As most of you probably know, Jim Smith's talent for the setup and voicing of Hi-Fi rigs is legendary. Right now I'm working on writing an article about Jim's new Get Better Sound Reference 3 DVD set on Hi-Fi setup procedures and strategies to help you get a system performing at it's best for your tastes. Jim isn't getting rich off of this DVD set, it was a labor of love for him, and JIm just really has a passion to help people get the most out of the gear they already have.
Some of might not be aware of it, but I like to work through Jim’s setup and voicing techniques with my own Hi-Fi rig for every review of a component I write about for Positive Feedback Online. It’s the only way I can be assured I will get the best possible performance from my Hi-Fi system and the equipment that is in for review, and every time I do it I learn something new.
As a reviewer, I know that every time I insert a review component into my system it will change the overall voicing of my system. That means I have to go through my system setup and optimize it around those changes to restore the musical balance to my tastes. It’s a lot of work to do that, but it's the only way I can be completely fair to the manufacturers who have entrusted me with their equipment, and to the readers who might base a buying decision on what I have said about the equipment under review. I owe it to everyone involved to get my setup right so what I write is meaningful.
As a music lover or Hi-Fi enthusiast you probably do not need to do the frequent Hi-Fi setups & voicings that I do as a reviewer, but I recommend that at a minimum you should work through all of Jim’s setup & voicing techniques at least once a year to keep your cherished Hi-Fi rig performing at its hearty best. Put it on your calendar once a year as a weekend activity. You can think of it as an annual physical for your Hi-Fi rig, and I’ll tell you what, if you take care of its needs, it will take care of you by providing wonderfully involving listening experiences.
When you get your Hi-Fi rig dialed in using Jim’s methods something wonderful happens: all of a sudden you’ve got a band sitting in your listening room playing an amazing performance just for you. Everything you normally notice in your listening room disappears. There are no walls around you, no ceiling above you, no floor beneath you, and no speakers in front of you. Instead there’s just music flowing over your body like a living entity in an exhilarating, interactive, satisfying, and amazing sort of way that makes you remember why you got into this hobby in the first place. Once experienced you will not be able to settle for a non-optimized Hi-Fi rig.
When you get your Hi-Fi rig dialed in properly so it will perform in the manner described above, Jim calls it ‘playing the room’ with your Hi-Fi. In addition to playing the room, a fully dialed in Hi-Fi rig also ‘plays your body’ (where you can feel the musical textures on your body), which will blow your mind with the level of involvement it brings. It’s a big deal. Setting your Hi-Fi up so it will play the room is what brings your music to life and makes it involving to listen to every time you sit down for a listening session.
Setting your system up so it will play the room matters more than any single thing you can do for your Hi-Fi rig and listening pleasure. You’ll know immediately when you’re system is setup to play the room because there is an excitement and satisfaction associated with listening that is simply electrifying. It’s an experience you will not forget. I experience this effect every time I listen to my system, and so can you, because it’s the way your system was intended to perform every single time you listen to it. If you set it up and voice it correctly. All you have to do is work though the setup & voicing techniques to make it happen for you.
Part of my goal for writing about Jim’s reference DVD set for Positive Feedback Online was to sit down and watch every minute of the content, take notes, and work out a 'reference plan' for putting all Jim's procedures & techniques in setup & voicing to use in my own system for reviews. So as I am watching the DVDs I am paying close attention to see if I could pick up on any new tips that weren’t in the book, or tips that were in the book that I hadn’t understood completely, or tips that I had overlooked, or had (egad!) done wrong.
I almost forgot to mention that Jim recently became a Tannoy guy, he bought a pair of the Canterbury loudspeakers for his own use. He's powering them with Viva Aurora SET amps and says it's a wonderful combination: "Anyway, you know the feeling of listening to music with them ... they are equal opportunity speakers, more so than any in my experience. Blues, Baroque, full scale orchestral, jazz trios, rock & roll, solo voices, they do it all ... I think I'm jazzed a bit ...)".
Jim told me he's been getting quite a few inquiries about how to best setup Tannoys, so it appears that word is starting to get out in North America how musically capable they are. Wonderful!
More to come!
Full Disclosure
As you know, I practice full disclosure for all the gear that comes my way to write about for Positive Feedback Online. So here's the latest:
Sophia Electric Royal Princess 300B Vacuum Tubes: The nice folks at Sophia Electric (Richard & Sue) were kind enough to give me the Royal Princess 300B vacuum tubes to use as a long term reference. If you read my review of them in Issue 57 of Positive Feedback Online you know I absolutely love these tubes, and I consider them to be the state-of-art reference for musicality in 300B tubes. Many thanks to Richard & Sue!
New Valve Order SPA-II Phono Preamplifier: In case you haven't heard, Andreas is a talented fine audio constructeur working out of Nicosia, Cyprus. Andreas does his artistic expression in vacuum tube circuits, and has created the impressive SPA-II phono preamplifier containing a whopping 22 vacuum tubes—it is a delight to behold! The SPA-II (Stereo Phono Amplifier-II) is the statement phono preamplifier that Andreas developed for his audio electronics company, New Valve Order (NVO) Audio, with his friend Panikos Kontemeniotis doing the marketing.
I really, really, enjoyed listening to the New Valve Order SPA-II valve phono preamplifier designed by Andreas Hadjiminas in preparation for writing the review for Positive Feedback Online. Much like the Royal Princess 300B tubes, the NVO SPA-II sets the standard in musicality for phono stages. Andreas & Panikos have kindly allowed me to keep the NVO SPA-II to use as a long term reference, which is incredibly kind of them. Thank you Andreas & Panikos!
In the review I mentioned that the SPA-II uses current production tubes for practical reasons, but that NOS tubes are supposed to take it to another level. "... Panikos told me, "Of all the tubes in the circuit, the most important are the V5, 6, 7, 8 & 9, the 3 x 12AX7, and the 2 x 12AU7 (the positions are marked numerically on the circuit board). I have tried some of the usual famous NOS from Mullard, RCA and others, with the usual nice results one gets from them. Substituting a few choice NOS tubes can help you to fine tune the SPA II to the rest of the system and personal tastes. My personal preference are the Mullard 12ax7 for I61 & I63, and the Mullard 12AU7/ECC82. I like them for their rich and warm sound, but also got nice results from RCA and Raytheon JAN CRP types.""
So guess what? Now that I am going to have more time with the New Valve Order SPA-II, I'm going to purchase some NOS tubes and substitute them for the stock tubes, and I'll report back with a follow up article in Positive Feedback Online on the results. I promise to report back on my adventures with NOS tubes, I suspect this will be a lot of fun!
Thanks for stopping by!
