Mark
You might want to take a look at these footers as an alternative to the pucks you are using now for isolation between the subs and the Calibre's as you will have less chance of staining.
https://positive-feedback.com/review...mservice-evps/
Printable View
Mark
You might want to take a look at these footers as an alternative to the pucks you are using now for isolation between the subs and the Calibre's as you will have less chance of staining.
https://positive-feedback.com/review...mservice-evps/
Using EdenSound TerraCone custom footers between the Legacy Calibre XD and Foundation cabinets. These provide a very noticeable improvement in overall system articulation, image size and location of each instrument and voice. The extra one inch or more of vertical spacing introducing is clearly also adding to the mix in term of soundstage overall size....very happy with these upgrades.
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Bump for an update.
A friend is interested in these Legacy speakers.
The top-line of the update is that I love this speaker setup and it is delivering such great sound, amazing imaging and sound staging that I sometimes
have a hard time lining up the setup's overall price (including Wavelet for use as pre-amp and room correction) with its performance given I've heard
many setups including my prior one with TAD R1 MK2 speakers not perform at this level. For a while I thought it was the initial dose of buyer happiness
after making a change where your emotions mislead you but months in I'm here to tell you that this is the most fun I've had listening to music that has
only been paralleled when I (ironically enough) had the Legacy AERIS with Wavelet in the system some years ago. Lesson learned, at least for me is
that if you love music, you don't have to have to chase after big name, big price 'brand names' to get a stellar listening experience. The thing I like
even more with this current setup than with the TADs and before them with the AERIS and Wavelet is the absolute "pits of hell" sub-bass and bass
performance yet without the pain of 'integrated after the fact' sub-woofers. This package was designed and algorithms programmed to work out of
the box as a single speaker (per channel) and it is impossible for me to tell where the Foundations stop and the Caliber XDs with extra drivers and
amp (2 per side) start....
Happy to talk with your friend or anyone else live on the phone; have them drop me a Inmail on this forum and share a phone# (or I'll share mine)
in response and will spend whatever time they need to answer questions and talk about the pure musical fun I'm having.
As an aside, I've tried to be an 'audiophile' at times over the past 30 years to the point of being super-critical of everything, nothing's ever good enough,
'if I only had that next great thing', etc... losing the focus that hearing the music in the most real and convincing sense as possible is the most important thing.
This setup and those over the last few years have brought me back to why I started with this insane:D hobby in the first place, that being the pursuit if the
most real-sounding and enjoyable all around music listening experience that I could manage...as of the past few months, Legacy speakers, in particular
this setup and Wavelet (and frankly if I could also add (literally) the Whisper XDs or Valor some day) is a BIG part of that...
Great, great, great ! :congrats:
I´m envious of you (*) but i see your happiness and I think i´ll always was right when i said to my audiophile friends: i never listened the holy grail of sound but i know it exists and it´s waiting for me. (**)
Enjoy with good health
(*) because i´m still in the state of "nothing's ever good enough"
(**) you know there are a lot of audiophiles that are desbelivers and always pulling down everyone else who tries to jump the wall.
Awesome! I’m so happy for you.
I’m always chasing gear that doesn’t cost an arm and leg (and some that does) but still sounds great.
I remember ogling the Legacy catalogues years ago and trying to pick out what I wanted. I love the form factor of your new setup and I’m sure it sounds wonderful.
I had TAD CR-1 and wanted to love them. I just couldn’t and had to move on.
Thank you for your awesome update.
I’ll see if my friend wants to reach out. Thank you for the offer.
You are welcome...have a great weekend! Legacy has come a long way in the last 2-3 years in particular with more advancements for the Wavelet (now usable with
some other speakers out there as well from what I'm told) and some cutting edge designs happening in their smallest to largest (VALOR) offerings for the home audiophile
not to mention their ground-breaking professional offerings and arrays. More to come I'm sure as Bill never rests....
