Jacques Fournier Audio

by jfgte8296 on Budget Minded

Description

Jacques Fournier's high end on a budget in West Virginia. [email protected]

This system is used for near field listening in my dedicated media room.

The room also serves as a home theater which explains the Athena Technologies speakers surrounding the TV.

Although I used the bargain basement shopping method for most of it, this is not what I would consider a low-end system. Those I invite to listen are amazed at what they hear. I pre-mastered a friend's album using this system. Check out Will Landrum Living Digits.

Swapped out the Adcom Amp and Sonographe Preamp in 2020 for a Marantz PM8005 integrated amp.  I'll never go back.  Integrated Amps today are truly amazing.  The Focal Cobalt S speakers were rated Stereophile class B restricted low range for three years running and I really love how they "disappear".

I've audition many systems with high priced gear but without the proper set up room treatment and component matching they can't touch this system for sound staging and clarity. Moreover, nothing disappears like a monitor speaker.

My basement listening room is room is 20X17 and very quite since there are no windows. My noise floor is very low in this room and I'm able to get up to 96db of clean sound down to 40Hz from my listening position which is 7 feet from the speakers. I've made extensive use of bass traps and wall and ceiling treatments to get that flat response. I have DIY bass trap panels in the back of the room and foam traps in the front.

The Goldring TT is modified quite a bit because I'm a Vinyl junkie. End stub, counter weight, platter and mat, Vibrapods, and a home built isolation platform turned a $400.00 TT into a $2k TT.

As for my vinyl collection, 2,000 titles and counting and over 3,000 CD's.

My CD Player is a very well built Denon DCM-777. Oddly it retailed for $777.00 back in the 90's but I got it for $75.00 on ebay. Nice buy and very good sound thanks to this overbuilt machine. They don't make them like this anymore.

The tape deck is rarely used. I like to copy vinyl to it and bring the recording up to my PC to transcribe to my digital library for parties upstairs or music out on the patio. I use CoolEdit pro to clean up the sound and the end result is actually pretty good. For less serious listening of course.

REL Q108MkII sub-woofers in each corner behind the mains for the last octave really does blend in well with the Focals.
REL Q201E added in 2020 for the rear to further smooth out the lower octaves.
Read more...

