Description

My 2 channel system is now in my family room instead of my dedicated home theater.

I struggled to get good sound in the HT, spent a fortune on room treatments and it still didn't sound as good as my family room.

Finally I am getting high fidelity sound! It's not sound-proofed like my HT but I can still listen late at night without bothering my family.
Read more...

Components Toggle details

    • Raven One
    Upgraded to this from a VPI Scoutmaster. What an upgrade!!!
    • Tri-planar Mk VII
    Great tonearm.
    • Dynavector XV-1s
    Nice and detailed.
    • Tron Seven (phono stage)
    Built in England for my cartridge.
    • Berkeley Alpha DAC
    Series 1. Wonderful sounding DAC, sounds great direct to amps as well.
    • Berkeley Alpha USB
    Companion piece to the Alpha DAC, this converts USB to digital and does a wonderful job.
    • Lamm Industries L2 Reference
    Two piece hybrid preamplifier. Power supply unit is tubed while the control unit is solid state. I switch between this and the XP-10 as my mood dictates.
    • Pass Labs XP-10
    Very happy with this. Great ergonomics & aesthetics and wonderfully detailed elegant sound. I switch between this and the Lamm L2 Reference preamp to suit my mood.
    • Purist Audio Design Proteus Provectus
    Praesto Revision, used between phono stage and preamp.
    • Purist Audio Design Proteus Provectus
    Praesto Revision, used between DAC and preamp.
    • Purist Audio Design Purist Canorus
    Praesto Revision.

    3.5 meter run between preamp and amps.
    • Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference
    Hybrid design.
    • Purist Audio Design Proteus Provectus
    1.5 meter run from my Lamm's
    • Wilson Audio Sasha
    Incredibly dynamic and well built loudspeaker.

Comments 16

You have a beautiful room with fantastic artwork and one fine system. Thanks for posting

needfreestuff

Madfloyd,
I find Transparent Audio speaker cable improves bass without compromising the mids and tops.
I use Ttansparent Audio reference speaker cable and interconnect

alfa100

Hooray for you. How were you able to take over two rooms in your home? The result is stellar, nice room and great gear. Life is just a little sweeter when you have a comfy place to listen to some tunes.

glenfihi

Owner
The home theater is 15x26 with a 7.5' ceiling and the walls and ceilings are iso-damped (ASC sound proofing product). Sophia 2's worked OK in there but the Sasha did not. Not only was the bass a big issue but so were the highs - they would drive you out of the room on a lot of material. So I think the overall wider and taller family room made the most difference.

As for Antelope vs Berkely, the biggest differences were in driving the amps directly where the Berkeley sounded very good (and the Antelope very dry and sterile). I didn't do that much a/b when going through a preamp; my hunch is that they were a lot closer than when going direct.

madfloyd

Hi,
Congrats on realizing a better sound from the family room. What do you attribute the better sound? Was the other room smaller or were there too many or few treatments? I'm curious.

On a separate note, how would you compare the sound differences between the Antelope and Berkeley DACs? With both running through a preamp, is one much better sounding than the other? Thanks in advance.

Kevin

kevinzoe

Owner
System edited: System edited: It's been a while since my last update and I've now added some photos and deleted/added components (preamp and DACs have changed).

madfloyd

Owner
I did not like the antelope direct to the amps. The sound was very sterile and ergonomically the 5db increments (or whatever they were) was very inconvenient.

I have switched to a Berkeley Alpha DAC and that sounds very good direct to the amps and remote control is great.

madfloyd

Have you tried to connect the antelope direct to your amp, can you share your thoughts about the antelope performance?

hraouf1

Owner
System edited: System edited: moved to my family room where things are much better!

madfloyd

How does the Spectron sound with the Sasha? Close to the Lamm? Is it even in the ballpark with the Atmosphere? Thanks for any feed back.

samhar

Owner
"AngryFloyd" ??

Kevinzoe, I have several bass traps, all by RealTraps.

In the front corners, I have six MegaTraps (3 stacked in each corner). Where the wall meets the floor I have two Mondo-traps.

In the rear I have 2 stacks of 2 Megatraps and one Tri-trap in the rear right corner.

madfloyd

Angryfloyd, whoops I mean Madfloyd,
Nice use of acoustical treatments. Like you I also use GIK D1 diffusers and RPG's Skylines for my ceiling. What are you doing to absorb bass or are you depending solely on the RIVES PEQ to tame bass axial mode peaks?

Great looking man-cave!

kevinzoe

Owner
Daisu,

I'm interested in hearing more about your system. What size room do you have? How does the bass sound with the Ref5? Before I had my Sashas I had Sophia 2s and Pass or BAT amps and had tried the Ref5 and thought the bass was too tubey and soft sounding. I am curious how it would sound with the Lamms and Sashas. I bet the mids and highs are gorgeous!

madfloyd

Hi Madfloyd,

I have the Sashas with Lamm M1.2s but run them thru the ARC Ref5. I'll be posting some pics of my system soon, but have to say yours is gorgeous. I wouldn't like to compare pics with your room anytime soon!

daisiu

Absolutely beautiful room. Nice equipment. Very familiar with much of your equipment. But impressed w. the room treatment as well.

dgad

That's not a media room--that's a full-blown Lair. If you could find a way to incorporate a sunken area with bing-bag chairs . . .

Looks like a great set-up to wend the hours. Best of luck on your quest!

poprhetor

Showing all 16 posts