Audio Asylum - Inmate Systems

mikey115's main system System
IP Address: 220.255.7.209	Last Update: June 28, 2009 at 07:00:07
Amplifier:	diy Consonance Ella intergrated tube amp - recently gutted out and reinstated using point to point wiring - EH6922 tubes, EH 6sn7 gold pin and using a complement of quad winged 'C' EL34s.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Speakers:	Spendor S3/5 monitors
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	maxtor 1 tb external hard drive > dell inspiron > hagerman hagusb > monica3 dac > ella.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	nope
Other Source(s):	nope
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	89259 cross connected speaker cables - biwired - jon risch recipe. diyparadise 'whitesnake' digital cable from the hagusb to the monica 3 dac. belden 89259/1506a twisted pair interconnects from the dac to a switchbox. belden 89259 interconnects from the switchbox to the intergrated amp and to the headphone amp.
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	diy switchbox- a high quality one imho using rhodium plated rca sockets, kimber tcss wiring and tyco switches. diy otl headphone amp using 5687/6922 tubes yet another diy otl headphone amp using 6922 tubes Sennheiser HD 600 headphones Grado sr 80 headphones AKG 271s headphones and about half dozen other iems, headphones, clip-ons. Atacama se 24 speaker stands filled with soundbytes for added mass. ikea lack tables with pods on feet.
Tweaks:	diy bass traps in all corners. vibrapods vibrapoints butcher blocks diy cable risers 20amp power outlet ers paper used very selectively
Room Comments/Treatments:	its a room dedicated to work and hifi. the bass traps have been pretty effective. took care of the enormous boominess which was inevitable given that its a small room and worst still, a square - about 11m X 11m. another thing that helped was nearfield listening.
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz (coltrane, miles, parker, peterson, henderson, jarrett, redman, bad plus, mike stern etc etc) classical (the romantic period..rachmaninoff, tchaikovsky, britten, elgar etc etc), some rock (eagles, pink floyd, genesis, steely dan, grateful dead, alan parsons project etc), world music..cuban music..buena vista social club etc..
System Goals/Comments:	to be there....almost..so that i can close my eyes and actually feel that i am somewhere way back in the concert hall...not too close please..too loud.
System Strengths:	it has the ability to transport me to another place and to take me where the music is going. notwithstanding my humble system, im more interested in the music than the kit although it doesnt hurt to tweak it a bit now and then to squeeze a bit more music out of the system.
System Weaknesses:	so far, zilch. im happy :)
Video/HT System: None
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	apart from music, reading.