Wow, it has been awhile since anything has been posted on my system. I have since moved, added another sub, upgraded power conditioning and power cables. One of these days I will get around to updating everything...

Lapierre-So have you bought a B2? I remembering speaking with you a couple years ago and I believe you were considering adding a sub back then. As you may already know the B2 is awesome, definetly recommend it. I feel it represents a great bang for the buck in the sub world and isn't as large as the B1 so it will work better in smaller rooms like we both have now.

If you end up going with each conductor separate you may be able to save some money and buy a good quality twisted cable and terminate it yourself, since the Signal Cable advantage is that it is twisted per their "recipe" and comes neatly packaged as one cable. Food for thought, I feel almost any larger gauge cable would represent an upgrade over the stock cable.

I have noticed you have moved recently and your new room is proving troublesome. I look forward to seeing what comes of it with room treatments etc.

jlind325is February 15, 2012 02:58

System edited: I decided to ditch the one rack and go to two lower ones. I really like the look and the functionality of them as well.

jlind325is February 21, 2007 01:59

System edited: Here is my new listening space, a little small 11'x14'x9'6" especially for vons but it sounds great to me. It has almost everything i like in my music, the right tone and timbre, the tight bass, good soundstage and imaging. My depth isnt jaw dropping but it is layered. I know all the Von Schweikert owners out there are saying " Man, pulls those guys out from the wall!" Beleive me i tried them further out in the room, i would say the depth was farther but not layered and that was about it. They had muddy bass, spitty highs and overall not what the gear is capable of. Pushing them close to the rear wall as far as i have now turned my sound from so-so to ahhh yes! The bass is the best i have heard from my system, vocals are textured and everything is in its own space. I am just so pleased in this new room. Everytime i come home from the local dealers shop i say to myself, "i like mine more" with that silly grin. Comments are always enjoyed.

jlind325is January 21, 2007 05:49

Jayson-thanks for the kind words, and your not bothering me, and i am kind of a newbie myself. A little background on my gear may help with having you understand how i have mine connected. Since my TT is of such a cheap price it comes with captive interconnects and ground. My phonostage has the option for setting the gain for either a low output MC cartridge or a higher output MM cartridge. I have my TTs interconnects hooked up to my phono stage, and then a set of Transparent interconnects running from the phono stage outputs to one of my inputs on my pre amp. since i have an outboard phono stage and no phono card in my pre amp i can use any input. I then connect my pre amp and amp with a set of balanced interconnects. I am not familiar with your gear but i am assuming my way of doing things would work just fine. Now if your AR LS7 can accept a "factory" phono board then you would just connect your turntable to the phono input on the preamp. hope this clears things up for you and feel free to ask for clarification if your still needing help. And welcome to an addicting life style. Justin

jlind325is November 09, 2006 22:06

Thanks for the kind words Oregon. I absolutely love my pre as well. It is now fully broken in and the journey from new till now has been nothing short of incredible. to my ears it makes music sound like music, a bit rolled off at frequency extremes but i will galdly give up a little extension for a non fatiguing sound. I was also considering a used 5i but all balanced was an issue for me as well. i can honestly say i have no regrets about this pre amp and will be hanging on to it for a good while. Plus with the upgrades that are available it will only get better and better. Hopefully somtime soon i will get the phono board and upgrade my record player but i want a new rack as well. DAMN those tradeoffs!!! I recently moved into a dedicated room 11'x 14'-6" x 9' which is sounding alright, i havent had time to properly set up my vons but i will soon. i now have the option of treating walls etc. i have done a good bit of hanging rugs and curtains this past week and it has really helped calm the room down. i will have new pictures up later this month. see ya Justin

jlind325is September 08, 2006 19:14

System edited: Finally getting around to adding my new pre amp to this thread. I have had the BAT for a couple weeks now and since intial listen to now im still continually impressed. When i removed the PCA-2 and added the VK-3iX is when my system really started producing music. I cant beleive all the ways it one ups the PCA-2, micro detail, depth, locked in imaging, dead quiet background, and not the slightest bit fatiguing. I would say my bass is less extended and not as tight. I adjusted the placement of the vons to counteract the negative and in turn was rewarded with better overall musicality. By pulling the speakers out farther i have a greater sense of not hearing my room. I can actually hear the space in which certain recordings were recorded, somthing in which i never had heard prior. I now know what all the tube "fuss" was about beautiful sound plain and simple. Well time to go enjoy......

