Audio Asylum - Inmate Systems

JCarney's It has an appetite, and it's favorite food is a green paper substance. ;-) System
IP Address: 71.56.251.106	Last Update: November 13, 2011 at 14:36:28
Amplifier:	Odyssey Audio Mono Extreme SE glass ceiling upgrade. As far as they can be taken.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Audio by Van Alstine Ultra SL linsestage. Replaced Russian 6N1P with a Mazda(Brimar) 6CG7. Holy Crap!
Speakers:	Dali Grand's. I dampened the baskets of the bass and mid drivers with plasticlay. I have removed all electrolytic caps, and sand cast resistors from the xover board. Replaced all resistors with Mills, replaced all electrolytics with Erse Pulse-X poly caps. Added Auricap by-pass caps to the mid and tweet caps. An absolutely amazing result. Brand new pair of speakers for about $500.
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Optimized '09 Mac Mini, internal drive replaced with a SSD, and BitPerfect, through a PS Audio Digital Link III. Silflex optical cable to connect the two.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	Galibier Design Gavia TT with the PVC platter, a Tri-Planar, and a Benz Ebony LP re-tipped by SoundSmith. Money well spent. A Hagerman Trumpet phono stage with Sylvania GB5814A's in the input stage, and 40's NOS Sylvania 12AX7 longplates in the output stage. A Lundhal 1:10 step up.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	All Synergistic Research active sheilding interconnects, and speaker cables.
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	Home made rack with 16 gauge angle pieces, with 2 inch thick oak shelves. 2 RGPC 400's, one on each 20 amp dedicated circuit. One amp into each 20 amp circuit. Pre into wall, all sources into the RGPC units.
Tweaks:	The left wall has custom album and cd shelves built from cabinet grade ply, home made absorbers on walls behind listening chair. A homemade bass trap in the left corner where I had a lovely 40hz hump. Right wall doesn't come into play.
Room Size (LxWxH):	21' wide x 15' deep x 8'
Room Comments/Treatments:	The album case does a very nice job as a diffuser. The panels behind the chair eliminate any rear wall reflections. If you stand in the middle of the room and clap, there is very little echo. I'm very pleased with how things turned out.
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classic rock, some Jazz and classical, and I am finding I like some of the newer stuff like Creed, Smashmouth, Sister Hazel, and so on.
System Goals/Comments:	Sounds very good with the new room, now that I have new mono's and a new arm, I think I'm done for awhile. (yeah...right)
System Strengths:	Bass down into the high 20's, mids and highs smooth and detailed. Imaging and stage very good.
System Weaknesses:	Forces me to search for good recordings, crap in, crap out. The new TT made a huge difference. Some of the recordings I thought sounded so-so, sound better. Go figure.
Video/HT System: Separate
TV/Projector:	38' Loewe Aconda
Sources (DVD/VCR):	PS3 for movies, netflix, and games.
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	Temporarily retired while my body and spirit heal from 17 years of running a painting business.