I love a dense sound rich with beauty, texture, harmonics. I also like a highly detailed sounding system but only if it sounds very, very, natural. Best result is where I forget to analyze the sound, and just get lost in the music.
Well, it's been a long road, and at one point I was dealing strictly with preamp and monoblocks for amplification. I became determined to simplify my system, using an integrated.
After some very discouraging results with several highly touted integrateds, the Cary SLI-80 now seems to produce just the type of sound that engages me nicely.
Recent addition of the Cary 308T has locked in my cd playback beautifully. LP has been locked in beautifully for years. Happy camper.
If I make any change at this point, I might go for SET integrated (or separates :-), since the Silverlines are efficient enough and I'm curious.
UPDATE Nov 2009: Well it's been 3 years and only NOW I'm making changes? (What kind of audiophile am I?!) I just purchased a pair of Silverline 17.5's, as a change of pace. A little more transparent than Sonatina II but less rich and smaller sound stage. Satisfying in it's own way. Just sold Quatrofil and Oritek X-1 in the past week. Seeking a little more rounded sound for these new speakers. So far Blue Jeans LC RCA sound great, tho I suspect that I could do better. Using more Herbies points and less Black Diamond these days. That's about it. I guess I'm just basically really happy with this system :)
Tube rolling works wonders; currently using JJ KT88's. NOS RCA rectifiers 5u4g, Telefunken 6922, and Sylvania red/green dot 6sn7 round it out. Every year or two I try a solid state amp. They are getting closer....
Cary Audio Cary 308-T Tube Cd Player
CD player with tube output stage. The sound is shockingly beautiful and remarkably close to analog for cd. Not the ultimate in detail retrieval but very satisfying in that regard nonetheless. I think Cary should consider this one of their
Eastern Electric Minimax DAC
Offers tube and solid state output stages (switchable). I strongly prefer the tube output stage - provides a magnificent sound! Detailed, musical, and REAL.
Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Superb introduction to computer audio. Retrieves the digital signals from my computer iTunes database via WiFi, presents them to the DAC. A little tricky to figure out and to get it to reliably find that signal. Includes a very fine DAC that you have to spend.... oh, $750 or more to surpass.
Silverline Audio SR-17.5
Two-way monitor with Esotec tweeter by Dynaudio. Has the Silverline family sound in spades, a little more precise than Sonatina II, less fleshed out though. Kind of a toss up.
REL Acoustics Strata mkIII Subwoofer
WOW. This sub not only integrates incredibly well with the Sonatina's, but it seems to enhance the entire range of sound treble down to bass, as well as driving the floor far deeper than the speaker alone. I can't believe I waited until a couple years ago to get a sub.
Basis 2001 Suspended Turntable
Black acrylic. Glorious look and sound, nice suspension
van den Hul Frog MC Cartridge
Neutral, natural, detailed, FAST.
Rega RB-300 Tonearm, Modified
Modified to allow VTA adjustment, and separate interconnect. It is remarkable how much you have to spend to improve on this very satisfying arm.
EAR USA 834P Tube Phono Stage, mod'd
Chrome phono preamp, mm/mc, no volume control; HIGHLY MODIFIED, most parts replaced, with the glorious sounding Mullard CV 4004. This is a jewel. They will bury me with this piece.
Cardas Golden Reference Speaker Cable
a little over-the-top warm, like Cardas speaker cables tend to be, but rich and powerful - especially BASS - while nicely detailed. Hard to resist :-)
Cardas Golden Reference RCA
Warm, detailed, powerful!
Cardas Golden Reference Phono Cable
I tested several other top of the line phono cables and they were all great. The silver were the fastest and most detailed, but Cardas won me over with it's richness (nice match for the fast but extremely neutral VDH Frog)
Cardas Golden Reference Power Strip
Add's a nice sonic touch, mellow, and also looks great. (Photo is prior model, Golden Cross.)
Silverline Audio Sonatina II Speakers
Efficient, musical, rich lovely sound. I've had other speakers in house to compare, and they might offer a touch more speed, detail or coherence, just a touch, but these have such an immensely satisfying sound that I ultimately choose to keep them. Seem like a long term keeper (like a lot of my gear at this point).
Nordost Quattrofil Interconnect
cd to integrated; fast, clean, extended yet musical. I would put this in the most critical link in the chain.
Oritek X-1 Interconnect
Nearly as good as the Quattrofil; how does Ori do it?
Audience AU-24 Speaker Cable
Did a lot of comparisons; I love the look and sound both of these cables.
Audience AU-24 Power Cable
Nice power cable too; makes a very audible improvement.
System edited: Recent changes: Added Squeezebox Touch and Eastern Electric Minimax DAC. Computer digital is now high end! Using MacBook Pro as server. Should I keep the cd player? Hmmmm..... Also migrating back to Cardas cables, Golden Reference, for their power, detail, and overall musicality.
Hi BWD: I find it a little difficult to distinguish the improvement of the Mullard 4004's vs the mod's. My memory is that the modified unit sounded vastly more natural, even though the non-modified one was already my favorite of all I heard.
I do not know who did these mods alas. I do have photographs of the internals of my modified unit and also of an unmodified one if you are curious to see the difference. Please email me directly as I don't check this tread often: [email protected]
I've heard great things about the Mitch Singerman mod. I think his "family sound" is neutral and detailed, if I recall correctly (this is second hand information ). Probably he can tune it to taste.
The Mullard 4004's can easily be described as lush in this system. Because my cartdidge is very fast and neutral (Van Den Hull Frog), Mullards are a great match. YMMV of course.
I use LSA standard monitors in my home theater, along with the center. I love these speakers - they have a naturalness to them. The Silverline 17.5 are more neutral, powerful, and a bit more transparent. I suspect they are comparable to the LSA Statement monitors, but I have not heard them to compare. LSA standard monitors are more forgiving then the Silverline 17.5, perhaps comparable to earlier generation Silverline monitors with the more rounded sounding tweeter.
I tried a variety of solid state integrateds at home that got great reviews, from around $300 new to over $3000 new. They were generally acceptable, but lacked the life of tubes, and tended to have a touch of residual graininess. I was taken in by the great reviews of these units, alas. Not a big deal. Trying them out via the used market was fun, and entailed not much loss in depreciation. I have heard a variety of tube integrateds at shows, sounding very fine, but some of those solid state integrateds also sounded fine at shows too - go figure. I tried the tube integrated Onix SP3 at home, borrowed from a friend, and like it a lot. It's a fantastic deal at current prices too. The Cary is better and I can afford it. I don't expect to get better sound than the Cary out of a push-pull integrated; the only question is whether I go SET and/or separates over time. I once borrowed the Bel Canto 845-based SET integrated from a friend. Nice :-) Art
My original plan was to put TT on top. The integrated does fit on the second shelf, but it throws off a lot of heat, and the upper shelf was getting a little too warm for comfort.
System edited: I added some detail in most of the comment areas this morning. This is my first "virtual system" on Audiogon, it's fun. I've enjoyed reading about others...
