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System Pics 2016

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Great space Zipper.. the room treatment looks great , not many folk bother with it..

Thanks!

We moved into a new house in July, so I had the space measured up for acoustic treatment before the move so I could get it setup from day 1.

The room is almost a perfect cube... acoustically challenging, so I really wanted to do what I could to make it as ideal as possible given the challenges. This after living in a very acoustically imperfect space prior to moving.

Not that the new space is acoustically ideal now... but... sounds good to my ears :)
 
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Work in progress - it's complicated.

ATC SCM100; SPL Phonitor 2; Sennheiser Headphones; Chord Hugo TT (on loan); Technics mk2; Accuphase Pre; Accuphase DAC; Auralic Aries; Linn LP12 + Lingo; Audiolab MDAC.

Some changes ahead for 2016, with minimalism/downsizing being the dominant theme.

I was thinking of ditching the CA2 pre I use & trying an SPL Phonitor 2 with my active 50's. Any good ?
 
I had a Hugo first and upgraded to TT.

TT brings a much lower noise floor and better isolation on all the inputs. Similar kind of difference as you would expect with putting a really good external linear power supply on a piece of hifi gear. The improvement was much greater than I anticipated it would be prior to doing a demo.

The build quality of the TT also surprised me. It looks like a plastic toy in pictures. Very misleading... the thing is built like a tank.
 
I was thinking of ditching the CA2 pre I use & trying an SPL Phonitor 2 with my active 50's. Any good ?

I compared the Chord Hugo TT & Phonitor combo against the Accs (level matched) and found them hard to distinguish - if anything, I preferred the former for its (subjectively + slightly) better clarity. Perhaps the SPL guys are on to something with their 120V technology, as are Chord with their FPGAs. OTOH, the Accs wiped the floor with the MDAC on its own as you would expect, the latter sounding flat and muddled in comparison.

Given that I have to use a lot of attenuation for my ATCs, I am not sure if I can dispense with an analogue pre amp for now, because what I noticed with the MDAC is IMV to a large degree the result of having to use lots of digital attenuation. I have already noticed something similar when I was connecting an Accurate DS directly to the ATCs - I much preferred it over the Accurate Kontrol.

The Chord will go back, it's good but not quite what I am looking for, but the criticism is mostly due to its quirky design which I seem to be unable to get along with. I am looking forward to Munich High End 2016 to see if anything interesting comes up that fits my bill more precisely.


HTH,
Samuel.
 
I dont covet much of the kit in the pictures here, but man - do I envy the listening rooms that some of you guys have!! Superb set ups and true labours of love.
One day...for life outside London Zone 2!
 
Looks wonderful Gromit. :) I've always loved the looks of Cyrus amps (and the fact that they stay true to those elegant and timeless looks for over 22 years now!)
I also have good memories of a Cyrus 2 and Cyrus 7 amp. Which Cyrus amp is it ?
The current line of Cyrus integrated amps al have those nasty, unclear and imho unnecessary displays. I prefer the more sober looks of the older series, like yours.

Still, I'm wondering... what made you decide to change your beloved Sonneteer Campion for a Cyrus. (I thought you really liked the Sonneteer)
 
Hi Alco :)

Good question re the Sonneteer - the one and only reason the Campion got moved on was because it just lacked power. We're very fortunate living where we are as our nearest neighbours are 40 metres away so volume isn't a problem (except when the children are in bed of course!). Ok I don't listen to music particularly loudly, but I find it's best when there's a little 'physical' attachment (as all live music has, even un-amplified). The Campion sounded beautiful at lower volume but ran out of BHP too early. Would really like to try an Alabaster and hopefully one day, with enough funds, I'll get that chance.

I also had a Sedley and whilst very good, it didn't 'click' for me in the way the Campion did.

I bought the 8vs in a drunken evening's 'Buy it Now' (shameful!) which came from some morbid fascination to try some Cyrus kit. I wasn't really looking forward to listening to it but you know what? I've had the house to myself all day today, and all I've done is spin tunes. I'm impressed - almost grudgingly - but it really is a very fine amplifier, no excuses needed.
 
Oh...got some Origin Live feet for the Sony turntable too which work well. The downside is the PS-6750's feet thread is M8 where the Isonoe and OL feet are M6. Some helicoil inserts (M8 to M6) work fine so these fit perfectly.

I did contact Isonoe directly (twice!) asking if there were any plans to produce their isolation feet with an M8 thread, even if they could make a set up for me, but I never received a reply, not even the courtesy of a 'sorry but we won't be able to help you'. I took my business elswhere.
 
Aha, I see. Thanks for the explanation, Gromit. No excuse needed indeed.

I still have and really like my Sonneteer Campion, but I also agree, that the Campion lacks a little extra oomph. I have neighbours above and underneath in quite a noisy appartment. Therefor I mostly (have to) listen to music at modest levels, but it's clear that it's not a powerhouse.
 
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