Inmate Systems - Audio Asylum

Vinyl Rules!'s Audio & A/V 7.5 (subwoofers).4 (Atmos) Combined System
IP Address: 24.246.151.172	Last Update: February 18, 2024 at 07:33:26
Amplifier:	McIntosh MC2205 amp for front speakers and another MC2125 amp for centre channel speaker; McIntosh MC2205 and MC2120 amps for rear 7.5.4 speakers. All of my Mac equipment has been refurbished by Terry DeWick in Knoxville, TN. There are other good techs but I can drive my equipment to Terry's location as my home is in the northwestern corner of NC where the NC/VA/TN borders intersect - A very isolated, but very safe and beautiful area. I also use a couple of PS Audio 2C amps and several Mitsubishi M-A04 amps (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN9JG--lQmQ) for the effects speakers - Very good sounding 55wpc (PS Audio amps) and 70wpc (Mitsubishi amps).
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Yamaha Adventage RX-A3040 receiver as an A/V preamp. [SPECIAL NOTE & LONG RANT: 😲 I STRONGLY recommend using a good AVR (Audio/Video Receiver) as just an A/V preamp in your Home Theatre system. Why? Well, the audio and the video CODEC'S, the quality of DAC's in Home Theatre A/V's and AVR's, and the physical configuration of the audio and video connectors for Home Theatre continues to evolve. We've gone from 75 ohm connectivity to RCA composite connectors for video and audio to SVHS connectors for video and audio to RCA component connectors for video. And now we are at the current HDMI standard for switching audio & video signals in Home Theatre equipment. But even the current HDMI standard has undergone numerous revisions: HDMI began with the HDMI 1.0 standard. Now we have gradually evolved to the HDMI 2.1 standard, and this HDMI standard ALSO needs to support HDCP and HDR and Dolby Vision for optimal viewing of the lastest 8K Ultra BluRay optical discs, and not all do. Keep in mind these current standards WILL CHANGE yet again in the next 2 - 4 years. IMHO, It is simply not economical for the manufacturers of expensive "high-end" A/V preamps to manufacture separate A/V preamps with all the latest "video processing bells and whistles" but it IS economical for the manufacturers of A/V receivers (AVR's) to do so because they can spread these costs over a wide offering of AVR receivers that enjoy significantly greater sales volumes than sales of expensive "high-end" A/V preamps from the likes of McIntosh, Krell, Mark Levinson, etc. Currently, most high-end A/V preamp manufacturers have units that are less than 3 years old that CANNOT BE UPDATED😬👎. Many of these units sold new for prices ranging from $5,000 to $30,000+, and now they are "orphans," worth pennies on the dollar (5% to 15% of their original cost) because they cannot be updated. However, some companies are finally using modules for some components such as DAC's that can be replaced with upgraded units. But no one yet is building components with upgradable video boards, so their units will become obsolete orphans when the next new HDMI, Dolby, or DTS standard evolves. I believe it is much more sensible to spend $1,500 to $2,500 on an AV receiver to use as an A/V preamp than to spend $25,000 (or more) on a high-end A/V preamp that will be an "orphan" in less than 2 years. IMHO the A/V performance of AVR's from the top manufacturers is essentially identical to the performance of the top high-end A/V preamps. And generally, separate power amps fed by preamp outputs from a top AVR will be more powerful AND sound BETTER than the multiple power amplifiers contained in top-of-the-line AVR receivers. End of rant🤐] Creek OBH-8SE phono preamp; Denon PRA-1000 preamp, Hitachi HCA-8500MkII preamp, Lexicon DC-1 preamp, Marantz 3300 and Marantz 3800 preamps, McIntosh C-28, and McIntosh C30 preamps; McIntosh MX117 tuner-preamp; 2 Mitsubishi M-P04 preamps. Sony TA-P9000ES 5.1 preamp for A/V, SACD and DVD-A listening. I like the Marantz 3300, Marantz 3800, McIntosh C30, McIntosh MX117, and Creek phono sections best.
