upgrading my system from Denon & Elac, to Aria Audio & Meadowlark

I'm enjoying your journey, but man that amp could use a good cleaning.

 

Agreed I'm sure a local tech could give it a thorough cleaning for you.

 

Yep, I agree. I reached out to Echo Audio via the contact-me form on their website, to ask generally if they are willing/able to service Aria Audio gear. If they say yes, maybe I'll bring everything in for a good cleaning, and to get them checked-out for any emerging problems they might notice. I don't want to mess with cleaning it myself. (I did clean all the aluminum outside, but I wouldn't feel comfortable cleaning all that caked-on dust inside on my own, for risk of damaging something on accident.)

 

Good call definitely don't do any interior cleaning on your own lots of stuff that could go wrong doing that.

 

I ordered some new (NOS) tubes for this Aria Audio gear, mainly prompted by a somewhat lower left channel that I was able to isolate to the tube (when I swapped the tubes between the two monoblock amps, the left channel got a lot louder).

Since I already had a pretty well-regarded pair that came with the amps (RCA VT-231 of some unknown vintage), but they were fairly dusty and cloudy with dim glows, I decided to try and go for something even more well-regarded, and bought a pair of Sylvania VT231 / 6SN7GT - 1945.

These new Sylvania VT231 / 6SN7GT - 1945 have a lot brighter glow.

I did have some adventure when I first installed these Sylvania tubes - lots of sputtering and hissing - but after a few hours, and a 99% isopropyl alcohol cleaning that was recommended to me in a different thread, the sputtering and hissing has mostly gone away and now I'm able to enjoy these tubes and listen for them to break in and mellow out.

The detail and soundstage is really amazing with this equipment and these tubes! Music that I think I know really well has finally become un-congested, and I can choose to focus on any given minor instrument and follow it clearly in the mix for as long as I want (e.g., bass guitar, tambourine, other percussive elements).

The Sylvania VT231 / 6SN7GT seem to be louder overall, than the old tubes. I wonder if that's a difference in the specifications of the two tubes (between RCA and Sylvania), or if that's a difference between tubes of unknown life (the RCAs that came with these amps) and NOS tubes that are just starting their lifespan.

I also bought a pair of 12AU7 RCA Clear Top for my Aria Audio preamp in the same order, but I'm not currently experiencing any issues with the preamp so I'm gonna keep those 12AU7 RCA Clear Tops set aside as backups, for whenever they might be needed. Or whenever I feel like experimenting with different tubes.

 

It's after midnight, well past my bedtime and yet I'm in front of this system, playing a few albums thru as I listen to the new tubes gradually catch their grooves.

I'm listening to Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden (2003, Super Jewel Box, SACD) SACD right now, and the sound is incredible. So much more dynamic and detailed than I've ever heard it before. Little instrumental flourishes like a strum of a guitar leap out of the speakers and startle me.

Before that was Julian Cope – Peggy Suicide (1991, CD) (early CD edition), which I'd only intended to sample for a few minutes, but I was drawn in and 75 minutes later it was concluding. Several songs in particular (e.g., "Safesurfer," "Beautiful Love") sounded different enough (thanks to the increased details and soundstage) that it was if I were hearing them for the first time. And this is an album I've probably played at least 50 times.

I recall up-thread when I wondered if my Oppo player and compact discs and/or high resolution discs would be able to shine on this Aria + Meadowlark system, and now I can say confidently that they definitely can!

I am holding back from breaking out some vinyl tonight. I'll let this Talk Talk SACD be my nightcap. But I'm very curious to hear how vinyl is gonna sound through these new tubes, especially as they continue to break in over the next few weeks.

I still need to get this gear in for a checkup and cleaning. I'll probably try to do that sometime over the next 6 months or so. I'll have to find that sweet-spot where I'm not so craving the sound that I'm unwilling to give them up for a few days or weeks.

 

The new Sylvania VT-231 tubes are settling in quite nicely.

Earlier today, I put on David Grubbs, Susan Howe – Woodslippercounterclatter (2015, CD) which has some ambient/"natural sounds," and they were so realistic that I thought one of our cats was getting into something in the next room, so I left and checked, then realized it was the recording.

Later in the same recording, with two cats settled into my lap while I was sitting in my listening chair, recorded sounds of birds singing (same Woodslippercounterclatter CD) were realistic enough that the cats' ears perked up and they looked around in anticipation every time.

