My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!

Ah, "Keith don't go" 2nd song.  The recording is quite bright, which I found out when I got the CD.  The twang of the guitar is sharp, as recorded, so the system is telling the truth.  Yeah, you can get tired of the song, so we haven't heard it on your Alexx, XLF, Focal.  The highs on the XLF and Focal also are brilliant, so in order to really judge the S7, I would like to hear this song on your Focal.

Mágico or focal? Which one is better?

Video drops TONIGHT!!

It's time!

"Keith Don't Go" is an excellent test track.

Happy Listening!

The time has come...find out what are the weaknesses of these two loudspeakers!

Jay,

I enjoyed your analysis of Focal/S7. I never liked the M3 or M6 for their surprising dullness, but the S7 seems to be a brilliant exception. I doubt the M6 poor showing was due to the lack of the top Boulder electronics you now have. The "Keith don’t go" song has never sounded so clear, crystalline, coherent and natural--a whole new universe. And that is with the tube ARC ref 6E. All of your previous speakers by comparison were wrapped in a blanket of veiled warmth and plushness. Some like this sound, but the S7 is much more accurate and true high fidelity.

Thanks to you, I am motivated to go to a dealer and hear the S1, S3 models. Do you have any idea of the crossover points? Magico doesn’t say. My guess is that the S7 woofers handle below 300 Hz. A female voice centers around 500 Hz, so the midrange driver would predominate. The male voice centers around 150 Hz, so the bass drivers would have the majority of the male energy. So do you find that the image of the male voice is much larger than the female voice due to more area of drivers used?

This is why I am especially interested in the S1, which is like a mini monitor 2-way in a taller box. The Magico sales manager on a video said that the S1 has a focused image where the two close drivers work together, kind of like a coaxial speaker. So I would predict that the S1 has the most focused, clear midrange/HF of all the S models. It even has response down to 32 Hz, so for most classical music, especially in a modestly sized room, the S1 would be great. BTW, the "Keith don’t go" has the lowest guitar note, E at about 82 Hz, so the S1 would be perfectly adequate for this song. The guitar on this recording has midbass, but also brilliant midrange/HF, so do you find that the image for the low notes is bigger than the image for the high notes? That’s a flaw of larger speakers in general, and why I like smaller 2-way speakers. I was very happy with my little 2-way Rogers LS 3/5a for many years, before I got my midsize electrostatics.

The S1 at about $22K currently, looks like a fabulous bargain for the sound quality. The S3 at about $36K, looks like a great bargain as a full range speaker going down to 24 Hz. I’ll compare them. I don’t know whether you compared these new S1, S3, S5, S7. The implementation of these drivers is fabulous, and I think they are what makes the S series special. Sure, your top Boulders help, but I bet the new S series is the hot ticket.

Hopefully before your Focal leaves, you can record the Keith song on that. I anticipate a come-down from the exciting lively S7.

The S7 uses an aluminum cone bass driver.  The S3 and S1 use the SOTA nanographene material for their bass drivers.  Perhaps the S3 and S1 have more accuracy in the bass, especially mid and upper bass, while the S7 has more power but less accuracy.  Are the 6" midrange and 1" tweeter drivers identical in the S7, S5, S3?  

What a lineup--the S series.

McIntosh has just been sold to a private equity firm...

Yes the company is in Dallas. At least it’s in the US. Will be interesting to see what happens. 

Will be interesting to see what happens. 

Nothing good, that's for sure :(

It’s come up here occasionally top digital sq vs top analog. Interesting comment today from someone whose system makes WC’s look like WC’s makes most of ours look (that’s kinda a joke). Mike Lavigne is who I’m talking about.

anyway, he went from Msb select ii (WC’sdac) to Wadax, which he says is much better. And he has analog systems well into six figures. So he’s been around the block.

