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Jeffrey
L. Starr
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Music
has been a big part of my life, for as long as I can
remember. Listening to and idolizing Elvis at 6 years old,
from that time on, my love of music has never
changed.
Through the years my tastes
in music has changed and grown, usually following the latest
trends including hard rock, new wave and punk. I've been
listening to a lot of jazz for the last 5 years or so, but
through the years always listening to and following the
Grateful Dead.
I got my first stereo at 15
and by the time I was 21, I had upgraded turntables four
times and had gone from a receiver to an integrated to
separates. I ended up with a Crown IC150, D150 pre and power
amp, Klipsch LaScallas, and a Thorens turntable. It wasn't
until 1992 that I got the upgrade bug
again.
Up until then I had only
been exposed to Stereo Review and believed that specs were
all that mattered. In 1993 I discovered Stereophile magazine
and found out there was something called high end. What a
concept, choosing equipment and accessories, based on
listening. I learned some basics on speaker placement and
room acoustics, I began upgrading as I could afford it. In
December 1999, I got a computer and after discovering the
web site "Audio Asylum" my system really started coming
together.
I think the biggest single
improvement, other then my current speakers and amp, was
when I went to a tube preamp. My system just became more
musical. It's easier to listen to the music and not the
system, I find my foot tapping and my head bopping. At the
Asylum I learned about DIY projects and have built my
own Room Lenses, bass traps and powercords.
By the way I'm 45, single
and live alone, so my living room is my listening room
[19' x 15' x 8'].
I listen to classic jazz
about 75% of the time, 10% blues, 10% rock, and 5% misc.
Some of my favorites are Ben Webster, Theloneus Monk, Oscar
Peterson, Duke Ellington, Grateful Dead, Cowboy Junkies,
Velvet Underground, John Cale, and Lucinda
Williams.
For evaluations I use a
variety of CDs, a few of which are Partricia Barber "Modern
Cool" for bass, Houston Person and Ron Carter "Nows The
TIme" for bass, Branford Marsalis "Trio Jeepy" for
imaging, Duke Ellington "The Far East Suite-Special Mix" for
soundstaging and imaging, Cowboy Junkies "Black Eyed Man"
[track 5] for vocals, Gene Ammons "Boss Tenor" for
cymbals and Muddy Waters "Folk Singer" [MFSL] for
guitars and overall sound.
System's
Components
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CD Source:
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CAL Delta Transport, Audio Alchemy DTI V2,
Camelot Arthur v3.0 Mk II
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Turntable
[currently off-line]:
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Thorens TD125 MkII, SME 3009 Series II
Improved, Grado ZF1
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Preamp:
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Nobis Proteus [Nobis Technology is now
Signature Technology] Tubes - [2]
6CG7/6FQ7 RCA Cleartops
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Power Amp:
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Legacy 2ch High Current - 250rms @ 8ohm,
400rms @ 4ohm
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Speakers:
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Legacy FOCUS 4-ways 7 drivers
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Digital Cable:
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Kimber AGDL, Audio Magic Mystic
Reference[I2S]
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Interconnects:
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Signature Technology Siglynx Silver
[between dac + preamp, 15' between preamp +
amp], Legacy Lattice, Mogami
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Speaker Cables:
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2 runs [biwire] Mapleshade Clearview
Golden Helix
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Powercords:
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DIY - recipe by Bob Crump
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Power Conditioner:
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Panamax Max 1000
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Room Treatments:
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MGD Corner Tunes, DIY Quick and Dirty Bass
Traps-recipe by Jon Risch, DIY Room Lens-recipe by
Greg Weaver
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Jeffrey's
comments about his System:
AA: "Jeffrey, how
would you describe your system's sound?"
JLS: "In a word,
musical. My system is quite revealing, yet is not overly
analytical. I get deep bass and extended highs. For a big
system it sounds very good at low volumes."
AA: "Do you think
there is room for improvement?"
JLS: "Yes, there is
always ways to improve a system, I think that I would have
to spend substantial amounts of money to get large
improvements, but on the detail side of things, I'm sure
there are a lot of tweaks I can still implement. I've found
that attending to the details, is what can really bring a
system together. Each tweak alone might not change much, but
together they add up to something special."
AA: "Have you got
plans for upgrading?"
