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Second system

2nd system Wireless II and 3rd small system will be Quad 11 L Classics and either Rega/Exposure
 
Current second system (at computer desk) :

Macmini > Dacmagic+ > Rega io> Tannoy Prestige Autograph Mini GR/ optional headphones
 
Second system is a Sonos Amp + Tannoy DMT 15’s. The main system is in the basement and is linked to the Sonos Amp via the tape output on my Exposure 19 preamp. This allows me to listen to my LP12 through the second system and control the volume with my iPad using the Sonos app. A lot of times I group the second system with the Sonos Play 3 speaker in my kitchen and balance the volume using the Sonos app. This is preferred to just playing the Second system itself when sitting in the Kitchen which we do quite a bit. The Play 3 provides detail lost due to the Second system’s speakers being located in an adjacent room.

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Second system is a Sonos Amp + Tannoy DMT 15’s. The main system is in the basement and is linked to the Sonos Amp via the tape output on my Exposure 19 preamp. This allows me to listen to my LP12 through the second system and control the volume with my iPad using the Sonos app. A lot of times I group the second system with the Sonos Play 3 speaker in my kitchen and balance the volume using the Sonos app. This is preferred to just playing the Second system itself when sitting in the Kitchen which we do quite a bit. The Play 3 provides detail lost due to the Second system’s speakers being located in an adjacent room.

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Lovely speakers and I guess they fill the room pretty well !
 
This week's office system:

On the left, a power amp I built using a pair of TDA2030 monoblock boards, powered by a linear 24v DC power supply. I like having a volume control on my power amps (so I can use an active preamp like the Quad 33 I've restored and still retain good range on the preamp volume control), so this one has an ALPS Blue. On the right, my hand built passive preamp. I built this exactly to my needs: an Elma selector gives me 4 inputs, there's a line out and a pre out. Dual mono Khozmo stepped attenuators, with 48 steps, give superb fine volume control and a lovely action, as well as providing balance control. And a stereo/mono toggle switch, because I can't live without a mono switch when I'm listening nearfield to early hard-panned stereo mixes. All hand-wired point to point with some 47 Labs OTA cable I had left over from years ago (which is what I also use as speaker and interconnect cable). High quality gold connections everywhere, ofc. On the shelf below is the NOS Lite DAC AH (8 paralleled TDA-1543 chips). This replaced a 47 Labs Shigaraki DAC which I sold for a crazy amount of money and sounds absolutely fine.

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CD transport is still the Shigaraki, which I've had for over 16 years and will see me out (I have two spare transports for it, and it takes literally 10 minutes to replace a transport, so it's easily maintained). The Pro-Ject DAC is used for a Yamaha streamer and my laptop.

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Turntable is the Leno GL75 I've recently restored. The poor Thorens TD-150 isn't getting much of a look-in at the moment.

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Phono stage is a Pro-Ject Phono Box DS2, which is completely configurable from the front panel (I swap cartridges a lot, so this is handy), and sounds terrific for the money (Pro-Ject's, ahem, project range is confusing, but they make good phono amps). I preferred it to some much more exotic (i.e., expensive) alternatives (I'm looking at you, Chord Huei and GoldNote PH10).

This week's speakers are Stirling Broadcast 60th Anniversary LS3/5as in DIY cabinets (I didn't build these). Speaker stands are last weeks speakers (DIY Jordan single driver transmission lines, which I *did* build), which get the LS3/5as to the ideal height. Easter card made by my daughter when she was much younger.

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Next week will probably be a 2 WPC Elekit DIY valve power amp, the Quad 33, and the Jordan speakers. Unless the weather gets hot, because the Class A Elekit runs very hot.
 
Here is most of my second system;

It's made up of a NAT01 and a Nait 2 (the last version, with a CD input and no phono stage), on some spare Mana, feeding Ruark Templar speakers. It's good to switch this on in the evening as an alternative to TV. I keep thinking about whether a Bluesound Node would fit well on top of this stack, and might do that someday. Another project I'm considering is replacing the Ruark crossovers with a DSP box, and getting a simple 4 channel power amp to make the speakers active, but I don't have time for that at the moment.

I'll also have to think about how the Solstice turntable will fit in with the rest of the Naim ;-)
 
Here is my second system but to be fair gets by far the most use. I have just slotted in a cambridge audio dac magic plus which has balanced out direct to the meridians not easy to see in that pic

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My work in progress PC:

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Cable management required:

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...
I'll also have to think about how the Solstice turntable will fit in with the rest of the Naim ;-)

Unless you also have a spare at least 12-tier Mana - not really worth the bother.

Very nice second system. But can you all nice folks also include first systems for reference :)
 
Tell more about the little iO. Why did you choose it over the Brio?

I wouldn't say I chose it over the Brio in particular for the fact is, I didn't choose it over any other amp in particular. I simply wanted to try an io to see if it had the potential to fit into my system (or a system) based on reports of it being quite musical as opposed to any other attribute typically ascribed to amps, such as being detailed, precise, accurate of being capable of producing an impressive sound stage.

