Using this piece as my DAC/surround processor. Clean relaxed sound...
Spectron Premiere Signature
Simply incredible at everything. 7-channels of pure sonic bliss.
Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Reference 3.5
Kind of looks the same as the 3.1, but it eclipses the sound of the old speaker by a large margin.
Gallo Acoustics Reference Strada Center
Switched from the Reference A/V to this speaker when I upgraded to the Reference 3.5s.
Running Springs Audio Danielle
This fantastic power conditioner may be too fantastic. It revealed so many flaws in my other gear, it took a long time to make things listenable again! Though now things do sound much better.
Empirical Audio Off-Ramp Turbo 2
Great USB/SPDIF converter, playing lossless audio off my PC, upsampled with Foobar. Still using the stock wall wart...
Jade Audio Hybrid Gold interconnects
Wow. Spot on tonality, holographic decay, extended highs, articulate bass. Like a sonic looking glass! I have these cables on my front three channels.
Jade Audio Digital Vermeil interconnect
Got this cable with Furutech Rhodium plugs. Much smoother and less treble-heavy than my previous Stereovox XV2!
Spectron Remote Sense speaker cables
Supposedly these cables make speaker cables a non-issue. I have upgraded them with Furutech spades (rhodium on the positive leads and gold on the negatives).
DCCA Audio Reference Master
DCCA and Running Springs Audio are like peanut butter and jelly!
DCCA Audio Source power cable
This cable is plugged into my Meridian 568. The highs and midrange sound incredibly realistic with this cable.
Fusion Audio Predator power cables
I've got two of these on my Spectron Premiere. I'm floored by their speed, clarity, neutrality, and lack of that lean sound often associated with these characteristics. Awesome!
Herbie's Audio Lab Iso-Cup
These currently reside underneath my Meridian processor. I'm using two Picture Jasper balls under the front center and back right of the component, and a Lampblack ball under the back right.
Symposium Rollerblock 2
I've got these under my Spectron Premiere amplifier.
ATS Acoustics 2 inch acoustic panels
Inexpensive, nicely made acoustic panels. I've got them on the wall behind my main speakers and on the wall behind my listening position.
Porterhouse Audio Porter Port
Nice high quality AC outlet without a high quality price!
System edited: In an effort to eradicate some midbass muddiness, I've recently replaced the VH Audio Flavor 4s that were on my amp with Fusion Audio Predators. It wasn't even a contest! The bass is tighter and more defined, and all the midbass textures I was struggling to hear are now audible. The treble is more extended now as well, though I'm not sure this is a blessing, as bad recordings have become, well, badder! I'm now considering adding some tubes to my system to sweeten it a bit. Perhaps an Audio Horizons Tube Buffer? And I'm still riding the interconnect merry-go-round... I'm currently borrowing a pair of Jade Audio Pure Gold cables, and I'm getting some KCI Silkworms to try as well... It never ends!
I've been playing with audio equipment for at least a decade, but I'd say I seriously started building this system when I bought some Newform Research R630s about 5 years ago. Their ribbons are so transparent, I was immediately clobbered with harsh treble I couldn't stand! Of course rather than get rid of the speakers, I just started changing all the upstream components and cables. Since then, every single piece of my system has gone through at least one change. I'm finally at the point where I'm almost happy with my sound... So now I'm playing with tweaks like cables and footers.
Can I tell a difference in the sound with different footers? Definitely, but sometimes the differences are subtle. Even putting balls made of different material in the Herbie's Audio Lab Iso-Cups (ie ebony vs plastic) has an effect on the sound. I can tell you that I put some Symposium Rollerblock Jrs. underneath my Meridian processor, and the sound changed for the worse. While the bass got louder and tighter, the treble became too prominent for my tastes. A Symposium Svelte shelf under the processor made things sound a little lifeless. Now I'm considering getting an FIM Maple platform with rollerbearings for the processor, as it supposedly combines the organic sound of maple with the speed and definition of roller bearings, but I think I might wait till I get my amplifier power cables sorted out first!
Anyhow, I'd definitely play around with different types of footers. But in my experience cables have a bigger impact on sound, so I would get those straightened out first, and leave the footers to fine tuning.
Electro77, how long have you been building this system , have you upgraded as you went along. Dont worry we are all ways indebt finding ,new tweaks to improve our systems, I need to find out about footers can you really tell a big improvement in the sound, I dont have any in my system.