Anyway, after I asked him awhile ago whether top digital like Wadax could approach top analog, he still said no. Then today somebody asked him if one had a $100k digital system (dac and server), how much would they need to spend on an analog system (TT, arm, cart, phono pre) to equal it in sq. His answer surprised me, but he should know:

“i would say generally a $30k-$40k (new retail price) analog system (tt, arm, cart, phono) will surpass a $100k dac such as the MSB Select II with Taiko Extreme server, or dCS Vivaldi Apex stack....if the analog system is well set up and good analog sourced pressings (but maybe not the very best) are used.”

in his Wadax thread under digital if interested

kren0006,

Also, for any system, digital or analog, spending more money doesn't necessarily equate to better performance.  I don't know how much experience you have with turntables, arms, cartridges, but my experience is that my relatively inexpensive Denon 305 MC cartridge had more accuracy than much more expensive cartridges like Koetsu.  Sound quality is highly subjective.  Mike Fremer has reviewed many turntable systems.  The lightweight, inexpensive top of the line Rega has lean, accurate tone quality that I would like, whereas massive TT often have bass heavy/slow SQ that I would hate.  His latest S-phile review of the J Sikora TT at $45K has SQ that I would prefer over other TT's costing multiples of that.

As for digital, I would take my cheap Sony CD player over massive TT's with euphonic expensive cartridges and euphonic phono preamps.

Price has little to do with performance in almost everything audio.  Judgment is always required to get the best performance.  For example, in your bedroom system, the Magico S7 would show unbalanced heaviness.  The S1 would be better balanced, but perhaps the best Magico might be the bookshelf A1, which still goes down to 35 Hz.

Yeah, zero interest in arguing for the millionth time.

There are exceptions, but in general, imo, price often, not always, but often, can have a correlation to quality in audio. I said a correlation, not a definitive. But anyway, you have your opinion and many with much more experience will disagree, and that’s fine. That’s why you think your Rouge sounds better than Gryphon, after all - and if that works for you that’s cool. : )

Anyway, I just posted the reference to the other thread in case others are interested, as it’s come up here and many have advocated for WC go try vinyl, that’s all. And because his current dac is discussed in that thread and according to ML, surpassed. Fwiw

Just remain seated and wait until i unveil what I am getting picked up next week. This component is THE MOST DESIRED COMPONENT (not a speaker) which I've chased for so many years. It is 6 figures and i am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE it will be the component that will become the heart of my systems going forward. Folks, this is THE MOST DIFFICULT COMPONENT to lay eyes on because it is rarely seen even at shows let alone at a dealer. I promise you, heads will roll on the floor when you see it. There are under 10 of these units  in the U.S.

Nobody sells this stuff because there is nowhere to go but down... I have not been this excited in the last 3 years. 

Just when you thought i had nowhere else to go, guess again...

This is better than world peace.....I am so excited.....ha ha. Giant monkey coffins....giant amp boxes practically no one can lift, yet afford.....and now ??????

You can make bass cabinets.....and bi-amp usng inexpensive and light weight Class D amps with room eq. that will give state of the art incredible bass for practically nothing.

You can make high effeciency full range open baffle speakers with added super tweeters.....for next to nothing and use small amps to drive them. This combo will sound better than Jay’s amp/speaker wire/speaker combo.......with mono amps directly behind the open baffle speakers you hardwire from inside the amp directly to the voice coil wire on the speakers......this is a shorter/purer signal path than anything you can buy. Naturally, you would have Bybee Clarifiers on the full range driver, my Music Purifiers and Ground Enhancers, and a super dead baffle with diffraction control using felt.

Some people buy expensive standard "commercial street race cars"......and some people make hot rods with no limitaions....where nothing is compromised......BUT, you have to have the desire for the best and be creative.......if you just like buying and selling then you are limited to stock "non hot rods"

For those box lovers you might want to check out this review on 10 Audio where Jerry preferred the the Alta Audio speakers over the Magico S-1 MkII.

Of course, if I owned the Alta Audio speakers I would mod the heck out of them....they would sound way, way better......there is always more and more and more and more........to infinity......Enjoy the now .......it is all there is.....Love and Peace.

ricevs,

Thanks for posting this comparative review of the Alta and Magico S1 speakers.  I agree with the writer's preference for 2 way speakers.  The Alta and S1 are probably among the best examples of the breed.  Yes, ribbon tweeters are better than beryllium/diamond tweeters.  A few electrostatics like my Audiostatic 240 have still better tweeters than ribbons.  Mine was more revealing than the Dick Sequerra ribbon tweeter at $1200/pr which I owned in 1980.

The S1 mid/woofer uses the carbon nanotube/neographene material which is probably more accurate than the aluminum woofer of the S7 and S5.  Why do the upper priced S5 and S7 use the possibly inferior aluminum material for their 10" woofers?  Maybe Magico had problems using the better material for the 10" woofers.   Or maybe Magico designed the S5 and S7 for more power delivery, and the S1 and S3 for more finesse/accuracy.

