It occurred to me the other day that I don't think this qualifies as "budget" anymore. I recently added the Emotive Audio Poeta preamp, and finally have the sound I've been looking for. Combined with the V12 and the Spendors the system has great scale, detail and soundstage depth. It's warm sounding, but not syrupy. The Poeta also added really full bass without going all flabby the way some tube sets do. Bass notes sound like basses. It's just great. I'm also told that new baby precludes the purchase of any more kit for the next 18 years, so it's a good thing I'm happy with it.
There is no other piece of gear I've ever put in my system that made a bigger difference than this preamp. Incredible detail, scale, and dimensionality. You could easily build an entire system off the Poeta.
Cary Audio Design CAD-280 V12R
It definitely warms the room in july, but it really sounds sublime with the Poeta. Easily the most powerful 50 watts I've ever heard, and it should be with 70 lbs of transformers built in.
Spendor S8e
I've had these for about eight years now, and they're the one piece of equipment that I've never wanted to change. Every improvement I've put into this system the S8e's have been able to keep up with. They lack the last bit of bass, but they're very satisfying none-the-less.
Sota Star Sapphire
No reason to reinvent the wheel.
LAT & Nordost Various
ICs are Nordost Blue Heavens of various vintages. Speaker cables are LAT International SS1000 mk II which are very smooth with great resolution. Whenever I have another grand lying around I'll get the matching ICs. Almost forgot the Cullen Power Cables. Cheap and excellent at about $125 each. Can't beat them.
Margot Baby
Ain't she cute?
Audio-Technica USA AT-0C9
Another hi-fi bargain
Project Tube Box
Not the last word in resolution or extension, but a very enjoyable presentation.
PS Audio Ultimate Outlet
Another bargain piece
Cambridge Audio 850C
A component that definitely fights about its price range.
Not an equipment change, but I've been playing with speaker positioning since I got the new pre-amp. With my previous gear I had to keep the speakers toed in to cross about four feet behind me. Any tighter angle than that and the soundstage just got tiny. With the Poeta running the speakers in the same position I had: first, a very diffuse, ill-defined soundstage, often with a soft spot in the middle; and second a lot of top end glare. So I started experimenting with toe-in and wound up with the speaker axis crossing about two feet *in front* of my listening chair. Sibilance is (mostly) tamed - allowing for the odd glaring recording - and the sound stage became much more focussed without shrinking to the size of a shoe-box diorama. Of course, my wife thinks I'm loopy moving speaker angles around a half an inch at a pop, but she'll live.
Yes she is cute. But.....shield your tubes, keep turntable high and fingers away from woofers and tweeters in the times to come. Happy listening, when you can.
Cabinet is a stock Ethan Allan piece. Solid ash, very sturdy. It's actually rather difficult to find a cabinet with three doors that all actually fit equipment.
Good looking system, Grimace. Would love to be able to hear it. On a lighter note, the photo "Jump" is what?... a reference to Steely Dan's "Black Friday" or a suggestion that current business execs. follow the suicide examples occasioned by the stock market crash of the Great Depression? Just curious. Hey, it's comforting to know we've got a genius in the Oval Office gonna fix it for all of us. Can't wait.
