THE SHOW 2010

Well I’m back from the show in Las Vegas; this marks 24 years going to CES or T.H.E Show. Making next year my 25th time, it doesn’t feel like almost 25 years, time really flies. This year, we were blessed with a good room and great synergy between all the equipment.

Typheous speakers from Peak-consult, Vitus model SS-050 Int Amp and the KR Konzilla mono blocks

We were running two different systems; one half of the day we would run a tube system using the KR single mono blocks driven by the Nagra PLP preamp. The other half of the day we would use solid state using the Vitus integrated SS-050 amp. The front-end consists of the PS Audio Prefect wave transport using I2S interface into a Stalh~Tek Vekian D/A. The cables consisted of Proteus Provectus Preasto Revision RCA, Balanced, and Bi-wire speaker cables. The AC power cords were the Purist Limited Edition and the Purist Canorus being feed by the new Purist AC extension Box Model 1. Below is a Picture of the front-end.

Audio Prefect wave transport, Stalh~Tek Vekian D/A, Nagra PLP preamp, and Purist AC extension Box Model 1

The room dimensions were 35’ by 25’ with a 10’ ceiling. It was a big room, but the Typheous speakers with 92 Db efficiency, it’s 400 plus lbs, and 6’ height was up to the task. We added room treatment and damping in the room (Michael Green of Room tunes helped with their products). We also draped half the room, and added a sound proof wall.

The sound, after all the tweeting and adjusting, was one of the best sounds I’ve had in a show. The imaging was what you dream about! We used several different music tracks to test the system, below is a list of some of those tracks, and what we liked from each one.

“Mused to Death” by Roger Waters. I listened to it a thousand times or more; the horses started over your left shoulder, then, proceed in front of your and proceed to disappear over your right shoulder. The wood chopping was dead center and you could hear the wood chips flying.

Yim Hok Man’s “Poem of Chinese Drums” to hear what the bass sound like. Wow deep fast airy!

Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Little wing”, and listened for the hum from his amps. That came through loud and clean, and in fact one of the people helping set up, not knowing the song, thought we had a problem with the system.

Sting’s “Shape of My Heart” to listen for his voice and textures and again it was right.

Katie Melua, singing “Closest Thing To You”. Her voice is interesting and very nice.

Lyle Lovett’s “North Dakota”. The opening of the song gives you a real test, if you have your system set up properly, from small cues to large transients.

Well, after a long and hard setup Per, the designer from Peak-consult, and I went to the bar and started talking about our favorite classical melodies. So, instead of 100 beers on the wall we listed, yes, 100 Favorite Classical Melodies. If you would like to take a look at our list, click here (pdf file).

Per is going to meet me at the Munich Show in Germany, and we are going to name our favorite Jazz. Now that will be interesting.

On a side note, I would really like to talk about the digital front end, after living the last few months with I2S and using the Stalh Tek Vekian D/A, I feel that digital has made a huge move forward in sound quality. I found my self using the Digital over my Turntable. If you have a chance to try the I2S interface please do and give me your feedback.

Simple Tweaks Used at Audio Shows to Help in System Setup

I just got back from doing an audio show in Hong Kong, and I am still a little jet lagged. The Audiophiles were really out in force at the show; you could barely walk down some of the aisles. The photo illustrates what mean. I saw a lot of nice audio equipment, at the show, not available here in the USA (no surprise).

So much for my rambling, this simple tip (see steps below) will involve a simple string, a good friend, and a little time.
1. Have someone sit in the center or the sweet spot of your listening room.
2. Have them hold the string to the tip of their nose or center of their body.
3. Pick one of the speakers and go to the outside edge of the speaker; keeping the string tight.
4. Hold the string at the point where it meets the outside edge of the speaker.
5. Take the string to the second speaker’s outside edge. The section of string should be the same length.
6. Adjust the speaker to match the first speaker if there is a difference in distance.
7. Take the string back to the first speaker you started with and go to the inside edge of the speaker. Be sure to keep the string tight.
8. Hold the string at the point where it meets the inside edge of the speaker.
9. Take the string to the inside edge of the second speaker. Again, the section of string should be the same length.
10. Make any adjustments necessary for both speakers to match.
11. Check the distance to the outside edge of each speaker again to make sure it did not change during adjustments.
12. Double check the inside edge distances to make sure they match.
13. Sit down and listen.
14. If any adjustments need to be made, then adjust one speaker at a time and repeat the procedure again.
Let me know what you think of this simple technique. I’ll post another simple tip next week.

From Jan Hedlund

Hello Mr Aud.

Just read your AC polarity issue at Jim’s corner.
I don’t want to write a comment on line, but would like to tell you this.

I investigated this problem some years ago, and tried to understand why this problem occurs.
The best answer I found is that it is parasitic capacintances between the primary and
secondacy windings in the power transformers that induces current into the components ground and chassie.