jlind325is June 29, 2006 01:09

System edited: Pictures updated as well as the new cartridge. I am enjoying this new cartridge very much. Everything that i didnt like about my previous Ortofon has been improved upon, most notably bass response and extension. Still in need of many more hours of break in time but im already satisfied. I also have moved my rug into the room, lowered my noise floor and adds a little class in my opinion. A few pieces of furniture have moved, cd rack is no longer behind the right speaker. By doing this i increased my depth and imaging. I have reached another level with these changes and eagerly await the arrival of my pre.

jlind325is June 03, 2006 20:01

I would like to try a pre that used a seperate power supply one of these days. The only one i can think of that is somewhat near me was a Rogue dealer. I was impressed with the Rogue 99 when i listened to it. I had the ability to bring it home but that particular shop is a two hour drive each way and he was only willing to let me demo for a couple days, which didnt fit my schedule. I feel that the BAT is a better piece of gear anyways.

Let me know what material you use when you finish the head. have you found a junker turn table yet?

jlind325is May 28, 2006 18:10

Sounds good Philoman2. My local dealer will be getting Nitty Gritty products sometime in the future so maybe i can compare a home made one to a real one after i make my own. I was thinking about how Biomimetic made his and was thinking it would be nice to have a replaceable-changeable cleaning head so as to not cross contaminate between records. Is your custom cleaning head reflecting this thought in your design? I have also decided on a pre amp. I am going to give the BAT VK3iX a try. I did some extensive listening again with the BAT Vk300SE integrated and my Bryston amp. i listend to the BAT int. by itslef and then using its linestage with my amp. i much preferred the combo rather than the stand alone int. which wasnt my prior feelings the first time i did this. I beleive it will yield a much better sound with a dedicated pre amp, mostly due to the fact that the power supply isnt driving an amp portion as well. i will see if the VK3iX fits my ear when it arrives in a couple of weeks. Justin

jlind325is May 27, 2006 21:26

Chadnliz-thanks for the kind comments. Im still building to have it all but im having fun. Please note that the BAT you see isn't mine and is no longer in the system. I will update pictures soon. I am currently thinking about using an integrated amp like the BAT you see or keeping my Bryston amp and adding a tube pre.

Philoman2-You will have to post pictures of your new hand built cleaner, i would like to see how it turned out. The rack is actually a design i copied off my brother. I really need to shorten the all thread and bring the shelves a bit closer. I think it looks spindly now but im waiting to get the gear figured out first. i eventually want to buy the Mapleshade Samson v2 rack. It's a very beautiful upgrade to my rack but retains the same design with the all thread.
Later guys

jlind325is May 21, 2006 21:16

thanks. i think i will try my hand at the record cleaner here in a few months after i move. Hopefully soon my local shop will have the room to get some BAT tube amps in, i realy want to hear their seperates.

jlind325is May 11, 2006 19:23

I miss having the BAT in my system now that its gone. The PS/Bryston combo cant compete with it to my ears. OF course the BAT VK300SE goes for $6000 new w/ options so its kind of expected that it should sound good. What i have found in my short time in hifi is that your ear is different than anybody elses. i see no reason why not the Wislon/BAT combo could of sounded uninvolving to you, yet it could sound magical to me. I just need to keep listening and find "it." Are you addicted to vinyl yet?

jlind325is May 09, 2006 02:24

Thanks for the link. I didnt suspect you were associated with them, you just sounded pleased with your piece of gear.

jlind325is May 04, 2006 22:45

i am actually looking at tube pres as we speak. I dont think anyone local carries TAD so i might have to buy it used. Im wanting to buy new these days because i am having a hard time finding my sound so demoing is a priority. I just listened to some Musical Fidelity and Linn solid state preamps and then i listened to a Rogue 99 and to my ears it blew the others away. the sweetness was exactly waht i wanted. Im sold on a tube pre now. Justin

jlind325is May 04, 2006 19:34

How would you describe you TAD pre?

