Hiend001's System

Hi Hiend001

Sometimes, I use the small blocks on top of the Circuit board, Speakers, under Cable Grounds, Transformers, Wires all over the place really. I've even glued them to my walls. The Biggest Cubes are very cool. Depending on the laminar flow on the tops of the speakers, I've used them as tuning devices in different positions.

I've also put the LTR (super dry) in the mass loading chamber of the 60's. You have a lot of different flavors there to play with.

Have you setup the powerstrip yet? The blocks do all kinds of stuff under and on top of them.

Now I'm making a kit for myself, cause I'm use to listening to yours

Hi Michael,

Not yet I want to enjoy listening to my current lovely system setup a bit longer    Most probably this weekend I'm going to setup the Powerstrip.

Michael can advise use at where for the following woods:
- Crosscut Redwood
- Rectangle Brazilian Pine
- Select Pine

I believe the rest of the wood types will be used at Platforms between the frame and board

You mentioned those wood with thickest coating needs to be sand down, use what number sand paper
I think the following woods are having the thickest coating, is it correct  
- Balsa
- All the Cubes sizes

Hi Hiend001

"You mentioned those wood with thickest coating needs to be sand down, use what number sand paper
I think the following woods are having the thickest coating, is it correct  
- Balsa
- All the Cubes sizes"

mg

Exactly correct I didn't want to hold up the shippment longer and I knew you would do a good job of voicing. The Balsa and cubes, once you listen to them and give me a report, will be voiced by you according to what you hear. I'll help of course.

All this wood is 6 months or so away from taking on their true self, or the beginning of their power.

The very first thing I do when learning the wood is place them under a component (CDP). Both your CDP and Amp is light enough to do this with. I usually use the lightest component. From that point I start placing the wood throughout the system, keeping in mind the general sound of each piece. A method of flavoring will start to take shape as you do this.

So, you can first get to know the pieces, or slowly start exchanging some of them. But if you are at a very good listening place stay there until you hear something you wish to voice slightly different. Also stay up with my thread as I will be going more step by step.

Hi Michael,

Powerstrip setup done. The soundstage was airy and the high frequency was crisp. I could hear those subtle cymbals very detail and crisp. Later in the day I put on cubes on top of the transformers and the volume level amplify. The sound so clean and crispy details like 3D



Last week I visited some of the audiophile guys playing JBL and Altec Lansing horn speakers driven by 600 to 1000 watts professional amp. Their bass was 1st class.... solid tight impact & punchy, fast dynamic & transient    ....... but narrow 2D soundstage    When they came over to listen my system 1st comment was wow huge soundstage so deep and wide    Imaging 1st class    .... but bass so so....  

Michael how to tune my system to those horn speakers solid tight impact & transient bass  

Hi Hiend001

The power strip should start to produce a bigger bottom in about 7-15 days. Let's see where we are at the end of that time.

I'm looking at a few possible tunes.






good looking system

Greetings Hiend001

Thanks for that post on the reaction of your JBL and Altec friends! That gives Sonic a good idea of what they heard from your system.

Did you play them something that gives holographic 360 degree imaging? If you did, what was their response?

In Sonic's experience, the horn loving audiophiles have different priorities from us Tunees. For them, it is the effortless dynamics that thrills them (and it is a thrill) and the fast attack and no overhang in the bass. Soundstage is almost of no consequence to them. When I hear that sound playing back good analog, part of Sonic says they might be right.

Sonic

Hi Sonic,

No need to play holographic 360 degree imaging CDs, in fact most of my normal pop, classical and jazz CD are already have this effect Got to thank Michael Green products It has transformed my room into concert hall  

After I had played G.F. Handel Lascia ch'io pianga and Air on the G String Suite No. 3 by J. S. Bach (which I had downloaded from YouTube then converted it to MP3 as a compilation of Classical CD album). One of the guy mouth opened for 3 seconds without a word then turned his head over me and said WOW   I hope he did not read this forum as I did not tell him that it was a MP3 format

Try playing Ladies & Gentlemen album by George Michael. The recording reveals quite a number of hidden sound which you will never hear thru non-tune system

Ya you are correct. The horn loving audiophiles just crazy on fast attack & dynamics bass which sometime a bit of fatigue after hour of listening. Maybe combination of my holographic 360 degree imaging + bass from horn speakers will be the ideal case make from heaven    Michael can it be done  please

Hi Hiend001

Sorry, I keep forgetting to post this retro plate for you.




