Dougs Big Messy Stereo

[dougmon]

That's exactly my doctrine.

Build your system to suit your musical taste. Clinical detail and Sabbath just wouldn't go

But I hear if you play "Blizzard of Ozz" backwards you can hear Ozzy say "Where's the bl**dy remote?"

[Frazeur1]

Damn Doug, that is freaking mess you got there! If only my mess could be so "messy". Hah! Nice system there sir!

[dougmon]

Thanks again to all for the greetings and approbation.

I just restored a Rega Planet 2000 to the system. It's going directly into the amp, just using its own DAC. I wanted something to play CDs immediately rather than having to rip them to my music server, etc. Looking at my system, you might think I'm a huge Rega fan, but it just turned out this way.

I _am_ thinking of replacing the DAC; I heard a Line Magnetic tube DAC and really liked it. But that's for next year, if ever.

Best to everyone,

Doug

[jandl100]

Nice looking system - love the VU meters on the Luxman! - there's nowhere near enough cable-spaghetti, though.

Build your system to suit your musical taste.

That's what we all do, actually - only most folk don't admit it or even realise it!

[dougmon]

I have to admit, one of the things I like about the Luxman is that it's very old-school -- not only in looks, but in functionality. I particularly like the tone controls. These seem to be anathema to many hi-fi enthusiasts, but when listening to some older recordings where the treble just about takes the top of your head off, they're very useful. I also like the mono capability; if you have older stuff remixed in fake stereo, it's kind of nice to turn it back into mono.

[hermit]

Very nice indeed. The Luxman is truly a thing of beauty.

[jasonC]

i love your set up,esp your speakers.

[Anthony K]

Nice system ,the amp is way above average in looks and sound

[dougmon]

Funny, I used to swear that I would never have a solid state amp, but the dealer I bought the Harbeths from convinced me to try the Luxman. And I'm glad I did. As others have noted, the Luxman/Harbeth combination is really sweet. And I really think the Compact 7ES3s are special, even in the company of other Harbeth speakers.

I think Luxman might be understating the output power of the 550AX -- I accidentally rolled the volume up to around 9:30 before I started the music, and the volume almost pushed me back in my seat.

[dougmon]

I changed my system, not by an addition, but by a subtraction!

I found the Rega DAC/Luxman combination to be too "in your face" for me. So now I have two digital sources: the Rega Planet 2000 and the Squeezebox Touch, both with their built-in DACs. I like the Planet; it's fairly laid back as far as sound goes. The SBT is just OK -- I can live with it until I find a DAC more suited to my tastes.

So...one less power cord to deal with.

Messing with the digital side of things makes me glad that I have a lot of LPs....