$300,000 and a contested divorce worth of high-end audio wisdom!
High-End Audio is 50% physics and 50% voodoo.
Despite a nearly unlimited budget I was unable to match the signal quality of highly modified vacuum tube based equipment with highly modified solid state equipment.
Nelson Pass designs came closest.
Phase coherent speaker systems using first order cross-overs and only one driver per frequency range have no equal.
For CD input systems passive pre-amps are far better than any active pre, even with the best NOS tube compliment.
I am not capable of maintaining a vinyl collection, for those of you who are neat enough, I would suggest a dedicated phono pre-amplifier.
Natural dielectrics like silk and organic cotton are far superior to all the synthetics.
The secret formula for my amazing interconnects. Take a four nines silver ribbon wire with a natural silk dielectric with oil embedded at very high pressure (Dueland) and use it only for the positive. Use a six nines stranded copper wire with an organic cotton dielectric to the ground. Terminate with super expensive and equally cheap looking Eichmann silver bullets.
The amazing secret is to keep the two leads as separate as possible. They should only meet at the termination points. You can easily hear the difference in signal quality by slowly putting the two leads together. You will clearly hear the linear derogation in signal quality as you bring more of the two leads together. Putting the two leads together in the sleeve will result in the worst signal quality.
More to follow.
High-End Audio is 50% physics and 50% voodoo.
Despite a nearly unlimited budget I was unable to match the signal quality of highly modified vacuum tube based equipment with highly modified solid state equipment.
Nelson Pass designs came closest.
Phase coherent speaker systems using first order cross-overs and only one driver per frequency range have no equal.
For CD input systems passive pre-amps are far better than any active pre, even with the best NOS tube compliment.
I am not capable of maintaining a vinyl collection, for those of you who are neat enough, I would suggest a dedicated phono pre-amplifier.
Natural dielectrics like silk and organic cotton are far superior to all the synthetics.
The secret formula for my amazing interconnects. Take a four nines silver ribbon wire with a natural silk dielectric with oil embedded at very high pressure (Dueland) and use it only for the positive. Use a six nines stranded copper wire with an organic cotton dielectric to the ground. Terminate with super expensive and equally cheap looking Eichmann silver bullets.
The amazing secret is to keep the two leads as separate as possible. They should only meet at the termination points. You can easily hear the difference in signal quality by slowly putting the two leads together. You will clearly hear the linear derogation in signal quality as you bring more of the two leads together. Putting the two leads together in the sleeve will result in the worst signal quality.
More to follow.
Hi,
Funny, I find the same thing. Running a very simple Push Pull Tube Amp at home now.
Playing here now is a simple 3-Way in a Stone Slab lined MDF Avalonis cabinet with a first order series crossover and pretty much timealigned drivers (depends a bit on how you sit...
)...
I just threw out my Tube Pre and put my simple passive Pre back into the system, Grayhill input switch, 10K Noble Pot, Audio Note Silver wire for signal, goldplated 0.5mm bare silver for grounds.
Difficult one, as natural materials are hygroscopic and are not the best idea if you live somewhere where it is often quite damp (e.g. Good Olde England or Hong Kong)... If you live in the desert it is probably ideal...
I prefer air and the mechanical and chemical/electrical stability certain plastics (PE/PTFE) provide when used as support lattice for "in air" cables.
So, what do you as CD-Player/DAC?
I have a PC Source these Days (modified SPDIF Output from motherboard) optionally with an asynchronous USB to SPDIF converter and a Non-Oversampling TDA1541 DAC with a Tube output Stage...
Ciao T
Funny, I find the same thing. Running a very simple Push Pull Tube Amp at home now.
Playing here now is a simple 3-Way in a Stone Slab lined MDF Avalonis cabinet with a first order series crossover and pretty much timealigned drivers (depends a bit on how you sit...
)...I just threw out my Tube Pre and put my simple passive Pre back into the system, Grayhill input switch, 10K Noble Pot, Audio Note Silver wire for signal, goldplated 0.5mm bare silver for grounds.
Difficult one, as natural materials are hygroscopic and are not the best idea if you live somewhere where it is often quite damp (e.g. Good Olde England or Hong Kong)... If you live in the desert it is probably ideal...
I prefer air and the mechanical and chemical/electrical stability certain plastics (PE/PTFE) provide when used as support lattice for "in air" cables.
So, what do you as CD-Player/DAC?
I have a PC Source these Days (modified SPDIF Output from motherboard) optionally with an asynchronous USB to SPDIF converter and a Non-Oversampling TDA1541 DAC with a Tube output Stage...
Ciao T
It depends on what you mean by 'high end'. If you mean expensive toys for people who like to impress their friends then it is more like 5% physics, 15% voodoo and 80% marketing. If you mean genuine excellence, then it may be 50% physics and 50% real engineering, and will be much cheaper.WS Trader said:
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