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  #11  
Old 07-13-2011, 09:42 PM
jwhite613 jwhite613 is offline
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Congratulations! How many times did you go through your plan in your head before that 1st cut? Knowing there would be no going back once you did. Everything looks great.
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  #12  
Old 07-14-2011, 01:13 AM
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chessman chessman is offline
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Keith, awesome story and pics. It takes balls to open, much less modify, a $60,000 speaker. I am impressed that you could look at the components and know what to do. Congrats!!
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  #13  
Old 07-14-2011, 01:41 AM
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cmalak cmalak is offline
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Keith...welcome to AA and thx for subscribing and showing your support. Your system is superb. Your determination to get the sound you want is admirable. Great pics. Great story. Thanks for sharing. And here's hoping you get the last few % in your quest for the "perfect" sound. Enjoy
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  #14  
Old 07-14-2011, 07:44 PM
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Amfibius Amfibius is offline
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Hi everyone, thanks for your comments.

PHC1 I think most people in this hobby have a certain tenacity I'm sure we all agree that the trick is to identify what you like and don't like, and then decide if you can do anything about it. If you can't, then it is time to change speakers. If you can, then it helps to know audio engineers who know what they are doing!

Everyone who has heard the standard Acapella knows that as shipped, they have certain compromises. 99% of audiophiles will expect to run them mono-amped via the passive crossover. Very few will bother with an active crossover, buy multiple amps, and not to mention - own the equipment needed to do sweeps and level match. If you are willing to bite the bullet, it is possible to get better sound than shipped from the factory.

chessman: like I said, I had a lot of help along the way. By myself I am an electronics dunce. I knew what I wanted, and I find that helps a lot!

howie and JSCC: you sold the Violons! That was one of the reasons I joined this forum! Violon owners are few and far between. I only know of 6 other Violon owners and we are in regular correspondence. Would you guys like to post pictures of your setup in here? Would be curious to look.
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Source: Playback Designs MPS-5, Micro-Seiki BL99V, MA505 Mk2, Lyra Dorian, Denon 103D, RCM Sensor Phono Stage. Amplification: Cary SLP-05 pre, Cary CAD-211AE, SGR EL30S power, Marchand XM44. Speakers: Acapella High Violon, JL Audio F110 subwoofer pair. Pictures here
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  #15  
Old 07-14-2011, 08:00 PM
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Amfibius Amfibius is offline
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Someone in the other thread asked how the Playback Designs MPS-5 compares to my previous CD player. Well, I am a very slow upgrader of CD players. This is my CD player history:

- Marantz CD-52 (1993-2000)
- Sony XB940ES SACD (2000-2006)
- Cary CD306 SACD (2006-2011)
- Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD (2011 ono)

As you can see, I am a believer in SACD. The first upgrade was driven by the need to get SACD. The second upgrade from the Sony to the Cary was because the Cary was simply superior to the Sony. I have compared the Cary to many other CD players, and it has held its own every time. It is superior to the Marantz, Ayre, Sony ES, and Musical Fidelity SACD players. It is equalled by the Esoteric but the Esoteric has a dryer sound than the Cary. On redbook, I preferred the Cary over nearly everything else.

It was always going to be difficult for anything to replace the Cary, and this was certainly the case with the MPS-5. I was decidedly unimpressed the first time I heard it. The dealer left it with me over the weekend and I told him that I was surprised that it sounded congested compared to the Cary, and lacked detail and dynamics. He came over and had a listen. I could see that he was struggling to contain his disbelief but eventually he did concede that the Cary ran the MPS-5 very close.

A couple of weeks later, he rang me up and said that the player he brought over was brand new. He had since been advised to give the player 500 hours of run-in which he had done. He offered to lend it to me again. I was unable to take him up on his offer for a good year - because by then he was starting to move them like hot cakes. He said to me "lesson learnt - never demonstrate anything until you know you can get the most out of it". Yes of course - particularly to someone with a critical ear and a reluctance to spend 15 big ones!

