big sound in suburban condo

by chriswilson on
audio for two
front row
brawn
brains
wax
juice
rack
previously...

Description

2 channel system that has been a product of the last 8 years or so. Recent ugrades are the Polk towers and Rotel amp. They match well and now give truly effortless sound for my listening room/preferred levels. 

I have had luck finding hifi locally, and am always on the look out for quality thrift and estate sale scores. Who knows what the future will bring me!
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Room Details

Dimensions: 15’ × 12’  Medium
Ceiling: 8’

Components Toggle details

    • Polk Audio LSi25
    I didn't directly seek these out, but found them 2nd hand at an estate sale. A too-good-to-pass offer won me the pair and a single LSi9, which may one day serve as a center channel.

    Getting these dialed in took some time, as I already had a subwoofer and my room is rather small. Because of that, I have the built-in woofers turned down rather low (about 3 out of 10), which provides a nice added fullness and seems to make the bass harder to pin-point.

    These replaced small B&W towers, and have been a big step up. The radiating ring tweeters sound fantastic, and these speakers never ever seem to stress or sweat when turned up. They can fill my room to my ear's content with ease!
    • Martin Logan Dynamo
    Fantastic 10" sealed design. The 200W amp gives plenty of sound for my room and needs, and sounds great with music and movies. The sub lives on an Auralex Subdude.
    • Rotel RB-980bx
    This too was a 2nd hand piece that has proven to be a big upgrade. Rated at 220W into 4 ohms, this gives plenty of power and current to my relatively thirsty Polks.

    This replaced a 4 channel Adcom, which I used to bi-wire the Polks. The Adcom was rated at 90W into 4 ohms, which powered the Polks and gave me nice listening levels, but the Rotel gives them more of what they want, which has been a noticeable step up. Small details and nuances in background music come through clearer, and my volume levels have lowered quite a bit since swapping the amps.

    My takeaway would be that higher watt single wire is preferred over a lower watt bi-amp. Although I wonder how different it would be with more efficient speakers. I have 95db Mission Argonaut speakers that I hope to mate with the Adcom soon.
    • Marantz SR4023
    This was purchased several years ago on a price-to-options scale. I liked the phono in, tuner, dedicated sub out, pre out AND main in, decibel based volume. I purchased this with the intent to build around and not necessarily keep forever. 

    I am constantly torn regarding its replacement. I often ponder going beyond 2ch (blasphemy!), or just using a AV processor while keep the system 2ch. That will allow video options, and ideally zone options... which has been a pipe dream for some time, but will require me to move first. But I digress...

    Interestingly enough, I tried using a Cambridge Audio 540p phono input, and found that the built-in Marantz phono has higher gain and had *much* less white noise.
    • PS Audio Digital Link 3
    Purchased in 2010, this was my first serious hi-fi piece. I am a huge sucker for the fat-ass aluminum face plate, and had narrowed down my digital source list to a few contenders. I found a local A'gon deal and do not regret purchasing. All video sources run into my TV which sends the optical output to the DAC. I would like to eventually get a PC integrated into the system, or a digital dock/hard drive combo for stereo use with my Surface Pro.

    If I someday get a AV processor, this will surely be moved to a 2nd system. I have a "giant slayer" system idea of a few of my old scores, and this would complete the system well. I can remember in their prime seeing these units keeping up in many mega-buck systems, listed here and otherwise.
    • Pro-Ject Debut III
    Great turntable, which has proven pretty reliable. Although I really hate the screw design for the dust cover.

    I have since upgraded the mat to a Herbies Audio Way Excellent Mat (Excellent, indeed! You should buy one). I also upgraded to the Speedbox II and an Ortofon 2M Blue. The cart upgrade was immediately noticeable, although by now I'm sure it is ready to go. With all the given options in that price bracket, I really don't know what the replacement cart will be.
    • PS Audio Quintet
    Another A'gon deal, which was actually still NIB.

    I cannot believe how quickly this filled up! Although I'm sure a stand alone amp and plug-in speakers didn't exactly help.
    • Samsung LN40D630
    A now-outdated LCD that has been rock solid and I refuse to get rid of! It has always lived on the wall above the rack and has run all digital sources to the TV, which runs optical out to the DAC.

    This TV has a built-in OTA tuner, composite video, component video, dedicated PC input with audio, two USB and FOUR HDMI inputs. How do modern TVs have LESS inputs?!?
    • Salamander Designs Archetype
    3.0 rack with one extra shelf. It would be fun to get the dedicated amp stand one day, but Im sure when the time comes to move I will look at new stands to fit the room...

Comments 5

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Agree with John, nice setup and always wanted to listen to the LSi’s. I had the same PS Audio DAC - wish I hadn’t sold. The first picture set the tone for this virtual System (through and through awesome).

toro3

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