I have been a audiophile for over 40 years. Have not been buying gear for the last 10 years or so,but now I have the bug again.
This is my downstairs "big" system.I have had most of this gear for quite a long time. My new audiophile friends are always surprised by the sound.
The Acoustats are unknown to most of them and are very seductive.
I replced the Adcom with VTL Classic 300 mono blocks. This has been a life changing experience. I have had the Acoustats for years and they never sounded like they do now. Tons of headroom. The dynamics are incredible. If you have Acoustats; don’t listen to what all the “experts” on the internet say. Get some big tube amps with ample power supplies The VTLs are being fed by my Doge 8 "Clarity" tube preamp. This Chinese wonder along with the Ypsilon SUT has taken my system to another place that I could only have dreamed of back in the day.
Great excitement with pace and space with a wide sound stage.The bass is very extended and controlled.The sound is big and detailed with a touch of romance.
The turntable is a Artisan Fidelity Lenco (thanks to Mike Morrow). It now has two tonearms: the Fidelity Research FR64 (thanks Loyd Champion) with a cocobolo wood body Denon 103. A Analog Instruments Seggwan 12” unipivot, SoundSmith Denon 103.
This table is a reference level 100 lb. monster with stacked platters and third party bearing and idler plus other mods.
Once you experience PRAT that comes with a idler drive you never go back!
This system is close to my ideal dream system. I’m now retired and very much on a fixed income. Finances will improve down the road and then I can start looking for higher end cartridges and tonearms.
Model 2 Acoustats, been in continual use since 1981.On it's 3rd set of socks. Rheostat removed and replaced with high voltage resistors. Old caps replaced with Solen.
Denon DL-103
This old audiophile favorite is a bit fussy to set up but it's worth it.amazing tone and fleshed out instruments with huge dynamics.All for a incredible price.
Doge 8
New version of much heralded preamp with phono stage. Equipped with Mullard 12AT7 and Telefunken 12AX7 tubes
Ypsilon SUT
Exceptional sounding step up transformer.
VTL Classic 300 mono blocks
Big bad power amps. 8 6550 tubes.
300 pentode, 150 watts triode
The first amps I have ever heard that made the Acoustats sing like they should.
Dynamics I have never experienced.
Soundsmith Denon 103 Ruby OC-CL Nude
Fully modded Denon 103. As my friend Scott Brown called it “ a poor man’s Anna.
Doge Audio Model 6 CDP
Sweet sounding CDP with 6 tubes.
Dynaco PAS-2a
Venerable vintage preamp. I introduction to tubes. Using it as a phono preamp.
More body and less austere than the Doge’s internal phono stage.
Cambridge Audio Dad Magic
My first adventure into Computer digital music. This little DAC is the Swiss Army knife of affordable DACS. That is to say, it will read any file.
I am linking it to a MacBook Pro using River software, and a 2 TB external drive.
DIY Shadow Shadow SUT
Home made SUT using Shure 15x transformers.
Incredibly quiet and extended. Actually made me think of selling my Ypsilon SUT.
My PAS 3 has been modified to accommodate a 12au6 linestage design based on the RCA circuit from the 1950s. New caps are definitely worth the while. I have stripped out the tone controls (there is no cut out switch on mine). All in all, I am highly satisfied with the results, but must confess that mine has been redone over a successon of changes (including an RCA Orthophonic phono stage built into it). Oh, I have found that tube choice makes a difference. Best of luck and please let us know how it goes!
