Fun equipment buying experiences

[DSK]

I live in southern New Mexico, which drastically limits my local shopping for audio equipment. I recently had an online buying experience that was just a lot of fun. I thought I would share and maybe remind you of an experience in your past.

 

I read Chris Connaker’s review of the Sonore optical streamers early this year. I was already a microRendu user and it sounded like an opticalRendu would be a nice addition to my stereo. I contacted Adrian Lebena of Sonore about purchasing the unit. After an informative email exchange, a couple of weeks later, I was the proud owner of a Sonore Signature Rendu SE optical streamer (not the opticalRendu I had planned to buy). Wow! Unbelievable! Along with the Signature Rendu SE, I had purchased an UpTone Audio JS-2 LPS for my Mytek Brooklyn DAC. What started as a little retirement present for me had turned into something much better.

 

At this point, the only component I had never really researched was cabling and I thought my system would benefit from better cables. Buyer’s guides from TAS and Stereophile pointed to some cables Adrian sold and our previous interaction led me to contact him about them. He was excited about Iconoclast cables and encouraged me to poke around the internet to find out what I could about them. There was not a lot of chatter, but the discussions were extremely positive, so with Adrian’s encouragement and a 30-day guarantee, I bit. I bought two pairs of Iconoclast cables: a 20-foot pair of Iconoclast 4x4 "Generation 2" XLR Oxygen-Free Electrolytic Copper interconnect cables and an 8-foot pair of Oxygen-Free Electrolytic Copper speaker cables. Wow^2 (for the non-mathematician, that’s “Wow squared”).

 

I made several significant changes to my stereo over a three-month period, and it is hard to tell which items did what. I do recall that immediately I noticed that the Signature Rendu SE eliminated background noise; it wasn’t reduced, it was gone. Instruments hung in midair and songs I knew well had a lot more going on than I ever knew. I often perceive improvements in my stereo as hearing music slow down; if I am hearing much more, it seems it should take longer to hear. Well, the effect with the Signature Rendu SE was huge. Then I added the Iconoclast cables, which slowed down the music even more. Individual notes became even easier to follow. The amp exerted more control over the speakers. I couldn’t believe how much more information I was hearing. Together, these upgrades had improved every aspect of my system’s sound.

 

For just about every song, everything I remember hearing sounds better, plus there is information I never heard before, distinct and clear. Bass is tight, highs are delicate and notes decay forever. Turning up the volume makes music sound clearer rather than louder – then I try to speak and realize how loud it is, and how great it sounds.

 

There is another aspect of this process that made the whole thing great fun, the opportunity to interact with people in the industry and learn some of their private opinions. I communicated with Adrian Lebena of Sonore over a three-month period. Thanks to him, I purchased the amazing Signature Rendu SE and the wonderful Iconoclast interconnect and speaker cables. Alex Crespi (@Superdad) at UpTone Audio became my power guru. After I bought the JS-2 LPS from him, we had a conversation about power supplies, and I ended up buying a Torus Power PB5 Toroidal Isolation Transformer. The new equipment created the need for an amp stand. I read about Audio Elegance stands in Stereophile and subsequently contacted Jeff Dicks of Standman Stands. Since my amp and speakers are on a wall by themselves, and my speakers (Revel PerformaBe M126Be) are walnut, I chose the Dakota amp stand in walnut. When Jeff asked me about stain and finish, I sent him the link to the speakers’ page from the Revel website. He used that info to finish my stand. How cool is that. I could have ordered all this equipment online without contacting any of these people. The experience would not have been as much fun and my stereo would be great, but not nearly as fabulous as it now is.

[DSK]

Hi Foggie, Here's a picture of my front end

with the Mytek Brooklyn DAC on top, then the Sonore Signature Rendu SE and opticalModule, and my power couple on the bottom, a Torus Power PB5 and UpTone Audio JS-2 LPS. That's a Sennheiser HD-650 hanging on the left. This sits on the north wall. Over on the east wall, I have

Revel PerformaBe M126Be speakers and Audio Research D200 amplifier, and most of 28 feet of Iconoclast cales. You can also see the impact of the strong NM sun this morning and the makeshift amp stand I am using. My amp stand is due by early next week, so I will update this picture soon when everything is in place and the room is darker.

 

I took a look at your setup. Impressive set up and also a very cool display of it.

 

Doug

[DSK]

And here is my amp on its final resting place.

Doug