This system has to fit into a real living room that has a real family using it and our Labrador in the evenings. My children are older and are trained in the ways of hifi so it does not get abused. Everything is protected and cleaned regularly. I like the ability for my whole family to enjoy music, video and be able to hear what quality is. It is turned on in the morning and usually gets shut down at midnight. I have tons of tubes and they get rotated through monthly to keep the NOS from to many hours. I buy and sell, so amps and preamps get upgraded as time moves on.
My classic gear is Dynaco, Hafler and AR that I will not sell and use it occasionally in a rotation as new stuff comes and goes...
Nice premp, modified. Left "on" 24/7. Work horse. I mod. it, then listen for 6 -12 mo., then mod again. It sits on 3 cute gold cones. It always works, dangit. Mods coming: outboard PS, volume, etc.
Emotive Audio Erato
I truly lovely preamp that is so excellent to listen to. It makes the whole system sound better. The 27 tubes are so cool, I have collected about 25 of them, some blue Arcturus. Tubes change things up, like trying different topping on good ice cream... Used occasionally on the weekends.
Audio Matiere Audiomat Arpege Reference
Beautifully built with sound that is natural and seductive.
Hafler DH-200
Upgraded by me. Set bias a little higher. I use two of these, one for each speaker, not bridged. Just plugged into one channel, that way the damping factor doesn't drop with bridging. Also, the Vandy's operate at 4 ohm so the drop in bridged mode would make the 200 operate at 2 ohm - it would not be happy.
Sansui TU-9900
My third TU-990O, unmodified. Sooo much better than XM, I wish FM had the jazz and blues that XM has though. Still working everyday.
Sony DVP-S9000es
A good built like a tank CD player with the added benefit of excellent SACD and DVD progressive playback. OK, so the DVD has crapped out. Still a great SACD player...
MSB Technology Gold Link mkIII
Channel Islands and 192k upgrade using a modified Monolithic power supply. So much better than the original signal... I like these so much I bought another, other mods by self.
Acoustic Research XA
I still need to set it up... currently mounted with all original parts.
Vandersteen 3a
I don't "notice" these speakers, debating about the upgrade to Sig. Other speakers I own are Vandy 2C and mostly classic AR (3A, 2A, LST/2). Oh yea, a pair of restored The Advents.
Dynaco Mark IIIa
These are upgraded with new boards, original circuits. Fine amps. Waiting for cool weather, it's Texas!
Revox B-77 quarter track
Nice deck, original. Not in use at the moment.
Harman Kardon Citation 1
Excellent pre that sounds better than most. Currently out of rotation for upgrades after the all original finally died.
Harman Kardon Citation 2 SOLD
McShane mods done by Mike Samra. I have added Cardas inputs. Exceptional. I have another waiting to be restored...
Countryslice, add some pics of that citation. I am curious. I love the family envolvement and you keeping it real! Hopefully your kids will not grow up thinking an MP3 is all the rage. I do have a seperate room but my (2) boys are welcome anytime. They like the Flaming Lips, Devo and John Hiatt. We are all digging vinyl now, although it doesn't sound nearly as good as my cdp. Probably has something to do how much $$$ I am willing to dump into the record playback v.s. the cdp playback!
Dynaco, Hafler & AR . . . Ah, these are the roots of our wonderful hobby. You've got game my friend.