Speakers:	Den: B&W DM3000 Front Speakers, B&W HTM speaker with a single Dahlquist DQ-LP1 active crossover paired w/18" Hartley subwoofer custom built for Jon Dahlquist for Centre, & two pair of Polk LS f/x speakers - one pair for Dolby side surround and one pair for Dolby rear surround run through two M&K Goliath II subwoofers. And there's more - Effects & Dolby Atmos/DTS-X speakers are two pair of ADS L-300 speakers - one pair for front effects/Dolby Atmos/DTS-X and one pair for rear effects/Dolby Atmos/DTS-X. Also use a Cambridge SoundWorks Newton P300HD subwoofer and a Sunfire True Sub MkII. TRUE STORY: We once had a couple over with their crotch goblin and he insisted we play one of our Jurassic Park Blu-Rays. So, during one of the T-Rex chase scenes, the entire room was rumbling and shaking, our furniture was rattling, and you just KNEW the damn T-Rex WAS IN THE ROOM about to EAT you! 😱😳 When the T-Rex finally let loose a ferociously loud roar just as he actually DID eat someone on the big screen, the little turd literally shit his pants and began uncontrollably sobbing and shaking. Yep, five subwoofers can cause a small child to shit their pants while jumbling the guts and flapping the pant legs of the adults in the room 😱 Living Room: Hartley Holton 'A' and Hartley Zodiac speakers (Dynaco Quad adapter). MBR: EPI-100 speakers. Guestroom #1: Wharfdale Diamond speakers (second version) and a pair of AR 7 speakers. Guestroom #2: AR-2a's. Guestroom #3: KLH 22's. Basement: Coral BX-1200 and Coral BX-1000 "Kabuki" grill speakers. Also have two additional pairs of Realistic Minimus 7's (early models) that get used for various projects. Most recent addition: A pair of Polk Monitor 4.6's from the GW for $12 - These are great sounding speakers! My wife's sewing/quilting room has Pioneer SP-FS51-LR front speakers, SP-BS21-LR rear speakers, SP-C21 centre, and TWO SW-8 powered subs - KUDOS to Andrew Jones for champagne quality at a "Night Train Express" price!
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Cambridge Audio Azur 751 BD and Cambridge Audio CXU for BluRay/CD/DVD-Audio/HDCD/SACD discs; Denon DVD-2910 DVD/CD/DVD-Audio/HDCD/SACD player; Onkyo DX-C390 6 disc CD changer; Oppo BDP-95; Oppo HD-981; Oppo HD-970; Philips CD-80; Pioneer DV-610AV-K Multi Region Code Zone Free DVD/SACD/CD; Sony DVP-NS500V feeding an Adcom GDA-700 HDCD DAC; Technics SL-PS840 with a "Super MASH 64x DAC. Finally, a Technics SL-PD1010 5 disc CD changer. The multi-disc CD changers are used during Christmas. The Onkyo DX-C390 6 disc CD changer uses a Wolfson WM8726 DAC. Onkyo's engineers chose to over sample at a 128x rate, resulting in audibly better sound compared to the multi bit Burr Brown DAC's or the MASH DAC's used by Onkyo's competitors. As a result, this Wolfson WM8726 DAC chip has attained legendary status among many audiophiles. Maybe that's why products based on it are still being sold. Ironically the WM8726 is long obsolete and out of production, so any new products containing WM8726 chips are either built with old-stock chips or (worse) chips lifted from scrapped devices.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	Fons CQ30 w/SME 3009 Series II w/Shure V-15 III w/conical stylus for playing 78's and mono LP's; J.A. Michell GyroDec MkIII (AC motor) with QC external power supply, Rega RB-300 and Shure V-15vMR (NOT the xMR); Sony PS-X7 with Shure V-15 RS; Sony PS-X555ES w/Goldring Electra; Sansui QR-X7 w/Stanton 881S; Before he died, TAS' HP finally admitted the V-15vMR comes closer to replicating the sound of a master tape than anything he had ever heard. And I have several extra V-15vMR bodies and many extra NIB styli for them when they are needed.
