Well a flurry of changes again and after a long battle with vinyl I have decided to surrender and go for a simple single source solution. I tried to downgrade from a VPI Aries but once you've heard good vinyl, it's really hard to settle for less. With the Electrocompaniet, the digital was so appealing, so smooth, so "analog" I feel I can live without the TT for awhile.
My wife and I are expecting our first in a couple months so the playing and upgrading will soon be in the back seat. Thus I decided to get the best I could right now.
The old system was:
Copland CDA-289 CD Player
VPI Aries / JMW 10 Turntable
Shelter 501 Mk.II Cartridge
Audiomat Phono 1 Preamplifier
Sonic Frontiers SFP-1 sig Tube preamp
Audiomat Arpege Tube amp
Reference 3A Royal Virtuoso Monitor
It's all gone, except for the Shelter because I know I will be back to vinyl.
It's quite a change but gone are all the extraneous extras and once again, simpler is better.
Thanks for the kind comments. I hope Don's cables get some press because they are a bargain IMHO. I used Gregg's cables for along time and they beat everything I tried until the Chords. (and I tried and borrowed alot of cables) It's a significant (huge) difference in price but it's worth it. So many other cables that cost way more than Gregg's can't even come close. They're still around so I will probably revisit them in the future for another comparison. Also, if I ever were to start a second system, I'd be way ahead in the cable game using his cables.
System edited: Just wanted to mention that in the midst of a problem with some ground hum in the EMC-1 I was looking at the RCA jacks and saw how crappy and cheap they were (as well as causing the hum) so I replaced them with the WBT NextGen Cu jacks and it was like a cable upgrade! It's so simple for me to believe that cables can significantly change the sound but for some reason I couldn't imagine the jacks having similar effects. I believe now. I am thinking of changin the jacks on my VAC now.
Stuart, very well thought out systems! You know what you are doing, and you have good ears. I 100% concur with your assessments of both, the DCCA power cables and the Gregg Straley Reality speaker cables and ICs. I use both, and my system has never sounded better!
System edited: My Chord Signature speaker cables came in today. So much "air" and emotion in the music. It feels good to be at the end of the cable road.
Thanks Synjohn, kind words made all the more generous considering the beautiful aesthetics of your room. The rack was a fun project and it's fun to watch the cherry take on it's dark rich colour as it ages. I need a new project now, maybe a matching cd rack.
I love the simplicity. When you made such nice comments on my amp stands I hade to come look at your system. I could see how you are very happy with it. Your craftsmanship is awesome. I could only dream of building things as nice as that. Maybe it is our Northwest weather that gives us more time indoor to hone the skills.
System edited: I won a DCCA power cord on auction with the thought of seeing if the raves were justified. I ended up replacing my Elrods and Shunyata Taipan. These are the best power cords in this price range I have tried and I have gone through alot of them. Don is a great guy to deal with and I really hope more people discover his cables.
Thanks for the kind words! I really do love my system and set-up now. When I first got the ProAc's I thought I'd made a huge mistake. They did not sound good with the 30w Audiomat at all. So my friend lent me his VAC and the pairing is beautiful. Clean dynamic bass, silky midrange and great highs. I quickly figured that it was the amp for me even as it was out of my price range. So I pared down so I could afford it. I miss the vinyl but it's worth giving it up for the VAC. I guess 30w just wasn't enough. The Electrocompaniet is a significant improvement over the Copland. As much as I liked the Copland, the EMC-1 is just better in all respects. I consider this new system to be much more resolving, engaging and musical than any system I've had. I really enjoy it. The upgrade I want to try next is the matching Chord Signature speaker cables.
As a fellow ProAc fan I am interested to hear how you feel the Super Avatar works with them. Your equipment stand is one of the coolest I've seen. A nice blend of antique furniture and usefullness. The plants and the lighting work really well too. It must be a great place to escape and unwind.
I'll be posting a new virtual system soon. I'm using a Bel Canto SET40 amp with my Response 2.5s now with everything in a SOlid Steel 6.4 rack. I prefer your theme though, and hopefully will return to my Magro stand but built with nice hardwood this time.
I'm interested to know how your new system compared to your old one with the Copland as the source.
