It's almost 2 different systems sharing a preamp and speakers. I keep the video and audio stuff isolated from eachother completely so as not to compromise on the audio side. 2 dedicated circuits. 1 for audio, one for video. When building the surround setup, it was optimized for multichannel music - the benefit on film soundtracks is just a bonus. (plus, it's cool to tell your friends when watching the Lord of the Rings DVDs that the soundtracks were mastered and mixed using the same speakers) The sound is nothing short of fantastic. The Meitner combo, i feel is among the finest sources available, regardless of price. Those who remember my system before will notice that my Teres 265 table, SME V arm and VdH Colibri are gone. The reason? Because I firmly believe that with quality Redbook CDs, the Meitner combo equals the sound of the LPs. And on well-recorded SACDs, the sound surpasses the quality of my old TT rig. Those who haven't heard the Meitner combo - I highly recommend hearing it. There's *way* more information on those CDs than you ever thought there was! The dynamics are explosive and the transients and decays are so natural, you'd think you were listening to pristine vinyl - were it not for the absence of clicks and pops. The atc all active surround 5.1 setup (except for the linn active sub, which i don't use for 2-channel) along with the Meitner combo is nearly identical to what sony uses to demonstrate SACD, and that Telarc uses to master their recordings. They (the ATCs) are neutral, dynamic, accurate, transparent, clean, clear, coherent, and LOUD when necessary. For room tratments, I use Auralex diffusors, absorbers, and bass traps in the corners. Anyone looking for reasonably-priced room treatments shuld look. They are used in recording studios all over the place, and have a more industrial-type look to them. They're not ugly, but they're not as pretty as some of the more expensive room-control products. They are, however, extremely effective. For multichannel music, I use no bass management at all - all speakers are run full range, except for the Linn sub. The linn sub is crossed over internally at 40hz and is turned way down, only gently augmenting where the 50s start to roll-off. It mixes so well that sometimes I have to put my hand on it to make sure it's playing. :-) Anyhoo, that pretty well does it. Thanks for reading and lemme know whatcha think!
gets clocked from DAC6 and upsanmples regular CD to double SACD sampling rate. easily better than the Philips.
Emmlabs Dac6
6-Channel DSD/PCM dac. 2-channel CDDA converted to DSD before processing.
Emmlabs Switchman mk3
6-channel, balanced analogue-only preamp. Receives multichannel inputs from the Dac6 (CD, DAD and SACD)and the Sunfire (DD, DTS)
ATC SCM 50asl - custom walnut finish
3-way, fully active, 700 watts. more free of coloration than any full-range speaker i've ever heard. superb resolution and dynamics. also internally hardwired with DNM solid-core speaker cable.
ATC SCM 50asl (used for center)
on loan from my brother. replaces an SCM-10 Active. having identical channels across the front is a HUGE deal.
ATC SCM-50 asl (pair for surrounds)
finally have active 50s in the back as well! 5 identical full-range multichannel! hells yeah!
Denon DVD-1600 for DVD-A and DVD-V
DVD player, no chroma bug, progressive scan, DVD-A.
Pioneer DVL-? Laserdisc
Laserdisc player, DTS/AC-3 out
Nakamichi RF Demodulator
For AC3 decoding from laserdisc
Panasonic PTAE-900U Projector
Front digital projector, shining on a 96" screen. 720p HD.
Sunfire Theater Grand III (processing only)
surround processor. only being used for video switching (dvd, cable, laserdisc, games, etc) and DD/DTS/DPL processing. No music sources pass through it.
Boston Acoustics - (for 7.1) VR-MX
bipolar speakers for surround-rear effects. (dolby EX, dts ES) again, movies only.
RCA small 2-channel amp for surr back
stricty for the surround-back speakers. (very few movies actually utilise this feature, so it's not necessary to have a high-quality amp here)
DNM Reson Solid Core Interconnects
solid core, non-braided interconnects. fast, transparent, musical, inexpensive (in comparison, anyway) terminated with eichmann bullet plugs on rca terminations and neutrik xlr's where necessary
Mana Acoustics for the 2-channel stuff
mana improves anything you put on it. it's the weirdest thing i've ever experienced.
Linn Sizmik
Beautiful, accurate, incredibly versatile. not used in 2-channel.
she's trying to sharpen her non-existent claws on it. :-) back when i got her, i didn't know how awful declawing cats really is. my other kitty, who was off sleeping while the pics were being taken has her claws (and only 3 legs), but she's been trained to use the kitty-condo-bass-trap for sharpenings.
