[TheChairGuy]

Clearly, many of us audiophools are at yet another crossroad (or, maybe it's just me?).

The addition of a BPT Balanced Power unit last year improved my listening pleasure immensely...then with two honkin' 100 watt class AB amps.  Now, it serves the same duty tidying things up before it reaches the overachieving little JVC F10.  In fact, it improves it so thoroughly that I've really thought of little else insofar as amplification goes, with the tandem in play.

But, nuthin' if forever and so my mind meanders a bit on the subject.

I bought the little Sonic Impact, had it modded by corwin99 (thank you, kind sir again, as I remain solder inept!) and fed it an absolutely pure 7aH sealed lead acid battery.  The couple speakers I've had it paired with were clearly not exactly right for it (it needs probably 94db efficiency to get all it has to give), but assessing only the noise floor (which is soooo important), I found that the JVC paired with the BPT was AS quiet as the modded SI on battery power.  The same details exist on either the SLA or BPT led chain that gives one the chills when listening...the sax valves opening and closing, the decay of the piano, the pfffft of the singer into the mic, the violinist as you first hear his /her bow lightly brush that first string, etc.

A year ago I spoke to Chris Hoff of BPT.  Chris is no yapper, but what I did pull from him was that his reference has always been sealed lead acid car batteries powering his equipment.  It was only until recently that his balanced power units near equalled the presentation of the SLA powered gear.  At considerably less bulk, overall.  I suspect he might say that his most recent Signature Plus upgrades may propel them to the same level.  

So, SLA powered gear is good if:

1.  You are smitten with the sound of single driver/hi-efficiency speakers
2.  You enjoy the purity of non-OS DAC over more complex sampling converters
3.  Don't plan to play music at long intervals

Balanced power units (I admit to a bias here...I simply have never heard conditioners of any other kind that equal balanced power models from the makers that offer them) offer far more flexibility:

1.  Hi power, tube and multi channels
2.  Ability to plug in all your front end amplification equipment to one source
3.  Have your equipment on for long(er) intervals
4.  Can forget to shut off at your leisure...or peril (as you pay for the electric bills)
5.  Have nearly the noise floor enhancement of SLA powered gear.

Red Wine Audio's SLA conversion for the 30w TEAC is a very interesting one as it marries higher power (enough to drive most speakers in average sized rooms) to SLA.  It remains to be heard, however, if the added complexity negates the purity offered by the SLA.  

There really is compelling reasons for both and I remain open to both...but I rectified in my mind recently that I am hearing some fine tunes these days with everything conected thru the BPT.  I have to also admit that non-OS DAC's miss significant hi-frequency detail to my ears vs. higher sampling units.  

Anyhow, space is free and/or cheap on the internet - thanks for letting me meander.  My wife took the little one out and I had unusual leisure time on a Monday in my home/office to write this mind dribble  

[miklorsmith]

Posit this:  If you can demo a low-powered, battery unit (Clari-T or other) with the new, MK-IV version of the Zu Druid, you will have:

1)  Pounding bass that will force you from the room before the amp clips or the speakers compress; 2)  Delicacy in details that no big amp/low-eff combo will touch; 3)  No limitations in subject material whatsoever - girl w/guitar, Metallica, dance club, whatever.  These will play everything well at whisper volumes or obscenely loud with 6 watts of clean power; and 4) while the speakers are expensive at $2,800, the amp is only $500 and there's no power conditioner to buy.

Yes, they are single-drivers, + supertweeter.  Don't be fooled, these are nothing like any other single-driver you've ever heard.  Or anything else for that matter.  They are utterly phenomenal and I won't be the last person you hear this from.  In fact, I wrote Srajan Ebaaen at 6moons and he's arranged to personally review a pair, hopefully with the Clari-T, after HE 2005.  I don't know him, I'm just dropping names.  

Not to hijack the thread - properly executed conditioning is a good thing.  Also, a buyer may be much closer to an excellent system of this nature than the one I describe.  I'm just giddy about these things though, and with all the help I've gotten around here, hopefully I can spread a great discovery.  This is a combination for life.

[TheChairGuy]

How does the Mk. IV version differ from previous?  It's been a single driver model on my shortlist for a time now.  No hijacking taken...I was actually thinking my meandering thoughts might end up unanswered & unresponded to - swerving as they were  

Giddy is a great place to be.