Updated list with recent modifications involving LPSU and DC Umbilical for Wavelet and the exit of the Esoteric C-02 and A-02.
Simply enjoying a lot of great music listening with this system. Very excited to be headed to MUNICH HIGH-END 2019 next week...
Updated system list;
Legacy Audio CaliberXD custom
Legacy Foundation Subwoofer & Bass Cabinets
Legacy Wavelet DAC/Preamp/Room Correction Processor with Boehmer circuitry/algorithms
HDPLEX 200-Watt dual-rail LPSU
Revelation Audio Labs Passage Reference Cryo-silver DC Umbilical 3-meter
Esoteric Audio P-02 Dual-Mono Transport
Esoteric Audio D-02 Dual-Mono DAC
Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21 Custom Premium Limited OP21 OCXO 10 mHz Master Clock
SHUNYATA TRITON v3
SHUNYATA TYPHON QR
Avatar Acoustics Afterburner8 Duplex Outlets (5)
Cutler-Hammer, GE MLC and EP 20amp Dedicated Circuit (10gauge)
Environmental Potentials EP-2050 Wave-Form Correct & Surge Suppression
Environmental Potentials EP-2750 Ground Filters
Whole-House Ground CADWELD Kit & Dual Ground Rods
Adona Corporation AV45CS4 and AV45CS1 (multiple)
Composite Audio CF-2010 Platforms (multiple)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Large Damping Plates Silver (5)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPS Large Damping Plates Black (3)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Medium Damping Plates Black (2)
Stillpoints Ultra SS with Ultra Bases (4) under Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21
Elrod Systems Statement Gold Speaker Cables 9-foot (1 pair)
Elrod Systems MASTERS SERIES STATEMENT GOLD Speaker Jumpers (2 pair)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 6-foot (1 pair), Bocchino XLRs
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 4-meter (1 pair), Bocchino XLRs
Shunyata SIGMA XLR 1.5-meter (multiple pairs)
Shunyata Anaconda ZTron XLR 6-meter
Elrod Systems DIAMOND XLR 1.8meter with Ground Plane Enhanced Design and Bocchino XLRs) on loan
Shunyata Research SIGMA AES/EBU XLR 110-ohm 2-meter (2)
Shunyata Research SIGMA CLOCK-50 50-ohm BNC:BNC 2-meter (3)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 10-foot, 15-Amp (Furutech FI-50 NCF)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 9-foot, 15-Amp (Furutech FI-50 NCF)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 10-foot, 20-Amp (Furutech FI-50 NCF)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 10-foot, 20-Amp (Furutech FI-50 NCF)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold 15-amp 10-foot PC (Oyaide M1F1)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold 15-amp 6-foot PC (Oyaide M1F1)
plus 2 more to power FOUNDATION bass cabinets...
Elrod Systems Statement Silver PC 10-foot 15-amp (Furutech FI-48)
B.M.C. PureUSB1 5-meter
Computer Audio/Rip Playback: Apple MacBook Pro 15” 2019, 6-core i9, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD (Music Library, Playback S/W & O/S here), Audirvana+ v3, iTunes, etc….
"There’s no way I can make Munich, golden handcuffs wins again https://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji22.png"
Sorry to hear that but do understand! Wouldn't mind having a pair of those but this time around, glad I don't!
Haven't had time to update exhaustive gear list far down but the signature is now updated with the highlights....
Well, the winds of change have blown through my life 🙃 in 2018-early. 2019, a welcome and new path in life has now emerged, so many changes have occurred. The house pictured previously has been sold and I will be in this rental house for a couple years while I get back to more music and plan the next steps...
Big news besides all that is the arrival several weeks ago of a Legacy Audio i.V4 ULTRA amp.....fantastic is what I'm experiencing.
The overbuilt quality and finest Class A/B sound, but from a ICEedge digital amp, set of 4(ch) dedicated monoblocks housed in 1 chassis,
astounds me even after a couple months,...they are well worth checking out!