By just selecting the chassis voltage to the lowest possible I found that the sound will
be better, since the component with the highest chassi voltage will end up closer to the
rest of the systems components. Just like you write.

But I tried a different approach, and that was to select the different chassi-voltages to
have minimum difference, and that have in general rewarded me with even better result.

By using this technic there will be the least stray current in the ground loops.

I also tested a lot of other related issues and tried to find if the phase of the
voltage would alter or change. It didn’t. These chassi-voltages always are in phase
between the different components.

Please try, and see if you can find the same result I have found.

Hi Mike,

Your response is well taken, someone who is not comfortable working with AC should not try it.  Your comments on good grounds, good power and quiet environment are also important.  Grounds are over looked itemed by many people and have a major influnce on the sound of our stereos.  Thanks for your feedback.

CORRECT AC POLARITY

System set-up

I wanted to talk about a tweak that costs little or nothing to do, while having the potential of paying big dividends in terms of sonic improvement. It involves a simple test (with some simple test equipment) that will allow you to determine if your equipment, and wall outlets, are “polarity correct”.  Almost all of your audio equipment has a transformer in it that serves as a source of power for the circuits inside. Not all manufacturers hook up their transformers so as to minimize voltage leakage to the chassis, otherwise called the “chassis to ground potential”. One can measure this by purchasing some testing equipment. What you will be measuring is the amount of voltage running around in the chassis of your audio equipment. The preferred voltage is the lowest voltage, which will save you from making dreadful subjective decisions such as “which polarity is more tuneful and in touch with the musicality?”   First thing you will need is a polarity testing plug which will set you back about $3.99. The second piece of test gear is a multimeter (VOM) which reads AC volts below 500; mine cost all of $45.00.  The polarity testing plug can be purchased in almost any store that carries even the most meager line of home electronics. It’s a 3-prong plug with three little lights on the back. You take the plug and insert it into each of your wall outlets, and the lights on the back will tell you if your outlets are wired properly in the wall. Many outlets, even in new digs and mobile homes, have the positive and neutral taps wired in reverse and grounds are oftentimes left open. The polarity plug will let you properly assess the orientation of the outlets that you use and make any necessary adjustments. This is the first step toward proper polarity.  The next thing to do is check the chassis voltage of your equipment.  With your multimeter in hand proceed as directed. Each component to be tested must be totally isolated. Disconnect interconnects, antennas, power cords and grounds. If the component to be tested has a two prong directional cord, plug it in. If the component to be tested has a three prong cord, steal a “cheater plug” from wife’s mixer and use it to float (lift) the ground of the chosen piece of equipment. Set your multimeter to AC volts, connecting the probe to a true ground (I use a true earth ground consisting of an outdoor earth rod with a cable running from it into my listening room). You can also go to the ground connection of the outlet if you have three prong outlets, or you can run to a drain pipe as I had to in my bedroom. NEVER connect to a pipe carrying electrical wiring or anything flammable like natural gas, and NEVER connect to an antenna which can be struck by lightning.  Connect the red probe to the chassis ground terminal if it is a preamp you are testing, or to a sheet metal screw on the chassis on almost everything else. With the screws you may have to scrape a little paint off the screw to make good contact. Good contact is essential to an accurate volt reading off the chassis. Now plug the component in and turn it on. If you haven’t been electrocuted, you should have a voltage reading on your meter. Write it down. Turn the component off and reverse the AC power cord in the wall outlet. With a cheater plug, the neutral side of the plug is usually wider than the hot side and reversing can be difficult. In the past I have taken a pair of metal snips and cut the neutral side down so that it will fit into the hot side of the outlet. Once the polarity is reversed, turn the component back on and make a second reading. Choose the power orientation that reads the lowest. (Note: Some equipment, especially power amplifiers, should be left off a few minutes before firing them back up with the AC polarity reversed.) Easy? And with some experience you’ll get to the point where you will be able to tell the proper AC orientation by simply listening to the equipment; the meter won’t be necessary. At that point you will have earned your golden ear.  Some audiophiles, when reversing a power cord, choose to leave the ground open or floating, alleging that the system sounds better that way. In some cases it is true, but remember, by floating the ground you may be defeating the UL rating for the device and maybe even voiding the warranty, which could be disastrous if for some reason a fire results. Play it safe.  YOU ARE DONE. The real trick here is to get each and every component in a system oriented properly. If your system has two components oriented wrong, the correction of one may not be enough to bring on earth shaking improvements – get the entire system right before passing judgment. Proper orientation makes one’s system generally sound fuller in the midrange and more dimensional in the lower midrange. Clarity and depth of image will increase in good ways. Look for less strident and cleaner highs also a lowering of the noise floor. If on the other hand you test everything and find all the plugs properly oriented already, you could consider the entire ordeal as time wasted, or, you might consider it an average day for an audio manufacturer.   Just a note if your not comfortable dealing with AC then don’t try the above post.