I've put the Quads up on 10.5" solid wood stands to get the soundstage up off the floor. Tried alot of amplifiers (EAR, Quicksilver, ARC) - thus far the Cary's take the day as far as the combination of liquidity and resolution. The Odysee Stratos is also a very fine sounding SS amplifier I sometimes listen to.
As for cabling, I haven't gone very far with experimentation yet. I'm running Harmonic Technology Truthlink interconnects (12 ft b/t preamp and amps) and Canare star quad speaker cables. I tried a few interconnects, and thought the HT was very neutral and a good bang for buck. Not sure where to go on speaker cable. One need be only 6 feet long, the other 12!
As you can see from the system pictures, the sources and preamp are in built-in cabinets, the amps are in a rack in the corner of the room. This is a dedicated listening room. I first contructed and installed way too many absorptive panels and bass traps. I've since taken many out, leaving 7 panels and two bass traps.
Hey Jeff - I finally got to hear the Ayre in his system this past weekend over at Peter's place. It is not the only thing he's fallen behind on updating! Actually, he's in a stage of purging, and the Ayre is staying for sure. It sounds great! We did some interesting comparisons between preamps and digital front ends while I was there that may alter the course of his restructuring. We'll see. Love to come by for a listen some time with Peter. Your system certainly sounded good last time I was over. Meanwhile, nice job Peter!
Peter - we're going to have to update your photographs!! It's going to take one long-ass tome of a post to describe the metamorphosis. Peter's system has undergone some rather dramatic changes since posting these pictures. The system bears little resemblance to what you see here, though the room looks similar. I have to say, his current system is the very best I've heard in that room and one of the best I've heard, period. The only difficulty I have with his system at this point is the effect it has on me when I have to come home to my own modest system!
If you can afford Marco for photo's you can afford to pay for me to come visit and listen :^).
Shoot Albert, either I'm selling myself cheap, or you're Peter's next door neighbor, and I know that latter ain't so! Actually I just snapped some pics of Peter's room while I was enjoying the hospitality of a weekend visit at his house with my wife while he was away. I highly recommend doing that, over visiting while Peter is actually at home :-P If I'd made that comment early-on I'd understand why he spelled my name wrong. Since that isn't the case, perhaps he has a prejudice for the letter "o". In which case you might become Albert Parter. I don't know about you, but I like "Porter" better, and I do prefer "Prozzo" to "Prazzo". Must have been a late-night post for our friend Peter, or perhaps eating some greasy food at the keyboard and his fingers slipped...clear across to the other end of the keyboard. Peter posted the pics without letting me tweak'em for perspective (not knowing that was even possible perhaps), so I done went and done that now so they look less like his house survived a major earthquake. He's done a very nice job on his listening room. The side storage rooms that allow access to the back of the components is a great idea, and well implemented here. As far as acoustics, I think it was a bit overdamped when I was last there, but otherwise very comfortable and cozy and a great space to listen in. It is a work in progress, and I know he's been changing things around, tuning both the room and the system. I was in there pretty much just after the room was done. There were still tags from the store on the chairs! I look forward to more listening there. I've gotta say that vinyl rig he's got there was a strong reminder of how good vinyl can sound. Having given it up a few years back, I'd forgotten. Nice job Peter.