Further the arrival of my dream speaker, the Legacy VALOR early in June means the multiple years I've waited and wanted this speaker are now over (!).....
Words don't suffice to describe how much I am enjoying and amazed by these speakers. Bill and the Legacy team have done it again to bring amazing
and real music into my home on an entirely more impressive level!
This version of the VALOR is a further build to what is listed on the website. Instead of only 2 required external channels of amplification, Bill suggested and I gladly agreed to requiring 4 external amp channels to drive the mids and treble with their own dedicated amp channels, takes another set of speaker cables and another XLR pair (thank goodness of loaners from friends!) however the benefits of this choice are already noticeable...the production / default Valor is incredible (heard it 6 times over the years), this version gives me a number of options for amping midbass, mids and highs in the future however the way they sound is fantastic to my ears.
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Love the passion, lots of trick stuff going on there!
I look forward to hearing those one day.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Beautiful setup! Can you compare the sound of the Valor's with your prior Legacy Audio setup?
Wow! :audiophile:
Never heard Legacy Audio.
But almost all the videos that we can check out in the internet makes me think they are one or two steps ahead of the competition.
And they look amazing!
Congrats!
Mark, thats a super, super system you had put together. Wonder, if ever, in my lifetime, would I be able to hear them (or visit Mike's place). Still, the look and "feel" made me realised you must have a through thought thru process, weighing the pros and cons of each super gears you have to come to this final destination. Congrats! Although mine is way much humbler, I do understand the immense joy and pleasure one can derive, sans comparison, can savour and I looked forward to enjoying mine in the coming weeks (thru August). Once again, congratulations!
Thank you all, very much appreciate the great comments! I have always found Legacy to put out very musical and impressive, real renditions of the music that I love
and each speaker the line I've had since 2005-2006 has consistently been ever more innovative, better sounding, disappeared completely and performed WAY above
it's price point. Hearing so many great speakers in the last few years and particularly hitting the 2 Munich shows with a vengeance hearing 100s of speakers including
the best horns and alternative designs out there has left me with the direct experience of just how good these are (for my tastes, listening prefs and objectives) compared
to anything I heard regardless of price.
I also appreciate getting such comments from people with the caliber of systems that I've seen in your sigs, posts, etc...thank you again!
I have not updated the detailed system components list in some time and I will eventually do so as there have been a number of key adds and changes in
the system. Right now I've been just focusing on work and listening to as much music as I possibly can,...these new speakers are extremely hard to walk
away from but I get to hear them 'all around the house' where I do most of my listening. Amazing thing to me is the full sound profile I get no matter where I am,
around the corner, in the kitchen, upstairs, etc...these are my ideal speaker delivering great sound throughout the entire house and all aspects of life.
Valor versus my last system: Wow, that's a tough one as the last custom setup really floored me in terms of how it performed. Bass was outstanding and
plumbed the depths with that system, imaging was great and even better than I'd hoped for, musical realism in ample measure, so many things were simply 'right'
and beyond my expectations or the combo's price point. If this opportunity to own these had not crossed my path, I would still be extremely happy with what I had.
What Valor brings starting with comparable bass (but tighter, more accurate and completely integrated flawlessly) is the best midbass, midrange and treble ranges
performance I've ever had in any system I've owned. The total immersion factor that Valor delivers is also beyond (IMHO) compare. The soundstage is huge in all
dimensions, as far as the original recording intended. With Stereo Unfold also engaged, the best rendering of spatial info in so many discs are more accurately
conveyed than I've ever heard in my systems before (it was extremely good but this is on an entirely different level...).
Tonal accuracy, correct "color" of the instrument's material, finish, etc.. ability to render full ensembles and not lose the specific instrument and/or voice details,
all well beyond anything I've ever owned.
Detail, inner detail, many other aspects at a level I'd only hoped I'd some day here in my home.
I don't want to go too far here and succumb to audiophile hyperbole. I will tell you they are IMHO a great, very unique speaker and I am loving them.
