Nick's AV-SYSTEM-2007
Click on pic for large version. Click here if you want to jump direct to equipment list.
Mission Statement
Well, it has been a long time since I last did anything on my web page, but it you refer to the prior pages (start here) then you will see from the above pic that the current system is totally different. So, if I was happy before, then why have I replaced just about everything in my system !!!??? For many years now I have tried to find a 'total solution'. I had found that a system could be great for beautiful vocal reproduction, but hopeless for rock music, or vice versa, but it seemed to be very difficult to get a system which was great for both. On top of that I wanted to have one system for all my entertainment, and not put my audio stuff in a different or 'special' room, but try to get the best of all Worlds in one system. So the three fundamental desires were:
1. Beautiful and natural audio from vinyl, SACD and CD+DAC
2. Great system for rock/ heavy metal and partying
3. Awesome surround sound system for home cinema, which would not sound artificial, but which would make rain sound like rain, violins sound like violins, and voices sound realistic rather than confined to a broom cupboard
2006 Changes
In March I decided to get a flat screen because the prices had tumbled so much. Also, the existing 36" Toshiba CRT TV occupied the whole available area ontop of the double-door podium, and it would be nice to free up that space. I went for the Pioneer HDM-50 plasma screen, which at that time seemed to be rated very highly, and with a separate control box, meant that only two fixed cables were required, with all the connections to other items being from the control box (the centre one in the 'pile of three' on the podium). I also went for the slimline side speakers, as for general TV use I didn't want to have to switch on the surround system.
With my 'mission statement' constantly at the back of my mind, I went to a Hi-Fi Show at the Park Hotel, Heathrow, in the Spring. In one of the rooms I heard some loudspeakers which impressed me so much that I thought they stood a chance of being able to handle the '1-2-3' requirements, and these speakers turned out to be the German designed and produced Manger Zeroboxes. These very unusual loudspeakers are based on a drive unit called the MSW. Those of you who have read my previous pages on audio will know that I adore the Audio Note AN-E speakers, for their amazing linear natural sound, and they excel in meeting the demands of requirement 1. However, they are a bit lame when it comes to requirements 2 and 3, appearing too laid back. By contrast the MSWs have an almost unique presentation, being incredibly clear (apparently similar to electrostatic designs), and in the range 100Hz to 20KHz have amazing linearity. It seemed to me that these could handle audiophile demands of vocal purity, and from the material I heard at the show it was clear to me that EVERYTHING thrown at them sounded REAL ! The MSWs do not come cheap, and list at over £500 per driver. I ended up with a solution which looks like the Zerobox 109 design, but is not quite that. I have no crossovers in mine, and the 8" Scanspeak woofers are 8 ohm rather than 4 ohm, as is the case in the standard design. The reason for going 8 ohms is that my chip amps cannot handle the power into a 4 ohm load, but can push around 30 watts into an 8 ohm load. Anyway, the eventual result was that the gamble seemed to pay off, though I had to do some work on my amps to make them as fast as I could, because the MSWs need fast amps to get the best out of them !
At that point I seemed to have got a good stereo system for '1', with there being other changes to both my vinyl and CD systems had changed (see equipment list). For '2' this solution seemed better than the AN-Es, but I was able to enhance it even more by wiring the outputs of my L/R amps into the 'high level' input of the REL sub, so that one could get the really deep bass coming through. The Zeroboxes get down to pretty deep bass, but the sub adds real oomph when required.
There still remained a 'hole' for the surround system, but towards the end of the year I came across an AV processor which was A) not too expensive and B) seemed to have excellent audio performance, and this product was the NuForce AVP-16. I decided to take a punt on this and got the box in late November. Thus I was forced to build my surround sound amps, and was able to get the system set up as a 4.1 system, with no centre speaker at this point. The rear B&W wall-mounted 'pancake' speakers had remained in situ despite having lain idle for a couple of years, and these are very acceptable for that purpose, with kevlar drive units having a good 'attack' for surround purposes.
