This is my first real audio-only system. It is in my living room, which is open to half the house. The pics don't really show it but the ceiling over the living room is vaulted and the room is open to the loft (above and behind the listener) and the dining room (behind the listener).
The sweet spot is the center seat on the couch in the foreground. You have to lean forward a little for best sound.
My music tastes are eclectic but heavily weighted to bluegrass / folk/ acoustic and female vocalists. About the only genre I don't listen to is hard metal.
Obviously at this point it is as much of a collection as it is a system but I am OK with that. All these components are well thought of, and several are very rare and hard to find.
A little old now (built 1995) but still a good player. Built like a tank!
Sony ST-SA5es
Very nice tuner
Sony Sony MDS-JA50ES minidisc deck
TOTL minidisc deck. Build quality is almost as good as the XA7ES CD player (it is about equal to the XA50ES). It also can be used as a DAC, which is how I mostly use it, using the Onkyo dock as the source.
Sony DTC-ZA5ES DAT Deck
Last ES DAT deck, made when it was clear that DAT was not going to make it. A decent piece but not as good as its predecessors.
Sony TA-E90ES preamp
MOSFET preamp - simple with no tone or balance controls. Stock volume pot was damaged so I replaced it with a motorized ALPS blue velvet pot.
Sony TA-N80ES
200 WPC bipolar powerhouse. Back in the day all the major Japanese electronic companies had 200 watt amps and Sony was no exception. Amps have been recapped and modded.
Cambre Timbre rack
4 shelf rack - I modified it to give more room above my amps. Currently it is beyond its capacity as I have 9 components stacked on it! Eventually I will be looking for something bigger.
Harrison Labs 12 dB attenuators
Two pairs are in use - one between the CDP and preamp, and one on the inputs of the amp that drives the mids and highs (level control for the bass is accomplished via the active crossover)
DIY 12 gauge biwire cables
Conducter is mil spec 12 gauge silver plated copper, teflon insulated. I twisted the wires up into a twisted pair then twisted two pairs in the opposite direction to form a four conductor bundle. I added heat shrink tubing and techflex sleeve for cosmetics. Termination is Nakamichi bananas on the speaker end, nude on amp end.
Terk FM+ antenna
Cheap little FM antenna but it works as well or better than any other indoor antenna I have tried.
Sony RM-AV2100 Remote control
A little old fashioned and clunky looking but you can get them cheap and they are very versatile.
Tripp Lite power strip 10 outlet
Rewired with hospital grade receptacles and power switch and breaker bypassed. all plugs have been replaced with Leviton 8215-C connectors.
Sony SS-M9
Top of the line tower speaker designed by Dan Anagnos
Well Mark, I know your system looks great, now I can't wait to hear it! I'll have to get over to listen to some bluegrass. By the way, the stands work great. I haven't tried the slab yet, i'll be setting that up later. Thanks.
I'm just going to give a nod to donjr's post. Doing all of those things made my system sound like I had just purchased a new setup. I love and hate the fact that I was fourtunate enough to get Sumiko Master trained.
I did have it set up as you suggested but for domestic reasons I had to change it to the current configuration. It is going to have to stay the way it is through the holidays but after the tree comes down I will lobby to put it back the way it was.
It definitely sounded better with the speakers in front of the bookcases.
I would pull your rack away from the wall more. I pulled mine away 12" so air could circulate around the back and it worked very well. I know it's not ideal, but in the name of music, it's worth it. I would also move your bookshelves in to the sides of the fireplace and move your speakers in front of them. Books are some of the best bass traps on ever made. By doing this, you have more room to pull your rack away from the wall without it blocking the bookshelves. The way your speakers are stuffed in there does not bring out the best in them. I've recently made changes similar to this, and my wife is not happy with me. She will however admit the these changes are highly audible.
