This system works as a great two channel, multichannel audio or home theater system. My overall emphasis is on two channel playback, however. The Wilsons are amazingly quick and dynamic. They are a tremendous improvement over the Thiel CS 1.6s that they replaced (and are now relegated to the back of the room as surrounds). The Wilsons have great synergy with the VTLs, and every upgrade makes them more articulate and transparent. Even with my all tube setup, I am very happy with the bass impact. After adding the VTL 5.5, the mid and low bass became more visceral and is better integrated with the whole. This pre-amp also added a tremendous amount of depth and coherence to the soundstage.

The VTL ST-150 provides more than enough power for this system and my room, which is relatively large with cathedral ceilings and an opening into the kitchen. It also has the delicacy for subtle chamber music. I find that both the tetrode mode (170 watts/channel) and the triode mode (90 watts/channel) can easily drive the speakers. Check out the home made room treatments behind the listening position. I glued 1" thick batting to the wall then covered it with fabric. The improvements were immediate and greatly reduced the sense of "echo" in the room.

A great part about this setup as a whole is that is can double as a home theater or can be used during the day without lots of wasteful hours running my tubes. The Thiel center and surrounds run off the Rotel receiver and can be used for casual TV watching or music during the day. At night or during dedicated listening I turn on the tubes to let the full potential flow.

The McCormack is a great CD, and high resolution format player. I can run it directly to the pre-amp and also to the Rotel. The VTL 5.5 also has a home theater bypass switch if I want to use the Rotel as a pre-amp to play movies. I actually find that with movies that I still prefer to send the mains directly through the VTL pre-amp and let the Rotel only take care of the rears and sub. (I do not run the Thiel SCS center during movies, only during casual listening). Of course by running it that way I have two volume controls, one for the fronts and one for the rears/sub. However, the VTL 5.5 adds a great sense of realism to movies that is hard to live without. As for now I do not run the subwoofer out of the VTL 5.5 for two channel music. I only use the sub for movies.

It may heresy to post my Polk XM receiver on this sight, but you have to hear how well it integrates into the system. Of course it can never replace any good CD player; however it is remarkably musical and natural. The breadth of programming is staggering. I listen to a lot of classical and jazz and I do not find the signal too "compressed" to detract much from the music. It seems that some of the channels on XM are better than others. It is a pleasure listening to hours of music with such great variety. I have wondered what it would sound like to add a stand-alone DAC to the Polk to see how it may improve the sound.... Any thoughts?

Any comments or questions about the system are appreciated.