They crossed 500 hours this morning "and are telling me" I've got an entire collection to go back and listen again, learn what's there on the discs
and appreciate in new ways.
I just saw this update.
Holy Cow! What an awesome setup.
You did a beautiful job. I'm sure it sounds amazing!
UPDATED System Component List:
Legacy Audio Valor (4ch external amp required, 2250W internal amplification)
Legacy Audio i.V4 ULTRA 4ch amp
Legacy Wavelet DAC/Preamp/Boehmer Room Correction and (SUT) Stereo Un-flold Algorithms
HDPLEX 200-Watt dual-rail LPSU
Revelation Audio Labs Passage Reference Cryosilver DC Umbilical 3-meter
Ghent Audio JSSG360 Star-Quad DC Umbilical
Esoteric Audio P-02 Dual-Mono Transport
Esoteric Audio D-02 Dual-Mono DAC
Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21 Type2 OP21A Curated OCXO 10 MHz Master Clock
Stillpoints Ultra SS with Ultra Bases (4) under Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21
SHUNYATA TRITON v3 with chassis grounding system and CGS cables
SHUNYATA TYPHON QR
Signal Grounding System and SGS cables
Elrod Systems Statement Gold Speaker Cables 9-foot (2 pair)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 6-foot (1 pair)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 4-meter (1 pair)
Shunyata SIGMA XLR 2-meter
Shunyata SIGMA AES/EBU XLR 110-ohm 2-meter (2)
Shunyata SIGMA CLOCK-50 50-ohm BNC 2-meter (2)
Shunyata Anaconda Zitron XLR 6-meter
Elrod Systems DIAMOND XLR 6-foot with Enhanced Ground Plane XLR (1 pair)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Next-Gen Statement Gold 10-foot 15-amp w/ Furutech FI-50 NCF (2)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 10-foot, 15-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 9-foot, 15-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF (2)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold PC, 10-foot, 20-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF
Elrod Systems Statement Gold 15-amp 10-foot PC w/Oyaide M1F1
Elrod Systems Statement Gold 15-amp 6-foot PC w/Eyed M1F1
Shunyata SIGMA NR 15-amp v2, testing and swapping
Shunyata. Alpha NR 15-amp PC v2 (2), testing and swapping
Avatar Acoustics Afterburner8 Duplex Outlets (5)
Adona Corporation AV45CS4 and AV45CS1 (multiple)
Composite Audio CF-2010 Platforms (multiple)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Large Damping Plates (7)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Medium Damping Plates (4)
B.M.C. PureUSB1 5-meter
Computer Audio/Rip Playback: Apple MacBook Pro 15" 2019, 6-core i9, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Audirvana+ v3, iTunes, REW Audio Analyzer for MacOS, dbPowerAmp, DVD Audio Extractor
A few new pictures,...replaced traditional framed art with 14 GSM Pro canvas with Eco Water Giclee inks; just the right amount of light diffusion unlike
traditional room treatments, even those with moderate NRC values; if any absorption is needed the frame-backs allow me to insert 1" thick slices of
Ecocore that I can cut to size and experiment one at a time.....and the fractal-generated art is cool too.
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Absolutely stunning update, thank you for posting. I bet it sounds amazing.
Thank you! I am really enjoying them every day!
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Whoa, those are massive speakers. I’ll bet they scale wonderfully. Beautiful system, congrats!!
Ken
Great looking system and room. Enjoy in good health!
Thank you guys!
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
System still sounds amazing, has opened up even more in the months since getting everything just right and I believe these speakers have gone through successive layers
of break where they came out and showed even more layering and detail plus texture in the music and the soundstage well into the 500-1000 hour point. Definitely loving them/the system...
Updated the gear list....
