Tell us about your stereo!

[Craig in Indy]

I will say the Rolling Stones album you sent me sounds Great, much better than a regular CD no doubt.

I'm glad to hear you think so. I don't think we ever got around to an evaluation of it before leaving the old forum.

 

[Hepcat]

Craig:

Hepcat - just to make sure, are you talking about Anker modding the CD-playing circuitry of the Marantz, or the SACD-playing circuitry?

I'm talking about modifying the SACD-playing circuitry. Matt has already responded with a proposal for what he would do to improve the Marantz, which he called a very good player.

If all you have are CDs and you have no desire to invest in SACDs, there isn't much point in getting any SACD player

My intention is to get some (likely many) SACDs as well - although I do intend to play my CDs on the SACD player as well.

***:

 

[Craig in Indy]

Electronics

After leaving the disc players, the signal hits the electronics. Right now I have a number of different pieces of equipment, some in the system, some not set up yet. Most of time lately I've been using a pair of these little Antique Sound Lab monoblock power amps:




I also have their matching preamp, but haven't used it yet:



Instead, I've been routing everything through this Adcom (seen with the Modwright-modded DAC/power supply sitting on top of it):



Before I got the little ASL monoblocks, I was using this B&K ST-140, and will probably go back to it when I get rid of the ASLs:



And then once I get the listening room in order, I've got a PrimaLuna integrated waiting to plug into the system:



Speakers and miscellaneous stuff still to come...

 

[Craig in Indy]

Craig:



I'm talking about modifying the SACD-playing circuitry. Matt has already responded with a proposal for what he would do to improve the Marantz, which he called a very good player.



My intention is to get some (likely many) SACDs as well - although I do intend to play my CDs on the SACD player as well.

***:

Cool. Then you'll be all set!

 

[Hepcat]

Craig:

I'm almost done transferring the last of my non-classical LPs to CD. I only have 14 more to go from the folk/bluegrass collection, then a handful of jazz....I'll have between 350 and 400 LPs to try to find a way to get rid of soon.

I don't understand your thinking. If you love your music, LPs played on a good turntable/cartridge sound far richer and better than on CD.

Many, if not most, of my SACDs have multi-channel layers on them....

Are you saying they have more layers than stereo and 5.1? Would they have a 3.1 layer for example?

 

[LG]

You have some really really good gear there Craig. Reminds me a little of myself, how many different combinations you can play around with, just for fun.

Thanks for the great pictures.

 

[Hepcat]

Craig:

That was one heavy turntable, from back in the days when they thought mass was the answer to every possible resonance problem.

It's an answer to many/most. That's why I'm looking at this Thorens TD350 turntable:

Most of time lately I've been using a pair of these little Antique Sound Lab monoblock power amps....

Awesome! Monoblocks are so hardcore! They're indicative of a serious audio buff.

Lord Grendel:

It is complicated,,,DTS, Dolby 5.1, SACD, and DVD-A,,,you would think they would just make a single format and stick with it.

That would make no sense at all. They couldn't get music lovers to "upgrade" to the new, and maybe better, formats that way!

 

[taha]

This months Stereophile has an EXCELLENT article on why Direct Cut Lp's need to make a comeback, tho they take a little extra time to cut Heps table would make some seriously fkn good music........

 

[LG]

^^Perhaps Hepcat, but it is also a pretty slick way to get us to pay multiple times for the same recordings, in fact that is why DVD-A 5.1 were released, which also extinguished the market for SACD's.

I will agree that poorly mastered CD's played on a below average system show all of the weak points of digital media, a good system with quality all the way to the speakers, sounds great. I still love my old turntable, but I also love my classical music on CD's, no more background noise and the quality is stunning.

 

[Craig in Indy]

Speakers

My current speakers are a pair of Meadowlark Audio Kestrel 2s, shown here in a product promo shot, and in a cutaway held by the designer and head of the company, Pat McGinty. As you can see, it's a time-aligned, modified transmission line design.




Supplementing the Kestrels is a Hsu Research VTF-2 powered sub, like this one, but in high-gloss black:



I've been *real* happy with this combination, even if it doesn't provide the sense of air around each instrument the way my old Magneplanars did. I think I'd have to spend a whole lot more money than I did on this setup to get something appreciably better, at least to my ears.