Hoping this system will remain stable for awhile. I've updated most of the interconnects with cleaner, shorter runs of Blue Jeans Cable, added an AirPort Express to stream iTunes, and upgraded from the Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 to the Lyra Dorian. I occasionally fantasize about new speakers, but the Monitor Audios are unlikely to go anywhere soon. There's a chance I may still buy a DAC at some point but I'm pretty happy with everything at the moment. Now if I could just train my cat not to go after the Denon headphone cables, I hardly use them now because I have to hide them away in a drawer.
OLD BUSINESS:
Although I miss the sleek, compact look of my Music Hall integrated and CDP, I was intrigued by the low, low price of the Emotiva separates along with the big (for my living room, anyway) power amp. So far no complaints; this system has sounded better than anything I've owned. I'm probably not going to add a subwoofer, but I'd like to add a Squeezebox Touch (instead of AirTunes), as well as an X-DACv3. I've also been lusting after the Michell Gyro SE, but that's going to have to be a long, long-term (if not outright unattainable) goal.
OLDER BUSINESS:
This system spawned from my home theater when I bought a house in Fall 2008. The Music Hall CD player really surprised me and has been making me rethink my turntable setup quite a bit (the cost difference between the two is huge and I've been impressed by the CD player). I'm looking at cartridges in the $200-500 range, especially the Dynavector 10x5, Grado Platinum, and Clearaudio Aurum Beta. I've been working as best I can to optimize set-up in hopes of putting that cartridge purchase off for awhile, though. Also looking at the Pro-Ject Speed Box SE II, but that's a big investment when my TT speed is only .1% off according to the KAB Speedstrobe I recently purchased. Also vaguely considering cable upgrades (using a mishmash of generic, Acoustic Research, and one Monster currently) but that's a game I'm hoping to stay out of. I hope to add a record cleaner and maybe some nice headphones with a used Musical Fidelity X-CANv3. Less important to me is a DAC for an iPod or my laptop, thinking about getting AirTunes to stream wirelessly. Finally (?) a Pro-Ject tuner box or the Music Hall T25.2 that goes with my integrated and CD player. It's a full-time hobby (another word for that might be "obsession").
Ported 2 1/2 way design with one 6½-inch C-CAM (Ceramic Coated Aluminum Magnesium) woofer, a 6½-inch C-CAM midrange driver, and a 1-inch C-CAM gold dome tweeter. Stereophile Class B recommended component.
Project Audio 2 Xperience
Acrylic plinth, MDF platter with vinyl playing surface, Stainless-steel axle runs on a Teflon bearing plate in a sintered bronze bearing housing, AC synchronous motor decoupled to reduce vibration, straight 9 carbon-fiber tonearm features a fixed aluminum headshell with high-grade copper wiring, inverted hardened Swiss-made stainless-steel bearings, and silicone-damped armlift, Sorbothane-damped aluminium cone feet.
Musical Fidelity X-LPS v3
MM and MC phono preamp. Former Stereophile Class B recommended component.
Musical Fidelity X-10v3
Tube buffer between phono stage and receiver. Former Stereophile Class A component.
Vibrapod Isolator Model 1
I have eight of these under a 1/2" slab of MDF supporting the turntable, with 1/16" thick cork (adhesive backing) stuck to the underside of the vibrapods.
Music Direct MD-150
LP rack with maple shelves and silver poles, makes a handy equipment rack with space for LPs I'm currently listening to.
Calabrine Quadio Ultra Bi-Wire
10 gauge copper, locking banana plugs.
Sony XDRF1HD
HD Radio tuner
Signal Cable Silver Tonearm Phono
3 ft. 24awg 5N Silver/Copper Alloy strands RCA to RCA plus ground.
Emotiva ERC-1
Channel separation: >95dB - ref. 1kHz; S/N: >100dB (A weighted); THD: >0.01% (0dB 1KHz); Playback formats: Red book CD, HDCD, MP3; Digital Output Filter: 24-Bit, 384 times oversampling (Analog Devices 1955)
Emotiva USP-1
Stereo analog preamplifier
Emotiva UPA-2
Two Channel Audio Power Amplifier 125 watts RMS x 2 into 8 ohms, 185 watts RMS x 2 into 4 ohms.
Belkin PureAV PF31 (AP21100-12)
11 surge-protected outlets; 5605 Joules ; Advanced over-voltage protection ; Level 4 power protection ; 285,000-amp maximum spike current ; UL 1449-rated ; Phase 3 PureFilter(TM) circuitry with A/V HiCurrent(TM) filters ; 2 HiCurrent(TM) outlets for high-power amplifiers ; LED status display including input voltage & output current
System edited: Removed Music Hall A25.2 integrated amp and CD25.2 CD player, replaced with three Emotiva components (CD, pre, power). Added Belkin power console that I bought used primarily to neaten up the cables. Still need to update photo, and an X-PSUv3 is on the way.
Erp- I need a new photo, time to update this system since the guts changed. The Music Hall CD25.2 kept crapping out on me and the A25.2 had lesser issues so I've replaced them both with...DUN dun DUUNNNNNN...Emotiva equipment. It's big and industrial looking, so my living room is less pretty, but it's reliable (so far, and if it becomes less so they come with a 5-year warranty) and I've been quite pleased with the sound quality. In fact I think it's a slight step up from the Music Hall equipment. CDP is the ERC-1, preamp is the USP-1, and power amp is the modest but effective UPA-2. Unfortunately this also led to a ground loop hum in my phono cartridge that wasn't present earlier, so I exploited this as an opportunity to try out another low-priced yet edging-on-boutique cable, the Signal Cable silver tonearm cable. Verdict is still out on this. The ground cable took care of the hum, fortunately, but I'm concerned that I'm hearing more surface noise and a possibly brighter presentation than I was with run-of-the-mill RCA cables.
