Description

This is my music system which has been evolving for over 35 years.

Have had many different components of many styles. Have learned that synergy is everything and you have to trust your ears.

Also I've had had these systems in over a dozen listening rooms. I've spent many hours working on room treatments and setup and believe the room/speaker interaction is the most important aspect of great sound that many hobbyists fail to optimize.

Vinyl is spinning about 80% of the time (Used to be 90% vinyl, but digital changes both sonically and user experience w/Roon & Qobuz have been a big improvement). After relocating to Austin, TX and getting the room optimized, I changed the analog side of the system, having sold tt, arm, carts & phono stage prior to the move. 
Most recent project has been upgrading from Ayre QB-9 DSD Twenty to Bricasti M3h DAC. 

Previous pieces & systems included:

Soundlab A3 electrostatics & Krell FBP-300 amp, Nola Viper Reference III (with Lamm & BAT monoblocks), BAT VK150SEs & Silverline LaFolias, Acarian Alon V mkiii , Merlin VSM-MX, Atma-Sphere MA1mkII.2, Atma-Sphere MP3, Herron VTSP1a-166

Joule Electra LA150 and Berning ZH270, Pentagon PH3, CAT SL1MkIII, Merlin VSM-MX

Cary Rocket88 & Dehaviland 845 monos/Cary SLP2002/QuadsESL63USA

Avalon Radians/SpectralDMA180 & DMC20II/Meridian508

BAT vk5i & vk60/Von Schweikert vr4.5II

Chario Academy1/Air Tight ATM1

VTL ST80/ Acarian Alon II

Thiel 3.6 / Krell KSA 50

Vandersteen 2ci / Sunfire, B&K ST140, VTL ST-80 amps

Technics SP10mkII, EPA250 arm, SH-B3 obsidian base, custom 4kg ss mat, running with Signet 111E and Goldbug Clement II cartridges, Aqvox 2CI balanced phono stage
VPI TNT6HR w/12.7 arm, van den Hul Colibri XGP,   
Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm, Shelter 501
Sonore microRendu w/custom linear power supply feeding Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC
MacMini running Audirvana+ , too many CDs players & DACs to remember.


Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 21’ × 15’  Medium
Ceiling: 10’


Components Toggle details

    • Vandersteen 5A
    Loudspeakers in Cherry/Black
    5-driver, 4- way, time- and phase-accurate speaker system that incorporates a unique aperiodic, push-pull, powered sub-bass system, a battery-biased passive high-pass filter and an 11-band equalizer—in a “boxless” minimum-baffle, non-resonant enclosure system.
    • Quicksilver V4 Monoblocks
    Tube monoblock Amps currently with KT-88 output tubes
    • VAC Renaissance Mark V Preamp with Phono
    balanced dual mono linestage and phono stage with external power supply. Running Amperex orange globes on the linestage side and a pair of Amperex NOS 60s medical grade Bugle Boys and one stock Mullard reproduction on the phono side. Planning on experimenting with NOS Mullard, Amperex and perhaps Telefunken for the single tube on the phono side.
    • Sota Nova Vacuum Series VI with Eclipse(Phoenix Engr. designed) Motor Controller
    Awaiting delivery of the new Series VI Nova table spring suspension turntable with vacuum hold down system, mag lev platter/bearing, Eclipse motor controller(designed by Phoenix Engineering) and Reflex clamp!
    • Jan Allaerts MC-1B
    moving coil cartridge
    • Bricasti Design M3h
    DAC / headphone amp
    • Sonore opticalRendu Deluxe & LPS
    Audio Streamer/Renderer (optical > USB) , Running Roon's latest version.
    • Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5v3
    Roon Core, and partial library on Samsung EVO870 4TB internal SSD. Remaining library on external Samsung T7 Shield 4TB USB SSD
    • UpTone Audio JS-2 Linear Power Supply
    2 rail LPS (powering SGC SonicTransporter & Sonore opticalModule), Uptone DC cables
    • Sonore opticalModule
    ethernet to fiber converter
    • Spin Planet Custom Amp Stands
    Maple amp stands with Eden Sound brass Bear Paw radiused footers
    • DIY Slipknot1 & Sbank Maple Madness Rack
    PerfectPlank Maple 1 7/8, McMaster-Carr Brass hardware, Star Sound Audiopoints footers
    • Custom Room Treatments
    Designed and framed by Sensible Sound Solutions. Assembled and upholstered by me using Guilford of Maine acoustical cloth.
    • SpinPlanet Custom Wood Diffusors
    BBC "Skyline" style QRD diffusors handmade of solid pine on 24" birch plywood base. Hand made in Delaware, USA.
    • ATS Acoustics QRD 7 Well Quadratic Diffuser
    • AudioQuest Oak Bi-wire Speaker Cables
    SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+) CONDUCTORS

