Show us your equipment / kit !

[Lars]

Great system Cemil! I love those amps; and everything else for that matter.

 

[extracampine]

Thanks all, this is looking like a pretty good thread really interesting

 

[ASB]

Thanks Cemil, I have posted your pics to our forum as well. Great joy for our eyes.

 

http://stereomecmuasi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1450

 

[machinehead]

not as sexy as most....but she is very resolving...

 

[Audio_newb]

As a relative youngster I can already tell, looking at all of your amazing systems, that I can count on years of my hard earned monies (not yet earned) to somehow find their way into the pockets of my nearest hi-fi dealer. But for the time being here is my system, the first at least that I'm happy with enough to post and let hang with the big dogs.

 

And I actually am really happy with it. For a while I tried a couple of different setups (still have a NAS that I plan to use mostly for backups), but I'm really liking the powerbook (library on machine's hdd) controlled with apple's remote app on my iphone. I still need a DAC (I'm budgeting for a PS Audio Digital Link III), but even out of the headphone jack the system sounds awesome. Hopefully this bump will get some more killer systems posted. Chris, where's your kit?

 

[machinehead]

Very nice set up!

 

Nice and clean, how do you like the Devores?

 

[Audio_newb]

I love my devores, but like most I'm sure I'm partial to my own gear. Perhaps especially considering that these are my first pair of "audiophile speakers." Although to be fair, prior to these I had a pair of axioms which were quite respectable. If I didn't live in a studio apartment, however, I'd be looking to add a JL Audio fathom sub to the mix; but don't think that's an indictment of the devores as they go pretty low for a pair of monitors.

 

I was sad to see that they are being phased out (although for now I think you can still get one to match a pair of Silverbacks) as I had thought to one day add a center and rear set. But for now they work great in my small studio and I don't even miss having more speakers for a theater setup. Actually, I've been rather impressed by how well many blu-ray discs (I'm talking movies) seem to be mastered audio wise.

 

[jerico]

Somehow it feels embarrassing to post my humble setup after just about everything here, but in the spirit of learning, here it goes...!

 

The cable situation is in flux, still working on it (and it's a little "wilder" than normal as I rejiggered some stuff recently). I've got a PS3 hidden behind the rack on the left (you can see a bit of it from this angle).

 

Justin

 

[Audio_newb]

Not sure how your setup is embarrassing after I started serving the humble pie, but such is the nature of our little hobby. Very nice, but doesn't the thecus get loud in your listening room? I feel like monster NASes should be banished to network closet hell.

 

[jerico]

Hi Audio_newb!

 

The NAS doesn't bother me, but I think I'm an outside case. I live in New York City, so the living room is not exactly quiet to begin with, and I've got a touch of tinnitus (eek) so I don't notice it from the couch.

 

Some very nice stuff being posted here! Very impressive. More things to add to the want list...

 

Justin

 

[carelessethiopian]

Here it is. MiniMac on one side, Big MAC on the other. To paraphrase Keith Richards It isn't lookin' too good but it is soundin real well. Thanks again to Chris and and everybody else on this site that helped me through the set up and tweaking.

 

[I. G.]

 

[machinehead]

Love the sweet simplicity, whwat amp is that?

 

[I. G.]

Heed CanAmp headphone amp, I use it sometimes as a "preamp" before active speakers, too.

 

[machinehead]

I must say the coolest avatar also....

 

[roccoriley]

Equipment: Halcro Reference Series DM10 Preamp and 2 DM 88 Amp Monoblock Amps (270 watts into 8 ohms), Kuzma Reference 4 Motor Turntable on HRS Base, Tri Planer Arm, Boulder 2008 Phono Preamp, Loricraft Record Cleaner, Stealth Indra IC Cables-All Balanced Connections, MIT Oracle 1.1 Speaker Cable, Verity Parsifal Speakers (YG Reference on order) Weiss Minerva DAC, Wadia iPod interface, Mini Mac ITunes Processor via Gigabyte Eithernet to Netgear Readynas 1100 3 TB server (Files are AIFF), Amps are on 2 separate dedicated 220 lines, other stuff is on Richard Gray Power Isolator, The amps are out of the photo beyond the speakers.

 

[wgb113]

That's a really cool wall full of nice equipment!

