Julot's ICOS systems

[Julot]

I just got our new electronics for the Paris big showroom -- new Power Supply and new amplifilter, plus a new DAC.

I previously had an older version in this showroom -- it wasn't as fast and subtle. Now waiting for the new medium satellites (with Davis speakers to replace the late and beloved LE-8) and the new USB interface (currently have to rely on an M2 Tech one which I'm most displeased with.

In this detail you can clearly see the difference between the two choices of stone available: granite and labradorite.

On the server side, compared to the Antipodes DX, the DXe has a similar quality of timbres and lack of coloration but a slightly higher noise floor, which you can hear in the nuances. The DX that I just came back to, in Copenhagen, is more exciting to me.

 

[sharkmouth]

Very nice. The Antipodes servers have caught my attention of late, how do you rate them/compare them?

 

[Julot]

The DX beats anything I've heard so far in terms of computer audio -- there's no coloration, timbres are luscious, rhythms are right and subtle, nuances are nuanced, it doesn't feel "digital" at all. Compared to the streamers I've been able to compare it with in good conditions (Linn Akurate, Lumin), it's like a veil had been lifted (sorry for the stereotype). Compared to a MBP on battery with Audirvana, it has much more presence, is better in every way. Compared to an Aurender X10, it sounds much more neutral and transparent to me.

You can also use the DX as a NAS, and the difference with any other NAS, even with SSD, is quite spectacular.

I'm not sure it beats a top of the range ICOS CD-player though, but that doesn't matter since we only have a few dozen of those blocks left. And it probably has to do with what follows.

At the same time, I've now been looking for a perfect computer audio source for the Icos system, and what I've learnt is that digital signal is incredibly fragile:
- Our DAC doesn't have a hi-speed USB input yet so I had to rely on a USB/SPDIF converter and this seems to be critical (so far I've upgraded the SOtM interface with a home-made power supply and super-clock, bringing the bill almost to 1500€, which is steep for what it is).
- The power supply has extreme influence over the results. In my house, if the washing machine is on, it is significantly to the sound quality, makes it sound etheral, less embodied. As a result I put line filters not on the server (it doesn't help) but on polluters such as routers, washing machine, etc. I also use two different power lines for the digital and analog parts of the system.
- The server (like the streamers I experienced) only give its full measure after several days plugged on the power. Unplug it even for a few minutes and you still need a couple of days. That makes demonstrations outside of the showroom problematic ("yes you can hear it but I need to come and plug it one week in advance and you can't unplug it...")
- The stand also has its influence (very audible), so far I've had very satisfactory results with HRS Nimbus, I'm sure Stillpoint and others would also be great.

I was skeptical at first about the auto-ripping, but it actually saves a lot of time as opposed to making it with a computer, even though you still need to review labels and pictures afterwards with a file manager and a tagger if you want a consistent library.

The interface is nice, simple and reliable, but it's still no iTunes.

So I'd say those are great, extremely musical servers, but they require fine tuning and patience.

Full disclosure: I am importing Antipodes servers to France and Northern Europe.

 

[Jerome W]

Hello Julot,
Nice read ! Thanks.
You are a dealer in Paris ?
Lequel ?


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[Julot]

Just a manufacturer with a showroom, by appointment only.

We have two lines of products:
- "traditional" stereo products (amplifiers, CD players, DACs) sold in traditional stores (in Paris: CTA, Volumes, Affirmatif)
- full active amplification systems that we sell directly from private showrooms

 

[Jerome W]

So you are ICOS ?


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[Julot]

Yep.

 

[Jerome W]

Bienvenue !



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[Julot]

Merci!

And here is the little Danish systems with its 150$ speakers... On this picture the Antipodes DX was gone on a trip to the town of Odense, but hey, it's just a back box with a blue light anyway... the Apple TV is a poor ersatz in the meantime.

We're talking ICOS Dactablette 4 on top of ICOS 2120 pream and amplifier, plus AudioVector C1 on AudioMagic stands (paying my due to the locals here). The DAC has "floating" outputs and no analog filtering, the preamp+amp has no capacitor on the signal's path and only four bipolar transistors per channel.

 

[Julot]

New casings, power supply and sofware for my Antipodes DX. I'm always amazed at the difference between this and the MacBookAir w Audirvana I used as an ersatz for it for the two weeks it was away. It's another world -- the livelihood, the energy, the nuances, the timbres. Sure, it should be at the price, but we all know that's no guarantee.

And with its brushed front bevel and anodized side, it kind of looks like Darth Vader.

 

[Julot]

Last days for my Arcane speakers in the Paris showroom -- they still sound great, but they look beaten up and 70s, because they are. The main insult was when an owl took them as a perch when the listening room was in the attic -- you can see those wounds on the right-hand speaker.

Starting next week, brand new speakers (looking like my avatar) with brand new main drive, because the time of the LE-8 really has passed. We'll be trying the DE-8 instead, Davis Acoutics' proposed replacement.

If anyone is looking closely, you'll see little wooden cylinders on top of the old speakers. They're by controversial Franck Tchang, and they suppress metallic resonance in treble that are the main inconvenient of those old square cabinets as opposed to the icosahedric ones. Couldn't have lived all these years without them, and it made for great dinner conversations as guests asked about them, made fun and then could hear the difference (we don't do dedicated music rooms, like to have the main stereo in the middle of the living space instead).

 

[Julot]

The speakers in the Paris showroom, which are very 70s and very beaten up, are about to be replaced by modern ones. The new satellites will look like the one in my avatar or in the picture below.

But instead of having a wood finish, they will be laquered and the question is: what colour do you think guys? We can do about anything, I'm mostly hesitating between white and piano-black, but maybe there are better ideas. Clients can have any color, I'm just wondering which one to use for the demo.

Below are pictures of the showroom as it is.

 

[Julot]

Went to a German client this weekend. He, like many, has a one of a kind ICOS System. The coffee table is a subwoofer, and clearly the gentleman likes the wood and steel combo, so that's what we did for him.