One year later he brought another demo unit to my place. This time, it had 500 hours of burn-in. The moment I pressed play, even without doing any direct A-B testing, I could hear the difference. This thing is so much better than the Cary! Instrumental seperation is amazing, instruments are full of life and timbre, and the soundstage was wide and expansive. The dynamics and bass were better, showing the superiority of the discrete output stage. The overall presentation was more dry than the Cary, but then the Cary always was a very sweet sounding CD player.

I decided I could get the tone back by playing with the valves, but things like detail retrieval and dynamics can never be improved if it is not there from the very beginning. So I opened my wallet and handed over 15 big ones.
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Source: Playback Designs MPS-5, Micro-Seiki BL99V, MA505 Mk2, Lyra Dorian, Denon 103D, RCM Sensor Phono Stage. Amplification: Cary SLP-05 pre, Cary CAD-211AE, SGR EL30S power, Marchand XM44. Speakers: Acapella High Violon, JL Audio F110 subwoofer pair. Pictures here
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  #16  
Old 07-14-2011, 08:44 PM
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cmalak cmalak is offline
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Keith...it's clear you are a Cary fan. Have you tried other tube amplification in the past? Just curious on that front. Thx
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  #17  
Old 07-14-2011, 09:11 PM
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Amfibius Amfibius is offline
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cmalak I haven't actually owned any other tube gear apart from Cary. But I have borrowed stuff to listen to, yes.
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Source: Playback Designs MPS-5, Micro-Seiki BL99V, MA505 Mk2, Lyra Dorian, Denon 103D, RCM Sensor Phono Stage. Amplification: Cary SLP-05 pre, Cary CAD-211AE, SGR EL30S power, Marchand XM44. Speakers: Acapella High Violon, JL Audio F110 subwoofer pair. Pictures here
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  #18  
Old 07-14-2011, 09:25 PM
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Masterlu Masterlu is online now
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Keith... In only 2 days, and 14 posts you've managed to move in, make friends, and get comfortable.

Congrad's you're one of us!
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Ivan
FLORIDA
MX136, MC1.2KW(10) MC2KW(2), MCD1100, MS750(2) MVP881, C1000C/P/T, MPC1500, HT-2 SUBS(2) HT3F(2) WS350(2) XRT2K, XCS2K, XR27(2) XCS350(2) JL GOTHAM v2 SUBS(2) SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, LUMAGEN RADIANCE SCALER, SONY VPH-G90U 4K PROJECTOR, STEWART 120" MOTORIZED SCREEN, CINEMA-TECH SEATING, WW PLATINUM CABLES
Reference System: ACCUPHASE A300 AMPS, C3900 PRE-AMP, DP1000 CD/SACD TRANSPORT, DC1000 DIGITAL PROCESSOR, DG-68 DIGITAL EQUALIZER, T1200 FM STEREO TUNER, PS1230 POWER SUPPLY, HRS-SXR CUSTOM RACK w/ M3X SHELVES, TAD REFERENCE ONE MK2 LOUDSPEAKERS, WW PLATINUM CABLES
CAPE COD

MX150, MC501(2) MC1.2KW(10) MC2301(2) MR88, MVP881, MCD1100, MDA1000, C1000C/P/T, MPC1500, ESOTERIC K-01X 30th ANNIVERSARY (BLACK) SACD/CD PLAYER, G02-X CLOCK, HT3F(2) XRT2K, XCS2K, XR27(2) JL GOTHAM v2 SUBS(2) JL FATHOM F113v2 SUBS(4) SOUND ANCHOR STANDS(2) KALEIDESCAPE STRATO & TERRA SERVERS 80-TB, LUMAGEN RADIANCE SCALER, SONY VPH-G90U 4K PROJECTOR, STEWART 120" SCREEN, SONUS FABER STRADIVARI, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, FORTRESS SEATING, WW PLATINUM CABLES
Analog Rig: CLEARAUDIO INNOVATION WOOD, UNIVERSAL ARM w/ Da VINCI' CART, 2nd UNIVERSAL ARM w/ GOLDFINGER STATEMENT CART, HRS-MXR REFERENCE RACK-GLOSS BLACK w/ M3X SHELVES, AESTHETIX RHEA SIG PHONO-PRE, BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMP, WW PLATINUM CABLES
Reference System: BURMESTER 911MK3 AMP(3), 088 PRE-AMP, 089 CD PLAYER, 100 PHONO PRE-AMP, 948 POWER CONDITIONER, ACCUPHASE DG-68 VOICING EQUALIZER, AVID ACUTUS REFERENCE SP TT, GRAHAM PHANTOM II SUPREME ARM, BENZ MICRO LP-S CART, GRANDIOSO P1X/D1X STACK, G1X RUBIDIUM MASTER CLOCK, N05 NETWORK PLAYER, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, HRS-SXR CUSTOM RACK w/ M3X SHELVES, SONUS FABER AIDA SPEAKERS, JL FATHOM F113v2 SUBS(2) SOUND ANCHOR STANDS(2) WW PLATINUM CABLES