Legacy Audio Valor (4ch external amp required, 2250W internal amplification)
Legacy Audio i.V4 ULTRA 4ch amp
Legacy Wavelet DAC/Preamp/Boehmer Room Correction and (SUT) Stereo Un-fold Algorithms
HDPLEX 200-Watt dual-rail LPSU
Revelation Audio Labs Passage Reference Cryo-silver DC Umbilical 3-meter
Ghent Audio JSSG360 Star-Quad DC Umbilical
Esoteric Audio P-02 Dual-Mono Transport
Esoteric Audio D-02 Dual-Mono DAC
Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21 Type2 OP21A Curated OCXO 10 MHz Master Clock
Stillpoints Ultra SS with Ultra Bases (4) under Cybershaft UPOCXO-01-OP21
SHUNYATA TRITON v3 with chassis grounding system and CGS cables
SHUNYATA TYPHON QR
Signal Grounding System and SGS cables
Elrod Systems Statement Gold Speaker Cables 9-foot (2 pair)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 6-foot (1 pair)
Elrod Systems Statement Gold XLR 4-meter (1 pair)
Shunyata SIGMA v2 AES/EBU XLR 110-ohm 2-meter (2)
Shunyata SIGMA CLOCK-50 v2 50-ohm BNC 2-meter (2)
Shunyata Anaconda Zitron XLR 6-meter
Elrod Systems DIAMOND XLR 6-foot with Enhanced Ground Plane XLR (1 pair)
Elrod Systems MASTERS SERIES Diamond power cable 10-foot 15-amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold power cable 10-foot 20-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold power cable 10-foot 15-amp w/ Furutech FI-50 NCF (2)
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold power cable 10-foot 15-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF
Elrod Systems MASTER SERIES Statement Gold power cable 9-foot 15-Amp w/Furutech FI-50 NCF (2)
Shunyata OMEGA QR 15-amp 2-meter
Shunyata. NR v2 15-amp 1.5-meter
Avatar Acoustics Afterburner8 Duplex Outlets (5)
Adona Corporation AV45CS4 AV45CS2 and multiple AV45CS1 audio racks
Composite Audio CF-2010 Platforms (multiple)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Large Damping Plates (7)
Harmonic Resolution Systems DPX Medium Damping Plates (4)
B.M.C. PureUSB1 5-meter
Computer Audio/Rip Playback: Apple MacBook Pro 15” 2019, 6-core i9, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Audirvana+ v3, iTunes, REW Audio Analyzer for MacOS, dbPowerAmp, DVD Audio Extractor
I was able to complete some substantial changes and additions to the system in the last half of 2021 culminating in the upgrade of my preamp on Christmas Eve and the upgrade of my CD & SACD Transport and DAC stack on December 30th from the 3-box Esoteric P-02 and D-02 (and Cybershaft 10 mHz master clock) that I'd achieved many great years with and been able to extract the maximum performance out of through the use of Shunyata Sigma then Sigma V2 and ultimately Shunyata OMEGA Digital cables and other Shunyata key offerings (more info on those in another post), Elrod Master Series power cords, analog XLRs and additional Statement Gold and Diamond XLRs over the years.
A few pictures are shown below,...things are still getting in to final shape as I just received a couple of additional Adona AV45 racks needed to accommodate the rest of the gear after the reshuffle and add of the new front-end stack and am expecting a few more HRS large damping plates to complete the setup later this week as shipments are running late.
