Druid/Modwright/Patek SE Combo - Srajen Was Right!!!

jcoat007 · « **on:** 8 Dec 2005, 09:55 pm »

I have the following components:

Modwright SWL 9.0 SE Hot Rod
Zu Druid Mk IV
Patek SE

You can see the details of my system by clicking the link to my 2 channel system at the bottom.

I have never, ever had a system that sounds this good in my house. I have had the Modwright since about Jan, Druids came in sometime this summer and I jsut got the Patek SE a few days ago. It has been running in for about four days now.

I must say the Srajen is correct about the synergy of these components. They just mate so well together and the sound is just plain silly good. Not to mention all the audiophilisms that you can throw out.

Imaging - check
Soundstage width - check
Soundstage depth - double check
Dynamics - check
Transient Speed - check
Midrange Magic - check, check
Top End Extension - Check
Bass - Tight but not the deepest. Let me touch on this. First, if you buy these speakers you know they roll off pretty sharply below 40hz. I have dual Vandersteen subs, so this never bothered me. The Vandy’s do a nice job, but I am serisouly considering the Method at this point because I am sure it itegrates better than the Vandy's do. I have actually been listening to my system a lot without the subs and enjoying every minute of it.

If there is anyone out there with the Modwright and the Druids, you owe it to yourself to listen to the Patek. I have had a Butler 2250, Firstwatt F2 and Aleph J in this system. The Aleph J was the best of that bunch, but the Patek SE is way better when mated to the Modwright and Druids.

The photos of the Patek in the 6 moons review do not do justice to their fit and finish. It is truly built like a fine swiss watch. The power supply and amp are pretty small, but their weight will surprise you.

I will post more as I get them fully broken in.

srayle · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Dec 2005, 10:46 pm »

Hey, jcoat, thats fantastic...couple of questions for you...

do you run the Patek as a single amplifier (rather than monoblocks)?
Can you try the Druid/Patek combo with another pre and see what the Modwight itself adds to the mix?

Damn, this is exciting! Its always nice to get feedback in the real world...

tyee · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Dec 2005, 10:51 pm »

Yes, I want to know too! Is the Patek the stereo version or monoblocks or a full out 6moons version?

jcoat007 · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Dec 2005, 11:03 pm »

I have the Patek SE stereo version. I asked Srajen about his setup and asked if was worth it going to mono's. He said "no-way" with the Druids because they are so efficient.

He only went with mono's to have the extra power on hand for speakers that are more difficult to drive.

Just so you know, the bulk of the price increase from the regular Patek to the SE version is the cosmetics. You can have the same sonics as the SE for a lot less. You need to look at the website, or e-mail Peter, but I think you can have the regular Patek upgraded to SE sonic for an extra $50 or something along those lines. It just won't look at pretty as the SE.

This is the real deal. I jumped in on faith, and have been rewarded.

GHM · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Dec 2005, 11:05 pm »

jcoat007,

Man that's great to hear! This is some good equipment no doubt. Mixing and matching can really pay off. I'm also a big fan of the AS gear. Glad to see another Audio Sector gear head! There's a few more lurkng around here as well. Yours must have been one of the 6 Pateks that Peter was working on the last couple of months. My unit uses the same internal equipment except it's all in the same chassis. You should hear that amplifier on a pair of speakers dipping into the 20 Hz range.

The equipment is small but uses very high quality parts. The toroidal transformer used in these amplifiers is 97% efficient or better .They are considered by some to be the best in the world. The units are also as quiet as a church mouse!

Have fun!

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Dec 2005, 12:48 pm »

A nice simple system now...enjoy !!

Info link...6moons > http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audiosector/patek_2.html[/list:u]

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Dec 2005, 03:50 pm »

Great news! I too am waiting for another Patek SE to arrive and drive the same speakers that GHM have, the BB FTA2000s. Perhaps an AS NOS DAC will be next. Let's see how well a modded SB2 will pair with the Patek/FTA combo.

mihilli · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Dec 2005, 11:12 pm »

I also took the plunge with the Patek. I am also using it with the Modwright SWL 9.0SE into a pair of Definitions.

And I have to agree it is just outstanding. I am just gobsmacked by the sound this little box puts out.

It does absolutely everything well.

What surprised me was the "warmth" of the reproduction. Not warmth in a valve sense but hmmm, how to put this, the full reproduction of the tonal spectrum and the tonal balance? All with incredible detail and definition (no pun intended).

Spookily enough considering we're located on opposite sides of the world, I was also running a Butler 2250. Beautiful amp, really like it but........in terms of synergy the Patek combined with the Modwright and the Definitions is just stunning. I suspect the Butler combined with either a SS preamp or perhaps a passive pre would also deliver some pretty damn nice results. And I'll try it one of these days. (any manufacturers want to volunteer a preamp for review

) But I am certain it will not deliver the level of detail the Patek does. Using the Butler amp the sound was warm, easy to listen too, you might even say polite. Side by side there is a readily discernable difference between what you hear with the Butler and the Patek. The Patek is more involving.

And, of course, the Patek is great value in terms of $$ & sense.

I won't be wanting anything else for Xmas this year

Chris2005 · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Dec 2005, 02:35 pm »

I am just about ready to order the Druids sight unseen, tone unheard as they seem to be what I have been looking for for quite some time. The only thing which I don't quite understand is that the driver would be quite a bit above ear level when I am sitting in my listening chair. Isn't this detrimental in sound distribution?

Many thanks for any input.

