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Shunyata Research Designing Silent Systems for recording, film and music

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  #11  
Old 05-19-2019, 03:17 PM
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Returning to the Bernstein-led Berlioz Symphony Fantastique after a good 100 hours of playback "cooking time" with a variety of program material on the Alpha, I hear a more expansive, more ambient-cue-rich soundstage than initially...and with it more "liquid" mids and highs. The tuba, which plays a key role in establishing the dark-side atmospherics underlying the march to the scaffold and beyond, breathes lungfuls of palpable, room-loading menace to a degree not felt--I use "felt" advisedly--pre-Alpha. (Its rendering of the Dies is particularly eerie.)

Switching gears to Andre Previn, Mundell Lowe, and Ray Brown in Uptown (Telarc, 16/44 rip), Previn's piano in "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" exhibits more "jump", indicating that there's no noise-induced time-smear to blunt attack or distort tonality. The same applies to Brown's bass and Lowe's guitar, not least in the fast-moving runs that grace this frenetic reading.
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Bedroom: Aurender N150, TEAC UD-505 (AKM version), EMIA Cu Elmaformer passive line stage, conrad-johnson MF2500, Paradigm Studio 20 v5. Shunyata Delta D6, Altaira CG hub. Shunyata Alpha XC, Delta NR v2, Alpha USB, Alpha and Venom CGC/SGC. Wireworld Eclipse 8 interconnect & speaker cables. Stillpoints footers, Butcher Block Acoustics maple platforms. Stillpoints and GIK acoustic panels.

Home Office:Windows 11 PC/JRiver 31, TEAC UD-501, Luminous Audio Technology Axiom II Walker Mod passive, conrad-johnson Sonographe SA-250, Paradigm SE-1. Shunyata Hydra (Original Version), Venom 10 NR. Wireworld Eclipse 7 interconnects. Blue Jeans speaker cable.

Living-Dining Room: Windows 11 Laptop/JRiver 29, Oppo BD-83, TEAC UD-501 DAC, SOTA Sapphire TT, Graham Slee Era Gold V, Ortofon 2M Black, McIntosh MR-77, c-j Sonographe SC-25, c-j MF2500, Paradigm SE-3. Wireworld 8 IC, Blue Jeans SC. Shunyata Hydra 8 v.2, Shunyata Delta NR, Venom NR. GIK 244 bass & scatter-plate panels.
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  #12  
Old 05-19-2019, 05:50 PM
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Jim... Excellent detailed description of your post break-in Alpha experience.
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  #13  
Old 05-19-2019, 06:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterlu View Post
Jim... Excellent detailed description of your post break-in Alpha experience.
Agreed.
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  #14  
Old 05-19-2019, 07:42 PM
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Thanks for the kind words, Ivan and Stephen. What I find "excellent" post-100 hours with the Alpha in place is the ease of presentation, the articulation of voice and instrument (whatever the size and composition of the performing ensemble and the scored complexity of and dynamic contrasts embedded in a given work), and the evocation of the performing space (real or artificed) that's been bequeathed to us by the recording team and its production decisions.

With respect to the latter and although not mentioned in my earlier posts, one of my listening reference points during the auditions was a number of 16/44 rips of tracks from a series of Delos classical CDs released during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that period Delos released two demonstration sampler discs (Symphonic Sound Stage and Second Stage) with program notes written by chief engineer John Eargle. In them, Eargle describes the recording venues, related technical considerations (e.g., the dynamic range of Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2 and how to capture it), and setups for various tracks, including in some cases diagrams showing orchestra placement. (If you've seen photos of my bedroom-system rack, the light-blue book sitting on one of its shelves is the second edition of Eargle's Sound Recording.)

Having that information proved useful in evaluating the Alpha and in its own way helped me assess how faithfully (to my ears, at least) the cable was passing the data for other performances, whatever their respective provenance and genre, including those I've mentioned along the way.
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Bedroom: Aurender N150, TEAC UD-505 (AKM version), EMIA Cu Elmaformer passive line stage, conrad-johnson MF2500, Paradigm Studio 20 v5. Shunyata Delta D6, Altaira CG hub. Shunyata Alpha XC, Delta NR v2, Alpha USB, Alpha and Venom CGC/SGC. Wireworld Eclipse 8 interconnect & speaker cables. Stillpoints footers, Butcher Block Acoustics maple platforms. Stillpoints and GIK acoustic panels.

Home Office:Windows 11 PC/JRiver 31, TEAC UD-501, Luminous Audio Technology Axiom II Walker Mod passive, conrad-johnson Sonographe SA-250, Paradigm SE-1. Shunyata Hydra (Original Version), Venom 10 NR. Wireworld Eclipse 7 interconnects. Blue Jeans speaker cable.

Living-Dining Room: Windows 11 Laptop/JRiver 29, Oppo BD-83, TEAC UD-501 DAC, SOTA Sapphire TT, Graham Slee Era Gold V, Ortofon 2M Black, McIntosh MR-77, c-j Sonographe SC-25, c-j MF2500, Paradigm SE-3. Wireworld 8 IC, Blue Jeans SC. Shunyata Hydra 8 v.2, Shunyata Delta NR, Venom NR. GIK 244 bass & scatter-plate panels.
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  #15  
Old 05-19-2019, 08:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimtranr View Post
Thanks for the kind words, Ivan and Stephen. What I find "excellent" post-100 hours with the Alpha in place is the ease of presentation, the articulation of voice and instrument (whatever the size and composition of the performing ensemble and the scored complexity of and dynamic contrasts embedded in a given work), and the evocation of the performing space (real or artificed) that's been bequeathed to us by the recording team and its production decisions.

With respect to the latter and although not mentioned in my earlier posts, one of my listening reference points during the auditions was a number of 16/44 rips of tracks from a series of Delos classical CDs released during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that period Delos released two demonstration sampler discs (Symphonic Sound Stage and Second Stage) with program notes written by chief engineer John Eargle. In them, Eargle describes the recording venues, related technical considerations (e.g., the dynamic range of Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2 and how to capture it), and setups for various tracks, including in some cases diagrams showing orchestra placement. (If you've seen photos of my bedroom-system rack, the light-blue book sitting on one of its shelves is the second edition of Eargle's Sound Recording.)

Having that information proved useful in evaluating the Alpha and in its own way helped me assess how faithfully (to my ears, at least) the cable was passing the data for other performances, whatever their respective provenance and genre, including those I've mentioned along the way.
Another great set of insights, Jim.

I'm busy with my Ethernet cable listening evaluations at the moment (presently listening to a WW Starlight Ethernet, which sounds really quite nice) but if there were two words that I would say that typifies virtually all Shunyata Research products is that they impart a really wonderful sense of "listening ease" that really allows one to be come fully engaged and immersed in listening to music.

More later! Great stuff, Jim!
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.
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