ATC active - Streaming and vinyl | Virtual Listening Room

Listening room with ATC SCM100's on the short wall

ATC SCM100 ASLT - all drivers built in house by ATC

SCM100ASLT side on with Townshend Podium

Diffusion panels on ceiling and back wall

Equipment racks functional rather than audiophile approved.

Benchmark HPA4/DAC3L and Mac mini with Uptone Audio JS2

Streaming setup with 2nd M1 Mini, EtherRegen and ultraRendu added.

Auditioning of Holo May L2 and Spring 3 KTE

Technics 1200G with Yamamoto headshell and KAB fluid damper

30yr old TNT with various VPI updates and vintage Grace G-1040

MintLP precise arc protractor for Technics geometry

Listening room with ATC SCM100's on long wall

ATC SCM 100 ASLT pre diffusers (grilles normally on for listening)

Previous setup with the SCM19's and AHB2 amps

Denon 103R in Midas body with Soundsmith ruby cantilever/OCL stylus

Denon 103R in Panzerholz wood and 'Midas' aluminium bodies

Pair of potted Denon 103R cartridges with Soundsmith ruby cantilever/OCL stylus

Denon 103R, Soundsmith OCL stylus, Midas Al body

VPI TNT/Phantom II/Art9 - Linn Uphorik phono (sold)

Ortofon A90/Graham Phantom - both now sold

Focal Utopia headphones - DIY Kimber TCSS cable

Description

I've gradually migrated from a vinyl based all tube system to all solid state with active speakers where streaming file based music playback forms the bulk of my listening.

Have listed some more chronology on my system page: http://tobespages.info

Room Details

Dimensions: 20’ × 14’ Medium
Ceiling: 9’

