Details about each components contributions can be found in the description above.
Above all else I look for music in a system (sounds redundant but it's not). I will always choose that vague sense of rightness in music over the last drop of accuracy.
I find many systems these days sound "hi fi". Hyper detailed, hyper clean, and spotlightish. I enjoy musicality and soul. My system is a reflection of this. Go away revelator tweeters etc, true music is in the subtlety effortlessness and naturalness of presentation. Making me uber aware of every tinkle in a cymbal shimmer isn't even what listening to live music sounds like. Attention should not be drawn to the details, they should all be there but not distractic from the whole of the flow of the music.
I listen to a mixture of rock (ala creed, perfect circle, etc) and jazz (Tierny Sutton, Jane Monheit, Dave's True Story, Eishu, Eva Cassidy). With the exception of needing a little more kick from my amps (which do everything else so well I can't bare to give them up), I think this humble system of mine pretty much does the trick.
This CD player makes me question the need for SACD. It is lively and tonally accurate portraying the harmonics of pianos and the like quite realistically. It has a certain soul to it which I thoroughly enjoy and has excellent full and texture laden bass. I don't ever forsee myself replacing this CD player. Vocal images are of a good size, not falling into the trap of micronizing everything in order to give a feeling of "air" around the objects.
Pass Labs X-1
This Pre-amp has excellent effortless extention on the high frequencies. It's one of the best Piano preamps I've heard. Bass is deep but not bloated or fat. The midrange is texture laden with all the various nuances of the music coming through. It is a very neutral preamp and does not add tonal richness or bloom to the midrange. If you want something of that nature in a solid state pre, maybe try the Sim P-5. This is a very honest pre and aside from just letting the music come through, there can't really be much said about how it affects sound. Soundstaging is excellent, make sure to pair with a cd and amp having some "soul" for a poor pairing of this pre will not compensate by adding any more body then it's given.
Granite Audio 860
This is an excellent amp. I've decided to go with it over my Sim W-5 which is an excellent solid state amp in its own right. I'll start with the few shortcomings first which are probably more an issue of pairing with too large a speaker for it's output. These sound far too dramatic when typed out compared to what they're worth. The amp in comparison to my 190 W simaudio W-5 does not have anywhere near the punch. Of course this amp is 30/60 watts so almost a pointelss comment, but in a perfect world .... This amp as a factor of it's presenting full bodied and large images does not present quite the distinction in space between musical objects. My solid state makes images smaller so their is more space and in between objects. This amp does not have quite the "bite" of my sim W-5 on the intial attack of piano keys, the concussive pluck noise of a guitar string etc. The solid state amp maybe rings a bit more in the highs in a good way (not the overblown annoyingly tilted high fi sound way). Most of this is likely an issue of pairing with two rater large 7 inch drivers and two ribon mid/tweeters The above are general limitations I find of tube amps. Now compared to other tube amps this thing is king. The extention and openess of the high frequencies is far better then the cary V12, or most other tube amps I've heard. Pianos still "ring" true, pardon the pun, cymbals shimmer etc. One of the big things holding me back from tubes was the muted high's, this amp doesn't seem to have an issue with that. The images are full rich, texture laden and have good size. There's a certain rightness about the sound that just makes you smile. It is not honeyed, overly euphoric (though listening to it is euphoria) or sacharine sweet. A lot of amps overly smooth/honey things, this one just rings true. There is a weight and palpability to the voices and instruments, that gives you that right here with you feel (the main attraction of tubes in my mind and a forte of this amp). It is smooth, but not dullingly overly so, it's musical. This amp is not one of those "female voices only need apply" sorts. It brings out the grufness and texture of a male rock voice like creed/the calling/etc. without that slightly higher pitch effeminate touch that some "jazz" oriented amps give. Above all it's musical and just brings a smile on your face to listen to and sounds good with everything. Now I just need another pair to dedicate to the LF's. I don't think any other amp I've heard out there does the positive attributes of this amp in quite the same smile inducing way (atma etc.)