Overall I've just added the following and have been enjoying the upgrade immensely:
- added a new Esoteric Master SoundWorks C-02X dual-mono pre-amplifier to close out the year
- added an Esoteric GRANDIOSO P1 and D1 4-box stack to close out the year (same low-hours, mint condition stack seen at Capital Audio Fest 2021 with full warranty)
(retained my Cybershaft OP21A Type2 curated Premium Ltd 10 mHz master clock; matches perfectly and performs like the G1X at a fraction of the cost)
- upgraded clock cables from Shunyata Sigma V2 to OMEGA Clock-50 cables
- moved to an Elrod Master Series Gold pc on the clock
- added a new HDPLEX 300W LPSU as an upgrade to the prior 200W (2019 version)
- upgraded a power cord that for my HDPLEX 300W to a Shunyata OMEGA QR-s
- added Audioquest Firebird 48 HDMI cables / unfortunately with the P1 and D1 stack, while AES will work well, dual-HDMI to leverage the
newer enhanced ES-Link4 processing deliver a superior musical result so I had to say good bye to the best AES/EBU cables I'd ever used (Shunyata OMEGA AES/EBU)
- early in 2021, upgraded 2 Elrod power cords from Statement Gold to Masters Series Diamonds, also upgraded a key pair of analog XLRs to the Masters Series Diamond (were Statement Gold)
- received the new Legacy Wavelet V2 as a long-awaiting upgrade to the V1 I've used in 3 different systems...(the Wavelet v2 is a MAJOR upgrade)
- added key signal grounding and chassis grounding upgrades and additional usage (many more details on another thread on this alone)
- cable management changes (rather substantial...)
I'm very grateful to have been able to make all these changes which have taken the system's abilities way up the scale musically and also shown me
even more of the vast capabilities of the Legacy VALOR speakers; I've had them since June 2020 and they keep showing me more and more of their
capabilities, still learning about them over a year and a half later!
The level of detail and increased musical realism coming from discs that I count on to measure (musically, imaging, etc...) every system change is outstanding.
Upgrades done over the last couple of months w.r.t. cable management....
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Using larger versions of the steel brackets I found useful for getting all the power cords up and off the floor, I also installed this oak shelf to free up space for another chair...
The large bookshelves are the first bits of the collection and contain many discs that I play quite often:
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Wow!
Congrats on the upgrades.
Btw, I see the new Shunyata Signal Grounding box in one of your pics :-)
Hopefully, you and others can spill the beans on it soon.
The new Esoteric C-02X preamp and Grandioso P1 and D1 stack with Cybershaft master clock and Shunyata TRITON v3 and TYPHON QR and a couple of system speaker view pics...
I'm expecting more damping plates today to finalize the tweaks.
(Photography skills are lacking so apologies for that,....my eagerness to share great music however is not!)
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That is a serious cable management job! Congratulations on all the upgrades!
Very curious to know what kind of music you listen to.
Regards.
.
Beautiful system and upgrades. I admire your inspiration and determination to make your system the best you believe it can be! Truly stunning.
Great looking setup. That cabling looks like one hellish job to maintain! Talk about fun :).
Thank you very much! When I got the large power cords off the wall I expected that it would ease the overall organizational aspects and would have been
satisfied only with that. Much to my surprise moving from the old cable elevators (telephone insulator style I've been using since 2004-06) to the acrylic
risers and getting the power cords onto steel brackets on the walls (isolated using sorbethane pods, nylon sinks versus plastic, etc..) there was an additional
clarity in the overall system playback to was readily apparent so a bonus for doing all that work if you will. It's also a lot more aesthetically pleasing.
Types of music.....in a word "MANY". I have a fairly extensive collection (the 3 shelves in the room constitute about 20% of the total) and my music tastes
run for pipe organ, violin, cello, string ensembles, other small classical, large symphonic works, key opera composers (Wagner, Verdi, other big names),
Asian (Dadawa, He Xun Tian and others), Japanese Taiko drumming and Chinese drumming (Ondekoza, Yim Hok-Man and others), tons of jazz of all types
including Cuban, Afro-Cuban, West African Jazz (Mali, etc.), Middle East Jazz (e.g. Anouar Brahem), Polish & Italian Jazz performers, Swing/Big Band, Fusion Jazz,
lots of Blues etc..., I also have lots of fun with chasing Japanese jazz recordings since discovering labels like Three Blind Mice, LIM, FIM Venus Records and others
and the XRCD family of formats as a whole from Japan in the early 2000s. World music and world percussion, female and male vocalists (jazz and many others),
guitar, trumpet, sax, percussion, double bass, electric bass and other single instrument-focus recordings. Then we "Rock Out",...Classical Rock, Hard Rock,
some Heavy Metal acts, PROG-ROCK, "Prairie Rock" from Canada and the US, etc.... The only things I don't have much of is Country & Western and (C)RAP :-)
I do also have a distinct liking and alot of New Age, Techno, Electronica....
