Sound and aesthetics so outclassed what I had auditioned to that point that I went outside my budget
VPI Industries Scout
Additions here were replacing IC's with Audioart IC3SE's. Improved the bass and resolution.
Brinkman Fein
Phono Preamp. Upgrade from the pro-ject originally purchased with the Scout
Wavelength Audio Brick V3
USB only. 24/96. Specs not up to latest and greatest. But in this room and as part of this system, very pleasing sound quality. Other benefits were small size, ease in setting up and robustness and reliability in usage.
Bryston BCD-1
Purchased from fellow A-goner. Has the best bass of all my sources, but also the most digital-sounding (much better than internet radio but not as smooth as PureMusic/Mini/Brick). It provides a convenient way to listen to our CD's and we're happy with the sound for what we were willing to spend
Volent Paragon VL-2
Because of our cats, and desire to keep speakers from overwhelming the room, restricted our search to monitors. After much reading, and several auditions chose these as they could be placed close to walls, the dimensions were right (narrow in width) and price was within my range (helped by a cosmetic defect). Stands are DIY. The granite sides make for a very solid support.
Morrow SP-4 4.5 meter length
Best thing said about the cables is that we can't see them (much to wife's approval) and that I can't really tell a difference from the Nordost SPM's they replaced.
DIY LP cabinet
Built specifically for storing LP's.
DIY Storage
The cabinet adjacent to the archway used to hold the audio equipment. It's now used to store a VPI HW 16.5 record cleaner (loud, bulky and effective). The drawers hold our cd's and dvd's. CD's mostly in the drawers. The record cleaner is readily available but out of sight.
morrow MA-4 1 meter
A little more expensive than the audioart cables, but more flexible. Sound quality is about the same, but much better than MA-1, monster cable,
Audioart IC3SE
Less expensive than the Morrows, but more bulky and less flexible. Comparable in sound.
Sony Viao VPCz1
Laptop with SSD. i5 processor. Became available for audio system when I purchased a desktop for photo processing.
Lapierre- If you live near a CrossCut Hardwood store, they have hardwood countertops that would be dimensionally stable and sufficiently sturdy for your purposes. Add the feet of your choice and you're set.
Smortega my small workshop will have one primary machine Italian 18" bandsaw plus all my handtools. Will be interesting going from workshop with Powermatic table saw, Robland Jointer/Planer, Woodmaster Drumsander, and Shaper.
System edited: I'm still experimenting with the computer files aspect of our system. The change to a windows computer was to have a better screen than the USB monitor I was using on the Mac Mini. I also wanted to use JRiver (there has to be something better than iTunes) and Spotify. There's something to like about both programs and stuff that's irritating about both. I suspect an audio specific server would be the best solution, but not at the prices for the units I've looked at.
Lapierre- I do. Mind you, I have 15-18 y.o. equipment, but I've been able to make most of my furniture and interior renovations with what I have. 4 inch thick is serious; I'd be innarested in your design. Can you post a sketch?
Watching Kings-Heat game in 2OT and just noticed your thread mentioned woodworking.
Designing a floating platform shelf 50x24x4 that will hold two or three components. Did not want to design typical three shelf rack and block my sound stage.
Do you have a dedicated workshop? Sold all my big woodworking machines. New house. New music room. Small workshop.
System edited: The audio hardware is about the same. Instead of using a HDMI LCD monitor, switched over to an USB mini screen as it is more visible than having the screen behind the turntable. The big change is the room itself. It's 7 ft higher which allows for more bookshelf space awa more window light. My biggest concern was the effect of a higher and pitched ceiling on the acoustics. Lucky, the sound seems not to have suffered. I also redid the builtin cabinet for the audio equipment to allow for eventual adding of components. Once music servers mature. I'll replace the Mac Mini source. For now it very serviceable.
Glenfihi- thanks for your feedback (also to Lapierre- lapse in acknowledgement due to watching Bulls-Heat while corresponding). Hope you've made some headway in integrating your components into the living room. Had to smile at the milkcrates. As for DIY approach, it's either time or money; if I did not enjoy woodworking so much, the cost:benefit ratio would lean more towards paying for the stuff.
Lapierre-From the online info on them, the Volents seemed to be pretty tolerant to back wall proximity and have reasonable bass for a monitor. So, when a used pair came up on A-gon, I took a chance on them and am way happy with their performance in the context of our other components and the room/placement. So, done with the hardware on this setup and focusing on building up the vinyl and CD libraries.
System edited: It's a slippery slope as I was warned. My little Totem Arro's were overwhelmed in our upstairs room. But we could not go back to using them in our main system. I was not sure how the Volents would go over with my wife- she had initially balked at the size of the Dynaudios and the Volents are bigger. Lucky for me, she was so taken with the sound and aesthetics of the Volents that she was able to get past their dimensions. The compromise was placing them closer to the wall than recommended. The MacMini/Brick combo has a bad case of digititis upstairs; luckily cure by a smaller/less acoustically difficult room and beefier components downstairs. Pure Music and an upgraded IC also helped. Finally, purchased the Bryston BCD-1 for convenience (sometimes one just wants to pop in a CD) and acceptable sound quality (Pioneer CDP suffered in comparison to our other sources). I also became a convert to the benefits of quality IC's and power cords (in a <4 figures constraint).
What a beautiful arts and crafts/mission room. I'm jealous. It's almot a shame to put stereo stuff in it. Have you considered powered speakers with some sort of wireless receiver on them (seems to me I saw somethig like that in this years RMAF coverage). Cheers
Swedesound- thanks for your suggestion. What cable are you using for the AE to DAC connection? The DAC Magic is not part of this system as the Touch's quality made it redundant. It's now being put to very good use as part of our TV setup. The SB Touch circuit presently is close to what you use. Time Capsule (serves also as NAS to secondary system) connected by 100ft Ethernet line to SB-T. DAC's that I'm looking at to improve on this are as follows: PerfectWave DAC- $2000 with a promotion allowing trading in my Pioneer CD player. Still kinda pricey, but gives the option of being used (c an extra gizmo) as a server. Eastern Electric, W4S would be used the way I used the DAC magic. I'll call the PWD to see how long the promotion lasts. I'm o/w not in a hurry to upgrade: we're pretty happy with the SB-T as is.
How about iTunes sending a signal via wi-fi to Airport Express and running an optical (via mini jack) to the DAC Magic (provided there's an optical in)? I've got that setup now with Apple Lossless files, and they're almost indistinguishable from Redbook versions in instant A-B comparisons (by switching sources on my integrated).
smortega on Opinions Please