This system started when I was in college and spent more than I should have on the (newly released, bargain) Sequerra Met 7 mk. II monitors. I've been building slowly, "out and back" from that cornerstone ever since.

Back in the day, I couldn't dream of affording the modular subwoofers, tweeters, or line arrays Dick Sequerra released to fill out the frequency spectrum with the Met 7's. Thanks to the passage of time, a grownup job, and eBay, I've managed to complete the full "Futuresonics" (ha) kit, piece by piece. The 10-4 line arrays arrived a couple of weeks ago as of this writing.

Most of my back-end components are second hand or (sadly) inherited when a dear friend passed away a number of years ago. To say that this is a "low budget" system is a bit of an understatement. For a long time it was virtually no-budget.

Originally my NAD 3155 was the only amp I had. A workhorse, and not bad at all for what I paid at the time.

The ST-70 was heavily modded in the early 90's by Jim Aud at Purist Audio to run KT-88 output tubes and otherwise spiff things up. When it fell in my lap, I used the PA bypass in the NAD to make it a preamp, feeding the Dynaco.

Dick Sequerra recommended powering each box in his modular stack with its own PA channel if possible. So when the Met 8 subs and T-9 tweeters came along, I bought and built four Mark III kits from Triode Electronics, and rewired the ST-70 to use its 4 ohm tap instead of the 8 ohm. So now, the ST-70 runs the (4 O) tweeters, while the monitors and subs each have their own dedicated Mk. III, all fed from the NAD with passive line splitters. I have the 10-4 arrays wired in series with the monitors.

So, now what.

I've read that the Mets tend to be room sensitive, and I can believe it. I'm having a terrible time getting my placement right; the sweet spot isn't materializing, the speakers won't "disappear". They sound lovely but either the center doesn't gel, or it smears.

Currently, the ST-70 and two of the Mk. III's are out for repair, so the whole speaker stack is wired to a single pair of Mk. III's. It sounds okay, though a bit shallow. When they come back I'll reassess, but the NAD is starting to feel like the weak link. My soundstage is muddy, detail is wanting...

I've been gazing with longing on the Van Alstine Transcendent 8+. In the same price range, the Doge 8 gets good reviews, but I like the idea of being able to talk to the designer and access future upgrades as they happen.

Other than that, I'm sure there are low-dollar or no-dollar adjustments I could make, if only I had the slightest idea what I'm doing. So here I am, hoping for suggestions.