Show us your equipment / kit !

[Phil Townsend]

OMG that is a wonderful back wall icon/art/fun/ I WANT ONE!

Not to mention the system... it was cool too...

 

 

Build your own gear

Grow your own food.

 

[machinehead]

I also have the Stratos Mono blocks, loving them, how do you like yours?

 

Beautiful speakers and room!

 

Yes, very cool statue on the wall!

 

[Audio_ELF]

Did you know you seem to have Han Solo stuck to your back wall??

 

Eloise

 

[housteau]

Back in the day, the fellow that did this sculpture was very much into SiFi art. All of his sculptures were full life sized and very impressive. Hans Solo being frozen in carbonite was in fact the basis for this one. At his one show he had about nine of them around the walls of the room his show was in. I had him install this one from that show in my room.

 

[housteau]

I don't know how I had missed this company over the years. They are even a member at The audio Circle forum which I frequent, yet never noticed them until I read that review of the Khartago. I was fortunate and found a fellow needing to let his Stratos Extreme Mono SEs go. That was perfect since they had already been fully burned in. I am just using them for mid bass duty right now, but I know they could do it all if and when needed. I am very impressed with the sound and build quality.

 

[machinehead]

I am the same, I had never heard of them until the Khartgo article came out.

Then about a year later my dealer suggested I try the Strattos. I ended up with a pair of Mono SE's. They are truly amazing.

 

[Lowlands]

 

Vincent,

What do you use as cable elevators in your snakepit?

Looks nice btw. How does it look from the listening position...

 

Hans

 

[Vincent Borrelli]

Hi Hans,

 

That's the next fix... it's just polystyrene foam (closed cell), the kind used as packing material. It's a temporary solution, and I'm planning to make some elevators out of silk string (or fishing wire) running across blocks of wood, ebony I think (a friend made these and they are very effective). Since I don't use a rack and everything is on the floor (on Sistrum stands), I need various heights for the cables, which are very inflexible. Here is a photo of the front... got it really humming over the weekend with the help of some friends who made some good tweaks.

 

Here is a photo of the front. The monitor is gone now (I control it with an iPod Touch & Remote app, and Chicken of the VNC from another mac over ethernet), and I removed the video card from the G5, which only has a SSD and memory, and not much else in it now.

 

Vincent

 

[Christopher]

Attached are a few pics with system updates.

 

Speaker placement has made the biggest impact. Speakers are about 7.5 feet apart and 3 feet from the wall.

 

Component isolation and room treatments have also yielded big improvements. The QB-9 has benefited the most from isolation. I’m using a combination of cones, sorbothane and products from Herbie's Audio Lab.

 

Power isolation between & among components and cable upgrades have also been important.

 

Giant cone/spike decoupling gliders from Herbie's Audio Lab are under speakers with additional sorbothane footers.

 

The pinkish pyramids under speaker cables are DIY made of antistatic foam and ceramic power insulators. I’m also using the same antistatic foam to separate cables throughout the system.

 

External hard drives are on top of the rack with a number of measures to reduce vibration and absorb fan noise.

 

Anyone else have updates to share?

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

 

 

[dsnyder]

Hello Chris,

 

Those are excellent photos of a most impressive looking playback system. Thanks so much for sharing! I'm sure that this setup is a joy to listen to.

 

I'm not nearly as far along in the process. I just started updating my playback system with new loudspeakers about seven months ago. The plan for this year is a new DAC or DAC/preamp with monoblocks hopefully sometime in 2012.

 

The last link in my signature ("3,000 cu.ft. of air") is a link to the view from my listening position. I'll post a photo of the equipment rack once the new DAC is in (if I can ever decide on which one!!!). Cheers.

 

-- David

 

 

[mitch751]

 

[mwheelerk]

My system is described in my signature line but here it is. I am not sure what I am doing wrong that the attachments are not showing.

 

[Christopher]

Hi mwheelerk,

 

Chris, the Founder, posted the syntax.

 

Here it is...

 

 

 

I’m testing it with a pic of my QB-9 with isolation...