So in short, many different genres depending upon mood, etc...a normal day here can see Shostakovich, Mahler and Pipe Organ works spinning
then later Phutureprimitive, FSOL, BT, Shpongle and others, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, NDR German Big Band, etc....Patricia Barber,
Jacintha, and wind up with Tool, Rammstein, Pink Floyd, Rush, SAGA, or pretty much whatever strikes my mood and anything in between is fair game too.
So many discs....so little time :-) , music-phile, not typical audiophile.
Basically, just love great music of all types and all the craziness and money in the living room is in pursuit of getting all of that to sound as realistic and emotionally involving as I can!
Fantastic! That is a massive range of genres!
I find that some types of genres place the most demands on a setup.
IMO the "big" classical music (Wagner and Shostakovic) are the most challenging.
But getting rock to sound great is something I've had issues with in my setups.
Thanks for taking the time to reply with so much info. Much appreciated.
.
Very meticulous setup! The Valor have an amazing room presence. I would love to hear your system.
Mark,
congrats on a formidable system! love to hear it someday.
the pics are great and it's clear nothing has been left to chance. which i really respect.
cheers,
Mike
Mike, thank you for the great comments and praise. Should you ever find yourself near Greenville SC you are always welcome for a listen!
My "bucket list" also includes a trip to a certain room you know well :-)
Enjoy your latest upgrades,...having heard Wadax Reference DAC (twice) and Server (once) in good sounding show environments, I can only imagine how they are portraying
music in that wonderful system and room of yours!
My order of additional HRS large damping plates came in last Thursday so all the gear now has them once again; adding the 2 extra boxes for the
Grandioso stack had me caught short on rack levels and plates, both of which have now been remedied...
Glad you like them; there are a couple more photos in the adjoining hallway and a few painting repros of Union Pacific Big Boys, Challengers
and a UP Gas Turbine loco upstairs plus a repro painting of a line of NY Central Hudsons getting fuel and water all lined up in the yard. I also
have one of a Lima Allegheny marauding out of a West Virginia tunnel under full steam pulling a long coal load.
Not only did he have a big band and raise me with a love for the "good stuff" (Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and all the other great Big Bands),
my Father also worked for American Locomotive in our home town for many years all the way up to its closure as an design engineer and an
industrial photographer (he also worked on a unique coal-fired gas turbine project that was proven out), so growing up with a love of trains
and great music went hand in hand.
Those prints are some of the few of his work he was able to save. ALCO executives mandated barrel-burnings of engine plans, negatives, slides and prints in the railyard
at plant closing, those and the ones in the hallway are all he could get out the day before. What a tragedy and a huge loss of history (and F&^%$ the Oil Lobbyists).
My career in railroading didn't have any correlation with Alco steam, rather their diesel siblings. While I despised them at first(my Penn Central years) at the end of my career (GVT rail system) I finally found respect. Thanks to having a CMO that was the best ALCO man in the world, Don Colangelo. At the time of my retirement we operating the largest all Alco rooster in the world, 50 locomotives.
Wagner, Shostakovich, Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, the list of favorites that fit that description of most challenging goes on and on!
You can play them on many systems however, to hear the intricacies and be able to discern individual players and passages while still getting the grandeur
of the full ensemble on full tilt and moments earlier or later being able to resolve the softest most delicate passages, takes a certain type of system to render it all musically
and realistically. I've loved these composers and works since I was a teenager, played some of them during the portion of my early life when
when I was fortunate enough to be able to do so surrounded by some great talent. I find that as the system has evolved and improved so has
my ability to more fully and deeply understand all the layers of these amazing works to even higher levels.