Firstly I had to get a centre speaker, and I was fortunate that Manger had introduced the Midkick speaker for this very purpose. I was even more fortunate to get a brand new MSW unit off e-bay, that someone purchased but did not like, so all I needed was the box ! I ordered this, and on Friday 22nd December, I recall driving in thick fog at 7:30 pm to a courier's depot to collect a 'box from abroad' which luckily turned out to be the Midkick box ! It was finished in a silver colour which I did not like, so I sprayed the box matt-black, and I have to say that it looks superb, and is now mounted underneath the screen per the pic below.
Listening tests
Well, I suppose that I have been using the system, rather than doing any clever exhaustive tests, but a summary of my current 'feelings', compared to my old setup, is as follows:
* Audiophile vinyl replay. I am still using the 'old' components, bypassing the AVP-16 completely, so the only change made this year was to replace the AN-E speakers with the Zerobox 109s. The former are so natural and comfortable, and pretty linear, so all vocal and acoustic material is very pleasurable. Strangely though, the 109s, while having a far more 'up-front' presentation, where the music seems to be brought forward, plus an almost 'metallic' timbre to steel guitar strings and suchlike, the sense of 'realism' is retained, I suppose due to the awesome linearity of the MSW units, thereby satisfying item (1) of my mission statement. The 109s do not go as deep as the AN-Es, but with the REL sub permanently connected, the really deep stuff comes through even better than before. So rock music, heavy metal, etc, brass, etc, come through incredibly impressively, and in this respect item (2) of my mission statement is now satisfied.
*SACD/CD. As is the case with vinyl, these also bypass the AVP-16 for stereo, so the same comments apply. For 5.1 multichannel SACD the AVP-16 is used, and I have to say that the results are spectacular and very pleasing - especially Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album.
*AV sound. Most of the time material on the screen is 'off-air', so could be News, Documentaries, MTV, Sport, etc. I tend to leave the system in Dolby Pro logic II mode most of the time, and this gives first class sound. There is also a music mode, and a 'bypass' mode where one can route the analog straight through. I have to say that the MTV sound is incredibly good, and this also applies to digital radio channels from the satellite digibox. I have not done too much watching/listening of DVDs so far, but 'The Shining' with Dolby 5.1 surround sound was pretty thrilling and I believe at least matched my old Arcam/B&W setup, which I always considered to be 'awesome' for cinema/theatre sound. So, while the latter may have had more total power, and possibly more 'wow factor' when reproducing breaking glass, massive impulses, and similar, the difference was only marginal in those areas. Where the new system does win, is in presenting voices, rain, and all natural things with great realism. By contrast, the old system could make human voices seem as they were coming from a broom cupboard under some circumstances, and pianos and violins always seemed highly artificial. So my conclusion is that the new system does indeed satisfy item (3) of my mission statement.
Video Components
I have deliberately separated video and audio components and I will do so for ever ! In the above picture there are three video 'boxes', plus the plasma screen, and behind one of the doors in the podium below there is also a JVC-SVHS video recorder. The video boxes are as follows:
Pioneer control box, centre of stack. This is the heart of the video system, having Scart connections to the digibox, DVD and video recorder, and an umbilical to the plasma screen. There are coaxial and TOSL outputs for digital audio and I have used the latter for connection to the AVP-16 (see later). There is a sub output which I had used before getting the AVP-16. There is a digital terrestrial tuner in the Pioneer box which is connected to an external aerial. On the front of the Pioneer control box are phono sockets for external video/audio, eg from a camcorder, and a D connector for direct video input from a PC. These are extremely useful features ! The control box can handle HD formats via an HDMI input, but I am amazed at the quality of the picture from standard TV or DVD sources, so am in no hurry to go the high definition route just yet !