I feel very fortunate and grateful to have come into ownership of this system!

At this point of getting acquainted with this system, one thing that's surprising me is how much better even "lo-fi" recordings sound. Basically, just about everything I play sounds "better," as I define it (more transparent, more revealing, more true to the original recording, whether meticulous or rough-on-the-edges).

Yesterday, I pulled out the 2xSACD Rory Gallagher – Big Guns - The Very Best Of Rory Gallagher (2005, Digipak, SACD) , which has long been on my "worst SACDs in my collection list," and while the mastering still is atrocious ... the extension of bass response and general clarity/transparency of this system nonetheless gets the most possible out of this edition. So it sounds marginally less mucky sucky than it sounded on my previous system.

And then I played Guided By Voices – Fast Japanese Spin Cycle (1994, CD) and somehow even the 4-track tape hiss sounds more realistic and "present," and it's easier for me to hear all the instruments now.

On the other end of the spectrum, yesterday I received the Marantz + Vinyl Me, Please collaboration 2xSACD Explorations In Sound Vol. 1 & 2 (2020, SACD) and the selections + mastering (Ryan Smith, intentionally not volume-matched from track to track) are outstanding in their realistic reproduction.

Last observational note for this post: As I've gradually been turning up the volume, I've started to fear: Am I getting into hearing damage territory? So I got my trusty Radio Shack sound level meter out, and apparently the loudest I've had this system is around 77 dB max. Usually I listen much lower, in the 70 dB range. And I was playing Helmet – Meantime (1992, Red Cover, CD), which puts out plenty of energy, during these tests. Completely satisfying without having to get close to ear-splitting levels.

Kind of a mindf--- to realize: Okay, so the first 51 years of my life, I never heard recorded music sound anywhere close to this 3-dimensional and realistic. Well, there's always the next 30-40 years to look forward to.

 

Great post, I can feel your enjoyment. I have the problem of letting the volume creep up and up as I get deeper into the music.

 

What does "nuVrms" mean? I recognize that Vrms likely means the root mean square of the Voltage. (To the layman's extent I can "understand" what that means...)

But what does "nu" mean in this context of measuring residual hum and noise? Is it possibly Nusselt number - Wikipedia ?

I did some light googling and found this Harvard research abstract, that seems to present a usage of nu + Vrms ... in the context of geophysical earth science. But I think I'm out of my element figuring it all out!
Blankenbach 3 revisited: intricate time-dependent patterns in a simple model of mantle convection

Hmmm, this may end up on my list of questions to ask Michael, at some point in the future.

 

Michael gave me a couple of Aria Audio marketing cards. Just got around to scanning them in.

 

I wanted those speakers so bad back in the day.

 

Have you seen the powered speakers he's developing nowadays? He has fully embraced Class D embedded amplifiers and digital signal processing, creating megawatt systems and trying to reach below 20 Hertz. Interesting new approach.

Meadowlark Audio Homepage

 

No, I’ll check that out!

 

Here is another great source of info.

Meadowlark Audio Forum

 

And that forum features an extensive and beautiful collection of photos from Pat McGinty, capturing work in progress of building these new speakers in their workshop.

 

Craig, I am curious, how is Michael doing these days? Your new Aria system looks great. I have two of Michael's Counterpoint preamps still running strong after 25 plus years of use. There is not much info on the Aria amps and preamps. Hopefully Michael gave you a copy of the service manual to keep them running well. Did he mention if he had more of the Aria stuff? I take it he still lives in Bend area? I look forward to your reply.

 

He wasn't able to provide a service manual. My understanding is that I basically got the last of anything he had related to Aria Audio. He even included some printer proofs and other photocopies of some articles featuring Aria Audio in Japanese periodicals.

Glad to hear the Counterpoint gear is still going strong after 25+ years. I'm hoping that my Aria Audio gear will be running strong for many years to come for me. I wouldn't mind if these were the last electronics (other than front-end sources to keep up with whatever media formats emerge in the future) I ever own.

 

Great stuff and some fine equipment. it's nice to see you sorted out the tube puzzles. I guess now you know what audiophilia is all about!

 

@CraigVC Do enjoy reading threads like this, glad it is working out and the amps looks very cool indeed.