My system as promised

[lovejoy]

Well, after a mammoth session of tinkering and enjoying tunes over the weekend, I thought I'd post a couple of pics of the system. It's not the best room to get pictures taken in with it being a bit small and having one rather bright light source. I'm sure you'll get the idea though.

Here's the full system, or as much as I can fit into a shot, just about managing to fit the speakers (Shahinian Arcs) in:



Here's a close up of the turntable, a Well Tempered Classic V, it's phono stage - the Eurekon concept MC003 and my very old Leak Stereo 20 which was inherited and is now just used as an FM tuner as it's the only bit that still works. Sounds nice though. The rather scary looking open box on the left is my power supply for the Beresford DAC - open as I've been tweaking it ;-):



...and here's the amps - MF 3.2 pre-power, the beresford 7520 and a rather big and ugly PC and monitor which is my digital audio source:

[Marco]

Hi Rich,

Nice system - love the old Leak receiver, in particular. We love our 'classics' here on AOS!

Can you do two things for me? Add "Rich" to your signature so that it appears under all your posts, and get your pics to load automatically when the page here is opened, rather than having to click on links?

It makes it quicker and easier to look at them.

Cheers!

Marco.

[Beechwoods]

...and get your pics to load automatically when the page here is opened, rather than having to click on links?

Sorted! Rich - just use the IMG tag rather than URL... the icon with the little yellow mountain on it!

That is one nice system

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Lovejoy

Thank you for the photos. If you put[img] and [/img] in front of the address the pictures would appear on the page...perhaps ? If not click on the last line that appears beside your photos on photobucket,thats the img link.

Beaten to it....

I love the look of the Well tempered TT, Bill Firebrough (I think thats his name) is a very talented guy...amazing idea for the arm. Nice set up.


Regards D S D L

[lovejoy]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The Well Tempered is my pride and joy. I first heard one around 1995 and knew from that day that it was the turntable I wanted. It took me until 2007 to actually get my hands on one but I never gave up hope. It's just sad that it seems to get used less and less for new vinyl these days as I've become so frustrated with the quality control that goes into new releases these days. Still, it can't be beaten on nights when I want to dig out the old stuff.

I've always wondered what the quality of the amplifier was like on the old Leak receiver. It's not worked since I've had it and I've been tempted to open it up and take a look at it. The thing that put me off was on the bit of research I did on the model, it was apparently a bit of a cost down exercise from their classic kit so never received particular acclaim. I love the sound the tuner gives though, so maybe one day...

Duly noted about embedding pictures in future.

[John]

Love the TT it really looks great

[chris@panteg]

I like your system there is a nice quirky look about it ,bet it sounds great.

[lovejoy]

I think you've hit the nail on the head with 'quirky', thanks Chris.

I've never been one for orthodox approaches in system building, I've certainly never contemplated a one manufacturer solution. I guess it's all about what works for you at the end of the day. I spent so long trying to find a system where digital and analogue could both be thoroughly engaging and enjoyable. The road was a long and fraught one, but I believe I'm there now and choose which source I listen to depending more upon the mood I'm in rather than which one sounds better - there really is scarily little in it.

[chris@panteg]

That's so true to think 20 years ago i had such a closed mind and with my scottish front end refused to believe anything could be better etc.

I honestly don't think you need to spend that much money to get great music from both formats it is about what works for you and bit of chance taking sometimes like i did with the 1210 .

[lovejoy]

I thought it would be nice to update this thread after almost 10 years. It's funny looking back at those old system pics now. Unbelievable that there was a monitor staring me in the face as I was listening to music (although it did get switched off when I was listening to an album), or that there was a full sized PC in the same room. But I thought this post slightly momentous because through all of the changes that happened in between that pic from 2009 and the one I'm posting here, is that through numerous amplification changes, and even more speaker changes (after sadly my trusty old Shahinian Arcs no longer worked very well) I've finally settled on something I can truly say I'm happy with and have no intentions of changing - The odd tweak, sure, but no more box changes..

But look here - EVERYTHING has changed - Even the house! The old Well Tempered deck ended up being donated to a good friend and I changed for a shiny new Versalex. The MF amps were sold along with the Eurekon phono stage to a friend I work with. The speakers were passed on to someone who took them on as a project to restore (though I don't know whether this ended up being a bit too much of a challenge). The Beresford DAC is still around and being used in another system. The old Leak was returned to its original owner, and the computer - well, that just got replaced.

These days, there's not much signs of anything digital, but there's a Raspberry Pi hiding behind the rack taking its cues from a PC which is hived away upstairs. Nice to not have any fans whirring away in the background..

This is the system as it stands, and shall do for many years to come I hope (and I'm hoping not to have to eat those words ;-)).

38898971_10156874234321833_1062802190109769728_o.jpg12.jpg13.jpg