As you can see on this particular plate, it screws right onto the speaker. The Viola is made for separate plates to be exchanged, but the Classic would have to be routed out to make this possible and by the time that was done you might as well get a Viola. On the Classic 60 though the way to do this would be to make a plate like the pic that screwed over top what is there. This plate BTW is .25" thick and doesn't look all that bad put on.

If you would like I could do another one and start testing driver options for you, but this would be a long proccess, unless I got lucky right off the batt.

I would rather see people get the Viola but if they don't mind the cost of a retro and a revoicing plan they would need to do, it's doable. But then again maybe these plates will work just fine the way the Classics are voiced, it's something I would have to test.

Oh, BTW George Michael does some fantastic recordings. My fav is Faith, very 3D.

Hi Michael,

The retro baffle plate comes with the screwed holes, is it using back the same screwed holes on my speaker cabinet to mount the plate and without drilling or making any additional holes on the cabinet surface?

BTW you mentioned that Viola-FS Reference (Chameleon) is going to be greatly reduced price just for me Can secretly tell me how much does it costs me

Just bought a Aune X1S 32-bit DAC ($250) hook up to Sherwood via laptop for digital music playback. Surprisingly sounds very good and currently doing a A - B comparison between direct CDP and Laptop with DAC using Wav/Flac format file. I will let it settle as I got it only two days ago. My instinct prediction DAC will kick the CDP butt very soon once I tune the DAC

Hi Hiend001 & All

I'm thrilled to see your recent research

The retro means creating new holes. Personally I would go the Chameleon route.

Harold can talk to you about Price-Tag. I'm sure it will put a smile on your face

to all

If I were a serious Tunee who has been waiting for me to finally land on a true ultra MG speaker design and get in on the first few rolling out at that super low price, not to be seen again, I would be checking out my bank account.

For those who have followed me from the beginning, you can see how critical I have been on my own speaker designing. Yes, there have been some magical speaker products come out and I'm thrilled that folks get a chance to enjoy them, but with the joining of Harold I have finally reached a level of confidence that someone will build what is in my ears & mind.

I have never seen any speaker company build a true musical instrument. There are always compromises made in the designing for the sake of an audiophile selling point and user acceptance. Designers in this hobby quite frankly build speaker products to sell theories. More than any other part of this industry speakers have been that guessing game. I'm not sure that this has been done with ill-intent but it has certainly been done with a lack of understanding accoustic and mechanics. I do respect these designers, but the fact is they haven't gone far enough. Any audiophile reading this and using my tuning tools knows that there's another step that has needed to be taken in the designing of loudspeakers. I have come close, but without having that woodshop and associates who have the ability to make that woodshop copy my years of learning, close is as far as I have ever got.

in walks Harold Cooper (Coop)

Coop is the dream guy that Andy has always said needs to come along. Not from the marketing end, even though Coop has done well, but even more the side of going after what is inside of this wildly harmonic eccentric hermit-ish world of mine. Honestly a world I try to hide from most, and a world that is the opposite from the guy you saw in the pics and saw at the shows. The real MG is a guy who has always wanted to achieve the "tune". Not just in audio but throughout science itself. The real MG for better or worse somehow has always understood the motion of physics, the non-absolutes of absolute. Some might call this bragging, but honestly I have no time for bragging on myself. What I do have time for, at this particular time, is the actual ability to have something made and delivered that changes everything about speaker design. The Viola-FS Chameleon is worth millions. It's worth everything I have attempted to realize since my first ultimate speaker.

The Chameleon is all about you/us the listener combined with everything that is worthy about wood musical instruments. There's no cliche' about the Chameleon and I finally get to have it made.

Thank you RoomTune, Jim Bookhard, Andy and thank you Coop. Most of all thank you Tunees and the Lord for allowing me to see my dream made reality. The Tune is something I was built to do. The Tune is not me, but the next step in understanding the ART of physics in action. I don't really know any other way of saying this other than asking listeners to experience the tune for yourselves and let it become a part of your thinking and actions.

