Alpinist (Ken) - how is your new system?

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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OK Ken, you've been pretty stealthy about your own system. You've had the D3's with your awesome Soulution gear for a while now. You've also cabled your entire system with Kimber Select. Soooooo.....what's the low down? Can we get some pics? Impressions? Future plans?
 
Mike said:
OK Ken, you've been pretty stealthy about your own system. You've had the D3's with your awesome Soulution gear for a while now. You've also cabled your entire system with Kimber Select. Soooooo.....what's the low down? Can we get some pics? Impressions? Future plans?
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,
So much for flying under the radar! :D The system is breaking in really nicely and sounding wonderful. Adding the Kimber Select cables significantly improved the overall sound quality compared to the Cardas Clear Light cables. I also recently started sitting in the nearfield listening position and got a huge leap in sound quality. Imaging is now truly holographic, timbres are spot on and vocals are so supple and nuanced. I honestly didn't know what I was missing.

I'm planning on adding a Timbernation rack and 2 cm thick granite slabs under the speakers in the next two months. Also, some Audience AU24SE power cables later this year. In 2016, I'll look to add DSD in the form of an Esoteric K-01X or Lampi B7 or GG. I'll post some photos after I get the Timbernation rack installed. Thanks for your interest!

All the best,
Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Hi Mike,
So much for flying under the radar! :D The system is breaking in really nicely and sounding wonderful. Adding the Kimber Select cables significantly improved the overall sound quality compared to the Cardas Clear Light cables. I also recently started sitting in the nearfield listening position and got a huge leap in sound quality. Imaging is now truly holographic, timbres are spot on and vocals are so supple and nuanced. I honestly didn't know what I was missing.

I'm planning on adding a Timbernation rack and 2 cm thick granite slabs under the speakers in the next two months. Also, some Audience AU24SE power cables later this year. In 2016, I'll look to add DSD in the form of an Esoteric K-01X or Lampi B7 or GG. I'll post some photos after I get the Timbernation rack installed. Thanks for your interest!

All the best,
Ken
Click to expand...

Where is the turntable ???

:rofl:
 
Hi Mark,

How are you doing, buddy? Happy Holidays!! I'll post a photo of my system in the next few days. Right now, I'm playing around with my new Totaldac USB cable. We'll see if it can hold its own against the Wireworld Platinum 7 USB cable I just removed. The Totaldac has some big shoes to fill.

All the best,
Ken
 
MikeCh said:
Ready yet Ken?
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Hi Mike, Le Roy and Ralph,

Thanks for asking about my system. I'll post some photos very soon, I promise. Right now, I'm breaking in my new Totaldac USB cable, plus enjoying some very nice Christmas music in the process.

All the best,
Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Hi Mike, Le Roy and Ralph,

Thanks for asking about my system. I'll post some photos very soon, I promise. Right now, I'm breaking in my new Totaldac USB cable, plus enjoying some very nice Christmas music in the process.

All the best,
Ken
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Ken, we are just busting your chops man. All in good time. Whenever you think are ready. :)
 
I think he's just about ready to strangle his hi-res disposition with his total dac usb chord....
 
kiwi_1282001 said:
Huh! Maybe there is no need to wait for the Totaldac USB cord to break in before taking those photos..... :D
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Now, now Ralph....you must be misunderstanding as the pictures he eventually will provide will be in higher resolution and produced with less overall distortion if he waits until the cable is broken in. :D

Ken, don't mind us, we're just pokin at ya pokin at ya.
 
Well, I bit the bullet and ordered some new speakers. I should have them in a little less than two months. Vandersteen Model 7 MkII. This is the color I picked.

Ken

CF004353_GrillFix.jpeg
 
Congrats Ken, those look great. The talk about ARC makes sense now though there are many brands that sound great with Vandies. In the past I have owned 2CE Sigs, 3A Sigs and Treo's. I was always partial to the match of tube pre and SS amps, though I have used all tube setups with Vandersteen.
 
Thanks Jack. I really love my Soulution gear (520 preamp and 501 mono amps), so I'm going to try to stick with them. If I need to inject some tube warmth into the system, I may add a Lampi SE B7 or GG DAC as a source component. Having said that, the ARC REF 6 and Aesthetix Atlas Signature Monoblocks sound absolutely awesome with the Vandersteen Model 7.

Best,
Ken
 
Congrats Ken. Beautiful speakers and I never heard a single bad thing about it.

So what made you to go the Vandersteen over Raidho speakers ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Paul! I can't wait to get them. I really like the Vandy 7's linearity. They have very little coloration with a transparent and non-fatiguing presentation that enables me to focus solely on the music. I still think the Raidho's are wonderful sounding speakers, the Vandy 7's just lean more towards my personal taste.

Best,
Ken
 
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