Ken Fritz is a one of a kind audiophile, and his system is probably the most extreme expression of DIY audio I've seen!


Ken's video by Boom Sizzle, [email protected]



It's a really big system, here's a partial list of the components:

The heart of this system is a Krell Evolution 707 pre- processor. All connections are made via balanced lines using premium grade Neutrik XLR connectors and 4 conductor cable sourced from Gotham Audio. This is a double shielded cable with the wire drawn in Turkey and fabricated in Germany. This is a custom made wire designed for Neumann to interconnect their microphones and associated equipment.

Ken designed and built his Frankentable, a vacuum turntable with three VPI HRX double motor - flywheel drive units, which are controlled by three (3) separate VPI SDS motor controllers. The 750 pound 'table rests on a custom made Minus K isolation platform custom designed for this weight capacity.

The turntable has three tonearms:
Arm #1: Kuzma airline with Koetsu Platinum Signature Jade cartridge Arm #2: Kuzma airline with My Sonic Labs Eminent Gold cartridge Arm #3: Kuzma 4 point with Lyra Atlas cartridge
These three (3) arms are plugged into an Aesthetix Rhea 3 channel phone pre- amp. Output goes to balanced input 1 on Krell Evolution 202 pre-amp. Output of the Evolution 202 goes to an input of the Krell 707 via Krell cast connection.


Two reel-to-reels:
Ampex ATR 102 reel-to-reel tape machine for playback of master tapes
Ampex ATR with Aria upgrade electronics with Playback Designs A to D converter for transferring master tapes to the 20 TB hard drive.


Digital:
Lake Audio LM-44 A-D-A signal processor. Output of LM44 to Crane Song STC8 – mastering limiter – compressor. Compression feature completely turned off. Output of the STC8 mastering limiter to input of Krell KBX 3-way active crossover. Low output of KBX goes to one half of a Krell FPB 600 amplifier and then to mid-base section of front loudspeaker. Mid output of KBX goes to second half of the Krell FPB 600 driving the midrange section of front loudspeaker. High output of the KBX crossover goes to one-third of a Krell Evolution 403, 400 watt, 3-channel amplifier and then to high frequency drivers in front loudspeaker.

The Lake LM44 processor was used via both a near and far field microphone measurements to adjust the frequency response of the above loudspeaker to a flat response. It was also used to adjust for room anomalies – room correction.
Two measurements were taken for two settings of the LM44; one for 2 channel playback of audio and the second setting for playback of home theater signals. Switching between the two settings on the LM44 was done through the use of an HP laptop computer.


The room was designed and built by Ken and his family, with attention paid to room acoustics and integrated room treatment.


On the video side there's a Sony VLP-WV995ES 3D - 4K projector and a Stewart Electrascreen 135 inch screen.


Power:
PS Audio regenerators and APC Smart UPS battery backup.



  #DIYaudio #hometheater #audiophile