    MULTI-LAYER CARBON-BASED NOISE- AND CROSSTALK-DISSIPATION SYSTEM: 
    DOUBLE COUNTER-SPIRAL GEOMETRY

    FOAMED-POLYETHYLENE INSULATION (FOR ALL POSITIVE CONDUCTORS)

    DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM WITH RADIO FREQUENCY TRAP
    • AudioQuest Water XLR
    6.5M balanced interconnects pair used between preamp and power amp
    • Tel Wire Power Cables HC Cord & Cord
    HC Cord - large 9 gauge OCC single crystal, ultra pure copper. Terminated with genuine Oyaide 004 series with Beryllium copper bases and platinum & palladium plating. HC with 20amp connector on Krell amp connected to 20amp dedicated circuit

    Cord - OCC single crystal, ultra pure copper. Terminated with genuine Oyaide 004 series with Beryllium copper bases and platinum & palladium plating
    • Tel Wire Connect XLR
    OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) single crystal copper of the highest purity available. Terminations are Xhadow Silver RCA’s that are hand-picked by Chris Kline, Jacketed cotton

    (DAC to preamp)
    • Inakustic Reference USB Cable
    German USB cable used between opticalRendu and Denafrips Pontus II DAC
    • Audioquest Niagara 1200 & NRG-Z3 PCs
    Power conditioner & cable for front end of the system. PCs for the mono block amps.
    • Vinyl Stack Ultrasonic Record Cleaner
    Paired with a 10L 40hz Ultrasonic tank and following the formulas and process suggested in @rushton's thread and www.positive-feedback.com  article.
    • Eden Sound Terrastone Footers
    Terrastone Bearing Isolation Footers under preamp and DAC.
    • Furman Power Station-8
    Power strip on steroids. Using with Vandersteen subwoofers built-in to the 5As.
    • PS Audio Juice Bar
    6 outlet power strip for networking accessories
    • Walker Audio Valid Points
    resonance control devices
    • ERS Paper RFI/EMI Control
    ERS paper to fight airborne RFI/EMI
    • Hart Big Willy MK3 Record Cleaning Brush
    Described in detail in M.Fremer's Analog Planet Shootout video and review video. It's a brush that cleans dust off records. Way more effective than the Acoustech grounded large brush that it replaced
    • Sennheiser/Massdrop 6XX
    Open back headphones
    • Furutech ADL Headphone Cable
    Cable with 2-pin connectors for Sennheisers

Comments 279

Nice. I am currently doing DSD256 with HQPlayer. It’s so musical and resolving at the same time. You will be amazed once the setup is complete. Have fun and enjoy your music!

milpai

Owner
@milpai

The SonicTransporter has HQPlayer Embedded version. So I will run Roon Core + HQP there. The opticalRendu Deluxe will be in Network Audio Adapter mode. 
Settings wise, I'll start with "DSD5v2 256+fs" as the modulator, based on my trial results. @nicks25 taught me that the modulators with "256" in the name were made intended for DACs that can support DSD256, like my Bricasti does.

sbank

@sbank ,
Great move on the HQPlayer. Completely worth it. What will be the config of the HQPlayer server, if you have one in mind?

