick to fit into practically any circuit breaker, to say nothing of a normal outlet box. Also its a 220V circuit. So what you're asking then is after going to all this trouble did I disconnect and bypass the transformer, and wrestle the wires around inside my panel to change it to 110V, all to, what? Double-check what I already know I heard? Please see my comment above. I don't play the same track twice. Work like that, I need a whole lot better reason. That transformer stayed put more than 16 years and would have forever except Tim and Krissy and Total Contact came along and gave me a good enough reason. |
My hypothesis is that playing the same tune twice will always yield a
positive outcome for the second play as the brain has already laid down
the initial pattern. Playing the same thing twice (or more!) is one of those things a lot of guys do, and I used to as well, but haven't done in many years. Michael Fremer doesn't either. The second play advantage, could actually just as well go the other way. Had some friends over one time, asked the woman if there was one song she wouldn't mind me playing twice. In between I went out and flipped breakers off. She was excited how much better it sounded. But it left me with the idea, unless you really love the music you're just not gonna want to hear it over and over again. Not long after that we had some people over and Caelin brought some power cords and not wanting to bore the non-audiophiles I would play a whole song and swap power cords and play a different song. Sometimes even a different album. This was before being triggered became a thing but let me tell you all the audiophiles in the room were triggered. Bigly. Everyone else though was just amazed that a power cord could make that much difference. Plus there's things like VTA. What's the point of VTA on the fly if you have to lift the arm and move it back? Change the flippin VTA and sit back down. Learn to listen. Which is yet another problem with repeating, its a crutch, you learn to listen for little snippets instead of the whole organic presentation. I could go on and on just on this one thing. It didn't help at all when I was starting out. It doesn't help at all now. With HFT specifically, if you even need to play another track I will be surprised. Just one is noticeable. If you put a whole set up in one fell swoop you will not be needing to A/B to be sure. You will not want to take them down. Ever. You might tweak where each one goes. That is fun. You might take one down just for a minute. But if you are like me and really enjoy every little improvement you will never ever want to be without them again.
Thanks for adding your system and the insight. I did see your other
profile on another site. All awesomely obsessive! So you have 2
transformers for the main rig? The step down and another in the 'Medusa'
(I get it)? What's the rating you'd recommend for my rig? What benefits
does it bring? I have no big hum issues.
Really? What site? Transformers. Okay so this was all done more than 15 years ago. I no longer recall all the details. But it went something like this- The room was originally wired normal code, 110V, outlet to outlet. Didn't know enough then to argue it very well. That was quickly changed to 110V direct. That was better. Then somehow I'm talking to a guy about wire and mods and he upgraded and has this Audio Consulting step down transformer for sale. The reasoning is high voltage transmission is more efficient. Which clearly it is when we're talking kv. From 110 to 220? Not sure how significant that is but its got to be something, I bought it, and sure enough it was another improvement. But at the same time replaced the 12 ga with 4 ga, so will never know what did what. Anyway that transformer is all about voltage. The next one in the Medusa is more about isolation. Here we have to get a bit technical, at least enough to understand what a transformer does and how it works. First off they only work at all with AC. The current must be alternating. Every wire carrying current produces a magnetic field proportional to the voltage. At the same time, when a wire crosses a magnetic field, or a field crosses a wire, either way it induces a current and voltage in that wire. In a cartridge the magnet (or coil) moves back and forth. Motors and generators are just the flip sides of each other. Well if the current is alternating then the fields are rising and falling and so they will generate or induce a signal in an adjacent wire. That's all a transformer is. A lot of wires wrapped around and around. Power goes in one that creates the fields, which cause current to be inducted into and come out the other side. The ratio of windings on each side determines whether the incoming voltage is the same, or goes up or down. Now here it gets a little tricky, I don't know the math and nobody wants to see that anyway, but this doesn't just work all the same for all frequencies. If the frequency is very low it won't generate much if any current. Nor if the frequency is very high. When you hear people talk about the importance of transformers in tube amps, how much affect they have on the sound, this is the reason. If the transformer isn't wound in the right pattern it will still transform voltage and current, but not in the kind of nice flat way we want. So that's the idea behind isolation transformers. They transmit the 60 Hz AC current just fine. They do not transmit the much higher radio frequency noise riding on the line. That long winded explanation is how they do this. There's an additional smaller isolation transformer in the Medusa. That one is good only for about 35 watts and powers only the 2 Tesla MPCs on the CTS speaker cable. Makes a nice big difference too. As for ratings, mine is 500VA, aka 500 watts. I would think that would be enough for just about anyone. It might not seem like it, if what you do is add up all the peak watts of all the amps and everything. But peak isn't from music. Peak is filling power supply caps at turn-on. No music will ever draw that much power. It can't. So I would say 500 is plenty, would maybe go 1kVA if a big HT with mega amps and high wattage projector. Anything north of that is serious overkill. As for how much difference this makes, I ran (by accident and without knowing) BOTH of my TWO Dayton Subwoofer amps off the one tiny little 35 watt transformer. Well I forgot which outlet it was wired into. When I opened the Medusa and saw what I'd done I was staggered the amps worked at all. Also all that power was going through one thin little wire. Well it was SUPPOSED to be just for the Oppo CD player! Anyway, the amps did run, I did get very good bass, only it would clip at really high output. Now with bigger wire and no transformer the bass is better, but nowhere near as much as you'd think. If 2 big sub amps can run off on 35VA transformer then I would think 500VA will be plenty for just about anyone. |