Components Toggle details

    • JM Labs Cobalt S-806
    After years and years I finaly found a speaker I truly love. It does what it does so well I can live with the limited Macro dynamics Sound stage, clarity, and micro dynamics are so well put togeather with these I can't imagine anything I would want to replace them with for under 5k-10k. Plus I found them for 750.00 at Audio Advisor. List price was $1,200 and yet they were rated as Class B by Stereophile magazine three years in a row!
    • REL Acoustics Q-108MKII
    I have two of these units. One for each channel connected directly to my Marantz power amp for true stereo low end bass. An ultra-compact sub-bass system designed for use in stereo music or film sound systems where exceptional low frequency output and extension is desired. Housed in an sealed, cube-shaped enclosure incorporating REL’s unique Zero-Q loading system, the Q-108MKII achieves an impressive in-room response of 23Hz at –6dB!
    • M2Tech EVO DAC
    Italian Made 192/32 digital-to-analog converter. Sampling Frquencies (kHz): 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 Resolution (bits): up to 32 (I2S), up to 24 bits (S/PDIF) Inputs: I2S on 8-ways RJ-45, S/PDIF on RCA, S/PDIF on Toslink Outputs: single-ended line level on RCA Output voltage: 2.7Vrms THD+N: 0.002 @ 1kHz, 0dBFS SNR: 118dB (A weighted)
    • Goldring GR1.2
    Goldring TT based on the Rega P1 platform with an RB-250 hybrid tone arm. November 2008 I added some Blue tack to the motor housing and the center bearing along with the Audio Additives Rega 3M damping sheets.
    • Rega Acrylic
    Upgrade Acrylic platter
    • Rega RB-250
    Rega Tone arm uses the higher end three point moutning platform used on the RB 600 and RB 800.
    • Expressimo couterweight
    Stainless steel couterweight
    • Expressimo End Stub Audio 2 Hex-Treme
    Stainless Steel End stub really makes things rock solid.
    • Tangospinner ASTOR SUBPLATTER
    ETAL SUBPLATTER WITH SILICON GRIP SPECIALLY DESIGNED TO WORK WITH NON-POROUS SURFACEPLATTERS (GLASS, ACRYLIC, POLISHED DELRIN). DESIGNED FOR USE IN REGA TURNTABLES.
    • Upgraded TT main ball bearing Si3N4
    Upgraded the main ball bearing to a 3/16 inch Si3N4 Ceramic
    • Rega 24v motor
    New asynchronous drive motor used on the higher end turntables
    • REGA TT-PSU 2
    Get a Lot More Music from Your Rega Turntable Lower Your Noise Floor, Increase Speed Stability, and Change Speeds at the Touch of a Button Rega's new, revamped TT-PSU incorporates a slick new design and improved circuitry for an even lower noise floor and sweeter sonic offerings than the previous model. The all new TT-PSU and motor anti-vibration circuit is a combination of the innovative P9 power supply along with an improved P25 anti-vibration motor drive feeding the P9 24V AC synchronous motor.
    • Cardas Quadlink
    New Phono Cable from Cardas. Modified my Rega with the 5 pin DIN adapter.
    • Nitty Gritty 1.0
    Got to keep my vinyl clean and this it what does it for me. Add to that the Record Doctor system and I'm happy.
    • Vibrapod cones and pads
    used to isolate my turntable
    • Auralux and others LENRD Bass Traps and Wall treatment
    LERND Bass traps. Side wall acoustic foam treatment to limit slap echo and improve imagining. I also used some old 2 lbs/sq inch packing foam blocks behind my speakers to control standing waves.
    • Audio Prism Quiet Line Mk3
    The Quietline ™ Noise Reduction System is a whole-house treatment for noise. Reduced electrical interference is audible as cleaner sound, improved detail, a wider, deeper soundstage, reduced graininess and less listener fatigue.
    • DIY three point brass screws NA
    Added some brass screws to secure my three point tone arm mount.
    • Richardleeaudio single channel
    This unit is hand built point to point (no circuit board) with only a single set of inputs and outputs to shorten the signal path. The preamp is a shunt to ground design, signal flows through only a single high quality Caddock resistor per channel with volume adjustment done via Noble potentiometer giving the preamp excellent stereo tracking! Components Noble potentiometer High purity solid copper wire w/cotton insulation Aluminum heatsink case Vampire RCA jacks Silver solder
    • Analysis Plus Oval One Interconnects
    1.0 meter RCA interconnects
    • Analysis Plus Clear Oval
    14 AWG cables terminated with Crimp on Beryllium Copper Gold plated BFA banana plugs
    • Target HR
    Sand filled Target stands. Welded design with much larger supports.
    • Panamax MR 4300
    Power conditioner
    • Nakamichi CR-2a
    Used deck purchased on EBay for $100.00.
    • Little Dot MK2 MKII MK2 MKII
    Headphone Amp Amplifier Pre-Amp Tube
    • Denon DVD-3910
    DVD Super Audio CD SACD Player
    • Sennheiser Electronics HD 600
    Headphones
    • Goldring G1042
    MM Cartridge
    • Marantz PM8005
    Integrated Amp
    • Pangea AC-14
    Power cables
    • REL Acoustics Q201E
    Subwoofer
    • Musical Fidelity LX2-1
    Headphone amp
    • apple Apple TV 3rd Gen
    Used for streaming from my phone through the M2Tech DAC

Comments 19

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Yes, those tweets make quite a difference. Did you post them on twitter?

kevinkwann

Owner
System edited: Added several tweets and new items.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Added new gear

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: updated 5/29/2010

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: The Sony changer died so I decided to try on older Denon player.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: After the Sony died I decided to try a vintage Denon.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Updated tweaks

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: I finaly got the REL have been seeking for years. Just as good as all the reviews say it is!!!

jfgte8296

Owner
I added a new high output moving coil Denon to my TT rig.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Added Audio Prism tweak.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: I performed the swenson mod on my sony and the power supply mod. Yes I can tell the difference. I'm really thinking of buying another 595 and sending it to Tube Research and have them tweak it.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: I moved my audio rack to the side of the room and away from the speakers. I also removed the half wall behind the couch which opened up the space and actually helped the sound out. I am now waiting for my REL subwoofer.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Updated the status of my SACD player after burnin.

jfgte8296

Owner
Thanks. Actually I did forget to mention that I did put those hat racks there on purpose. Plus it makes it easy to find my hats too:)

jfgte8296

Looks like a nice space and system to enjoy the music in, I like your Hat rack diffusers behind speakers!

chadnliz

Owner
System edited: Added pictures of the new set up after removing the half wall disecting the room. That thing did nothing for imaging.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Added the headbox and changed the title.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Finaly got my headphone amp. Still burning it in but it's sure sounds good so far.

jfgte8296

Owner
System edited: Added some tweeks and pictures

jfgte8296

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