This is the system I have worked for 25 years to build. It is still going through changes although I'm finished for now. My room is 20x22ft and the roof slants up from 9ft to 12ft. There have been some challenges due to the fireplace and the windows but have been worked out. The real challenge has been compromises that my spouse can live with. That and the fact that stereo geeks like to change things. Am I right? My wife hates that!
unique solid state amp that sounds like tubes but none of the drawbacks and all of the benefits of solid state and tubes. S - mod and reground scheme and shielding. This without a doubt is the best sounding amp I have ever heard by a long shot. I've heard most of them.
Jolida Fusion preamp
Highly modified preamp with bybee power rails, time line, cryo'd transformer, furutech IEC, and GEC 12at7's, and bugle boy 12ax7's. Balanced input and output. Dueland caps swapped to take the place of clarity esa caps
Tannoy TS-10
A pair of fully balanced 10" 300 watts/ch subwoofers with fully adjustable settings for phase, crossover point, gain, and high and low pass filters. Fast and dynamic. the foundation that good bass gives cannot be overstated.
VPI Industries TNT HR-X
State of the art turntable with the 12.6 inch arm and the SDS speed control. Adjust on-the-fly VTA. New airless suspension. New main bearing and warp ring. I have modified this table and has resulted in a much better sound. I insulated the warp ring from the platter I also put an insulator on the bottom of the record weight. The result has been DRAMATIC!!!
VPI Industries JMW Memorial 12.7
Two arms, 12.6 and 12.7 one with original wire and 12.7 with Valhalla wire
Benz Micro MC Reference
Benz Micro Ref S giant midrange Holographic Smooooth
Tom Evans Audio Design Microgroove plus - X
solid state phono stage that is absolutely silent. with loading adjustment.fantastic performance
Bybee integrated power charger power cord
You won't believe the increase in resolution on front end components and amplification.
JPS Labs Superconductor 3 - 7 meter
Excellent interconnect. XLR or RCA The best I've heard.
UltraSonic Amp stand
Acrylic amp stand beautifully made with awesome brass and stainless steel spikes.
Ultrasonic Acrylic 28 X 21 X 1 platform
Acrylic platform made for my HRX wide enough for my mono arm on the back of the table.
JPS Labs Superconductor 3
The best I have used. They get out of the way of the music.
harmonic technology AC-11
great sounding cord. reasonable price.
Black Diamond Racing cones
Goes under source components and preamps to calm the vibrations.
stillpoints risers
isolation cones
JPS labs superconductor Q
I could not believe the quality of the sound. From this unassuming speaker cable.
audioquest power cord
The synergy thing just makes a huge difference. How much it costs, sometimes, doesn't make a difference. This thing made a huge difference on my CDP. All my other power cords cost over $1000.00. It didn't have that effect on anything else.
apple Ipod classic 160gig
fourth generation
Wadia I-transport
ipod transport- enables me to play hours of any music I want, uninterrupted. This music is competetive to anything out there.
Wells Audio Milo
Best headphone amp I've had and heard.
Arion Audio Pon-tuns
Isolation devices that had an instant benefit increasing resolution and slam to my amps. A+++
Advanced Cable Tech ACT
Very Good power cable at a reasonable price.sourced from wells audio
Electric Bamboo power conditioner
passive device that made a HUGE difference in my system. It solved so many problems that I can't explain it here.
High End sourced from wells audio power strip
a reasonably priced extremely well made power strip with filtering and phase protection . 6 filtered plugs and 4 direct plugs.
music hall 25.3
beat out my cary 306 D/A capabilities. highly modified with jps wire hard soldered connections, bybee devices and power rails, nos sylvania gold pin 6922 tube
Mr Speakers Ether C headphones
planar magnetic , closed back FANTASTIC sounding. the best I have ever owned!
Well , I finally got myself to install the dedicated circuit for the system. It was tough, but worth it. I am finally hearing the true capabilities of the system,. unrestrained dynamics and bass like I've never heard before . I actually had to turn down the gain on the subs to keep the outlets and items in the room from shaking and with nothing more than installing a 120v line that goes from the 20 amp circuit breaker to the one wall outlet. Every thing else originates power from that one plug. well worth the effort. you can't buy that kind ofimprovement.
I am planning a dedicated run using 12 gauge romex from my circuit breaker panel to the outlet my system comes off of. The plug supplying my system is the last in a daisy chain of 7 outlets. I have done some modifications that have helped but I have come to the realization that to realize the full potential of my system, I will have to make a dedicated run just for my system. You know when the music reaches a crescendo and the lights dim, you need to increase current and change things. Ciao!
Well in the last 3 -4 months, The subwoofers have done a good bit of breaking in and the dynamic attack, clarity, and transparency have greatly improved. I've never had this much fun listening to all kinds of music. Classical and symphonic music have the size and scale. acoustic music has the depth and warmth it needs, and rock has the bite and impact you expect. 2 subs is the ticket.
