Hi Tony, Good to hear!  Thanks for your initial assessment on the AC Tuning X.  I have had 2 on order for months, paid in full and have been told several times that it was ready and  being shipped in a few days.  I received my Ups tracking notice a week ago and it still hasn’t shipped.  Still optimistically patient!  
Couple of questions if you can and you don’t mind…
- How do you have it installed?  At component end or power end?
- Have you used both gold and graphene Sluggos?  How do they compare?
- Which components have you used it on? Amp, Pre, Dac? Any of them better than another?
Thanks👍

I would say Rachmaninoff is best known for his piano concertos and symphonies, which are nice enough. But my favorite pieces are the Cello Sonata and Vespers, about which I have posted several times. And I prefer some of his tone poems, like the moody Isle of the Dead to his better known orchestral works. So if you want to hear Isle of the Dead you can't do any better than Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, which is true of pretty much everything they recorded for RCA Living Stereo.



On CD

 
I don't know if I am the first to receive verafiaudio's AC tuning X, but if not, I'm probably close to it. I think they just started shipping out and will continue over the next week or two. I didn't see any other posts, so I might be among the first wave of folks to receive it. I had pestered Mark regularly about delivery until I got the full story on the various challenges of importing from China and backed off. It's not that I forgot about it; it had been a while, and I wasn't sure what to expect.
 
So, how does it sound? GREAT!
 
In my system, now built around the SE84UFO25, I primarily stream music from Qobuz. I have been open to trying most anything that promises to improve streaming SQ, so I was open to this option. I installed the AC tuning X three days ago and immediately noticed an improvement in audio. I spent the first evening listening to tracks I know well, and I was surprised at how often I heard instruments or very subtle parts of music that I had previously missed or underappreciated. Initially, I thought a change of tubes that I had made in the amp was contributing to this improvement in SQ, but last night I went back to my usual set of tubes, plus the AC tuning X, and the results were the same.
 
I'm not going to say I am completely over the stress and strain of the long wait, because it did take a while. I will say, however, that the AC tuning X delivered. Since returning to the UFO25, I was pleased with the sound I'm getting with it, but this takes it up another notch or two.

The graphene Sluggo arrived yesterday and is in the STR-1002 Super. There you go Lon😉.

HK

Quote:


Thanks… I made the best out of a crappy situation and enjoy some critical listening.  Thanks to yours truly…I have expanded my appreciation for Rachmaninov.

Pending

Gregory Groover Jr.'s latest one, "Old Knew" on Criss Cross cd

The title makes me think of my Dad, how I wish I could get his advice . . . he sure is missed. He knew . . . about anything I need knowledge of.

Joel Ross is a great addition here.

Gregory Groover Jr. with vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Kendrick Scott

Sorry about the sinuses Dom. I don't know that recording, but do know those pieces and I'm a big fan of all of them. Bach, Beethoven and Brahms (the 3 Bs) wrote the "great" cello sonatas, but Rachmaninoff's is as great as any of them. Also great is Chopin's, which IMO doesn't get nearly enough attention.



16/44 FLAC download.

Maria Joao Pires is famous for her Chopin so no surprise that her account of the cello sonata is outstanding.

Fighting a sinus infection so I was up early this morning.  Decided to run my  Grado’s this morning with my Schiit Bifrost and the Vali 3.  I was searching the Deutsche Grammaphon label,  and landed on this album with Yuja Wang whom I am a big fan of.  

The grills came out ok with high gloss black. I tried to smooth out the dents from use and abuse over the years but there are still a few


The made up wire consists of (4) lengths of 16 gauge speaker wire held together with shipping tape for each leg. This assembly should work well slid between the carpet and thin felt pad. Found two 250' rolls of this wire at the local flea market over the summer. One was the 16 gauge; the other 18 gauge. It is true copper! Not the aluminum clad with copper that seems to be prevalent these days and sells for about the same price as copper 25 years ago. I have plans to use the 18 gauge to replace the bulkier 12 gauge under the carpet now for the HT subs. The 12 gauge runs result in a noticeable bump in the carpet.