Reviewer's Bio

Greg Weaver, Senior Editor

  Greg Weaver entered the audio electronics industry in the late 1960s, originally as a hobbyist, but rapidly moved into retail sales. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he grew to supervise a variety of audio shops, from small chains to fine audio salons. After receiving a digital electronics degree (with honors) in the early 1980s, he partnered a consumer electronics repair shop, where his role was a varied as designing and installing winning custom competition IASCA 12-Volt systems to repairing computers to designing circuits for coin-operated video arcade games. He has been an industry journalist and product reviewer since the late 1980s, both writing for and editing numerous print and internet journals. He has been an industry consultant since the late 1990s, working with companies such as Harmonic Technology (Greg lead the team that developed the original Magic™ line of products), Quantum, and NSR Sonic Research.

Greg currently resides in north central Indiana with his wife and their Great Dane, Stella. For 15 years, Greg was the senior IT Engineer and Analyst at the University of Notre Dame (supporting the Department of Athletics). In the spring of 2014, he took his early retirement from the University. After spending some time contracting with American General, then working in IT Services for Patrick Industries, the 4th fastest growing company in the nation, he took an IT/IS management position with Valeo, overseeing a 140,000 square foot automotive manufacturing plant. As well as being a Senior Reviewer here at Enjoy the Music.com, he was a Senior Writer for The Absolute Sound for over six years, and is a Senior Editor at Positive-Feedback.

If you need further information, please feel free to see Greg's personal Bio web page here or just ask for anything else you might need. Thank you.

Greg Weaver's System

Loudspeakers:
Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9, Von Schweikert Audio Vortex VR-33, B&W Matrix 1, with rare factory upgrade to van den Hul internal wire, Audience The ONE V3 Personal Reference Monitors.

Electronics:
Audionet PRE G2, Dynamic Sounds Associates Pre I, ModWright SL 100 Tube linestage (rolled out with a vintage f32 Mullard GZ34 and a matched pair of 6SN7GT CBS/Hytron dual triodes), Channel Islands Audio PLC MkII passive preamplifier with VAC power supply. Audionet MAX monoblocks, Channel Islands Audio D500 MkII Monoblocks (Putzeys based Class D), Channel Islands Audio VMB Monoblocks. DSA Phono II phono preamplifier, ModWright PH-150 tube phono preamplifier, and Channel Islands Audio PEQ MKII Phonostage.

Sources:
Kronos Sparta Turntable with the Sparta Super Capacitor Power Supply, Kronos Helena 10.5" Uni-pivot tone arm, Etsuro Gold MC Cartridge, Air Tight PC-1 MC Cartridge, Transfiguration Temper V MC Cartridge, Clearaudio Virtuoso Mk II MM Cartridge, Denon 103-D (with vdHul Mods) MC Cartridge, others. Mola Mola Tambaqui, iFi Pro iDSD, Channel Islands Audio Transient MKII with VDC-5 MKII high current power supply. McCormack UDP-1 Beyond Deluxe (many more mods – over and above those offered by the factory). Dell OptiPlex Windows 10 Music Server, using Roon 1.6, JRiver Media Center 27, Audirvana 3.5, and Fidelizer Pro v8.7.

Cables:
Stealth Audio Dream V14, Audience frontRow biwires, Audience Au24-SX biwires, Von Schweikert MasterBuilt Reference biwires, Silversmith Audio Fidelium speaker cables, Furutech Nanoflux Speaker Cable, SoundString Gen II Platinum Edition Biwires. Stealth Śakra V12, Stealth Śakra, Stealth Indra, Stealth Nanofiber, Stealth PGS, Stealth Helios phono cable, Audience frontRow single-ended and Balanced Interconnects, Furutech AG-16 R4 Silver-plated (Alpha) OCC Phono Cable, Audience Au24-SX (single-ended and balanced). Audience frontRow AC Cables, Audience Au24-SE HP and LP powerChords. Audience frontRow USB Cable, and Audience Au24-SE+ USB cable.

Accessories:
Grand Prix Audio Monaco Modular Isolation System equipment stand (with Apex Footers/Nitride balls, and Formula Shelves), Grand Prix Audio Monaco Amp stands, Critical Mass Systems CenterStage2 footers, Magico QPods, Grand Prix Audio Apex Footers, Aurios 1.2 MIB, Vibrapods & Vibrapod Cones, Herbie's UltraSonic SS Tube Dampers, Home Brew Cable Lifters. Audience adeptResponse aR-12-TSSOX passive power conditioner with Audience frontRow powerChord, Furutech eTP-80, Monster Cable HTS 800, a pair of Quantum Products, Inc. Symphony Pro's, and a liberal application of HiFi-Tuning Supreme3 fuses. Shakti Hallographs, CornerTunes. Furutech RD-2 demagnetizer, Digital Systems and Solutions UltraBit Platinum-Plus, Digital Systems and Solutions TruVoice Dampers, and Audience Auric Illuminator.