Pioneer Plasma screen PDP-506XDE. Manufacturer: http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/body.html At the time of my research this 50" plasma screen was rated extremely highly, and with no awkward acess, because all inputs and outputs are from the separate main control box, plus the reports of the Pioneer screen having the 'blackest blacks', I went for it, and am delighted. The screen is XGA 1280 x 768, so as stated above, will be good for High Definition viewing in due course (720p format)
Panasonic Digibox for use with Sky satellite TV. This box is connected to the Pioneer control box, and the anaolog phono outputs go to the AVP-16. There is no digital audio output on the Panasonic, but the pro-logic II in the AVP-16 does a great job from ordinary stereo analog sources. I have no urge to go to Sky Plus at this point in time, or Sky HD.
Sony RDR-HXD710 DVD/HDD recorder. Manufacturer: http://www.sony.co.uk This model does not handle high definition formats (I want to wait for the HD scene to get more 'settled down' before committing !). It is a hard disk recorder and DVD recorder, also with built in terrestrial digital TV tuner, connected in series with the feed to the tuner in the Pioneer box. I have used a digital coaxial connection to the AVP-16, andScart connection to the Pioneer control box. Note that on this machine, as I suppose any modern DVD player, you can put in a CD or DVD with your holiday photos, and display them as a slide-show on the big screen. If you don't have Google 'Picasa' already, which is a totally free download, then you should consider this excellent program, which enables you to burn to CD/DVD with the built-in slide viewer.
JVC-SVHS video recorder. Not shown, but in the base of the podium. I have many good old pre-recorded videos, and I love the Nicam stereo sound, which I still believe to be more satisfying than the digital sound from DVDs. In particular I like buying videos of pop concerts, which one can pick up at car boot sales for anything from 20p to about £2, so very very cheap, and the gain in sound quality from the Nicam stereo (to me at least) more than offets the loss in picture quality compared to a DVD. I have a Scart connection to the Pioneer box and phono analog connections to the AVP-16. I also have the terrestrial analog TV aerial connected, making this the fourth television source, all instantly selectable using the Pioneer remote control.
Audio Components
Loudspeakers
Main L/R speakers - Manger Zerobox 109. Manufacturer - http://www.manger-msw.com/en/inhalt.html ; UK importer - http://www.manger-audio.co.uk/index.html
My Zeroboxes are not standard. There are no crossovers, and I installed 8 ohm Scanspeak woofers in place of the standard 4 ohm units.
Centre Speaker: Manger Midkick
Rear: B&W CDM 'pancake' speakers utilising kevlar cone drive units Manufacturer: http://www.bwspeakers.co.uk/
Sub: REL Q200 - Manufacturer: http://rel.net. This fine 200 watt unit has two separate inputs, and I have connected the low level phono input to the output from the AVP-16, and the high level 'wired' input to the speaker outputs of my main L/R amplifiers.
The picture above is probably the best one showing the unique 'star shape' of the Manger MSW driver. The Midkick box is mounted on a LCD wall-bracket, which has enabled me to get it close up under the screen, and also the box is fairly flat, so only sticks out about one centimetre further from the wall than the plasma screen does, so not only is nicely integrated with the rest of the system, but leaves the space infront for the amplifier box as shown, without obstructing the sound path. there are gain pots for each amp on the back, plus variable low-pass filters on the two amps that drive the woofers. The amplifier box has an offboard power supply, which is hidden behind the podium. Thus all the box contains are the five chip amps. The plan in due course is to make a 7-channel amp in one box - see later.
The above pic shows the NuForce AVP-16, which I only use for Audio, and my Sony XA-9000ES SACD player.
NuForce AVP-16 - Manufacturer: http://www.nuforce.com ; UK importer http://hiaudio.co.uk
Audio inputs.
