Eli Karaso's 
System
Date of Visit:
25 November 2001


the system


D&B Lab amps


turntable and subwoofer


Fisher receiver


D&B Lab speaker


DIY "tube traps"


radio collection

 

e-mail to:
Eli Karasu


Long before Hi-Fi, Eli developed a passion for radios. In fact his interest started when he was just seven years old. As soon as he became an adolescent he started to collect antique radios. He says that he is in love with these old, tube powered radio's sweet and full bodied sound. Most of the radios are in good condition and functioning. He says that he only collects the ones with decent sound. He's got around 30 radios spread all over the house. I took their pictures separately and then put them together in one single frame (see below).

Six years ago he met Deger Terem (the owner and designer of D&B Lab tube amps). Deger took him to his workshop and had him listen to his own system. Eli liked very much what he heard and placed an order. Today with the exception of the analog and digital sources, all his components (amps and speakers) are D&B Lab made.

His system is located in a dedicated section of the basement. He's got his own hobby room (5 x 4 m) which is therefore totally devoid from any WAF interference. Eli is in the process of correcting the room acoustics. For this purpose he even designed and built his own DIY "tube traps" (see picture).

Eli has a second system just for listening to the radio: it is composed of one Fisher 800 receiver and Marantz Imperial speakers. Frankly, I had not heard any FM station sound as good as this one before!

Eli mostly listens to vinyl and a big proportion of his software collection is LP's. He is a member of Istanbul Hi-Fi Club and listens to jazz (80%), rock (10%) and classical (10%).

System's Components
 

Turntable:

Thorens TD 160 Mk. II with Shure V15-XMR cartridge

CD Player:

Marantz CD 85

Preamp:

D&B Lab

Power Amps:

2 x 100W (EL-34) Mono for each woofer
2 x 200W (EL-37) Mono for the mids and tweeters
1 x 100W (EL-34) Mono for the subwoofer

Speakers:

D&B Lab (with separate woofer and sattelite sections + supertweeters)

Interconnects:

Monster Ref A, QED

Speaker Cables: 

QED

Eli's comments about his System:

AA: "Eli, how would you describe your system's sound?"

EK: "It is sweet, natural and musical"

AA: "Do you think there is room for improvement?"

EK: "Yes, mainly in two areas. I need to correct the room acoustics and increase the bass control."

AA: "Have you got plans for upgrading?"

EK: "Not in the near future. But some day I will need to upgrade my CD player, perhaps with an Audio Aero one."

 

 

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