New system

Arj,
what do you use to raise speaker wires? A friend of mine did that, and made not a whit of difference. Do you find that it does?
what did make a difference for me was to wipe the surface of my cds with antistatic spray.
I use the same on my LPs
the power cord may help, but what really does help is putting in a hospital grade outlet, with a dedicated line if possible.
I know...the Linn is amazing! But it did steer me towards the cary 308T CDP...it is the closest to analogue I have ever heard. so much so, i am thinking of selling my turntable and converting my system to a giant CD player!I do not hook my TV up to the stereo.
Where are you located?

Hi Shyam,

Am currently in Singapore..plan to move back to india inMay.
Well my rented house here came with furniture and hence I kept my cane bed (Vertically !!) against the wall behind the speakers as a kind of absorbtion material (It does work!)

So I wa able to kind of Weave in my speaker cable thru it..to tell you the truth do not know if it makes a difference with thin cables but well it keept it away from the power chord.

One of my friends here uses very thics speaker cables and he uses styrifoam glasses as cable elevators. he fixes the cables to it via cello tape. As per him ground vibrations affect the sound.

regarding CD's I found detergent (Shampoo!) and cloth also makes a big difference. hve not tried the antistatic yet...

Where are you located ?

cheers!

I'm in NJ USA
Singapore is a great place to buy electronics. Tubes are also available there. I see you are planning to go the tube route. It is true that they are difficult to get in India.
But with the internet it is fairly easy to obtain any tube.
Sovtek tubes ( a branded russian tube) are reliable and widely available. Initially i would not get into the NOS market as there are a lot of charlatans out there.
Amplifier tubes can cost a bundle so you may want to go solid state with your amp. You can use a tubed preamp. The tubes most preamps use are generally good for 1000 to 5000 hrs.
I love my system although it is very temperature dependant. Many times it reminds me of a performer...when they are not in the mood, they sound good but not inspired. when they are in the mood, they soar to the heavens and take you with them.
With my tweaks and nudges i have got it to perform 95% of the time.
This weekend I am hosting a desert island disc party. About five of us are getting together with a selection of six discs that we would take with us if we were to be stranded on a desert island, and play a selection from each for the other guests. Basically an insight into the music that has shaped our individual lives.
Just out of interest, what would your selection be?
regards,
Shyam

I was in Cupertino, CA for around 2.5 years..unfortunately the Audio bug had not bitten then...was quite satisfied with a Sony Compo then...

Other than sovtec even the Amperex BUgle Boy and telefunken are available here...but iam still thinking.

Do not think I'll replace by Amp yet..I really love its Imaging and Warm Sound
Imagine it is a design which has hardly change in the past 25 years and still loved fiercely by loyalists although one can cook an egg on it after 30 min of running and no remote as welll...but the sound is like Liquid Gold especially with Horn Speakers.

...would most probably go for a tubed CD player or a Tube DAC(Perhaps Audio Note DAC1)

Well, Singapore is a great place for tubed gear especially the china ones but since I plan to relocate to india for some time am not sure if Ill get tubes there..although high end Solid state Audio appears to have made inroads..

Hmm discs..Ill try to put in stuff without too much thinking..I think I made it thru college with the below albums of course then on Tape

1. Pink Floyd - The wall
2. Dire straits- Money for nothing
3. Eric Clapton- Unplugged
4. Bread- Anthology
5. Simon & Grafunkle - Bridge over troubled Water
6. Alan parsons Project- Best Of- Part 1
..Hmm that should be it

Cheraz, sorry missed this one
If you have a showcase no need to put a rug..that will do. It is primarily either to absorb or breakup back wall reflections.
Marble floor...In case it does sound brighter than you feel it should, a rug on the floor might help..But in these things there ar no hard and fast rules. it all depends on what you like to hear and how well you can tweak it to sound like that !

From maneks posts, It appears he has really finetuned his setup for his tastes..and you'll be doing it for yours too...it is a slow but quite satifying and sometimes frustrating experience. main point is avoid buying new stuff untill you have tweaked the existing setup to the maximum as most often with upgrading you do not get "Better" sound Only "Different" sound ...I found it the hard way !

I have a showcase unit behind both so a rug would be difficult. Lets see when it comes. Also, I have a Marble flooring. What about that?

ARJ...youre right....tweaking the system is the best part of having one...well atleast it is for me....I just love to fiddle, faddle with stuff but i do it with the stuff I own and not anyone else's.


