System #196 (Aerius)

[slowGEEZR]

A tremendous improvement. Before, I had little bass and the room was very reflective and not natural sounding. Now, I have great bass and the imaging is much improved, as well as depth of soundstage. I can now turn the volume up and enjoy the music, where, prior to the treatments, turning the volume up just made things worse. I am now in the camp that thinks that room treatments are the biggest sound improvement for the money.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Here are some pics of the current setup. I've added two more bass traps to the front wall and moved the previous bass traps to the rear. There are now three absorbers on the front wall, between the speakers. I added the VPI feet to the Scout and removed the butcher block that was beneath. Also added some heavy, insulated curtains. The sound is now much more tight, with bass I wouldn't have believed possible from the Aerius. I'm currently running the Krell integrated and have it sitting atop the Jolida. With temps in the 100 degree range for the last two months, it just made sense to use the transistor amp, as it generates much less heat!

 

[slowGEEZR]

A couple more pics of the room...

 

[BadMan72]

Wonderful setup! I got no tubes, yet, but I think about buying one or DIY. What tube-power do you recommend for the Aerius to play fine?

Greetings,
Andi

 

[robertawillisjr]

Nice set up.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Wonderful setup! I got no tubes, yet, but I think about buying one or DIY. What tube-power do you recommend for the Aerius to play fine?

Greetings,
Andi

Thanks Andi. I should update my pics to show my new digital front end (mac mini and Ayre QB-9). As far as tube amp recommendations, I think 100 wpc is plenty, as my Jolida can easily play the speakers with as much control and dynamics and power as the Krell. The Krell was tested in stereophile to clip at 290wpc and the Jolida is rated at 100wpc, 150wpc at 1khz.

 

[sb6]

Got records+tubes+traps=10/10!

Nice system indeed, I just heard it! Steve was nice enough to entertain Steve (me) for about an hour and to sum it up - WOW! It reminds me of that scene in the Ten Commandments when Moses comes down from the mountain, hair white and carrying the 2 tablets written with the hand of God and in awe. :bowdown:

I can now see (or maybe hear?) the potential of MLs. A few revelations Steve's system showed include:

- Records can sound amazing with the right turntable, preamp, cartridge and appropriate physical isolation
- Room treatments make an unbelievable difference in sound staging and improving bass clarity
- I now really do "get" MLs sound stage; I thought I did before, but now I really do.

I have to say that after listening to several tracks from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington on the Scout, I finally occurred to me what Steve's system greatly reminded me of. Let me elaborate; for years I played keys in cover/original bands and often times we recorded in studios for demo tapes, etc. What Steve's system sounded like was the playback coming out of the monitors of the virgin, uncompressed, unaltered tracks - truly astounding. And this was NOT with the Jolida Tube amp (not that the Krell is anything to frown at).

Steve - you are welcome over my house any time (it's only ~3 blocks away! ) Just please don't laugh when you hear my system!

and congrats on achieving a level I aspire to achieve someday.

 

[sebrof2000]

I have heard Steve Slowgeezer's system and was as impressed as you are. He gets more and better bass out of his Aeirus cones than I ever did out of my Ascents. I believe it's part due to his front end and part to do with the bass traps. Those traps are on my short list of upgrades.
Cheers!

 

[slowGEEZR]

Wow! Thanks for the compliments guys. You're both welcome to come over anytime for listening and BS sessions. Steve, I'll call you in a week or so to listen to your system. We all need to go visit James' (pcar928) super system soon, too.


I think great sound is all about proper system and room synergy and interaction. I'm amazed at how the Aerius has responded to my choices in equipment upgrades and acoustical treatments. The one constant in choices for interconnects, speaker cabling, equipment and acoustical treatments is to trust my own ears.

 

[tonepub]

Those Aerius are great speakers. I really loved mine when I had em. Used to use an Audio Research D-79 with mine and it was a fantastic combination.

 

[slowGEEZR]

I have added Pass Labs amps and preamp. Model numbers on first post. Here are some preliminary photos of the gear, but I am not completely set up, yet.

 

[projectormovielover]

That is a very impressive system you have there slowgeezr . What kind of speakers are those? Looks like wilsons

I bet them amps sound just great with that pre. Is that a some kind of dack on tha rack?

 

[slowGEEZR]

Here's the record storage system I moved from the listening room and setup in an adjacent spare bedroom. I simply turned the IKEA bookcases to their vertical position and added one more in between them in the horizontal position for accessory storage. Total cost for the three bookcases was about $275. The pull out baskets are also from IKEA and were very inexpensive. As you can see, I also put the VPI record cleaning machine in there. This freed up a lot of space in my listening room, which will allow me to rearrange things a bit! One note, if you use these IKEA bookcases for record storage, be sure to use them in their vertical position, due to the way they are constructed. You will also have to secure them to the wall, so that they can't be pulled down. That's important if you have little ones about.

 

[slowGEEZR]

That is a very impressive system you have there slowgeezr . What kind of speakers are those? Looks like wilsons

I bet them amps sound just great with that pre. Is that a some kind of dack on tha rack?

Thanks. Wilson Watt Puppy 8s. On the second shelf is the Mac Mini and the Ayre QB-9 DAC. I try to update post number one with all the details.

 

[churchill]

The new Pass gear looks great Steve! I might have to upgrade from my XA60.5's to XA100.5's!!

 

[slowGEEZR]

Thanks churchill. My speakers have a 92db/W/m sensitivity, so I figured I'd have plenty of headroom with the 100.5 and also never get out of class A. So far, I'm loving it!

 

[Wardsweb]

What do the amp meters show?

 

[slowGEEZR]

If the needle stays to the left side of the line in the middle, then the amp is in class A. If to the right, it has moved out of class A. So far, at any levels I care to listen at, the meter needle hasn't indicated that the amps have moved out of class A. These amps are class A to 100 watts. This amp (each) has 40 output transistors driven at a lowly 2.5 watts a piece to achieve the 100 watts. They really take charge of the Wilsons!

 

[slowGEEZR]

Some new photos. Thanks to Wardsweb. These are pics he took Friday, before our audio get together. Note that my SRA amp bases shipped out today and FedEx says they'll be here on Thursday.

 

[Rich]

Those amps look measly. You really need to upgrade to XA 600.5's. Then you wouldn't even have to turn on the heat in the winter. Can't wait to get back out there for another listen.