Beautiful Music..... updated system

by adam18 on Done For Now
My basement retreat
The view from my listening chair
Neat and well organized
Beautiful tubes ... great sound
The front end ... where the music begins
A cozy little corner

Description

After many changes and upgrades over the years, I am extremely happy with my system. After spending fifteen years with my wonderful Vandersteen 1C's, I am experiencing a greatly improved sound of music with my new Revel F-12 speakers. The synergy between all my components is quite good, and the musical enjoyment is sublime. The hours spent in my listening chair are truly glorious, and I'm a very happy music lover !
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Components Toggle details

    • Rogue Audio Cronus
    Integrated amp with updated Genelex Gold Lion KT-77 output tubes and a Mark O'Brien customized set of 5 small tubes.
    • Revel Concerta F-12
    A very coherent, balanced, and musical full range speaker, with well defined deep bass, perfect mid-range, and sparkling smooth highs.
    • Rotel RCD-1072
    A very musical, analog sounding CD deck with HDCD chip.
    • Rega P3-24 with TT-PSU power supply
    Terrific table at a very good price point.
    • Rega RB-301
    Standard arm for my table .... a great match.
    • Rega Exact 2
    Wonderful symmetry between Rega table, Rega arm, and Rega cartridge.
    • Nagaoka MP-150
    A very musical cartridge .... perfect for my large collection of small ensemble acoustic jazz.
    • Audioquest King Cobra
    A perfect link between the Rotel CD deck and Rogue Cronus amp.
    • Paul Speltz Anti-cables
    Transparent, neutral, and perfect for my system.
    • Signal Cable MagicCord and DigitalReference
    Upgraded power cables ... nice improvements over the stock cords.
    • Panamax M5100-PM
    A very effective power conditioner surge protector.
    • Emotiva XDA-2 DAC
    • AudioQuest Jitterbug
    • Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB cable

Comments 43

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Owner

Beautiful tubes make beautiful music .....


I have been thoroughly enjoying my Rogue Audio Cronus integrated amp (original, non-Magnum)
since December 2007, first driving a beautiful pair of Vandersteen 1C’s and currently
matched to a wonderful pair of Revel F12’s. With a front end of a Rega P3-24 table
w/ a Nagaoka MP-150 cartridge and a Rotel RCD-1072 CD deck, the sound of music
is truly sublime. Most of my listening pleasure comes from small ensemble jazz, well
recorded vocals, and the “classic rock” of my youth ( Dead, Allman’s, CSNY, etc.)

I started with the  stock Svetlana EL-34’s and Sovtek & EH small tubes, and then, 
about seven years ago, with the thoughtful guidance of Nick at Rogue Audio,
I swapped out the small tubes as follows :
"RCA 5814 A“ in the center 12AU7 spot, a matched pair of “GE Five Star 5751 Goldpins”
in the 12AX7 spots, and a matched pair of “GE 12AU7 A” tubes in the outer 12AU7 spots.
The RCA and GE 12AU7A’s are “military NOS."

Then, in August 2010, following more advice from Nick and Mark at Rogue Audio, 
I replaced the original Svetlana EL-34’s with a matched quad of Genelex Gold Lion KT-77’s. 
 The combination of large and small tubes has been absolutely fantastic, and when it came 
time to replace the power tubes in July 2014, I again put in another quad of 
Gold Lion KT-77’s. I’ve been loving my music !!!

So, it's now time to replace the small tubes once again.  After more thoughtful conversations
with both Nick at Rogue Audio and Brent Jessee at audio tubes.com, I purchased the following set of five small tubes .....    
    * a matched pair of GE JG 5751 backplate triple mica premium military grade (12AX7 spots)
    * a matched pair RCA 12AU7 Cleartops (12AU7 spots)
    * a single Telefunken ECC82 smooth plate diamond mark (center 12AU7 spot)

Tubes were installed last Friday night and have been "burning in"   all week..... all I can say is "WOW  !!!! " ..... the sound of music is sublime.  

