This is the result of about 4 years of trial and error, mismatched pieces, buying and selling, trading, building, rebuilding, and generally having lots of fun in the process. Learning through many knowledgeable people and friends, has been a very exciting adventure I hope continues for a long time.
The Garrard 301 is finally set up in the newly built "open" plinth, and sounds far better than it's previous enclosed plinth. I'm enjoying it so much, I don't want to tear it down to finish the plinth. Clearcoating and adding a second arm still to come.
Now using Morrow Audio's MA3 interconnect with Eichman copper connections.
fully balanced, complete dual channel design using 4 x 6922 tubes/per channel. custom zebra wood panels hand made to match system.
Shuguang S845mk
845 tube mono blocks. custom finished in brandywine with zebra wood faces. 25 w/output SET amps
Grant Fidelity RBS-1
2-way using Morel drivers and second order crossovers. Solid cherry wood cabinets. Customs built stands.
Grant Fidelity Impressions II
Tube cdp, with built in headphone amp, tube,ss, and xlr outputs.
Opera Consonance D-Linear8
wireless dac
garrard 301
white, grease bearing, with a skeletal plinth(Not finished yet, but sounds so good I can't tear it down to finish it) with an Opera ST600 arm/Shelter 501II, and a Clearaudio Satisfy arm/Melody cartridge. The ST600 now replaced with an SME3014 by Radgear, and an Ortofon SPU GM mono cartridge.
Lenco L70
fully customized with an SME3014 with Shelter 501II, and Orsonic 101B headshell, Padauk wood plinth, solid 2
Thorens TD-124
TD124 from 1958. Done in pro white and Padauk wood plinth. Infinity Blk. Widow tin Soundsmith Boheme finish it off.
Clearaudio Melody
MC cartridge
Ortofon SPU Mono GM
original mono cartridge
Opera Consonance PM-8
mm/mc phono preamp with dip switch adjustments. Seperate power supply
Opera Consonance D-Linear 15 conditioner
D-Linear is close in design concept as a power synthesizer, but with built-in voltage stablizing circuit for source equipment and pre-amplifier.
Elrod power systems Statement Silver power cable.
Elrod pc made a tremendous difference. I use it from wall outlet to conditioner.
opera Consonance PS-1 speed controller
the model says it all
Nobility WMP-1A MKII
magnetic levitation stand
DIY main stand
gear stands are diy, and for the most part are finished in brandywine.
thanks Dan, it's just a hobby, (woodwork) and I have the benefit of being in the motorcycle painting business, so have access to all the nice clears, and colours.
Thanks Zephyr, the amps are very well built, but in stock form looked a little boring to me. Everything was flat silver. But being 845 tube amps, sound quite nice. The preamp however is built like a tank. The reviews I read compared it to preamp in the 8-35000. range. At 5000. retail it's a bargain. the sound is superb. This piece is on that I will never part with.
System edited: newly finished Lenco L70 turntable just added to my stable of tables. It features a Padauk wood open plinth design with an SME 3014 arm and Ortofon SPU GM Mono cartridge.
Thanks Dan, the Morel drivers are very nice. The speakers are really surprising for their size. The bass is unreal from these, and I actually returned them after I first bought them because they were overwhelming for the room. After doing some room treatments, and building a couple bass traps, I bought them again and they now sound perfect in my smallish room. The stands are one of my creations, using 22 layers of MDF and solid cherry wood, and weight in around 60 lbs each
thanks Cymbop. The diffuser is built using 2 x 2"'s cut at random lengths from 1" to 4" long. I framed a piece of 3'8" plywood with 1x3" and laid the random pieces in on the glued plywood. It does work very well. My original intent was to make two of them, but one seemed to work just right.
System edited: Extra turntables removed from system, as the 301 was the only one getting used and the IC's have been switched to Morrow's MA3's w/Eichman copper connectors. The cables made a big difference in detail and clarity.
Thanks Jetrexpro, My son Dan works for me but doesn't have any interest in my audio hobby, so I'm left to build my plinths myself. I kind of like it that way. :)
The AR/XA is now my dedicated mono table with an Ortofon SPU GM mono cartridge. Now I can understand what the mono fuss was about. I read in a forum some time ago, about how good a mono lp can sound. I had doubts about this. I figured I should try it as I've got quite a few mono jazz albums, that I was unimpressed with sound wise. That is till now. The sound is fabulous with this cartridge! It definitely rivals any of my stereo cartridges for sound quality, given a well engineered album.
System edited: more changes! the Garrard 301 now has 2 arms, an Opera ST600 and a Clearaudio Satisfy. The Black Widow is back on the Opera table. (it sounds better on that one)
Thanks very much Jond. Lol, the brandy is the color. Yes, I built the stands, it's my hobby, the upright are steel pipe with threaded rods inside. Then the pipes are filled with sand. The brass knobs on the top are so you can adjust the level on the entire rack. It's just fun :)
System edited: pics of Garrard 301 updated. Finally finished the plinth. This is an open skeletal plinth. I will be building a mass loaded plinth as in order to do proper comparisons.
thanks for that info. I actually made 2 leather mats today. A thin and thicker leather. The thin really brings out detail, but find I loose a bit of the "Garrard" sound. The thicker seems to give good detail and keep the signature sound. So far the best mat I've tried on any of my tables. I think I still want to try the copper mat though. I suppose a call to TTW is in order. I had a look at your system Dan. Very impressive indeed.
Thanks Dan, the higher end Chinese gear is very well built, and the prices are on the affordable side. I've been very impressed with sound quality, as have others who have come for a listen. How do you like the copper platter mat? Did you find it to be an improvement over the rubber. I've tried way too many mats and really am not happy with any of them. Next one to try will be leather, but I've wondered about the copper.
Thanks Glenhifi, You have a nice collection yourself. I spend a lot of time in this room as I'm not much for television. For a small room, it works quite nicely. The acoustics are surprisingly good. I'm still messing around with bass traps, but all in all am pretty happy this system.
