Smiling

by cymbop on Getting Started

Description

A year ago, my wife asked if we could get rid of our only TV. "Sure," I said. "Can we get a stereo for the living room?" I've spent 12 months in deep geekery learning how to assemble a system. Most nights she goes to bed early and sleeps like a rock, leaving me to meditate on sound to my soul's content. What a hobby.

I've got a wall-to-wall soundstage, low end that can distinguish the kick drum and bass note as separate events, rich harmnics in the mids, and a just-rolled-off top end that makes my ears happy for hour after hour.
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Components Toggle details

    • Melody SP3
    38-watt tube integrated. Tube rolls include Russian military old stock SP3C-E power tubes in the 5881 slot and 6N23P-EV subbed for stock 6922s. Sylvania 12AU7A, and Sylvania 5751 in the 12AX7 slot.
    • Wyred4Sound DAC2
    Sends signal to subs and to integrated amp.
    • Squeezebox Touch
    With Soundcheck mods to disable analog outputs and wireless receiver, reduce buffer size, and perform flac decoding at Vortexbox Appliance server. SBT sends PCM digital to Wyred4Sound DAC2 via Bluejeans coaxial.
    • Vortexbox Appliance
    Flac on 2TB Vortexbox Appliance (in adjacent room, not pictured) is hardwired by Cat6 ethernet cable to Squeezebox Touch.
    • Grant Fidelity MBS-1
    GF-spec'd 1st-order crossover, Vifa drivers, and silk-dome tweeter. Housed in a Jungson cabinet that is a shameless rip-off of the Sonus Faber Cremora Auditor.
    • PS Audio Power Plant Premier
    Improves every AC-consuming component in the chain. The difference this thing made in the ease of leading-edge transients and palpable presence of instruments in the room was not short of stunning.
    • SVS SB12-NSD
    Sealed cabinet, 12-inch speaker, 400W amp. These are fed RCA inputs in stereo from W4S DAC/pre. Low-pass is set at 45 Hz.
    • Sony DVD Player
    For the occasional movie, we set up a computer monitor on a stool and connect video by HDMI, while PCM digital audio goes to the DAC and system.
    • Jungson (Grant Fidelity-branded) SPC-2.5 5n
    30x30 gauge conductors, 5n (99.999%) pure copper, insulated, conductors in parallel (un-twisted), teflon shielded, protective jacketting and gold plated connectors.
    • Jungson (Grant Fidelity-branded) RCA-1 Performance Interconnect
    5N OFC copper conductors, teflon shielded jacketing and decent quality gold plated connectors.
    • Pangea AC-9
    Two of these 7-awg garden hoses feed from a dedicated 20a line to the Power Plant Premier, and from the PPP to the integrated amp. The addition of these cords made a clearlty audible difference in ease of presentation and really seemed to add warmth without loss of resolution.
    • Pangea AC-14SE
    Feeds power from the PPP to the DAC-09.
    • Micheal Green Audio Corner Tunes
    Triangular pillows for taming upper-corner boundary effects. Results are a subtle warming of overall sound.
    • Boltz CS-4 Rack
    Welded steel, custom height and shelf spacing. Probably not the best-available isolation, but the wife got to pick this one....
    • Dedicated AC Line Romex
    20a breaker, 12awg romex.

Comments 12

Showing all comments by lapierre.

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Hey Cymbop what about replacing the "fifty cent" outlet with...
PS AUDIO - POWER PORT-or-Shunyata SR-Z1-or-better yet TESLA Plex SE. At least you should have a vice-like grip, with much better contact for Pangea feeding into PS Audio Plant. Just saying.

Well everybody that is a audiophile follows specific instruments or voices. For me it's the Yellowjackets music and recordings (try Blue Hats or MInt Jam) a bit more dynamic. I follow patterns from musical instruments presenting microdetails and dynamics from drums, bass and piano. Percussion using rain stick, congas or xylophone can present very different sounds in the midrange area.

Congrats on the Zus. Do you have the SVS12s set lower to 34Hz or higher? One more thing...did you consider SVS13 subs before buying the SVS12s?

lapierre

Nice system!

You really thought about each component with synergy for your listening pleasure.

Components I like: PS Audio Power Plant (and with tubes awesome decision), SVS subs and Melody SP3. Dedicated line and Pangea are just smart choices.

On your dedicated line did you add audio grade outlet?

What's next on the HiFi roadmap?

Spin the Yellowjackets.

lapierre

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