I hope the day will come when tunable electronics will be the norm and not a freak in the minds who view from the outside. Saying that, we have come a long way guys and now is one of those magical times for some of you.

Yep, the Viola-FS Chameleon is something worth putting on the want list. A few of you will get a reduced price, and for those of you who come after, you just bought yourselves a Million dollar speaker.

Hiend001:

I am very eager and curious to hear back of your impressions on the DAC!

I have been spending most of the last 6 months of my hobby with DACS and trying to pick out the best one for a reasonable price. Currently, I have settled on a used Bryston unit and am in the process of building my own Music Server to feed the DAC bitperfect audio. So far, I have progressed to the point my hand built server now exceeds the quality of my NAD 516 cd player. I am going to migrate my progress from Stereophile over to this forum if you or other readers wish to checkout my progress.


Kind Regards,

Ron

Hi Ron welcome back to Tuneland,

Yes I agreed with your finding on Digital Music feed thru DAC. I think we in tuneland should move forward with technology  

The Aune X1s which I bought was a 32Bit/384KHz DSD128 USB DAC feed thru Xmos USB Audio 32Bit/192KHz driver and using Foobar2000 application as media playback. Just launch 1 month ago.

It sounded very good with combination of highly clarity, very good resolution and speed with richness harmonic, presence, deep soundstage, strong timbre attack and authority      Me too in short time the digital music already exceeds the sound quality of my Magnavox DVD Player. Now my soundstage is truly 3D    Thanks to Michael Green Audio products, a  perfect match combination  

I have compared by selecting the DAC driver properties on my Labtop from 32Bit/192KHz to 24Bit/192KHz, the sound quality is like comparing apple with orange  

Ron, try this Aune X1s DAC $250. You will be very surprise how good it is  

Greetings Dr Stesiak

Migrate! Migrate! Sonic would be one to follow your progress on the music server system.

Now that Sonic has a reasonable grasp on analog LP, EP, SP playback, some investigation into this form of music storage and delivery must be done. I been avoiding it truth to tell because those systems I heard till now were quite inferior to standalone CD players. But the future of digital music is in server/Network Assisted Systems. There is no escaping this direction.

Sonic

All:

I am happy to see members of Tuneland also embracing DACS as a serious choice.

I look forward to learning and sharing with many.
As for Hiend001's DAC, it sounds like a very good value... Uses WIMA, Nichicon, and Burr-Brown 1793 DAC..audiophile grade components..hard to find reviews on it though so we will need to lean on your own impressions! As for me, I think I've found a very good value in my older Bryston BDA-1... While it doesn't have the latest tech, it is a fully balanced configuration with dual DACS and supports up to 192/24.

And sonic: yes, digital front end players and DACS can surpass many CD players now... These are exciting times!

Michael:

I couldn't locate info on the Chameleon speakers referenced in this thread - could you provide a link?

Kind Regards,

Ron

Greetings Hiend001 and Dr Stesiak!

Yes, when Sonic hears Hiend001 say the sound of this system exceeds that of the Magnavox that is something I am taking notice of!

How did you (Hiend001) go about the transfer of your CDs to hard disk?

What hard disk are you using? All Sonic sees is the laptop -- you don't surely store your digital files on the laptop hard disk?

Ron, Sonic admires what you are doing with your digital front end. I'll continue the conversation with you on your thread instead of hijacking Hiend001's thread here.

Sonic

Hi Sonic,

I'm using EAC to rip all my cds. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

I'm using external USB Samsung harddisk (1TB) to store and playback all my media.

The most interesting part is to search and play those amateur live studio recording, Voices of Music live recording concert (Classical), music videos and many many more on Youtube. You will be surprised how good it is by playing back thru this 32Bit/192KHz DAC  

My next target will be to source a suitable 40" LED TV and mount onto my front wall  

Hiend001:

Could you kindly give a list of your components as shown in your post on Sept 20th, 9:15am?

I notice what is probably a vintage Sherwood, but then I also see what is a second amplifier to the front right.. The tell tale cooling fins and large capacitors..I'm also just interested in learning of the other components too. I see a tuning canopy to the far left, and another on the table with the rest of the equipment. I think we all can learn a lot by examining audio components chosen by others and their reasoning behind the decisions.

