Updated system after several years! Life is still good. Minor tweaks to the system described below: basically just added the Rega P3-24 and Naim Stageline for turntable sessions and the Arcam rBlink for the iPhone Bluetooth capability. I also ditched the fake trees. Good call from the user who commented many years ago. And I added the TV/Apple TV for my wife to use the treadmill in the back of the room, although it's electrically isolated from the audio set-up. Yes, the dedicated listening room has been repurposed as a gym. But wait! Before you get all pissed off that my wife's need to stay skinny usurped my need to listen to high quality audio, you must know that after I stopped obsessing about buying audio equipment (remember, I was "done for now"), I started obsessing about using my new-found audio nirvana to inspire me to other avenues of greatness, and I took up racing duathlons. My super-comfy listening chair (read: sit on my fat ass chair) was replaced by a triathlon bike on a trainer so that I could pedal for miles/hours listening to some sweet motivational sounds. I actually made it to the world duathlon championships motivated by those sounds. So life is still good.
To all readers/members: take a good hard listen to what magic you already have, and hear what the music is telling you: life is good.
We on Audiogon have much to be thankful for, including the privilege of never being satisfied with our systems, constantly yearning for higher fi. But once in a while we stumble across a combination of boxes and wires that reminds us of why we are here in the first place: to listen to music. I have arrived at that place, with a simple and humble collection of components that impress me with their ability to stand back rather than stand out. Sure, there are many such combinations, and many that will do this or that better. But now I can finally sit back, relax, and enjoy the wine in my glass, without worrying about the next upgrade or the mythical audio holy grail. Of course Audiophilia is a terminal disease, and I am thankful for the potential to upgrade this system, but for now, life is good. Really, really good. Cheers!
There are some interesting notes about this system. The maple platforms to help stabilize the narrow Hawks and bring them up to ear level are solid endgrain maple chopping blocks from a kitchen supply store, resting on chrome speaker spikes. I liked the aesthetic enough to get more of them to support the components, resting on Bright Star IsoNode feet. Also, the acoustical panels on the walls are foam insulation sheathing slabs (from Home Depot) wrapped in used burlap coffee bags and framed. The iPod touch is used as a remote for iTunes on my laptop, transmitted to the Supernait's DAC via the Airport Express, but the frequent wireless network glitches in the listening room have left me using the iPod classic through the Wadia much more often. The CD5XS is also connected to the Supernait digitally, so there are no analog interconnects in the entire system.
