Description

My humble little rig. Hope you enjoy the pics!
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Components Toggle details

    • Rega Apollo
    Silver - keeps me happy 'till I get another TT
    • Sansui TU-517
    Sounds great, and it's older than I am!
    • Cayin TA-30
    The best $400 integrated I've heard! SED EL-34's Tung-Sol 12AX7's or Sovtek 12AX7LPS's Electroharmonix 12AU7's
    • Von Schweikert Audio VR-1
    These make some pretty good music. Upgraded the crossovers with Sonicaps, plus bypasses, OCC-OFC internal wire, and a smattering of No-Rez
    • Hsu Research VTF-2 MKIII
    It'll move some air!
    • Speltz Anti-Cable
    Good sound, even better price!
    • Cardas Golden Cross
    Not much to say, I love 'em!
    • DIY Oyaide PA-02
    W/ Eichmann copper bullets
    • DIY VHAudio, Cryo-Parts
    VHAudio Flavor 2, Cryo-Max III, Furutech & Oyaide 079 connectors, and a Furu outlet
    • Panamax 5100EX
    Keeps things safe and doesn't seem to impart much sound of it's own
    • DIY Roller Balls
    Had some fun in the metal shop with some 4340 steel... Basically made 6 simple pucks with a spherical bearing surface, and dropped some tungsten carbide bearings into them.
    • Vibrapods Isolation feet
    Under tha Tuna

Comments 22

I dig that your set up looks nice in the room, doesn't overpower the room.  Tasteful.  I'll look into that Cayin.  Thanks!

subterranean6

Great looking room. Have you tried placing your subwoofer away from yout tube and CDP?

Thanks for sharing your GREEN diffusor panels.

ainkfek

Do you still have this same setup? I was thinking of pairing the Cayin TA-30 with either Silverline SR 12's or the Von Schweikert VR1's...any suggestions?

Brian

lads

Owner
They come in packs of 12 for $30, and I'm using 32 panels (8 rows of 4 columns)... so the price is pretty nice, $90 plus s&h for the front wall plus some extras. I'm still considering some Cathedral Sound panels for the corners of the room, front and rear, but we'll see. I might like better to get my headphone rig back together - used to have a WooAudio3 with VHAudio cap upgrades powering a pair of HD650's that I miss dearly...

cmoulton

very tastefully done! I like the diffusers, I think I see 16 panels there, is that correct? It gets expensive at $30 each huh?

mikeyc8

Owner
See above the responses.

cmoulton

What are those panels on your front wall ?

luthib

Owner
System edited: Updated - I think I've settled on a pair of Cardas Golden Cross IC's, after a few different DIY recipes and numerous auditions thanks to The Cable Co.

cmoulton

Owner
"The Hsu test disc is great. Do you use the maximum extension or maximum output? I am use the maximum extension with great results. I have mine crossover at 40 hz."

Yes, max extension mode seems to work the best for me crossed over right around 40hz.

I'm getting some approval for more room treatments, so I picked up some 2" thick rockwool panels... wish I could've kept my previous treatments, but we'll see how well these do

cmoulton

The Hsu test disc is great. Do you use the maximum extension or maximum output? I am use the maximum extension with great results. I have mine crossover at 40 hz.

highend64

Owner
Hitman_hifi:

Prior to owning the VR-1's I had a pair of B&W DM601 S3's. I think the B&W's liked a few more watts, but the VR-1's are pretty happy with *only* 35 tube-watts.

Highend64:

I've had the sub in a downfiring orientation, but prefer it firing forward. since it's crossed over at about 35Hz, I don't get any localization issues. Good, solid (and i mean SOLID) 20Hz performance shakes the shite out of the dishes in the kitchen! Gotta love the 16Hz fundamentals from Hsu's test disc...

cmoulton

very attractive all the way around, and I bet it sounds great too. I really like the choice of furnishing, and the use of the diffusers. Thanks for the link to the vendor. Happy listening!

bdgregory

Very nice and relaxing enviornment. Have you try having the subwoofer with the driver down? happy listening

highend64

Great setup! The room looks very aesthetically pleasing and I'll bet the system sounds just as good. I've also heard nothing but rave reviews on the VR-1's, especially for their superb efficiency. Having a 15W integrated tube amp, I found it difficult finding speakers that would match well with such a small load. Eventually settled on the Energy C-3's and am very pleased with the sound.

Have you tried out any other speakers with the Cayin?

hitman_hifi

Owner
Mjcmt: it's a (now discontinued) ikea piece...

cmoulton

Where did you get your audio table?
Or did you make it from maple butcher block?

mjcmt

Owner
I appreciate the kind words! I've recently taken to playing with some DIY IC's between the CDP and amp. I figured I'd audition some heavy hitters from The Cable Co's library, and then see how close I could get, unless some nice .5M IC's pop up used on usedcable.com.

Right now I've added some carbon fiber insulation/shielding to a set of VHAudio Pulsars and tried a few different connectors... I'm shooting for a similar sound to the famous (or infamous) cardas house sound. The last setup (or experiment) was some Oyaide PA-02 w/ furu rhodium plated RCA's. after breaking in, these had a fair amount of upper midrange hash... not to my liking, I'd say they sound "partly cloudy". After auditioning (among others) the cardas golden cross and a pair of purist audio designs aqueous 20th anniversary, I feel these both represent the kind of synergy I'm shooting for. Next up is a DIY highly shielded pure silver IC. Then a OCC-OFC highly shielded IC with similar design (non-coaxial). Then next may be very minimally shielded silvers and coppers (both OCC/high purity).

cmoulton

I like it.
Smart system.
I will give you a credit for a setup and details like diffuser on the front wall.
Nicely balanced.
Good Job.

mrjstark

Owner
I tried it back in the corner where the Bellini chair is, but found it too boomy. I run the sub crossed over pretty low, around 35Hz, which gets me away from the 70-90hz bump caused by the 9' room height. The VR-1's have usable bass in room down to about 45Hz, so running the sub lower than normal isn't too bad.

cmoulton

Looks great! I bet you'd get better bass response and room coupling if you moved your subwoofer into the right speaker corner. I had a Sumiko trained speaker set-up expert come over and he put my sub in the corner with about 5 inches space in back and 3 inches from the side wall. Bass is tight and DEEEEEP. The difference was huge. Happy listening!

maprik

Owner
Check out:

http://www.mioculture.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=2&idproduct=9

cmoulton

Bet it sounds as good as it looks, I read nothing but great things about those VR-1 monitors. Have to ask, what's on the wall? Did you make that too? Great looking and functional I would imagine.

gelmhirst

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