From Europe with Flair | My Stereo story

[AmK]

request you to kindly put up a few pics of your system

would like to see it

Thanks & regards

Hi MPW,

Sorry for the late reply. Here are a few pics.

It is a Stereo and 5.1 (HT) system in a 10'x15' room. The room is untreated, and is connected to my living room (separated by glass doors).

As you will see in the pics below, I have moved the speakers and listening position quite a bit away from the walls - this has helped with focus and soundstage.

Subwoofer position not final. Still trying to figure this one out!

---------



View from my living room


------------------
- There are large windows behind the listening position. Covered with curtains.
- I remove the headrest of the listening chair when doing critical listening.
- The wall to the left of the listening position has wooden panels (plywood with wood veneer, supported by a wood frame. This was done for interior design (and not acoustics)
- There are large glass doors to the right of the listening position - these are covered with roller blinds - ideally there should have been curtains, but it did not fit the interior design


Dropdown screen (motorized). Made locally.


----------------
There's no easy way to make this mess look nice!


- Furutech NCF (rhodium) receptacles. I think they make a significant impact to the sound.
- Didn't buy the Furutech cover plates (too expensive)
- Triode Wire Labs power cords


- Lead-acid battery for the pre-amp.
- Have put weights on the components. Need to find a more aesthetic solution.


-------------
- Isoacoustics GaiaIII footers under the Dynaudio stands


-Sound Foundations cerabase under the amp, dac and pre


---------------
- SoundFoundations roller-blocks under the Oppo 103
- I have quite heavily modified the Oppo. Some of it was just for fun, and some actually improved the sound. A few changes I made:
-Removed the stock smps and put in a linear power supply (from Oppomod)
- Removed the analog board and the optical output (as these are not in use)
- Changed the IEC inlet to a Furutech NCF IEC
- Changed the stock wire from the IEC to the LPS (put Mundorf wire)
- Changed the stock cable from the LPS to the Digital Board (put silver plated copper)


- I think the system sounds good. I stream Netflix and Tidal for 95% of my listening/watching.
- Recently tried the SMS-200-Ultra - it added a lot of drive/clarity to the sound - so now I am thinking that a new streamer endpoint is the next step. But then it is more boxes/more cables/more tweaks. This never ends!

Aman

 

[mpw]

Hi AmK

Many thanks for responding to my request and giving us a peek into your system !

Its a home so we all have our give and takes ...especially given that its a stereo + HT setup

I am sure the Plinius power amp would be dancing well with the C1's in that room

njoi the music !

Thanks once again !

PS - I was wondering if those Gaia 3 footers can be closer coupled to your speaker stands....so that the distance between the floor and bottom of the base of the stand is lesser. Its just a thought.

Best regards
mpw

 

[newlash09]

Hi MPW,

Sorry for the late reply. Here are a few pics.

It is a Stereo and 5.1 (HT) system in a 10'x15' room. The room is untreated, and is connected to my living room (separated by glass doors).

As you will see in the pics below, I have moved the speakers and listening position quite a bit away from the walls - this has helped with focus and soundstage.

Subwoofer position not final. Still trying to figure this one out!

---------
View attachment 40584
View attachment 40585

View from my living room
View attachment 40586

------------------
- There are large windows behind the listening position. Covered with curtains.
- I remove the headrest of the listening chair when doing critical listening.
- The wall to the left of the listening position has wooden panels (plywood with wood veneer, supported by a wood frame. This was done for interior design (and not acoustics)
- There are large glass doors to the right of the listening position - these are covered with roller blinds - ideally there should have been curtains, but it did not fit the interior design
View attachment 40587

Dropdown screen (motorized). Made locally.
View attachment 40588

----------------
There's no easy way to make this mess look nice!
View attachment 40589

- Furutech NCF (rhodium) receptacles. I think they make a significant impact to the sound.
- Didn't buy the Furutech cover plates (too expensive)
- Triode Wire Labs power cords
View attachment 40590

- Lead-acid battery for the pre-amp.
- Have put weights on the components. Need to find a more aesthetic solution.
View attachment 40591

-------------
- Isoacoustics GaiaIII footers under the Dynaudio stands
View attachment 40592

-Sound Foundations cerabase under the amp, dac and pre
View attachment 40593View attachment 40594

---------------
- SoundFoundations roller-blocks under the Oppo 103
- I have quite heavily modified the Oppo. Some of it was just for fun, and some actually improved the sound. A few changes I made:
-Removed the stock smps and put in a linear power supply (from Oppomod)
- Removed the analog board and the optical output (as these are not in use)
- Changed the IEC inlet to a Furutech NCF IEC
- Changed the stock wire from the IEC to the LPS (put Mundorf wire)
- Changed the stock cable from the LPS to the Digital Board (put silver plated copper)
View attachment 40595

- I think the system sounds good. I stream Netflix and Tidal for 95% of my listening/watching.
- Recently tried the SMS-200-Ultra - it added a lot of drive/clarity to the sound - so now I am thinking that a new streamer endpoint is the next step. But then it is more boxes/more cables/more tweaks. This never ends!

Aman

I just went wow

Your room and setup looks absolutely gorgeous. I bet it sounds every bit as divine as it looks with your proper attention to power distribution, vibration isolation and placement. Enjoy...

 

[AmK]

Hi AmK

Many thanks for responding to my request and giving us a peek into your system !

Its a home so we all have our give and takes ...especially given that its a stereo + HT setup

I am sure the Plinius power amp would be dancing well with the C1's in that room

njoi the music !

Thanks once again !

