SL-1210M5G modded with silicone damper and Mapleshades brass footers. Sitting on Timbernation 26x18x3 tigermaple plank, resting on Mapleshades Isoblocks.
Aesthetix Calypso
One word, incredible.
DB Systems DB-8
Esoteric pre, prolly made in the dudes basement. Whatever. I really don't have anything to comapare it to other than the stock phono section of my Carver CT-17 (sucks) and my NAD PP-2 in the garage. It is better than the PP-2.
DB Systems DB-2A
Discrete power supply for the DB-8 phono pre.
Parasound Halo JC1
ss brutes
Von Schweikert Audio VR4 Gen III HSE
bass down to 16hz. believe it.
Parasound TDQ-1600
I made some brackets and hung the fm tuner under the drawer asm. I'm not big on stacking components. Besides, it looks cool!
Magnum Dynalab ST-2
I mounted one of these in the attic to pull in an awesome rock station in an outlying area where I live. It marginally improved that station, but made a greater improvement on the strong signal stations, IMO.
Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway Mk III-XLR
1.5 meter balanced from preamp to amps-the improvement over SE is monumentel with the JC-1's.
Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway Mk III+ SE
1.0 meter from cdp to amps
Nordost Blue Heaven-SE
used on tuner, dvd and vcr
Harmonic Technology Pro-9 plus
four discrete 8' lengths bi-wiring the VR-4's, rhodium over gold plated, cryo'd, demagnetized spades.
Harmonic Technology Fantasy AC-10
I put this pc first on my JC1 monoblocks, then the Calypso preamp and lastly the CDX2 cdp. After adding the pc's in stages (with a good deal of time in between), I'd have to say that pc's are at least AS important as ic's. Good pc's are not cheap, but they are worth every penny in my book. And I was a pc skeptic for a very long time.
Furutech FP-2G
upgraded ac outlets wired to two dedicated 20amp circuits
Bell'o AVSC 2000
76w x 26h x 23d, 3/4" glass top
Aurios Pro-Max Isolation Bearings
Much more user friendly than the original Pro's...
Aurios Pro Isolation Bearings
Currently installed under JC1 monoblocks.
Hoover Precision Tungsten Carbide Balls 5/8
All components with Aurios bearings now running 5/8 balls. This pic shows the dramatic size difference between 1/2 and 5/8. Why these things make such a huge difference is unknown to me. Worth every penny.
KAB silicone damper
Cool blue and better tracking.
Littlelight L-18-LED
A must have over a TT. LED version produces beautiful white light and soft red light as well.
Littlelight L-3/18
Halogen version.
Herbie's Audio Lab Big Black Dots
four 1" dots used between m/t and woofer modules. Huge improvement over stock rubber footers.
Absolute Black Granite Slabs
25x16x3/4, soft rounded edges/corners and polished. I had these made so that I could try different isolation devices under my speakers.
Herbie's Hal-O Tube Dampeners
Used on the gain and output tubes on the Calypso pre. Do they help? Not sure, made too many other changes when these were installed. But at $10 bucks a pop...
Shaw Area Rugs
Two 8'x11' area rugs, one on front wall, one on back wall serving dual purpose, acoustics and aesthetics.
Echo Busters Absorption panel
4'x12
Echo Busters Corner Busters
Triangular absorption panels 15"x15"x15"
ASC Studio Traps
One side absorbs treble, the other side diffuses it.
I really enjoyed looking at your great gear and room! Looks to me like you really thought it all out and are getting the most out of it! Happy listening and safe riding!
Robnichols, thank you for the compliment. Still enjoying this system "as is" with one exception. I picked up a set of SE Prosilway Mk III+ for cdp to preamp sometime ago; made a smidge of improvement. But sometimes just a dab will do ya...
Thank you kindly for the compliments. I don't consider myself O/C, but my friends inform me otherwise.
Actually, I have put together a mini home theater of sorts in my bedroom. I finally moved from CRT to a Sony 46" XBR4. Man do I love that TV. I say sort of because I'm not doing surround, but rather 2.1. Yammy receiver, PSB Alpha mini's, PSB 5i sub, and Sony DVD. I will post a third system when I get around to hanging (another) rug behind the TV. But it's a rockin' lil' system for both music and movies, and the viewing distance from the bed just happens to be the optimum distance, so the picture is amazing.
I just looked at my receipt for the sectional. I paid $3700 for it in '90. I remember it was a big decision for me at the time ($$$$), but I knew I would have it for the rest of my life. It has an "armless" chair in it allowing for different configs for different rooms. It is in the 8'x12' config as you see it, but can also be config'd as 10'x10' or 8'x10'(w/chair removed). The stiching on the rear of this unit is frigging gorgeous! But alas, the room does not support a "float" config. I will just say that being up against the rear wall provides maximum bass slam, even 2-3" makes a difference. And I am a a member of BAA, bassaholics anonymous!
