Simplicity and decoupling

[haraldo]

Here's the pictures of my current main system, dedicated to two channel music:

There are a few basic principles behind everything.

• Spiking, everything is spiked on granite (except for amplifier)

• All granite plates are physically decoupled through different types of rubber like feet, in this way everything has a very stable platform to operate and vibration is controlled better. In my experience, this works.

• Simplicity, keep things as simple as possible

• Cherry!, everything is in cherrywood !

The system consists of following:
Dell Poweredge SC420 (not shown) running Suse Linux Enterprise Server and squeezecenter, serving as music server for squeezebox and additional upcoming squeeze devices and PC's. Essentially there will be music everywhere served from one single server.

Main rig, from bottom of rack:
Legacy Denon DCD 2560 cd player, never used anymore after squeezebox came into my system, but this player still works flawlessly after “one hundred years”

Squeezebox classic, main digital music source, feeds a Benchmark DAC via optical out, I'm using optical because for some reason it sounds better than s/pdif

Benchmark DAC1, strange thing, but this needs to always be powered one, it takes a week before it sounds at its best

Krell KAV400xi power amplifier, drives the Meadowlark Kestrel2 like it's a walk in the park, after playing very load for a long time they're not even slightly warm, when I hook up the Duntech's however, the amplifier is getting into trouble because the Duntech's are bears to drive.

Meadowlark Kestrel2 transmissin line speakers, happy with them, plays better the more power they get.

Duntech PCL 15's, not used them for a while but they're never going away, probably the best single item that I have in my rig.

Asus Eee 701 pc, used for remote control for squeezebox and many other things, control's squeezebox via web interface on squeezecenter software on music server.

All music is ripped via Exact Audio Copy and I'm using FLAC (lossles compression)

Other's
Other than this I have a system that I bring with me on all holidays with all my music
Asus Eee pc701 and Amarox music player, Audioengine 2 spekares, external 320GB hard drive with all music in flac format.

I have some other things lying around that may be used sooner or later in #2 systems
- Audio note DAC zero tube DAC
Audio pro ego 212 bookshelf speakers
Yamaha RX-V420 av receiver

My apologies about picture quality, I only have a mobile phone available right now.

Meadowlark Kestrel2's:

(don't look to the "outer spikes", they're not in use...
Spikes are all soundcare superspikes that are “hardwood floor safe”

Duntech PCL-15:

Coming up:
Digital front end with digital crossover and some sort of room correction, Lyngdorf DPA-1 digital preamp or TDAI 2200 digital integrated amp
Logitec transporter, want the best possible digital out that I can get
Two very good sub's, thinking about some Kappa Perfect project, or SVS PB13 Ultra
Acoustics control, because room acoustics is "killing" right now
Music in bedroom!, bathroom, kitchen

My dearly beloved better half will be working with me on developing this system, and everything in the other rooms... she likes music even more than me.....

-Harald

 

[jamie2112]

Very nice Haraldo I like it. How do you like your squeezebox?

 

[haraldo]

Very nice Haraldo I like it. How do you like your squeezebox?

Thank you very much

Squeezbox is the 8th wonder of the world, and also for some reason it sound better than that old CD player (with digital out) perhaps that has sth to do with the fact that everything is ripped accurately via EAC.

I really like that any song can be found instantly in like 5 seconds. I will never use physical media to play music again. ever !

 

[croseiv]

Nice and elegant!

 

[haraldo]

Nice and elegant!

Thank you !

 

[haraldo]

Very nice Haraldo I like it. How do you like your squeezebox?

Some more few things to add about logitech / slim devices is that there is a very active community and if you have any issues or trouble, you are likely to get immediate response, this also includes people like Sean Adams, one of the founders of slim devices and technical guru on just about anything.

And it's very practical because anything that has wlan and web interface may be used as a remote control for the squeezebox

I can only say one thing about squeezebox, buy it !!!

 

[Davemcc]

Very nice system. I've been impressed with the transmission line speakers I've heard.

 

[Halon451]

Very nice Haraldo!