I also heard Mark Levinson's mini monitor 2 way speaker using a ribbon tweeter 15-20 years ago at his Red Rose Music place in Manhattan.  For $3k/pr, quite good.  Not much bass, as the priority was midrange/HF.  Still not as revealing as my electrostatic.  I was envious of his 1/4 inch diameter recording microphone, which probably had better resolution than my 1/2 inch diameter Neumann KM 184.

How something is done is just as important as the basic technology....There are electrostats with great sound and there are ribbons with great sound.....and there are ribbons and electrostats with just OK sound. Every single thing in front of the driver and the power supplies, etc.....all effect the sound. I have never seen an electrostatic speaker made well. The power supply to the stator is super critical. If you have a wall wart and some cheap voltage multiplier.....then you have crappy sound. You need a state of the art power supply for the stator......you need state of the art audio transformer.....same with a ribbon....you need to get rid of all the connections and hardwire all the parts together without ANY connectors.....this has never been done....that I know of. So, if all you have heard is 20 to 30 year old electrostats and ribbons done with the non tweak technology of its day then you have no idea what is possible today with total hot rodding. Are your electrostats stock? What power supply do you use?....what power cord to the power supply? and the wires? and the connectors? Older connectors are really bad. Make a state of the art separate power supply for the stators and hardwire everything with the latest super wire......then you will have some idea of what your speaker can do.....of course, you will need to re build the entire baffle/frame to reduce resonances and create bass slam and dynamics......and make a super base and feet to mount it. I know all this because I modded the original Quads and have also modded Soundlabs and Acoustats and Sanders Sound stats......they sound incredibly better with mods......and that was years ago.....with what I know now it would be mucho better. My friends brand new totally tweaked Apogee Duetta speakers ($20K with all the mods) gave me chills and goosebumps in the first ffew seconds.....they are that transparent.....incredible....in fact.........A stock old Apogee Duetta is good.....but this is a whole new world....They are power hogs however.  That is why I would go with the bi-amped woofers on the bottom and high effeciency full range open baffle with super tweeter on top........way less demanding and still super transparent.

Michael Fremer has officially left Stereophile. He is now part of Absolute Sound... The industry is nuts right now. 

Mike Fremer is the best living audio reviewer in print.  Follow him where he goes.  His tastes differ somewhat from mine, but he describes clearly how something sounds, using various types of music and other components in his system.  He doesn't brag how much his system costs, and he doesn't say that something is better because it is more expensive.  For example, he recently extolled the superlative accuracy and tonal qualities of the Paradox 70 phono preamp at MSRP of $2-3k (direct sale, it would be double through a retailer).  He objectively compared it to his reference CH Precision phono preamp costing 30x more.  Not to offend CH, and to hide his embarrassment about his purchase (even considering his reviewer discount) he searched for something nice to say about CH, but anyone who reads between the lines can conclude that he judges the Paradox to be SOTA for accuracy.  In his review, he notes that the manufacturer uses the best parts, which in the hands of a typical major brand with a huge marketing budget, would cost $20k.

ricevs,

Agree that your mods in concept would probably improve my electrostatic, which uses some mediocre materials. However, all of the stats currently available have basic flawed concepts, such as large convex curved panels. Large straight planar panels like Maggies and Apogees suffer from similar problems. Think of a large panel as having a huge number of small drivers radiating to the listener with different angles of dispersion patterns. The result is a chaotic summation of sounds, creating time smearing. I was shocked at how mediocre the Apogees that I heard were--the original tall Apogee, Scintilla, Duetto, etc. The Maggie 20 original had poorer clarity although more bass than the 3 model at the time, the mid 80’s. The larger the panel, the worse the clarity from more chaotic hodge-podge radiation patterns.

You could certainly improve the sound from these poor designs with your mods, but superior results will be from better designs with even mediocre parts. Of course, the best result will be from better designs with the best mods.