jlind325is May 01, 2006 20:08

Nice gear. i am not familiar with that source but i will check it out. The Nomad does look like a very sweet ride. The curvy top tube is sooo sexy. I am still new to the hifi world so i havent owned many pieces of equipment. I started out with a NAD t-753 reciever, i thought i was going to go the HT route at first. That reciever was good for what it was in my opinion. After falling in love with 2 channel i decided to go that route. A very nice decision i might add. :) I then bought the Bryston 2B-SST thats in my pics. I was using a loaner PS Audio PCA-2 pre with the Bryston. My dealer loaned me the BAT since i wasnt liking the neutral/brightness i was hearing. I prefer a warm smooth sound. The BAT is an impressive piece of gear to my ears. Very good soundstage, tight controlled bass and gobs of detail without being overly bright or fatiguing. That amp has yet to sound the least bit stressed while listening at high volumes or complicated passages. While listening to a Roger Waters album i was hearing much more low level detail than with the Bryston/PS. There was whispering that i hadnt heard before, always a good sign. Although it has a tube linestage it still didnt have the warmth that i love. And it carries a too big for me price tag. I think that if a person wants an amp that is on the warmer side of neutral but not too warm then this would be a definate consideration. I do have one other gripe about it and its the remote, everytime you hit a button it clicks. To me it was a little annoying but since i have a universal remote it would be a non existent annoyance if i owned the amp. Are you considering one? Justin

jlind325is April 28, 2006 19:10

Wow, nice job. I feel the same with my bike, i dont really upgrade i just replace. My Bullit is an '01 and its feeling its age, i think when its time to buy a new mountain bike i will probably go with the Bullit again. But the VP free is a sweet ride as well. So whats your system consist of?

jlind325is April 27, 2006 21:57

Yes i am as a matter of fact. Thats the godfather of freeriding, Wade Simmons. I own a Santa Cruz Bullit. I personally love single pivot designs, they work great and are simple. I rode a Heckler before deciding on the Bullit. I live near the 'Shore and Whistler so the extra travel was a must. I just bought a Trek 1000 road bike to keep me in shape as well. Why do we love expensive hobbies? Thanks for noticing, and go for a ride its the season!!

jlind325is April 27, 2006 00:05

i had to put those strips there so the stand was more stable. The berber carpet dosent allow the all-thread to sink into it like regular carpet. I need to buy some acorns like you have or buy some threaded heavy feet. im enjoying the room more and more each time i listen. the BAT is a definate step in the right direction, although i would like a more colored/warmer sound. I will see what Erik has to offer. I think i will be going with a tube integrated amp.

jlind325is April 24, 2006 21:38

System edited: Moved into a new room the other day. It has to function as a living room as well as my new audio room. Currently i am very pleased with my new found width and depth but bass is a little soft. Many hours of tweaking placement layb ahead. The BAT was finally ready to demo this weekend and i am very impressed. More thoughts later as i get familiar with my new enviroment.

jlind325is April 23, 2006 01:55

After a couple weeks of listening to the new combonation of gear i know somthing needs to be changed. Somthing is not synergizing wiht somthing else. The music is uninvolving for me at this point, it dosent feel as if i am there in the music like i was before. i feel that the PS pre amp might be the culprit. I will be demoing a BAT VK300xSE in a week or so that should tell me what piece of equipment needs to be swapped. My ear has grown in leaps and bounds through this last iteration of my gear, i feel that i really know what i want to hear. So the journey continues.....

jlind325is April 08, 2006 18:58

System edited: New gear has been added. Shortly after the NAD went T.U. the amp arrived. Not quite in audiophile nirvana but close. I need to do some very necessary tweaking of speaker placement and interconnect swapping. Next upgrade a better place to live!

