Magico Magic (and unrelated matters)

Whenenever you’re ready to tell more about your setups, we don’t count it as bragging…we had to convince you too thoroughly…so we know it didn’t come from your side :wink:

I’d be interested in the kind of speakers you use in your stereo setup in case you want to tell.

Regarding PSAudio: although there were a few in the meantime who stated that PSA was their worst experience yet in terms of reliability or DOA or whatever quality aspect they had, it seems to speak for their sound quality, that the gear is found in very expensive setups anyway…even in a wealthy customer spectrum which is not always as flexible in this regard as you are. I knew a few of such, who in contrary haven’t been exactly anal about sound quality, but about the rest.

As a few have already stated, I want to hear the details of these systems! Whenever you are ready, of course.

Ok. I will start with mine (I have doubts if it qualifies as “mega buck”, but I am really very proud of it).

I have always been a MUSIC afficionado. Not very much into the equipment hype. For years and years, my main thinking was: thats good enough. DAC? I have one in my motherboard. Commodity. Amp? Ancient tech. Speakers? Get nice mids and a powerful sub, and youre good to go. Cables? They are simply wires that connect small voltages. Anything shielded would do.

This all changed when I built a dedicated room, and bought a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800 and a pair of Dynaudios C30. All went downhill from there…

Before I realized, my system was: BHK300s, Pass Labs XP30, DirectStream DAC, P10, and the marvelous KEF Blade 2. All with Kubala-Sosna Elation cables.

But there would be no stopping. I went though almost every source tweaking you can imagine (rendus, matrix, SoTM switch, SoTM usb card, uptone LPS, HDPlex LPS, niminserver, kazoo server, roon server, ethernet optical cabling - you name it).

A few made a difference (matrix being one of them). Others, well, not so much.

But then, the bug bit. Hard. And:

  • P10 to p20
  • BHK300s become AudioResearch ref160m.
  • Pass Labs becomes Audio Research Ref6, and, taking advantage of an opportunity, Nagra HD Preamp.
  • DirectStream is now dCS Vivaldi full stack.
  • Finally, the KEFs are no more. In my room now play a couple of Boenicke W11.

Only the Kubala cabling remained.

Also, I added some heavy accoustic treatment in my room. RT60 is now about 0,7s from 60hz onward (still having trouble with the lower bass region).

There is absolutely no comparision of the SQ before and after. Everything improved.

I think I may have reached high enough. That is, until the next bug bite.

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Wow, what a great setup! I loved the Boenicke speakers from the day I first heard them…first the W11 and then also the tiny ones. They sound as good as they look, and I bet your setup is even more fascinating as quite small speakers sounding so big are always impressive.They simply do magic, aside of monstrous technical realizations of other approaches.

The only speakers of that kind I experienced, which sound even a bit more fascinating but looking not as pretty are those:

https://livingvoice.eu/en/product/pdf-serwis4/obx-rw

I’d love to buy both.

What was your final best streaming combination in front of the DS DAC?

Thanks

the KEFs dont hold a candle to the Boenickes. One of the most spectacular features is the huge (I mean huge) soundstage. It really fills the room.

I also dont know the speakers you mentioned. I will keep my eyes open, specially for the 94db of sensivity. It must punch through the walls with big amps.

As for the DSD, the Matrix for me was the best solution. No difference between the rendus or directly from the PC with the SoTM card (kind of a disappoitment with SoTM).

The sound from the Bridge II seemed to me a bit unbalanced to the treble (too much highs). The usb + matrix offered better tonal balance (less fatiguing).

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Yes the soundstage of the Boenicke is immense…concrete imaging suffers (at least with the small one‘s directed slightly upwards), but that doesn’t make it less fascinating.

Was less highs the main difference to Bridge II? I don’t hear too much treble from Bridge II, so if nothing more improved noticeably I might be well served for the moment.

Yes, that was my experience. And I felt it more pronounced with the REF6 + ref160m setup (albeit tubes, the treble extension is superb). With the pass labs xp30, almost no difference (the pass sounded more on the warmer side).

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I pointed out that Brodric was rusticated. “He was temporarily removed”

And some fool thinks I should have my post banned for pointing that out . Unbelievable….!

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it’s not what you said…but who said it!

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Only the truth was stated (rusticated seems like nice way of saying it - clearly not a common American English word, but I like it). It was a 2 week ban I believe. I’m sure @Brodric no longer feels welcome.

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Cheers <> I didn’t mean anything nasty. I liked Brodric…‘maybe that’s an issue’! But say the wrong word and a certain individual flagged my posts. Absolutely ridiculous.!

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I am short on time at the moment. Theater is a custom built room 25x36 with custom built “themed” foyer. It is powered by a Lexicon Mc10. With a Mark Levinson No. 536 per channel. BW Nautilus fronts. 800 D3 on all sides, Atmos. Barco 8K projector into perforated screen. Yes, center is an 800 on an No. 536. All Crystal Cable “Ultimate Dream”. This was just "revamped’. total current draw: 328 amps.

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You will need more than one Power Plant.

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I stopped flagging, somebody pointed out to me very clearly with support from Elk that it’s a really nasty method. In hindsight I agreed with that. Besides I support your statements with regard to Brodric.

I guess for the best setups there is no powerplant solution anyway…they need something of double refiridgerator size or more, as I pictured further above in the thread :wink:

i guess “$15MM” doesn’t go so far in your galaxy…

oh…did you mean $15 Monopoly Money??

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A nuclear power plant maybe.

Joking aside, this level of investment and power requirements needs dedicated power supplies. My wimpy home panel would be insufficient.

Along Elk’s comment, ‘you’re gonna need a bigger boat’…

holy crap you could power a radio station with that