My concept of the best possible panel is a slice of a spherical membrane with CONCAVE radiation to the listener. If you sit 8 feet away, the sphere has a radius of curvature of 8 feet, about 5 feet tall and 1 foot wide to get enough membrane area for loud enough SPL’s. Soundlab uses small cells, which is on the right track, but their convex curvature rolls off HF for much of the large panel that is way off axis to the listener. In my concept, each small cell curved concavely, would beam the sound directly to the listener. The only drawback is the need to sit in the small sweet spot. Anyone who goes through all the expense and effort in assembling a system should be willing to get the best sound by sitting in the sweet spot.

My Audiostatic 240 single panel is 5.3" wide and 48" tall as a flat straight panel. If I accidentally move the panel off axis, I hear the loss of clarity, which demonstrates the necessity of meticulous positioning for the best sound. Even though it dates from 1980, newer stats suffer from flawed thinking, resulting in sound that is less clear. My concept would be even better than my Audiostatic, but there is no market for an electrostatic with ultimate clarity in the minds of 99.9% of audiophiles--they prioritize bass and high SPL’s.

For dynamic speakers, I respect 2 way designs using the best drivers. Their obvious shortcoming is the relatively massive weight of their drivers compared to the near zero mass of stat drivers. But their strength is accurate imaging due to the small radiating area, compared to the bloated imaging from large curved panels which detracts from the benefits of their low mass drivers.

I still marvel at the excellent clarity from the Silver 8 (forgot the brand) 2 way speaker you posted 1-2 years ago.

Is this "router" any good? Find out today!

I am live!

Execution is way, way, way more important than any single "design concept". If you heard any new (or even your old) electrotstat or ribbon done to the max......you would cry and shiver in ecstasy.

The silver 8 speaker is not a two way.......it is a full range driver......and what you heard was deeply flawed......junk double binding posts, junk wire, etc.

Those drivers are $430 a pair plus shipping......Imagine what a pair mounted in a serious box or open baffle would sound like with no binidng posts (amp hardwired to voice coil on the speaker)........Bybee Quantum Purifiers on the magnet.....my Music Purifiers and Ground Enhancers mounted on the voice coil as well......The box/baffle material and super wire and all the above would cost less than $2K. Add supertweeters on top and woofs underneath to take it to another level.....still dirt cheap. You can finish your box/baffle any way you like......could be diamond dust coated.

ricevs,

No, driver materials and design concepts are the biggest factor. There is no dynamic speaker executed to the max, such as Magico, that compares in accuracy to a half way decent electrostatic or ribbon speaker. Of course, any design can be improved by mods, but the inherent limitation of inferior drivers and concepts reigns supreme.  But yes, add super tweeters for more HF and better air, detail, etc.  That is a basic design concept with better HF drivers, not a tweak.  

Another example--you could tweak a conventional box speaker all you want, but any stock horn speaker will kill that tweaked conventional box speaker for macrodynamics. The horn’s 100+ dB efficiency says it all.

@Viber6

The amount of ’uninformed’ opinions you are spewing here is tiring. Take a breather, there must be other forums/threads you can indulge yourself with. 

Magico is NOT done to the max......

They use binding posts.....they veil the sound.....my plastic clamp system is way better. They use circuit boards for the xover.....they don’t even hardwire the parts together.....I don’t see any bypass caps on the xover. They use Mundorf wire....which is good, but even Mundorf now has better wire (copper Angelique).....they use push on connectors on the wires to the drivers.....they do not wire directly to the voice coil wires.......they do not time align the drivers....they do not use any diffraction control......Do they know about coil directivity? Are they using the coils in the sonically correct direction? (I know of no one talking about this and it makes a noticeable difference). Do they have Bybee Clarifiers on the magnets of all their drivers.....no......do they have my Music Purifiers on each driver along with my Ground Enhancers....no......

Sorry, I would fix all the above (and probably a ton of other stuff that I don’t know yet) before I said a Magico was an all out attempt at a box speaker. Yes, great drivers, great box....and good xover and execution.....that is all.......you fix everything I mention and your jaw will drop on the floor. It would kill most stock electrostats in every way. Totally tweaked electrostats? (never seen that yet)......now that is another story.

