Magic Beans
08-11-2011, 13:41
As a long time viewer of these forums I thought it time for me to join the community. :)
I've found myself in many threads here over the past few months, as a result of searching for information on things such as mains distribution, DIY mods, digital streamers (and associated mods) and such the like. I'm encouraged by the freedom of speech people seem to have here, when discussing subjects which others instantly turn into a flame war on other forums, stating their thoughts as ridiculous (main cables discussions especially). Myself i'm always keen to explore all the available options, making my own decisions on what i consider to be useful based on my own findings and the findings of others who've actually tried something...
I've been an "enthusiast" for around 20 years now and live in the pursuit of audio nirvana, as many do. My journey began when I was around 14 years old, building a crude setup using mismatching speakers from friends and amplifiers as old as my parents. Slowly over the months and years it developed into a tidy little Audiolab/B&W setup comprising of a pair of B&W P5s, which were biamped using an Audiolab 8000S and 8000P (F serial number models). This was fed by a Marantz CD17 KI Signature, using classic Audioquest cables (Indigo+ speakers cables and Quartz III interconnects). After that my life's focus changed for a few years and the setup was sold on (although still missed to this day). I then began a new setup about 7 years ago, this time focusing on AV equipment, with a ratio of 80:20 for movies and music respectively.This is still my direction today.
Current (ever evolving) setup:
Arcam AV9 - A great little processor and really a steal these days, as most people focus on HDMI based processors and setups. I personally prefer to use a good source with good analogue out, keep audio and video separate from each other.
Bryston 9BST - This replaced an Arcam P7, which expired spectacularly several months ago! I'm a big fan of the Bryston sound, as it's similar to the Audiolab neutrality I loved in the past. Again, as it's now a legacy product you can pick them up for around £1100, which considering the current model is £8000+ it's a bargain! I'm toying with the idea of sending it to PMC/Bryston to have it upgraded to SST spec. I've been quoted £620 to get this done.
Oppo BDP83-SE Blu Ray - Connected via analogue to the AV9 it's a truly great player for the money. I'm toying with the idea of the 95 or perhaps the 93 NuForce at some point. Although I may just wait until the next generation, as i'm in no hurry to adopt 3DTV. I don't wear glasses so wearing 3D glasses is pretty unpleasant for me.
Monitor Audio GS20 fronts - I do like these speakers, however they came as a compromise. We (my girlfriend and I) auditioned several speakers some time back, including PMC, Monitor Audio, Linn, Kef etc. For my ears the PMCs FB1is were the clear winners. Well actually it was the Fact 8 but i wasn't looking at spending £5000+ on a pair of fronts at the time. However the PMCs were discouraged by the female type, as to avoid the "Swedish bath house" look at home. So the GS20 it was, in the now much elusive silver lacquer finish.
Monitor Audio GSLCR centre - Having the GS20 fronts we obviously had to have the matching centre. It's much better than the previous Linn centre I had.
Linn Komponent 104 rears (including stands) - Oh how i'd love to replace these with a pair of silver GS10, or ideally the GSFX, however they're somewhat difficult to source *sigh*
BK Monolith subwoofer - This replaced a REL and is an incredible box for the money! Moving on though i'm considering a JL Audio Fathom or perhaps going the DIY route.
Squeezebox Touch - I've been meddling with this for some time and have spent a lot of time researching software and hadware mods, along with linear PSUs etc. So far i've added a basic linear PSU (Iomega ZIP drive supply) and applied the Soundcheck Touch Toolbox software mods. I'll be applying TT3.0 when my Touch comes back from loaning it to a friend. It's currently connected (via coax)to the AV9 using a MG G1000 cable, so acts as a transport only
Apple Mac Mini - This acts as a media server for streaming music and movies. I did experiment with using it as a transport, with good results, however I found the process of controlling it "clunky" and too far removed from the old days of popping in a CD and pressing play.
Mark Grant G1000HD interconnects throughout - I'm a big fan of Mark and his products. I subscribe the the ethos of using good quality components and applying tried and tested engineering principles to get results. Rather than the good old "Snake Oil" type magic which I see many manufacturers trying to peddle.
Mark Grant DSP 2.5 mains cables - I'm new to the world of upgrading mains cables and spent some time reading up on other people's experiences before pushing the button. Personally i've not found that "night and day" improvement others have found, however my current install is designed to be pretty clean anyway. So there's probably not a great deal of interference to be removed. I have just had new flooring fitted so used it as an opportunity to tidy everything up, so these fit the bill nicely. I also built a DIY mains distribution bar, using separate sockets, solid core cabling (I read that here!) and feeding it with a MG mains lead. It was pretty horrendous to build (solid core doesn't like to bend into spaces in mains bars!) however the end result i'm happy with and it's made a big improvement to the sub's performance. I intend to install a dedicated mains supply in the future, most likely in the next house.
Chord Epic Super Twin speaker cable - In hindsight I wouldn't have bought this, as I don't have faith it's any better than the lesser cables. In fact I contacted Chord regarding why they used braiding on it however didn't ground it in any way. I personally felt the answer unsatisfactory and at some point will experiement with making my own cables..
Currently i'm focusing on digital streaming in it's various forms. I've been experimenting with the Squeezebox Touch and the various mods available. I'm now trying to decide whether it's worth hardware modding the Touch and adding a good quality DAC, or if a computer feeding a quality USB DAC linked asyncronously can offer better results. Although as I said earlier, the user interface side of things is less than perfect currently. What I'd like to find out is if you can get as good (or ideally better) performance from a computer/Squeezbox + DAC when compared to a Linn DS, such as the Akurate or Klimax. I'd like to think it's more than possible, or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy the Linn?
Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings for now. This must be close to a new record in terms of a welcome speech? Haha
I look forward to speaking to some of you at some point in the future
Phil :cool:
I've found myself in many threads here over the past few months, as a result of searching for information on things such as mains distribution, DIY mods, digital streamers (and associated mods) and such the like. I'm encouraged by the freedom of speech people seem to have here, when discussing subjects which others instantly turn into a flame war on other forums, stating their thoughts as ridiculous (main cables discussions especially). Myself i'm always keen to explore all the available options, making my own decisions on what i consider to be useful based on my own findings and the findings of others who've actually tried something...
I've been an "enthusiast" for around 20 years now and live in the pursuit of audio nirvana, as many do. My journey began when I was around 14 years old, building a crude setup using mismatching speakers from friends and amplifiers as old as my parents. Slowly over the months and years it developed into a tidy little Audiolab/B&W setup comprising of a pair of B&W P5s, which were biamped using an Audiolab 8000S and 8000P (F serial number models). This was fed by a Marantz CD17 KI Signature, using classic Audioquest cables (Indigo+ speakers cables and Quartz III interconnects). After that my life's focus changed for a few years and the setup was sold on (although still missed to this day). I then began a new setup about 7 years ago, this time focusing on AV equipment, with a ratio of 80:20 for movies and music respectively.This is still my direction today.
Current (ever evolving) setup:
Arcam AV9 - A great little processor and really a steal these days, as most people focus on HDMI based processors and setups. I personally prefer to use a good source with good analogue out, keep audio and video separate from each other.
Bryston 9BST - This replaced an Arcam P7, which expired spectacularly several months ago! I'm a big fan of the Bryston sound, as it's similar to the Audiolab neutrality I loved in the past. Again, as it's now a legacy product you can pick them up for around £1100, which considering the current model is £8000+ it's a bargain! I'm toying with the idea of sending it to PMC/Bryston to have it upgraded to SST spec. I've been quoted £620 to get this done.
Oppo BDP83-SE Blu Ray - Connected via analogue to the AV9 it's a truly great player for the money. I'm toying with the idea of the 95 or perhaps the 93 NuForce at some point. Although I may just wait until the next generation, as i'm in no hurry to adopt 3DTV. I don't wear glasses so wearing 3D glasses is pretty unpleasant for me.
Monitor Audio GS20 fronts - I do like these speakers, however they came as a compromise. We (my girlfriend and I) auditioned several speakers some time back, including PMC, Monitor Audio, Linn, Kef etc. For my ears the PMCs FB1is were the clear winners. Well actually it was the Fact 8 but i wasn't looking at spending £5000+ on a pair of fronts at the time. However the PMCs were discouraged by the female type, as to avoid the "Swedish bath house" look at home. So the GS20 it was, in the now much elusive silver lacquer finish.
Monitor Audio GSLCR centre - Having the GS20 fronts we obviously had to have the matching centre. It's much better than the previous Linn centre I had.
Linn Komponent 104 rears (including stands) - Oh how i'd love to replace these with a pair of silver GS10, or ideally the GSFX, however they're somewhat difficult to source *sigh*
BK Monolith subwoofer - This replaced a REL and is an incredible box for the money! Moving on though i'm considering a JL Audio Fathom or perhaps going the DIY route.
Squeezebox Touch - I've been meddling with this for some time and have spent a lot of time researching software and hadware mods, along with linear PSUs etc. So far i've added a basic linear PSU (Iomega ZIP drive supply) and applied the Soundcheck Touch Toolbox software mods. I'll be applying TT3.0 when my Touch comes back from loaning it to a friend. It's currently connected (via coax)to the AV9 using a MG G1000 cable, so acts as a transport only
Apple Mac Mini - This acts as a media server for streaming music and movies. I did experiment with using it as a transport, with good results, however I found the process of controlling it "clunky" and too far removed from the old days of popping in a CD and pressing play.
Mark Grant G1000HD interconnects throughout - I'm a big fan of Mark and his products. I subscribe the the ethos of using good quality components and applying tried and tested engineering principles to get results. Rather than the good old "Snake Oil" type magic which I see many manufacturers trying to peddle.
Mark Grant DSP 2.5 mains cables - I'm new to the world of upgrading mains cables and spent some time reading up on other people's experiences before pushing the button. Personally i've not found that "night and day" improvement others have found, however my current install is designed to be pretty clean anyway. So there's probably not a great deal of interference to be removed. I have just had new flooring fitted so used it as an opportunity to tidy everything up, so these fit the bill nicely. I also built a DIY mains distribution bar, using separate sockets, solid core cabling (I read that here!) and feeding it with a MG mains lead. It was pretty horrendous to build (solid core doesn't like to bend into spaces in mains bars!) however the end result i'm happy with and it's made a big improvement to the sub's performance. I intend to install a dedicated mains supply in the future, most likely in the next house.
Chord Epic Super Twin speaker cable - In hindsight I wouldn't have bought this, as I don't have faith it's any better than the lesser cables. In fact I contacted Chord regarding why they used braiding on it however didn't ground it in any way. I personally felt the answer unsatisfactory and at some point will experiement with making my own cables..
Currently i'm focusing on digital streaming in it's various forms. I've been experimenting with the Squeezebox Touch and the various mods available. I'm now trying to decide whether it's worth hardware modding the Touch and adding a good quality DAC, or if a computer feeding a quality USB DAC linked asyncronously can offer better results. Although as I said earlier, the user interface side of things is less than perfect currently. What I'd like to find out is if you can get as good (or ideally better) performance from a computer/Squeezbox + DAC when compared to a Linn DS, such as the Akurate or Klimax. I'd like to think it's more than possible, or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy the Linn?
Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings for now. This must be close to a new record in terms of a welcome speech? Haha
I look forward to speaking to some of you at some point in the future
Phil :cool: