Tannoys, no room treatments except normal mix of furnishings. Class A amplification, proper placement of speakers. I often have sounds emanating from "well" beyond the speakers. Try several Johnny cash records, you will see what I mean if your system has what it takes and the recording has a wide sound field. There are female back up vocals and guitars coming from what seems to be well beyond the sidewalls. Depending on the recording, also have good depth, but not always. Some recordings are not recorded all that well and sound flat and centered etc...its a combo of the equipment used and the recording....
Thinking outside the bean
Last week, my friend Ryan (Ejlif) loaned me his Elrod EPS2-Sig to try out on my Lamm LL2 preamp. While the sound opened up noticeably, the bass was just too boomy, and the highs were too harsh. So I figured that while I wait for my Virtual Dynamics Master PC to arrive, I'd just put the stock PC back on the Lamm. Only problem was I had loaned the stock cord to Jax2. So a quick survey of our small house led me to the only detachable power cord that would work on the Lamm: the one off our espresso machine. Lo and behold, with the espresso cord on the Lamm, the music fell into perfect balance. But (and there's always a but), what about the lattes? I couldn't fire up the espresso machine now that the stereo was alight, and I'd have to turn everything off--preamp last--to make double-duty of that cord. Yesterday, my wife was happy to accommodate, stopping for a coffee on the way to work. But my neighbor's "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks" bumper sticker was flashing an alarm in my mind, and I just couldn't make my wife go out for a latte two days in a row. What to do? Just then, I had an epiphany. Well, actually the Epiphany is on the CD player, so in effect what I really had was an Elrod. And this morning, I made lattes with the Elrod on the espresso machine.
First of all, for all of you power cord naysayers, let me just tell you that instead of its usual 45-minute warm-up, the machine was screaming hot within 10 minutes. The espresso dripped with a blacker background that recalled Nigel Tufnel's comment in "Spinal Tap": "How much blacker could it be?" And the answer is none, no blacker. But that wasn't all. The aroma filled the room like never before, with more pungency in the bottom end, and an airyness on the crema that I've seen only in the Pavoni costing five times the price of our Francis Francis. And what about steaming, you ask? You would have thought Guiness was now in the coffee business, the foam was so dense. It took only one sip to transport me immediately to the mountains of Columbia. It was that palpable, such a life-like reproduction of the event itself. I closed my eyes, and thought Juan Valdez was right there in front of me, tipping the cup to my lips.
This afternoon, I'm having a dedicated line installed for the espresso machine, and am considering a pair of custom IC's so we can set up a little transport/DAC-like action between our Rancilio grinder and the machine itself. I may even have Neuance build a custom platform for the ensemble so I can squeeze that last bit of extension out of the soy milk, which tends to express itself mostly in the midrange.
Still think that power cords don't make a difference? I can only imagine what the Statement PC would do with our lattes. Time to check the classifieds....
First of all, for all of you power cord naysayers, let me just tell you that instead of its usual 45-minute warm-up, the machine was screaming hot within 10 minutes. The espresso dripped with a blacker background that recalled Nigel Tufnel's comment in "Spinal Tap": "How much blacker could it be?" And the answer is none, no blacker. But that wasn't all. The aroma filled the room like never before, with more pungency in the bottom end, and an airyness on the crema that I've seen only in the Pavoni costing five times the price of our Francis Francis. And what about steaming, you ask? You would have thought Guiness was now in the coffee business, the foam was so dense. It took only one sip to transport me immediately to the mountains of Columbia. It was that palpable, such a life-like reproduction of the event itself. I closed my eyes, and thought Juan Valdez was right there in front of me, tipping the cup to my lips.
This afternoon, I'm having a dedicated line installed for the espresso machine, and am considering a pair of custom IC's so we can set up a little transport/DAC-like action between our Rancilio grinder and the machine itself. I may even have Neuance build a custom platform for the ensemble so I can squeeze that last bit of extension out of the soy milk, which tends to express itself mostly in the midrange.
Still think that power cords don't make a difference? I can only imagine what the Statement PC would do with our lattes. Time to check the classifieds....