Cheraz,,,,,get your system...set it up...hear it for about a week...let it all break in....for atleast 50 hours....100 for the totems....and then try the tweaks....Since you do have a rather large listening area i dont think you will have very many issues associated with small boxed rooms with nasty reflections and resonances.

We are all here to give your our two bits

Ha! Ha! He! The way you`ll descibe this stuff make me feel like I am selecting my wife. Never thought audio could be that complicated.
I think I need to have a few beers(or matbe a lot more) before I start on my journey in this vast and unknown land. Manek and Arj,I need to take another
May your tribe increase!!!!!!!

DVD Player : Denon DVM4800
Receiver : Denon AVR5803
Front speakers: Definitive Technology BP2002TLs(or BP7002s)
Center speaker: Definitive Technology CLR2500
Side Surrounds: Definitive Technology BPX
Rear Surrounds: Definitive Technology BPX

What do you`ll say about this Home Theatre? Manek, the B&W`s are too expensive.

Hi Cheraz,
That sounds great!
BTW you need not use Dipoles for the rear surrounds..direct radiating should be enough..Anyway no Harm. The Deftech Front towers are AWESOME and are my first choice fir HT as well.

Now all you need is the projector & the Cabling :). YOu need to Get a Good Video Co axial into a Projector as since it is magnified so much, the smallest of grains look much Bigger..

If you are in Bangalore maybe I can drop in to take a look once I am there ;-)

oh...our tribe is increasing by the day....now we've got you

by the way...def tech is very good......for home theatre. I would dtill go for a rotel 1065 HT recvr.

Arj, sure,would love to have your inputs. Do let me know when you come to Bangalore. Manek I WILL keep the Rotel in mind. As I told you its finally up to my friend who is actually buying the HT.

Back again after a long time!
Arj, In one of your posts you indicated you can get your hands on some amperex bugle boys. I would be interested in the 6dj8, ECC88, 6922 ( all the same tube!).
If its not too much trouble, can you put me in touch with a few reliable suppliers?
Cheraz, did you ever get your system?

Hi Shyam,
try www.hifi.fom.sg they are the Audionote dealers and I believe had the bugleboys in stock . Surprisingly have not seen the ECC notation on Amperex inpite of being European !

I do remember them having the Amperex 7308 sometime back..but apparently quite a few Cheap fakes are in the market these days hoping to cash in the NOS frenzy these days !!!

Sometimes a Mullard or a BB also pops up in the local for sale forum here...will inform you in case i do see something but shipping to eht US might not be easy..

cheers

Not yet Shyam
I swear,never knew this could be soooooo bad. The Totems are delaying the whole thing. Otherwise the rest of the system is ready for shipment.

Shyam, one pair available (Tho Used) at
http://www.soundscapehifi.com/used_items.htm#bugleboy6922

Thanks arj. I looked up the site. however the "actual photo " shown, did not have the bugleboy logo. Nor did it have the distinctive cross on the top. I'm tempted to believe these may be knock offs.
anymore sources? i can call them directly.
Thnaks.

Hmm...dont go by the photos, they might not be of the real thing..but the dealer is apparently reputable guy,,perhaps you could give them a call anyway :).
l think you nwill have better chances of finding it in the US itself...tubes are equally "Hot" but the market is So much more bigger there .

BTW have you got a chance to hear the 47 Labs Shigaraki DAC ? I was trying to audition it along with an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 as a potential upgrade (Along with the MSB gold) ..still deciding on if i want to do it and if so which one !!

I havent heard the Electrocompaniet, but have heard the 47 labs product. I was underwhelmed.PLus shigaraki reccomends you buy the amp and speakers for optimal performance. Now that is one hell of an upgrade!I don't know if the two are comparable, especially if you only plan to buy a DAC. Have you decided on which transport?

But then again, remember I am a dedicated tube man. Listen to the Cary 308 T..you will be amazed. It is the same price range as what you are planning to upgrade to.
I don't know what your current system is, so I dont know if you want to spend $3000 or more on just names.

I am not too much of a tube person..and basically prefer solid state . hence my choice of Amps. it is one of those rare hadnmade single ended solid state Class A amps which give a very warm and tubelike sound with the advantages of a Solidstate.

Hence would be going more from detail from my cdp. I have finally decided not to go for a DAC but to do some basic mods with the cdp. just damping the chasis as well as the transports seems to bring its performance up by a large step. just heard one compared to a unmodded Arcam 73T yesterday and it sounded really Great !

If i did go for a DAC i would hav retained the NAD as a transport..

Also heard the Shanling ... for a lesser price it would have been an Amazing cdp