High end audio is not very tweak......the problem is there is not real race course. In hot rodding everyone knows how to get down the quarter mile the fastest.....everything is known. With audio.....very little is known and people are not sharing information.....The main problem is that every single thing you do affects the sound and most of what changes the sound CANNOT be measured.......so every manufacturer and end user is on their own to find out for themselves......what is correct and what is not. And since there are thousands of manufacturers and products and ALL of them only know a small portion of what can be known......well.....this is why every component sounds different......and why you have to spend countless hours and have super passion for finding the "most transparent" way to do something. Very few people have this one pointed passion.....whereas in hot rodding.....lots of people have this passion.....and the main reason is.......most everything is know....and shared......hot rods are incredibly simple compared to our stereo system.......so it takes a super sleuth to know anything.......

Most people who comment on forums have very little actual direct knowledge of how things work or what makes different sound..........they have limited knowledge and act like they actually know something.....and sometimes think they know everything. The ego will go to great lengths to define and defend. The trouble is, who we are is not definable........We are all one and infinite and eternal.....we are not these separate ego selves.......even our souls are part of oversouls and are really just another game we (as the oness) play.......But.......if we play the game with love and joy.....then everyone wins......we all win happiness.....which is our inherent nature.

@ricevs

I find it interesting that each time i present a speaker, you take it upon yourself to point out its deficiencies..not sure if that is your way to market your business or whatever it is that you do.

I am, however, waiting to hear your criticism of the boulder 3060 , its subpar construction and cheap 350 lb chassis. When are you coming out with that episode? Or did I miss that one?

Don’t forget to also critique the rest of the system. 

Please inform us sheep how the master wants things done.

You don't have to take what I say so personally.  There is nothing wrong with you or what you are doing......in fact, you are magnificent.    I was responding to vibers saying that the Magico speaker was done all out.........and, in my opinon, it is not all out......nor is any speaker, that I know of.  I know what I know from direct experience.  I state it to inform those that want to know.  Not very many on this thread can hear what I say.....this is why I just comment once a month of so.  However, there are those few people who are interested in serious hot rodding that appreciate my direct knowledge.

I am sure the Boulder is an incredible amp.......my point is always.....that there might be a cheaper and possibly better ways to do something.  The reason you need that kind of sophisticated high power is that you are using speakers that demand it.  If you bi amped using separate woofers with eq......then you could use high powered class D (like the amps you had from viber) to power the bass and use smaller cheaper mono blocks to power high effeciency speakers .....esp full range drivers mit super tweeters....and implement them in the ways I described.  As I said.....you could get sound quality equal to your amp/speaker wire/speaker combo for less than $20K total......yes, I believe that is true.  This is why I post......maybe someone will do this and be very happy.  You can be happy with $140K amps, 40K speaker wires and $70K speakers....for sure......but you can be just as happy for $20K total........and you could lift the components.

Sheep are people who blindy follow others.  I hope that is none of you.  Do not believe anyone. Trust your own experience.......be self realized.....try things on your own......there are lots of possibilities.....way more than mentioned on this thread or on any thread........it is infinite.....and so are you.....enjoy the ride.

@ricevs,

Please pack up your $20,000 (msrp + cost of Mods)ideal stereo and drive it down to Jay’s place in Florida and put it up against the Boulder/Magico system.  I’m confident Jay will entertain this challenge and post a blind, equalized, duplicate recording of the shootout.  If a poll on Jay’s you tube page results in your system sounding better, then I will pay $250 of your costs for getting there.  I wouldn’t be surprised there would be others that would pitch in if your costs are greater (I don’t know where you would be coming from).  

I think there needs to be a downside for you.  So in the unlikely event that you lose, your penalty will be recording a 10 minute video of you wearing a 3’, 2 sided placard at any large scale high end show (Axpona, Rocky Mountain, Long Beach, etc) saying:

”I’m @ricevs my name is _____ and my MOD company is _______.  I challenged the best and found my theories ‘wanting’.  In fact I’m full of poopey ideas.  If you want unbiased, reviews of truly high end audio equipment, please join Jay’s Audio Lab on YouTube.”  

This should be audibly shouted and taped for a minimum of 10 minutes then posted by yourself and copies sent to Jay and anyone else he wants to include.

Any other takers willing to pitch in a few bucks for @ricevs in the case of a win?

To Jay and other Agon readers here. I learned several years ago that both the power cord and DC power cable matter big time on linear power supplies. Don’t forget those DC cables carrying 5-19 vdc to your switch and such. They can make as big of a difference as the power cord! Your DC cables should be double shielded and use the best quality silver or copper conductors as well as high quality connectors such as the ones from Oyaide.

