2 sets of monos, 1 preamp, one other preamp being built, and by Thanksgiving I’ll have the music server since this one got damaged.
No plans of getting other speakers unless i magically run into one pair of speakers that are on my wish list.
Plans to own Soulution 7 series has been abandoned (long story) so i sacrificed my 725 to get the next linestage which I’ve wanted to try.
No idea when I'll release any of it. I want to focus on a few other things.
The mystery amps/preamp will be used on future shootouts.
I thought you and Viber already had agreed what they were?.
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Thank you guys. I love to see you all collaborate and give me your feedback. I do this because i love it and being able to share this with you all makes this more enjoyable. I have more tricks up my sleeve and more components coming. Notice how i am now living with most of my gear for months before i move on. I give equipment a fair shot and this is something I didn’t do before. Lesson learned and this is part of my own evolution and being able to understand audio more and more each day. I look back at myself and my own previous trials and realize the stupid mistakes i made way back when. This is a process that has made me mature far more than i ever imagined. The shootouts are icing on the cake and to be honest, although they aren’t a 100% representation of what happens in my room, they allow me to do one important thing: To allow you all into my room even though you all are far away. Doing this alone can be boring. Thank you for the support and the allowing me into your homes as well. PS: the tattoo, bald head and 20 inch arms are for looks ( like some amplifiers out there lol) Jay |
Thanks greyhound. It's been a huge learning experience for me and i hope people have also learned a thing or two from my own trials.
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I'll be back to address this later.... |
I’m going to attempt to clear things up for everyone with regards to my Soulution and ARC preamps.
First off, comparing a tube preamp to a solid state preamp is like comparing apples to oranges. They are very different and have differences sonically due to their design.
Secondly, I’m at a very high level with my system and it becomes more of system matching rather than just inserting a component. The vac monos sound amazing with the REF6SE and i was very impressed by this combo, but i also think it is the synergy between both.
Thirdly, the Soulution 725 could possibly be the best solid state preamp I’ve had in here. That said, the boulder 2110 is amazing too but i haven’t owned both at once which would allow me to pick one of the two.
Finally, let’s wait and see what my new preamp will bring to the table.
I think a lot of you will be highly impressed by it and i am expecting the same.
PS: i sold the Soulution 725 but it will be here until the end of this month It will not be part of any rotations although I did record 3 songs today so i will release those videos over the next few days.
"I’m not predicting he’ll say ARC better all around than Soulution especially when he selling that now"
The Soulution was sold before any of this went down and i didn’t even list it and the buyer doesn’t follow this thread. He has a system that is probably more than mine and has owned the 725 in the past. He doesn’t get caught up with this.
The 725 doesn't really need acceptance by potential buyers. It has a great track record so it sells itself. Its resume is pretty full and if anyone is looking to buy a 725, i am sure they know what they are buying. Some pieces just don't need propaganda at all.
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I’m working on noise suppression going forward. I believe i might be done with power conditioners (again, this is not 100%). I have slowly picked up the flavor inserted by some of these power conditioners.
This is a great topic for a future video so I’ll leave it at that.
Before anyone assumes anything, no I’m am saying sell your power conditioners. They have a place in most systems out there and most of you would totally benefit from it.
The biggest enemy is NOISE (floor noise). The issue is too much filtering also murders a lot of the "meat and potatoes" of the presentation. It's like doing chemotherapy: you kill the cancerous cells as well as good ones. |
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Keep in mind guys, my powercords tend to cost as much as a power conditioner...
To me, most surprising power conditioner was the audioquest Nagra 5000 |
"Would not take any Wilson under $200K for what i heard then"
I guess it's a good thing my XLF are not under $200k so i suppose mine passed your superior standards huh? |
In case some of you haven't noticed, Nordost hasn't come out with a power conditioner for a reason. They have identified changes to the sonic qualities of their cables when using these devices.
What did the p20 do to my system?.
It killed the wow effect and murdered the excitement. It homogenized things and if j recall correctly, it killed the bass too. I thought the Shunyata Denali V2 was superior. |
Here you go!
https://youtu.be/8K8OuTh0s90
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stay tuned - i will be releasing the final video of my bottom tier amplifiers today. |
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I don't know if I'll ever try it |
Right now, i prefer ZERO power conditioner. I'm actually connecting my preamp on a Nordost qb8 power strip because i want to get a baseline of the presentation without adding any "seasoning" in the form of power conditioners. |
Nordost has great detail but if you use a nordost odin 1 PC to power the power strip then you’ll get tons of detail and the bass leans out. I just detected this today. You gain massive detail but the bass leans out. The Denali gives you great bass but the resolution doesn’t quite catch the nordost qb8 with Odin powercord.
It’s all about trade offs.
The Everest has tremendous bass. This undisclosed preamp and amp tell the whole truth quite EASILY.