Other Source(s):	Bluesound Node 2i; Denon TU-767 Tuner; Denon TU-800 Tuner (Maxed out & modded by Bill Amons); Hitachi FT-5500MKII Tuner; Kenwood KT-5020 Tuner; Kenwood KT-8007 Tuner; Marantz ST-17U Tuner; Marantz ST-54 Tuner; Marantz 125 Tuner; Marantz ST-500 Tuner; McIntosh MR74 Tuner (Modded & updated by Terry DeWick); McIntosh MX117 Tuner (realigned & updated by McIntosh factory service in Binghamton NY, but they don't do mods on ANY McIntosh equipment); FIVE Mitsubishi "Micro" M-F01 FM-only Tuners (Note: This is a INCREDIBLE "sleeper" that flies really low under the radar). It has quality construction, 5 gangs, a linear phase IF so no ceramic filters to deal with, and this tuner has INCREDIBLE SOUND QUALITY, but it IS NOT a DX'er and it does not handle strong adjacents well. However, IMHO it beats the pants off Mitsubishi's better known DA-F20 in sound quality, but it is not as selective nor as sensitive as the Mitsubishi DA-F20. It is a VERY RARE tuner and only 1 or 2 show up for sale on eBay every year or so, often for less $50 USD; Mitsubishi DA-F30 Tuner; Nikko Gamma V Tuner (on its way to Mike Williams for updates/alignment); Pioneer F-91 Tuner; Rotel RT-2100 Tuner (soon to be modded/updated by Mike Williams {AKA Punker X}); Scott LT-112B Tuner; TWO Sony XDR-F1HD Tuners (both maxed out less the external cooling fans by Punker X); FIVE Sony ST-J75 Tuners; Sony ST-80 Tuner; Sony ST-333ESXII Tuner; THREE Yamaha T-85 Tuners (one was modded by Punker X); [Note: Have tried many different tuners here and nothing has yet surpassed the sound quality and sensitivity of my modded Yamaha T85]. And we have satellite radio on our DISH Network system: Satellite radio is equivalent to eating a 100% soy-based fillet mignon and washing it down with Night Train Express! Harman/Kardon HK2000 cassette deck (an exact clone of the Nakamichi 500 Dual-Tracer cassette deck); Nakamichi BX-2 cassette deck; Nakamichi LX-5 cassette deck; Nakamichi DR-2 cassette deck; Pioneer Elite CT-W59 cassette deck; Pioneer Elite CT-W53 cassette deck; Sony TC-K700ES cassette deck; 2 Sony TC-651 open reel decks; Tandberg TCD 310 Mk. II cassette deck; Tandberg TCD 3014 cassette deck; Teac A-2300SD open reel; Teac A-4010GSL open reel/Teac AN-180 Dolby; Teac A-4070GSL open reel/Teac AN-300 Dolby; DISH Network DBS receiver; Houston Tracker 8+ receiver for 10' C and Ku band satellite. Denon DRA-750 stereo receiver; Harman/Kardon H/K 930 stereo receniver; Kenwood KA-3500 integrated amp; 2 Mitsubishi M-P04 preamps; 2 Mitsubishi M-A04 amps; OnkyoTS-DX696 A/V receiver; Pioneer VSX-521 A/V receiver; Sansui 1000X stereo receiver; Sansui 2000A stereo receiver; Tandberg TR 2040 stereo receiver; Tandberg TR 3030 stereo receiver; Yamaha RX-V657 A/V receiver; Yamaha RX-V867 A/V receiver; Yamaha RX-V1800 A/V receiver; Grundig Satellit 800 ShortWave; Grundig 960 ShortWave; Sony ICF-2010 ShortWave; Degen DE-1102 ShortWave. No system is complete without headphones. Mine are: Audio Technica ATH-AD700, ATH-M50x (The best sounding of my standard dynamic headphones. This model is used in many recording studios.), and ATH-WS50BK; Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro Plus; Beyerdynamic DT-990Pro's (32 ohm and 600 ohm - the 600 ohm ones sound better); Drop "THX Panda" planar magnetic wireless headphones (Similar to Oppo PM-3's and the best-sounding of all my headphones); Sennheiser HD 580 and HD 280 Pro; Sony MDR XD200 (These Sony's are extremely good and cheap); Stellar Labs 5960 (Incredibly good headphones). Finally, I'm a physical media person and I don't download music nor have I digitized any of my LP's or CD's. But I am a streamer and I now find myself listening quite a bit to Qobuz and Tidal (mostly Qobuz). I no longer purchase CD's because of these two streaming services.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Radio Shack 10 gauge speaker cable w/Custom terminations; Radio Shack 'golden' interconnects. However, if five-figure cables are relevant to you, check out www.tinyurl.com/chinesecables. Anyone interested in a pair of Nordost Vahalla speaker cables for a mere $24 USD + shipping? I know people who have compared the knock-offs to the real deal and they were UNABLE TO HEAR a difference!🫣
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	Protection begins with a whole-house surge protector installed between incoming power line and 200 amp breaker panel. Two 30-amp circuits custom wired to den and a separate 20-amp circuit wired for bedroom system. Large Panamax surge protector for 10' dish and DISH Network system. Special Sylvania surge protectors (not commercially available) used throughout house acquired when I worked for GTE and they owned Sylvania. Also use McIntosh MI-3 and Kenwood 6060A O-scopes for FM tuning & signal analysis and for audio signal analysis.
Tweaks:	APS-13 FM antenna and Channel Master rotor. VPI 16 record cleaning machine modified with "boxer" fans so as to not overheat when I clean for more than an hour at a time. While the VPI does a really good job, I'm considering changing to a Keith Monks or Lorricraft thread type cleaner.