Analog - phono inputs
Cable - from digibox for satellite channels, including Movies, MTV and digital radio channels
Aux1 - from VCR for Nicam stereo
Aux2 - from VHF FM tuner for analog FM stereo transmisssions
7.1 - 5.1 channels from the multi-channel output of the SACD player
Digital Coaxial
Sony DVD player
Digital optical TOSL
Pioneer control box
Audio outputs:
L/R to my main amps (see below), with the level set to minimum (-10dB)
Centre, Surround left and Surround Right to my 5-channel amp described above, with the levels set to maximum (+10dB)
Sub phono output to my REL sub
Sony XA-9000ES CD/SACD player - output connections
CD digital TOSL to Chord DAC64 stand-alone digital to analog converter
SACD - two channel analog stereo to my home built pre-amp
SACD - multi-channel analog to AVP-16
Chord DAC64
TOSL input from Sony XA-9000ES for CD
analog phono outputs to pre-amp
Home-built items (no pictures)
These are of 'breadboard' construction, pending putting everything in one box, but they have been this way for many months and work fine for all 'audiophile' stereo purposes
Micro board has a PIC16F877 controller, plus an IR sensor for a remote control. At present the remote operates digital volume (stereo) and mute only
Pre-amp board has electronic switches plus an active unity gain buffer stage. I have connected 4 input channels as follows:
L/R channels from the AVP-16
L/R output from the Chord DAC64 for CD
2 channel phono output from the Sony SACD player
phono input from my valve (tube) phono stage
outputs:
two stereo output channels to MSW amps and to woofer amps
MSW amps
These are essentially identical to the amps in the 5-channel box, except that they are housed in individual small enclosures, again with external power supplies. There are two pairs of speaker output sockets, the second pair being used to take the high level L/R stereo signals to the high leve input of the REL sub.
All the home-built items are in the equipment cabinet, with the exception of the 5-channel box.
Vinyl system
Michell Gyrodec SE
This is an excellent deck, with belt drive
SME V arm. I have recently acquired this and have to say that it is a wonderful arm
Van Den Hul Frog mc cartridge. I love this cartridge which I acquired earlier this year to replace a top of the range moving magnet cartridge. There is no comparison !
Audio Note AN-S2 moving coil transformers. These are excellent, and I also use Audio-Note silver interconnects for the phono, SACD and CD-pre-amp connection.
Valve phono stage (this is actually sited behind the main equipment cabinet to the left of the deck). This started life as a World Audio Design phono stage, but I hated certain aspects of the design. I re-worked it by putting a dc supply on the heater circuit, and buffering the final cathode-follower stage with JFETS as a constant current source. I am so pleased with the performance that I see no need to purchase a commercial item.
Sony STR-V45L receiver
This impressive looking box is sited underneath the record deck, and I use it solely for the excellent VHF FM tuner. I have a 4-element aerial on a rotator, and the control box for the rotator is behind the equipment cabinet, to the left of the record deck. Although late '70s technology, the Sony tuner is digitally controlled and performs beautifully.
Sony 3-head cassette deck
This is of early to mid '80s technology, but was a top of the range product. If I record from the VHF tuner, the playback is virtually indistinguishable from the original. Although the above picture is dark, the cassette deck can just be seen at the bottom, underneath the STR-V45L.
The general view above is a bit messy, but it shows all the components, including the REL sub-woofer. The speaker stands are Atacamas, and they look lovely and are very solidly built.
Not shown in any pics, but behind me on the 'rear' wall, are the two B&W 'pancake' speakers. These have kevlar drive units which are superb for a cinema system, though terrible if one wants to recreate 'reality'. They are fine for this application and adequate for the rear elements on multi-channel SACD. They look very nice and I see no reason at this stage (possibly ever) to replace them with Manger Sidekicks !
the above has been written in double quick time, so it will be added to from time to time. I anticipate that sometime towards the end of 2007 I will want to see how far HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray have progressed, and whether there will have been enough progress in HD satellite TV to make it worthwhile looking at that.
e-mail Nick if you have any comments/questions
to be continued..............