Harmonic Tech Pro-9 plus
8 Foot bi-wire cables. These are an amazing audio deal. Match very well with other harmonic tech interconnects. Work wonders in my system throughout it's changes. Haven't had the desire to upgrade.
Cardas Golden Reference
Great for the whole system. Nice richness to sound, excellent inner detail and texture without shouting or spotlighting like some power cords are prone to. The masters of finesse and subtelty. I haven't tried the ridiculous priced cords before, but then again, why would I bother with the way these sound?
Harmonic Tech Magic Link One
The best full bodied not tipped up in the highs silver/copper interconnect I've heard. I've had no desire to upgrade. An excellent value at the price point and they don't make the sound unnatural or hi fi like in order to portray space and soundstage.
Equi=tech 1.5Q
Replace the stock power cord! This balanced power unit is the only conditioner I've heard that doesn't limit amp dynamics. Get's rid of hums and generally gives a little more weight to the sound without that annoying hi fi hyper cleaness that some conditioners with silver etc. inside will do (shunyata hydra, BPT etc). You may want to pair with a good filter like conditioner for the components instead of using their filtered outputs. Great unit, built like a tank.
Von Schweikert Audio VRS/3
I don't know why more people don't know more about this amp. It can do movies very well but the tightness and blending nature of it's bass make it excellent for pairing with high end speakers.
Lovan Soverign
Yup, it's a stand.
Piega C-8 Ltd
Phenominal. Total driver integration, great soundstaging and presence. Perhaps not quite as much bass as the P-10, but more tuneful and layered. It's hard to give fault to this speaker or imagine a system over 30 Watts that it wouldn't excell in. Perhaps very large rooms it might want for a touch more bass for dynamic impact. But anything around the 16ft x 28ft range should be fine. Excellent with tubes and solid state. Neutral but full bodied. Truly effortless and natural highs. If you're looking in this price range you must have a listen to this speaker before buying.
and i'm sure your still shaking your head and smiling...you do still have the 8 ltds? tubes, sound soooooo good with the limiteds...i've recently gone from a levinson ss to a mcintosh tube and imo, the mcintosh is far superior...how is everything going with your system...brent
System edited: Replaced my Piega P-10's with C-8 Ltds. Untill I heard the C-8 Ltd's I had a hard time conceiving of how the P-10 speaker could be improved upon. The upgrade was worth it.
Hello Warren, I'm actually using the Equi=tech 1.5Q and found out something rather interesting this weekend. I'd had the habit of plugging my front end (pre and source) into an audio prism power foundation when I had the solid state amp. Now with the tube amp the benifits of the Equi=tech seem much more apparent and the audioprism seems detrimental. I suspect the addition of the Audience power cord to the equitech (no longer needed for the sim) helped it's performance out significantly as well. What I would actually like is two decent power cords for the amplifiers. Which incidentally are plugged into the equi=tech. The shimmer and delicacy of detail on a cymbal is important, I just don't like the way some "hi fi" systems present the sounds as distracting from the actual wholistic flow of the music. It's neat at first but quickly grows irritating. I want the detail to be there when I specifically listen for it, but not to draw attention to itself.
Sounds great to me. The only thing I would suggest, now, is to think about some high quality power condidtioning. You don't realize how much deleterious meaninies are in all that current. Some dedicated lines and power conditioning could lead you to electric nirvana. I'd treat your electricity as a fundemental component. Obviously, I'm a big Audio Magic fan. There are oodles of threads on this. I used to have the Cardas Golden Reference, but changed to Harmonix for my ICs and power cords. enjoy that baby.
BTW, I couldn't disagree with you more about the cymbals. 'tis how I judge, truly, how great the highs are in a system. Brushes too on cymbals. At a jazz concert (trio, quartet, etc) the cymbal work is, many times, the test of a great drummer. The feel of the wood hitting the cymbal, the lightness, the delicacy of the highs, the drummers speed and clarity are all, to name a few, critical. Live; and on cd. for me at least.