[miklorsmith]

I've called Zu three times.  Two times one owner has answered and the other time the other owner answered.  These guys are passionate and it shows in the incredibly well executed construction and ultimately the sound.

Their statement is that the MK-IV is a major rework.  Both drivers, built in-house, have been reworked.  The new versions are 8-ohm, where the olds were 12-ohm.  Beyond that, I can't enumerate.

They're so cheap to try (no shipping inbound, no return fee), that if you have that much dough to spend on speaks and have quiet electronics, you absolutely must try them.  I was told only one pair has ever been returned.  They'll throw in a first-rate set of speaker cables for the listed price too.

[gary]

I've got similar speakers, the Bastanis Prometheus (basically broadband drivers covering 100Hz to 10kHz plus tweeters and powered helper woofers), and they're driven by a Clari-T and an SLA-powered Scott Nixon DacKit. As everything is breaking in it's sounding absolutely incredible and at $3k total it makes a lot of systems that cost 30x as much sound like a bad joke. I'm about as likely to go back to components that plug into the wall as Tiger is to walk on to the first tee at the masters with a wooden driver and a gutta percha. Which is, not freakin' very.

Gary

[TheChairGuy]

I'm def warm to your suggestions of the Bastanis and Zu's...the supertweeter the key for me.  While there's a lot to like in single driver units, I tend to hear more that is missing than what is there.  Maybe I'm an unsophisticated listener, but that's what I know.

Especially as Gary was a former JVC-ista not long ago...

Incidentally, I'm not being anal about things...I just like the groove I'm in now (rare, if not here to for previously unknown for me in audio   )

[gary]

IMO the JVC is a great amp for just a couple hundred bucks, comparable to much more expensive gear.

The Clari-T however, especially when paired with a battery dac, is something much more. It's a paradigm shift.

Gary

[ryno]

I've never heard the bastanis, or even know their price, but Kevin at DIY cable has the new adire 4" driver. Great bass and up to 10k, the new kit has a tweeter to cover the top. No XO on the mid. I don't have the tweeter yet, but I will, and I use an 8" powered sub. I use the teac amp with a triplite filter and am very happy. I would love to try battery, but it's a bedroom system and I fall asleep or don't want to get out of bed 95% of the time. How about a battery mod with an input sensor that switches between play and charge!!  My cheep audiosource for zone 2 speakers has this.
I've thought about a ballanced conditioner which should be better, but $1000 plus for a $1000 system is probably not worth it. Now half that to get battery power would be worth it, if I could solve the switching.
Ryan

[TheChairGuy]

Hey Gary, I'll be in Rochester in June or July (selling Wegmen's and Chase Pitkin)...mind if I invite myself over for a paradigm shift if I stay in town?

I promise not to stay toooo long - even if my jaw is stuck on the floor  

Our sales rep is in Fairport...anywhere near you ? (I assume I'll be staying near there)

[TheChairGuy]

ryno, that's a very tasty entree that Kevin/DIYCable is serving up in that Adire/Usher combo...tho it needs some juice I think he mentioned.  

A mere 5 w (big as it may be) Clari-T or the like won't do it seems.

[ryno]

ryno, that's a very tasty entree thet Kevin/DIYCable is serving up in that Adire/Usher combo...tho it needs some juice I think he mentioned.  

A mere 5 w (big as it may be) Clari-T or the like won't do it seems.

I'm doing the 4 inch with the, soon to come, cheaper tweet, just 10k and up. The 6inch with the usher looks nice too, but the xo is much lower w/ a low pass on the mid. I'm liking a mid with no xo and the transition to the tweet out of the vocal octaves. Your right about power, they need the teac, 5W won't do.
Ryan

[stlblue]

IMO the JVC is a great amp for just a couple hundred bucks, comparable to much more expensive gear.

The Clari-T however, especially when paired with a battery dac, is something much more. It's a paradigm shift.

Gary

Hi Gary:

Perhaps you've mentioned this before, but mind telling me what DACs you've owned/heard relative to your battery-powered DAC? Any DACs w/ tubes?

Thanks,

stlblue

[gary]

Hi Gary:

Perhaps you've mentioned this before, but mind telling me what DACs you've owned/heard relative to your battery-powered DAC? Any DACs w/ tubes?

