Couple of changes, AT33PTG/II comes in as well as some Vandersteen 1Cs to play with:
Vinyl by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Vandersteen 1C by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Couple of changes, AT33PTG/II comes in as well as some Vandersteen 1Cs to play with:
Vinyl by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Vandersteen 1C by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Michell Mycro / AT33PTG/II | Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk | Yamaha CD-NT670D | Bryston B60R | ATC SCM10
Blimey, been quite a few changes since the last update!
From Autumn 2015 above, this took me through to this in midway 2016. The big change was my long(ish) standing Gyro SE/M9 with AT33PTG/II and moved to a Rega P9 with the same AT33PTG/II. I wanted something simpler to setup and use, integrated dust cover and the P9 was, and is an excellent replacement.
Rega P9 by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Turntable by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I found a pair of DIY speakers using Seas Aluminium drivers and a Hypex Active/DSP amp which was fun for a bit, used with a Benchmark HDR DAC as a Pre/Dac. The Sony DVP-S9000ES went out on loan and I bought a cheap Yamaha DVD player as a transport.
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
This did not stay too long as I had the chance to have my Rega R9 speakers (on long term loan) back so I decided to setup an All-Rega system comprising of an Apollo-2000 & Mira Integrated to go with the P9 and R9s.
Rega System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
2017
Not too long after, we bought our first house with my (now) Wife, finally moving out of my 'bachelor flat'. This had a dedicated living room, not massive at around 3mx5m but at least it was not a Living Room/Diner and main room from my old flat.
I managed to add a Cursa and Maia instead of the Mira Integrated
IMGP3372 by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
This stayed for a while again but I could not quite get the R9s to work well in the room so they went off on loan again to another friend and I built a pair of Frugelhorn Lite speakers as a side project. The trusty Decware Zen came back in and although they were fun, they just sounded small. I contemplated adding a subwoofer but as always, changed direction again....
Lounge by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
2018
And then had the chance to try a pair of speakers that have been on my to-do-list for a long time, the KEF 201/2.
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
The Cursa/Maia3 combo was good but not really getting the best out of them so I bagged a great black-friday deal on a Denon PMA-2500NE, the newer version of the PMA-2000AE I had a few years back.
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
These really were superb speakers, similar to the 104/2 I had a few years ago, just great at everything, and probably up there with those and the Rega R9s as my favourite speakers. The big Denon was a great match too, oodles of power, features and pretty much all the amplifier you could want, even if its a large beast!
Tried a different room layout which I really liked the looks of but sound wise, not so much!
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I had a bit of a dip late 2018, we had a few things going on and I sold the KEFs
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I then reverted to a simple system of the Sony S9000ES, the trusty Decware Zen and added Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk battery phonostage to go with the P9. At some point here I bought the Rega Ania to replace the AT33/PTGII, very happy with it since, no desire to change.
The 2500NE came in and out and was eventually sold later in 2019.
Decware / Emmeline by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
2019
With the hifi taking a backseat, it took a while into 2019 before I started thinking about going down the DIY route once again, and this ended up with my buying a pair of Supravox 165-2000 drivers. A 6.5" wide range driver, with an AlNiCo magnet and designed for Open Baffle.
Initially I picked up a pair of test cabinets, around 100 Litres and made them into an Aperiodic (leaky closed box) and that worked pretty well for a good while but the ultimate goal, was to go down the Open Baffle route.
Supravox 165-2000 by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
At some point early in the year, I tried a Rega Saturn to keep the source side of the system tidy but I did not get on with it, as before with the Apollo-2000 and Apollo-R, I just kept coming back to the big old Sony.
Rega Saturn by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I invested in some GIK Acoustics Panels
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I also added a Something Solid EXR rack, with my own 30mm Plywood shelves.
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
This stayed the same until around the start of August where I finally got round to starting an Open Baffle project. I bought a MiniDSP 2x4HD (Pre and DSP/Crossover), made a input switch box and also a pair of Supravox 285GMF bass drivers to cover the lower end of the spectrum.
DIY Source Selector by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Some tube rolling, settled on a Mullard GZ32 and Tesla E88CC, superb!
Mullard by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Supravox by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Supravox OB by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Seen here together, with an old Cambridge Audio A5 amp from the loft to run the bass drivers, at 99dB/1m they don't need a huge amount of power!
System by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
And thats where we are. Sounding really good at the moment, still some fettling to do on the design but by far the best soundstage I have had out of any speakers, the GIK really help here. Really open and dynamic all over.
And as ever, the big Sony DVP-S9000ES and Decware Zen are ever present in and around the system, I just keep coming back to them, which I like as they have been a very cheap investment.
Last edited by hoopsontoast; 18-08-2019 at 16:10.
Michell Mycro / AT33PTG/II | Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk | Yamaha CD-NT670D | Bryston B60R | ATC SCM10