 

[Edit: The syntax works fine. To avoid duplicity, I removed the embedded image]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[netchord]

here a few shots of my system- the only difference between the pics and the system in my sig is the change from A5 to Krell. it's a 3 Channel system for video (no surrounds), the cable box and Oppo are connected to the 561 via coax, as is the mac mini (via the HiFace).

 

the Drobo sits behind the display- it will fit in the cabinet, but the fan runs constantly with the doors closed. there's a single red rose M150 monoblock behind the center speaker.

 

[pianoguy]

Sadly, still haven't introduced my server-based front end yet. Still trying to piece it together based on the wisdom on this site!

 

[netchord]

beautiful- is that a pathos integrated?

 

[wgb113]

Nice Setup! (and chair!) Hopefully my Ekornes makes it down to the listening room sooner than later.

 

How are you liking the Dynaudios?

 

Bill

 

 

[pianoguy]

The Pathos integrated is in Inpol2 - really an amazing piece right out of the box! I'm using NOS tubes (Mullard/Amperex) which made it even better (midrange). Highly recommended!

 

[baxtus]

That I, and others, may admire your sound system, it is the contents of your book shelf. . . wonderful. Great to see people still read.

 

[mwheelerk]

Bill

 

I really like the X12s. I have been considering a move to the X32 but I like the X12s so much I am not sure that I want to make the change.

 

[mwheelerk]

Christopher,

Thanks for that information and although I mind come off sounding stupid I simply don't know how to use something like that to post pictures. Any instructions? I am sure after I read them I have an 'Oh Geez' moment.

 

[biberfan]

I became interested in the hobby about 11 years ago, but haven't yet invested a fortune--yet. I listen in two spaces, one in my home office with a bookshelf speakers and a set of Sennheiser cans (HD650), and our family room is where I go for less distracted listening.

 

 

I'm currently using a MacMini -> Wireworld Supernova 6 -> Bel Canto DAC 3 -> CIAudio D100 Monoblocks -> Acoustic Zen Satori Shotgun -> B&W 703.

 

 

I welcome any suggestions for logical upgrade paths in the future.

 

[mwheelerk]

biberfan,

 

That is a pretty sweet position you have yourself in right now with that system. Nice.

 

[wgscott]

Well, after essentially ignoring music for 15 years, playing CDs and my iPod on something that cost me $100 at Costco, or in my car, I made my first, tentative entry in April 2010:

 

 

This was a couple of months after purchasing a stupidly expensive house. I didn't want the TV to be the focus of the room, so the speakers flank the fireplace, and the TV gets a $250 Vizio soundbar from Costco (kids play games on a Wii and the Mini and watch movies and PBS kids shows with Limited Basic Cabal TV; I put the TV on during natural disasters -- I am not a videophile.)

 

The speakers are now moved further away from the wall, BTW.

 

(The cabinet contains mini, nova, dvd player wii, and a power conditioner. HDMI connects the mini to the TV, which is then connected to the inexpensive sound bar.)

 

 

The ceiling is quite high, and the fireplace is at a 45 degree angle (and thus are the speakers):

 

 

Dog in the sweet spot:

 

 

 

 

[Christopher]

Hi mwheelerk,

 

I’ll do my best to help with embedded images.

 

First, you need to upload your image to a server or online sharing application. You can use sites like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/). You can also use the Computer Audiophile server.

 

Here’s what I did using Computer Audiophile.

 

Beginning steps:

* log into CA

* create your post and attach your photos

* save the post with attached images

 

Middle steps:

* after your attachments are saved and uploaded, view your post and open your attachment

* when the attached photo opens, the file location will appear in your browser bar (also called address bar)

* copy the entire http address in the browser bar

* paste the address in Word or a similar program

 

End steps:

* see the syntax provided by Chris, CA’s founder, below

 

* add everything you see before the quotes and after the quotes to the address that you copied and saved

* go back into your post with the Edit function

* paste the address into your original post (make sure it includes the complete syntax line)

* save the post

 

Just for good measure, you will add the less-than sign, src and the equal sign before the address and the greater-than sign at the end.

 

If you are not using Computer Audiophile to host your image, then just follow the “end” steps with any image file location.

 

Sorry if my steps are terrible and hard to understand. Maybe Chris can help as needed. Chris fixed my post earlier today...many thanks.

 

Cheers,

Chris