PS - I was wondering if those Gaia 3 footers can be closer coupled to your speaker stands....so that the distance between the floor and bottom of the base of the stand is lesser. Its just a thought.

Best regards
mpw

Hi MPW,

Thank you for the feedback.

The C1s have been a real audiophile education for me. They are sensitive to any changes - position, vibration control, cables, components, recordings. Frustrating, but rewarding! They do come alive in a good way with the Plinius. My initial expectation with the Plinius was a "big powerful" sound, but it actually is delicate and resolving. It scales up only when the recording requires it to. With the Plinius, you get imaging and soundstaging even in the mid-bass (something which I did not experience with other amps)

You are right - the Gaia3 footers should be more closer coupled to the base of the stand. Initially I tried putting them on without the coupler, but there was no space to slide my fingers in, to adjust the locking nuts (Isoacoustics suggests that the logo of all the 4 footers be aligned in the forward direction).

Regards,

Aman

I just went wow

Your room and setup looks absolutely gorgeous. I bet it sounds every bit as divine as it looks with your proper attention to power distribution, vibration isolation and placement. Enjoy...

Hi, newlash09. Thank you for the positive feedback! Judging from your signature, it seems that we both are OCD about vibration, power etc. etc. It never ends, does it!??!

 

[mpw]

Hi MPW,

Thank you for the feedback.

The C1s have been a real audiophile education for me. They are sensitive to any changes - position, vibration control, cables, components, recordings. Frustrating, but rewarding! They do come alive in a good way with the Plinius. My initial expectation with the Plinius was a "big powerful" sound, but it actually is delicate and resolving. It scales up only when the recording requires it to. With the Plinius, you get imaging and soundstaging even in the mid-bass (something which I did not experience with other amps)

You are right - the Gaia3 footers should be more closer coupled to the base of the stand. Initially I tried putting them on without the coupler, but there was no space to slide my fingers in, to adjust the locking nuts (Isoacoustics suggests that the logo of all the 4 footers be aligned in the forward direction).

Regards,

Aman

if the fingers are unable to reach to tighten please try longer spanner with Flatter heads

These are avble in Mumbai

I feel you will get more value if this is corrected.

Regards

 

[AmK]

if the fingers are unable to reach to tighten please try longer spanner with Flatter heads

These are avble in Mumbai

I feel you will get more value if this is corrected.

Regards

Thank you. Will try this.

 

[square_wave]

Hi MPW,

Thank you for the feedback.

The C1s have been a real audiophile education for me. They are sensitive to any changes - position, vibration control, cables, components, recordings. Frustrating, but rewarding! They do come alive in a good way with the Plinius. My initial expectation with the Plinius was a "big powerful" sound, but it actually is delicate and resolving. It scales up only when the recording requires it to. With the Plinius, you get imaging and soundstaging even in the mid-bass (something which I did not experience with other amps)

You are right - the Gaia3 footers should be more closer coupled to the base of the stand. Initially I tried putting them on without the coupler, but there was no space to slide my fingers in, to adjust the locking nuts (Isoacoustics suggests that the logo of all the 4 footers be aligned in the forward direction).

Regards,

Aman

A classic Dynaudio and plinius combo! I have heard this combo a few times at a few people's homes. Enjoy ! With those C1s there is no end to the tweaking. But that is the fun.

 

[Kannan]

This thread is going North. I suggest a separate thread be opened for Amiks setup.

 

[pogballistics]

Hi,

I also use the Gaia III. I think in the instructions they say that the logo of all the footers should point in the same direction (i.e. forward). Have you tried that? It is a bit of a pain to get them all aligned in the same direction, but I use them this way.

Still using it? If not I am interested in getting a pre used gaia iii. Kindly let me know if you or anyone you know wants to sell. Thanks

Another upgrade which is a very under rated area of Sound Quality - Isolation.

Frankly, Isolation was the last thing on my mind when i started this Journey an year back, Infact i wouldn't be lying if i say that i started to search for isolation related items only couple of months before ! While i was convinced that i need isolation, i was confused on what sort of approach to take towards isolation.
Isolated HiFi racks vs Stand alone Isolation products

My speakers stands do have basic level isolation in form of Spike, so i was not sure if adding another layer over it would rake in any benefits.

I should thank @newlash09 for his detailed response towards my naive questions on Isolation. Finally ended up picking up the following

Isoacoustics Isopuck
Isoacoustics GAIA III

Fixed up the GAIA III onto my speaker stands (removed the Stock spikes it came with) and Just placed my Power Amp on 4 Isopucks. I could have tried it on the DAC as well, but another plan is underway for that! (we'll get to that when time comes).

Observations: Mind Blown x 20 times !!
Seriously never expected such a massive difference in the way sound changed. The Bass firstly became very lean, while i was worried for few minutes, playing on revealed the true nature. The Bass sounds just the way it should, till date it was being bloated by my in-Room Acoustics ! The Imaging went deeper and some of the higher end frequencies just feel surreal. The End notes of wind instruments just extend a tad bit more resulting in an extremely realistic and life like sound. The mid range is totally alive and i am hearing lot of nuances here and there.



This entire thing set me back by 22k but seriously worth every paise spent !

Few lollies for your eyes now;

View attachment 39434

View attachment 39435

View attachment 39436

View attachment 39437

View attachment 39438

Entire thing cost you just 22k? How??

 

[AmK]

Still using it? If not I am interested in getting a pre used gaia iii. Kindly let me know if you or anyone you know wants to sell. Thanks

Hi, I am still using the Gaia feet. Added them under my subwoofer also.