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My
main system is set up "width-wise" in a 28’ by 24’ by 8.5’ room that is
well-treated with acoustic materials. It has been tweaked to be an all
solid-state/digital system.
The size of the room and the extensive
use of bass traps minimizes bass boom and maximizes lower bass clarity.
(The room is also used for home theater about 5% of the time, so some of
the acoustic materials are employed to eliminate the negative effects of
a plasma TV.) The main speakers are set
approximately 5’ from the wall behind them, and each speaker is located
approximately 8’ from its closest side wall, leaving the speakers about
12’ apart. They are toed in for maximum imaging and there are no
discernible side wall reflections. The ceiling is treated to absorb
ceiling reflections. As described below, three dedicated
power circuits feed the two-channel system.
SYSTEM.
My
front-end is powered via a dedicated 15-amp electrical circuit using a
Wattgate 381 Gold outlet. A Silent Source Signature High Current power
cable runs from the
wall outlet to a Walker Velocitor S. A LessLoss Audio Device Dynamic
Filtering power cable runs from the Velocitor to an Esoteric P-70
and Silent Source
Signature power cable runs from the Velocitor to an Esoteric D-70
transport/DAC combo. The P-70/D-70 are tethered by two Transparent
Reference 110-Ohm digital interconnect and a Transparent Reference
BNC interconnect.
The
Esoterics have been modified by David Schulte of the Upgrade Company.
I run
Silent Source Silver Signature balanced interconnects from the output of the D-70 into an MBL 5011 preamp,
which is powered via a Silent Source Signature High Current power cable.
Silent Source Copper Signature balanced interconnects run from the MBL
5011 to a Lyngdorf RP-1 Digital Room Correction processor, which is
powered via a LessLoss Dynamic Filtering power cable, and Silent Source
Silver Signature balanced interconnects run from the Lyngdorf RP-1 into
my Pass Labs X600.5 monoblocks or Electrocompaniet Nemo monoblocks. The Nemo's are slightly “modded” by Isoclean fuses
– highly recommended if you like a richer sound and “larger” performers.
The
Pass Labs/Nemos are connected to B&W Nautilus 800D's via 2 pairs of
Silent Source Silver Signature speaker cables – one pair for bass and
one pair for the treble. Each Nemo is powered by its own dedicated
20-amp electrical circuit, which feeds power to the Nemo via a LessLoss
Dynamic Filtering power cable. The outlets for the two amp circuits
are Walker Audio High Conductivity outlets. The speaker terminals employ
Walker Audio Reference High Definition Links. A Quantum Products Symphony
Pro is in the overall circuit to help with dimensionality and speed.
ROOM TREATMENTS. Three ASC 78” Tower Traps; two ASC 48” Tower Traps;
one 16” diameter ASC Tube Trap; two ASC Sub Stands; eighteen ASC Wall
Panels; two Echobusters Quarter Round Corner Traps.
THE
ACCESSORIES. These should be considered as important as the room,
the main equipment and the room treatments. Target Dual Wall Mount
Turntable Shelves for the Esoteric P-70 and D-70; Walker Audio Prologue
Reference Amp Stands for the monoblock amps; Walker Audio Valid points
and discs for the MBL 5011, Lyngdorf RP-1 and amps, and only discs for the P-70/D-70; and
fourteen Zcable Z-sleeves (Heavy and Extra Heavy) for all cables.
MUSICAL TASTES. I listen 60% to
rock, 30% to jazz and 10% “other”. A well-balanced full-range sound is
a given. In this context, bass definition and slam are critical since
pace, rhythm and timing fail in a full-range system that does not have
well-defined bass. (In my opinion, a tight limited low frequency system
sounds better than a flabby unlimited bass system.) Imaging is also
important, along with good depth in the soundstage. Though I like a
wide soundstage, depth is more important to me than width since I prefer
a 15th row perspective to a 1st row perspective. Finally, I cannot stand
glare, and I do not want to give up high frequency definition, so I have
worked hard to find components that produce a well-defined sound without
sounding “screechy”.
MISCELLANEOUS. Though I am
obviously a tweaker, once I find a good tweak I want to leave it alone.
In the past 2 years I have focused on building a natural-sounding solid
state system. Though I have used tubes in my system in the past
(notably a tube preamp) and expect to work them in again sometime in the
future, I have found difficulty in matching tubes with the Nemo/B&W 800D
combination. (The 800D’s absolutely eat current and can’t get enough of
it, and not all tube preamps match well with high power solid state
amps.)
Digital Front-End
Esoteric P70
transport Transport
(modified by David Schulte of Upgrade Company)
Esoteric D70 DAC DA
converter (modified by David Schulte of Upgrade Company)
Amplification
MBL 1510 preamp
Elecrocompaniet NEMO monoblocks
Pass Laboratories
X600.5 monoblocks
Room Correction
Lyngdorf RP-1 Digital Room
Correction
Speaker
B & W Loudspeakers Nautilus 800D
Cabling
Transparent
Reference 110 ohm EAS/EBU (2) and 75 ohm BNC
Silent Source Copper balanced
interconnects
Silent Source Silver
Signature interconnects
Silent Source Silver
Signature loudspeaker cables
Silent Source High
Current power cords
LessLoss Dynamic
Filtering power cables
Accessories
ASC 78" Tower Traps
(3)
ASC 48" Tower Traps
(2)
ASC 16" diameter
Tube Trap (1)
ASC Sub Stands (2)
ASC Wall Panels (18)
Echobusters Quarter
Round Corner Traps (2)
Isoclean fuses
Quantum Products Symphony Pro
Walker Audio High
Conductivity outlets
Walker Audio
Velocitor S power conditioner
Wattgate 381 Gold
outlet
Zcable Z-sleeves -
Heavy, Extra Heavy (14)
Home Theater Components
Pioneer Pioneer
Elite dv38
Sony SPD-EP9es
Surround Pre
Proceed HPA-3
B & W Loudspeakers
SCM 1 Monitors
B & W Loudspeakers
Nautilus HTM-1
N H T Sub Two (2)
ASC Substands (2)
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