milpai

Owner
@tomic601 Thanks, Jim! 
My next move is adding HQ Player (embedded version) to the SonicTransporter. Then I will upsample all digital to DSD256. The trial of HQP was promising. Cheers,

Spencer

sbank

looking great Spencer !

tomic601

Owner
Upgraded my Sonore opticalRendu renderer / Roon endpoint to the new opticalRendu Deluxe. I'm shocked at the improvement in sound quality. 

sbank

Owner
Updated images with Quicksilver V4 monoblocks and Bricasti M3h DAC/headphone amp.

sbank

Owner
Moving to a Bricasti M3h DAC and headphone amp. Always wanted to try a Bricasti in my system after many good listens and having mad respect for Brian and his work. 
FWIW, my Ayre DAC and Woo headphone amp/DAC are both going to have to go to new loving homes. 

sbank

Owner
@slipknot1 Hi, Joe! Hope the Veloce sounds as good as I imagine it would. 
We need to catch up by phone. 

sbank

Very nice my friend. Nice to see those Quickies driving your speakers. I just changed out my Quicksilver M135s for the Veloce. Decided to resurface a little here.

slipknot1

Owner
Replaced the 12ft. pair of Audioquest Aspen biwire speaker cables with 6ft. pair of Audioquest Oak biwires. A small move up in the Trees series of cables, but Vandersteens are known to react well to shorter cables, so now that I've got mono block amps, I've been looking for a good fit to move in this direction.

sbank

Owner
Added an Uptone JS-2 Power Supply and Sonore opticalModule. The PS will power both the opticalModule and my SGC SonicTransporter server. 

A couple of months ago I finally pulled the trigger on Quicksilver V4 monoblocks, a great pairing with Vandy 5As. On the horizon will be a short set of AQ biwire cables to fully take advantage of the switch to mono amps.

sbank

Nice photography. Cool system and room!

goodlistening64

Owner
Posted new pics of the Vandersteens in-room and the rack with the VAC preamp. 
Still need fresh pics of the Ayre DAC and Ekorness Stressless chairs that replaced the sofa.

sbank

Owner
Moving on from my Denafrips Pontus II. Awaiting arrival of an Ayre Acoustics QB-9 DSD TWENTY. 
A step towards well known synergies between Vandersteen/Audioquest/Ayre/Audio Research.

sbank

Owner
Finally found new speakers. A mint pair of Vandersteen 5As will be arriving soon from Ultra Fidelis. I'm excited.

sbank

Owner
New VAC preamp with phono pics added.

sbank

Owner
Recently added a VAC Renaissance Mark V preamp with phono stage and external power supply. Enjoying it, especially the benefits of a good tube phono stage. 
I've run into issues with RFI with prior tube stages, mainly due to my former location close to large radio towers. Now I've got no issues, so going back to tubes was far more practical. 
Playing around with some NOS tube options and having a blast. This combo really draws you in and makes you want to spin more albums. That's what it's all about!

sbank

Spencer! How are you? I’ve tried to email you a few times. Email me or call me at some point. Would love to get caught up…

slipknot1

Yes, that’s what I was referring to. I read that she made it and the shelf, sweet! Fun stuff!
—Bill

bslon

Owner
My wife handmade the "tiny VPI" copying the one I had. Platter spins, arm moves too, haha.

sbank

Owner
@bslon the VPI has been gone for over over 8 years. I upgraded to a Technics SP10mkII that I ran for 3-4yrs. Sold the hole analog rig to a friend as I embarked on a long distance move. After settling in Austin, I picked up my Sota etc.

sbank

Spencer, very cool system you’ve put together! That monster Krell (Class A?, OMG!!) seems perfect for your Sound Labs, I’d love to hear that combination. Also, love the artwork and the VPI model, it made me smile! Cheers, enjoy!

bslon

Owner
@edsel95 Thank you. 
More wood now...just built some DIY cable lifters. Adding pics soon. 
Some will debate the merits of such a project, but at a minimum they will keep the robot vac at bay.

sbank

I love all the wood! Beautiful!

edsel95

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