Well, the journey started again and with renewed vigor and interest in January of 2003.

Having been somewhat into audio in the 80s, I had put that on the back burner for 15 years, after downsizing my system from large Halfler amps and Dahlquist DQ 10s with a top-of-the-line Thorens analog rig. The DQ-10s ran afowl of the WAF. After selling nearly everything in the late 80s under duress, building a career and raising kids seemed to preclude jumping back into serious audio and my first love. In the interim, along the way I bought a Nakamichi Stasis receiver pushing a dinky 70 watts into a pair of Dahlquist M-907s, acquired an early Nad CD player and unloaded many of my prized vinyl at garage sales we held as we moved around the country. Fortunately, I did keep my classical catalog, all my audiophile recordings and my limited jazz collection. The only pieces from my original rig that made it across time were my TT and my old Nakamichi LX-5 tape deck.

So fast forward to last January and I decide to move the Nak receiver and speakers into my study. After a few days of listening I noticed a vibrating sound coming from one speaker. I learned that both woofers were blown. I got them rebuilt at Regnar, and reinstalled them along with upgraded capacitor kit. The sound was magnificent. I had also purchased a pair of used, but not abused, Thiel CS 2s on ebay, which I decided to keep in the listening room and relegate the old Dahlquists to the basement. But at this point, like a heroin addict who has kicked the habit, but who remembers the euphoria, the craving for killer sound was growing in me. I bought a new Sunfire amp and Cary preamp in April, followed quickly by a new CD player and traded in my Thorens for a Pro-Ject Wood Classic with a Dynavector 10X 4 cartridge. It was starting to come together, but as I was listening and regaining the ear I thought I had in the 80s, I still wasn't satisfied. I devoured everything I could read to catch up on the technology. I also could hear the great difference between digital and analog and it was clear to me that if I was going to achieve the sound I was after, my system goal was to build a system with analog as the central source, while maintaining a respectable digital source, but not at goosebump-inducing level. With SACD promising to be the digital audiophile format of the future, I could wait on that. I was after a warm system, but not one that puts you to sleep. I was after a system that lets you celebrate the music while still giving you the sonic equivalent of a double shot of expresso every once in a while. I also started collecting new and used vinyl through internet sources and the Princeton Record Exchange, a great source of new and used vinyl.

I think the current system I have listed here has moved me closer to the characteristics I was after. Are there better components? Of course, there are always better components and I've learned that everyone's opinion is the right one in audio. Is this system perfect? Of course not, but I think I'm close. We all know that there is no perfect system. It's purely subjective and dependent on so many variables. I can say that I have a largely euphonic system which seems, on the whole, fairly balanced. The warmth of the mid-range is balanced by the bass slam I get from the Pass Labs amp. An interesting observation of this system is that the CD front end with the MF upsampling DAC approaches the warmth of analog, while the Aries Black Knight's/JMW 9/Benz-Micro L2 front end seems to lean ever so slightly towards what's good in digital, ie, low noise, clarity, great imaging. Finally, this system seems to bring out the warts in all the source material. There's no hiding poor recording techniques here. I also think I have a system that is refined, yet powerful -- perhaps too powerful for my room dimensions (12'WX14'LX9'H). I'm okay with that. I'm working on dealing with the various room modes at play.

My next stop on the upgrade path may well be a move to an all tube system with the substitution of a pair of Cary Monoblock triode amps that have enough power to drive my Thiel 2.4s. I also have my sights on replacing my digital front end with a one-box SACD/CD unit like the MF Tri-Vista or the Esoteric DV 50. I'm also working towards eventually moving the system to the family room that will be properly treated.

I welcome any comments and suggestions from my more learned and expert audiophiles on Audiogon.

So the journey continues...