slaw- We are similar thinkers, brother. Yes and you have a lot of BDR too, right? So you can imagine better than most with every single thing on BDR just how deep into the recording my system goes. There's actually at least three levels of tweaks operating at once in my system. Vibration control, to a certain extent with my own concrete and sand and lead, but primarily with BDR. Acoustic control, to a certain extent with my acoustic panels but much more with Synergistic HFT. And control of electric currents and fields with PPS Total Contact, E-cards and Omega E-Mats. There's also Synergistic ECT, which are called Electronic Circuit Transducers which are probably vibration control but look just like HFT so could be sonic I just don't know. Anyway that's three clear areas of tweakery. Any one of these alone, well you can read the comments its pretty clear. Even back when BDR was the only thing in my system it was clear to one and all it was something special. Take all the BDR out and it was just another stereo. A good one, to be sure, but hardly special. BDR elevated it to a higher level. Synergistic HFT, ECT and PHT were the same. Different approach, same result. Finally (for now) Perfect Path Solutions has raised performance yet again. This time maybe even in a more across the board manner than any that came before. You know BDR. So you know better than most just how high a compliment that is. |
Wow, nice system & room! I like the careful routeing of cables. Have
you thought about upgrading the power cord of the lava lamp? ;-) The lava lamp power cord isn't detachable. No IEC. See? And you don't mess with vintage gear like that. Kills resale. Rookie. ;-) Besides, it is sitting on a BDR Shelf. How many lava lamps you seen on a $350 BDR Shelf??? Lol! Seriously though, its a crowd-pleaser. The pics aren't close-up enough to tell but the LEDs are all dimmed with tiny little blobs of Blue-Tack. When the music goes on and the lights go out they glow softly which combined with the tubes and the lava lamp is downright dreamy. |
slaw,Yeah with vibration control its a combination of mass, stiffness and damping. Mass alone improves the low bass foundation but it will be a bit bloated and not tight the way you want. Lead shot in a bag is like this. Stiffness alone is great for transients and leading edge detail but will also be out of balance if its too light. Light species woods, pointy aluminum cones. Damping lowers the noise floor but without enough stiffness it sucks the dynamics and life out of the music. Sorbothane.
None of these is perfect but each has its uses. Its like Synergistic Research Element Copper Tungsten Silver cables. Copper is great for bass but silver has better treble and tungsten has magical midrange. Any one alone can be good but all three together are amazing.
Chris Brady (Teres) also made resin stabilized and lead shot weighted platters out of various hardwoods like Cocobolo. Not only beautiful they sounded great too but were costly to make and in spite of everything they did to stabilize its still wood. Chris also made a black platter out of some composite material.
A useful feature of the Teres modular design, the platter lifts straight off making comparisons a breeze. Chris did a demo one time and the differences between the platters was clear and easy to hear. The black one was the best sounding but the worst looking. The platter is one of those rare things in my system where I chose looks over sound. Every time someone sees it I know I made the right choice.
You're right, I'm aware, and had plenty of time to think it over. Decided long ago if I do anything with the platter it will be to build a new one from some of the BDR Shelfs I have just sitting around. I built several plinths out of other materials, the BDR Shelf cannot be beat. Nothing else even comes close. A BDR platter will raise the Miller Carbon to, well nobody ever compares turntables so let's just say it will be a lot better. But it will also require precision machining, and $$. But then it will also require I know not what to make it look as good as that shiny lead shot in acrylic.
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There’s a synergy to the way the system is laid out that people should know. Its not apparent from the photo’s but the stepdown transformer is on the other side of the floor directly beneath the amps. Power comes up and out through the hardwood cover in the wall and is hardwired directly into the Medusa. Projector power then goes right back and up through the wall, across the ceiling in the attic to the projector. This eliminates hum by having everything on one circuit. This also keeps the 110v wire down to a very short 5 feet.
Now here’s where things get really interesting. Perfect Path Solutions Omega E-Mats and E-cards have an effective range of a few feet. There’s one Omega Mat on top of the stepdown transformer, and another one behind the Medusa. There’s one E-card inside the stepdown transformer. (As pictured its outside but its actually slid in between the windings and the iron plates!) There’s another 4 E-cards on the Medusa, between the Dayton sub amps, behind the power transformer on the Melody amp (look real close, the one on the amp is new and has a black label), and on the Synergistic Research Atmosphere interconnect.
These transformers and PPS are all within a few feet of each other. Its like a perfect storm of Perfect Path Solutions and electromagnetic fields.
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Good question! Dive weights. I’m a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.
Discovered years ago mass not only dampens vibration it also improves dynamics and slam and bass extension. Not to mention some stuff like the Oppo is so darn light and power cords so stiff it helps things stay put.
There’s lead on top of the Herron and the Verus motor controller too. Look back at the old photo’s, those dive weights were on the Aronov integrated amp transformers, now they are on the Oppo.
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