Audio Asylum - Inmate Systems

Poindexter's Cooked It Up Under the Banana Tree, Honest! System
IP Address: 72.234.139.119	Last Update: August 17, 2007 at 22:26:06
Amplifier:	Direct-input. Push-pull (triode) 6V6's driven by a single-stage R-loaded 6GK5 diff-amp.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Usually none; when needed, 6T4 SRPP operating low and hot, with very carefully selected tubes and passives.
Speakers:	Fostex FE168Σ in a 2 meter untapered TL with horn mouth. See http://www.audiotropic.net/speakers.html Took me ten years to better my Audax VB, but I finally did.
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Micromega Stage 2, mildly POOGE'd. I've had none of the reliability problems often reported with this unit, and it is bloody good sounding.
Other Source(s):	Denon TU-460 tuner; a secret gem! This thing has a good RF section and a discrete audio output stage. It took me about 3 CD players to find one that wasn't embarrassed by this amazing cheapo.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Speaker wires; Audioquest Indigo with hi-freq parallel (30ga wire wrap wire) spiralled around the outside. Interconnects; unshielded twisted-pair five-nines silver/teflon in a fairly tight-fitting teflon tube. I covered this with a cloth (rayon) tube as well, for additional mechanical damping, isolation, and that majorly cute Japanese toy store look (purple and hot pink!).
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	API Power Pack II - Great piece of gear; don't be without a line conditioner, you guys.
Tweaks:	Skooshy rubber feet on everything electronic, Mortite here and there. When you build (most) all your own gear, it's sort of hard to decide what's a tweak, and what's a feature. I do use lots of damping compounds inside the gear I build, and very high quality wire / caps / etc.
Room Size (LxWxH):	14 x 12 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Absorbtion behind speakers (rug, Navajo blanket).
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz (Evans, Chet Baker, Piazzola, even fusion), Baroque (Bach, Handel), Female vocal (Joni, Jenny Warnes, Jane Monheit), Old music (Dowland, Couperin, Gesualdo, Hildegarde), Pre-atonal (Albeniz and DeFalla, DeBussy and Ravel, Britten and Elgar).
System Goals/Comments:	Transparency, Dynamics, Natural tonality.
System Strengths:	The above. Late at night, when everything's quiet and the rig is cookin', it can be positively spooky. Non-audiophile jaw-drop factor excellent for what is essentially a po'boy setup.
System Weaknesses:	The FE168Σ's have plenty of sensitivity, but their low Xmax means that I still can't play monster stuff without the sound walling up. Better than before, though.
Video/HT System: None
TV/Projector:	NONE FER ME, THANX.
URL Link: http://www.AudioTropic.net
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	Cabinetmaker, guitarmaker, gunsmith; I like to make stuff (racing motorcycles, sailboats, hang gliders).