I bought these Snells with my first job out of college. iv had them now for 17 years wow time flies! i have very slowly upgraded along the way but i have other hobbies also. i just recently rewired this sme 3009 that came with this thorens 125. sounded so good i put it in a cherry plinth now it looks good too! i keep thinking about going totally upscale but the music sounds great! the Snells have kept up with each upgrade but i may in the future replace them. the thorens is about as much as i want and i don't think i can get significantly more from digital without trading in my harley. Simple amp and preamp, fantastic tt, cool music server (great sound, just not vinyl) . that's it. if you have suggestions or comments totally cool!
SME 3009/bronze bearing/cardas cyro tone arm wire from headshell direct to preamp/custom cherry plinth/mapleshade heavy footers/ cherry wood armboard damped with dynamat
Denon dl 103
Ebony body
VTL TL-2.5
This 2.5 is totally tricked out with NOS mullards (platinum grade from upscale). the 12au s are brimar or siemans depending on how i feel. all the tubes are locked down with herbies RX dampers except the phonostage. those have the old mapleshade tube anchors (really nothing better - but they are a hassle!!)
Mapleshade ic & speaker cable
Mapleshade wires all around except the tonearm cable. found huge improvements when i replaced my kimber silver! sold the kimber soon after. the one upgrade i actually made money from (not really but you know what i mean)!
VTL ST-85
ST-85 clean and simple -NOS mullards/SEDs cyrod - herbies tube dampers all around.
glenfihi - you may be right! and thanks lou yeah man, i strongly suggest trying out a vintage thorens, micro seiki, systemdeck, etc before pouring money into a new table to me they sound better and save money. but keep in mind the best new table i ever had was at the $2000 price point. (my old tweaked out thorens 166 sounded much better - warmer, organic, with no loss of detail). i think i loved it so much i made video of it - maybe ill post that on my next blog post...
ps - i may put the FM3 up for sale - i love the sound, but i don't get a chance to use it much these days
pss - was good times listening with jetrex! any one in nyc metropolitan wanna join the club?
Thanks Glen - it is nice sometimes i wonder if i must get new speakers - other times i think yes. I have slowly designed this entire system around these mid 90's snells. was having a listen session with jextrex last week and the thought came up that if i get new speakers, i may have to start the process over again sounds so good some times but then again we are looking for that last stop!
hey Jetrex the legend still lingers, Bed-Stuy Do or Die! ;) but for real, Czarivey, it's a great place, some of the best food, great Bars, Coffee shops, Yoga, concerts in the park, green markets - just like other metropolitan cities.
System edited: I believe I am way past the point of new speakers. My thorens 125 w/ denon or vanden hul sounds better than anything i've had yet. all my digital is gone i don't play it much anymore. So the best I've heard are the Audio Note An-e. Anybody know if I can get that kind of sound for 2 or 3K? was even considering old school Altec, or JBL, ..
