Not like this is my first virtual system. Not a lot of things in here are distinct from my previous system. However, I trimmed it down by almost $2k, and the sound is almost twice as good.
The room I am in now is much smaller than before. I have a room just for my stereo instead of having it in the living room. I don't want to call it my dedicated stereo room as I don't have dedicated lines or outlets.
The smaller room probably contributes to the improved sound. I am using smaller speakers than before, but these match very well with my perinneally favorite amp, the Gaincard.
Gone are all the filters. No more power conditioners or big powercords. The Eichmann AC cord does treat resonance a bit, and the powerstrip does have a passive internal EMI filter. Other than that, the AC pretty much goes straight from wall and into the powerstrip then into the rest of the system untampered.
The rest of the system all use 47 Labs' OTA wire. The DAC has been rewired with OTA wire as well as the circuit board being treated with C37 lacquer.
My next project is to hardwire the OTA wire with the speakers and bypass the binding posts.
I guess this is originally a Rega 250 design. The base is still Rega and is ugly as hell. But, good thing I don't notice it as much now that everything is installed.
Shelter 301
Silver body matches very well with the Silver tonearm. Accessorized...
Trichord Dino
MM/MC pre
NEC 6X Multispin
CD ROM used as a CDP
47 Labs Gaincard w/ Humpty
25 x 2 integrated amp with external PSU
Jean Marie Reynaud Twin MK2
Transmission line bookshelf speaker
Eichmann Technologies eXpress Power AC Cord
With the amazing resonance control technology...
Bogdan Audio AC
The original Bodgan powercord. Supposedly the second he ever made. 14 gauge pure silver conductor with Furutech hardward and PTFE/air dielectric.
47 Labs w/ Eichmann Tech. OTA w/ Bullet Plugs
One digital cord. One pair of RCA cord with two runs for return lead.
47 Labs OTA w/ NEAR SOTA wannabe OTA
Signal and return run fed with single runs of OTA wires. Another run of NEAR SOTA copper OTA wires are used to double the return lead.
Furutech etp-60 Power Strip
Power splitter with passive GC-303 filtering with 3 FP-2Gs, continious casted gold plated outlets.
BDR Racing Cones
Two MK3 and one MK4 under each speaker. Two MK4 and one MK3 under the amp. Three MK4 under the CD player.
Yeah, its definately a crouded rack. I live in a tiny studio apartment, so I am really pressed for space. That is also why the speakers are so close to the TV. I am moving to a slightly larger place in the spring and I indend on spreading things out a little. Most likely I will be putting the surface plates with the cdp and amp on the floor next to the tv stand, spread out the speakers to at least 8 feet from each other, and spread out the xbox, dvd, NAD, and cable box on the rack.
Dekay, just curious as to what area you are getting you phd in. I am a genetics phd student myself, I'm nowhere near a defence though, I'm still a first year.
just curious about what kind of DAC you are using. maybe I am missing something, but I didn't see one mentioned in your system description (just the fact that it is rewired with OTA)
yeah, i think they are all pumice. I just picked up a trio at the local drug store. They aren't nearly as brittle as I thought. They are pretty decent sized cubes. I just put some felt feet and blue tack on them. I'm still experimenting with them, but my initial impressions are positive. The woman in the drug store thought I was insane though. I just told her "don't ask"
Thanks for all the info. I was experimenting with granite under both my cd player and amp. I was thinking of coupling the components to the granite with something else , i.e. feet, cones etc. So i´ll have to give that a try. Also you should check out:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/sblocks1e.html
for a novel and almost laughable coupling device. I was thinking of giving it a try, only costs $3 each.
As for my screen name, it is after the speaker that got me into this audiophile mania: a radioshack speaker with a linaeum dipole tweeter that I had when I was about 14 or 15 years old.
I would think that the granite platforms would provide significantly better isolation than a neuance shelf. Do you plan on using them in conjunction with the granite? Or are you going to replace the granite with them? I've been experimenting with granite myself lately with pleasantly surprising results.
