Just moved all this stuff into a dedicated room. Actually my cd player was a denon 2200, but i recently sold it for a Music Hall CD-25, which i will get end of the week. As for listening with the denon 2200, It's amazing how much different it sounds setup as a dedicated listening room vs in my living room. My speakers just seem to disappear! i can only imagine how the music hall will improve the sound.
I'll report more on the Music Hall when I get it.
The Cayin is just awesome. I LOVE this piece. Very smooth, warm, and very musical. I can't imagine replacing this unit especially for what it cost. I still prefer the stock Valve Art EL34's.
The Def Tech's... everyone says they are great HT speakers. But i think they are great Music speakers too. I would love to try some others to compare, like Vienna Acoustics, Meadowlarks, etc, but i'm happy with the sound these speakers put out with the Cayin.
As for the cables, Analysis Plus. for all the people that say cables don't make a difference, i beg to differ. some may sound very similar, but i was using Monster(sucks) before, and constantly got listening fatigue. Even my wife could tell the difference when i switched them out to the AP's. her words "it sounds so much better, did you do something?" I think that says enough.
So i would say it's starting to stack up as a very good system on a budget. $3500 new, and i think the only thing i paid for as new was the speakers. so for $2500 used/new i think i did well :-)
I actually sold off all my equipment couple years ago, but going to build it again... Will be similar. I'm going to get a TA-30 again, but will use B&W 685 speakers for now. Also deciding how I will be playing the music, CDP and/or Mac with USB DAC.
acoustic treatments are coming... DIY, but you'd be suprised how much a difference my DIY curtain made. i have wood blinds behind it, and went to the fabric store to find some fairly thick material that i cut and doubled up, then hung, that's it. does a good job of absorbing some of the transient sound.
Kray, very nice system! Have you thought about acoustic treatments for the room as a next step? I am (possibly) soon to be in a very similar situation, as you noticed.
System edited: Just added pics of my system. I finally finished turning a spare bedroom into my dedicated listening room. finished the paint, lighting and wall plates. only cost me around $100 to transform the room.
I currently have a pair of Omega TS2 single driver speakers... www.omegaloudspeakers.com. Great for listening to vocals, light jazz, and chamber music... but has a hard time with 'complex' music like symphonies.
The Music Hall sounded great stock compared to my previous player, but with the mods, it sounded smoother than my brother's tube CD player.
I was thinking just that in terms of mods to the player (after i actually get it, i cant wait). so tell me, how does the music hall (pre-mods) perform with the cayin? i take it even stock it should be a big step up over listening from my denon 2200?
Congratulations on a very nice system... Except for the speakers, it is very similar to my setup. I've auditioned many "budget" integrated tube amps, and nothing comes close to the Cayin. I also have the music-hall CD player... I did some simple modifications which made a HUGE difference in the smoothness of the sound. These modifications include: - Black Hole 2 pad dampening inside the box - Upgraded the RCA connectors - Upgraded op-amps - IEC connector to use a higher-end power cable - Isolation cones
