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Stereopal Home Visit:    Jacky Y.     (1st System)                                                                                    Date: Sept 10, 2005

 

 

          Actively looking for another Sonic Fronter Power 2, if anyone has one to sell, email us !

 

 

 

What was an ordinary Saturday BBQ turned into an evening of great music and audio mania.  I have always wanted to listen to Hovland gears and I finally have the opportunity to listen to it.  

Jacky has been an audiophile for many years.  He enjoys a variety of music including Jazz and Vocals.  Some of his favorite albums include Esther Ofarims and Filippa Giordano.

Usually a person's set up can tell you how deep the audio poison has infected the individual.  As for Jacky, the poison runs deep in his veins.  

Jacky's system is set up in his cozy basement, certainly a great Saturday night hideout for couch potatoes like me.

 

System Components:

 

Turntable: Systemdek IIX
Tonearm: Mission EElectronic
Cartridge: Grado
Phono Preamp: Musical Fidelity X-LPS
CD Transport: Denon DCD-S1
DAC: Musical Fidelity AC24 Upsampling to 192hz
Preamp: Hovland HP 100
Power Amp: Sonic Frontier Power 2 (Modified Special Edition), 2 x 100W, 6550 Tubes x 8
Power Generator: P.S Audio Power Plant PS 300
CD Player 2: Esoteric D500 with Seperate DAC Unit
SACD Player: DVP 5900 ES
Speakers: Hales Transcendent Five
Cables:  Transparent coaxial (CD to DAC)
  Harmonic Tech Pro Silway II (DAC to Preamp)
  Transparent Ultralink (Preamp to Power Amp)
Speaker Cables: Bi-wire Transparent Music Wave Super
Power Cables: Gutwire G-Clef throughout

 

Jacky's Comments:

GENERAL COMMENTS:

 

"My system sounds very good to my ears.  The Hales speakers are very nice, pleasing to both the eyes and ears.   The front driver mount is made of 5" thick MDF.   They are very musical and produce great vocals.

The Hovland preamp is very transparent.   It has a very simple circuitry and it employs top quality parts such as stepped attenuators and silver wirings.   It is very hard to describe it's sound because it is simply transparent.

 

I have A/B'd the Transparent speaker cables with the MIT Oracle, and it turns out I liked the Transparent better.   I also find the PS Audio Powerplant to perform much better than my old conditioner, the Chang Lightspeed 3200.  I highly recommend it.

 

Although I have a turntable, I generally enjoy the convenience of CDs better.

 

 

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:

 

My speakers are a little hard to position.  Also I have an opening to the left side of the room which makes things harder.   Later on when I renovate the basement, I will construct a dedicated sound room, together with a wet bar.

 

I am also actively looking for another amplifier so that I can biamp my setup.   Hopefully I will be able to find another Sonic Frontier Power 2.

 

TWEAKS:

My Sonic Frontier Power 2 has been modified by Sonic Frontier's engineers.   They have been fitted with new caps and other high quality parts.    The amp sits on a custom made Audio Rack CNC'd out of heavy duty steel columns.   

I have also placed tube traps in the corner to reduce standing waves.   Curtains are also hung behind the system to improve sound absorption.

 

 

The Hovland Preamp is a thing of beauty.   The finished can only be matched by Burmesters

or Symphonic Line.  Yet, it has its own artistic character not found in other brands.

 

I wish my photography skills were better though.

 

 

Denon DCD S1 as CD Transport, imported from overseas.   Unavailable in North America.   It is build like a tank.

Musical Fidelity DAC.

 

Systemdek IIX turntable with real wood platter.

PS Audio Power Plant  PS 300, complete with internal isolation transformer

Beautiful looking Transparent Cables.

An impressive collection of CDs.

         

           Hales Transcendent Five - Weights over 100 lbs, with 5 inch thick front baffle.

 

 

 

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