Description

This is a modest system that I put together with used components a few years ago but which still sounds fabulous to me. I had to have the woofers on the Snell Type A speakers reconed when I got them, but since that they have been astonishing for such a modest investment. The combination of the solid state amp driving the Snells and the sweet but detailed CJ PV-10 with the Rega Planet as a source is a great combination. I hear more and the music comes through more fully with this system than directly into a Headroom Cosmic amp with Sennheiser HD-600 headphones (which sounds pretty good).

On the downside, the Rega/Grado combination is not up to the level of the rest of the system (or it may possibly be the phono stage in the CJ). I am looking at upgrading the Rega (wiring, counterweight, VTA) and upgrading to a better cartridge (Sumiko?). I'd possibly add a phono stage too (the CJ sounds even better with with the phono stage tubes unplugged).

The biggest improvement I've made so far to the system was putting up some sound treatment in the ceiling corners and back wall. Second best, was the PBJ interconnects. I'd really like to try some better Kimber or low end Nordost cables in the system along with better power cables.
Update 10/20/2015: Upgraded to Kimber Hero interconnects all around- more air and a bit more natural in the mids with tightened detailed bass. Completely rebuilt Snells, replaced dried out electrolytic caps which I measured 50-100% over value (how were they even working???), updated to Kimber TCSS hook-up wire, bypassed driver fuses (only ever blew the woofer fuse before I realized they needed reforming), rebuilt tweeters with fresh ferrofluid, added acoustastuff damping to augment/replace the yellow fiberglass damping. Added a Musical Fidelity V-DAC modified with upgraded op-amps, power supply caps, and output caps (Mundorf Supremes), AppleTV, and Raspberry running Volumio. Also replaced the output caps in the C-J PV-10B with Solen Teflon caps. The work took 4 months of nights and weekends, transforming my living room into a chaotic sea of drivers, caps, sawdust, tools, and wires as well as leaving me with only the speakers in a Sony Bravia tv to listen to. Currently burning it all in while out of town, can't wait to listen again when I get home. 
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Components Toggle details

    • Rega Planar 3
    Rega Planar 3 Turntable with Grado Gold Cartridge
    • Rega Planet 2000
    Rega Planet 2000 CD Player, natural sounding and musical CD playback- bests everything in its price range to my ears.
    • Conrad Johnson PV-10B
    Conrad Johnson PV10 tube preamp upgraded to B status (unlike stock 10B it has balance control and in/out button).
    • B&K Components ST-1400
    B&K ST-1400 Stereo Amplifier
    • Snell Type A
    Snell Type A Speakers, just rebuilt the crossovers and tweeters (ferrofluid was all dried up).
    • Tascam T122-MKIII
    Tascam T122 MKIII Cassette Deck
    • Kimber Kable Hero Interconnects
    Kimber Kable Hero RCA Interconnects
    • Audioquest Slate
    Audioquest Slate 12' Speaker Cables
    • Zu Bok
    Zu Bok Power Cable
    • Monster Cable HTS-2500
    Monster Cable HTS-2500 Power Conditioner
    • Musical Fidelity V-DAC
    Heavily modified V-DAC with upgraded op-amps, power supply caps, and Mundorf Supreme output caps.

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Nice setup murph. I bet it sounds great. It just goes to show that spending big bucks isn't necessary to enjoy the music.

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