Dr_brutallica...I can say that I bought the Calabrine cables primarily for the looks and price, I didn't compare them to anything else and can't say they made a noticeable difference over my bulk 12 gauge cable. That said, they weren't ridiculously expensive and they look much better than what I had.
Meanwhile, I've determined that I can't live with the CD25.2 or the A25.2 anymore, though I loved the sound and simplicity of the setup. Despite what I said in July, I'm going to replace them with the Emotiva USP-1 preamp, UPA-2 amp, and I already have the ERC-1 CD player. After a/b'ing the ERC-1 and the CD25.2, I can say that in my system the CD25.2 was slightly better, but only very slightly, and it was undoubtedly unreliable. The ERC-1 comes with a 5 year warranty and is currently priced $380 less than the CD25.2, which (for me) buys a lot of toys. The A25.2 headphone output is super noisy, too, although maybe it's a problem with my individual unit. In general I'd recommend the Music Hall components, though I suspect I'm going to have a hard time selling them (or justifying keeping them for the basement system I almost never use).
A turntable upgrade is becoming more and more remote, but someday I think I'd like to get a VPI Scout. Sticking with the X-LPSv3 preamp and still planning to add an X-DACv3 and AirTunes. One fun thing about the ERC-1 is that it has multiple active outputs so I can screw around with comparing DACs and even the X-10v3, which I have yet to try with a CD player, just the phono stage. May not bother with the X-CAN considering all the other expenditures. Want a record cleaner, too, and probably going to get that cheap Sony AM/FM HD tuner, and still eyeing headphones (setting my sights lower, now, something like the ATH-A700). Oh, and maybe room treatments or a subwoofer. Help me, Santa! Or maybe just time for therapy. You can't imagine the eye-rolling I got when I told people about a/b-'ing the CD players on Saturday.
Alas, my CD25.2 has been finicky to the point of great frustration lately. Half the time when I load a disc I get a "no disc" error message. So I've ordered an Emotiva ERC-1 as an exeriment. The DAC doesn't compete with the C25.2, but it comes with a 5 year warranty, so I'm hoping it will suffice as a transport, and I can upgrade the sound with an external DAC later. Because of this, though, I'll probably replace the A25.2 also. Considering the low end Emotiva separates (USP-1 and UPA-2) as well as some of the stuff I mentioned earlier (Parasound, Musical Fidelity). Also looking at the Peachtree Nova and some Vincent stuff. Thanks for the note on the PS Audio unit!
A25.2 owners -- is your headphone output really noisy? I also have a low level buzz that I can hear from the speakers when I turn it on, although it isn't really audible from my listening position. And I can't seem to select the tape input (not that I need it, but this is just evidence of more functional problems).
For what it's worth, I just added a PS Audio Trio A100 to my MH cd25.2/a25.2 setup (I'm now using the a 25.2 as a preamp), and the improvement in bass definition and transparency has been eye-opening. I always liked the sound I got from the MH combo, but adding the power amp has been a definite improvement. The A100 is often available used for $500-600.
Thanks for the comments! I'm looking at some possible power amp upgrades (unlikely to happen anytime soon, but you never know), especially the Musical Fidelity A3CR. Monitor Audio recommends using Musical Fidelity with their products, but I've seen comments at AVSforum that the Parasound Halo A23 is a good match. I've also eyeballed used MuFi X-A200 and A3.2CR power amps. Let me know if you've got any good tube amp recommendations. I'm trying to keep it in the $600-700 ballpark. I'm hoping to improve bass tightness and dynamic range, plus looks are obviously important so I'm probably not going to go Outlaw or Emotiva.
Nice system, I have the Art Kane jazz poster as a T-shirt Did you ever consider going with tube integrated or monoblock amplifiers? If your into vinyl, you'll like what tubes do for your system your speakers are 91db at 6ohms a 40 to 70 watt tube amps would sound great, I have a Project RM-10, here are some cheap and effective tweaks. Try putting your entire turntable on a piece of granite [or solid wood]then put the entire table and base on a 6 inch toy bike inner tube at about half inflation, all for $2.99 from Wallmart. Presto, instant suspension. Gingko Audio also makes the Cloud series isolation bases that use something like squash balls in a large acrylic box, although for quite a bit more money. Great idea though You can also replace the stock rubber belt with 10 pound deep sea fishing line form Seaguar. Silk button thread also works great they both have much less mass then the stock belt and stretch very little. Scrap that dumb little anti skate device, all it does is add noise to the system flick it when you have your amp on and you can hear it hum loudly. I don't think you can beat the Grado Sonata cartridge for about $500 the best I've heard at that price and much higher. Hope this helps, I've done most of these things my self and they seem to make an amazing difference in the sound. Have fun listening to more jazz! Vinyl9 Vinyl9
Nice system you've pieced together. You mentioned cable upgrades. I've had some relatively expensive interconnects in my system that have all been replaced with Paul Speltz Anti ICs and I couldn't be happier. Inexpensive and a money back guarantee.
That is the Art Kane photo: I highly recommend the short doc "A Great Day In Harlem" for anyone who hasn't seen it. A must-see for jazz fans.
Any suggestions on cartridges or turntable setup/tweaks would be greatly appreciated! I'm looking to improve surface noise, bass response, and tracking ability.
Now that looks nice to come home to! I like your artwork too - is that photo Art Kane's famous 1958 Harlem Jazz photo? "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult might be an appropriate track for your system!
