There seems to be two versions of VOTU released 2022 and 2023 (both lineage from the SYSTEM3D installed in the Royal Opera House) but what is the difference between the VOTU MIRAMA released 2023 sold in the U.S. and the rest of the world vs the VOTU MAX released 2022 sold in China?

The VOTU (Voice of the Universe) MAX & MIRAMA (short form for MId RAnge MAgic) are quite different.

The MIRAMA come with grills (choice of Beige and Black) whereas it is literally impossible to put grills on the MAX due to the external spiders on the woofer baskets.

Both cabinets are ported on the MAX whereas only the lower cabinet is ported on the MIRAMA.

The MAX has a 3” woofer for the upper midrange and a dome tweeter. The MIRAMA has a large, high powered Aurum cantus G3 ribbon tweeter located below the 7” woofer for the upper midrange. There is a bracket & calibrated micrometer for angling the upper cabinet down to the listening chair.

Utility for the MIRAMA is a little different. The MIRAMA is 90dB efficient and could be placed 60cm in front of the front wall. Depending on the music genre, female vocal in an acoustic or jazz setting, would only need 40 W RMA. To play rock music at a realistic and live setting, we believe that number would probably be closer to 1000W RMS in a large room.

How to install Artesania racks

I been looking through the spec of the racks to determine the differences between the Prestige and Exoteryc. The significant difference seem to be the stabilizer bar. Is there anything else that separates the two that adds significant value?

Differences between the Prestige & Exoteryc racks:

1. Exoteryc has more weight, lower noise floor.
2. 78% larger construction 3 shelf rack: Prestige 45mm diameter, 62 lb versus Exoteryc 60mm, 110 lb
3. Heavier Dampener for each rack shelf: Standard 3lb versus Improved 5.3lb
4. Decoupling Discs Prestige 3” versus Exoteryc 4”
5. Only the Exoteryc has four stabilizer bars located in the internal structure, they stop the tiniest pendular movement of the internal structure.

I'm interested in the Eclipse TD712zMK2 loudspeakers. My listening room measures 15’x18’x8’. I listen at about 6’ from the speakers and they have to be able to sustain 100db (C weighted) at that distance. Are the TD712zMK2 speakers capable of this in my particular listening environment?

In stereo application, 712zMK2 at 35W input resistance rating does give 98dB at 1.8m distance (103dB at 1m distance), therefore our answer is ‘unlikely’ unless the room is live rather than dead.

The above figure is not considered ‘C weight’ because the dB does not have much difference as the low and high FQ of C weight is beyond the speaker’s reproducing band.

How do I open the driver I downloaded from the Specs tab on the product page?

To open the driver on the Specs tab after you've downloaded it, you'll need to have WinZip installed on your computer. If you don't already have WinZip, you can download a free trial of the software here.

I tried to do the firmware update (to 1.10 from 1.0). Although the file downloaded properly the eclipse said the file was invalid. However it will not leave the mode it was in after rebooting; the white indicator is flashing and I cannot connect to it over bonjour. I am reluctant to turn off the power. Can you suggest a way to salvage this unit?

On first viewing, you are correct to try and avoid powering down. Have you tried a ‘hard reset’ on the system? This involves holding the Power, Down volume and Up volume buttons at the same time for approx. 3 - 5 secs. It is a little tricky (deliberately so, to avoid mistakenly doing it), but I find a combination of thumb of left hand and thumb + middle finger of right hand should do the job. This then resets everything and should set the indicator light back to Green.

I own a Luxman L-590AX amplifier and it sounds terrific. I like it very much…. I am considering an upgrade (of my CD player) to the Luxman D-05… In the April issue of The Absolute Sound, Mark Waldrep, President of AIX Records states on page 160 that “delivering music on physical discs is over.” He believes the future is in digital downloads tailored to the individual listener. I experimented once … and did not like the way it sounded… Does Luxman, or any of the other brands you carry, have a music server product that supports a high quality digital download as noted by Mr. Waldrep? … I am very interested in hearing your comments and suggestions. – Howard G

I personally listen to music in all formats and have long embraced the SACD format with the rest of the audiophile community as my go-to medium for high quality digital music playback, boasting a collection of well over 1,000 SACD albums. For music labels, digital downloads give their music a new lease of life. Of particular attention are the DSD files now being made available to download. The DSD Master sounds better (richer & fuller) than the DSD file ripped from the SACD, however, they are usually more expensive than the physical SACD.

The digital revolution benefits music lovers like us as it increases accessibility and variety for our indulgence, but I would not go so far as to say that physical discs are finished. Just to illustrate, Acoustic Sounds show 31 recent SACD releases while they show 116 titles coming soon.

To answer your question, sonically and practically speaking, you really don’t need to buy a dedicated music server per se, but something as simple as a MAC Mini and install Audirvana, then hook up a hard drive to it. You can take the digital audio output via USB to the D-05 or D-06.

We supply a LUXMAN U-100R (USB / SPDIF converter) free of charge with the D-05, D-06 & D-08. This way you can spin CDs & SACDs and hook up a music server whenever the urge takes you. To top it off, Luxman is bringing to the North American market a high resolution DAC (DA-06 – retail $6,000) that is DSD compatible in a few months time and its terrific sounding. The DA-06 is built upon the D-06 platform, minus the transport mechanism. But of course, it will not play any discs, only music files.

I am conducting music seminars around North America with this equipment and other latest components. Drop by to see us or inquire for a dealer near you.