Bill333's System

Hi Sonic,

Doing better now. But it's been a rough couple of weeks, as you can see.

Hi Bill,

I was shocked and sorry to hear about your unfortunate event. I hope you guys can recover quickly, and I'm relieved to hear that you have good insurance. I am hopeful that things can return to better-than-new for you!

It's been a couple of months since the fire, and we are now living in a temporary house while our home gets rebuilt.  Here's what the new listening room looks like:



I'm using my 60's on some nice platforms that Michael sent me, with the Audolici and the Magnavox.  My first Audolici was damaged in the fire, but I bought Michael's extra one with the silver faceplate. Mostly because I just don't want to be without one.  

I have to say that I am love, love, loving the Audolici.  Being able to tune recordings in with it has really changed my whole relationship with music and tuning.  It seems like no matter what the album, if I spend some time getting the blocks right, I am rewarded with great music.  Last night was a good example.  Michael picked out some music for me when we were at the second hand store in Las Vegas and I had mostly forgotten about it, until I saw a CD I didn't recognize in the pile I rescued from the old house.  The album was 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' by  Kings Of Leon.  I had never heard of them but thought it might be a good exercise in tuning to put on a completely strange piece of music and see what I could do with it.



Well, I didn't like it.  It sounded like some kind of punk band with the vocals in a language I couldn't understand.  I left it on repeat and went downstairs to do some cooking.  I came back an hour later and took a stab at tuning it in.  Wow!  What a difference!  Now I could hear the beauty of the instruments, and the vocals, while still unintelligible, now seemed whimsical rather than annoying.  I sat down and ended up listening all the way through.  

For a second act, I pulled out a more familiar piece of music, Soul Hits Of The 70s, volume 13.  



Again, it took 10 or 15 minutes to tune it in, but the results were gorgeous.  I listened all the way through and then some, in a very relaxed state.  Even songs that I used to fast forward through were musically involving in this well-tuned system.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I can tune in tonight.  

Looks pretty cool Bill

A quick update on my work with the system.  I finally bought a pair of wire strippers and started the process of cutting the wires down to a custom length that won't have the wires laying on the carpet.  But before I actually cut the wires down, I need to make sure the speakers are in their optimal positions.  So I've been doing some experiments with speaker positioning that are really making it clear how important good speaker position is.  The better positions bring a clarity and organization to the soundstage which I've really been missing.  I've started my experiments with speaker positioning last weekend, and haven't finished yet due to being so busy with work and house related projects but I think another few hours will do it.  And then I've got some experiments with RoomTune pillows in mind...

I may not have my old rooms, but there's no reason I can't improve my tuning skills.  

You have certainly been reborn Bill

Latest news...

I brought the Altmann DAC and associated cabling home from the restoration company's warehouse and finally got up the courage to hook it up.  It's broken and there is no way to repair it.  The era of the Altmann DAC is over.  

The Altmann was special - both for its sound quality and its effect on me.  Nearly all of the most goosebump-raising, thrilling listening experiences and most of the meditative reverie experiences I've had were with the Altmann.  As much as I respect the Magnavox and use it as a reference, it has never (or very rarely) affected me in these ways.  Are there other DACs that can provide these experiences?  I think so, but I need to find them.  In the coming months I'll be experimenting with some different sources, so we'll see how that goes.

On a more positive note, my Technics RS-1500 tape deck has finally been sent out to J-Corder for repair and upgrading.  Jeff put together this picture to show me what the deck would look like with a silver paint job and the blue ATR MasterTape reels.  I think it looks beautiful - what do you think?

The Technics silver look has always been an eye candy tease to me. The blue/silver combo is gorgeous !

It's been a month since I last posted, and there's been a lot going on.  Another AXPONA has come and gone, and although I didn't find much good sound at the show I did have a chance to hear a tweak I've been curious about for a while.  There was a sale on them at the show, so I bought enough to do my entire room.  





The iQSE is the 'i' version of the Quantum Signal Enhancer.  The device claims to influence nearby circuits and air molecules through spintronics.  I don't have any knowledge about spin electronics, other than that it is a legitimate area of scientific research which is mostly taking place in university labs.  By appearance, the iQSE is a small wooden block about 2" by 5" and 1/4" thick with a thin layer of a black rubbery substance on the back.

My initial intention with the iQSE's was to use them in a room treatment system which is rumored on the internet to cause the soundstage to expand, and "a beautiful listening experience where all the walls, floor and ceiling virtually disappear."  This is the diagram the Bybee company provides for doing this:



So how did this work?  I have to say that I have not been able to make the walls, floor and ceiling virtually disappear.  The crickets on the Sun King track from Abbey Road are exhibiting the same behavior they did before I put the iQSE's up - they bunch up at the right wall for a few seconds, proceed across the soundstage in a reasonable arc, and then bunch up at the left wall for several seconds before fading out.  

