I just threw the drivers in these temporary boxes until I can some day built something worthy of the them. Yeah the are scruffy looking for now, but I'm getting world class sound from this system.
Nuforce Reference 9 V3SE amps. Very small yet very very dynamic, these class D switching amps control drivers with incredible authority. Very powerful, fast, and detailed but natural and deep sounding amps. I've upgraded the binding posts to cardas pure copper posts and the RCA inputs to vampire pure copper inputs (more on that later), that made a very nice improvement.
My Computer I built for the front end, using USB output.
No preamp, I've found a preamp only adds color, noise, and degrades the original signal. With the right amp and voltage output of the source you should never need a preamp. If you prefer a preamp then you're using it to gloss over some other fault in your system. Well unless you have massive demanding speakers you have to run, then may have no choice and need the power.
I build my own speaker wire, I started from 15 AWG and moved up testing each size. Each size giving a noticeable improvement. The last one was a 4 AWG. I honestly thought that HAS to be thick enough. But needed some longer ones and thought I'd experiment further. So I made some 1/0 AWG speaker wires. Which is ridiculously thick. And pure copper spades. I was blown away at the improvement. It was like a whole new system. It was not subtle. I also use all copper binding posts, 6% silver solder, and all copper RCA ends. I believe removing all the brass is integral to getting world class sound and keeping the signal as pure as possible, and why thicker cable can then show such improvements in sound. I want that signal as pure as possible and no loss from the signal turning to heat from resistance. No brass, brass is horrible, just horrible for conducting a signal. It's like driving down a copper freeway in a Lamborghini and hitting a brass mud pit. The less brass and more copper the more pure the signal is able to stay. I've had wonderful and jaw dropping results with this philosophy.
For the power connectors I made my own using pure copper 10 gauge, connected to red copper IEC ends.
Interconnects I built my own, they are pure copper also. Even the end is. Which was very hard to find, everyone just seems to love to use brass for RCA ends. Solid core 15 AWG wire, I can barely bend the dang things though.
Would love to go all silver, but silver is only 5% more conductive than copper, but the price is ridiculously higher so it doesn't make economical sense for the small gain. I avoid gold plating since copper is much more conductive than gold.
I'd like to point out that before all this I've used thousands and thousands of dollars worth of interconnects and speaker wire from various companies in the past. My home made wires, interconnects, and all these copper mods I've made, blow away the sound of those, dramatically, and for far, far cheaper.
Doing all this has given me an extremely real, gigantic soundstage, that goes deep and wide, and sounds very rounded, 3D, and natural. With an extremely black background. But very lively and very dynamic. Every copper upgrade, and everything I took out of the signals path yielded greater improvements. Sounds sometimes come out into the listening area near where I'm sitting. Like Roger Waters music, some parts it's like someone is sitting next to me talking, not small or subtle either, a full life size person very clearly talking. It's a cool effect.
Conductivity of metals:
Silver - 105%
Copper - 100%
Gold - 70%
Aluminum - 61%
Nickel - 22%
Zinc - 27%
Brass - 28%
Iron - 17%
Tin - 15%
Phosphor Bronze - 15%
Lead - 7%
Nickel Alum. Bronze - 7%
Steel - 3 to 15%
