No Regrets secondary system...

[No Regrets]

The following is a secondary system being utilized in our den, where we spend time reading, surfing the 'net, and just unwinding.

These are some vintage Tannoy Monitor Gold type lsu/hf/12/8 12" speakers mounted in custom cabinets made of baltic birch and walnut veneers, heavily braced, and lined with acoustic foam dampeners. The crossovers have been redone with audiophile caps and resistors and have been hardwired in therefore bypassing the tone compensator controls. The preamp is a homebrew passive and the amplifier is a custom built EL84 giving me roughly 15 Class A push/pull watts.


I also included a picture of one of my favorite listening buddies!

Warmest regards,
Don (No Regrets)

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi Don,
That's a nice little system there, congratulations. Interesting choice to mix those two timbers in the speaker cabinets - I like the way it's echoed in the pre-amp case. Just one thing, are you able to widen the distance between the speakers a little? As I think you may find them better that way.

Cheers

[No Regrets]

Hi Don,
That's a nice little system there, congratulations. Interesting choice to mix those two timbers in the speaker cabinets - I like the way it's echoed in the pre-amp case. Just one thing, are you able to widen the distance between the speakers a little? As I think you may find them better that way.

Cheers

Thank you for the kind words. Due to the layout of this particular room, I am not able to widen the distance between the speakers. Believe me, if I could I would. This is not my primary system and therefore am willing to accept some compromises. (I have a reference system in a dedicated listening room where I do my serious listening elsewhere in the house.) So, although the soundstaging does suffer, the tonality of the music is still fantastic and that's what is important to me with this system. This small room is our den where we sit to read, surf the net, etc. The music playing here is usually just violin or cello sonatas, or very small jazz combos, female vocals, acoustic guitar stuff.....where a huge sound stage isn't as important to me. Also, the wall directly behind my listening seat is all windows. So during this time of years, I can open all of the windows and have the beautiful Tannoy sound come through the screens to my patio which is immediately right there. I can sit out side in the fresh air with my Golden Retriever and cookout etc.

Your point is very well taken though. I have four very different sound systems throughout my home, each having it's own set of priorities, and therefore their own set of strength's and weakness.

Best regards,
Don (NoRegrets)

[DSJR]

:)

[The Grand Wazoo]

Your point is very well taken though. I have four very different sound systems throughout my home, each having it's own set of priorities, and therefore their own set of strength's and weakness.


It was just a thought, I know very well the benefits of having various systems scattered around the house, as I do much the same thing as you. As we both know, there have to be compromises! I'm making a big one at the moment by not having anything at all in the kitchen - it's only a matter of time though!

[Alex_UK]

Very nice Don - have I missed something though - what's the source(s)?

[No Regrets]

Very nice Don - have I missed something though - what's the source(s)?

Hi Alex,

You are very observent! The day that I took the picture, I had an audio buddy over and we were trying/swapping various equipment and didn't have everything put back together at the time of the shot.

Unfortunately, I do not own a digital camera so what I do is take a 35mm photo....go get the film developed as well as have them process the photos onto a disk which I then download onto the computer to be able to post the photos on the internet. Quite a process, so you can imagine my dismay when I got my pictures back and realized I had taken the photo before I had reassembled the system back completely.

So to answer your question, in this system I switch between an old vintage McIntosh MR67 tubed tuner, a Rotel CD player, and Pandora Internet Radio via my laptop.

Best regards,
Don (No Regrets)

[The Grand Wazoo]

an old vintage McIntosh MR67 tubed tuner

Well, hats off to you Don, that just about makes the system for me!!

[No Regrets]

Well, hats off to you Don, that just about makes the system for me!!

Hi Chris,

I'll tell you what, that MR67 never ceases to amaze me. We've got a great FM station here that plays classical, jazz, and blues depending on the time of day.....but there are many times that I much prefer that than my listening through my CD player. Especially when listening to the live broadcast concerts.

Best regards,
Don (No Regrets)

[Spectral Morn]

Well, hats off to you Don, that just about makes the system for me!!


Agreed +1 :)

Regards D S D L

[michaelhigh]

A tuner is always an unheralded part of a fine system. Everybody seems to concentrate on other aspects, especially speakers, rightly so, but a tuner well-tuned (hehe) can make a great system even better. I'm looking at a Sony HD unit that's highly touted here in the States, an XDRF-1HD I believe.