vinyl is the main focus of my system. for people who aren't familiar with dj setups, the mixer is essentially a phono pre with eq and filtering options. i do mix but am not particularly active with it (don't scratch or cut, only blend, no regular gigs at this point), so i dig using more "hi-fi" carts and mats and that kind of thing. next move is a cartridge upgrade.
my speakers are about 10 feet apart and i sit about 9 feet away. room sounds really good. there are records across one wall from floor to ceiling, another short wall of records about 3 feet behind the sofa, and then on the opposite side there is a big heavy chair and a lowboard with crates of records on it. there are no reflection issues to speak of, but the room isn't over-damped either. not usually a measurements guy but i do plan on measuring the frequency response in here at some point because i would love to know how the room is impacting the sound.
the little heed amp is fantastic with my klipsch speakers. aiming high for next upgrade - very interested in volti razz, devore orangutan, tube amps that aren't hybrids (had one of those and it was great, but i'd like to try "the real deal"), etc.
would rather have had something larger but optimal placement (based on 'the crawl' with a big ass klispch sub i had awhile ago) dictated a smaller sub. my speakers are run wide open and the sub is connected via lamp wire off the back of the heed amp. crosses over at about 45hz with volume at 11'oclock. in the space i get full body bass when it's in the source. when i disconnect it i immediately notice its absence
@mjcmt i am kind of in-between - i still like to mix and combine different records and once or two nights a week i'll be down in the basement for 4 or 5 hours just vibing, picking out favorite tracks and playing them back to back. i rarely play out anymore (36 now and live 500 miles from my friends who are still djing parties/radio regularly) but am still open to it - last year right before covid i got to play some music for a couple hours at the local record fair. so i will likely always keep a pair of tables with a mixer.
i (usually, generally) prefer the sound of more home-oriented setups to that neutral, every-note-under-a-microscope pro audio kind of equipment. this is my (definitely budget-conscious) attempt at combining the two, basically for my own pleasure.
i did have a mani briefly on another setup but ended up giving it to a friend - not too much difference in sound to the phono stage in the old pioneer i use, and he needed one. i also have a rek o kut phonostage with a 78eq curve that i was using with a Dual strictly for 78 playback, but the Dual needs some work and i don't have that many 78s around anyway. as everyone on this site knows...gear comes and goes
Looks like part DJ, part audiophile system. Is this your intent or are you making the slow transition to an audiophile system. If so setting your turntables up w/ nice phono preamps (like the Schiit Audio Mani) into your Rogue w/ improve the sound of vinyl playback. Your choice of Forte speakers, Rogue amp, Technics TTs and NAD cdp are strong choices. As a budget audiophile myself I'll bet it does great sound.
