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 projects have been upgrading from microRendu and Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC to opticalRendu, SonicTransporter as Roon core, and Denafrips Pontus II. Later I added a number of NOS cables from Tel Wire, something I've wanted to do for more than a decade.

Previous pieces & systems included:

BAT VK150SEs & Silverline LaFolias, Nola Viper Reference III (with Lamm & BAT monoblocks), 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 amp

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 or care about


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.
    • Krell FPB-300
    Solid State Class A Stereo Amp
    • 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
    • Ayre Acoustics QB-9 DSD TWENTY
    DAC
    • Sonore opticalRendu & LPS
    Audio Streamer/Renderer (Ethernet > USB) , Running Roon 's latest version, 1.8(at this time)
    • Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5
    Roon Core, and partial library on Samsung EVO870 4TB internal SSD. Remaining library on external Samsung T7 Shield 4TB USB SSD
    • 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 style QRD diffusors handmade of solid pine on 24" birch plywood base. Hand made in Delaware, USA.
    • AudioQuest Aspen Bi-wire Speaker Cables
    SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+)/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-Y PC
    Power conditioner & cable for front end of the system.
    • 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
    • AudioQuest Yukon
    RCA interconnects used from DAC to headphone amplifier
    • Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies Mk2
    Tube headphone amp

Comments 267

Owner
Glen,
The door is always open here for you, & for anybody else reading this...Hope the Atma S30 & CJ phono stage are working out well for you. Cheers,
Spencer

sbank

Spencer, thanks again for letting me drop by and hear the system. Very educational. The CAT-Berning-Merlin combo is outrageously good. Well done!

sdatch

Owner
Tvad,
Glad to see you like your Neuance. Mine has been so good that I've brought it to friends' homes to try under their sources, and more than one of them have liked it enough to buy one.
I've experimented with DH Cones under my Spacedeck, per recommendation from none other than Ken Lyon. He told me that if I wanted to try messing with any cones, that would be the one to try(this was over a year ago, when I spoke w/him). Now I have them under my Berning amp on top of a maple butcher block which in turn is atop a stone fireplace hearth. They definitely sound better than the Black Diamond Racing cones that I used to have. Also have read & heard good things from Audiopoints in other rigs, but haven't heard them in my own. Cheers, Spencer

sbank

Spencer, I recently added a Neuance to my rig...under my Exemplar player, and I'm very happy with the results. I noticed you're using DH cones. Where?

tvad

Owner
System edited: Recently added NOS Amperex and Tungsram tubes in the CAT preamp. Made a nice improvement, particularly in the phono stage side.

sbank

Owner
System edited: Just upgraded from Audience AU24 to Cardas Golden Reference throughout the system. While the AU24 is great in its price range, the Cardas is a bit better in my system. The biggest improvement was from using Cardas in/out of the Merlin battery-BAM, resulting in increased clarity, deeper soundstage, and more body in the imaging of indivudual instruments.

sbank

Owner
System edited: Added a CAT SL-1 Mark III preamp w/phono. A definite improvement over the Joule Electra LA-150 and Pentagon phono stage. Still learning to appreciate the nuances of this piece, and all listening thus far is with stock tubes. NOS will soon be added. Comments are welcomed...Cheers, Spencer

sbank

Owner
System edited: Latest change is the sale of my Joule Electra LA-150. Will run directly from the Berning amp for now.

sbank

Owner
Joe,
We'll certainly do it. For anyone in the Philly area, we have a nice group of enthusiasts who get together regularly.
Hopefully we get to someone else's place(with a more varied system)next time, and then I can offer to host after that. By then I hope to have my cables all squared away.

Brooks, you won't regret it! Keep us posted.
Spencer

sbank

Spencer,
Looks really nice! After getting together last week to hear Mark's similar setup, I really hope to get a chance to get together at your place to hear it with that Nottingham/Shelter combo.
Joe G

slipknot1

I bet you are really enjoying yourself. That is a very well put together system. And, thanks for the review on the MXs. I have been waiting for one. I am glad to hear such a good report. I have intended to ship my VSMs to Bobby for a week for the upgrade. Thanks for the extra nudge that I needed.

brooksl

Owner
Merlin VSM-MX replaced Quad ESL63USAs. See my review...I've got happy ears.

Spencer

sbank

Owner
System edited: Latest addition is the acquisition of the highly anticipated Merlin VSM-MX loudspeakers. Review coming soon...

sbank

Owner
System edited: Recently upgraded from the Cary's to Berning amp & Joule preamp. Quite a difference. Didn't realize how much detail I had been missing!

sbank

You mentioned beign on the hunt for vinyl. I have lots of varied vinyl that I might part with. Lots of alternative and punk from 80s as well as audiophile and classical stuff. Older 70s jazz as well. Let me know what you are looking for. Most of my collection has been well taken care of and a lot of it protected with Last.

bixby

Owner
System edited: Analog is getting more & more play time. The Neuance shelf under my TT (on top of the Billy Bags rack) is probably best tweak I've heard ever. VPI 16.5 arrives this week. Need more vinyl!!!

sbank

Owner
System edited: Just in process of going back to analogue. Adding TT, cart, & phono stage. On the hunt for vinyl!

sbank

Showing 251 - 267 of 267 posts