>Lazarus28 the pics are not lousy, and no wonder you like the sound of this system, i mean the components are made to deliver. congrats and thanx for the pictures.
System edited: you all know that i hate hyperbole, but the CDSD is the best component ever. only kidding. but, the CDSD is truly a step above the modified philips. the timbre of instruments and the spatial cues that the DAC6 does so well are truly brought to a new level with the CDSD. i wouldn't have believed it. i've never heard harmonica and cymbals sound so real. not on any format. the only disappointing thing is that you can really start to hear the difference between CD and SACD. cds on this thing sound as good and in a lot of cases better than any vinyl i've ever heard. SACD sounds real. i mean, real. a well recorded SACD (after all, recording matters more than format) is just jaw-dropping. whatever Ed Meitner did when making the CDSD is some sort of amazing. (to paraphrase to Andreas Koch, they sought out and eliminated all things in the circuitry that negatively affected sound) this guy really is an amazing engineer and he knows what he's doing. the proof is in my living room.
System edited: finally updating the fact that the active 10s have been replaced by active 50s! now i have the same 5 speakers all around. pics will be added soon.
>Lazarus28 what a great rig you have - my dream system, especially ATC stuff although i'll rather stick to stereo. any chances of you posting some pictures of this setup?
Thanx Lazarus and vinush for your responses.I am thinking about emm front end(dac 6e/swtmn 2/cdsd)-I hear that the Meridian 861/trifield with the Reimyo cdp is much better.I also have a stage 2 vsei modded sony scd-1 that I can upgrade to stage 4 and use with the 861.At present I have a Levinson 380s pre.Any thoughts?
Lazarus28 I'm using balanced out of my pre-amp, with a 9 meter pair of IC's so I was hoping that I would not have to replace them!!! For obvious reasons. I'm really looking forward to hearing a good active speaker. I had a pair of Paradigm active 20's, but they were way too small. This should be great!
nreddy - yes, yes, and yes. i think the emm front end is the best i've ever heard. i've never heard any of the super esoteric preamps, though. my pream before the EMM was the larger ATC preamp, and they sound virtually identical. i doubt i'd be able to tell a difference between the two in a blind shootout. the EMM is more expensive, but it's also 6-channel. comparing it to the ATC is a compilent, though, as the ATC and EMM are the most neutral pres i've ever heard.
as for the firewire - yeah. i'm using the three glass optilink cables between the APL/EMM SACD-1000 and the DAC6. one goes from the DAC to the trasport to clock the transport using the clock of the DAC. one goes from the transport to DAC with the returning clock information. the last one goes from the transport to the DAC with the DSD data stream. the DAC then decodes it and outputs it to the preamp.
and mana stands are really wonderful. they do the most for turntables, though. the difference with other devices is present, but not huge. it all depends on how sensitive the device is to vibrations. the first time i heard mana was a side-by-side demonstration where i heard a new order LP on a linn lp12. i first heard it on a coffee table. then he picked up the tabe and set it on a mana stand and played the same track. it was quite amazing.
I made an offer on the speakers. His ad says they have the new tweeter and front baffle. I'm looking forward to hearing what a good pair of active speakers can do. Thanks for the recommendation. Do the ATC's have balanced inputs? All in all you're a pretty decent guy!
nrchy - i can't recommend them highly enough. i've used and heard some very highly-rated speakers over the years, and i've neve been as wholly satisfied with anything as i am with the ATCs. i've heard some lowther-based speakers that got the middle of midrange down a little better than the ATCs, but at the sacrifice of having no bass response to speak of, and also that upper-midrange honk that many lowthers have. and they don't have the sparkle at the extreme top of the spectrum that the best electrostats have have. what they do successfully, however, is the coherency from top-to-bottom of the spectrum. and, all in all, i don't think you'll find a better midrange driver anywhere.
also, ask they guy you're buying them from if they have the new tweeter/baffle. i had mine upgraded and the new tweeter is audibly better.
i really don't think you can go wrong with 'em. you'll enjoy.
and also, getting the ATCs effectively ended my constant upgradeitis for speakers, which speaks wonders.
Lazarus28 I have been considering the ATC SCM 50asl for a while and have e-mailed a guy who has a pair for sale. What would be your recommendation now that you've had them for quite a while?
