mdalton's vintage system

by mdalton on
back wall
side wall
crossover

Room Details

Dimensions: 18’ × 15’  Medium
Ceiling: 8’

Components Toggle details

    • Altec Lansing Santiagos
    Resto/mod by Aural Hifi.  Custom crossover using Mundorf Evo Oil film caps, two L-pads (one to adjust horn volume, the other to attenuate midrange), and charge-coupled capacitors (w/9V battery) on the horn.
    • Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Co. CS-600X
    tube integrated amp, 4x6CA7 (EL-34), 4x6CS7, 1x6CJ3
    • Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Co. RS-30eq
    tube phono pre; 2xJAN 12AT7A, 1x6X5GT
    • Fern & Roby MC Step up transformer
    • Thorens TD-124
    Resto/mod by Woodsong Audio; turntable in grigio silvertone, plinth in figured mahogany, Retrotone top platter, Isoacoustics Gaia isolation feet.
    • Audio-Creative Groovemaster III
    9” titanium
    • Ortofon SPU Royal G mkII
    • Topping E-70
    ESS Sabre ES9028 Pro DAC
    • Pro-Ject Audio Systems Streambox S2 Ultra
    Roon endpoint (wifi)
    Wireworld Starlight USB cable (to DAC)
    • Cardas Audio Clear Cygnus Phono Interconnect
    Tonearm to SUT
    • Triode Wire Labs Loom (analog side)
    American speaker cable
    Spirit II phono rca (SUT to phono pre)
    Spirit II rca (phono pre to amp)
    Seven Plus pc (amp)
    Ten Plus pc (phono pre)
    Twelve Plus pc (TT)


    • Audio Sensibility Impact SE
    Star-grounded power strip
    • ANTICABLES Level 3 PC
    for power strip
    • iFi Audio GND Defender
    lifts ground safely
    • MJ Acoustics KENSINGTON SE
    One of the Master-Class series of subwoofers.  550 watt Mosfet amp, in a custom walnut finish to match my Santiagos.  Small footprint, but output down to 10 hz!

Comments 28

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Owner
@tomic601 
Very kind of you.  I purchased the SPU very lightly used from Christopher Hildebrand, owner of Fern & Roby.  It was serendipitous cuz  when I first met him I, I decided I wanted to get my SUT from him - really beautiful industrial design that fits into the vintage vibe.  I told him what cartridge I was trying to get - long delays at the time - and he happened to have one in his personal collection!  If I replace it, I’m thinking about the Treehaus Audio SUT, which looks and sounds amazing.

mdalton

Holy Glowing tubes man ! What a wonderful “ vintage system “…. of corse tge room and groove contribute….imo
We again share a cart pick in the SPU , i have the Silver Meister mk2 …. again seeking your thoughts / journey to your current SUT…
thx
Jim

tomic601

Very very nice.

jeffrey125

Owner
@lalitk you are very kind, thank you.  (you have a stunning system, btw!)

mdalton

One of my favorite system and room. You have an exquisite taste Sir!

lalitk

Owner
@jond 

Thank you!  Yes, I really love this system.  I found the ceiling material initially based on looks, but it turned out to be an acoustic material, with the wood veneer attached to a thick black felt background.  So the overall sound is very warm, very much a jazz club vibe.  Really stunning, and very gratifying.  Took me 2+ years to put this system together.  (And yes, the Leben gear is gorgeous, isn’t it?)

mdalton

@mdalton I finally found your vintage system! This may be my favorite yet Leben gear is so gorgeous and sounds fantastic. And those Altec Santiago's look stunning great restoration. And I love the ceiling is that how the room came or did you put that in for acoustics? Gorgeous overall room also!

jond

Owner
@milpai 
nope, still love their sound.  they’ve been paired with an Audio Refinement Complete integrated (the old YBA budget line).  I use a Raspberry Pi streamer, with an iFi Zen DAC Signature v2 in that system.  In the next few days though, the Quads will be replaced by an old pair of JMLabs Cobalt 816s, and the Quads will move to my wife’s office, driven by a Sonos amp for the time being.  Regardless, they’ll remain in use.

mdalton

@mdalton,
Don't give up on those Quads. They are amazing! Good to know that you like the Quads. What amp and source are you using for the bedroom system?

milpai

Owner
@milpai 

btw, am a huge fan of ProAcs - I’ve often seen them paired with Leben amps - and I’ve heard great things about Backert Labs (and btw, I still have a pair of Quad 11Ls in my bedroom system!).

mdalton

Owner
@subterranean6 
Interesting.  I’m considering a Swissonnor SUT with HM-7s.  And btw, I love your system - a lot of really cool pieces.  Definitely not cookie cutter.  

mdalton

@mdalton It's funny - you've got Fern and Roby and Rothwell SUTs. I think both use Lundhal transformers. These I would definitely like to hear - my hunch is that the presentation is more 'modern'. Maybe a nice balance for the SPU! I got my HM-3 SUT from tube-amps.net - goofy site, but the gentleman was very professional and the product is very well built.

subterranean6

@mdalton Hey there - I mean the upshot of my experience with the SUTs has lead me to the Hashimoto HM-3-based SUT from a guy in Michigan. Pricey, but oh wow the clarity you can get from a damn conical stylus! The other two - Cinemag-based from Ned Clayton and an entry level Audio Note UK unit that I got used on Audiogon - I guess I'd describe as variations on a theme, with the Cinemag based SUT having a slight 'opacity' to the sound, which is pleasing, for sure. Maybe tone-forward is a way to describe it. I have new tubes in my phono stage and so I'll try swapping them in and out and see if anything jumps out at me.

subterranean6

Owner
@subterranean6 

Thanks!  And yes, I really love the SPU on the TD124 in that system.  I was a little surprised how good the combo sounded relative to my big rig, where I have a Koetsu on a Reed tonearm (thus more $ invested).  They’re a lot closer than I expected.  The one component I need to upgrade in the big rig is the SUT - I notice you have 3!  Could you describe your experience with them?

mdalton

Owner
@milpai 

Thanks!  And yes, I can see who he is (and isn’t).  Pathetic, but no worries.  The anonymity of the internet brings out the worst in some at times.

mdalton

@mdalton,
Unfortunately there are posters here who provide useless suggestions while not posting what they have. And they are also rude to others.
You have 2 nice systems. Love the ceiling and and the space!

milpai

Owner
@vino_david 

lol!  says who?

mdalton

Remove that glass shelf immediately.

vino_david

Owner
@dougsat 
Thanks! lots of jazz selections in the collection. My preference is single malt scotch, but I always have some cold ones in the fridge for guests as well…

mdalton

Nice Room!!

Pour me a cold one, sit me in the center and fire up some Jazz! 

Excellent space.

dougsat

Owner
@pdreher 

Thanks!  I see you’ve got some 19s - very cool!  

mdalton

Beautiful room... and love the restored Altec's.

pdreher

Owner
@mjcmt 
Thanks.  Yes, my wife and I had a lot of fun decorating the room around the system!  Note how we chose the color of the Altec horns to complement the green around the Leben amp (and then the green theme gets picked up in several of our paintings as well).

mdalton

Very cool restomod system. Love the mid-century room vibe w/ complimenting looking system but w/ a modern sound. What's not to like.

mjcmt

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