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e-mail
to:
Mert Aybek
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What
is amazing about Mert is the fact that while he owns both
CAFE GRAMOFON (a famous jazz club where celebrities
like Milt jackson, Aydin Esen, Grady Tate, Slide Hampton,
Ted Curson and Melba Joyce played) and MILLENNIUM (a
very "in" underground club) he can still listen to recorded
music when, at 05:00 am, he comes home from work after
being exposed to live jazz and high volume "house" music. A
real audiophile and music lover!!!
Mert lives on the second
floor of a late 19th century historical building (facade and
courtyard view form his window on the left). As in most old
buildings the rooms have high ceilings and the best of them
is reserved to his Hi End System! Yes, Mert is
single.
As you might have guessed,
Mert mostly listens to jazz music (90%) but also to
classical (10%) and he is a member of Istanbul Hi Fi
Club.
System's
Components
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Turntable:
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Michell Gyro
Dec
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Arm:
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Rega RB
300
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Cartridge:
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Benz Micro Ruby
II
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CD Transport:
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Classe CDT
1
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Jitter Unit:
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Genesis Digital Lens
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D/A Converter:
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Classe DAC 1
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Mini Disc Player:
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Tascam MD 501
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Phono Preamp:
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ARC
PH3
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Line Preamp:
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ARC Reference
1
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Power Amp:
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Krell FPB
300
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Speakers:
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EgglestonWorks
Andra
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Interconnects:
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Transparent Ultra
XL
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Speaker
Cables:
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Transparent Ultra
XL
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Digital Cables:
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MIT Reference Proline
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Power Conditioner:
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TICE Audio Power Block 3 Signature
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Power Cables:
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NBS Professional
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Mert's
comments about his System:
AA: "Mert, how would
you describe your system's sound?"
MA: "Transparent, airy,
detailed, neutral and with large sound stage."
AA: "Do you think there
is room for improvement?"
MA: "Yes, I would want
to add a very slight warmth."
AA: "Have you got plans
for upgrading?"
MA: "Yes, I'm
considering SME 5 arm and ARC VT 200 power amp."
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Re-Visit Notes (15
April 2000)
Mert no more lives in that 19th century
historical building, he moved to a modern flat
(20th century, I guess!). It is curious to notice
that this move is accompanied with a major system
change just like Sinan
Ustunkal whom I had re-visited last week. Sinan
has now Mert's previous Andra speakers.
Mert's new speakers are Genesis V's which have a
dedicated servo amplifier for the bass drivers.
With the exception of CD Transport, DAC, Digital
Lens and Turntable all other components are new as
listed below:
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Line
Preamp:
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Sonic
Frontiers Line 3
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Phono
Preamp:
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ARC
PH3 with Gold Aero Platinum 6922
tubes
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Power
Amp:
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Marc
Levinson 332
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Speakers:
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Genesis
V
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Interconnects:
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Transparent
Reference XL, Ultra XL
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Digital
Cable:
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MIT
Proline Reference
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Speaker
Cables:
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Transparent
Reference
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Power
Cords:
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NBS
Statement Mk.II, NBS Professional, NBS
Master 2, Synergestic Master Coupler and
Custom made ones by Mert
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Mert thinks that his new system sounds warmer
and more musical. I agree. He also started to
experiment with power cables which are his own
creations. We listened and tested two of them and
found that the stranded one was clearly superior
when used as the power cable of Genesis V's servo
amplifier. Quite an achievement.
Well done Mert, continue experimenting, you're
getting there!
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Third
Visit Notes (18 August
2001)
A year ago Mert moved a second time. In fact he
had spent only 6 months in his previous flat that
he seemed to have used as a stepping stone. He is
now well settled and happy and consequently has no
intention to move for the third time in the near
future. As he also has a garden, he could afford to
acquire an unusual companion for an audiophile: a
DOG! I'll tell you more about him later. First
let's see what's new in the system.
The three pieces digital front end (Classe CDT
1, Genesis Digital Lens, Classe DAC 1) is now
replaced by a single piece Audio Aero
Capitol CD Player. Yes, It is indeed the well
reputed, French made, 24 / 192 oversampling CD
player with tube analog stage.
Marc Levinson 332 power amp is replaced by two
mono Pass Aleph 0 solid state Single Ended
amplifiers.
The speaker cables are now Van den Hul
Magnum (used twice in a bi-wire configuration
for mids and highs).
Although it's been more than a year since my
last visit, I seemed as if the sound is more
musical and relaxed than the last time. In fact,
maybe it is unjust to make a comparative statement.
I should simply say that I was pleased with the
sound of his revised system. Perhaps just a little
dry at the bottom end.
As Mert had asked me to I had brought with me my
two pairs Kimber Select KS-1030
interconnects (click
to read my review in Stereotimes.com) and my
Kimber BiFocal - XL speaker cables (a review
will appear very shortly on Stereotimes.com). First
we replaced the speaker cables and heard important
improvements. Bass extension, weight, control,
soundstage, air, dynamics, tonality, nearly
everything was improved and the bottom end dryness
that I mentioned in the previous paragraph had
totally disappeared. The assessments were not made
by me and Mert alone but also by our other close
audiophile friends who were also present: Nejat
Basar, Aydin
Esen, Haluk
Ozumerzifon, Kamil
Sukun (in alphabetical order). I was pleased to
notice how unanimous we were!
Next we replaced the Transparent (XL and ultra
XL) interconnects with my Kimber Select KS-1030's.
This time the improvements were relatively subtle
and they were in the area of tonality, inner
details, ambience. They simply made the system
sound even more musical and involving. Upon hearing
such a result Mert took the decision to place an
order for the Kimbers asap.
We all know from my previous visits that
statistically audiophiles like to own cats. Mert
happens to be the first audiophile on these
"Istanbul" pages with a dog. It is a beatiful,
male, one year old, brown Labrador retriever. It's
name is PUTTO (according to Webster dictionary: "a
figure of a plump, young, male angel, or cupid, as
in baroque art"). Although he really looks cute
like a real "male angel" (on the second picture
from the bottom), he sometimes wants to
demonstrate, in his own way, his love for music!
The CD cracking between his teeth is the "Romeo
& Juliet ballet suite of Prokofiev". Now I know
why most audiophiles own cats!!!
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