The "F" the TV reference is because there used to be a CRT TV perched where the TT now resides.
Your system and your home looks so neat, clean, symmetrical, and functional. I am a bit O/C and have to have everything so-so or it drives me batty. I like neatness and appearance as much as I do the beautiful music reproduction.
I know you are not into the H/T side by the title of your post but I do thoroughly enjoy watching a great concert DVD, a great movie, or anything that has a well engineered and produced soundtrack.
I never cared much about sitting and watching until I REALLY upgraded my to my current system. It takes an "old hat" disc and puts an entirely different spin (pun intended) on it. It's as though you give it new life and a whole new dimension.
I like your sectional, and I too, went with a sectional as the focal point of my room as much as the H/T and audio system were. My room shape and size allowed me to "float my sectional out into the room about 6 feet which got me closer to my music and plasma panel. It also allowed me to utilize the space behind it and give the room a more cozy feeling of togetherness without being crowded. The sectional is 158" across the back and extends out about 120+ inches. My "throne" is the chaise portion where I can kick back, chill, and enjoy.
Kudos to you for having such a gorgeous place and extremely nice set up.
The Harley's are a real nice touch too, hence, "F" the TV!
Shadorne, I am a bass junkie & prefer my back against the wall as this provides the most impact. I have pulled the couch out 3-4" and didn't care for it.
Awesome setup. You have a large space - it looks great. Have you considered that sitting with your back to a wall is a shame with such an awesome system. Just a small change in layout would indeed bring "perfection".
System edited: Added the AT150MLX which replaced the AT440MLa (which moved into garage rig),,, quite nice for an mm cart and hard-to-beat price. I have no desires to move into the mc arena as I'm just "having fun" with all my old LP's (and some new ones) and don't want to get too serious with it.
Cmk, Thank you for the thoughtful compliment. I'm using a AT440MLa. I think it's a pretty decent little cart, but I am interested in upgrading (within the mm realm). Just not sure which way to go with it at this time. No, I really didn't consider the Isonoe footers. I wanted to lock or "sink" the deck with the bb slab. It works very well. At rock concert volume levels I get absolutely no feedback.
French_fries, So sorry to hear that you HATE motorcycles; pretty strong statement, and prolly one better kept to yourself rather than tarnishing my system thread with such a negative comment. A properly tuned Harley-Davidson with the right pipes is music to these ears, but I digress. At highway speeds I use custom made molded ear plugs that corkscrew into the ear, they can not fall out or blow out. This is how I preserve my hearing. But around town, I listen to the music that these wonderful machines produce, sans earplugs. I have a TV in my bedroom on a cart that I can roll out and hook up to video/audio in about 5mins, but will eventually do a flatpanel, and prolly punch right through that rug to mount it. And of course the room acoustics are not perfect, but I have tuned the room to the best of my abilities while trying to maintain a tasteful living space.
Lonergan2468, Just one of the reasons I moved to Arizona, more house for your money (7 years ago anyway). Also trying to show that your audio space doesn't have to look like an anechoic chamber.
the rugs look outstanding. i think harley's make 5X more noise than they should, coming from someone who hates motorcycles. but that is a great looking bike, i'll give you that. but... what does that beast do to your hearing?? anyway, i am really impressed by the fact that you actually believe in having a furnished room to listen to music in. i doubt your acoustics are perfect, but i'll bet they're way up there as you sink into the couch and hit the remote. btw, if you miss TV or video you can always put a dvd into your laptop. and you can get the "news" from the post or the times on the same machine. there are days i don't even put the tv set on. although, i do miss the one ad with the twin girls, one of them "suffers" from astigmatism.
You're welcome and thanks so much for the kind words.
Great to hear that you're getting the most out of the JC-1s. Just had a second look at all the treatments - really lovely the way they blend in and do not call so much attention to themselves. Certainly must have taken you a lot of time with that much attention to detail - simply off the charts.
Looking at your ride there, it seems this trait carries through to whatever you set your mind to. It's no wonder the HD is a hit all around - even when or if folks are not whatever we may be into, people always appreciate a work of art and the obvious time and effort that went into.
Again, well done from one proud American (in Hong Kong) to another. Merry Christmas.
Garryh, thank you very much, and in looking at your system pics, it is obvious that you are a man with impeccable taste as well.
The entire system is quite astonishing, but I want to comment further on the JC-1's. I have recently discovered that these amps are much better than I originally thought. The low bias circuitry is more than broken in, but I had only been using the amps occasionally at low volume levels in high bias mode, (which is awesome) but they seem to get congested when pushed to high volume levels in high bias. Well, I've been racking up many hours in high bias mode lately, and it has become obvious to me that the class A circuitry was never really broken in. I now can crank the living hell out of this mutha, in high bias, without any congestion. I now always run them in high bias mode. Wonderful amps.
