rupy
Active Member
Very well written.Enjoyed reading your article.
From Europe with Flair | My Stereo story
- Thread starter Mi_10
- Start date
Wow !! To find another Xavian XN owner didnt even feature in my wildest dream. ! XN360 looks swell
Amazing collection you have, hats off.
bhagwan
Well-Known Member
Wow !! To find another Xavian XN owner
didnt even feature in my wildest dream. ! XN360 looks swell
Amazing collection you have, hats off.
https://www.xavian.cz/product/calliope/?lang=en
This I heard @ MOC in 2017 Hi Fi Show...
The models have changed - its been ages....
That old room of mine gets back a lot of memories...
Oh Yes, i believe once upon a time, the XN360 were Xavian's flagship grade FLs. The Xavians available now have completely new design language. I have not heard many speakers, but whatever little i auditioned the XN's stood out distinctly
Wonder what your new room sports now!
I got to audition the Calliope a year back in AV Lounge, Chennai. Was a great experience.
bhagwan
Well-Known Member
I have not heard many speakers, but whatever little i auditioned the XN's stood out distinctly
Wonder what your new room sports now!
The current room is 100 % NON Treated.
As 'bare' as can be....
2 sets of Pre & Power.
Valve Audio - South Africa.
Am Hi End - PRC - SET Amps - 833S Tubes.
TAD - Tidal Amea Diacera [Stand Mount Speakers] - German - [connected]
AARC - Artos Audio Rainbow Cell [German] - Full Range Speakers - 1st order. [spare]
Front End - Aqua Hi Fi - Transport & DAC - Italy.
Well Almost an Year, but you know the itch started again. After taking a hard but wise decision to move out of HT, i had greater focus on the Stereo Setup. With one Nail to hammer, i started hunting for that perfect piece 'Gear' or 'Hack' or BlackMagic that can improve the sound, sound stage and the overall stereo listening experience .
So this what i had wrote last year!
After the initial Euphoria died down, i started to listen more carefully, mainly without prejudice ! Like termites from old wood, the flaws came out, slowly one by one... they all came out ! Some of my observations:
The First thing i did was the easiest and simplest of Changes
With the HT out, it was lot easier to make this one change ! I simply moved the entire setup by 90 Deg so that the Portrait orientation now became Landscape ! And almost immediately i could sense the Stage grow a lot bigger and better. The Separation between L-R was more evident too. One of the key reasons was the side walls were too close in the earlier placement.
This was how the room was Transformed :
So this what i had wrote last year!
After the initial Euphoria died down, i started to listen more carefully, mainly without prejudice ! Like termites from old wood, the flaws came out, slowly one by one... they all came out ! Some of my observations:
- Huge Difference in Fidelity and Dynamics between hearing through Bluray Player (Coaxial) vs Computer (USB) - The BDP presented much livelier presentation
- For a 12.9 x 10.5 Room, my Portrait type Placement of speakers made a narrow, convoluted sound stage (Refer Here)
- I had just used a normal AC Power strip run from a single 5A Socket to feed the entire ST + HT equipment !!!
- m3i is a lovely sounding Amp, but somehow they were not engaging the higher frequencies like the way they do Mids and Lows
- A Subwoofer in a Stereo Setup is not a Joke ! Everyone can attempt it, but to get it integrated Perfectly with the Speakers is very hard - You 're better off without it than using them for sake of it !
- Large Floor Standers is not for every room ! More specifically its that elephant in the room kinda feeling more often than not
- Most Expensive upgrades need not be ' Real Upgrades' always !
- If you are serious into Audio and Constructing a house, it will be of great significance to bake in certain Installation aspects in the plan itself. It is a pain to modify / re-modify once a brick and mortar structure is up !
The First thing i did was the easiest and simplest of Changes
With the HT out, it was lot easier to make this one change ! I simply moved the entire setup by 90 Deg so that the Portrait orientation now became Landscape ! And almost immediately i could sense the Stage grow a lot bigger and better. The Separation between L-R was more evident too. One of the key reasons was the side walls were too close in the earlier placement.
This was how the room was Transformed :
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Next, I made a very bold decision of knocking off what was not adding value to the setup ! So began my Prioritizing with the equipment i had.
It made no sense to Change the speakers to suit this Amp-DAC Combo as i had chosen these speakers after multiple and often exhaustive auditions (for the dealers ! ). And i very well know their potential !