 

[haraldo]

Very nice system. I've been impressed with the transmission line speakers I've heard.

Very nice Haraldo!

Thank you very much both of you

I really like transmission lines, however, the Kestrel2 are tuned differently than most other T-lines, well all the Meadowlark speakers are... and in a way that provide them with a dynamics and freedom from constraints that I think is unusual to speakers with such a small footstep. I never played so loud to experience the Kestrel2's giving up, and sometimes I play very loud.

The thing is that the kestrel2's are nut stuffed like traditional T-lines but use some kind of felt like damping in a labyrinth, this makes the T-line very open and there is no stuffing to "kill the T-line. I think there are some downsides to this, I don't find the Kestrel2 to be as transparent and linear and open as the Duntech's, I cannot find any kind of deviations or colorations whatsoever in the Duntech's but the Kestrel seem to have these kinds of artificial colorations and sometimes being sterile up to a point that I still cannot 100% free myself from the thought that this is recorded music.

It's claimed that this tuning is so that the acoustic resistance below resonance is much higher so that you will not get over excursions of the woofer, and that this increases dynamics even more, well that's the Meadowlark pep talk. Anyway, I'm really sorry that they went out of business, fine speakers and very very nice finish.

On colorations... perhaps it's the Kestrel's that interact with the room in another way and that better room acoustics control and DSP based room correction may alleviate much of this. I have tried over and over again with many many positions of the speakers but never found a way to get rid of these artifacts 100%, but this is nitpicking for speakers at this pricepoint. well, nobody else notices these things anyways.......

the best way to go for me could possibly be to go with subwoofers that may tolerate X-over around 100Hz and use the Duntech's. If any of you guys ever come across any of the small Duntech's in the studio line (PCL-15 or PCL-25) please listen to them

When I bought the Duntech PCL-15 I compared them to the top of the line Duntech sovereign "huge" speakers, and while playing within the limitations of the PCL-15's darn if I could hear any difference between these small speakers and the top of the line products, except for the low bass.

I believe some of the John Dunlavy designs, like these small ones, are seriously underrated, because this is exceptionally well sounding speakers, just don't play loud with them

 

[OttoMatic]

Very nice system. I agree wholeheartedly with you about simplicity, and I've tried to keep my system as pared down as possible.

I'm also using EAC and FLAC to play files through a PC. I've heard good things about the SoundBridge and it seems like you're making good use of it. Yeah, physical media is so 20th century...

Nice setup!

 

[haraldo]

Very nice system. I agree wholeheartedly with you about simplicity, and I've tried to keep my system as pared down as possible.

I'm also using EAC and FLAC to play files through a PC. I've heard good things about the SoundBridge and it seems like you're making good use of it. Yeah, physical media is so 20th century...

Nice setup!

Thank you very very much

Actually, I believe there is a significant difference between using EAC and, and say Winamp, I first ripped to FLAC via winamp and there were some strange kinds of distortions, don't know what it was, but disappeared while using EAC, that guarantees exact ripping. Don't think it's only my imagination, sometimes the ripping via winamp was horrible, but always fine via EAC.

Beware of some of the players, I wonder if it's soundbridge, or some other player that resamples all signals, if not implemented correctly, this could be detrimental to sound quality

 

[haraldo]

I switched from my Meadowlark Kestrel2 to the old Duntech's, turn off all the lights switched on Tori Amos, Ribbons Undone from Beekeper album

Turned off all lights

Blo... h....... like she's here in this very room right now

 

[westcott]

I really like your system. I have always been a fan of transmission line speakers. Much like a horn speaker, only better, IMO. And those Kestrel2's are beautiful, no, gorgeous is the word!!! Very nice.

I also give extra points for speaker placement and furniture. I wish more people would follow your lead and move them away from the rear and side walls. Makes a huge difference in sound quality, IMO. I mentioned furniture, well I meant the lack of it crowding the speakers. Probably the most common mistake I see. Glad to see you using a minimalist rack.

