System includes Sonus Faber Stradivari with McIntosh components. I was driving the system from the 2nd zone of a McIntosh MX132 (Which is upstairs in our TV Room-Required 100 Foot of Speaker Cable), until I borrowed the Pre C45 from my Mac Dealer. I have just ordered a Tube Mcintosh Pre C220, and am going to see which is better the Solid State or Tube Pre-Amp.
System is very Musical, and powerful enough to drive the Room, which is a 2 Story Space with Hard Surfaces, ie Glass and Stone Floors. The Irregular Shape of the Room, which is very Open helps by not creating any reflections or Standing Waves. The system is warm and exceedingly Musical. Wife loves the Music. Looking for a Piece of Furniture to put the McIntosh Components into it.(I know that would be Blasphemy). The Look of the components was very important to the design of the Room.
Your listening room has a nice ambient (such a beautiful setting, especially the high ceiling counter with the high glass wall). The Sonus Faber Strads looks beautiful in that living room! The Mac gears matches well with the Strads?
The Sumiko Rep (Sonus Faber) dialed them in, took about 2 hours. They are out to just barely not touching the rug. The 1st pictures is not their final location.
There is no echo, because of the tall ceilings, drop to lower ceilings, curved glass wall, and the other two walls or lack thereof are open to the kitchen and entry hall, ie no parallel walls at all.
Saw your system with Mac Mini, Trying to decide to go that route, or a server like Sooloos. Sooloos Interface is to die for, or so they say. I've had two reps say Sooloos interface is the best, (they don't rep it.) And I don't want to spend all my time messing with Itunes. I don't have an I-pod.
You probably have one of the most picturesque rooms in all of Audiogon! Good work. Just wondering if you're having any ill effects from the SF's so close to the wall. What about echo?
System edited: Just added a Benchmark Dac 1 USB, hasn't settled in yet. Love the Balance of the sound...Trying with and without the Mac Pre. I got this so I can work on bulding a music server system.
Incredibly beautiful room! If I had my pick of rooms on this site, yours might be it.
The Stradivaris are awesome speaks, but I would love to hear a pair of good omnis in your particular room.
Ever consider Ohm, Morrison, Dueval, MBL or German Physik?
There's a system on this site with a multi story room like yours. That listener (with deep pockets) went with German Physiks, which to me was a very insightful approach. Good omni designs should really shine in a large room like yours and enable optimal listening from multiple locations as well.
Which to upgrade next, preamp or cd player????...or maybe the dog........
You could try placing the speakers with their back to the double height wall of glass. I don't see blinds/curtains to absorb/disperse and that is a whole lot of highly reflective glass...just a thought. That is what I did in that situation.
A little slice of heaven!! Would love to listen to Handel Messiah and the Hallelujah chorus on that system with a nice glass of wine. For now, I've got to settle for my PC speakers and a bottle of beer!
Oh my, you've out done yourself - the relocation of your equipment completes the picture. Well done and very discreet (I am now giving you a standing ovation). Beautiful digs, BTW.
2nd Bojack's comment about the dog - brings new meaning to "it's a dog's life".
There's this 43 year old kid, originally from the US now living in Hong Kong / China, whom desperately needs a good audiophiled home such as yours. I ... um, er, he is house broken, well able at changing lightbulbs in high ceilings, and speaks proper English too. Kindly give some thought to adopting me, I mean, uh, him - think of all the good you could do :))
Gotta love Houston! When I lived in SugarLand we had a room like that (more than double height with balconies across between bedrooms and overlooking the pool). The light from the pool was wonderful playing on the ceilings. It did however push me to get a subwoofer to fill such a huge space to fill - worth considering if you listen loud. To change bulbs we had an extendable pole with a "suction cap" on the end - worked like a charm.
If you (or most likely your wife) really likes Michael Buble - do her a big favor and score some big points by buying her Robbie Williams "Swing when your Winning". He is not well known oustide of UK but this CD with Count Basie band is absolutely phenomenal. The DVD "Live at the Albert Hall" is good too (though with Brit musicuians it is also suprisingly good).
I just noticed you asked about the difference between the C220 and the C500 earlier in the month. It is not subtle, and it is worth every penny. Given your wonderful speakers, I think you would get a much more realistic and deeper soundstage and a dramatic increase in realism. I debated between upgrading my source components or the preamp and I'm very happy I went with the C500. The phono stage is significantly better as well which was a big part of my decision since the C220 is limited to MM cartridges.
I really liked my C220, but I had no idea that it was a bottleneck for so much of the music.
Barnes: I live in Houston (The Woodlands). Are you in The Woodlands, by any chance?
My reason for asking is simple...I would love to hear your system, especially to hear the Strads and would be happy to bring the beverage of your choice if I may be invited :)
This is the best listening environment I've ever seen on this site. . . or any other for that matter! Sonus Faber Stradivari . . . nothing more need be said!!!
I bought a small AV rack and moved the equipment behind the right speaker. I thought I wouldn't like it, but it looks great, ie nice and neat. Gotta fix my camera before I re-shoot the room. Love the C220, my dealer leant me a C45 and I like the tubes better.