Chris

miklorsmith · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Dec 2005, 02:59 pm »

The Druids are designed to point straight at the listener. Thus, the main driver will likely be a tad "off-axis", even though it's pointed at you.

This is how they are intended to be heard and you will not suffer for it in the least.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 Dec 2005, 09:23 am »

Interesting amp Jeff...thanks. Photo from his gallery....

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Mags · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 Dec 2005, 02:16 pm »

and I really like how that combo sounds. The Mole monoblocks are 100wpc, and I've modded them with Black Gate caps, Cree SiC shottky diodes, bypassed the volume pot, upgraded the binding posts and RCA jacks, etc. The combo has incredible detail and soundstage, and more than enough power. I have the preamp output split using a y-connector so that it goes to both the Moles (for the Druids) and my 1000W sub amp, so I can run the Druids without any crossover and still use a sub, crossed in at ~50Hz.

guest1632 · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Dec 2005, 05:54 pm »

Quote from: jcoat007

I have the following components:

Modwright SWL 9.0 SE Hot Rod
Zu Druid Mk IV
Patek SE

You can see the details of my system by clicking the link to my 2 channel system at the bottom.

I have never, ever had a system that sounds this good in my house. I have had the Modwright since about Jan, Druids came in sometime this summer and I jsut got the Patek SE a few days ago. It has been running in for about four days now.

I must say the Srajen is correct about the synergy of these components. ...

That sounds really cool. Say, where can I get mor info on that Patek amp. I somehow gather these puppies aren't cheap/inexpensive.

Ray

JLM · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Dec 2005, 07:24 pm »

Here you go Ray:

http://www.audiosector.com/

kck · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 01:44 pm »

Does anyone have first-hand experience with the Audiosector integrated? Looks interesting... I emailed him thru the website's form but no reply yet, understandable due to holidays.

GHM · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 04:26 pm »

Yes I have the Audio Sector integrated. What would you like to know?

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #16 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 06:12 pm »

Did you notice how necessary the warm-up is to Audio Sector amps? OK it's trivial, and perhaps I've been too accustomed to battery powered amps (boy it's been almost a year) which don't seem to need warm up to sound good, but I made a mistake and listened to the AS amp right after turning it on. Part of it was the need to turn off the source (SB2) every so often for the battery charging to take place. Operating that way the AS amp sounds ordinary, somewhat lifeless. I even thought the SB2 was too polite, just as Michael Lavorna said in his review.

I kept wondering about Peter's suggestion to have the amp stay on all the time, so after first few days I pulled my Decware linestage and insert it into the loop whenever I am not listening. That way the AS amp can be on without making hum that was caused by turning the source off.

The lack of warmup seems to be the culprit. After the AS amp staying on overnight, the SB2/Patek/FTA2000s combo sounded extraordinary the next morning and from then on. Bass slam, startling dynamics, midrange details and smoothness, lack of glare, they were all there.

I guess an AS NOS DAC and a PRE-T1 or similar preamp would push the envelope even further, but for now I am very happy and will stay that way for a while. Gymane, is the preamp section in your Integrated is also transformer-based like the PRE-T1? I read Paul Candy's review of the AMP-2/PRE-T1 combo with much interest. Thanks for pointing me to this amp.

GHM · « **Reply #17 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 06:52 pm »

Your welcome my friend.

Hi Paul...no my volume pot is a Noble pot. Yeah you definitely have to leave the Audio Sector running 24/7. It will sound like garbage if you do it any other way.

Mine hasn't been off since I plugged it up a couple of months ago.

From communicating with Srajan of 6moons. The best bet will be a tubed preamp. As you may get too much of a good thing using the transformer based preamp. If you like it super clean the transformer preamp is the way to go.
I also ask Peter about this and he suggested using an active preamp instead of the Transformer type preamps with the Patek. You'll see in Srajan's review of the Patek SE.Where he wasn't to crazy about the match.

randytsuch · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 07:12 pm »

I just got a SB3 before Christmas, with the RWA analog output mods. Those mods may have been a waste, I connected my AS NOS Dac to the SB3, and they sound really good together. And, I am still using the el cheapo stock SB3 walwart. The SB3 analog section still needs to break in, but right now it lags behind the AS dac.

I plan to make some mods to the digital out section of the SB3, and see how good it can sound. I am already REALLY happy with the combination. I had been using a USB DAC to feed my AS Dac, and I just thought the Dac was OK, guess it was garbage in, garbage out.

I am also thinking about making some dac upgrades that Peter recommends, but the 4 power supply caps (black gate N's) will cost $240, and the Vcaps Peter likes for the output coupling caps would cost $350 for a pair. I could try the sonicaps teflons instead, that would ONLY be $150 a pair, for 1uf for the output caps. Since Peter already uses very high quality parts, it costs a lot to upgrade, and I don't have the budget right now.

Randy

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 Dec 2005, 08:39 pm »

Gymane,

Yes Srajan told me the same thing: a good tube preamp is the way to go with the Patek. My stubborn me, however, wants to keep it simple so here I wonder if I can stay without a preamp.

Randy,

I would be very interested to know how the SB3 turns out. My current experience with the RWA SB2/Patek/FTA2000 is very positive. The SB2 is a fully battery modded unit, but if the AS NOS DAC can offer further benefits I will certainly look into it.

BTW, how do you control the volume? I asked GHM before, but still wondering if you can utilize the SB2/SB3 volume control to run the NOS DAC directly into the amp. Thanks.

Druid/Modwright/Patek SE Combo - Srajen Was Right!!!

guest1632