AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
Location: Somewhere in Lancashire...!
Posts: 1,127
I'm Dan.
Camskill and Tyreleader generally offer some of the best prices for tyres; you just need to get someone to fit them for you!
I personally run summer tyres and winter tyres(on older, smaller alloys) on my daily 530i and summer only on my E60 M5 (that stays in a dry lock-up Nov to late spring)!
We drive up to Dunkeld and beyond every Feb, so for me, winter tyres are a must. I'm running 225/55/16 Michelin Alpin A4s and they're superb! Bought them as 'part worn', but what they really were is a set of tyres that someone bought and then realised that most winters are warm & damp and vowed they'd never need to use them again!
Personally for me, with the cold and wet that we DO get (and where I live the crappy country roads and we always get some frost); winter tyres make a lot of sense
Plus, I'd rather run crappy & smaller alloys (which makes tyre prices cheaper) than damage my summer tyres and alloys etc!
Bigger than you...
My Office : 2021 M1 MacBook Air > Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB interface > JBL 308P MkII active studio monitors on Atacama SL600 stands via Van Damme TRS to XLR balanced cables
The spare room : Music via iTunes & internet > ATV3 > optical into a Fiio D3 DAC > SMSL SA50 integrated > AE109 speakers - QED cables
“Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”
Hunter S Thompson
I have a set of Brera 18" horseshoes sitting doing nothing..
“Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”
Hunter S Thompson
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness
Posts: 2,602
I'm Dave.
I may be about to go for some new tyres - though I'm hoping to sneak all my current set through the upcoming MOT first to squeeze a few more weeks out of the treads before the winter sets in.
Last time I bought from a mobile supplier - Event Tyres - and they were quite good, and got the specific tyres I chose, but I don't think they work in the parts of Scotland where some of you guys live. Alternatively a local tyre store where I had the tyres checked has offered to get some of the same tyres at a comparable price, so I might go to them instead.
Dave
£50 for a new pair of front tyres this morning...Only an 01 Matiz Thats getting towards the end of her days but im sure she will keep smoking to her next MOT next august...Fun little things matizs cheap motors too..
Receiver
Marantz 2225
CD Transport & DAC & PSU
Marantz 6005 , Beresford Caiman , Paul Hynes SR4
Turntable
KAM DDX 1000 with Goldring G800 Cartridge
Loudspeakers
Mordaunt Short M10
Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness
Posts: 2,602
I'm Dave.
My car did get through the MOT, though with a few advisories, including two tyres which I supected and was prepared to replace. In the end I did have them replaced, as it seemed to me that I was being offered the tyres I wanted at a reasonable - and competitive price (£120 each), but what was slightly worrying was the comment about some of the original tyres being older than I believed. Actually that's not too terrible as they were the fairly good pair I had three years ago, but I was somewhat sceptical about the information provided. Allegedly tyres all have codes which indicate when they were made, and it seems to me possible that some "new" ones might actually be kept "on the shelf" for years before being fitted, and consequently deteriorating even before they go on any vehicle.
The price of trying to keep mobile, I suppose!
Dave