Thanks,

stlblue

My last digital front end was:

Philips 963sa transport -> Onix GrandMaster Digital cable -> Perp Tech P1-A ->
Revelation Audio I2S Cable -> ModWright II P3-A

They were powered with a ModWright modified Monolith power supply and I had the Revelation Audio power cords as well. I've never had a tube dac in my system, although I have had a tube integrated amp. Now, after hearing an amp/dac that's dead silent, where the only noise you hear is on the recording, there's just no going back.

Gary

[bikeman]

My last digital front end was:

Philips 963sa transport -> Onix GrandMaster Digital cable -> Perp Tech P1-A ->
Revelation Audio I2S Cable -> ModWright II P3-A

They were powered with a ModWright modified Monolith power supply and I had the Revelation Audio power cords as well.
 there's just no going back.

Gary

If the wife ever says, "treat yourself to the new two channel system you're always talking about, "  I have got to hear the Clari-T with the Nixon dac.  It sounds too good to be true but I'm starting to think the Holy Grail just came down in price.  Thanks for the imput, Gary.

David

[Panelhead]

My last digital front end was:

Philips 963sa transport -> Onix GrandMaster Digital cable -> Perp Tech P1-A ->
Revelation Audio I2S Cable -> ModWright II P3-A

They were powered with a ModWright modified Monolith power supply and I had the Revelation Audio power cords as well. I've never had a tube dac in my system, although I have had a tube integrated amp. Now, after hearing an amp/dac that's dead silent, where the only noise you hear is on the recording, there's just no going back.

Gary

   I agree here. My speaks are 100 dB efficient. The lack of noise allows much more info and detail to be heard.
  A Croft OTL is the only tube I have that is dead silent.A Pass inspired Zen V4 also had a low noise floor. For whatever reason the Tripath 2024 based amps have this quality.
  Noise has not been an issue with any of the modified SACD players used over the last four years.  All have had the muting circuits bypassed to clean up the output stage.
  One interesting find is hum rejection in the interconnects. once the noise floor gets down below 0.1 mv the picked up noise can be measured. I never put much thought into this.  But it lead me to change my diy leads to reduce it.

                           George

[Dmason]

No more AC for me..... the only missing link in this audionic Darwinism is a battery transport. I got hooked on mega buck medical equipment power supplies for audio awhile back, and this was a big mistake. There is a reason why heroin is addictive, and the First Law of Audio is You don't know what you're missing.

After I had to give up the power-freebasing plugs-on-wheels, anything else I tried didn't sound quite right. Until the ClariT that is. It was the yin to the battery Nixon yang. It is "digital" done right....People thought I was nuts for having a piddly battery powered DAC. Now I am not the only one who knows it is the way to use DAC's. If you use a DAC, it must be powered by batteries, or your music is missing The Point, my view.

There is a misnomer with respect to "full-range" speakers. They should be referred to as "wide-range" speakers. Few of them can work their way all the way into the highest overtone/harmonic end of the high register. The Whole Idea is to keep crossovers out of the way between 200-8KHz. This type of configuration ALWAYS sounds better, with dynamic speakers.
There are wide range speakers that do not "need" a tweeter, but when you add one, it helps give that last bit of sparkle and air.

I am currently co-developing a hybrid-design speaker system that takes advantage of the best of two speaker design implementations, designed to adhere to the Less Is More Paradigm, and to take maximum advantage of the characteristics of low powered battery amps like the ClariT. It is in my opinion, basically a ClariT-specific speaker system designed around a wide range driver and is intended to offer World Class sonics for a paltry sum, in a design that even the most unco-ordinated crackhead non-engineer can complete with grace. It is also designed as an Object Lesson in simplicity, and my own opportunity to take a shot at the so called "high end" audio business.

The final design plan will likely be made available for purchase at a very nominal fee, and will be called, ....."DarkStar"    

[ohenry]

The final design plan will likely be made available for purchase at a very nominal fee, and will be called, ....."DarkStar"

Good luck with that, your posts are always inspiring and that attribute should translate into success for you.  Can wait to see what you've cooked up:  Open-baffle with tweeter?

[brj]

The final design plan will likely be made available for purchase at a very nominal fee, and will be called, ....."DarkStar"

Named after the UAV?  It must be a high-flying speaker!

[Dmason]

Yeah, those shots should give you an idea of where we're headed with this    

We are designing within our means.    

[GHM]

I can't wait to see it! And get my pair!!!