My spider arrived, I opened the box and my first reaction upon opening the Spider package was " I paid $ 350.00 for this" ?
I installed the Spider tonight and was able to do a couple of hours of comparative listening. It was fairly simple to install. The toughest part of the installation was the removal of the plastic disc that sits on the top of the drive of the EMC-1 (use a needle nose pliers and alternately pry each side of the disc up a little until it comes off. There is a little notch on each side of the plastic disc where you can insert the nose of the pliers).
My good friend, who has been with me every step of the way in building my system over the past 2 years, and I carefully listened to around 8 pieces of music that we have heard literally over a hundred times prior to installing the spider and then listened to the same 8 pieces again after having installed the Spider. I would have loved to gone back and forth listening again to the EMC without the Spider and with the Spider to get a reconfirmation of what we heard, but I did not want to run the risk of damaging any of the parts or EMC. I have found, over time, I get much more of a sense of the improvement yielded in the sonics when I go back to the original set up and back and forth a few more times prior to making a change in the system. In this case the changes were obvious enough not to require the back & forth. Based on my installation experience, I would not suggest on going back and forth installing and taking out the Spider.
We listened to a composite CD that I had burned with various types of music that covers the entire frequency spectrum and have been using for the past couple of years while my system has evolved. The CD has been treated with Vivid, Blackened, cut on an Audio Desk cutter and had the static removed by a Furutech anti-static device each time we listened.
My second reaction came when listening to the Spider sound improvements and was 2 jaw drops followed by two big smiles. Both my friend and I agreed on all of the sound improvements we heard.
The bass was more tuneful, controlled, detailed and a bit more extended. Overall there was more air around the instruments and voices. We got much more of a sense of the recording venue and there was more resolution and focus in all of the frequencies.
The mids were warmer and more detailed as were the highs with more of a sense of liquidity and no edges or artifacts. Overall there was much more emotion from the music, just beautiful.
I had put my order for a Spider in last March and am more than happy with the results after a long wait. The differences were not at all subtle. The Spider is well worth the $ 350.00 and then some for all the gains we heard. I think you will be well pleased with the Spider if your system is at all revealing.
Below is my system as it sits now. I thought it might be helpful to you in light of my comments on the changes yielded by the Spider:
Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP CD player
Supratek Cortese pre-amp
Mark Levinson 23.5 200 watt amp
Sonus Faber Extrema speakers
REL Stentor III Subwoofer
Ensemble Isolink Duo transformer (to EMC-1 & Cortese)
RS Audio RCA interconnects from EMC-1 to Cortese
Shunyata XLR Aries interconnects from Cortese to Amp
NBS Statement III Speaker Cables
2 - 20 AMP 12 gauge Romex dedicated lines
2 - Cryoed, Gold plated Wattgate receptacles
5 - BMI Shark power cords
2 - BMI WHALE SUPREME power cords
1 - BMI Shark IPLC passive line conditioner
Silent Running VR series stands under the Amp, Isolink & EMC-1UP
2 - set of Symposium Roller Blocks, placed under the Electrocompaniet CD player & Supratek pre-amp
Versalab Red Rollers RFI filters for the interconnects
Versalab Wood Blocks RFI filters for the power cords
I would love to know if anyone has sent an EMC-1UP out for the $1,400.00 Empirical Audio mods installed by Steve Nugent and let us all know what it does for the sound. Is it worth the $ 1,400.00 ?
Has any one tried replacing the connecting wire for the RCA inputs with insulated silver wire as has been suggested by Subarguru and if so what were the results ? I have a pre-amp that has RCA inputs only (the output side does have both RCA and XLR outputs) and am considering the Steve Nugent mod and or changing out the internal connectors to the RCA. I love my tubed pre-amp and am not willing to part with it.
Please feel free to make any comments or suggestions on my system.
Larry