Vinyl Cleaning/Care:
Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner Pro Ultrasonic LP Cleaner, the full gamut of LAST record care products, Disc Dr. Miracle Record Cleaner and Quick Wash. OnzowZeroDust, AudioQuest DM-100 demagnetizer, KAB Channel Balancer, KAB Speed Strobe, and Audio Dharma Cable Cooker 2.5 EFS.

Music Room
In November 2015, with the kids grown and out of the big five-bedroom, three-floor house, we moved to a smaller home situated on nearly two acres in north-west Goshen, IN. My new music room occupies the north end of the west half of my basement, in a room that is 46' X 13' x 7' 4". Further, I have two different sized and asymmetrically placed doorways venting into that second, identically sized room, one that is 40" wide by 78" tall, starting 11' 10" from the front wall, another that is 34" wide by 77" tall, starting 28 feet from the front wall, both of which act as aperiodic vents. This large space also houses my small theater at the south end by the fireplace.

Some quick calculation reveals the room is about 600 ft² or some 4300 ft³. Based on room length, it can support full development of frequencies down to about 24Hz, with primary axial resonances at about 44Hz and 78Hz. But the room is amazing sounding, and exhibits remarkably little loading.

Many Industry leaders who have visited, including Benno Baun Meldgaard (former Chief Designer for Denmark's Raidho and GamuT, now chief designer for Gryphon), Bill Parish (GTT Audio), Dick Diamond (YG Acoustics), and Philip O'Hanlon (On A Higher Note) to name a few, have all commented on how remarkably good sounding my room is.

In fact, during a visit to install and set up the Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9 loudspeakers for review, Leif Swanson, Chief Designer at Von Schweikert Audio said, "You seem to have some pretty cool things taking place with the room. Good length for the bass waves, and those doorways. I notice very little change to the bass walking around the room. You definitely scored with this room." 

Click image for larger version.

The tweeters of my Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9's are centered 1' 10" from the sidewalls, and 7' from the wall behind them, with a toe in of about 8 degrees. The prime listening area is centered roughly 12' back from the plane of the tweeters.

Room taming is achieved with the use of RoomTunes Corner Tunes, two Echo Tunes (one each at the tweeter's primary reflection points on the ceiling), and the surprisingly effective Shakti Innovations Hallographs. Two 6' tall by 4' wide panels of Auralex Studiofoam Wedgies act as diffraction/absorption panels at the primary/secondary side-wall reflection point for the speakers.

Power to components in the listening room is fully dedicated, with a pair of 20 Ampere runs for amplification, and another pair of 15 Ampere runs for all sources. All other devices in that room (lights, printers, computers, etc.) are on an entirely separate, isolated circuit. All circuits in the room were set up for proper ground and polarity and in fact, the entire electrical system was re-grounded when I moved in.

Those who know me (or have read my work over the years) know that my system must be tonally accurate, strikingly neutral, stunningly transparent, and jubilantly musical. However, open, detailed, and layered soundstaging, combined with realistically sized and spatially accurate images, are every bit as important to me as truthful timbre and musical bloom. With the right recording, this system whisks you back to the venue or hall of the original performance for a spooky-real recreation of that event in the here and now.

I have had any number of audiophile and musician visitors' remark on the power of the listening experience as witnessed from my chair. Musicians from any number of genres of music, from Salsa to Rock 'n' Roll to Classical, have actually wept after or during a listening session, and audiophiles of many years have remarked things like, "What more could you ask for," and "I've never heard a rig sound any better than this."

While those are encouraging words, and seem to indicate that I'm doing the right things with component and cable selection as well as room set up, my system (every system? ;-D) must be seen as an ongoing work-in-progress. Every once in a while, the addition of some new piece, be it a source, a cable, or an accessory, allows me to move just a little closer to that actual musical event. The journey continues....

Multi-Channel Music and Home Theatre System
Housed at the opposite end of my 46' x 13" by 7' 4" space, the theater is down by the fireplace and is really cozy.

Monitor
Samsung HDR UN75NU6900 75" UHD 4K QLED TV

Loudspeakers
Von Schweikert Vortex VR-33, Mirage MC-3 center, Optimus LX-4 rears, and Mirage FRx-S10 subwoofer.

Electronics
Emotiva LMC-1 7 channel preamp/processor and Emotiva LPA-1 seven-channel amplifier.

Sources
Sony BDP-S5100 Blu-ray Player (which allows me to RIP my SACD collection), DirecTV HR-54 HD Digital Receiver, and JVC HR-S3600U S-VHS.

Cables
Audience Au24 speaker cables, Audience Au24e interconnects, and SoundString Gen II Platinum Edition HDMI v1.4 cables.

Accessories
DIY Equipment Stands, Monster Cable HTS 800, Quantum Symphony Pro, Aurios 1.2 MIB, Furutech RD-2 demagnetizer (now branded Acoustic-Revive), Digital Systems and Solutions UltraBit Platinum-Plus, Digital Systems and Solutions UltraBit Diamond-Plus, Digital Systems and Solutions TruVoice Dampers, and Audience Auric Illuminator optical disc treatments.