Daedalus Audio Ulysses Speakers
Valve Amplification Company REN-7070 mkIII
Bryston BCD-1 CD Player
Sota Sapphire Turntable
Magnepan Unitrac-1 Tonearm
Grace F9E Ruby Cartridge (Soundsmith Retip)
Radio Engineering Laboratories Precedent FM Tuner
H. H. Scott LM35 Multiplex Adapter
Channel Master Roof-Mounted FM Antenna
Tandberg TCD-3004 Cassette Deck
Classe CP-60 Preamplifier
Mark Levinson ML-1 Preamplifier
Stax Lambda Pro Headphones w/SRM-1 Mk2 Amplifier
Stax ED-1 Diffuse Field Equalizer
Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Nitty Gritty 2.5FiMk2 Record Cleaning Machine
Brick Wall PW8R15AUD Surge Suppressor
Hammond Power Strip
Signal Cable Digital Reference Power Cord
Stock Power Cords
Vampire Wire Speaker Cable
Various Pro-Oriented Interconnects -- Mogami, Pearstone, Comprehensive
Mapleshade Maple Platform & Isoblocks
Mapleshade Isoblocks
Sims (Sumiko) Navcom Silencers
Planax PX Record Clamp
Zerostat 3 Milty
LAST Stylus Cleaner
20 Amp Dedicated AC Line, New Circuit Breaker Panel & Wiring
Al's Eclectic System -- From 7 Decades!
I recently upgraded to what for some time have been my dream speakers, the incredible Daedalus Audio Ulysses, including the recently introduced all-poly crossover option. I want to thank the many Audiogon members who have posted about this speaker in past threads. It is those posts which led to my becoming aware of the speaker, and ultimately deciding to purchase it. I also want to thank Lou Hinkley, Mr. Daedalus Audio, for participating in the forums at Audiogon, and of course for creating and providing me with these magnificent speakers.
Although their break-in process has barely begun, I feel that I can already say that imho their overall combination of sound quality, dynamic range, bass extension, amplifier friendliness and versatility, efficiency, imaging, elegant appearance and craftsmanship, practicable size and weight, and price, borders on the miraculous. For further commentary on them, see the posts by Jazdoc, Paulfolbrecht, and Jax2 near the end of [url=http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1269555143&openflup&129&4#129]this thread[/url], and
the post by Fig in [url=http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1275949549&openflup&23&4#23]this thread[/url].
Please note that in addition to the following general comments, I have included considerable additional information under the individual component listings above.
I first became interested in high quality audio around 1978. Eventually that led me to explore the world of vintage tube equipment, which in turn led me to discover and intensively pursue a separate hobby as well, antique radio collecting.
During a period of several years during the 1990’s I was able to acquire examples of many of the vintage pieces that are considered to be classics, including most of the early Marantz tube products, among many others. I enjoyed them for a while, and in most cases eventually sold them, in part because of their high monetary value and in part because I did not have the time or the inclination to do the capacitor replacements and other upgrades that would have been necessary to put them in optimal condition. And I would have had very mixed feelings about affecting their originality, as well.
The one piece that to this day I regret selling, though, were the rare and fabulous pair of Marantz 2’s I enjoyed during some of those years. They clearly outclassed a pair of the more powerful and more famous Marantz 9’s I also owned, although condition may have been a factor in that. A major reason for selling the 2’s, though, was that they were not quite powerful enough for the speakers I owned prior to the Ulysses, at least when playing wide dynamic range, well recorded, classical symphony.
The one very early piece that I continue to use in my main system, and that I don’t ever anticipate selling, is the legendary 1954 REL Precedent FM tuner. See my further comments on it by clicking its listing above. I use it in conjunction with an H. H. Scott LM35 fm multiplex adapter (the kit version of the model 335), ca. 1961, which decodes the stereo information.
The other pieces in the system represent a mix of vintage and modern, purchased new in some cases and used in others. Some of them are considered to be classics, and deservedly so in my opinion, most notably the Mark Levinson ML-1, which I use as my phono stage (by connecting its tape out jacks to my Classe CP-60 line stage preamp).
I should add that my listening is about 90% classical, a disproportionately large amount of it on labels that are audiophile-oriented or are otherwise high quality, and 10% rock and miscellaneous.
A note on the room: Dimensions are 22L x 13.5W x 8H. The speakers fire along the long dimension, of course. The central part of the rear wall is an opening to another room, so acoustically the length dimension is quite long. The speakers are about 8 feet apart measured driver to driver; the fronts of the speakers are about 4 feet from the front wall. Listening distance is 11 feet (to mid-point between speakers). The speakers are toed in a bit more than half-way between being pointed straight ahead and being pointed directly at the listener. As you can see in the photos, the room is wood-panelled, with wood blinds on the windows that comprise most of the front wall. The Eames chair seen on the left in some of the photos swivels aside for listening, and in that position reduces reflections off of a stone fireplace which is at the center of the left wall. Finally, the two Wassily/Breuer chairs, which are used for listening, are re-positioned during listening sessions so that they are both centered, one in front of the other. If my wife is listening with me, she, being considerably shorter than I am, sits in front.
Thanks for reading!
-- Al |