jlind325is March 25, 2006 01:58

I about had a coronary last night! The NAD had frozen up for the second time, it wouldnt repsond to anything not even the power button on the front panel. So the only thing to do to unfreeze it was to pull the plug. I waited about fifteen minutes after unplugging to replug it in. I hit the power button to turn it on and it makes a switching noise like the output stage is turning on and off. it makes this noise for about 1 second then POP!! I think to myself did the f-ing NAD just kill my vons? i was in a panic as i scrounged another receiver from upstairs to hook the vons up to. As i plug the vons in and hit the power on the "new" reciever i get music. R-E-L-I-E-F!! i had sound and no buzzing or nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. That was one of the most gut wrenching experinces i have ever had. I think the NAD knew she was going to be replaced soon. Lets hope my amp isnt in customs too long! life without music is no kind of life.

jlind325is March 14, 2006 19:54

Steve-Thanks for the kind words. I am enjoying my system so much more now after rearranging my room that i could cancel the order on the amp and be happy for months too come. However i am a man of my word and look VERY forward to the new additions. I feel like i am at a stage where this system is nearly complete(how often do audiophiles say that?). All thats left is for me to snatch up all the vinyl i can and just listen. Justin

jlind325is March 05, 2006 22:21

System edited: Added vinyl to the system. Plain and simple....why did i start with digital? Soundstage is in a new level now and i finally have depth. Working on placement of the vons now, still cant get them close to the side walls due to furniture. Bass is still suffering. Hoping to have a dedicated room in the not to distant future. Bryston should be arriving within mid-month. I am very happy with what i am hearing now and cant wait to hear seperates.

jlind325is March 03, 2006 03:17

I am very happy with what my system now but i made the decision to upgrade while i can. I dont beleive i will be able to do much upgrading for a year or so im doing it now. Im also going to give vinyl a try(im sure i will be in love). I decide on with the help from my dealer a Bryston 2B SST for the amp, i will be demoing a PS Audio PCA-2 pre that i might purchase down the road if it mates well with the Bryston. For the turntable im going the very cheap route for now, a Project Debut III. $300 for table cartridge and tonearm, im not expecting to be blown away with this table but like i said it is a stepping stone to make sure i really want to get into vinyl. i dont really know anything about setting up the player(if sure my dealer will help) so if any of you have any suggestions i would love to hear them. i expect all the goodies to be in my room in a week or so. Im also moving soon and will hopefully have a room where i can actually play with speaker placement. Justin

jlind325is February 24, 2006 20:14

i would safely say that my power cables have their recommended 100 hours of break in time. i was so impressed by these cables right out of the box and they have matured very nicely. The restricted top end that i was hearing is now gone. the bass went from good to even better. I am hearing so much more definition than before and it is alot punchier. i was listening to one of my Tool albums and i was hearing things that i hadnt heard before. all in all these cables are one of the best upgrades i have made.

jlind325is February 15, 2006 20:57

Thanks Bill i really enjoyed reading it. Youve inspired me even more to hold off on upgrading for a while. I hope to be moving soon and be able to have a dedicated room. Maybe having a real room will be what i need to be happy for years to come like you were. Thanks again and congrats on nirvana. i hope to be there sooner than later. I am focusing on expanding my software now, there is so much good music out there that i am getting exposed to. Thanks again Justin

jlind325is February 05, 2006 20:49

LOL, i will make a note about the note. Those are some beastly stands!! So how long have you been into home audio?

jlind325is February 03, 2006 19:51

Bill-
Well thanks anyhoo, i am confused on what the next step should be, but gladly i dont need that next step to make me happy. I see now why you told J_Green that you can make almost any room sound good with tweaking the placement of the speakers. Those Intuitive Design speakers look heavy, whats the weight for those bad boys?

jlind325is February 02, 2006 20:00

Thanks Bill,

Do you have any recommendations on room treatments? Im sure my dedicated room will be a standard size bedroom. Or do you think the money will be better spent on getting somthing to replace the NAD? Like i say it will be down the road but i would like to start drooling now. thanks for the input. Justin

jlind325is February 01, 2006 23:22

Just posting to say that im absolutely in love with my gear now. Thoughts of upgrading have dissappeared(for now). i hoping to move soon and am looking for a place that will have a good dedicated audio room. The thought of a real room is a very pleasant one, i know that when i get everything tweaked in the new room i will be astonished with the results. Im considering doing room treatments to the new room when finances allow, anyone have recommendations? ive heard good things about Echo Buster products.

