I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a tube amp, much depends on where I end up with a speaker selection!....I'm using Apogee Calipers in place of the Maggie's and I really like what they do. They too are a difficult load, so it makes tube amp selection more difficult. Perhaps VYL 450's, or the larger Manley's...
My brother-in-law has the Paradigm 100V2's, and swears by them....sounds like you're in a good situation with your rig. Good job!
Hey Ray, The Sims do a really nice job with the maggie's...however, I've relegated the Maggie's to the TV room and have a set of Apogee Caliper Sig's in the main system that I'm tweaking around a bit. The Sims drive the Apogees well, but are probably overkill. I may sell the sims and pick up a tube amp for the apogees. It's all very confusing, I know I'm confused already!?! It looks like you're making some great progress with your system...still enjoying the ozzy preamp?
McManus, The AE setup with toslink into the Audio Alchemy/MF DAC isn't as good as using the rather dated Audio Alchemy transport that I have. In fairness, I didn't expect it to be as good. I'm undecided whether or not to take the real plunge into PC audio and invest in a good spdif/USB adaptor and a better PC. Rooze
System edited: OK....in the last 3 months I've added the Virtual Dynamics Nite II speaker wires - incredible wires with tons of detail and a large scale dynamic presentation. Also added VD Master PC's Added a PS Audio 600 powerplant which made a nice improvement. Recently went from Krell MD300's to SimAudio W10 Monoblocks...1400watts into 4 ohms - Incredible amps that sound so different to the Krells. Added a nice tweak before the Holiday - Blue Circle Noise Hound AC filters. Two of these made a very nice improvement. Lastly - the new crossover rebuild has finally broken in. I'm experimenting a little with supports for caps/inductors with different material, the packaging air bags work great!! And that's it folks. I have to buy a new XLR between the pre and power amps in the New Year, and that should do me for a while. It's a nice system in my opinion. I know the Krell boys with their big dynamic speakers think it sounds like midfi, but I like it. It's taken me 14 months to tweak the sound to my liking, and it's been frustrating at times but well worth the effort. I'm listening to music again, and that's what it's all about. Rooze
Not completely certain at the moment. I'm in selling mode and will decide the future once I've sold a few more pieces that are not needed. The Maggie's are incredible speakers and would be hard to replace for under 10k
System edited: Removed two recently sold amps (Krell FPB 200 and Cary V12i Monoblocks) and updated with new Carver amps. Still breaking in the modified ZR1600 amp, will update in a couple weeks.
Hello Ray, nope, I'm kind of settled at the moment on the Carver amp, though keeping an eye firmly fixed on the AG classifieds. Been moving stuff around, trying cables, subwoofers etc.... I keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be fun!
Rooze PS - there are a couple of used CJ LS 17's on AG right now, I bet one of those would go nicely with the new power amp!
Ray, I'm not sure what the model of the Anthem amp was, but he said it was $2500 retail. The overal sound was almost tube like in the mid range, but with great bass and dynamics....very musical and not so audiophile! I'm messing with a pair of Carver Pro ZR1600 digital amps at the moment, I have one driving the maggies and the other I just sent to Empirical Audio for an upgrade. If it sounds as good as people say after the upgrade I could be happy for a while.....well a week or two at least! Mejames, I've been seriously thinking about some room treatments, so when he quoted 50k I felt more like crying than laughing! I may end up with a pair of good headphones!!
Hey Ray, it's a real can of worms with the room being a bit on the large side and having the planars. I visited a local company on the weekend, they work directly with ASC on room treatment projects. I gave the guy a rough outline of the room and he quoted me a minimum of $50,000 on the spot!! After I regained my composure I offered him $10,000 and said 'I understand that it won't be perfect, but you could perhaps do it in 3 stages, as money becomes available'....and he turned me down!
The wall behind the speaker is a bit contentious, the ASC guy said he thought it should be as flat and reflective as possible, with no diffusion or absorption. However, the speakers fire into a large window on the opposite side of the room, and he thought that was a big problem. So I may start by moving the speakers across onto the other wall in front of the windows. Boy this is driving me nuts!! I also just sold my amps and I'm back to square one, messing with different amp options.
Incidentally, since you are using Studio 100's.....the room treatment guy specializes in Paradigm / Anthem. I heard the newest top of the line speaker (J8 I think) with Anthem electronics in a nicely treated room with 9 grands worth of ASC panels....sounded excellent! There $3500 sub was incredible to, seemless integration with the mains and deep, deep bass.
Maybe I'll dump the maggie's and start over.
Cheers
PS - I gotta change the subject line of this post....
The 'content' comment was from two weeks ago, you know how that goes!! Anyway, it's all relative, and it's all about degrees of contentment, degrees of perfection etc etc.
One might be content, but only partially or momentarily so. One may also strive to remove many forms of 'contentment' from ones life, since being content, in certain situations, may lead to complacency. Living in constant fear of becoming complacent drives me to avoid contentment for any prolonged periods, at all cost. Therefore the new amplifier becomes pivotal, and unavoidable, in my plight to live a full and challenging life. Others, may accept and embrace mediocrity into their lives, avoiding challenges for fear of failure. Not I however. The new amplifier will be a bold and proud statement, a beacon of hope and light in an otherwise dark and hopeless world. So you see, it's unavoidable really.
System edited: Now trying Gortz MI3 biwires in place of the Chord cables, also have cables from Sonoran, Audio Insurgents and AudioTruth, which I've been trying. Got the new power cord installed, running between the fuse box and direct to the Krell. Made a nice difference, thanks to CVH for the parts and expertise. Made some basic mods to the speaker wiring, bypassed the fuses and the tweeter attenuator, and replaced crappy maggie binding posts with Cardas posts. Sonic improvement very noticable...more upgrades to follow to x-over.
Thanks ThinKat - it's such an odd shaped room that I'm not sure where I would start with acoustic treats - perhaps some diffusers on the wall behind the speakers....I'll hit the asylum and see what I can find.
Nate....i should have cleaned up the cat vomit from the middle of the carpet before I took the pic's. Things starting to sound pretty good, got the power cord made earlier today, planning to install that tonight.....bloody expensive thing, upwards of $300 in parts and 6 hrs of toil.(includes 3 hrs driving round town looking for heatshrink....."what, you put wires in it, you need it how long?")
Get yerself and Greg over for a listen when you have a couple hours free.
