McIntosh C500T pic
McIntosh MC-275 pic
EMM Labs CDSA SE CD/SACD pic
Dali Helicon 300s pic
Analysis Plus Gold Oval pic
Analysis Plus Silver Oval pic
Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval pic
Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval Jumpers pic
Shunyata Research SR-Z1 AC Outlet pic
Core designs Model A CLd standard z Amplifier Platform pic
Mullard and Genalex Tubes 12AX7, 12AT7, KT 88 pic
HiFi-Tuning and Isoclean Slo Blo 1.24A, Slo Blo 4A pic
Room Setup Office/Listening pic

The Office
Fascinated with bookshelf speakers (love two-ways) I tried to design a home office system with great electronic components to maximize the potential for a smaller room.

Complete pictures will be posted later.

Previous Upgrade: Upgraded from C46 preamplifier to C500T

Next Upgrade Path: Room Acoustics, AC Power Cords,IsoClean Fuses, Tubes (12AX7 and KT88).

Lapierre  (Answers)

01-29-08

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

01-30-08   If you have these in your office, what's in your main listen ...   Semi

01-30-08   It's a long story semi. as of right now this is my main lis ...   Lapierre

01-30-08   You have gather one fine system my friend, very nice. i bet ...   Keyarae

01-30-08   Thank you sir. it's a great system that works together (i'l ...   Lapierre

02-01-08   Before the acoustic treatments, the room had a major slap ec ...   Devilboy

02-09-08   Mcintosh c46 preamp sold in one day. new preamp should be in ...   Lapierre

02-18-08   Nice office system! happy listening my friend! regards, m ...   Argyro

02-29-08   You have a "very" nice system lapierre.... (althou ...   Sogood51

03-01-08   Lapierre, very nice! that's quite a system there! love the ...   Kehut

04-09-08   System edited: added four mullard 12a7xa mini tubes to v2 an ...   Lapierre

04-12-08   System edited: added two isoclean fuses on mc275 power amps. ...   Lapierre

05-25-08   Lapierre, wow - i wish i had that in my office! very impres ...   Shadorne

05-25-08   Thanks shadorne. yes i get lots of work done and it's rare ...   Lapierre

06-18-08: Lapierre
Emm Labs CDSA SE Signature Upgrade

I did not post a final review of the Emm Labs CDSA SE Signature Upgrade
from The Upgrade Co (TUC). I've been swamped at work and traveling.

Here's a short description of what I discovered...

For the pre burn-in process you need a good (300 plus hours). During the
process I got impatient so every 80 hours or so I listened to two tracks of a
preffered CD. Around 200 hours is when you really start to hear a difference.
And another 100 plus hours reveals more of the music. I stopped short of
400 hours because I got tired of not enjoying the listening experience. My
settings on the Emm are high filter on and selection of Invert button (which is
subtle) but recommended.

The CDSA SE sound is very natural (vinyl like) in presenting music. The first
thing you notice with the upgrade is improved resolution, instrument depth,
and hearing more of the music. I really enjoy my music (mostly 70s and 80s
Jazz) and working out of my house as Experience Architect (google that).

For my listening experience, I prefer spinning the YellowJackets Time Squared
(Monk's Habit, Sea Folk) for drums, bass, and piano with a bit of Sax. For bass
and drum heads (that would be me) Kazumi Watanabe Mobo I and II
(American Short Hair, Mobo #2). And going back old school in the late 70s
Bob James Earl Klugh One on One (Kara,The AfterGlow). All of these disc
played extremely well on the CDSA SE. I'm still surprised of how well the
player plays my older discs. Really it sounds that good.

The treble is more revealing and with the Helicon 300 ribbon tweeter combo
you hear all the little nuances (percussion in the background) and stick and
brush implementation on snare drums and cymbals. Bass and guitar strings
sound crisper when emphasized during solos. You also easily hear more
decay of cymbals and instrument notes hanging in the air. Remember, I have
a small room setup and my speakers are 10" from the wall.

The mids I don't think had a huge improvement but just more clarity in my
system. I now tend to zero in on bass guitar and piano notes a bit more.
Tracy Thorn of EBTG (Worldwide) sounded more fleshed-out with smoother
presence and more weight. Bass if the disc was recorded correctly can go
fairly deep (even on my Helicon 300 monitors) and provide quite the punch
especially on the kick drum.

The sound-stage is presented in front of the speakers and falls toward the
back. Since I have a short-wall setup and small listening room I don't have a
wide sound-stage nor great 3-D. It's something that I'm working on with a
vendor to determine solutions. Perhaps a set of Acoustic System Resonators
could do the trick.

There are times during the listening experience that I want more bass (REL
B3) but it seems to be based on how the disc was recorded. There are also
other times that I think a dedicated midrange woofer may improve my
midrange. Maybe a fresh designed floor-standing speaker (Zu Presence,
Marten Miles III, Helicon 400Mk2, Cremona M2) would be an
great upgrade. So far the price would be very high for a significant change.
Helicon 400Mk2 and Zu Presences IMO have the best performance to price
ratio followd by Miles III and Cremona M2. Any of those four models I could
live with as a significant improvement. However, the upgrade modification to
the Emm CDSA SE has challenge the thought of purchasing new loudspeakers
for the moment. Besides it's cheaper tweaking your system to get the last
amount of detail from components.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the upgrade to the CDSA SE. I believe in
synergy within system components and that my friend I have done right. The
one sonic charcter from the upgrade that stands out based on the type of
music I listen to is the treble. Slightly behind that is the overall resolution
which is smoother with greater dynamics.

The next options for the CDSA SE is new power cord (based on testing and
measuring results from TUC) and possibly adding the new german transport
which is suppose add more slam according to one reviewer.
Lapierre  (Answers)


06-28-08   Pierre, here is the follow-up on your comments on the quads ...   Jfd01