I keep going back to no power conditioner. I'm literally using an Amazon 40 dollar power strip and connecting the preamp in there, the DAC into the wall with shunyata omega QR-s powercords and the amps into the wall with transparent Opus powercords. I will say i lose some of the extra resolution by doing this but my midrange and bass get FAR better. The musicality returns too. CRAZY HOBBY! |
I think the powercord used on the qb8 is the most important thing.
I have just ordered the Nordost grounding system to see what happens. |
if people have followed me closely, they would know that i dont use power conditioners for amplifiers. That is a big NO NO. |
Hey Paul
I've been saying it for some time now that i don't feel footers add music to the music. They inject this extra information that makes the presentation almost synthetic.
People are finally starting to see and hear for themselves. This is great because it solidifies what i have already stated in the past.
I ordered the Qkore 6. I was told by nordost that you must ground components by utilizing an input on the component and to not use the typical grounding point that some electronics have. This is why they sell you grounding cables terminated in whatever you need (XLR, USB, RCA, etc).
Today, i inserted yet another transparent opus powercord but i am using it on the preamp now and once again transparent adds more musicality and far more bass.
Damn it, i wish I would have used transparent cables with the mágico M6 now.
I think i might be done with silver cables of any brand |
My take on power conditioners will go live today at 130pm ET. |
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WHOAAAAA 😲
You're right... 5 years doing this here day in day out. I can't believe it... |
I added my 4th Transparent Opus powercord today: 2 are on the amps, two on the preamp and i have been sitting on my chair for the last 4 hours. I have officially removed all my Audioquest Dragon powercords from my system. Why? the mix and matching of Dragon High Current and Transparent XLR & Opus speaker cables simply dont work well together.
Things can get edgy and a little fatiguing.
I really like these Transparent opus PCs, but i think that it is also the synergy that is taking over. It does not matter what song is playing; oldies, 90s, 80s, etc - the system is quite impressive and clear like water. I even found myself listening to some JAZZ! (WDF!!).
I am completely impressed with the dynamics in some of the JAZZ songs i was listening to. I think it will be HARD for me get rid of the full loom of Transparent Opus because i have heard many different brands and although they were amazing in their own right, this transparent system keeps me glued. The only thing that sucks is that MSRP...ugh..
Oh and before i forget, i am STILL STREAMING FROM MY OLD LAPTOP LOL!! (hopefully i will have the music server soon).
I feel as if i am reaching new heights sonically speaking. Undoing what i have built over the last few months WILL BE HARD to beat even for me.
Of course, nothing is perfect, but when i listen at the entire presentation, i hear something quite special. NO NEED to blast the system either in order to get full satisfaction here folks. All the musicality, resolution, clarity, imaging, detail and vocals that hang in the air dead center between the speakers. This has all been accomplished by a 100% solid state preamp/amp combination. I don’t know how much more i can elevate this system once i get the music server and the opus powercord for the server plus the grounding system from Nordost, but you all know i will keep pushing forward even though I DO NOT KNOW what would push ahead of what have i created around the Wilson XLF. |
Unfortunately i dont see myself trying them because Transparent cable dealers are not many and they are closely monitored too. I had to buy the now discontinued Opus Gen5 speaker cables because the new Gen6 is crazy money. The margins on Transparent cables are not the same as many other cable brands.
I don’t see myself selling them unless somehow the stars align for me to move up to the Gen6 Opus speaker cables.
The used market is not a good option for the top end transparent cables either because they will only calibrate cables for the original owner. This is why i had to buy all my cables from a dealer since i change equipment so often. If i had bought these Opus speaker cables from the second hand market, i would have had to pay transparent like $5,000 dollars to "recertify" them so i can get all the calibrations i need. I do not regret my purchase one bit. |
what i was told by transparent cables is that they match the impedance of the components and some other parameters. That said, i can definitely tell you that they sound better with the components they are calibrated for. I tried different amps/preamps with these speaker cables and at times i picked up brightness that is absent with the components that the cable is calibrated for. |
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I did see the lack of deep bass comment from the reviewer. This is exactly what I also felt about my Alexx. I couldn’t get it to do OOMPH.
however, I felt that the Alexia had monstrous bass in my room.
I think it’s rear port being higher off the ground on the Alexia than on the Alexx.
The XLF has more presence in the bass region and a bigger presentation but i have just discovered this past weekend that i prefer the port towards the rear than the front. It seems to have a bigger soundstage and more nuance even though if i do the front port i get more bass in my room. I never understood so clearly as i do now how much collateral damage takes place when your bass is just a tad overpowering. The clarity of the vocals and the high frequency extension get buried by the bass.
If you see the XLf in person you expect club level bass because of its sheer size but then you hear it and you realize it doesn't do that. It plays very uniform without overemphasizing any particular frequency. |
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I have tried to get my hands on the 760 DAC from Soulution but it's stupid hard to get one of those.
