My stand alone Two Channel system. Integrated but seperate from my HT system. I listen to lots of LPs of any genre. I have been upgrading (and moved) since the photos. I added the Modwright Pre, Scoutmaster Table and the Quad phono stage. A very noticable difference. Much more extended top to bottom with higher resolution but no loss of that tube magic. I will add new photos soon.
Replaces mt Sumico Blackbird. Out of the box, classical piano is jaw dropping. Looking forward to the sound after a full break-in period.
Valve Amplification Company PA 100/100
Perfectly clean used piece. 100 watts. Sounds best IMO rolled with the new Valve Art Cyro'd KT-88 and NOS 12AU7 RCA clear-top.
Modwright SWL 9.0 SE
I rolled out the Raytheon tubes for Sylvania Gold Brand. Much warmer sound and holographic sound field. I though the unit with the original tubes was way too cold.
Quad U S A Quad QC-24P
Quad QC-24 dedicated phono stage designed by Tim DeParavicini. I just finished burning in this puppy. Sounds great. On the warm side but detailed and balanced. Uses wierd 6111 pencil tubes from nuke missles. Claims 100K hours life. Swords into plowshares dude.
Ah! Njoeb Tjoeb 4000
With upsampler, upgraded feet and powercord, NOS Amperex tubes. I love this piece and it puts out the widest deepest soundstage of all my components. Great bang for the buck. Only quibble is the display is too dim.
Sony XA5400ES
Great on SACD! Resolution soundstage and clarity of the recordings is very close to my analogue set up, sometimes better. I still prefer the Ah! Njoeb Tjoeb for redbook though.
Apple I-pod Classic 160 GB
Suprisingly good sounding music server. Simple cable hook-up to the Modwright. Has all my CD's stored in it. If you look at some of the i-pod mod sites they compliment Apple on the DAC quality used. I think that explains the suprising sound quality. I love the shuffle mode.
Jean Marie Reynaud Offrande Speakers
Built by hand by a Frenchman with vision. I have not yet found the limits of this speaker. They sound better with every upgrade. Bought used. Replaced the drivers in '06. JM has changed the design to a new generation. I'd love to hear the new ones but at $6K + I'll stick with these a while longer.
Ruark Acoustics Logarhythm Subwoofer
Very musical. Madingly long break-in. Has two gain controls so you can run your two channel amp at different setting than your Home Theater LFE.
Wasatch Cable Works PD-402
Phono Interconnect.
Wasatch Cable Works 104-U
From phono pre to preamp.
Audioquest Jaguar
IC Cable with the batteries. I find the RCA ends are too loose for most of my components. I only use these for connection to the SACD-1000.
Audioquest CV-6
10 feet speaker cables. With the battery pack.
Billy Bags Custom Built LP Storage
Super solid table custom built to fit under near by kitchen window. Holds 750 LPs.
System edited: I replaced my old problematic Phillips SACD1000 with the Sony XA5400ES SACD player. A dedicated two channel player with HDMI capabilites. Sounds fantastic on SACDs and good on RBCD too but I still prefer the sound of my Ah! on the RBCDs.
Glad to see you're using an ipod as a music server. Not sure why other audiophiles don't do the same? They sound fine with the right file types. I'm with you.
System edited: Recently added the Scoutmaster, Modwright and Quad to the system. With the VAC and Offrandes as the anchor this syetem has come a long way in terms of dynamics and resolution. I can listen to music for hours without fatique.
System edited: I recently added a Scoutmaster TT, Modwright pre and Quad phono stage. These have taken this system to an entirely new level. The VAC amp and Offrande speakers anchor it all.
Dave and Ariaslives: Sorry, I didn't know you had posted.
Aria: Listen to Bob. He really knows his stuff and a very nice guy to work with. Check out the reviews he wrote before becoming a dealer.
I haven't run the Offrandes with SS. I love them with tubes. They are seem to have no limits as to matching with new/better equipment. They reveal everything the new piece has to offer. I had to roll some tubes from my new Modwright Pre to get a warmer sound as the Offrandes nailed the cooler sound of that piece with stock tubes. I am sure JMR voiced his speakers with tubes.
Dave: The AR pre and phono don't really put out much heat from their small triode tubes. An inch or so of clearance on the top has worked out just fine. My Ah! CD player has two similer tubes with no case ventilation. No problems there for many years now.
Hi, I also have found the hidden joys of JMR Offrandes but I have been powering mine with SS. Any impressions/comparisons with tubes that you can offer? Bob Neill at Amherst Audio has been suggesting high powered tubes, mainly Blue Circle, but I have been hesitant because of the ease, dynamics and cost of solid state. Thanks.
