How do you partner your Bartok?

I want to comment on the images posted.

All except (perhaps) one show what Ken Kessler has referred to as " An altar to hi-fi" built between the speakers.

I am very aware that everyone except multi millionaires has to make compromises when housing large audio systems. But building this “infill” between speakers has two negative effects, one acoustical the other psychoacoustic.

If you place lots of acoustically reflective objectives between the speakers you are compromising the soundstage that you should otherwise hear.

The eye is our dominant sensory organ. Lots of gear placed between speakers means that ( unless eyes closed or blindfolded) your brain will tend to hear the sound coming from the components and you will not enjoy the full illusion of stereo. There is ( or was) a very interesting white paper from the BBC on this.

Curiously I was not thinking at all about this last week when it was very hot in London. So I connected my fan which is about 75 cm tall and placed it in the normally unoccupied space between my speakers. I soon realised that there was an immediate reduction of the soundstage which normally stretches in depth beyond the front wall given the right recording.

So if you can place your equipment rack to the side of the speakers. If that is impossible then, again if you can, limit the height of the central rack to the lower 33% of the speakers.

I’ll bet that few of you will follow my advice but at least I have got it off of my chest. That altar is not a good idea even though so many seem to follow the idea.

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Except one indeed, my desktop audio altar is to the side, the centerpiece being however another visual, a big 4K LED monitor between the 805 D3 monitors :star_struck:

When I go to a live rock gig (seems long time ago), there is this other irritating thing in the middle: the band.

Your advice is often appreciated, but now you sound like an altar boy.

Pete, absolutely! In fact I’ve been thinking downsizing and cutting down the box counts and move everything into more eye pleasing aesthetics. It’s ridiculous of my racks being the centerpiece

But here they are now so have to bear them for a while…

Agree absolutely with this. No photo but very simple to explain: Speakers (SHL5 Anniversary) are 2ft in front of the electronic boxes (Network Bridge, PS Audio Directstream DAC, Primare A.60 amp etc) which are all in a low cupboard. I found best sound quality resulted when I had some of the cupboard doors open (but not all!) - I guess that this prevented unwanted rear reflections by breaking up the flat surface. For similar reasons it is not a good idea to position a large TV screen between the speakers, as seems to be popular judging by other system photos I’ve seen on the web.

My partners are an Esoteric F-3a and TAD ME 1 :stuck_out_tongue:

What I partner my Vivaldi with should work equally well with Rossini or Bartok.

Unless I have guests I normally try a decent inexpensive claret ( Bordeaux). Some of the petits chateaux from 2017 are drinking well at the moment. In warmer weather a nice chardonnay from Macon goes well. Of course if you are from a wine producing area a local choice may be preferred.

Have I misunderstood the question ? :wink:

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A bottle of good wine will never be superfluous in the company of dCS and ATC. It’s a worthy partnership ))

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Hi Ermos. I also have Bartok and Focal Utopia. Interested in knowing more about upgrading the Utopia stock cable. Where did you get it from? Thanks and Happy New Year. Franco

Hi @Frankie67

My regular audio dealer could supply me with it, the Crystal Cable Portable Dream Duet. I love it!

You can find all details here:

Happy New Year to you too, and happy listening.

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Thanks Aeron. Also thinking about the Rossini Clock. Need to change system cables first.

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Love the look of that rack.

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Benchmark HPA4 arrived today. Really impressed with how “real” everything sounds. Thought my Bel Canto Pre3 vb was good but this is amazing.

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Congrats. It is really good!

I’m curious. Why would one futz (technical term) with cables before investing in components? That’s not flame-bait. I am honestly curious.

[quote=“PaleRider, post:34, topic:1291”]
I’m curious. Why would one futz (technical term) with cables before investing in components? That’s not flame-bait. I am honestly curious.
[/quote

It was not referred to the Clock but to my system. Happy to report that I’ve now done both (i.e., I’ve recabled my entire system and added Rossini Clock)! :sunglasses:

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I was using a naim 32.5/hicap/135’s, but now use an esoteric f-03a integrated and very good it is too.