I have put this system together mostly in the last year, and mostly with used gear. The only piece I've had longer is the Rega Planet cd player and my Standesign rack. The biggest challenge and restriction on my system is my awful listening room. The only dedicated space I have is a converted attic with low sloping ceilings and a small overall space. The room is 12 feet wide and 13 feet deep. The high point of the ceiling is a center spine 7 1/2 feet high which runs from the front to the back of the room. The ceiling slopes steeply down to the right and left sides of the room hitting the side walls only 1 1/2 feet above the floor. I have mounted Auralex sound absorbing squares over half of the ceiling, especially at the first points of reflection. I still need to add bass traps.
In this space it's hard to get a sense of how good my system could be. To compensate as best I can I am listening nearfield, with the speakers sitting 4 ft. from the front wall and 1 1/2 feet from the side walls. The speaker drivers are 5 1/2 feet apart (toed in to directly face the listening chair) and 5 1/2 feet from the listening chair.
Any comments on how to best tweak the space or equipment for my setup is welcome.
My first entry-level audiophile table, and nice easy set-up player for me.
Rega RB-300 Tonearm
stock with table, but modded the wires to install female rca's on the table so I could run better interconnects out.
Rega Exact Cartridge
about 300 hours on it. Sounds good, and is my first upgrade after initially using a Grado Gold. Much more refined.
Rega Planet CD Player
Original Plantet but still works great. Running it as a trasport now.
Benchmark DAC-1
Latest version. Wonderful unit. Thinking of having the Analog stage modded.
Musical Fidelity A-5 Integrated Amplifier
I probably don't need the 200 watts/channel to run my small floorstanders in my small room, but I like knowing i have it in reserve.
Von Schweikert Audio VR-4
These are the latest VR-4jr's. I got them used and they sound so much more detailed and musical than the Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands they replaced.
Standesign 5-Rack
Metal frame with MDC shelves and points for top turntable shelf.
Analysis Plus Solo Oval Crystal 8 Interconnects
I have two 1M pairs of these, one from the modded Rega P3 to my MF A5, and one from the Benchmark DAC-1 to the A5. I like these better than the Nordost Blue Heavens they replaced.
Stereovox latest digital coax cable
from transport to DAC. Great detail. The only cable in my system I bought at retail price. Worth it.
Analysis Plus Solo Oval Crystal 8 Speaker Cable
Single run, Shotgun with the big AP spades. I will need a second pair to biwire my Von Schweikert's.
Audience PowerChord
I have this running the Benchmark DAC-1
Cardas Golden Reference Power Cord
This is running the Musical Fidelity A5.
Panamax Max 1000 Power Filter
got used. Running all my gear except my amp.
Myrtle Cuboids Footers
Used under all my gear. Bought on a whim from a guy on Audiogon who cuts them himself in Oregon. Improved the sound when swapped in for my BDR cones.
Auralex Studiofoam squares
1ftx1ftx 2in squares. On my walls and ceiling for sound absorption. Definitely took echoes away from my small room walls and ceiling.
Trends Audio UD 10.1
USB/Coax converter. Takes My U.S.B. cable in from my laptop and converts it to digital coax. I use a Steriovox coax cable out from the Trends to the Benchmark DAC 1. It is seamless, but is limited to 44.1 mhz.
Apple iBook G4 laptop
I use the iBook as my source for digital music files. The files are ripped as Apple Lossless and stored on a 500gb external hard drive and hard wired to the laptop via a USB cable.
