Playback designs followup?

Grr6001,

I couldn't agree with you more. My room is 15 X 21. I have a carpeted floor and a few sound panels situated to reduce first reflection points. I sold my darTZeel amp and preamp in favor of a BAT VK52SE preamp and VK 250SE power amp. Speaking strictly in terms of sound the darTZeel's were a slight bit more transparent . The BAT's have a better bottom end. They only give up a very slight bit to the darTs in overall absolute performance and cost a fraction of what the darTs cost. The darTs are much nicer to look at. I had maintenance issues with both my darTZeel preamp and amp. I am basically a plug and play kind of audiophile. I replaced my Evolution Acoustics MM2s with a pair of Hansen Prince speakers. I use Stealth Metacarbon balanced interconnects and Kubala-Sosna Emotion speaker cables. I only owned the EV MM2s for about seven months. I did break them in. They didn't work well for me in my room at all. I found that if I tried to adjust them to anything other than a flat setting they just didn't sound "right". I've looked at your system and I see you have a lot of the components that I've moved on from. I certainly respect your pursuit of great sound. I am finally very pleased with the overall sound, ergonomics, build quality, and convenience of my system at this time. I'm not going to state that it's better than anybody else's system, just that it's the best overall system I've owned since getting involved in this hobby. If I had to choose a favorite component, I truly love the Hansen speakers. I don't plan on ever parting with them. They work in my room and they are small enough that if I sell my home and eventually down size (not for 10 years) I can take them with me.

The Modwright Truth Transporter can only sound its best if you upgrade the tubes. I'm running a Mullard GZ345AR4 rectifier and RCA 6CG7 tubes I bought from Andy at Vintage Tube Services. They made a huge difference. I've been listening to Pandora music service a lot. I know it's not true hi resolution, but I love all the variety and new music I've been listening to. I always wanted a tuner, but never was able to get the reception I wanted. The Pandora service is great!

Happy listening.

Tvad, I'm having more fun with the Modwright Truth Transporter then I've had with any piece of audio equipment I've bought in a long time. Fun is why I went into this hobby to begin with.

Andy was referred to me by Frank Huang formerly of Audio Outlet and currently of Reference Cinema & Sound. Of all the audio dealers I've done business with over the years (quite a few), I consider Frank to be beyond reproach. He is always professional and has complete integrity.

Arthur

Arthurp, you're the one that said "I guess that is why I'm currently on the "Out List" of the Chambers clan." If you want to talk about Modwright and Marantz then do it in the appropriate threads. The fact that you inject yourself into every PD thread, raised the spector of your axe to grind in my mind and then you confirmed it above.

BTW, plenty of people have hearing that measures perfect, that doesn't mean that they no how to or what to listen for.

Dave

Arthurp,

Thanks for the rebuttal. Nice system indeed. It just goes to show us that there are many different ways to reach our nirvana.

The darTZeel was for me , as was the Playback. They were a major leap for me to reach what I was seeking. No system tube or SS has reached this level for me. Is it the best, I will never say anything is the best, we all know what happens when we say that.

How ironic is it that in my room I tried a couple Bat amps & pre & they did not work well for me. I would not say they were bad at all, they were just not the most musical & seemed to exhibit a lack of high frequency purity. Almost a rolled off presence in my room. I agree bass was excellent, but I find no lack of bass in my room with the Dart & mm3's. I'd say some of the best bass in any system I have heard to date in any system. I always have felt that if you can't get the bass right, you won't get anything right.
Crazy that we almost have totally different opinions on some of the same equipment. As we both know the rooms , cables & our ears play a roll in those outcomes.

I to respect your opinions & pursuit of quality sound.

When WE audio nuts deal on this level, most of the time we are splitting hairs, & we know it's all good!!!!

Enjoy & happy listening to you as well.

Gary