The Naim DAC is very sophisticated one. I had multiple times swapped with others DACs of differing price range with 2-3 other speakers and have always found the Naim to exhibit a nice Bold full range sound !
I was in two Minds when it came to the Amp. I like this Musical Fidelity Amp (Although you can still see this in the Sale section
) They are typical old school build, large, heavy, zilch niceties and a Remote with 32 buttons (of which only 3 works for an Amp, rest for CD player ). So one part of me didnt want to let go of this, but the other part wanted me to sell this so as to fund a better suited Amp !
While i was still trying to make up my mind with the Amp, i decided to be done with Sub in Stereo Setups and Sold off my sparingly used XTZ's 8 inchers x 2. Also i was pretty convinced about a BDP's Ability to act as a proper transport over a Traditional CDP and removed that too !
The Only other key item remaining was the Analysis Plus Cables, but i decided to keep it, as there were far more important changes that is needed at that point of time !
After spending hours and hours of secondary research which included Browsing @ home, Browsing @ Office and Browsing @ Traffic Signals and doing few rounds of audition with other dealers (looks like nothing major has happened in terms of new equipment over last one year) finally decided to go with a brand that matches the DAC. Of course by then i have read about the DAC-Amp synergies of same brand and the Famous Naim Chain Synergy which also worked in favor of this decision
While my focus was on the Nait 5Si (Int Amp), the Cute, Matching Half Chassis of the NAP 100 (Power Amp). More Importantly, my Xavian being 4 ohm speakers, a Power Amp made better sense (this little one can go till 2 ohm @ 100 rms..yeah you guessed it...hence NAP 100 )
However, not all roses are red ! So as to say my best of secondary Research, Heuristics, Hypothesis and gut feel failed ! Because when i paired up the NAP 100 with Naim DAC V1, the sound became worse in the bottom end ! The Bass became too artificial and hard hitting for no reason ! It literally felt like a Pub speaker! However, it did reveal some nice textures in the top end , the vocals weren't too bad either. Still was kinda disappointed.
But then i was advised by lot friends toremain patient ..err...practice patience ! So decided to give 50-60 hours of run time to the Power Amp to prove its mettle !
The Setup itself now looked less cluttered and Spaced out !
It made no sense to Change the speakers to suit this Amp-DAC Combo as i had chosen these speakers after multiple and often exhaustive auditions (for the dealers ! ). And i very well know their potential !
The Naim DAC is very sophisticated one. I had multiple times swapped with others DACs of differing price range with 2-3 other speakers and have always found the Naim to exhibit a nice Bold full range sound !
I was in two Minds when it came to the Amp. I like this Musical Fidelity Amp (Although you can still see this in the Sale section
) They are typical old school build, large, heavy, zilch niceties and a Remote with 32 buttons (of which only 3 works for an Amp, rest for CD player ). So one part of me didnt want to let go of this, but the other part wanted me to sell this so as to fund a better suited Amp !While i was still trying to make up my mind with the Amp, i decided to be done with Sub in Stereo Setups and Sold off my sparingly used XTZ's 8 inchers x 2. Also i was pretty convinced about a BDP's Ability to act as a proper transport over a Traditional CDP and removed that too !
The Only other key item remaining was the Analysis Plus Cables, but i decided to keep it, as there were far more important changes that is needed at that point of time !
After spending hours and hours of secondary research which included Browsing @ home, Browsing @ Office and Browsing @ Traffic Signals and doing few rounds of audition with other dealers (looks like nothing major has happened in terms of new equipment over last one year) finally decided to go with a brand that matches the DAC. Of course by then i have read about the DAC-Amp synergies of same brand and the Famous Naim Chain Synergy which also worked in favor of this decision
While my focus was on the Nait 5Si (Int Amp), the Cute, Matching Half Chassis of the NAP 100 (Power Amp). More Importantly, my Xavian being 4 ohm speakers, a Power Amp made better sense (this little one can go till 2 ohm @ 100 rms..yeah you guessed it...hence NAP 100
)However, not all roses are red ! So as to say my best of secondary Research, Heuristics, Hypothesis and gut feel failed ! Because when i paired up the NAP 100 with Naim DAC V1, the sound became worse in the bottom end ! The Bass became too artificial and hard hitting for no reason ! It literally felt like a Pub speaker! However, it did reveal some nice textures in the top end , the vocals weren't too bad either. Still was kinda disappointed.