Jay, I highly recommend you place a Network Acoustics Muon filter after your switch going into your server. It is passive so no need to plug it in! It will also confound you with the sonic improvements. Here is a link to Network Acoustics. I use the Muon ethernet cable and filter after my audiophile switch. A must for you to look into. You will be smiling and once again shaking your head in amazement. They offer a trial period and ship these out to you using 1 or 2 day express.

https://www.networkacoustics.com

Every single thing matters in digital audio front ends. Cleaning up electrical noise and EMI/RFI before your server is vitally important to SOTA realism.

Oh, and in case you forgot, @viber6 had the conviction to submit his beloved Rouge Class D amp to a challenge and only lost by 60-40 (approximate, I don’t remember the exact numbers).  

I’m sure everyone could have a great deal of fun with this informative competition.  Think of how much free advertising you would get with winning!  I bet many of us would send our “veiled” systems for you to upgrade after a decisive win (maybe even a tie)!

Also, think about how much free advertising you would get from losing…. As a famous co-Floridian of Jay’s once said…. “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”

The ego wants to fight, be right, put others down, compete, define and defend. The soul wants to inform, love and serve (it wants to feel good and have everyone feel good). The information I share needs no defense (it is simply my experience). I love you all. When you love yourself very deeply you will also love EVERYONE else......this is real self esteem. If you only love yourself as a separate being then it is just ego........Agape is every souls real goal....

"Bring me a higher love".

You are my pet.....You are my baby.....I am your pet.....I am your baby.

Imagine everyone treating everyone else as their pet or baby......there would be no violence........no war....no hatred....no ego.....just love....just love....just love

I worship you.

We are so beautful and worthy.......we are divine.

By the way, I no longer do mods......I sell $125 speaker rf filters, $40 speaker ground enhancers and do spiritual and audio counseling for $1 a minute. Not likely to make any money posting here. My knowledge is now your knowledge.....use it or not. drink it or not. enjoy or not.....love or not.....it is always your choice moment to moment to enjoy and use each moment for your upliftment or simply reject this moment as not serving your ego...,....your choice.....please choose love.

See you in a month or so with the next installment of:

You are beautiful, I love you, Thank you......OMG....it feels so good....YES.

mheinze,

Who do you think you are to call my posts, "uninformed opinions."  What is your musical and technical background?  No technologist in the past 40 years has the experience and thought process to approach mine with electrostatic speakers.  Only Peter Walker, the designer of the original Quad 57, but his later Quad stats were far inferior.  Ben Peters, the designer of my Audiostatic 240 was another great.  All the other stat speakers of the last 40 years I have heard, and they are all inferior in the ways I discussed.  What speakers have you designed or bought?

There is no opinion that is uninformed.  Everyone is entitled to express their own experiences.  If you disagree with something, either ignore it or discuss intelligently without any nasty overlay.

Despite my disagreements with some of ricevs’ claims, I regard him as making significant contributions to audio. I wish I lived near him, so I could verify his claims for myself. I did have a now deceased friend near me who had proprietary interconnect cables. He would buy industrial wire and modify it. I use his interconnects which approach and in some cases surpass some Nordost cables I also have. He was not an educated technologist, but just used his ears and experimented a lot. He designed cables with maximum clarity for me, and other sonic qualities for other friends.

Jay has an excellent system, but few people here will spend that kind of money. Ricevs is providing eye-opening alternatives which should be considered and respected.

Ricevs quote:  “you could get sound quality equal to your (sic. Jay’s current system) amp/speaker wire/speaker combo for less than $20K total......yes, I believe that is true.”

At more than 50 times the cost, even getting close would really be a victory for him.

viber6, big claims demand big proof.  I just offered him that chance, at my expense.  What do I have to gain?  If he’s that good, then I’ll happily pay him to modify my equipment.  If he’s not, I’ve given him the opportunity to prove at least he’s close.  If he’s not close, at least he’ll get some inexpensive publicity.  And Jay will get to generate some content…. My win is that I’ll possibly be able to save some money and quite possibly have a good belly laugh.  Everyone wins, but only if he takes up the offer!

of course Jay would also have to agree.  I’ve no idea if he would.?

Viber6,

Have you heard about the Dunning-Kruger effect?  Whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of people in general. You should look it up, if fits you like a glove.

and to answer your question, FWIW, I am a professional musician (and a recording engineer).

