The BEST system you've ever built !!!!

This thread "has legs". I see my last post was in '00. Rc and Gregm; being retired, I have found time to BOTH listen for pleasure each day, and STILL obsess over such things as clean power, vibration control etc. and to that end have lately been auditioning AC outlets.

Since last posting, I've added Vandersteen 5 speakers. This is the single biggest upgrade I've ever made to my system-- and the most expensive-- mostly for the tremendous bass I now enjoy. And experimenting with AC outlets has yielded good results. I now use a combination of Hubbells, Acmes (for speaker subs), and a FIM for amp. I've also recently added a Marantz Professional CD recorder that I like a LOT. Cheers. Craig

I must admit that I've been obsessing since my initial post, although like you, Craig, I find plenty of time for pleasurable listening; the key is choosing components that can bring a smile to your face and lose you in the music, I guess.

In the last 18 months, I have upgraded my analog front end by getting the Debut platter/bearing/vacuum upgrade for my Basis Ovation, upgrading the Graham to 2.2 status, changing to a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge, changing to a Graham IC-70 armcable and adding a Lamm LP2 phono stage when the low output of the Koetsu made a persistent rumbling noise from my JP80 too noticeable; added a Sony SCD 777ES SACD player, modded by adding an Audio Logic tubed analog stage; changed from Meitner amps to Sonogy Black Knight Mk II amps for my bass modules (integrate a little better with the Jadis amps); changed almost all of my cabling, on the front end adding some Nordost Valhalla, and from the preamp on switching to NBS Omega (I blame fellow member Ronc for this, I couldn't believe the difference his switch to Transparent made in his system), and having a speaker cable (tri-wire for the satellites) made up by a member of our NJ Audio Society; and added a large amount of isolation bases and platforms of this member's design, which have helped immeasurably with my tubed equipment. The result has been much better resolution and soundstaging, without losing the very much of the character and musicality I always liked about the system (although I sometimes miss a little of that character on some music). I'm still playing with some cables on the front end, where the NBS is too bulky to be used, but I'm done for now, honest!!!!

When I was working at a McIntosh dealer in the late 60's, I had on hand a Bozak biamp filter, a Mc C-26 pre-amp, two Mc 2105 stereo power amps, a pair of Bozak Concert Grand speakers (16 cu ft infinite baffle enclosure with four 12" woofers each), and a pair of KLH Model 9 full range electrostatics. Using the biamp filter, I sent everything under 400 Hz to the Concert Grands for bass, and everything over 400 Hz to the Model 9's. It sounded fabulous: clean electrostatic mid and high frequencies, plus good solid Bozak bass. Never could sell the system; it was just too expensive for its day. Little did I know that I was inventing something that would become mainstream a generation later! Wish I had patented it...

My best system so far is; Rowland consummate with phono(Preamp), Rowland model 6 monoblocks(amps), Aerial acoustics
model 8B internally wired with Audioquest kilimanjaro silver wire in Santos rosewood with stands(speakers),Audioquest Python balance interconnects, Audioquest Caldera bywired,looking to upgrade to Volcano.
EAD DSP-9000 MKIII balance(dac), EAD T-700(transport),Exact power 2000 (ac regeneration unit), Thorens table.
By far the best system I have put togheter and yes it AHHHH!!! audio nirvana.

There is a piano playing in my living room and it was brought to me by onkyo Dx-v787 and a pair of Klipsch SB2 speakers...now this is not my main system and I use it for home theater...(I have a subwoofer with this setup and another much more expensive system) the point is that I'll bet that if I listen hard enough, I can tell the brand of piano playing. If I put another $20,000 into my home theater... same piano. My problem starts when I begin to think that I can do better.