Inmate Systems - Audio Asylum

Barry 's Barry's Stuff System
IP Address: 100.14.71.29	Last Update: December 19, 2024 at 12:32:43
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.
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 cartridges. Liked the ARC REF so much bought a used REF 10 Phono so it had company. It's been tube rolled. Using a Roadrunner to monitor 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 installer did lots of government work. Good civics lesson - now understand why US national debt is so big.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Acoustic Zen Absolutes, Less Loss, and other brands. Bought pair of Synergistic Research Galileo Discovery ICs - nice, but now can't afford new shoes.
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 and Audio Note resistors, cap upgrades, extensive tube rolling and tube matching (W/ Amplitrex AT1000). Active XO went through 20+ iterations over 3 years before finalizing. 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 with REW. System has DSP on subs only. Laser distance meter, digital levels, and REW used for XO setup and speaker positioning - took a few years. Using burn-in CDs and Audio Dharma cable cooker. Use Adjust + software to improve cartridge set-up for phase & crosstalk. Purchased 11 sets of Center Stage footers. Good thing I had no kids who wanted to go to college.
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. Not everyone agrees - wife has other ideas.
System Strengths:	Keeps me off the streets at night, transporting me to far away places. Pretty much done now so won't need all those cat food recipes for fine dining any more.
System Weaknesses:	Too complicated. Often down for upgrades, but smoother sailing now. Sadly, now I'll probably spend the rest of my life in the basement cleaning records.
Video/HT System: Separate
TV/Projector:	First TV was a garage-sale black & white 1 cu ft model using...vacuum tubes! Always snow, even in Summer.
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	Many. Work no longer has to be one of them.