I have wanted a tube pre for so long and finally it is here!
Sota Star
Beautiful table in medium finish with vac pump and clamp. Grado Refrence arm rewired with Monster Cable
Rega RB300
Stock wire with Technoweight
Audio Technica ML150
MM
Musical Surroundings Phonomena
MM MC Phono pre, Soild State and very adjustable.
VMPS FF3 SRE
4 Way 7 driver speaker with 2 10 in woofers, 10 in passive, 53in planar push pull ribbon mid, 2 tweeters, 1 super tweeter. Very large speaker at over 300lb each with wqually big sound. Also comes with outboard active crossover rewired with MIT Zcable power.
Classe (2in use biamp) CA 150
Great amps, lots of power and smooth wide soundstage.
Lexicon RT-10
Very nice one box solution for CD SACD DVD-A and movies.
cardas Hexlink
Digital cable from Dac
Kimber Cable Hero
Great cable!
Rotel RSP 1068
7.1 output... HDCD, DVD-A SACD this is a really good HT Processor with alot of functions and features I happen to like.
these are dipoles, on wall speakers used for all surrounds
Audiovox Sirius Satelite radio home unit
Sirius satelite radio tuner
Luxman T117
great tuner
TEKline Power cable
4 of these pwer cables in my system, very nice results and excellent quality at a fair cost
Audio Research Flatline4X16
Similar to FLATLINE used for surrounds bi-wire
Panasonic model 200 720P HD projector
Great Hi def picture, great for DVD too! 90 manual screen
Monster 3500
Nice effective budget power
Monster 2500
Power conditioner economical this one handles overflow from the 3500
Sony AV3500 SYSTEM REMOTE
Touch screen, time delay MACRO
DIY ACOUSTIC PANELS Owens Corning
I made 4 30x30' panels and 1 24x36 panel for ceiling. I used perforated styrofoam for backing there is fiberglass, 2 layers of low profile batting wrapped in Needled Cotton Natural colored shells.(very breathable) 2 were for side reflections, 2 for back wall, and 1 large for ceiling reflections
Walker SST
IC, Power Cord treatment...thanks a bunch raytheprinter! Applied to all IC and power cords, The sound smoothed out, subtle but for the better!
target amp stand ?
low profile amp stand
DIY Rack SUPERCHAD MDF
8 section .5in MDF with Oak legs
Terk FM PRO
Amplified outdoor unit, pulls in about 47 stations from rural area. Thanks Steve!
VPI 16.5
Looks like a winner, thanks a bunch John for your kindness!
Hubbel Hubbel
AC outlets made a surprising change for the better, more detail and depth. Thanks Steve for another kind offer!
Mullard, Sovteck, Valvo ect, NOS 12AX7
New tubes, have the Mullard in now and I like its results, thanks Bob once again!
Hey Justin, your Monitor will blow most any Projector away for Color and Contrast, I have a Glass Tube 34' Sony WEGA XBR Hi Def unit in living room that probably has the best picture bar none but all the same a huge picture is great for a movie experience.....warts and all. I have the Logittec Harmony 1000 remote but it is really flawed and although it works as it should it is some times more of a hassle than its worth, I like my Sony AVS3500 better but it is like Surgery to set up.
Thanks Justin, get the Projector set-up ASAP, you will wonder how you ever enjoyed a movie on a postage stamp screen before............it makes anything under 60' look silly. Thanks for your compliments
I went ahead and put up a couple of matching blankets on back wall, doesnt look great but it helped the sound, I am leaving wall behind speakers live and deadoning the wall behind as I have di-pole mid range drivers. I am looking into diffusers for back wall and above my seat, I have placed my DIY panels at first reflections, all in all it sounds good, not perfect but all smiles here!
A friend made it from some brackets used for I think a 27 wall mount TV for office use and made a DIY MDF shelf, I am going to try to add a thick mass block of maple or something in the future.
Hey thanks, Yes its mine but I dont play much, for some reason I always get these systems thinking I will use them and never do....................but it is here if anyone wants to use it.
System edited: Well my birthday brought some great gifts from great friends I have made here, new Hubbel outlets made a great change cleaing up and increasing image and sound, thanks Steve. Some NOS tunes of various makes to try, I have the Mullard in as of now and I like the results, thanks Bob. A new VPI 16.5 rounds out the changes allowing me to persue cheap vinyl and get quality sound, thanks John! Everything sound pretty good, but better at night when power seems cleaner...I am enjoying the system more then ever again thanks to all who help me out in this journey, you guys have no idea how much pleasure you have helped me acheive!