The tuner is hung from the drawer unit of the rack. I modded four brackets and painted them black. The couch color is actually a subtle cordovan.
The base color of the bike is House of Kolor Candy Brandywine. I have countless hours of labor (not to mention $$$$) into that machine, and it generates attention everywhere I go with it, from young children to elderly folk (and the ladies are quite fond of it as well)(hehe). Trust me, that compressed pic does not do it justice. H-D's make me very proud to be an American.
Don't know where to start, the Naim front end, Parasound amplication, the VR4 HSEs - just lovely. Great job on the tuner and very cool - it looks like it's just floating there. BTW that chocolate couch looks especially tasty as does that candy apple red custom Harley . . . dual gas tanks and billet like handlebar grips - that is just (wonderfully) over the top.
You know what you need for Christmas . . . absolutely nothing :))!
System edited: TV be gone! Started playing w/vinyl in the garage, tried it in the house, and liked it. So, I bought another Technics deck. Most will poo-poo the Tech deck, but I just want to have fun with vinyl, not looking to dump endless amounts of $$$$ into a TT setup. But I'll tell you, it's pretty damn good. I'll go as far to say that I didn't know vinyl could sound this good. Of course, it's all based on the recording though. I get absolutely no feedback into this tt, even at rock concert volume levels, which just amazes me. Putting the speaks on bearings was a major improvement. I highly recommend it if it is possible in your room.
Hamish_mct, when I decided to have some slabs cut to facilitate running different footers, I had also thought (as an added bonus) it would be an easy way to move the speakers around on carpet. Wrong. They don't polish the underside, duh! So, sliding them around rightside up was next to impossible. I had to invert the slabs (rough side up) so I could slide the speaks around finding the right spot then put masking tape on the carpet to mark the spot. But your idea of felting the underside of a slab so you can slide the speaks around on hardwood floors is a great idea, imo. I was easily able to slide mine around on carpet with finished side down, so it should be just as easy on hardwood.
Check out this link I'm including to some incredible systems and rooms in Korea. This is where I got the idea to do slabs. You will see many granite slabs on hardwood on this site.
This sounds really interesting. I have the VR-4SR MkII and am in love with them. Sometimes I like to reconfigure the room to really get into it. Besides moving the furniture around a bit I pull the speakers another 18" into the room. My listening room doubles as a living room. Right now the spkrs are on spikes and so that is not a move I like making. The room is 2nd floor and oak h'wood. So I like the idea of the granite slabs and black dots (I already ordered some for between the m/t and bass). I'm thinking of putting another set of b dots between the speakers and granite, and felt under the granite so I could easily slide the speakers. Any thoughts? Also am using Naim front end and HT cabling, so I like your choices!
Your set up looks great. I especially like the textiles on the wall! Could you tell a major improvement with the corner busters? Please review my system and let me know if you agree that I would benefit from the corner buster or any other room treatment. The corner buster seems inexpensive and relatively unobtrusive, so I'll probably get a set. In my system, the wall you can't see has no windows, with two solid wood french doors opening into a long coat closet.
System edited: I've added granite slabs under the speakers. Since Herbies Big Black Dots worked so well between m/t and woofer mods, I had eight custom cut to 1.75" so that they would fit perfectly in the top recessed section of Aurios Pro-Max. I may try that combo some day, but it sounds so good on the dots on granite that I'm going to leave well enough alone for the time being. Just more of the same, more detail, tighter bass, very focused image. There is a considerable decrease in woofer module vibration on dots over spikes. Tweeters not too high and black dots can not be seen which gives the illusion of speakers hoovering over the granite slabs.
System edited: I added a brand new Naim XPS2 around the beginning of November and have been waiting for it to break-in before commenting. Hearing detail in my music never before realized with minor details coming out of the woodwork, cymbals much more realistic, female vocals more lush, tighter bass. And it just keeps getting better, which leads me to believe that it is not fully opened up yet. As a bonus, no additional pc was needed as the CDX2 gets all of it's power via the XPS2. But I added a tweak last week that is completely blowing my mind. Herbie's Audio Lab Big Black Dots 1". I put four between the m/t and woofer modules on my VR-4's. I had never used anything but the stock hard rubber pads. What a frigging joke! $61.20! This hobby just continues to amaze. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that these black dots are akin to a component change. Apparantly, that m/t module picks up major vibration (duh) from the woofer mod, hence, smearing the image. I'm getting a considerable amount of more headroom, which is easily tracked with the Calypso volume control. If you own these speakers, or any VSA speaker with separate modules, buy these dots. I was very skeptical when I put them in, but with a 90 day full refund, you have nothing to lose. I'm having granite slabs made for my speakers, and am going to try floating them with Aurios Pro-Max iso bearings. I hope it yields results like the black dots. If not I will either spike the speaks to slabs with Audiopoint disc's in between, or I may try larger black dots.