That said, i am telling you all, i don't know of any DAC that has a huge soundstage such as the sound that comes from the best preamps out there.
Alright, the Soulution 725 departs next week and a new preamp will be here the week after. I was told today it is being tested and they are breaking it in now. Im really excited for this preamp.
I also just received all my nordost grounding so i plan to insert it in the system as soon as my ears and mind are in the mood to listen to music. Im having days in which i feel as if my system sounds like $h!t but yet it's the same exact system that blew me away over the weekend. It's certainly either me being stressed with work or i might need to step away from it for sometime. This is a thing by the way... Our mood affects how we hear.
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The bigger the Wilson speaker, the less explosive the bass gets but i think this is what makes the speaker perhaps sound clearer... |
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Well folks, i brought the VAC monos back from the dead after not playing them for weeks and here are a couple of things that i can call out in order to differentiate the experience of going from top notch solid state to top notch tubes: - Tubes will forever "reel you in" way more than solid state can. No matter how good a solid state amp is, it just does not go all the way to your soul as deep as great tube amps can. I have two of the best amps here and i can be REAL HERE: tubes win all day when it comes to listener engagement - PERIOD.
- My solid state amp has more nuance and there are minute things that are more apparent through it than on my VAC, but your mind does not a give a damn about these tiny things when listening to the VACs - Your mind isn’t focused on these things.
- Bass on the VAC monos is amazing and deep, but yes the solid state monos dig deeper.
- THIS IS A BIG ONE: These VACs are NOT moody and i can’t really hear sonic fluctuations due to my power grip. This is not the case with my solid state monos (i can hear them sound so/so during certain parts of the day). Maybe the tubes don’t really allow me to hear my grid? maybe it is the massive external power supply of the amps?
- I have a HARD TIME choosing one over the other. I love what both of them do.
With all that said, let’s see how much better things will get once i pick up my new linestage next week. Ps: i am using cheap metal amp stands under the VACs and my cables are NOT calibrated for these amps and yet i am super impressed. What would happen if i sent my cables to get calibrated for VAC? what if i used the Artesania Master Kio stands under them? would they beat my solid state amps? (i am actually afraid of trying it LOL) |
This is why the vac 450iq cost so much...the amps have lights on the front panel that tell you which tube is going bad...it constantly monitors each tube and will warn you right before they die out so you can have it handy. |
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Nordost Qkore has been installed and with zero miles on it, here are my initial impressions: - Warmer high frequency
- Unknown information on every song is now served
- Outstanding musicality
- More soul
- More bass maybe? 🤔
- Whispering vocals previously buried in the music are now heard with articulation
More to come |
I just finished an 8-hour listening session. I listened to everything including Rob Zombie and it was phenomenal how the system plays EVERYTHING with insane resolution and speed. I STILL CAN NOT believe it sounds this good without a music server.
I hope you all get ready for what lies ahead and with the next set of monoblocks that hopefully hit my door early next month. 500 lbs of metal between both. |
3060 doesn't need an aftermarket powecord to sound great. It sounds insane with the powercord it comes with.
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Zero fatigue. Zero ringing in my ear the next morning. The clarity is through the roof. Outlets will be installed soon and then wait on the music server. I think this is my all time best when it comes to sound reproduction. |
The grounding system, Nordost qb8 plus all the Shunyata and opus powercords have given my system a level of clarity that would make anybody’s jaw drop. The clarity, the depth, the vocals are clearer than ever and the high frequencies are unable to bite you regardless of the song played or the volume levels. I now have a far deeper understanding of the importance of everything needed to remove that poison that has ALWAYS plagued my systems before.
OUTSTANDING MUSICALITY AND EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT |
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I own everything I have in the room unless i state otherwise. If you all remember, when i had the simaudio 860v2 and tekton i said they weren't mine. I would do the same if there was anything in my room right now that isnt mine.
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@maxwave:
I'm not sure about the line harmonizer.... |
I am happy to announce that last night i had the pleasure of having Teeka Tiwari in my lab. He found me on YouTube and flew in from Puerto Rico to meet me and to have a chance to listen to my system for roughly 5 hours. The interview goes live today at 1130am ET. Hear his thoughts from inside the room. I’m pretty excited to go to Puerto Rico to assemble his first system. This is the beginning of things to come. 2022 should be promising folks! https://youtu.be/2y9JXeORJzgHere is a little about him: https://www.businessandleadership.com/leadership/item/teeka-tiwari-a-financial-pioneer/ |
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I was just told that most vac master owners are hanging on to it because there isn't a substantially better tube preamp out there.
Let's see if the solid state amps sound better or worse than with the matching 450iq. We could be in for a huge surprise guys!
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