[Sanderman]

M1s with the Ultimate upgrade.  Yep, the preamp is a 3 box Aesthetix Calisto Signature with dual power supplies.  I had a pic of it earlier in the thread.  The Rankin piece is a Wavelength Crimson USB DAC re-tubed with old Cunningham globes and a Mullard rectifier.  I've been running it in my headphone rig, but took it downstairs recently to try it in place of my older Audio Note.   Yes indeed, the Sound Lab interface boxes are heavily reworked.  I did it before Sound Lab offered interface upgrades beyond just the transformers and it actually helped provoke Sound Lab into offering cap and resistor upgrades of their own.  I went a bit further than they did though.  The caps in the interface were chosen after a shoot-out between the original Solens, Jensen copper PIOs, Teflons, various films and a pair of giant Swiss NOS paper and oil cans sourced from Audio Consulting in Switzerland.  The Swiss NOS caps won.  Imagine Jensen coppers with greater transparency and greater neutrality.  The stock sand cast resistors were junked too in favor of wirewounds.  The inductors are another story.  The little half-fist sized factory upgrade  items were replaced with custom wound models from Audio Consulting that weigh about 10 pounds a piece and are so large they have to be housed in small wooden boxes outside the interface box. They make Goertz and Madisounds sound broken in comparison....
 

 

 
Needless to say, this approach blows the factory upgrade parts away.
 
Joe
 
 
 
Quote:

Nice Sanderman,  Question or two what Sound labs do you own.....and are those preamps hiding under you gorgeous Rack...  1 more? what is the Gordan Rankin piece??? My good friend has the huge sound Labs that have been reworked by the factory in the back part(please excuse lack of my knowledge about this area)   where the Transformers are and the power and speaker connectors go.....His system is one of the best I've heard, (that he himself owns)........I'm sure yours is right there.......OK one more ? Didn't  Wolcott amplifiers make some huge V-8 shaped amp "Mono Blocks)???   

 

[HiFlight]

The Indeed is a unity gain buffer amp.  It has no volume control, so cannot be considered as a pre-amp.  It seems, with the current tube, to be an ideal load for both my DAC and Virtue CDP. 
Quote:

HiFlight, are you using the Indeed as a preamp for the Virtue? Pay no attention to the haters, the HE-6 is near the highest of the high end price-wise and represents the absolute pinnacle of high end headphone performance, so congrats!

 

[Yikes]

Siltech Emperor's, nice, using the latest Kings myself. I had the Crowns for awhile, but couldn't justify the cost.

Most here would be shocked at how expensive your cables are.

Spearit?

 

[immtbiker]

Ron's coffee table amp! Kramer would be proud.
 

 
 
Seriously though. People who make comment like that are not haters. This thread was reserved for truly High End Audio Systems.
 
One like a room filled with Macs and JBL's need apply. We agreed on that in the very beginning. Don't make Yikes come in here and say it for the umpteenth time.

 

[9pintube]

Sanderman , Thanks for getting back with me on the ???'s......I'LL  quote John Coffey, From the Green Mile....."I'm In Heaven"!!!!!!

 

[Sanderman]

Not Spearit - actually a dealer I found on Audiogon years ago.  I had been to the cable wars over the years (Purist Dominus, Nordost Valhalla, Kubala Sosna, Marigo, etc, etc etc.).  Then I tried Siltech.  The Emporers are amazing.  The interconnects (Compass Lakes) are equally amazing.  Keepers for life.  With them, I got off the cable merry-go-round.   But, you're right, the prices aren't for the faint of heart.....
 
Joe
Quote:

Siltech Emperor's, nice, using the latest Kings myself. I had the Crowns for awhile, but couldn't justify the cost.

Most here would be shocked at how expensive your cables are.

Spearit?

 

[El_Doug]

googling "siltech crown" brings up an image of this fellow as the first result: 
 
http://www.stereophile.com/ces2009/fabled_cables_in_close_relation/index.html
 
 
 
Quote:

Siltech Emperor's, nice, using the latest Kings myself. I had the Crowns for awhile, but couldn't justify the cost.

Most here would be shocked at how expensive your cables are.

Spearit?

 

[9pintube]

Quote:

HiFlight, are you using the Indeed as a preamp for the Virtue? Pay no attention to the haters, the HE-6 is near the highest of the high end price-wise and represents the absolute pinnacle of high end headphone performance, so congrats!

grokit ,
We've got some really twisted or jealous people on this web site, IMO, If they're putting down the HE-6 Headphones.........Yes, I love my HD-800's but when I saw the build Quality, then heard the HE-6's with a 40 watt Single ended (Speaker amp) I thought, HOLY S---, These are "right up there" with some of the BEST HEADPHONES out there today!!!!  They do need a good amp.....But how can someone NOT ENJOY, or HATE THESE??????  Nice system HiFlight ( What don't they measure good enough)???

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

googling "siltech crown" brings up an image of this fellow as the first result: 
 
http://www.stereophile.com/ces2009/fabled_cables_in_close_relation/index.html
 
 
 
Quote:

Siltech Emperor's, nice, using the latest Kings myself. I had the Crowns for awhile, but couldn't justify the cost.

Most here would be shocked at how expensive your cables are.

Spearit?

Haha, that's a good find!
 

 

[aangen]

Very Interesting pictures CrazyRay! Most unusual!

 

[Yikes]

You never know when your past will come back and haunt you (I'm a little thinner now, and no longer have anything to do with Siltech, except for being a fan)

HE-6 count as high-end. I've also fallen down on my duties as the thread police, there have been some recent posts that included equipment that hardly qualified as high performance when originally made, and that was over a decade ago. What's high end is ultimately subjective.

Grey market Siltech? Stealing money from my childrens mouths. (I don't have any

 

[immtbiker]

A little thinner? More like 100lbs ago.

 

[BlackbeardBen]

Quote:

You never know when your past will come back and haunt you

(I'm a little thinner now, and no longer have anything to do with Siltech, except for being a fan)

HE-6 count as high-end. I've also fallen down on my duties as the thread police, there have been some recent posts that included equipment that hardly qualified as high performance when originally made, and that was over a decade ago. What's high end is ultimately subjective.

Grey market Siltech? Stealing money from my childrens mouths. (I don't have any

I'm guessing that's a thinly veiled reference to my system... 

 
Like you say, "high end" is subjective; not to mention that it can be based on looks, price, or performance...

 

[jdandy]

 
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Some of my kids' friends come over and see me playing records, and hear music flowing, and get a very quizzical look on their face, because they have never seen a turntable, and don't know what to make of it.  Sad.
 
But MY kids have grown up knowing what a TT is

I'm 18 and I have a vinyl rig of my very own.

revolink24.......This is good news to me.  It tells me you have been bitten by the audio bug, and this will most likely be a life long interest for you.  I started out the exact same way.  I have about 45 years on top of your 18, and I still love listening to music on a great sound system.  There is a lot more to audio than MP3 players and ear buds, that's for sure.  I am glad to hear you are an audiophile.
 

 

[leesure]

I keep thinking of setting up a vinyl station, but then I realize I have no source material.