Library System: GRANDIOSO M1 MONOBLOCK AMPS, C1 LINESTAGE PRE-AMP, K1X CD/SACD PLAYER, G1 MASTER RUBIDIUM CLOCK, E02 PHONO-PRE, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, AERIAL ACOUSTICS 20T V2, AERIAL SW12 SUBS(2), CANTON REF K1’s, VPI HRX TT w/ SDS POWER SUPPLY, ORTOFON CADENZA BLACK CART, KLAUDIO RCM, SHUNYATA DENALI 6000/S v2, SHUNYATA OMEGA QR’s, WW PLATINUM CABLES
Esoteric/Bryston System: ESOTERIC C02-X PRE-AMP, P-02X TRANSPORT, D02-X DAC, G02-X CLOCK, BRYSTON 28B3 CUBED MONOBLOCK AMPS(4), BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMP, SHUNYATA DENALI 6000/S v2(2) EVEREST 8000 POWER CONDITIONER(2) ALTAIRA CG & SG HUBS, AMR-DP777-SE DAC, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, TAD REFERENCE ONE MK2 LOUDSPEAKERS, QUADRASPIRE RACK, WW PLATINUM CABLES
Accuphase/Canton System: ACCUPHASE E800 INTEGRATED, DP570 CD/SACD PLAYER, T1200 FM STEREO TUNER, DG-68 VOICING EQUALIZER, PS530 POWER SUPPLY, CANTON REF K3’s, CANTON REF K5’s, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, HRS MXR REFERENCE MAHOGHANY RACK w/ M3X2 SHELVES, WW GOLD CABLES

Last edited by Masterlu; 07-14-2011 at 10:41 PM.
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  #19  
Old 07-14-2011, 10:39 PM
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JSCC JSCC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amfibius View Post
howie and JSCC: you sold the Violons! That was one of the reasons I joined this forum! Violon owners are few and far between. I only know of 6 other Violon owners and we are in regular correspondence. Would you guys like to post pictures of your setup in here? Would be curious to look.
Hi Keith,

Dan (Thanks Dan) would be helping to post the pictures - Before (where I owned the system) and After where Meridian is my main enjoyment today.

Basically, what you see would be the same as what Howie had cause we exchanged systems with one another. The end result being I upgraded every Meridian component he sent to the latest revision while Howie does a complete makeover with the SF Stradivari's, Soulution, etc, ....

Cheers!
__________________
Turntable: SME Synergy All-In-One
Thorens TD147 Jubilee + Plixir LPS + Ortofon A-Mono
DS Audio ION 1
SACD/DAC: Luxman D-10x
Server: Roon Nucleus+ 8TB SSD + Plixir Elite LPS
Bluray: ModWright Oppo UDP205
Amps: Air Tight ATC-5/ATM300R/ATH-3
Speakers: Avantgarde Uno XD Piano Black/Stealth Grey
Cables & Interconnects: Audience Au24 SX Series
Power Conditioner: Audience aR6 OX
Rack & Amp Stands: Audio-Philar

Last edited by JSCC; 07-14-2011 at 11:02 PM.
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  #20  
Old 07-14-2011, 10:45 PM
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jdandy jdandy is offline
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Jerry.......Here are the photos of your Acapella's and Meridian speakers.





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Dan



STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario
LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113
VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A
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