Post photos of your systems/rooms here! (Part 9)

PrestigeWW, Wow, sweet! How does that Mac receiver sound? Curious if the Ray Samuels portable amp sounds better than what is built into that receiver.

 

It is bad enough being jealous over all these great rooms, now this thread is making me jealous of others sex lives as well!?

 

Cool, sounds good.

 

You can still get them, from say, Amazon. But, they're twice the price of what they used to be!

http://www.amazon.com/TECHNICS-SL-1200MK2-Automatic-Stereo-Turntable/dp/B00006I5VX

 

Does the clamp flatten the records all the way?

 

The D4s are surprisingly impressive, especially as a nearfield. That being said, if I'm going to be at my desk for any significant length of time, I usually go with the Audeze headphones. They really sound amazing.

The Mac is fantastic with the D4s, but it's suprisingly weak from the headphone out. I too was hoping for big things, as many vintage type receivers are great sources for headphones. The Audeze needs decent power though, and the 4300v just wasn't up to the task.

Even more suprising was the Benchmark. I think it actually might be the best of the three for headphone purposes. The real reason I use the Ray Samuels in the office is because the balanced headphone cable is much lighter than the stock cable. The Audeze are heavy enough by themselves, so the added weight from the stock unbalanced cable made them too uncomfortable for my tastes.

Thanks for the comments,

David

 

I It is fairly heavy and does a good job on slight warpage, it uses it's own weight distrubuted around the spindle to do the job.

 

I have 2 of the MKIIs, one in storage and the one in the pics I posted, glad I own them as the prices will continue to climb for those few new ones out there.

 

Spectacular!

One modest suggestion if I might. I have the exact same Benchmark DAC1 in addition to the DAC1 Pre. It really benefits from a Shunyata Venom power cord. Might be worth a try given the superb gear you have.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been looking into upgrading my wall receptacles and power cords, so I'll definitely check it out.

 

The new stock Audeze unbalanced cables are also using the same ribbon cable. The ribbon cable is easier to deal with than the previous versions of the cable. Only issue with the ribbon cable is that the TRS plug is designed for a round cable. It doesn't cinch down on the flat cable properly. So it's too loose and wobbly inside. I unscrewed the plug and put a couple layers of duct tape on the cable where it gets cinched or clamped. That made the plug much more solid with less loose wiggly give. Woot! I did a cable tweak.

I like your setup. Looks very nice. I'm a desktop audio guy. Don't have a proper big rig (can't do it where I live). So nearfield monitors and headphones is what I've got. It's neat to see other desktop setups.

 

A shot of my newest addition. A Denon 103R in an aluminum body. Mid line Soundsmith retip with ruby cantilever and line contact stylus. Also potted as Zu does with theirs by Peter at Soundsmith.

Mounted it yesterday and, even fresh out of the box, it sounds very, very nice.

 

Looks good indeed - also love that head shell and cart-cables. What turntable brand is that anyway ?

 

Baron: The table is a Michell Gyrodec. Tonearm is a Jelco 750D but the headshell is a custom ebony/carbon fibre design similar to, but chunkier than the Orsonics, made by Uwe Bretschneider who used to do the wood bodies for the Denons.

Funny you should mention the cartridge leads as there is a bit of a story to that. The leads are the stock Jelco leads which I had never used before.

The aluminum body replaced another 103R, also potted and retipped by Soundsmith, in a Uwe ebony body. When Uwe sent me the headshell it had Nordost Valhalla cartridge leads on it, which I have always used. When I went to the aluminum body, I thought I'd move away from the silver headshell leads to offset what I felt might be a slightly more aggressive quality that the aluminum might have vs. the ebony (that is generally the concensus among those who have heard both-the ebony is warmer).

I'm going to have to go back and try copper leads with the Ebony. Right now I am really liking the sound of this aluminum body and the copper leads. To my ear, and in my system, I have never really liked the sound of silver and there is no silver cabling anywhere else. Just goes to show how subjective listening preferences and synergy can be and that, in many cases, more expensive may not equate to better.

 

I enjoy looking at other folks pictures so much that I thought I had better take some pics of the man cave

 

great but can't really see your stereo ,other than the B&Ws,is that a revox???

 

That's cool...sounds good.

 

Good idea. I should have done that too. I got mine for $500 5-6 years ago. My 1210M5G works flawlessly. I do wanna upgrade, but I'm in no hurry to do so...

 

Yes - in that system there is a Project 2 Xperience with Dynavector 10X5, Project Tubebox SE II, Luxman R-117, Denon 3930CI, Revox B215, Logitec Duet, the B&Ws are 602 S3's.

In the bigger system there is Proect II Xperience with Ortofon Black, PS Audio GCPH, PS Audio Trio prep-amp, Rotel RB-1080, Maranz SA15 SII and Grant Fidelity tube buffer.

 

1) TT Weights/TT Weights Classic

2) I purchased via a website selling DJ style equipment and accessories, the name escapes me now will have to find the paperwork

3) The cover is painted metal sheet and sits over the top plinth and open in the back so no issues closing the dust cover.

 

Yes - in that system there is a Project 2 Xperience with Dynavector 10X5, Project Tubebox SE II, Luxman R-117, Denon 3930CI, Revox B215, Logitec Duet, the B&Ws are 602 S3's.

In the bigger system there is Proect II Xperience with Ortofon Black, PS Audio GCPH, PS Audio Trio prep-amp, Rotel RB-1080, Maranz SA15 SII and Grant Fidelity tube buffer.
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Nice!!!!

 

What do you think of the Dynavector compared to the Ortofon black?

 

I have not had a chance to mix and match my tables on the two different systems yet so take what I am about to say with a grain of salt!. They are both fantastic carts IMHO. Pairing them with quite different phono preamps and speakers allows me to have two very different sounding systems. So far the Ortofon - GCPH combo with the B&W 801s seems very, very lively and transparent - just great for blues and rock but it also seems a little less forgiving with used vinyl than the Dynavector -Tube Box (NOS Brimar tubes) combo. I must say the latter combination with the B&W 602s is really something else with acoustic music!

 

Cool-thanks for the review! I like that you have two distinct systems with the same turntable. Anyways, great "cave"!

 

LOVE the Hudy signs & the KISS bicentennial poster! Great stuff!