Hey Roxy, I know A.E. made a supposed better pre but from what I remember is it only has 2 balanced inputs. My pre has a balanced input and single ended for every input. that enabled me to go single ended for every input I have including my analog. I am happy with my pre.
Hey Ken I guess the answer depends on how you feel the bass is in your system now. I have a very large room to try to pressurize, and the omega's have more bass than the epsilons. I used the tannoy ts10s because of the balanced design and the high and low pass filters. they were a cinch to integrate. The problem is that they have been discontinued. The new ones that tannoy put out to replace them are crap and are not balanced and do not have any of the features that sold me on the ts10. I bought mine from sweetwater.com. Maybe they have 2 more. If you do, don't cheapout with only one sub. 2 makes all the difference. the subs were only $609.00 each with a 2 year warranty. Its too hard to integrate the sub if you get 1 in a stereo system.
Jsquattrin, I know how highly you regard your Audio Experience preamp. Now that they have a reference version in their lineup for $4,500.00, are you curious to try it?
Hello there, Buddy......I'm Ken. Remember me? I'm the guy who bought the Omega's from Jeff. How are you? I'm well. I see that you've added a couple subs to your systm. Interesting. Do you think the Omega's might benefit from me running a couple subs, as well? Sounds like an awesome idea! What subs are you using, and how much do they cost per sub? Take care, Ken
I have to say that getting the 2 subs have made the single biggest contribution to my system since I got these speakers. TRANSFORMATIVE!! Spatial ques abound and gut massaging solidity which makes bass heavy jazz just wonderful. Big fun. My wife is even enjoying music more.
My friend came over and brought his Rives test disk. We used the frequency sweeps on repeat to set out each sub one at a time. that made it much easier than trying to set them up by myself. These subs disappear. They have added another dimension to my system that I never had. 2 subs are a must to make it work right. That and having a balanced sub that has all the high and low pass filters and variable phase and crossover adjustments. Fini!!
I recieved my subwoofers the other day. Thankfully they arrived undamaged. I quickly ran through the adjustments and ran the cables and flipped them on and they worked. I haven't officially set them up but just having them in the system has made a huge difference. 2 subwoofers in a 2 channel system makes all the difference. The spatial cues that are part of the presentation now, I've never had before. I've had a large powerful subwoofer before but it sucked compared to these smaller subs with much better controls and inputs. A friend is coming over this weekend and we will be using a program to electronically set them up. I'm sure we will use our ears as well.
System edited: Getting my system ready for 2 subwoofers. I already have the balanced Crystal micro interconnects. I am going to come balanced from my pre into each sub's balanced input and out of the sub's balanced output into the input of my Nuforce amps. I am hoping that utilizing the sub's filters, will make it easier to seamlessly integrate the subs into my system. I will find out soon. They should be here any day now.
Same here, I have a large ceramic pot in the corner; full of dirt it makes a bass trap I think. Plant is pretty tall too. Need to test the room though after I add the last art panel absorber.
Hey Roxy, The plants are plastic. They are there because they do a great job of breaking up secondary reflections without costing a lot of money and they look good. The WAF is high.
Hey Roxy, The plants a plastic. They are there because they do a great job of breaking up secondary reflections without costing a lot of money and they look good. The WAF is high.
Hey Doc , I'm glad its working out. It is surprising how good they are. Its risky sending money overseas like that but in this situation its worth the risk. I wonder how good the new one with the outboard power supply is in comparison ?
Hey Doc, I hope it works out for you. I have a close friend who bought one last spring and he loves it. He put in a pair of NOS sylvanias and he loves them. It is a very transparent preamp especially for the money. Cheers!
I didn't even know it was point-to-point but for a few reasons, I decided I can run DAC>Amp, and run an active tube preamp since my amp has two inputs.
I also miss having a remote, and I want to see what this pre can do with some ribbed plate TS 5687s and I have a few quads of NOS RCA 3-mica, Amperex 7062, etc.
Should prove interesting. Thanks for posting your impressions on this little know builder. I have a feeling he is the "Asian Tom Tutay".
System edited: I added a custom made step up transformer between the ps audio gcph and the grado reference and what a difference it has made even though it isn't broken in. there is a difference with or without a step up trans. the sound is smoother and more fully fleshed out over just turning up the gain on the phono stage. step up was a bargain through chas bond.
Hey J I haven't done alot of research on what would be considered a better circuit breaker but they must be out there. It also makes a big difference on the wire you have in the wall . Jps makes an upgraded romex that I have heard in systems, Its expensive but its effect is immediate.
Interesting about the new breaker. So if I have a 15A line, you think I should try getting a higher quality breaker? I can't slap a 20A on a 15A line IIRC.
