Description

I went through a complete revamp of my system in 2023 over a 10 month period. Very happy with how the new system turned out. After going through a number of tube and SS integrated amplifiers, I found the combination of tube preamp (Octave HP 500 SE) and SS solid state amp (Vitus SS-101 Signature) to be the best (thus far).

Update -- March 2024: Replaced Denon cart with Hana ML; another leap in performance.

Update -- April 2024: Replaced the Meitner MA3 DAC with Merging Technologies +NADAC and +Power. What a huge difference! Best DAC I've ever owned. 
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Room Details

Dimensions: 20’ × 15’  Medium
Ceiling: 12’


Components Toggle details

    • Vitus Audio SS-101 Signature
    Class A Power Amp -- after cycling through a number of amps in the past, the Vitus just clicked all the boxes for me. This 176 lbs. beast was a revelation. Packs a punch but wears a velvet glove.
    • Ayon Audio Ayon CD-T MK II
    CD Transport -- I prefer the tube output over transistor
    • QSA QSA Red Power Jitter Power Conditioner
    Subtle but positive improvement
    • Cables Various Various
    Speaker Cables - SwissCables Reference; Interconnects - Audioquest Firebird RCAs, Audioquest Diamond AES/EBU; Power Cords -- SwissCables Reference; Ethernet -- Ansuz;
    • QSA Red AC Receptacle
    • GigaWatt Powerprime
    Power conditioner -- one of the few PCs that didn't kill the dynamics
    • Live Vibe Live Vibe Racks and Audio Points
    The Live Vibe racks and Audio Points (footers) were a revelation. By far one of my best investments in audio. The level of improvement after adding Live Vibe equipment was substantial and immediately noticeable.
    • Micro Seiki BL-101
    Micro Seiki BL-101 with MA-505 tonearm. Upgraded cart to Hana ML
    • Ansuz Acoustics PowerSwitch X-TC
    Network switch
    • Harbeth M40.2
    The speakers are sitting on TonTrager stands
    • Octave Audio HP 500SE
    Beautiful sounding tube preamplifier with separate power supply.
    • GIK Acoustics Tubo Tube Traps Pro
    • GIK Acoustics Acoustic Panels
    Various acoustic panels on all walls
    • Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5
    Music server including SSD and Roon Core. With separate LPS
    • Merging Technologies +NADAC with +Power
    The +NADAC with separate +Power power supply is by far the best and most analog sounding DAC I've ever owned. The DSD playback is phenomenal, as it should be since many studios like TRPTK uses Merging equipment to record DSD music.

Comments 13

Showing all comments by dtorc.

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Oops - I don't know how I missed that - sorry. I'd love to have a pair of those speakers in my room - though they may be too much in a smaller room like mine.

dtorc

The room looks great - and the system seems to fit it well. Can we have a component list? Just 'cuz I'm interested...

David

dtorc