So what were the benefits, if any?  This is how I explained it to Michael when I called him after first putting them up:



It was as if I had picked up a lamp, rubbed it, and a genie came out and asked me for my wish. I said, "I want all the clarity, all the detail, and all the tone in the entire world, and I want it in my system right now!" The genie says, "your wish is granted" and that's what happened.

Sonic said

"I wonder what Mr Green says...?"

mg

It's good timing, is what I say. I've been working on some smaller room adjusters to send to Tj, so I've been putting things up on the SAM and also the front wall, and a few other places. Unfortunately when I talked with Bill I was on my 3rd day without sleep, so I didn't do much more than have Bill do a couple of run throughs for me. Where I left it was "Play and have fun"  then I was off to La La Land counting sheep and small wall devices.

I'm not really an impressions guy, but more of an empirical scientist. As much as I enjoy the excitement level when someone discovers a new sound for them (even with my stuff), my mind is always thinking "where's the trade off".

I did however put on Abbey Road the next day. The first run through the crickets were off to the right several feet outside of my place. It felt like I was sitting on the edge (a few feet back) of a pond with frogs and crickets all around me. Then I could start hearing the pan through the stage, the stop, and then the continuing out the left side of the stage. The next run through became more dramatic and spatial, and the listen an hour later was a different story altogether, with the pond reaching way behind my seating (almost like there was a pond I was on the edge of and another section of the pond behind me), with a sound similar to what I described a few years ago in my space, but with a little less stretching side to side but more of me being in the middle of the space. Lately my front to back has been as big as my side to side.

To be absolutely honest, I think my reaction to what Bill was finding was somewhat marginalized because I have been in the middle of an almost headphone-ish love affair with my setup lately, and I'm not sure I was completely able to separate what I have been experiencing vs what Bill was. But, I'm excited about the ByBee for Bill as we have been finding, and maybe even dialing in on, Bill's sound.

Here's where I'm at. Bill heard something in the Altmann, Hynes, American Monitor, Audolici and now the ByBee (if this proves the test of time) that is getting him to a more "Mastering" position over his sound. I think it's been a process for him that has taking him from extreme to extreme and now becoming more predictable. That is a major step up from when we first met. Bill's skill level has grown so much that he's not even remotely the same listener. Thinking back in my mind, the only regret that I have had for Bill is that he got rid of the Quads. I thought there was something there that was Bill and it would have been interesting for him to have pulled them out every once in a while. However the entrance of the American Monitor brings a lot of this back. I know, two different designs altogether, but that's how I look at Bill's sound and style.

I have enjoyed my relationship with Bill and Elizabeth so much I can't even begin to express, they're my family! And being my family I enjoy every word and impression they bring home with them from the shows or from their listening experiences at home. The ByBee is another one of these experiences I get to enjoy through the mind and ears of Bill. Could they be that Genie? For now they certainly are. Could they be part of the long term mix? That would be pretty smoken if you ask me.

Hi Sonic

Yep, pretty exciting times after Bill does the AXPONA. I'm looking forward to more of his findings.

On my goodies, I'll have more to say after Andy's visit here the 21-25.

It's been a long time, so I thought I'd let everyone know what's going on.  We had to move out of the temporary house in October, so the system I had going there is gone, and its components mostly in storage.  My wife and I are now living in a bedroom in my father's house while we wait for our house to get rebuilt.  Needless to say, there's no room for an actual system.  

What I have been doing is gathering the pieces for a new system.  With the Altmann gone, I've been looking for another non-oversampling R2R DAC that would give me the clarity of the modified Altmann with the natural sound quality that gives me the listening experiences I'm looking for.  What I settled on was the Mojo Audio Mystique v3.  It's not inexpensive, and it's heavier than I'd like, but the reviews are very good and the designer seems to be on the same page with the things I've found to make for good listening in a DAC.  Extended listening will tell if it's the right choice or not.  In addition to the DAC, I bought another SDTrans384 and and an Uptone Audio LPS-1.2 power supply for it.  I still have the ones I had from before the fire, but they're in pretty rough shape so I replaced them with the insurance money.  

I didn't want to be completely without a system, so this is what I have going in a corner of our bedroom:

That's the Mystique on top of a Sherwood RX-4105, being fed by the SDTrans.  The speakers are a pair of old bookshelf speakers stacked on top of one another.  It's not really for listening, but I can keep the system going 24/7 to let the DAC and SDTrans get thoroughly run in.  By the time we move back into our house, it should have over 3000 hours on it.  

Thanks for the Topping Tip Bill

It's been over a year since my last post, so I thought I'd give an update.  My wife and I are still living in my father's house and our home is still in the process of being rebuilt.  We have insulation and drywall now, so I'm hoping that another four or five months will do it.  

On the plus side, the SDTrans/Mystique combo has been playing continuously for more than a year.  I can't wait to hear this in a properly set up system.  

Actually, what I really want to hear this in is my tunable room.    This time time there won't be any delays - I'm going to start work on it shortly after we're back in the house.