Audio Asylum - Inmate Systems

The Rube's Main System System
IP Address: 209.188.73.94	Last Update: April 03, 2010 at 18:08:57
Amplifier:	German Symphonic Line Kraft 250 Class A monoblocks. Has anyone heard the SL Kraft 400 or 250 monos and NOT thought they were in the all time top 5.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Symphonic Line Die Erleuchtung tube preamplifier. A rare combination of musicality and precision. More than a dozen 6922 tubes inside.
Speakers:	Wilson Sophias. Tremendous speaker but super fussy about location. Especially finicky about speaker cables and placement. BUt when you get it right, it's worth it.
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Symphonic Line Reference CDP. Again, after comparing to Wadia and some other excellent products, I found this one to be the best. Musical and accurate. Very sweet.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	BIX, Rega 25 arm, Denon 160 MC cart, Camelot Lancelot Pro, battery phono stage. Full-bodied sound, black background.
Other Source(s):	Otari 5050 MKII. Indistinguishable from the turntable recordings made on it. It even seems to add analog dynamics to lesser CD recordings. Studio quality machine.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Purist Audio Colossus speaker cables. My second pair. I regretted selling the first ones. Excellent with the Sophias—soundstage, depth, full sound. ICs: Mac Velvets on TT, Music Metre Bel Canto on CDP, Blue Jean Cables on the Otari. Morrow Audio MA2 interconnects from preamp to amp
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	Isolated lines to each amp, Porter Ports. PS Audio Soloist for components. PS Audio Juice Bar and PS Audio P300 for Preamps, CDP TT. Most IECs are 10 ga. Tributaries Silver Series cables. Big sounding. I even put 20 amp ends on them for my monoblocks. Also using a Voodoo Mojo cable to the P300.
Tweaks:	Custom Audio Elegance racks on wheels (cement floor). The way to go! No more heavy lifting or scratching the floor and still fine isolation. 3" maple blocks under TT, CDP, Pre.
Room Size (LxWxH):	24.5 x 25 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	Textured ceiling, rugs on concrete floors. Absorption panels on front corners. 8' video screen on front wall. Assorted Diffusion and absorption panels.
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, blues, eclectic, great vocalists, something I haven't heard on the radio a million times
System Goals/Comments:	Detail and warmth with no shrill upper frequencies. Midrange is crucial.
System Strengths:	Very sweet and resolving. Great midrange and delicate highs. Awesome bass. CDs get more play than LPs, and it is a superior CD reproduction system
System Weaknesses:	The TT setup is no slouch but not up to the rest of the system.
Video/HT System: Integrated
TV/Projector:	JVC DLA-G10U projector. NASA, medical imaging unit back in the day. Impressive picture matches today's midrange offerings.
Processor/Receiver/Amplifiers:	Yamaha RX-995V Receiver (great old warhorse), outboarded amps: Carver M-500T mono (wonderful for dialogue), Kraft 250 fronts,using the Yamaha to operate rear speakers
Speakers (Center, Surrounds, Sub):	Sophias, Arcam Alto rears, 2 Paradigm CC370 centers, Velodyne ULD-15 MKII sub. A real hodgepodge, but enjoyable.
Sources (DVD/VCR):	Dish Network, Oppo DVD
Other HT Gear:	Living room: Oppo 970HD DVD, Panasonic 50' Plasma, Cain & Cain Abby spkrs, Will Vincent Dynaco ST-70, Audio Alchemy DLC preamp. Dandy living room system. The Abby's do a fine job on movies and music.
Comments on HT System:	Projector system in my dedicated AV room is nice but not the latest technology. I watch football and movies, even network TV. Love the 8 foot picture. Home built screen. In the living room, our 50" Panasonic Plasma has a marvelous picture. The Dynaco and Cain & Cain Abbys offer stylish performance. This is an integrated system. My wife loves blues, modern and jazz music. The Dynaco and Abbys really do the trick facing a short wall. Could use a small sub.
URL Link: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vevol&1230010800&read&keyw&zzkrafty
Other Interests/Hobbies/Occupation:	I enjoy expanding my knowledge of audio gear. Often buy used gear to play with before reselling (unless it is better than what I have). Professional newspaperman, author, dad, involuntary zoo keeper.