This presents a soundstage as best that the room will allow. Very detailed, accurate and engaging, I think this will last a while.
Moved to a new room, 15x20 with 10' ceilings. Still great pinpoint soundstage with broad extension. Lows are there, but not as palpabile as in the old house with a much smaller room.
Two dedicated circuts with proper grounds power the system.
Thanks for all the comments. I am very proud of what my wife and I have done. This is really the end of three years of work, from an NAD start through Bryston and now into Rogue. (There was a Plinius and Arcam CD detour along the way.)
I forgot to add that the power goes through an Exact Power EP-15. I've been through PS audio power plants and ultimate outlets before settling on that unit.
Krell_man:
I love the Sistrum platforms. The Zeus first sat on a Polycrystal amp stand. Now it rests on the Sistrum SP-101. Fan noise, transformer hum and other mechanical sounds (all slight to begin with) dropped away.
The preamp sits on a SP-1 platform, and I have had CD players on the SP-1 as well. The Electrocompaniet, for the time being because of its size and the rack constraints, is on Audiopoints.
Under electronics, I noticed the biggest improvements for the CD player.
As for Thiels, I am a huge fan. I keep coming back to first-order crossovers. Thiel offers me the detail and precision to place instruments in a staggeringly real soundstage. Forget harsh and other faults. All of that really is the fault of upsream components. The better the gear, the better the sound I heard.
Drubin:
I have the SP-004 under the speakers. That was perhaps the biggest benefit I have ever experienced from a tweak. I went through isolation pads, cones, points and all the rest under CD players. The SP-004 under the Thiels produced amazing bass, cleaner mids and the soundstage reached beyond the speaker edge. Far better than the Sound Anchors I had for about two years.
Please, this is not hyperbole. A dealer who visited the house said he had never heard such commanding bass from the 2.3 and attributed it to the Sistrums.
Sbachman, I like the Rogue now that I have the 99 and Zeus pair. The 99 was noisy with the original Soviet 6sn7s, but cleaned up much better with NOS Sylvnaias. The Zeus is a beast and drives the Thiels with ease.
It replaced a Plinius SA-102. I loved that amp and would have been very happy, but for the desire to go all tube.
Two questions: 1. What do you think about the Sistrum stands? I've heard so many good things about them. I have everything spiked with the Audio Points and love them. 2. What do you think about the Thiel's? I've had them recommended to me but have never heard them. I mainly listen to loud rock and keyboard music. I've switched from Krell to Musical Fidelity, so I have 250 Wpc with the A308cr Amp.
