Latest upgrades...
Been a while since I've updated the system description, and alot has happened. I'll post some pictures of all below later today...
Replaced the Levinson 431 amp with 436 mono-blocks--pricey move, but worth every penny (and there were lots of them involved...). They are still burning in and sound better everytime I turn them on.
Put the Summits on custom cut granite bases under which I have felt floor protector pads (makes it really easy to move them around). To adjust the rake (forwart tilt) I put hockey pucks under the rear spikes--really brought things more into focus from the sweet spot...went back to the granite place and am having some scrap granite from kitchen backsplashes cut to size (13 inch length) that will replace the pucks
Moved the 436s out from the rack and placed next to the Summits. In order to do this have borrowed from my local store some short biwire runs of Straightwire Crescendo speaker wire, and he also loaned me a Crescendo XLR to go from the CD player (Levinson 390s) to the preamp (Sonic Frontiers Line 1). For the long XLR run to the amps, bought some Audioquest Lapis that are longer than needed--the excess is coiled up and stashed in the fireplace box which I never use anyway. Asided for remarkable improvement in imaging (more on that later) this really improved the "look" of the front of the room...the garden hose sized Serenade speaker cables are gone and I was able to use one of the shelves on the rack for the Quantum Symphony power bar to cut down on the maze of cables that had been in the corner. I have some MIT Magnum shotgun power cords on the way to run each amp directly into a Porter Pot cryogenically treated hospital grade outlet in the wall. Also, have some really stylish amp stands on the way from Core furniture--these have a sound board in them on which the amps will sit that is has a cavity in the center that is cut up into irregurlarly spaced cells, and then filled with sand. The sound should improve due to isolation/vibration control for the amps since they sit right next to the speakers, and again will improve the look of the front of the room.
Moved the Summits further apart from each other. The new geometry is a 7 foot spacing inside edge to inside edge on the front, and 8 feet from the front to the sweet spot. Still toying around with placement...baseline is the Jim Powers flashlight method. They are about as far from the back wall as I can get them without trashing the girlfriend acceptance factor (which is kinda marginal to begin with--especially with the amps on the floor..."what about thoes tiny little Bose cubes--don't you think thouse would look less imposing and can't you put those big boxes behind the speakers or in a closet somewhere?").
So. what did all this get me? I had pretty good imaging and soundstage depth before, and voices/instruments were individually identifiable, but it was a "wall of sound"--everything was there, but it was everywhere. bass response was pretty good--not muffled or artifically powerful, but it was not really identifiable as a point source...it was everywhere.
Now, the wall of sound is gone. What is supposed to be on the right is only on the right, what is suppose to be on the left is only on the left, and the center information (mostly vocals on the stuff to which I listen) is precisely located, and just stands in the middle of the room all on its own--listening to Yes Close to the Edge last night I had to keep opening my eyes to make sure Jon Anderson was not paying a suprise visit and singing from in front of the fireplace (I know, that is corny, but true...might have been the couple of beers beforehand)...
The bass response is much improved--from the sweet spot it sounds like it is coming from below the floor...eerie...
Soundstage height has improved too--while previously it was easy to pick out individual parts of the music across the room (although they were everywhere), it was all the same vertically--now individual sounds have their own location across the room as well a precise locations vertically...
So, what next? I need to replace the loaner speaker cables--my dealer is advising me to stick with the Cresecndos (out of loyalty will probably do that)... The loaner XLR Crescendos might just be replaced with other XLRs I already have (Kimber Kable and Transparent Audio). I already have upgraded power cords on the Summits, but might spring for some better ones from MIT with the network boxes (if you need any MIT cables contact user Disco on Audiogon--great prices and a great guy).
The next (and probably final) big/pricey upgrade will be on the preamp...have my heart set on a Levinson 32, but having some sticker shock on the price...but, I saw the Bucket List last weekend, and getting my 2 ch rig set up the way I want it, in its final configuration, is on the top of the list...
And, one this is done, there a few things I'd like to do to the home theater as well...
Cheers,
Mitch