HA! I never noticed she was in the pic, ok this will sound goofy but I swear she likes Classical music. When Liz goes off to bed she will follow her 9 times of 10 but if I playing Classical she hangs with me......go figure. We had 2 birds but lost one to old age not too long ago, so we moved the last one in the living room so it wouldnt be so lonely, I move her into the spare room when I listen at louder volumes. I bet my dog (D.O.G.)<<<chadnliz
Owner
Thanks W... I really like it and it never disapoints and I would say try it, as I doubt it will let you down.
I am not suprised you heard a benefit even with a improvised clamp, the Sonic Frontiers is great, with 1 tube it is a "rollers" dream and its hybrid design seems to give the warmth I like but gives good bass. They can be had for around $600 and I think they are well worth it.
Well the clamp is on SOTA like the VPI, my dad has the Scoutmaster, those clamps screw on, SOTA clamps actually have a locking lever. The SOTA comes with a vac pump and there are a couple holes on the outer edge of the platter and suction pulls the record towards the platter to take out minor warps, when you tap the record under suction it feels as if the album has become one with the platter. Again I dont know why this isnt used on most hi-fi tables.
Thanks for the idea. but money isnt a friend of mine haha
The Sota/Star is a fantastic table, no other table that I know of within reason is so quiet, I mean if you tap the table while playing it will not transfer to the cart. The spring suspension is a solid performer, this table is really cheap used but is so good I dont even worry about other tables, plus they look great! Its hard for me to understand why more tables dont employ vac platter hold-down, along with the clamp it is really amazing.
System edited: Added a Musical Surroundings Phonomena Phono pre, really nice sound for not a ton of cash using a Audio Tech MM150OCC cart hope to add my Dyna 20L sometime to check Coil performance....would like to see what the DC power supply option sounds like.
Yes I do use treatments thst I made myself from Owens Corning Fiberglass sheets 2ft by 2ft with a perforated styrofoam insolation board to mount it too, wraped in Needled Cotton to match room...cheap and fun to make. Thanks for stopping by.
System edited: Got the table back up thanks to a Christmas gift (thanks Karl) Rega 300 arm is now on with a nice Audio Technica MM cart AT-ML150...sound pretty good!
Thanks Shadrone, I dont get many hits on my garage sale system haha, I use the panels I made for the wall behind me as my room is harder to place them in than my previous room I made them for, a friend gave me 5 Michael Green Room Tunes and five of his corner pillows so I am just starting to try to place them in the room, I had a talk with a guy who has the ATC active speakers today about Room Tune placement and he cant say enough about how great those speakers are, even his dealer who also sells the Wilson line has them in his own house.
Well I need to get pics up but this weekend was a trip, I had a good friend from Agon here from out of town and after getting the Sota shelf up and getting the wires routed and seperated better, we tried some amp rolling, he had an old Carver TFM 35 that we put in as the panel amp, too bright and forward mid range was tiresome we swapped cables around to find the best synergy but still wasnt blown away at all, so I thought to try the Aragon amp for the ribbon mids and tweets and use the Carver for the woofers.......I dont get it and would never have guessed it but this is an excellent combo! No forward barking mid range, no harsh tweeter and the bass is actually better...(I dont get it and never will but we found a great combo) My discovery cables serve the amps well and my MIT works well off the DAC, after swapping cables around this worked the best.....many thanks to Bob for comming all the way down and all his help....alot of fun!
System edited: Well finally got the wires isolated from power cords, installed a wall mount rack for the SOTA and am trying a rather vintage amp for the panels...the verdict is not in yet. I do like the Valvo Amprex tube in my S.F. pre, last issue is a hum for the table wich I fear just may mean a arm re-wire may be in my future. A luxman T117 tuner has been added aswell and I hope to add new pics very shortly.
System edited: so much has changed, I am so happy with my current rig, hopefully I am going to build a rack with my master carpenter friend starting next week
Well now that I have a speaker with a very focused beam of sound I am not sure I need them anymore, I need to do a little experimenting to find out more.
System edited: Well I have no talent for taking pictures but you get the idea...most system pics and rooms blow mine away, but I am proud and lucky to have what I have and thankful for everyones help!
System edited: With the addition of the Innersound EROS MKII...I am very near my point of Audio Nirvana! I always spent about 4-6 hours per day with my gear, now that is just AMAZING, thakn you all for help, info, kindness, and contributions, my life as limited as it is has never been better!
System edited: After treatment with SST everything smoothed out, I wont say it was huge, but subtle and for the better, thanks again Ray. Ordered Dakiom Stabalizers (10)channels total, 2 four channel and 1 two channel unit
System edited: Now that I have better room response and acoustics I still hope to get new speakers someday, and also would like to get a quality DVD/CD player soon.