 

[vortecjr]

I'm moving forward with the manufacturer of my hip joints! I took machine shop just for kicks at night, I know autocad and my friend has a cnc shop:) You may recall that my speakers sit on a common plane and vibrate each other to death. I'm considering adding a sub to my system shortly that will reduce the base response to my book shelf speakers and transfer the frequencies to the sub and I think now is a good time for this. Figuring out the best way to make the units that would allow for consistant parts was the hard part. I found a 2" ball end mill and then found the part to hold it on my friends cnc machine. He is going to write the code to drop the 2" ball end mill to make the cups and then have another flat end mill cut out the disks. It should take less than a minute each and we should be able to make identical units to your exact spec:) It's an investment, but I trust you! I do have one mod I want to discuss with you and would appreciate your input. I would like to sandwitch the ball between two cups. This gets rid of the slab under the speaker and the speaker just sits on the second disk. What do you think? Also, I have not found a good way to add the tube under all this stuff. I'm going to pass on that even though I really like that idea as well.

 

Thanks

 

Jesus R

www.sonore.us

 

[bdiament]

Hi Jesus,

 

"I'm moving forward with the manufacturer of my hip joints! I took machine shop just for kicks at night, I know autocad and my friend has a cnc shop:) You may recall that my speakers sit on a common plane and vibrate each other to death. I'm considering adding a sub to my system shortly that will reduce the base response to my book shelf speakers and transfer the frequencies to the sub and I think now is a good time for this. Figuring out the best way to make the units that would allow for consistant parts was the hard part. I found a 2" ball end mill and then found the part to hold it on my friends cnc machine. He is going to write the code to drop the 2" ball end mill to make the cups and then have another flat end mill cut out the disks. It should take less than a minute each and we should be able to make identical units to your exact spec:) It's an investment, but I trust you! I do have one mod I want to discuss with you and would appreciate your input. I would like to sandwitch the ball between two cups. This gets rid of the slab under the speaker and the speaker just sits on the second disk. What do you think? Also, I have not found a good way to add the tube under all this stuff. I'm going to pass on that even though I really like that idea as well..."

 

A few thoughts:

 

1. I would not have the speakers on a common plane but mount each independently instead.

 

2. When adding subs, I would leave the main pair running full range rather than roll off the bottom of the main pair. (I do not believe that rolling off the bottom of the main pair will significantly reduce the problems of having them mounted on a common plane. I do believe rolling off the bottom will harm the performance of the main pair, adding phase shift and a change in tonality, away from their best performance.

 

3. In my experience, making a sandwich with two cups will hinder performance in a few ways. First, the added cup will increase damping on ball motion, which in turn will lead to a less steep roll off above resonance - translating into less isolation. In addition, I think you might find such a setup actually tends to brighten the sound a bit, where a properly made and implemented single cup under the ball will not change tonality. Much better (at least to my ears) to use a smooth, hard marble tile, smooth side down, under the speakers.

 

4. If the roller bearings are on a "floating" platform (i.e. 1" ply works well), the air bearing can be under the platform. However, I do not recommend this arrangement for loudspeakers, where the center of gravity is higher than it will be with most electronic components, like preamps and CD players. Wouldn't want to take the chance of a speaker tilting and falling. I suggest that for speakers, rollers alone (along with appropriate, dead -i.e. non-ringing- tiles) will do the job.

 

Good luck with the machining. Looking forward to hearing of your experiences.

 

Best regards,

Barry

www.soundkeeperrecordings.com

www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

 

[vortecjr]

thank you for your response! The common plane issue I have to live with as it's a furniture layout restriction. It's a strong wood base, but on the same plane none the less. The sub is a Vandersteen sub that just happens to cut the low frequency. It was not meant to reduce the vibration by design. The matching B&W sub works more like you suggest so I could listen to them both before desiding. One cup on a marble surface it is and arranged in a triangle. I feel better about not having the tubes! Later I'll make the ones for the rack....

 

Jesus R

www.sonore.us

 

[wgb113]

 

 

 

[spacey]

the only thing to change was the AE/laptop, replaced by a 500GB ATV & iPod Touch

 

 

 

 

 

[Vincent Borrelli]

System: PowerMac G5 (Late 2005) w/Mtron SLC SSD, Lynx AES16e, Drobo NAS (over ethernet), BADA DAC, Pass XA100.5 amps, Genesis 500 speakers, Synergistic Research PowerCell 10SE (to Oyaide WPC-Z), various Synergistic power cords, Synergistic Apex I/C & speaker cables, StarSound SP-101 speaker platforms & SP-1 stands… the SP-101s were the best upgrade to-date!

 

[extracampine]

Thanks for all the replies, really interesting, keep them coming!

 

[housteau]

Photo #1 is fairly current except for the amps shown. Photo #2 is a better averall shot, but it shows the older acoustic treatments and amps. Photo #4 has my current amps and the last one is of my rear wall.