There is a minimal threshold of acoustic satisfaction for a chosen audio system/room .... Passsed this threshold there is more improvement...But this threshold when we know how to reach it with mechanical,electrical and acoustical control give to any system/room owner a great satisfaction...Upgrading lost his appeal even when it is possible...

Then we must define our goal:

The question what is the best existing piece of gear has nothing do do with what is the best way to create an audiophile experience with a given system...

I will not reveal the price of my audio system to not create useless and meaningless debate here... 😁😊 People judge on appearence....

I only pretend that i am satisfied with the system i succeeded to optimize ( it takes me few years of learning)...This system is not comparable in quality to any piece reviewed here by a great margin...But i am glad with no desire to upgrade.... Acoustic tailored made for a specific room/system is not a secondary element in comparison with the electronic design of the pieces of gear, it is on par with it in importance...It is simply my own experience...

Acoustic and psycho-acoustic control is not less important than electronic engineering of a high end piece of gear, it is in the opposite, unbeknownst to most, at least as important....One cannot replace one with the other never....But marketing in audio and progress in electronic design did not help to understand this reality and fact...People trust publicity and price tag more than basic acoustic power to transform sound experience.... Most think about their uncontrolled room that their room is good.... I beg to think the opposite, no small room is at his potential acoustic peak without acoustic transformation not only by passive treatment but also by more active one...

I am not a musician nor an engineer, but i tried to learn some bits by my own acoustic and psycho-acoustic elementary experiments...I succeeded to my satisfaction....

i listen this channel here only because of Jay’s character passion and honesty, i like his personality, i am not interested really by high end anymore to upgrade ... Upgrade are often dream for people who never try to transform what they already own...

😊

mheinze,

Well, thanks for enlarging my vocabulary, Dunning-Kruger effect.  Not applicable to me at all.  I don't have experience in all things audio, and neither do you.  We might play different instruments, and are expert in some instruments and not others.  What instruments do you play, and what music have you recorded?   I have dabbled in recording as an amateur.  I don't like most commercial recordings which have a distant presentation with mediocre clarity, but admire the immediacy of Mercury Living Presence and the Turnabout/Vox 1967 recordings of Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances and Copland pieces.  I got my inspiration from those recordings, and made superbly clear recordings of small orchestras and chamber groups.

Every audiophile knows that objective measurements are useful, but the defining characteristic of an audiophile is that equipment is selected mainly on the basis of careful listening.  I have heard nearly every electrostatic speaker produced since the days of the Quad 57.  My ears tell me that that Quad 57 is the only one that challenges/surpasses my own speaker for clarity.  I am shocked that the general audiophile peer group of listeners extol the current crop of Soundlab, Martin Logan and later Quad speakers which are markedly veiled.  Where were the ears of the designers to produce such mediocrity?  All designers have to come up with something new, which in many cases is not better, despite advances in technology.  The midrange of the Quad 57 has not been equalled, but few will admit it.  

So much for objectivity and peer opinion.  It is safer to have conventional approaches to give the masses what they are accustomed to.  Creative ideas are ridiculed at first, then hopefully reconsidered, and then embraced after a period of time after more people understand the innovations.

Wow Jay!   I think at this point you will be very hard-pressed to achieve meaningful margins of improvement.  I hope you take a few weeks (or months) to simply immerse yourself in the magic you have created!   Congrats!

I have something special arriving next week... It will 1,000% elevate this system. 

Just sit and watch..

We are all ‘magic seekers’, that’s the one thing we all have in common here. The alchemist trying to breath life into inert materials, using electricity, mass, metals to to move the air filled up with voice and instrument, to haunt ourselves with uncanny realism, in our rooms, in our homes, in our lives.

Be kind. Let’s not judge so absolutely, but share with each other what we think we have learned on our aural adventures.

And how come no one ever mentions David Berning gear here? He’s got some of the best magic I’ve heard.

Check out the Audiophile Junkie......he has lots of cool Youtube posts including this brand new one:  All four of the systems shown are in the same house.....a lot of Aries Cerat electronics here.

Life is beautiful and infinite.....want to cry?.....I did....watching this:

OK, I will stop.......now, back to your normal channel....filled with the glory of spending big bucks on stereo gear.