But then i was advised by lot friends to
The Setup itself now looked less cluttered and Spaced out !
While i was waiting for the Amp to attain puberty, i thought it would be a good to spend some time on Power related aspects. I would have loved to go full on with an Isolation transformer, however the current infra limitation around my room means it will take a more than a bit of rework / modification! So i had this socket type created directly pulled out from the Room main terminals. May not be a great power source, but much better alternative than my earlier Power strip run from one 5A Socket !
While during my HT sale interactions happened to befriend a handful of HFV's. One of them recommended the Ifi AC I-Purifier. Now i was skeptical initially but then he was vouching for it ! Curiously i called in my secondary research team (ok, that me) and we scaled depth and breadth of the internet to see what this is about. Interestingly almost 95% of the respondents had good feedback and said it made a difference to the way their system sounded. So i got one too ! Initially i tested them late in the night, whereas the AC is usually cleaner than rest of the day, so i reserved my comments . But then over the last two days , even in morning, there was a remarkable difference i could feel. The Noise floor saw a huge drop, Lot of definition came though out of no where! This is one very good buy !
While this All Naim Synergy was doing rounds, i was also contemplating on the NACA 5 speaker wires (which are so damn pricey) Apparently i was also told by more than member about the famed Belden 8477 as a cost effective alternative to start off with. So rather than spending 25k for NACA5, i chose to spend 2.5k for this Beldens'. And Wow i was impressed. Very robust cables with quality Copper inside, the Shielding too was pretty good.
However, since the NAP 100 is still run in, decided to connect with the m3i. Sonically, they made a great improvements to the m3i. They were a touche' on the warmer side which provided the much needed zing in the upper spectrum. The Vocals too became strong.
With such nice stuff extracted out of the m3i, i thought i will put them to good use with the PS4 pro + PJ combo that used to run on strict weekend / holiday basis. Due to shortage of space, and with a limited budget, i hunted for a proper sealed speaker and ended my quest with this lovely little NHT Super Zero 2.1. For the Price, you could get a bigger bookshelf or even a 2 way FS ! But the Sound signature of Sweet Vocals + Thumpy Midbass is so beautiful ! And what more, they just merge into the surroundings as though they are non-existent !
While during my HT sale interactions happened to befriend a handful of HFV's. One of them recommended the Ifi AC I-Purifier. Now i was skeptical initially but then he was vouching for it ! Curiously i called in my secondary research team (ok, that me) and we scaled depth and breadth of the internet to see what this is about. Interestingly almost 95% of the respondents had good feedback and said it made a difference to the way their system sounded. So i got one too ! Initially i tested them late in the night, whereas the AC is usually cleaner than rest of the day, so i reserved my comments . But then over the last two days , even in morning, there was a remarkable difference i could feel. The Noise floor saw a huge drop, Lot of definition came though out of no where! This is one very good buy !
While this All Naim Synergy was doing rounds, i was also contemplating on the NACA 5 speaker wires (which are so damn pricey) Apparently i was also told by more than member about the famed Belden 8477 as a cost effective alternative to start off with. So rather than spending 25k for NACA5, i chose to spend 2.5k for this Beldens'. And Wow i was impressed. Very robust cables with quality Copper inside, the Shielding too was pretty good.
However, since the NAP 100 is still run in, decided to connect with the m3i. Sonically, they made a great improvements to the m3i. They were a touche' on the warmer side which provided the much needed zing in the upper spectrum. The Vocals too became strong.
With such nice stuff extracted out of the m3i, i thought i will put them to good use with the PS4 pro + PJ combo that used to run on strict weekend / holiday basis. Due to shortage of space, and with a limited budget, i hunted for a proper sealed speaker and ended my quest with this lovely little NHT Super Zero 2.1. For the Price, you could get a bigger bookshelf or even a 2 way FS ! But the Sound signature of Sweet Vocals + Thumpy Midbass is so beautiful ! And what more, they just merge into the surroundings as though they are non-existent !
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Vivek Batra
Well-Known Member
Hi @Mi_10
Very nicely written. I can relate every bit of your story to myself. I made the same mistake around 6 months ago by investing in AVR rather than stereo setup. I think making mistakes make us more wise that's inevitable when we start something completely uncharted. I am done with AVR now starting from scratch again and I am also in favor of separated and would go your way. Happy listening.