jlind325is January 31, 2006 21:23

Let me know what you find. I prefer no plate now so i wonder if we will be able to tune our gear with different materials. This is a very interesting tweak to me and would like to know more about it(scientifically speaking). keep me posted.

jlind325is January 24, 2006 15:30

I am astonished that removing the wall plate did anything but it did more than that for me. I dont know if my ears are playing tricks on me or what but i heard a significant difference between wall plate and no wall plate. with it removed my bass seemed lower and more pronounced while being tighter as well. the highs and mids sounded warmer(a trait i love) without any loss of detail. my soundstage was smoother and a bit wider as well. i cant see why a piece of plastic could alter the sound but for me it altered it for the worst. Tpaxadom-thanks for giving me the heads up on this. im still shaking my head at the difference. another benefit...my power port is now naked for all the world to see :^). thanks again for this free tweak.

jlind325is January 22, 2006 18:53

Last night i put the spikes in the vons. I was happy with my placement and decided to stop tweaking the placement and just enjoy. I forgot how much of a difference spiking the vons makes. I am very satisfied with my system now and am thinking im done upgrading for a while. I would like to get into vinyl next. Tpaxadom-i will try removing my outlet plate this weekend.

jlind325is January 20, 2006 20:26

The power cables continue to get better and better. Before i moved my speakers i was noticing that the soundstage was opening up and imaging was a little more precise. Last night i did a set and repostioned the vons. I moved everyhting more towards the center and that allowed me to space the speaks another 8 inches apart. I was playing with toe in and found that now less toe in sounded way better than what i had. my soundstage is now a lot wider and smoother across the board. On saturday my dealer let me borrow a pair of PS Audio Xstream Statement speaker cables. i was excited to get them in but ran into a slight problem. These cables are just to damn BIG. I couldnt get the to flex the way i needed. That is why i moved eveything around, hoping to get enough room to plug these bad boys in. it was not to be :(. It probably is a good thing i couldnt demo them, because i cant want what i havent heard. but still it would of been nice to hear what $1000 speaker cables sounded like.

jlind325is January 17, 2006 19:49

You bet its the right direction!! i have been getting so much more pleasure out of music now that it sounds close(i use this term loosely) to how it was intended. There is the battle between is it the music or the sonics? in my opinion it is the music that is the most important but with each upgrade the same piece of music pulls at my heart that much more. So the sonics make the music better. When i started to build my rig i watched more movies then listened to music. Now i have dvds that have been sitting out ready to be viewed for two weeks!!i never would of guessed how much i would enjoy "just sitting and listening" to music. but im not just sitting there, each album is like an experience for me. my friends ask how can you sit for three hours and listen? me reply: come over and youll hear why. As i have said before...Im addicted.

jlind325is January 15, 2006 03:20

Im heading in the two channel only direction. i will most likely go with an integrated amp and then move on to seperates a couple years down the road(hopefully sooner). This is my inexperienced opinion on adding a center channel. if your speakers are as close together as mine(4'-6" apart) then i think it would be overwhelming and might cause imaging problems. I say this because i feel center channels are better used when your speakers are a good distance apart. If movies are more important then music it might do you good but i dont think so if your speakers are this close. i reiterate this is my UNEXPERIENCED opinion. I dont see any need for a center channel in my room even if i was going for a multi setup, i have a very focused center to my soundstage since my speakers are so close. I think the center channel would be adding center to my already very center sounding setup. Although i do have a decent soundstage considering. I hope this helps. let me know. I would say ask someone that has their room posted in the HT section of the virtual systems, they would know more than i do. thanks for looking and commenting

jlind325is January 14, 2006 01:28

Before i go the new cables i was playing with more toe in. If i toed them in more i got sweet imaging and soundstaging but weak bass. i have them not as toed in now because i was wanting a fuller sound over a better soundstage. but now my bass is unbeleivable so i will probaly toe them in more when i do a set again. im waiting to do a set until my cables are more broken in then they are now. My room is my bedroom and audio room so i have virtualy zero space to play with. If you look to the right side of the alternate angle pic you can see the door, so i cant go any farther right or out from the back wall. to the left is my bed so im restricted there. My speaks are about 4'-6" apart, and my chair is in an equilateral triangle with the speaks. far too close but im kind of stuck. if you have any suggestions let me hear them. that red thing is my chair. when i get a dedicated room im sure i will be blown away. but i am happy with what im hearing now. i cant say enough about the diffeence those cables made!!! im in heaven!! probably in a week or so i will repostion the speaks and then try removing the plate.

