The BEST system you've ever built !!!!


What is the best system that you have ever put together , from source to speakers including cables ??? After all the swaps and auditions I'm looking for the final "aahhh, that's the ticket" sound to you and what components took you to Audio Nirvana. {This is a survey of actual auditions, not what you read in a magazine} THANKS,
krellpower1

Showing 5 responses by garfish

Hi Krellpower1; I've been following this thread with interest. My present system is all digital, and while not quite "State Of The Art", I think it is an excellent "real world" rig. It's taken me 7-8 years to get to this point. This spring and summer, I added dedicated AC and ground systems to 4 Hubbell duplex outlets, and Levinson 37 transport and 360S DAC to my Sonic Frontiers Line 2 pre-amp and McCormack DNA-2DX power amp. Speakers are Vandersteen 3Asigs. For wire, I use Syn. Res. Phase 2 ICs, Syn. Res. Sig. No.2 bi-wired spkr cables, and presently have Syn. Res. Master Couplers on all components. Yes, I like Syn. Res. products, and I intend to try their Reference power cords on my source components. I use a Cardas AES/EBU dig. cable between transport and DAC-- it is less detailed, but more musical than Madrigal's MDC-1 cable. As of now, I think my system has no weaknesses, ie it all works well together. I have 5 ASC tubes in my room, and I'm going to continue to fiddle around with tweaks-- just got two Seismic Sinks. Some might say this system could support better speakers (more expensive?), and I'm seriously considering Vandersteen 5s-- but this whole thing sounds so good that I'm in no hurry (and also broke). Cheers. Craig.
Hi No_Money; If you have room acoustics under control, good power cords, and vibration(s) under control, maybe a dedicated AC and ground system (if circumstances permit)-- the component I might look at is your CD player. But if you really like the music quality/character don't fool around with it without some specific reason to do so as it looks to me like you have a pretty nice "real world" system. But I've been where you are, and I know it's just about impossible to leave things alone. I don't know much about that model CD player, but I'm a big believer in the best quality front end I can afford, and I now use a Levinson 37 transport and 360S DAC which was a big improvement over My Muse Model 2 DAC and Sony XA7 CD player. But consider the first things I mentioned first. Happy Obsessing. Craig.
Hi No_Money; Congrats on your new house-- soundwise, I bet you'll really like the cathedral ceiling (wish my stereo room had one). You'll have fun with speaker placement and room acoustics. With dedicated outlets, your system may sound too bright, and the cure is good quality power cords-- I use Syn. Res. Master Couplers, but there are many good ones availabe, you just have to find what works well in your system. I haven't heard proceed's CD player or pre-amp, but I believe the CD player uses the same transport mechanism as the Levinson(s). Take a look at www.madrigal.com for proceed products. They have a good web site AND complete owners manuals on-line-- I downloaded and printed a 55 page Levinson manual for my transport. Got my Levinson gear on the net-- couldn't afford it otherwise. Cheers and enjoy. Craig.
This thread "has legs". I see my last post was in '00. Rc and Gregm; being retired, I have found time to BOTH listen for pleasure each day, and STILL obsess over such things as clean power, vibration control etc. and to that end have lately been auditioning AC outlets.

Since last posting, I've added Vandersteen 5 speakers. This is the single biggest upgrade I've ever made to my system-- and the most expensive-- mostly for the tremendous bass I now enjoy. And experimenting with AC outlets has yielded good results. I now use a combination of Hubbells, Acmes (for speaker subs), and a FIM for amp. I've also recently added a Marantz Professional CD recorder that I like a LOT. Cheers. Craig