Great music...but, you already know how it is, always wondering about the next improvement to get that much more "into" the musical performance. My thoughts for the next upgrades would be power cords and speaker cables. After making the upgrades in interconnects and adding the audio points, I learned that those changes are greater than changing the electronics. Currently I like the look of the matched components on the rack in my living room which I've had for some years now--looks clean and uncluttered. However, I will down-size the rack and the also the CD tower sometime soon to open-up the back corners. Afterwards, I'm going to run a direct line from the circuit breaker. One thought here...I've always fealt that the "geeks" won't/don't take the Nelson Pass-designed Adcom gear very seriously, but if you came over for a listen you'd hear that they work quite nicely. Yes, I know that there's always something better out there, but for the price paid (half price new on closeout) it's gonna take a lot of more dollars to improve. As a matter of fact, I had been thinking about a Mac amp but after my last visit to the dealer I was very much not impressed and made me just that much happier with the current system in my room. In addition, I used to own a Sony ES mid-level SACD player. I thought it was going to be so great, but the same disc played through my Adcom cd player showed no competition. The Adcom was so much more alive with much better pace and immediacy. Therefore, I sold the Sony. Anyway, I own lesser-priced Adcom amps and pre-amps used in other parts of the house and I know first-hand that when I switch out the amp or pre-amp what a big difference they really do make. I certainly welcome thoughts or comments.

The really nice thing right now is that I'm finally in a house with a dedicated two-channel listening room that does not contain a TV! When someone comes over for the first time they comment, "hey, there's no TV in your living room?". My reply is, "exactly!". It's 13'x18' with a 9' ceiling, carpeted, and has a big stone fireplace.

In addition, I also have a dedicated HD 7.1 home theater in another room using: Samsung 56" DLP, HK AVR635 (Logic 7's the best!!), Panasonic Blu-Ray with the latest 7.1 decoding, cable HD, Adcom 545s for front channels, NHT SuperOnes for the fronts and rears, Paradigm 360s on the sides, REL Strata III and a Velodyne Servo F-1500. This room is the entire upstairs which is 13'x35'x7.2' tall. Satellite speakers crossed over at 60hz do just fine here with the low ceiling and the NHTs image quite nicely. The Paradigms do a great job of creating the wrap-around diffusion and disappearing act that I was wanting. The screen is at the far end when you arrive upstairs and I have three rows of seats with the 2nd and 3rd rows being counter-height bar stools (some with armrests) so that these people naturally look just above those who are on the couch--easy way to do stadium seating! Friends always want to be here for the major sporting events (and movies too). Someday I'll add a projector and a motorized screen to come down in front of the Samsung to get a little closer to the real movie theater effect. I also want to get a stand for the Samsung so that all the equipment will be underneath (less clutter). I can achieve total darkness at night, but I use a couple of tiny walk-lights (not the lights shown) on the sides just above the floor behind the last row of seats so that everyone can see where they're going if they get up. Also, all of the equipment lights have been blacked out or turn off automatically so that there's no distraction up front. Lots of fun!

I'm mostly a jazz guy these days. I started playing drums in 4th grade and later added piano and some acoustic and electric guitar. I played most all percussion instruments throughout high school with tri-toms as my marching instrument (lots of fun!). The stereo equipment bug stems from my father's Fischer, Garrard and custom JBL set-up in the 60s and I've had it ever since. He bought me a Marantz 2015 receiver as my first real stereo when I was in 6th grade. Later I added the wood cabinet. I still have it in perfect working condition along with two other bigger models. Just time and money, but lots of great music along the way. I've always said that I should've been a sound engineer. Oh well, I sell wine instead and listen when I get home. A fun hobby for sure!! Feel free to make any comments.

4-12-2008 The next improvements will be: to run a dedicated AC line and I'll be doing that soon, and better power cords for everything.

Best regards,

Steven