You've got my curiously up!

Kind Regards,

Ron

Hi Ron,

Wow Wow    My system sounds getting better and better everyday The imaging with surrounding depth couple with super detail resolution made the music feel sooooo good and real  The bass impact was tight with authority I could hear the subtle detail bass notes The digital files format I'm playing were FLAC & WAV.

This Aune DAC really combine very well with the Michael Green woods. I guess the transformation was due to the DAC resolution 32Bit/192KHz it squeezes all the details juices out of this monster

How does "hell freezes over" sound? Can you give the before and after from before. My green ears are on fire to know

If I can use your ears for a little before and after this would be of big help to me.

Also another big help would be if you played something that didn't sound so good, and how you tune it in. I want to know if it's easier for you to tune with the maggie vs the other methods.

Ultimately for us is to be able to show folks how to tune any source, but anything I can do to speed up my learning curve by avoiding any audiophile twist and turns is of cource very meaningful for me.

I'm enjoying Sonics EQ tuning and can also see the file movement coming quickly. As I said in "97", I see the hobby as being something largly controlled by a screen. Coming up on 20 years since that, are we there For myself, passing up the performance of the Maggie on most counts would be a big step in that direction.

In my mind, being able to order the masters would be best. Then being able to do our own engineering, plus EQing.

Private tunable concert hall, files and EQing. This could be the moment we have been in waiting for. Not something to be rushed and making mistakes, but something that does afford us the state of the art.

Hi Michael,

I used 31-bands graphic equalizer to boost when playing those didn't sound good. This 31-bands graphic equalizer comes with the Foobar2000 application software.

CD Sound:
Good imaging on vocal. Warm voice presence but a bit softer.  
Good dynamic but a bit congested on complex jamming session.
Good bass decay.

DAC with 3 Birch Cubes underneath (2 back 1 front):
Very good imaging on vocal. Solid voice presence upfront like singing in front of me but lack of warm.
Lack of harmonic all round.
Bass not solid but heavy on bottom end.

DAC with 2 Brazilian Pines blocks underneath (1 back 1 front):
Good imaging on vocal. Warm voice presence upfront.
Good halo with richer soundstage.
Tight bass.
Very good resolution. Can easily follow the complex jamming session with all the subtle details reveal on stage clearly  



Will carry on playing different wood types underneath DAC to search for best combination in next few weeks.

Thanks for the reporting, this is very helpful for me

I'm covered in saw dust with a fresh batch of wood

Also I know Coop wants to see how your DAC is going, cause he is about to pull the trigger on some toys.

thanks

Hiend001:

Thank you kindly for the excellent reply! That was a great idea to overlay the names of the components on the picture!

One remaining question on this topic: do you have the first or second version of the Aune dac? I love that it has a tube!

Cheers,

Ron

Hi Ron,

My DAC is the latest 5th generation (no tube) - Aune X1s 32Bit/384KHz DSD128 USB DAC

Look at my comment setup on how to get the best out of this DAC
https://tuneland.forumotion.com/t338-convince-us-is-it-time

wow my links were out of date! Thank you for the clarification!

Ron

Wow  Wow  Wow  MICHAEL,  your electrical conduit teaching was right on  

I have re-direct my Aune DAC’s power plug to the powerstrip you have bought for me instead of direct to the wall socket. All the equipment electrical power plugs were connected directly to the powerstrip.

Everything just open up like going thru heaven gate  The halo became thicker as a result I could NOT hear sound coming from the speakers. Instead a huge envelope soundstage right in front of me  

Played Christian McBride - Gettin’ To It album track#10 Night Train. Could feel the double bass was presence right in front of the soundstage about 10 feets with the plucking of the string vibration was so strong and real  

Played The Famous Sound of Three Blind Mice Vol. 1 track#6 The Way We Were and track#10 Misty. The piano harmonic waves with the extended tone ending was out of this world experience    

FYI for the past 3 months I have been listening to the digital music and did not touch my CD player at all and eventually remove it from the platform 1 week ago. Now this platform holding my top tune Aune DAC  

Nice listening environment with LED lighting effect