to me, definitive piece of gear; the synthesis between imperturbable, dead-silent mass and immediately responding agility. Only, can someone recommend an arm lifting/lowering device please; the dealer took away the finger lift to install the Cartridgeman Isolator, I tremble, shake and sweat with every record I lower the stylus on... Hurray, found one, much obliged Yamamoto-san!
http://www.welltemperedlab.com/frameset2.html

Reference tonearm; definitive piece of gear

Arm lifting accessory. Took a lot of sweat and unrepeatable swearing before I got it right for 200g vinyl as well as 80s floppy style LPs. Beautifully made as simple as it is (probably what Zen is all about) http://www2.117.ne.jp/~y-s/AL-2-news-E.html

Yokeless double ring magnet moving coil, output voltage: 0.4mV

Redbook in Perfection. Took the place of the Jadis JD3. Wonderfully musical gear. Thanks to Ed Doggen of Daluso for coming from the Netherlands for the audition (and carrying the 35kg machine to the 2nd floor). Upgraded to CD-77.1 in 2012 by Werner Obst of WOD-Audio. http://www.amr-audio.co.uk/html/cd_individual.html

512GB SSD, 16GB RAM with Audirvana Plus taking control http://audirvana.com/

24/192kHz USB DAC with Sabre chipset; rca and 3/8 jack outputs. The ultimate value-for-money tool from the good people of AMR. http://ifi-audio.com/en/iDAC.html

Without the slightest hesitation, definitive piece of gear! Not a long search for a stereo pre-amp upgrade from the T+A after I exited surround. In fact, the (truly very fine) Quad phono-amp had to go as well. Not very much I could add to Stereotimes last year's review. Stand back in awe!
http://www.tidal-audio.de/english/startprodukteverstaerker1.htm

A slimmed-down Impact (in fact, apart from the looks it is not very different): fast, powerful, able to drive any impedance down to 1 ohm

2005 model with ceramic tweeter and mid driver, black piano lacquer finish. The musical knock-out experience and Must-Have to both Rosemarie and myself on first audition. This was like finding the Holy Grail of Speakerdom. ser.nr. 10-2502-04 / 11-2502-04 [url]http://www.tidal-audio.de/english/startenglish.htm[/url]

Consists of the SR-404 Signature earspeakers and SRM-006t II valve amplifier/ energizer. Now running it balanced directly from the AMR CD-77. ser.nr. DGT-1481

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/stax2/stax.html

The name says it all. http://www.virtualdynamics.ca/

What's in a name, probably the fastest and most open cable I've had in the system http://www.virtualdynamics.ca/

Tesla Series dedicated phono cable (no active shielding). A chapter that can be closed: passes on the full wealth of micro information on good vinyl. http://www.synergisticresearch.com/page/cables/phono/tricon_analog

Not the kind of cable I thought I would end up with, but of the XLRs I heard the Stax with, this was the best: very clean and refined, least grain, best "soundstage" (an intriguing new kind of experience in the head), astonishing bass. And so, I tried another pair (with WBT NextGen rca this time) between AMR and Tidal pre: again extreme blackness, firmness, speed and yet finesse, excellent. Fortunately I was offered a good price (meaning still bloody expensive but at least not nightmarishly so), thank you very much Alex! http://www.crystalcable.com/index.php

Between iFi iDAC and Preos. Great line of cables meanwhile discontinued (former Pure Note products now under the TRS Audio brand)

http://www.aqvox.de/cable.html#USB

7ft between wall and HMS Energia.
http://www.voodoocable.net/VSTPC.htm

amazing cords; this is what the Tidals wanted, as did the cd player: bold, effortless, finely layered crystal-clear sound guaranteed. Many thanks to Bruce at VooDoo Cable for precise advice and help. http://www.voodoocable.net/VVPC.htm

power cord feeding the Stax energizer. http://www.steinmusic.de/EN/products/cable/power_cable.html

Affordable offspring of H.M. Strasser's Energia Definitiva. Passive DC filtering outputs optimized for amp, pre-amp, source plus unfiltered IEC for connecting an additional power bar. Mr. Strasser has very precise (scientifically founded and convincing) ideas about what a filter can, must and may do. The sonic result appears to prove him right.
http://www.i-fidelity.net/en/test-reports/audiophiles/hms-energia-rc-power-distributors/page-1.html

connecting additional gear through the HMS Energia RC 3/1
http://www.audio-consequent.de/kette/nv_leit.htm

parallel noise suppressing filter applied next to the main power outlet http://www.kempelektroniks.com/Shunt-Conditioners/SNS-Plug-Module.aspx?lang=en-US

incredibly versatile rack; not very much material that could possibly interfere with the gear's rendition here.
http://www.finite-elemente.de/

isolation base custom-made for AMR CD-77 (to be continued...) http://www.silentrunningaudio.com/products/ohio_class_isobase.htm

Maximum imperturbability and minimum ambient interaction for the amps. Custom made bases, each of them just short of 20kg slate, wood, lacquer, leather and whatever magical potion may be inside (hey, the ostrich feather duster came with them). http://www.subbaseaudio.de/

ceramic ball resonance damper now used with the MacBook Pro. http://www.finite-elemente.de/en/products/ceraball/funktion

Sonics had been degraded after the apartment had been refurbished with new wall-to-wall carpet. Not an inexpensive tweak at EUR 1,600 for both speakers but necessary (one does not want to settle for less because of carpet, right!) and, fortunately, very effective.
http://www.combak.net/feet&bases/FEET&BASES.htm

Anti-resonance feet, in this system used with the Stax energizer and as ultimate cable lifters. The Real Deal for reasonable money (price quoted for a set of 3)
http://en.aktyna.eu/product

Super tweak for any light weight boxes. Sabilizes the iFi iDAC in this system. Dan Sherbrook deserves every praise! http://edensoundaudio.com/pricelist.html

between headshell and cartridge; undeniably this tiny little thing enhanced the soundscape and the feeling of being-there (sadly, the dealer took the finger lift away to mount it, ... steady hand required) http://www.thecartridgeman.com/isolator.htm

... get the best from AMR and other gear. http://www.amr-audio.co.uk/html/goldfuse_individual.html

HF noise rejecting plugs (for open digital as well as analog in- and outputs). No sonic degradation over any length of time, beats all other plugs I had hands-down. http://www.blackforestaudio.de/cms/front_content.php?idart=52

astonishingly effective noise absorbers; I use these between two MDF-boards as diy platform for the turntable; also one on the grille of the PPP so it won't sing along should the volume ever be cranked up to neighbour-unfriendly levels. http://www.audioplan.info/sicomin/siantispikes_gf.htm