This is my first real 2 channel system. I have worked for about a year and a half setting it up. I have taken advise and ideas from many people on Audiogon, as well as my extremely knowledgable dad. We have worked together to make this sound extremely well for the amount of money I have in it. My favorite part of the system is the use of my Ibook as a music server. I have a 160gb hard drive with all my music saved in Apple Lossless Format, which I stream digitally to an Airport Express, and convert with a Mucical Fidelity X-DAC. The sound is as close to cd quality I have heard and the convience factor is unmatched. The sound is very dynamic, very open and quite clean. The Wharfedales image beautifully and the Krell makes them just enjoyable to listen to. I think I am pretty much done for right now, but I welcome all comments and suggestions.
Bought this off Ebay, the previous owner did a ton of upgrades, the specs are more like the sep-1se. The combination of this and the Krell is better than I expected
Krell KSA-200
Thanks to a very generous neighbor, this has become the back bone to my system. Never realized how good and amp can sound
Wharfedale MFM-5
A high school graduation present to myself. AB'd these with the B&W CDM9's and they sound almost as good.
AudioQuest Ruby
Great Cables. Made a huge diffrence
Apple 20 gig Ipod
This one piece has changed the way I listen to music more than anything else. I would absolutely never trade this for anything.
Apple Airport Express
Stream music digitally to the Musical Fidelity X-DAC. The most recent addition to my system
I bet the Golden Tubes extend the Krell and soften it in just the right way. Plus the X-Dac? Very cool. I agree - no comparison over headphones - Apple Lossless is definitely better than CD. I just wish you could get it out to a preamp from an ipod so it sound good enough to amp. At least I have this problem from my wife's mini. Kudos with stick with two channel. I agree with every move in your system. I wish I'd had this set up in school...
If you are streaming Apple Lossless, the sound should actually be BETTER than CD quality, for the reason that the music is stored on the hard drive, then read into RAM, which acts as a digital buffer and should eliminate jitter-based problems. There will be jitter re-introduced into the chain where the airport express is connected through the toslink cable into the X-DAC (ie, reflection of the digital signal back within the cable could cause timing errors). The solution? You could upgrade your DAC to a newer model which is relatively immune to transport and cable introduced jitter, like the to the Benchmark DAC ($995) or to the new X-DACv3 ($999, or in a special package deal with the X-PSUv3 and X-10v3, $1199). I bet you'll have BETTER than CD quality! Not that 1k is peanuts, but pretty cheap compared to the cost of the Krell.
LOL....them cinder block's add to a college guy's originality! Nice system guy.....i can't compete w/what u have,but my system make's me smile non the less!
Cjr888 You fund the 60 inch plasma, and I will definelty replace the poster :). The room is about 12 and a half feet deep by 16 feet long and the stand is 8 feet long.
Replace the poster in the background with a 60 inch plasma that can rotate different images. You are in college -- you shouldn't limit yourself to one person. :-)
Definitely like the DIY stand. How big is the room?
As for the FM tuner, I really do not need it because I can steam internet radio from iTunes anyway (not to mention the radio stations in Tucson are pretty poor). The Krell does amazing with the wharfedales. I used to have them hooked up to a carver m-500, and they sounded good, but with the krell, they are like completely new speakers. They are very detailed very open, and have great bottom end. The wharefedales can handle anything the krell throws at them.
What? No tuner? You're going to ignore FM (free music)? Just kidding! Looks like a very decent system. I especially like the server idea (and "the view"). Question: Does your Krell play well with the Wharfedale towers? I'd think the bass would be unruly... Happy listening!
