Well, this configuration has kept the upgrade demons at bay for approximately 10 months. It won't last. It never does.
And it hasn't....a syndrome I've decided to call audiophilia nervioso. If you've chased the audio dragon, turned your back an perfectly good equipment to "upgrade", or otherwise felt that your fulfilment as a human individual trapped in flesh depends on the addition of that new all-singing, all-dancing wonder-gizmo to your system, you've exhibited the symptoms. A glorious affliction, but an affliction none the less.
OK, some crummy pictures. Why not. As you can now see, stuck in the living room with sub-optimal acoustics. Like it or no, it's the room I'm stuck with. Alas. Yet, all things considered, sounds pretty darn swell. And one day, I'll give it the room it deserves....
Thanks. Actually paid 75 cents for that map in Lenningrad in 1989. And many years later, spent $800 to get it mounted and framed, and more than I would like to think about getting that bookcase built around it. Cheapest expensive map I've ever met. Stranger still, it has exactly 5 cities on it in the US: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and El Paso. Washington D.C., you ask? Nope. And, wait, did you say El Paso? Yup. Strange map.
B, cheers. We'll have to compare notes one of these days.
Dave, interesting, thanks. I'd looked into similar things from the likes of Lyngdorf and others. The one conceptual nit I have to pick with these separate-box solutions to digital room correction is that most of them go analog to digital, apply DRC in the digital realm, and then go back to digital. As I already have a DAC I like, seemed silly to then go A to D and then back D to A a second time. The DSPeaker is interesting as you can go straight in USB and skip the extra steps. I'd also looked into software plugins that I could run right on the Mac Mini before I even offload to the DAC. There are some options in that camp, but a little complicated to get there. Suspect that there will be more with time, and kinda resigned myself to wait and see. But we're definitely thinking along the same lines, and thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely check it out.
Thanks. The speakers are really doing it for me, gotta admit. And the room, while comfy, is by orders of magnitude my weak link when it comes to audio. As much as I'd love some aggressive room treatment, there's no way the wife would let me get away with it, and to be perfectly honest, not totally sure I'm eager to make that kind of mess either. It's a dedicated room, to be sure, but dedicated to things other than my stereo habit....
In room response isn't terrible (not great, and far from flat, but not terrible on the actual numbers and waterfall). My worst audible artifact is that the room's very excitable in a fairly narrow band in the mid bass. The dreaded mid bass hump. Fast, tight and articulate, except for that one note on the standup bass -- which goes all bloated and boomy (lost all my measurement data on a hard drive fail, so don't recall the exact frequency, but there's no mistaking it). Wish there were an easy fix for that, but I ain't yet found it....
The fickle upgrade gremlins got me again. The Thiel 2.3's served me well for 12 years. Damn fine speakers. The Parsifals are better, though. A lot. I blame it on the new DAC, opened the door on all kinds of pain....
System edited: Well, been converting to a Mac-driven system. Spent about a year with a MHDT Havana for a DAC. It really is a pretty nice piece of gear, but requires a bit more volume to really open up and blossom than I can reliably put into it (you know, folks to share the house with and all...). And, as a non-oversampling DAC, it's hardly the last word in resolution, something in particular that I found myself longing for more of. So, the Ayre. Came down to that an the new Bel Canto 3.5. The Bel Canto, in my listening, has the edge on pinpoint soundstaging and uncompromising resolution, whereas the Ayre threw a soundstage of the same dimensions, but with only a hair less pinpoint separation. Resolution wise, the Ayre, while still conveying a fantastic amount of data, was somewhat more relaxed and less etched. Warmer. Otherwise, both pretty similar. Being that this is precisely what I've always chased (through tubes and eventually to the Meridian CDP), the Ayre was clearly the one for me. And, for a couple grand less than the Bel Canto with the seperate power supply and the additional converter you'd need as it lacks USB, an easy choice. Anywho, the latest....
Luckily, I figured out that trick a while ago -- you buy HER the digital camera....
Cheers for the comments. It may not be to everyone's taste (although I don't see why it shouldn't be;), but the combo certainly makes me happy.
Now, if I could only manage to remember that two years from now when I just "need" that next all-dancing, all-singing wonder-gizmo upon which my realization and fulfillment as a human being becomes entirely dependent.... Audiophilia nervioso? I just know it, somewhere, someplace, there's something "better."
System edited: OK, got the Rowland gear I've always been not-so-secretly coveting. It's awfully nice. Unfortunately, this means I am now up to three extra preamplifiers and one extra amp. No way the wife is going to let me keep all that extra stuff....
System edited: Pulled the Rogue 99 and swapped it with the Plinius. Wanted to give the tubes a break, and the Plinius is more than up to the task of equalling, and in some regards surpassing, the Rogue (so far).
Love the Rogue, but I've always had tubes in front of the Bryston, so I can't compare in that regard. (Came from a VTL TL 2.5 which, though a decent tubed pramp, was gleefully trounced by the Rogue).
