I've put together a very satisfying system, both for music and home theater. The sound is dynamic, with excellent imaging,and soundstaging. Music sounds just great. I've moved into a dedicated room, which helps a lot. I'd appreciate any feedback.
IC's both for the main CD channels, as well as the phono inputs
Equitech Wall panel
Separate circuits for the analog and digital gear. All separated from the lighting, HVAC, etc.
Grand Prix Monaco
Don't know if they help the sound, but they sure look cool.
RPG, ASC Diffuser and absorption panels
I have a dedicated room that is 28' x 22' x 8'. It is a redone basement with brick walls on 2 sides, and drywall on the others, so it is a very live room.. There are asorption panels on the sides and front. There are ASC bass traps in the corners , and diffusers on the ceiling at the first reflection point, and diffusors in the back. It now sounds great. Eventually, I will have it analysed properly.
REL Acoustics Studio 3
Fills in the lower-level information on the Temptations beautifully. A killer in my home theater.
MBL 101e's
Dynamic with great imaging, staging, etc. I can never go back to a speaker in a box. It does need an amp with balls.
MBL 111e
Surround duty
Berkely Audio Alpha DAC
Incredible resolution and tonality. Can't wait to try High-res files.
Blue Smoke Media computer
Outstanding sound with the Berkely DAC. Also, can't beat the convenince
Many changes, all to the better. Changed out the Boulder for MBL 9011's This added warmth and kept the resolution. Changed my surround and center amps to MBL 8011's. The biggest change is that I now have a Blue Smoke media server, basically a dedicated computer, running to a Berkeley Audio Alpha DAC. This is an incredible combo. It has all the midrange of the Wavelength, along with all the bass grunt that was missing.
Well, you naysayers, here's the new picture. As to the Parc, I agree with all tha above comments. Mine is now on the market. I still think that EQ can help. Since I'm going to an all digital chain, I plan to investigate different types of digtal EQ and room correction, PRIOR to the preamp. Hi Mark, nice to see that you're still alive and kicken'.
Hi, I'm using Apple Lossless through I-tunes. My server is a Mac Mini and that seems to work very well. I'm archiving to a terrabyte hard drive and backing up to a second one, connected by firewire. I love the itunes interface, although there are some niggles. As to electronics, i ma considering a pair of (used) MBL 9011's, but I can never go back to a disc spinner system.
System edited: I've done some major changes. The first was switching out the Esoteric X-01 Limited for a Wavelength Audio Crimson, a computer-based tubed-output DAC. The sound only had to be as good as what I had, given the conveneince facor. Guess what, it's better. Incredible presence, solid images hanging in the air, imaging, soundstaging, etc. The only problem was a muting of bass dynamics. Ultimately, I switched out the Arc Ref3 preamp for an MBL 6010D and I couln't be happier. All the bass slam reappeared, without loss of detail or introduction of any graininess.
I understand what you mean about texture. I used 2 solid state preamps, a CTC Blowtorch and an EMM Labs Switchman, before going to an Audio research REf3. The texture is now there. Of course, system synergy plays a role. I await my new ARC PH-7 phono stage for a whole new level.
Hi, I found the Boulder to be neither lean nor bright. It just is. It has spectacular dynamics as well as imaging, etc. I use the REL only as a home theater sub now, since the 101's put out so much bass energy. It actually added an uncomfortable low hum. The PARC is invaluable. Unless your room is treated to the max, it will do wonders for bass energy. It is an attenuator, rather than an equalizer. The effect is immediate when I put it on bypass.
I,ve changed the speakers to MBL 101e's. The CD source is now an Esoteric X-01 limited. I also have a Rives PARC system, which does an incredible job of taming the low bass nodes in my room. Pictures to follow
The main channels of the Meitner go through the ARC preamp, then to the Boulder, which is driving the Temptations. The phono stage also goes to the ARC, on a different input. The otehr 4 channels of the Meitner go through the Switchman, which drives the BAT multichannel, which then drive the center channel, the surrounds and the sub. The Casablanca pre/pro has 2 inputs, the DVD player and the cable box. The 2 front channels of the pre/pro go through the srround sound bypass of the ARC. This has unity gain, which means that the Casablanca can control the sound levels of the main channels. The other 4 channels go to the Switchman. The video is handled separately through a switcher /scalar. It sound s complicated , but in practice it's pretty easy to set up and to use. My next goal is to get a unified remote or command system to simplify the use. For now, I always leave it in movie mode so my family can watch when they want. If I listen to music, then I switch the inputs around.
A good call on the speakers. I'm waiting for my last GPA stand to come, then I can do the final positioning. Although, the sound from the turntable doesn't seem to be affected. Thanks for the comments on the colors. This is a 100 year old basemnt and the brick is original. We had it sandblasted, and it looked so good we kept it, and picked the other colors to match. As for as the Switchman and the casablanca, they are both transparent as far as I can tell. I'm thinking of selling the Switchman and using Theta"s analog 6-channel preamp.
Yes, There is a Casablanca 3 in the system. I run the channels through the Switchman, except for the mains, which go directly to the ARC preamp. It's cumbersome, but easy in execution. OTOH, I'm strongly considering getting rid of the Switchman, and using the Casablanca 6-channel analog preamp.
