System Pics 2021

[Del monaco]

_DSC3173 (2) by Colin Bailey, on Flickr[/QUOTE]
I have a gut feeling that that player sounds real nice.

 

[Thetiminator]

Well I think it’s more the Speakon connectors that they’re insistent on....they say that spades are rubbish and next best to speakons are locking bananas....

 

[misterdog]

This top-quality Benchmark cable features Canare Star-Quad Speaker Cable. Four heavy-duty 14 AWG stranded conductors are combined into two pairs arranged in a star-quad configuration. The combined conductors are equivalent to 11 AWG, but the star-quad configuration reduces magnetic radiation and interference by about 20 dB, making this cable superior to 2-conductor cables.

Or £ 5/Metre from Audiophonics.

 

[killie99]

Recently finished building a Neurochrome Modulus-686 power amp and currently trying to decide whether I prefer the Neurochrome 8x2 preamp or DCG3 preamp, which are all in the pics. Amp duties are usually a Perreaux Eloquence 250i 40th Anniversary but we'll see how the 686 stacks up.
edit: should really list what there is: Garrard 401, Jelco 750 with Shuggie, Ortofon 2M Black / ZYX Yatra 100, Project Phono RS with Sigma22 Linear PS, Audiophonics RaspTouch with RPi3 + DigiOne + Linear PS, Perreaux Eloquence 250i 40th Anniversary with ES9038Pro DAC, DCG3 Pre-Amp, Neurochrome 8x2 Pre-Amp, Neurochrome 686 Power amp, Benchmark DAC2 HGC, Primare V25 CD player, Monitor Audio PL300, Sjostrom DCT03 DC Blocker.

 

[geetee1972]

1 by visitdetails, on Flickr

This is by far the most intereasting post thus far. What is it you, or perhaps your wife or daughter, do that means you've met both the queen and the pope?

 

[narabdela]

Can posters put a list of the gear along with the comments please? Saves us quoting the post inc pics again.

People have been asking that for years now, without much success. It would save so much time and space, and avoid the same old questions.

 

[Cereal Killer]

System:
Vitus Audio RD-100 DAC/Pre
Vitus Audio RS-100 Power amp
Speakers: 432 Point5 (DIY)
Speaker stands: solidsteel SS-5
Speaker cables: 432 Point5 SPC-850 Triple-C (DIY)
USB cable: 432 Point5 SUS-380 Triple-C (DIY)

Roon:
Hystou NUCi7-10510U: 16GB RAM 256GB MVMe SSD
Netgear prosafe gs105 5-port gigabit switch
Teddy Pardo Dual 12v/3a LPSU with 432 Point5 upgrade (DIY)


Mains & Network:
Mains distribution: DCT03 + 432 Point5 4-way Neutrik (DIY)
Mains cables: Neotech NEP-4003 + Neutrik + MS-HD (DIY)

Network Storage: QNAP TS-251+: 8GB RAM 2x 2TB SSDs
Network cables: Veetop (26awg flat) CAT8

 

[monya]

Who needs equipment? A cable shot

 

[Tarzan]

@monya- Those cables are far too tidy.

 

[andrews]

Benchmark recommend that the only speaker cable that can maintain the full potential of the amp is the Canare 4S11 Star Quad with the Speakon connectors.

Have you tried it ?

Misterdog

I missed that recommendation!
Previously I used TQ Ultra Black cable. I did note that with the TQ Silver Diamond, I probably needed to crank my pre (passive) amp up a notch (possibly 2DB)

 

[andrews]

Who needs equipment? A cable shot

Quiet a collection - dhow did you reach the current permuation?

 

[andrews]

This is by far the most intereasting post thus far. What is it you, or perhaps your wife or daughter, do that means you've met both the queen and the pope?

SWMBO is with the Pope and Queen - hence the location of my HiFi!

 

[monya]

Quiet a collection - dhow did you reach the current permuation?

I could say through vast amount of research + trial and error but to be honest each seemed a good idea at the time. The bottom middle came with the equipment so at least that was a freebie!

 

[Gervais Cote]

Recently finished building a Neurochrome Modulus-686 power amp and currently trying to decide whether I prefer the Neurochrome 8x2 preamp or DCG3 preamp, which are all in the pics. Amp duties are usually a Perreaux Eloquence 250i 40th Anniversary but we'll see how the 686 stacks up.
edit: should really list what there is: Garrard 401, Jelco 750 with Shuggie, Ortofon 2M Black / ZYX Yatra 100, Project Phono RS with Sigma22 Linear PS, Audiophonics RaspTouch with RPi3 + DigiOne + Linear PS, Perreaux Eloquence 250i 40th Anniversary with ES9038Pro DAC, DCG3 Pre-Amp, Neurochrome 8x2 Pre-Amp, Neurochrome 686 Power amp, Benchmark DAC2 HGC, Primare V25 CD player, Monitor Audio PL300, Sjostrom DCT03 DC Blocker.

If I may ask : how do you find your ES9038 pro DAC sound ?
Mine sounds awesome with lots of details and dynamic but the very high frequencies sound digital rather than natural to my ears, do you get the same problem ?

 

[killie99]

The ES9038Pro DAC in the Perreaux is excellent, I'd struggle to tell the difference between it and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC. What product is your ES9038 Pro in?

 

[misterdog]

Misterdog

I missed that recommendation!

John Siau, Director of Engineering and chief designer at Benchmark Media.
Also advocates the use of StarQuad balanced interconnects.
More to the point he actually shows the benefits.

I use Van Damme Star Quad with silver plated Neutric XLR's. Cheap as chips, good enough for studios and stage.
I have some 18 Metres of it in my system.

 

[misterdog]

and a SMSL M-400 DAC

Here also, what did you have before ?

 

[Gervais Cote]

The ES9038Pro DAC in the Perreaux is excellent, I'd struggle to tell the difference between it and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC. What product is your ES9038 Pro in?

My DAC is in a separate box with its own power supply and it’s a Rod rain Audio.

 

[Alan Brown]

Here also, what did you have before ?

An M-500 but the firmware update issue meant I could return it and trade up. A very good DAC but different in character somehow.

Both SMSL knocked an M2Tech Young sideways quite easily, which I found impressive. Theta before that.

 

[KameleonicDNB]

My setup is quite old and humble but sounds nice to me, I like the classic feel, the amplifier and graphic is around 30 years old.

Amplifier: Pioneer A-Z360
Graphic: Pioneer GR-Z460
Speakers: Bowers & WIlkins DM601
Interface: Roland UA101
Speaker Wire: Van Damme - Blue Series Studio Grade

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