Very nicely written. I can relate every bit of your story to myself. I made the same mistake around 6 months ago by investing in AVR rather than stereo setup. I think making mistakes make us more wise that's inevitable when we start something completely uncharted. I am done with AVR now starting from scratch again and I am also in favor of separated and would go your way. Happy listening.
After selling the BDP, i was using the Laptop and connected my DAC via the USB for listening duties. I was searching for a good CDP / Streamer to match my chain. While the search was on, including some nice preowned gear and new ones, I came across Roon and downloaded the trail version of the same; to my amazement, it elevated the sound to a different level, frankly never imagined software hacks to make such a difference to audio quality. The Sound itself moved up a bit and some subtleties were brought in the upper mid range.
In a Parallel time frame, i was also asked to check out the Allo Bridge versions as a cost effective alternative to CDP. Honestly it was never my cup of tea to fiddle with circuit boards with wires dangling on either side and trying to code out some stuff in prehistoric OS ! So i never really gave it a thought. In fact when @Kannan offered me his USbridge to try for couple of days, i was in double mind, but had to decline due to logistical issues and lack of Ethernet in my Listening room. Even when @rikhav told me try it once and see, i never had serious inclination to it. But thought of giving it a try to see. honestly my plan was never to make a serious setup out of this Allo whatever ! My Plan was always to move this to the PS4-m3i-NHT setup as a secondary one.
So started reading through various threads both here and outside of this forum on Allo Digione and other related products. threads by @firearm12 on allobridge were all over my head at most places, still i tried (ok, trying !) to make sense of it ! While my cookie sized brain was still in the oven, i pulled the trigger and Ordered the Digione Signature Player. Since it was cheaper than the cheapest CD player available here, i added the Allo Shanti LPSU along with it. And Then to make it even more grand, ordered the Battery pack as well
Now with all the stuff in my room, i had a great feeling of a DIY'er (you know Circuit boards, dangling wires) The only DIY i did was two screws were too loose and were rattling in the player, so i tightened them with a right sized screwdriver ! nothing spectacular, but a honest effort, nevertheless !
Finally did whatever was said in the online manual, and was able to see light flare up inside the Digione. Had opted with preloaded Volumio, so it made my case quite easy ! meanwhile the Naim Power Amp had enough honey moon time playing random stuff to be 'burned-in'
Hooked everything up, and waited for the player to scan and update the library from my 1 TB HDD. in About 8 min or so it turned out with 4260 Albums and 13567 Tracks. I browsed though the folders and it was seamless and fast. Picked up a random ARR number and hit play. nothing came though !
Then i switched the DAC's output to Variable from 'fixed' and slowly increased. It was about 11:10 PM , Temperature steady at 22 Deg, a melodious voice transcended right through that main curtain ! With Cymbals and Tabala's almost making a way for the voice ! I have probably heard this song a 1000 times and never felt so attached and personal to the singers and Music. I increased the Volume to 50% and WOW ! i was just blown away !
Never have i heard this song this way ! The Background seems to be non existent and the sounds seems to be just swimming through the various pores in Curtain ! Even the voice of Alka in full flow seemed like Dew drops on Lotus - Never on your face yet pristine enough to give you a great feel ! Extremely excited to hear so many details and layers - almost feels like i stumbled upon a goldmine !
its been 36 hours since this experience has happened. And Now i am trying to play each of those 13576 tracks to find out what other details i've been missing so far !
ALLO FTW !
In a Parallel time frame, i was also asked to check out the Allo Bridge versions as a cost effective alternative to CDP. Honestly it was never my cup of tea to fiddle with circuit boards with wires dangling on either side and trying to code out some stuff in prehistoric OS ! So i never really gave it a thought. In fact when @Kannan offered me his USbridge to try for couple of days, i was in double mind, but had to decline due to logistical issues and lack of Ethernet in my Listening room. Even when @rikhav told me try it once and see, i never had serious inclination to it. But thought of giving it a try to see. honestly my plan was never to make a serious setup out of this Allo whatever ! My Plan was always to move this to the PS4-m3i-NHT setup as a secondary one.
