My 2(.1) cents

[Anthony K]

Beautiful setup and room

[Marco]

Hi David,

Hey Marco - good to hear from you. Glad you dig the room.

Hey, you know I've always dug your taste in décor!

Interesting comment. As you say, Dennis Had designed these units to sit on top of each other, so I must admit I'm leery he would have done so without any thought to its disadvantages. Still, when I get a chance I'll try as you say and report back as to whether I thought it made a difference.

No worries. Would be interesting to know what you think. For me, it's simply 'good practice' not to put any source or control component directly on top of a box that contains large transformers, emitting a considerable magnetic field.

Often when that's done it makes for a somewhat etched and 'glarey' sound, in comparison with what's achieved when PSUs and preamp 'head units' are kept as far apart as possible. Also, if you plonk the boxes on top of each other, you're increasing the risk of hum.

I'd try and house both units on separate shelves on your rack, and then see if it sounds any better. If not, then cool - it hasn't cost anything!

In my view, Dennis would've probably been of the opinion that the effect wasn't so important, and simply allowed both units to stack neatly on top of each other for convenience and looks. Let's face it, for many folks, the latter is of primary importance, especially if 'WAF factor' is an issue...

Now this is even more interesting. I've never noticed the volume control not being sensitive enough, but I agree that it is a rather "high gain" device. I'll definitely give this a go too.

Definitely try that one, as it's easy to do! We found that backing off the gain by about half, thus allowing greater adjustment of the volume control, improved things considerably, especially with recordings that have been produced on the 'hot' side. However, much depends on how sensitive (or otherwise) your partnering power amp(s) are.

Yeah, I swapped out the original tubes too. Right now I've been going back and forth with some NOS Tung Sols and Sylvania Tall Boys. I'd love to grab some Brimars, but those are a little tough to come by here in the states..

Yup, Tung-Sols are nice, but the Brimars are where it's at, or if you can find some, NOS Russian Melz 6N8S, such as I've just bought for my power amp. See here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...N8S-6SN7-tubes

Those are stunningly good and highly recommended!

Marco.

[Hoffer]

Just thought I'd report back after trying some of your suggestions..

Split the Cary stack. Can't say I was able to hear any differences. I'll try it again when I swap out the current Tung Sols..

Played with the gain. Started at 1/2, went to 3/4s and left it there. I do feel like a have some more control. I'll keep playing with it, but I definitely can appreciate the difference.

Thanks again for the tips!

[Hoffer]

So as much as I enjoyed the coziness of my most recent setup, as others hinted at, it just wasn't cutting it acoustically. Lucky for me, I recently added a room above my garage that will now serve as a dedicated stereo/HT room.

It goes without saying that I can't have a new setup without getting another new cabinet, so here's the latest offering:








For HT, I added a matching center and surrounds. Since the Cary has an HT bypass feature, I let the Accuphase run my fronts and connect the Cary to my Anthem prepro. I use a Parasound A51 amp to power the other three channels. All of this stays hidden behind the cabinet (using a Harmony RF remote). But my favorite new addition is the TV easel, which I wheel out from the closet when it's movie time. No complaints from Zeus either....

[Spectral Morn]

Very nice

[struth]

Indeedy..telly on a trolley. Nice. And doggy wanted in on the pic too

[Hoffer]

Moved things around a bit..

[Macca]

I love the white Eames. No good to me though, I would get chocolate all over it within seconds

[HackneyRF]

Terrific looking space David. I bet it also sounds as good as it looks. Nice to see the drinks cabinet to finish it off. Très sophistiqué!

[rmcin626]

Very jealous