Boys and girls ..... our audiophile hobby is wonderful !  Lots of fun, tremendous improvement in the sound of music, and terrific satisfaction ..... I'm a very happy camper.

adam18

Owner
Recent "tipping my toes into the waters" of computer audio.  Streaming Spotify Premium from a MacBook Pro laptop through an AudioQuest Jitterbug, via a WireWorld Ultraviolet 7 USB cable, into an Emotiva XDA-2 DAC, and finally through AudioQuest Sidewinder IC's into my Rogue amp ..... Very, very nice sound of music.  I'm having a ball discovering new music and "re-discovering" favorite old albums with Spotify streaming.  A great way to add to my listening enjoyment.

adam18

Owner
Jon and Papermill..... Thanks so much for your kind words.
Paper mill ...... the Bearden print was a gift from my Mom and Dad many years ago.
My parents always supported my love of music and my quest for a great sounding system. When I started to "furnish" my current music room, they gave me the Bearden print as a way to foster a connection between music and art.
Jon ..... Yes indeed, "beautiful music is what it is." Always a sublime delight.

adam18

Adam,
Congrats on your beautiful music system which you have not found any good reason to change for a year now.
Beautiful music, is what it is.
Cheers! Jon.

jon2020

Adam,
Yes, your setting looks great. A "shout out" for your Romare Bearden poster!

papermill

Adam,
Yes, your setting looks great. A "shout out" for your Romare Bearden poster!

papermill

Adam,
Yes, your setting looks great. A "shout out" for your Romare Bearden poster!

papermill

looks like a very relaxing environment, have a happy new year.

thegoldenear

Thanks Matt!

jetrexpro

Owner
Hi Matt .....
Thanks for your 7/11 compliment. I agree with what you're saying about the Nagaoka. Since the majority of my LP collection is indeed jazz, it's a great cartridge for me.

adam18

I used a Nagaoka MP200 on my Rega p3/24 and it is a very musical sounding MM cartridge, great for Jazz. I found it a bit laid back. (like a lot of MM's) I found that for my taste and system I really like the Dynavector 10x5 MC. I enjoyed the Nagaoka while it was on my TT. (I still have it)

mattmiller

Owner
Hi Jet ..... To my ears, with my system, and in my room ..... the Nagaoka sounds very similar to the Exact for less than half the cost. Bottom end is tight, well defined and nicely resonant, the midrange (a highlight of the Exact) is fully fleshed out and natural, and the top end is smooth and sweet with no harshness or fatigue. Overall, like the Exact, the Nagaoka is just slightly to the warm side of neutral. Soundstage depth and width are expansive and accurate, and the cartridge "just seems right." The sound of music is sublime.

adam18

Hi Adam, Could you talk about the difference between the exact and the Nagaoka? Thanks Jet

jetrexpro

Owner
A change of cartridge ..... Swapped out my Rega Exact 2 for a Nagaoka MP-150. Broken cantilever on the Exact, so good time to try something different. The Nagaoka is really, really good ! Beautiful musical sound from my LP's for a significantly lower cost than a new Exact. It gets along quite well with the Rogue's phono stage, and my vinyl listening sessions are sweet .....

adam18

Love your room and System ...Greeat job nice music collection too.

mattmiller

Owner
And just for the record ..... My wife is 100 % in support of our audio hobby and love of music ! Her "telling me to go down to the basement" has been a long running joke in our home, as she knows how much I enjoy my time down there. And from the way you guys have complimented my room and my system (thank you very much) I know you would enjoy it "down there" too. Happy Listening !

adam18

Schubert, Normally I would mainly agree, but in Jet's case...
He' did real well in that department!!:)

isochronism

No Jet, thats the way to misery.
The only thing to do is to find a woman who WANTS to pull with you , not against you.
Of course nobody's perfect, but take you time finding a good women, and it will take time, and if she pulls against you more than one or twice a year its ..............NEXT !

schubert

Adam, You have the discovered the secret of a long marriage. Always do as your wife asks. :)

jetrexpro

Owner
Hello Tjkurita, Jetrexpro, Isochronism, Mapman, and Zavato ..... Thank you all for your good feelings and kind words about my system and room. YES .... it is certainly a "cozy room" and a very beautiful space to enjoy my music. When my wife wants me out of her hair and she tells me to go down to the basement, I eagerly say "Yes, Dear !" And Iso, my guitar amp is a Fender Frontman 25R, and serves me quite well when I need to fulfill my Duane Allman -- Eric Clapton -- Jimmy Page fantasies.

adam18

I like your listening space as well! It has that "my space" feel. A
place you can do some listening and almost as quickly pick up the guitar and do
some playing and you are not hindered by anything or anyone but still
comfortable enough to have folks in for a listen. Sweet!

jetrexpro

Hey Adam, we should het together. I haven't listened to a multi-way system in years. And I think you might find my system interesting as well.

tjkurita

Hi Adam. You are living in a very beautiful area!
I much agree on Map's "cozy room" compliment.
I assume the guitar amp is tube driven as well. More on that if you care to elaborate.
I am a fan:)

isochronism

Cozy room! Love the Rogue Cronus! Gotta sound good!

mapman

I meant to say Mark is a very solid guy

zavato

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