22 responses Add your response
Robert, my wife lost it while reading your post. She's now gasping for air. And Rene, the day the Italians realize that all they have to do is put the Ferrari horse on an amplifier, the industry belongs to them. Bicycles, Panerai watches, espresso machines, autos, furniture, Monica Belluci...I don't know, I hear that Viva Solista is a damn nice amp. |
You guys are very good at feeding the espresso-phile's mind. Enablers, all. Especially you, Robert, and your cable-for-every-application library. By the way, I think some deer urine cable testing is imminent. I'm visualizing a Rudolph-latte, a holiday foamer with a red button cherry on top. And your IC's are just the edge I need. Doug, maybe we could get Audio Note to put together a stove-top kit. Imagine how good that cryo'ed Americano would be with a Sogon hookup. By my calculations, it would only take 900 pulls or so before satisfying the cost of the wire. Well...OK! And battery jumper cables, too? Sounds good to me. With a couple of quality PC's, I'll have my wife's V70 wagon performing like an "R" model in no time. Thanks, guys. You're the best! |
Howard, don't tempt me. Looking at La Pavoni Romantica I might have to wait a while with that amp upgrade. You know we would be all lost if Italians would make audio gear as great as espresso machines.... |
Restock, you make a valid point. Admittedly, we do miss the Bialetti and the wonderful espresso we had while living in Florence. However, I have to side with a not-so-serious Italian in this instance, for Marco makes a strong case for the appropriately named Romantica, by Pavoni, or what we might call the Tug-a-joe in the good 'ol US of A. |
Boa2: The story can't be true; no serious Italian I know (say hello to Gina) would make an espresso with an electrical espresso machine. A stovetop espresso maker is the way to go. You could still use the powercord to power the stove though. |
Dude, you really should install a dedicated line for your coffee machine if you are serious about your lattes. Some power conditioning wouldn't hurt either in your neck of the woods, especially if you make coffee mid-day when everyone and their grandma's on the grid. You gotta stabilize the temp of that heating element to within +/- .25 degrees in order to get a consistent crema on your shots. Also, I saw where you had that coffee machine, and I think it needs to be a bit further from the back wall in a room of that size. Trust me on this one, have I ever steered you wrong? OK there were those Shakti stones - maybe you could try them on top of your coffee machine!! Or grind em' up and see how they taste! Now if you want real espresso, you need to go analog...fuck the automatic pump, that's for sissies. You need one of those manual lever machines (and the power cords, dedicated line, power conditioning and move the damn thing away from that back wall). Yep, then you wrap your digits round that stiff hard lever pointing up at the sky and just yank it up and down a couple times every morning, sheeeoooooot my friend, you ain't never goin' back to the automatic pump again! Oh and wait'll Gina gets a load of that stiff lever pointing skywards, all long and hard. Whooohaaaa boy, she'll be wantin' some shots every damn mornin'. Oh, and that stock LL2 power cord is a winner for sure! It gave a whole new life to my iPod rig I listen to in the hotel room. Shimmering highs and solid bass that wakes the neighbors and sets off the Cal Geo Survey warning system here in Pasadena. Oh lordy, that Lamm guy really knows his power cords! Marco |
Priceless, Howard. Priceless. Just imagine the improvements with a tube power supply and output stage. Ahhh, round, sweet, and liquid. Then you could rewire with silver and work on vibration control and proper grounding...wow--think about the iced coffee options: cryo'ed Americano, perfect for a Sacramento summer day! |
Is that part true?Well, not 'perfect', Dan. The highs still could be cleaner and less constricted. However, between the espresso-maker PC and the Elrod on the Lamm, my wife and I prefer the former. In a few weeks, we'll have the VD Master, so we'll see how that sounds. Maybe I'll start a PC thread on www.wholelattelove.com |
Boa2, Loved it. Can't resist. My tip; Cut your Elrod in to two or more pieces ... install as battery cables on your car. My experience ... approximately an 85 horsepower gain with smoother; quieter acceleration and 7.56 more miles per gallon. Thank you, I am 'thoroughly' enjoying my coffee for the very first time. |
Howard, we've had a similar experience. Using the "P"!!! Sig. PC on our refrigerator for one. Meat takes 13 days to thaw and that's a down side but, on the up side, ice cubes don't melt! Our Christmas tree using the Sig is freakin' crazy! Talk about bright! When I go into the family room when the tree's on I can't see...it's that bright, it's beautiful!!!! I wept the first night. We all went out and bought holiday welder's helmets so we can watch TV in the family room when the tree's on. Can't eat popcorn with the helmets on though. The topper though is 10 "P"!!! Sigs carrying juice for all our outside decorations. Freakin' incredible! Do a satellite image search. We're the bright white spot that shows up in the North/West Indiana region. I got a good laugh the fist night we light the outside stuff. They go on at 6:00pm. When I turned them off at 11:00pm we discovered 5 cars stranded in our front lawn. I had thought I heard engines running outside but I couldn't see anything. Didn't think to put on the helmets and look. Passengers still in the cars and no one knew how long they had been there between 6:00 and 11:00. Sad note is one car hit one of our cats that had gotten out. We had the folks in to calm them down, served some coffee and had a few laughs, sent them on their way and all was quite again at about 2:30am. I'll have to try the coffee pot thing but it'll have to wait. Between what I anticipate with electricity and using all these cords, I'm gonna be busted broke! Don't kid yourself folks. Good power cords can make a remarkable difference. Enjoy the Holiday! Robert RSAD |
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