Inmate Systems - Audio Asylum

Barry 's Barry's Stuff System
IP Address: 100.14.55.26	Last Update: September 30, 2023 at 09:55:59
Amplifier:	2-channel, tri-amped system, so 3 stereo amps. Two are totally custom, matched hybrid tube/SS Counterpoint redesigns with many extras including very large power supplies. The sub amp is a Krell. Total system power is 1,300 watts per channel - that's probably enough.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Expensive ARC REF tube preamp. Wife thought I was kidding when I told her how much. Lifetime of flowers in progress, but cats will eat them. Couldn't leave it alone - modded & sounds amazing.
Speakers:	Re-wired 3.6 Magnepans with tweaked Mye stands and CMS footers and a pair of 5' Kinergetics tower sub-woofers (5x10" drivers in each). System has one outboard passive Duelund-based 2-way and one active, very modded, external Pass Labs XVR-1 3-way crossover. Both are one-of-a-kind.
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Luxman D10X & Marantz SACD/CD player. Latter has fancy Black fuses.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	TW Acustic Anniversary TT with BN upgrades. Nice Triplanar VII tonearm and Lyra cartridge. Liked the ARC REF so much bought a used REF 10 Phono so it had company. It's been tube rolled and modded to match. Using a Roadrunner to set the speed.
Other Source(s):	Great Sansui tuner, totally modded, with big APS roof antenna, rotator, and big fat RG-11 cable. Learned after I got the bill, the installation contractor did lots of government work. Good civics lesson - now have a better understanding of US national debt.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Acoustic Zen Absolutes, Less Loss, and other brands.
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	Equitech 2RQ 2kV balanced power, bifilar wound isolation transformer. Pretty sure I couldn't bench press this thing without hurting myself.
Tweaks:	Decades' worth of mods including over 250 .1% TX2575 resistor substitutions, cap upgrades, and extensive tube rolling and matching (W/ Amplitrex AT1000) for example. Active XO went through 20+ iterations over 3 years before finalizing (I'm just a little obsessive). Was more restrained with the ARC stuff (only 5 iterations) not including Herbies tube dampers. One amp has 160KuF PS made up entirely of Black Gate caps. Speaker rewiring and cap upgrades. Tri-amped 3 pairs of L&R channels on active XO volume controls matched to within 2-3dB w/ REW. System has DSP on subs only. Laser distance meter, digital levels, and REW used for XO setup and speaker positioning - took a few hundred hours. Used burn-in CDs and Audio Dharma cable cooker. Using the Adjust + software I bought improving cartridge set-up for phase & crosstalk. Also, purchased 11 sets of Center Stage equipment footers. Good thing I had no kids to pay for college tuition.
Room Size (LxWxH):	14 x 27 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Dedicated room and wife. GIK, RPG, and RealTraps used. Wife says room needs more padding....
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Just about anything. Need to listen to even more classical, jazz.
System Goals/Comments:	Sounds very good. Only took 45 years. Well not everyone agrees - wife has cloth ears.
System Strengths:	Keeps me off the streets at night, while transporting me to far away places. Pretty much done tinkering & buying now so won't have eat cat food any more.
System Weaknesses:	Way, too complicated. Was too often down for upgrades, but smoother sailing now. Sadly, now that it's done, I'll probably spend the rest of my life in the basement cleaning records.
Video/HT System: Separate
TV/Projector:	Our first TV was a garage-sale black & white 1 cu ft model that used...vaccuum tubes! There was always snow, even in Summer.
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	Many. Work no longer has to be one of them.