Components Toggle details

- Technics SL1200G
1200G with Yamamoto headshell and KAB TD1000 damper trough.
- VPI Industries TNT Mk-1
VPI TNT series 1 - original, heavy lead loaded acrylic platter. Has been updated with Mk-5 main bearing, 'ball' suspension, SDS, integrated motor/flywheel.
Graham Phantom arm sold and now using a Grace G1040 arm.
- Grace G-1040
Bought 1982 with a Rega Planar 3. Have now sold my Graham Phantom and scaling back my vinyl, so have pulled this old arm out of storage. Couldn't find the cable, so sourced one from Y.Tome audio cables.
Cartridge setup with Tracking Wizard arc protractor with original null points for Grace tonearms.
- Garrott Brothers P77
Vintage MM cartridge from the mid 80's. Original stylus unit replaced with Jico Stylus-1 SAS/B (Microridge stylus on boron cantilever).
- Ortofon 2m Black - LVB 250
2M Black with LVB 250 replacement stylus installed (Ortofon option).
Upgraded sound in every respect: Soundstage depth/width, focus, clarity, fine detail/timbre - even quietness in the groove. A great cartridge - price puts it in competition with many MC cartridges but IMO fully competitive.
- Denon 103R
Modded with 'Midas' body shell and retipped by SoundSmith with their Optimised Line Contact stylus. The retip gives a surprising improvement in detail refinement and clarity. Does not have the tonal accuracy, delicacy nor the authority of the Ortofon Jubilee/Cadenza Black. Perhaps favoring the individual performers rather than the overall acoustic - though the retip gives much of both. A great communicator of the music - but perhaps not best suited to classical program.
- Denon 103R Midas body epoxy potted
Pair of Soundsmith retipped Denon 103R cartridges with epoxy potting (Araldite super strength)
- Denon Panzerholz 103R
103R in Uwe Panzerholz wood body. Shown with Midas aluminium body 103R (stock cantilever/stylus)
- Parasound Halo JC3 Jr.
A reasonably priced MM/MC phono stage designed by John Curl. Uses op-amps for the audio stages but, unlike a few other SS phono amps I've tried, it has precision, detail and control without sounding etched or lacking body and realism. A very well balanced design.
- Bob's Devices CineMag 1131
Moving coil SUT with 1:20 and 1:40 ratios (26dB and 32dB respectively).
- K and K Audio Premium SUT - Lundahl LL1941
Step up kit using Lundahl LL1941 transformers built into a very plain metal box. Switchable 1:16, 1:32 ratios. Sounds excellent, not an obvious step down from previously used Choir Audio/Hashimoto SUT (which I sold when I was scaling back my vinyl hardware to pursue streaming).
- Apple Mac Mini
M1 Mac Mini, basic 256GB SSD/8GB RAM, headless running Roonserver, connected to 'A' side of EtherRegen network switch.
Second M1 Mac Mini running Roon GUI(control) and HQPlayer also connected to 'A' side of the EtherRegen switch.
Sonore ultraRendu endpoint connected to the 'B' side of the EtherRegen.
USB output of UltraRendu connected to Benchmark DAC3.
- Sonore ultraRendu
Mini computer running the Sonore SonicOrbiter OS (based on Fedora Linux) with just an ethernet input and USB output. Can be easily switched between Roon endpoint, HQPlayer NAA, DLNA as well as other options. Used between headless Mac Mini server and DAC.
- Benchmark DAC3 L
Compact DAC/Pre with design emphasis on low distortion, high SNR and neutrality/transparency to source.
- Benchmark HPA4
Pre/headphone amp with innovative FPGA controlled relay switched resistor array volume control (independent stereo attenuators for preamp and headphone). Has two balanced and 2 unbalanced inputs. Ultra low distortion, ultra high SNR design.
- ATC SCM-100aslt
Large 3-way active towers with 350Wrms (total) tri-amp. All drivers manufactured in-house by ATC: 25mm 'S' 'spec soft dome tweeter, 75mm 'S' spec mid dome, 314mm SL spec woofer. Neutral and revealing, essentially a tower version of the similarly equipped studio monitor (same working cabinet volume and components/amps). Great dynamic authority when required but wonderful on small scale music as well.
- Townshend Audio Podium
Spring suspended speaker platform intended to isolate the speaker from the floor.
- ATC SCM-19 Mk2
Low sensitivity two way monitor using ATC's 150mm Super Linear bass mid driver (9Kg optimised short-coil/long gap motor assembly) and 25mm dual suspension soft dome tweeter. Both drivers made in-house at ATC. Amazing detail, resolution and dynamics (given enough quality power) for a small stand mount.
Replaced Harbeth M30.1, a fine speaker in its own right, but I found the ATC more neutral and realistic.
- Focal Utopia Headphones
Focal's flagship headphones featuring beryllium drivers with lightweight former-less voice coils and unusually long excursion. Exquisitely detailed and dynamic sounding.
- Sennheiser HD-600
Former Sennheiser flagship has been in production for 20 years. Still regarded as a reference at it's price point and a great value in the current market. Makes current flagships seem overpriced given it's level of achievement.
- Audience aR2p-TO
Dual outlet passive power line filter utilizing Audience Teflon capacitors. All equipment fed from these outlets via VH Audio 'Hotboxes'.
- Furutech AG-12 Phono Cable
Silver plated copper RCA to RCA cable used between the Technics 1200G and Parasound JC3jr phono amp.
- Silver Audio Silver Breeze
DIN to RCA dedicated phono cable. Silver conductors, WBT connectors. Used this cable for more than 10 years.
- VH Audio Flavor 1, 2, 3 power cords and Hotboxes
DIY power cables using Chris VenHaus' recipes, terminated with Furutech IEC and male plugs. Power cables connected back to VH Audio hotboxes on dedicated 20amp line. I don't claim to know why, but this power setup was essential to extracting the clarity, dynamics and sound staging I've achieved with my system.

Comments 63

Showing all comments by actusreus.

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Tobes,
Great setup.
I have a question for you: do you use the Zobel Network with your Goertz MI2 speaker cables? I'd like to try them, but have been reading about some oscillation problems might cause with certain amps. I have tube monoblocks so I was wondering whether you experienced any issues with your AR amp and had to use the Zobel. Thanks!

actusreus July 11, 2012 21:20

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