Thanks again for sharing!! I hope you enjoy it for years to come and if I ever get a chance, I would love to hear those Kestrels.

 

[haraldo]

I really like your system. I have always been a fan of transmission line speakers. Much like a horn speaker, only better, IMO. And those Kestrel2's are beautiful, no, gorgeous is the word!!! Very nice.

I also give extra points for speaker placement and furniture. I wish more people would follow your lead and move them away from the rear and side walls. Makes a huge difference in sound quality, IMO. I mentioned furniture, well I meant the lack of it crowding the speakers. Probably the most common mistake I see. Glad to see you using a minimalist rack.

Thanks again for sharing!! I hope you enjoy it for years to come and if I ever get a chance, I would love to hear those Kestrels.

Thanks a lot for your kind words
The finish of the Kestrel's are top notch... And, although you cannot purchase new meadowlarks now I see second hand pairs avaliable at Audiogon.com every now and then. I would not hesitate to buy....

The thing of putting speakers spiked on top of a stone plate makes a difference to SQ ! I have also been working quite a lot with speaker placement lately and as always I end up with sth of the same theme.... Speakers far from front wall, not too far from side wall and quite wide apart.... pointing straight at me. Every time I am amased at how much difference it makes with just a small movement in speaker position.

Speakers much further from front wall than what pictures show, and yes the T-Line in the Kestrel's are almost like black magic, works very well
Although I have some room issues, and hope to be able to address these quite soon.

 

[croseiv]

Duntech PCL-15:

Hi haraldo-

I noticed the felt tweeter surround on your Duntech speaker. Is this a mod you made or is it part of the speaker's design? Just curious. Looks cool. And again, very nice equipments!

 

[haraldo]

Hi haraldo-

I noticed the felt tweeter surround on your Duntech speaker. Is this a mod you made or is it part of the speaker's design? Just curious. Looks cool. And again, very nice equipments!

Thanks

These speakers are not modified, and these felt things are what John Dunlavy did to all his speakers, they always did it at Duntech, and Dunlavy made similar things to all his speakers from Dunlavy Audio Design

If it works? well the tweeters are remarkable

I don't know why the felt thing is on the bass drivers... You can also see the similar thing on all Duntech's and Dunlavy's and VAF speakers too; Perhaps it is to add weight and modify resonance frequency.... I have no clue

Very sweet sounding speakers :-D

 

[croseiv]

Thanks

These speakers are not modified, and these felt things are what John Dunlavy did to all his speakers, they always did it at Duntech, and Dunlavy made similar things to all his speakers from Dunlavy Audio Design

If it works? well the tweeters are remarkable

I don't know why the felt thing is on the bass drivers... You can also see the similar thing on all Duntech's and Dunlavy's and VAF speakers too; Perhaps it is to add weight and modify resonance frequency.... I have no clue

Very sweet sounding speakers :-D

It's certainly an interesting approach. Thanks for the info.

 

[haraldo]

If you pay attention to the Morel (or is it Dynaudio?) bass/mid drivers of the Duntech's and how the drivers are fastened, the screws are tightened so hard that the whole chassis around the screws are slightly deformed... I believe Duntech is renowned for their extreme ways of securing drivers to the cabinets, probably to make sure it's extremely tight with no leaks and to minimize resonances

Or is there any other reason for this?

 

[Adam]

Or is there any other reason for this?

Perhaps to keep the speaker intact and to minimize debris when someone's ex-girlfriend hurls the speaker at his head.

 

[haraldo]

Perhaps to keep the speaker intact and to minimize debris when someone's ex-girlfriend hurls the speaker at his head.

They're always disconnected when she's here.... the way she turns up the volume control on the Krell Amp

You know this amp can give some 140V on the speaker terminals, from what I know, it may probably blow my speakers so the membranes ricochet to the other side of the room...

If the Meadowlark's blows... I can live with it, but not the Duntech's
From what I know the crossover in the Duntech's are adjusted by hand to fit the response and phase curve of the actual drivers
So changing drivers will blow their balance......