So started reading through various threads both here and outside of this forum on Allo Digione and other related products. threads by @firearm12 on allobridge were all over my head at most places, still i tried (ok, trying !) to make sense of it ! While my cookie sized brain was still in the oven, i pulled the trigger and Ordered the Digione Signature Player. Since it was cheaper than the cheapest CD player available here, i added the Allo Shanti LPSU along with it. And Then to make it even more grand, ordered the Battery pack as well
Now with all the stuff in my room, i had a great feeling of a DIY'er (you know Circuit boards, dangling wires
) The only DIY i did was two screws were too loose and were rattling in the player, so i tightened them with a right sized screwdriver ! nothing spectacular, but a honest effort, nevertheless !Finally did whatever was said in the online manual, and was able to see light flare up inside the Digione. Had opted with preloaded Volumio, so it made my case quite easy ! meanwhile the Naim Power Amp had enough honey moon time playing random stuff to be 'burned-in'
Hooked everything up, and waited for the player to scan and update the library from my 1 TB HDD. in About 8 min or so it turned out with 4260 Albums and 13567 Tracks. I browsed though the folders and it was seamless and fast. Picked up a random ARR number and hit play. nothing came though !
Then i switched the DAC's output to Variable from 'fixed' and slowly increased. It was about 11:10 PM , Temperature steady at 22 Deg, a melodious voice transcended right through that main curtain ! With Cymbals and Tabala's almost making a way for the voice ! I have probably heard this song a 1000 times and never felt so attached and personal to the singers and Music. I increased the Volume to 50% and WOW ! i was just blown away !
Never have i heard this song this way ! The Background seems to be non existent and the sounds seems to be just swimming through the various pores in Curtain ! Even the voice of Alka in full flow seemed like Dew drops on Lotus - Never on your face yet pristine enough to give you a great feel ! Extremely excited to hear so many details and layers - almost feels like i stumbled upon a goldmine !
its been 36 hours since this experience has happened. And Now i am trying to play each of those 13576 tracks to find out what other details i've been missing so far !
ALLO FTW !
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Yes Kannan. I am using the DAC + Pre and have disabled the Volumino volume control . Just brilliant sounding
rikhav
Well-Known Member
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Great write up of your musical journey
Try with upsampling too on volumio.just check if it works for your or not
Also volume is software controlled by default. I like it when it's disabled and on fixed mode , so also try that
Try with upsampling too on volumio.just check if it works for your or not
Also volume is software controlled by default. I like it when it's disabled and on fixed mode , so also try that
If you have CDs, just connect a USB CD drive like transcend and enjoy your collection.
You first need to install the CD plugin built into Volumio.
It also has native YouTube plugin..but there is an error in the latest version and some SSH coding is needed to make it work.
Alternatively you can install free version of tuneblade in your laptop and stream all audio content directly to Volumio as tuneblade is a systemwide audio plugin.
Ethernet is superior to wifi and I have WiFi permanently disabled in Volumio.
You first need to install the CD plugin built into Volumio.
It also has native YouTube plugin..but there is an error in the latest version and some SSH coding is needed to make it work.
Alternatively you can install free version of tuneblade in your laptop and stream all audio content directly to Volumio as tuneblade is a systemwide audio plugin.
Ethernet is superior to wifi and I have WiFi permanently disabled in Volumio.
Wow excellent write-up. Can relate to each and every word of yours as I have been going through the same journey for almost 4 months now. Fully out of my HT setup now.
Allo looks like a good option. Is it a big step up from a foobar on pc setup? Where did you source your Allo from, any India source?
MaSh
Allo looks like a good option. Is it a big step up from a foobar on pc setup? Where did you source your Allo from, any India source?
MaSh
For You Tube i anyway have the PS4 Connected with the secondary setup. Also ripped all CDs and loaded into the HDD as there can be one single source of files. Right now the amount of electronics i switch on is very minimal;
- The DigiOne SE
- The DAC
- The Power Amp
- One for AC Ipurifier
And Yes got the Ethernet connection in too ! So With my Phone or Ipad or Laptop or any nearest terminal, i can switch on / change stuff in Volumio.
@MaSh
I have never used Foobar or Jriver properly. I did use the Jurrasic era VLC player though ! and its a huge leap from there !
It is brought in India - Fab2Lab.com
Almost Ditto........
My chain has
- 1KVA Isolation transformer to clean-up AC power
- Digione Signature powered by DIY dual LPS
- Externally powered HDD cleaned with Audioquest Jitterbug on the USB
- DAC-cum-pre
- Power amp (Currently building a LPS for it)
- And of-course the speakers
Buy from India's official online dealer!