JLS: "Always, I'm on
a tight budget so I do what I can. I want to get the tube
phonostage for my preamp, so I can get my turntable back
online. I think that I'm going to replace the preamps volume
control with a Dact stepped attenuator. And I want to get a
PS Audio Power Plant. I'm going to wait until the new
formats sort themselves out and I'm sure one day, one
of those will be on my list."
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"Re-Visit" Notes (29
April 2001)
I had the original volume control replaced with
a DACT CT2 stepped attenuator, the benefits
are bit more clarity and much better control of the
volume. I also had the manufacturer of my preamp
install the tube phono preamp board. When he did
this, I also had him upgrade 14 capacitors with a
higher grade polystyrene.
The improvements were subtle, but included more
depth and a sense of airiness to the soundstage.
For the first time in years, I heard the potential
of vinyl.
I replaced the generic 12AX7 tubes in the phono
stage, first with Amperex Orange Labels from
Holland and then with Svetlanas. I settled on the
Amperex's because of their warmth and smooth top
end. The generics were bright and thin on
top.
I then replaced my Grado ZF1 with a
Dynavector 10x4 Mk 2 phono
cartridge.
After about 50 hours of breakin the cartridge
was open and extended, although I found that the
10x4 didn't match up real well with the SME 3009
tonearm. I found a used Rega RB300 tonearm
and installed it on my Thorens TD 125
MkII.
The bass improved and I was able to get better
results when using the HFN&RR test record for
setup. When I bought the arm the seller included a
wrap that is supposed to help damp the arm, that is
what you see in the photo. I was pleased but
found the phono stage to lack some dynamics and to
be lacking with rock, big band, and large
orchestra.
As luck would have it, I came across a
Camelot Lancelot Pro phono stage that comes
with the Camelot Charm II Pure DC battery power
supply. I bought it because I can also run my
Camelot Arthur V3 dac off the Charm II power supply
and because it was a demo selling for below half
price.
With the Lancelot I gained dynamics, better
bass, larger, deeper soundstage, some warmth and a
richness in sound. When using the Charm II with my
dac, I hear a delicacy to the sound and more inner
detail.
I put together a DIY record cleaning machine and
have been buying a lot of used vinyl. I never would
have thought that records would have an equal place
in my system with CDs, but they do. Today they both
sound quite wonderful.
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"Third
Visit" Notes (26 May 2002)
Since our last visit, I had the preamp upgraded
again. The circuit board was replaced with the
latest version and all capacitors in the signal
path were replaced with Auricaps. The transformer
was changed to a torroidal and all the electrolytic
caps were upgraded, most of them to Black Gates.
The tubes have been changed to the Mazda
6CG7/6FQ7.
All these changes have resulted in a more open,
purer sounding preamp. I had an opportunity to
replace my CAL Delta Transport with one that had
been on my wishlist, but was beyond my budget. The
transport is the PS Audio Lambda and compared to
the Delta, it is huge. There were two obvious
benefits, one being that I can now play
CD-Rs. The Delta, only played a few of them. The
other immediately obvious benefit was a tighter,
cleaner, more tuneful bass.
I have been quite happy with the sound I get
from CDs, but there is always room for improvement,
so when I heard about the Taddeo Passive Digital
Antidote Two, I had to try one. What the Antidote
does for piano music is wonderful. Piano always
seems to sound a bit strident with CD. This is gone
and overall, CDs sound more musical.
I did replace the flimsy leads that come with
the Antidote, with Signature Tech. Siglynx, silver
cables, which was a subtle but worthwhile gain in
clarity and openness. I have paid many times more,
for much smaller gains and was happy. The Antidote
is a real improvement in CD playback, in my
system.
I have improved the DIY bass traps, in
appearance and in size. I also added two more and I
built three acoustic panels, following Jon Risch's
recipe.
I had my CDs stored in three different places, I
got a shelving unit that will hold a thousand CDs.
I replaced the shelving unit that held my records,
with a unit that has nine
compartments.
And last, but not least, with my landlord's
financial assistance, I have completely
redone the listening room. This included new paint,
I added a decorative chair rail, and new
carpeting. I removed a number of items, that were
not necessary, like stacks of audio magazines, VHS
tapes, an extra chair, and numerous nick-nacks. I
am now able to place a bass trap in each corner and
have nothing behind the speakers, that is not audio
equipment or acoustic treatment, related. The room
now has a natural warmth to it, that is extremely
inviting and quite conducive to long listening
sessions.
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