jlind325is January 12, 2006 19:55

I expect that it will take atleast that long for them to break in. I listened again today and they did sound a little more open, but then again they are still new to me so it might be the excitment that is making them sound better. I havent tried tweaking the outlet plate yet. I want to get familiar with what im hearing and then try it. Did you just remove yours or did you buy metal ones and experiment like the guys on the forum did? It was funny reading those posts, on guy swears it helps the other says no way. Dont tell me what worked best for you i just want to know what you were comparing.

jlind325is January 12, 2006 03:15

System edited: PS Audio Xstream Plus power cables installed. Where do i start? I first added one cable from my UPC to the wall....Drooling. After falling in love i added the second from the UPC to the Denon.....Double drooling. After about one song my nerves got the best of me and i plugged in the third from the UPC to the NAD. I wanted to wait a good half hour in between each addition, but i couldnt resist. Now i dont know if this was the final piece of the puzzle in really opening up my system or the cables all the way but i wasnt listening to the same gear. After the third one was in I just sat there listening to Tool with my mouth open. Of course i had a boost in detail and bass, that was to be expected. But waht i heard was bass that to me was, atleast respectable in terms of true bass. Way deeper and tighter than i have heard with this gear, even when placing speaks to improve the low end i hadnt heard this before. Not even close!! As i listened further and focused on pieces of the music i noticed that every sound had a texture to it. I thought my micro detail was good before, but it wasnt anything like what i have now. I dont know how to explain this texture in words but voices had all these tones and variation that i had never heard before, notes seemed to hang in the air longer, guitars oh man guitars!! its like i could hear the strings reverbing right in front of my face. Thats how clear and defined everything was. These cables made everything click and are by far the most effective upgrade i have made. The down side to what im hearing is a restrained soundstage and not as precise imaging. Breaking them in will cures these problems and then more tweaking with speak placement and i will be in yet another realm. Even if the cables dont "break" in and stay this way i will have no regrets. Enough of this! i got music to listen too! i will comment as the cables progress. later Justin

jlind325is January 11, 2006 05:04

Thanks. We are in the same boat. I was using a Monster strip aslo, mostly for surge protection but it was a definite improvement over just out of the wall. I then purchased an Ultimate Outlet. I cant pust pick out one area where it blew the Monster out of the water! Every aspect and nuance was THERE, so much more pronounced. I just recentle moved on to the UPC. I got a good deal through Erik@Reference Media up here. I was having noise issues and with the humbuster it helped the problem.it didnt cure it but i believe the power in this place is shit. Both are worth every penny. but my ears are differnt then yours. Have you considered trying an Ultimat OUtlet and a PS juice bar? Cheaper then a Hydra(although how could you go wrong?)
you would have 7 oulets, and i feel PS stuff is of good quality. Then again ive never heard anything bad about the Hydra.

jlind325is January 07, 2006 20:20

System edited: Added Pics.

jlind325is January 02, 2006 06:11

i bought the denon with the intention of modding to begin with. i knew that this player with mod can go head to head with 10k units. With eXemplar mod they add tubes to the Denon. I can only imagine how that will sound :). The cables should be here in a couple weeks so i will let you know what i think when they come in.

jlind325is December 28, 2005 15:28

Thanks for checking it out. Hope to get pictures soon but am spending some money on PS Audio Xstream Plus power cables at the moment. i tried a lower down the line PS power cable and was blown away. I was sitting there with my mouth open, i wasnt expecting that kind of boost in performance. The soundstage was feet taller and incredibly smooth from left to right. There was also added width outside the speaks. I got the footers from mapleshaderecords.com Like i said they are worth buying, they add a nice "finish" to the music and definetly look cool as well. Moding the Denon is a ways away. I would like to get an integrated amp or seperates before. I really like the unit as is and i am in no real hurry. Justin

jlind325is December 27, 2005 00:18