I can add that although the phono stage doesn't seem as good as my Trichord Dino+, and that the headphone section is simply decent enough, the amp itself does indeed have a musical quality about it that's quite compelling. Suffice to say, it's staying put in my second system.
 
My office system comprises.
Squeezebox Duet - £49 on ebay
Linn Majik I - £110 on ebay
Goodmans Mezzo 3 - £20 on ebay
Technics ST-G90 Tuner - Can't remember how much I paid on ebay about 15 years ago, maybe £40.
Sounds better than it has any right to.
It's probably the nearfield listening, but I'm seriously impressed by the Goodmans, thinking about getting some suitable stands and giving them a go in the main system although the A21 might be a bit overkill for them!
I think it's time this sort of speaker made a resurgence, infinite baffle, medium size bookshelf with 10 inch bass drivers.
 
Nice. One of the major advantages of small to medium-sized bookshelf speakers is with placement since they are easy to move around in the room.
They are indeed, I’ve done a comparison with four different speakers for a friend who’s trying to put a system together this evening… child’s play with the stand mount speakers… hauling floorstanders around is a task though, especially when they weigh as much as Ruark Talismans!:eek:
 
My office system comprises.
Squeezebox Duet - £49 on ebay
Linn Majik I - £110 on ebay
Goodmans Mezzo 3 - £20 on ebay
Technics ST-G90 Tuner - Can't remember how much I paid on ebay about 15 years ago, maybe £40.
Sounds better than it has any right to.
It's probably the nearfield listening, but I'm seriously impressed by the Goodmans, thinking about getting some suitable stands and giving them a go in the main system although the A21 might be a bit overkill for them!
I think it's time this sort of speaker made a resurgence, infinite baffle, medium size bookshelf with 10 inch bass drivers.
Bargain setup!
 
This week's setup.

A Meridian 561 DSP controller, used as a stereo preamp and DAC. I got this earlier in the week for £130, including the Meridian System Remote, manuals, software, cables. It's an amazingly capable device. Over 20 years old but the D->A and A->D processing still sounds absolutely superb, I swear I can't tell my vinyl is being digitised. An incredibly sophisticated and powerful processor, endlessly tweakable to get very precise control of almost every aspect of the system, and with a huge number of DSP presets, all adjustable. Build quality is fantastic, it may not be full width but it weighs a tonne and has serious heft about it. I thought it would be fun to use this with a 2 WPC valve amp, just because I like the incongruity of doing that, so I'm using my DIY Elekit TU8100. The pairing sounds fabulous. Speakers this week are my DIY Jordan JX92S single driver transmission lines.

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This week's setup.

A Meridian 561 DSP controller, used as a stereo preamp and DAC. I got this earlier in the week for £130, including the Meridian System Remote, manuals, software, cables. It's an amazingly capable device. Over 20 years old but the D->A and A->D processing still sounds absolutely superb, I swear I can't tell my vinyl is being digitised. An incredibly sophisticated and powerful processor, endlessly tweakable to get very precise control of almost every aspect of the system, and with a huge number of DSP presets, all adjustable. Build quality is fantastic, it may not be full width but it weighs a tonne and has serious heft about it. I thought it would be fun to use this with a 2 WPC valve amp, just because I like the incongruity of doing that, so I'm using my DIY Elekit TU8100. The pairing sounds fabulous. Speakers this week are my DIY Jordan JX92S single driver transmission lines.

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I really like Meridian 500 series kit, I’ve had quite a few bits and still have some. Very easy on the ears!
 
Bit of a copy paste from another post.

I recently set up a budget system in my study for some background music while working from home. This is based on a Raspberry Pi 4 and IQaudio DigiAMP+ HAT. I used an old laptop power supply I had lying around, and spent around 70 Euro in total for this. As speakers a couple of Monitor Audio Silver RX1 and Atacama stands a friend had surplus and he donated to me. The DigiAMP+ does 24/192 and has about 2 x 35 Watt with the power supply I had (can be less with weaker ones). As software I use piCorePlayer so it seamlessly integrates in my LMS/Squeezebox system.
Initially in a temporary 'case' consisting of an old chinese takeaway plastic box :) with a few holes cut out for cabling, it is now in a Hifiberry case slightly modified to fit the IQaudio HATs speaker terminals.
As mentioned this system was meant for background music, but I find myself really enjoying it. Up to the point that I start browsing music, looking for favourites, etc.

This would absolutely be something I could live with as a main system in a smaller room. For reference, my main system is a combined HT/stereo consisting of a Squeezebox Touch, digital into a Marantz AV7005 processor, modded Parasound HCA-2205 amp, ATC SCM40 mk1 speakers.
Install LMS on the Raspberry/piCorePlayer (I currently run LMS on an M-ITX small form computer/server), add an external USB drive with your music, and you have a fully integrated storage/server/streamer/amplifier with very decent sound quality in something the size of a deck of cards. LMS integrates your local music, streaming services, internet radio, podcasts all in one platform. With the latests plug-ins you can also quite easily integrate the wide variety of uPnP/DLNA and AirPlay capable devices as players in the LMS platform. So it could even be the basis for a limited multiroom system, but I assume at some point the Raspberry would run out of steam here.

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