Room Size (LxWxH):	24' x 12' x 8'
Room Comments/Treatments:	Acoustic tile ceiling, oak plank floor, and 1" wormy chestnut plank paneled den make for an incredible listening experience - I've never heard a room this good and I attribute it mostly to the wormy chestnut 1" thick wood paneling.
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Celtic, African, Cuban, other world genres; Classical; Opera; Acoustic; Gregorian Chant; Medieval; Rock from the late 1950's through the early 1980's; Hawaiian slack-key guitar; And Tuvan "throat singing" (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8hrhBZJ98&feature=youtu.be)
System Goals/Comments:	I've got the system where I want it, most money now invested in FM tuner alignments/upgrades. And you can never, ever have too many FM tuners or too much vinyl! 🔊
System Strengths:	Incredible dynamics, low-level detail, and extraordinarily natural midrange reproduction. Frankly, I've yet to hear a more realistic-sounding system, Sounds equally good in Stereo as well as in 7.5.4 mode, and most of you know this is not easy to accomplish!
System Weaknesses:	Am running out of storage space in basement - Currently have over 25,000 albums and not enough time to clean and listen to them all!
Video/HT System: Separate
TV/Projector:	65" VIZIO P65-F1 LED TV.
Processor/Receiver/Amplifiers:	See above
Speakers (Center, Surrounds, Sub):	See above
Sources (DVD/VCR):	LG UBK80 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray player; Cambridge Audio Azur 751 BD 3D Blu-Ray player; Cambridge Audio CXU and Oppo BDP-95 for BluRay's and DVD's; Denon DVD-2910 (a great sounding CD player that also supports HDCD discs); Oppo DVD-970 HD and Oppo HD-981; Pioneer DV-610AV-K Multi-Region Code Free DVD Player, plays all regions and both NTSC and PAL DVD's and even plays SACD's. Panasonic PV-9664 VCR with "Dynamorphous" heads - There's something to this "Dynamorphous" claim - These tape heads were used in some of their professional broadcast VCRs and they come very, very close to S-VHS in recording quality. Also have some older Sony VHS VCR's and even have a few Betamax machines in the basement.
Other HT Gear:	Avoid cheap recordable media (CD's, DVD's, etc.) However, I have gotten excellent results and good longevity (so far) with Verbatim blank media. The dye sublimation process on cheap blank media DOES NOT hold up over time and they all go bad within a 2 to 5 year time frame and become unreadable. Isn't it amazing, though, that nothing yet beats a good vinyl LP for long-term storage, or a temperature and humidity-controlled magnetic tape?
Comments on HT System:	Incredible dynamics, low-level detail, and extraordinarily natural midrange reproduction. Frankly, I've yet to hear a better sounding system. Sounds equally good in Stereo as well as in 7.5.4 Surround and most of you know this is not easy to accomplish!
URL Link: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tmbritt.
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	Managing my "Triple Hit" Stage IV Agent Orange cancer and keeping it in remission. When it was discovered in June 2015, it had metastasized in virtually EVERY organ in my body. Duke's Cancer Lab actually found Agent Orange in my body's DNA.😳 Duke Oncologists noted there was 99% probability I'd be dead by Christmas 2015. However, my contrarian, "I will prove you wrong inner-asshole self" informed them I would prove THEM wrong. I had already survived a number of high-risk Special Ops assignments (I stupidly volunteered for) in Southeast Asia. I never got shot, and I never lost a man on my team, so why worry about a Stage IV cancer with a 1% survival rate!😎 When I'm feeling better (good days 😃 and bad days 🥹) I enjoy underwater and dry land photography, writing about audio & music. My work has been featured in The Absolute Sound and HiFi+ magazines and in the book "McIntosh.....for the love of music..." (I wrote the story on the development of the famous MR78 Tuner). I also co-moderate the FM Tuner Group at www.fmtunerinfo.com, and I enjoy gourmet cooking, reading, shooting (I am an expert marksman), quilting, smocking, and needlepoint (well, last 3 for SWMBO 😍). We live at an elevation of about 3,500' in the Blue Ridge Mountains where the TN/NC/VA borders intersect. I'm a former CIA/DIA/NSA/MACV-SOG spook (See www.tinyurl.com/Bad-Ass-Killers). Now mostly retired, but hey, you can never really "retire" from a 3-letter government agency. Favourite small arms are the FN FiveseveN pistol and its matching FN 5.7/28mm caliber FN P90 bullpup SMG with SS190 body armour piercing ammo. Please let me know in advance if you plan to visit - I never outgrew the urge to play with firearms and blow shit up! ⚔️ 💣 🤺 🎖 🏹 🕶