Rob's X-Statik about his apt setup!

by rgrignon on Budget Minded
5.20.10

Description

I've been riding the upgraditis train for the last 8 years or so on a student budget. Although I don't have tons of money, pretty much all the money that I do manage to save I put towards my modest "home theater" (really a rather small apartment theater). I'm about 60/40 with Movies / Music, and have tried to concentrate on a "music first" type system.

In the last year, I moved into a new apartment with a smaller HT space. This required my selling the Panny AX200 Projector + Carada screen and moving to the 54" plasma. The new apartment also has hardwood floors and all glass walls, so acoustically it's definitely not up to the same level as my last place. When I do want to do more critical music listening, I try and throw around lots of blankets and rugs, which helps a bit. Still, I love the system and it puts a huge smile on my face every time I sit down to listen to a great album.
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Components Toggle details

    • Arcam DiVA AVR300
    I know that it's about time to move to a receiver with HD audio decoding for blu-ray, but I just love my Arcam so much I haven't gotten around to it yet!
    • Rega P1
    Great entry level table. Upgraded to Glass Platter from my dad's old out-of-commission Planar3. Still running the stock Ortofon OM5e (thinking about adding the 2M Blue).
    • Parasound PPH-100
    PPH-100 Phono Preamp is going a great job with my Rega P1 for the money. I'm thinking that I'll try the Musical Fidelity V-LPS next.
    • Musical Fidelity V-DAC
    I stream FLAC files via Airfoil to my Airport Express --> Wireworld Supernova III+ glass toslink cable --> the V-DAC --> Signal Cable Analog 2 --> Arcam. Also use for the USB input straight from my laptop from time to time.
    • av123 x-statik
    Open baffle loudspeakers in cherry rosa satin. Absolutely huge soundstage, and very natural sounding. Quite a steal at their price, and a big jump in performance from my Paradigm Studio 20 v.3s that they replaced. Next step: adding Skiing Ninja crossover + cabinet upgrades.
    • av123 x-voce
    Open baffle center channel speaker in cherry satin. Huge open sound, I'm extremely happy about the upgrade from my Paradigm CC470.
    • av123 ELT 525M
    Great little monitors. Used them as my fronts while waiting for the x-statiks to arrive, and they did a fantastic job. They're on surround duty now, and loving it.
    • av123 MFW-15
    Great value 15" sub; Unfortunately, due to living in an apartment, it never gets to stretch and see its full potential. The metal grill was made by av123 forum member Loudandclear to match the x-statiks
    • Sennheiser HD 595 Headphones
    Decided that I needed some good headphones that would work without amplification, and these Sennheisers appear to be best of breed for cans that don't require a separate amp. I can't believe how good they sound, I get a big smile on my face every time.
    • Panasonic TC-P54G10
    Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P54G10 54-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV ... a knockout for the street price.
    • Sony PlayStation SCPH-1001
    The infamous "audiophile" model. I haven't done any serious listening vs. other players, but I'm VERY content for the $10 I spent on it at Half Price Books!
    • Toshiba HD-A3
    I know it's about time to move on, but hey, used HD-DVDs are cheap and look great, and it's a pretty solid upscaling DVD player to boot!
    • Sony Playstation 3 Slim 120GB
    MUCH quieter than the 40GB model this replaced. I'm strongly considering picking up an Oppo for blu-ray playback, however, to make use of the 5.1 analog outs for HD Audio (and SACD playback).
    • Nintendo Wii
    Nintendo Wii with my Zelda Sword and Shield!! I also have a SNES and a N64 w/ Monster S-video cable ready to play at a moment's notice :)
    • DirecTV HR22-100
    Dual Tuner HD-DVR
    • Monster HTS 1600
    Monster Power conditioner (8 outlet). Does it's job (looks nicer than a normal power strip). I'm considering replacing it with the PS Audio Quintet.
    • VTI BL-404SB
    4 shelf a/v stand with spiked shelves to help isolate components. I'm quite pleased that the "oak" shelves are a close match for the "cherry" finish on my av123 speakers.
    • Wireworld Supernova III+ Glass Toslink
    Used between my Apple Airport Express and Musical Fidelity V-DAC.
    • Signal Cable Analog Two
    A pair of Signal Cable Analog Two Interconnects, which I currently swap between my Musical Fidelity V-DAC and my PlayStation SCPH-1001.
    • Signal Cable SPDI/F Digital Coax
    Signal Cable Digital Coax cable connects my HR22-100 DVR to the Arcam for HDTV playback.
    • Signal Cable Magic Power Digital Reference
    Although I was EXTREMELY skeptical about a power cord upgrade, this replacement cord honestly did make an appreciable improvement to my system's sound quality. (Used on my Arcam AVR300)
    • Signal Cable Magic Power Cord
    Great value power cord!
    • Signal Cable Subwoofer Interconnect
    Mono subwoofer interconnect, pretty self-explanatory.
    • Canare 4S11
    Bought through Blue Jeans Cable and dressed up in techflex with BlueJeans' locking banana plugs.
    • Auralex Gramma
    Added an Auralex Gramma pad under my sub, and WOW, after listening to music for a couple hours, I couldn't be happier with my $50 purchase. My sub sounds far more "musical" (and I haven't had a noise complaint in the months since I added it!)
    • NuForce NE-7M In-ear monitors
    Inexpensive & high quality IEMs for portable use.
    • Bright Star Isonodes
    Set of 4 large isonodes under my Toshiba HD-A3. They're cheap and worth experimenting with.

Comments 24

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Yea, I hear ya. I'm in a city also (Philadelphia) so I can't always play as loud as I'd like either.

I'm a big Signal fan. I've run through just about every type of cable they sell and still have their Silver Resolution IC's and Magic power cables - definitely 2 of their best price/performance pieces. You should definitely give the Silver IC's a go if you have chance. I really enjoyed the upgrade to those from the Analog 2's. If you'd ever be interested, I could send along the Silvers for a demo. Let me know. Just good to know that there are others around the post-college age interested in this stuff.

I would definitely agree that the star quad is great for DIY wire. That's what I've used for my theater speakers (surround and center) for a while now. I ran the Signal Ultra's on my fronts for a while and they were some good cables for the money. However, now I stupidly dipped my hand in the cookie jar unsupervised and am using MIT for my speaker cables. I just can't go back now. I'm a big fan of these since I'm a music first guy, but they wouldn't make sense in a primarily theater setup. Beyond what I have now, the diminishing returns are just too much as you said. I guess I should to make a system page here one day. I'll keep checking for your updates.

gebby44

Yea, those Azur's are mighty performers for their price. I put one head to head with my Pioneer DV-59avi and it sounded just as good for CD playback. I was very amazed/angry.

Just wondering, what type of cabling are you using for the speakers? If you're not a cable believer, then no worries. But I was just wondering what cables you're using. Obviously they work very well in your setup.

What city are you in, cause that's a nice apartment for a city apartment. I gotta find me one of those.

gebby44

Great looking setup! I've been looking into those VTI stand as well and your pics may have just convinced me. I'm a fellow av123 owner (Rocket 850 Sig.) and love the look of those X-statiks. The new setup with the projector looks very nice and seems to open up the room. Let us know how the x-voce is. As far as selling the Arcam to get a dedicated cdp, you're probably in the same situation as me. Selling it may not be enough to upgrade to anything much better since cd players hold value a little better. Maybe look for a Rega Planet on the cheap?

-Ryan (22 years old; us young guys are outnumbered!)

gebby44

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