• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

The kit we bought, our current setups

direstraitsfan98

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
826
Likes
1,225
Do I spy with my little eye... a Schiit! Heathen! :cool:
It was one of the first things I purchased. I was quite nooby back then. I still have a Schiit dac but I just can't be bothered to get anything else since to my ears they all sounded the same. I'm not taking advantage of the balanced inputs/outputs of it though so I probably should get something cheaper and pocket the extra money.
 

NTomokawa

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
779
Likes
1,334
Location
Canada
It was one of the first things I purchased. I was quite nooby back then. I still have a Schiit dac but I just can't be bothered to get anything else since to my ears they all sounded the same. I'm not taking advantage of the balanced inputs/outputs of it though so I probably should get something cheaper and pocket the extra money.
Get on an "audiophile" forum and sell it. Say that it's been fully burned-in after all these years of use!
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,073
Likes
16,609
Location
Central Fl

direstraitsfan98

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
826
Likes
1,225
What kind of speakers are they?
They were a custom built, limited run all hand made by Robert Gaboury from Arteluthe, he had previously worked at Gemme Audio and designed the Katana loudspeaker. My particular unit used a 15" Beyma woofer, the cabinet was tuned to 50hz, but could reach down even lower then my JBL's can. Was the best bass I ever had! On top was a 3" compression driver, loaded into a smith horn. All hand crafted solid oak cabentry, stuffed with real wool, and all paper in oil capacitors.

He also sold ones using rare vintage TAD drivers. I believe Tube de Force still has a pair in the local area if you want to go hear them for yourself and are in the GTA.
 

direstraitsfan98

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
826
Likes
1,225
You can search google for 'arteluthe cadenza' and you'll find many pics and posts of them which I've talked about it in detail in other places.
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,073
Likes
16,609
Location
Central Fl
You can search google for 'arteluthe cadenza' and you'll find many pics and posts of them which I've talked about it in detail in other places.
Thanks, the horn really intreged me. I love that stuff, if I only had the room. :(
 

NickK

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2019
Messages
10
Likes
5
Hi sorry I’m not in the same league as most of you :) my stuff was bought in 1998

Musical Fidelity A220
Myriad MC100 (1996 single bit DAC variant).
Castle Harlechs

Too short of space and the Mrs and I have very different musical tastesso most of the time it’s Mac mini + AGK 240mkII.

Looking to add a dac/headphone amp then upgrade the headphones when the AGKs finally kick the bucket.

I have mrs approval + funds for a soekris, however this may be later in the year personal reasons.
 

Guillermo Luijk

New Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
4
Likes
15
Location
Madrid
datalab2.jpg


The monitors are 2-way 8" DIY using Beyma stuff (a high performance/price ratio local manufacturer), around 25 years ago during my college time, so as the Philips amplifier dated the same age but still working :D

Just using a Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen as a decent low latency DAC.

Regards
 
Last edited:

Guillermo Luijk

New Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
4
Likes
15
Location
Madrid
Cool beans, although you might want to prop your speakers up to avoid any desk coupling/reflection issues?
I'll do something like that. Anyway the truth is 8" are oversized for this space and for my neighbours' comfort. I was thinking of building something more adequate with 5" stuff, like the d'Apollito I made for the living room:

dapollito.jpg
 
Last edited:

direstraitsfan98

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
826
Likes
1,225
xX8p1fs.jpg


I don't miss them but they were probably the nicest finished cabinets on any speaker I ever owned.
 

Robin L

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
5,213
Likes
7,593
Location
1 mile east of Sleater Kinney Rd
Recently re-purchased the AKG K167 headphones [a steal at $50] replacing the stock ear pads with ear pads from the Sennheiser Urbanite XL 'phones. The Urbanite pads allow a little distance between the plastic surfaces holding the drivers and your ears. Better seal, more consistent deep bass. The Fiio X1 DAP is hitched to Fiio's Mont Blanc e12a amp. The only "basshead" ['specially with the bass switch engaged on the Mont Blanc] 'phones I've heard where the bass doesn't leak into the mids.
image.jpg
 

majingotan

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
1,511
Likes
1,781
Location
Laguna, Philippines
Chord Mojo + Campfire Audio Vega

42911821290_d3037f4a55_h_d.jpg
 

OdysseusG

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
60
Likes
81
Another lurker who finally signed up. I'm in the process of overhauling my system and look forward to pretty pictures when the theater room is finished...if it ever is. This is one of the few places where I could imagine people saying "well, that's not the most complicated thing I've ever heard of"

Sources: Pro-ject Xperience, low use; Oppo 105, medium; Bluesound Node, heavy; Oppo 203, biding its time
Pre(s): Krell HTS 7.1 for multichannel; DEQX HDP-4 as stereo pre, speaker correction, active crossovers. Room correction eventually as well
DAC(s): from the digital outputs of the DEQX, 2 SMSL M500
Amps: Wyred4Sound SX-1000 monoblocks for the bass, Hafler 9505 and Fosgate Audionics 500.2 (read: facelifted Hafler 9505 after Fosgate bought them out) for the mid/tweets, Rotel 1095 for multichannels
Speakers: dual Rythmik F18s, Magnepan 20s, CCR, DWM(s), and MMC2

Bonus system: PC>SMSL SU8 V2>
Monoprice Monolith THX887>HD800
or
Behringer Monitor 1 (dat knob)>random Yamaha stereo receiver>Mini Maggies

Future plans, short term and not so short:
Dedicated listening/theater room, about 19x22x12, currently being drawn up.
Trial Roon after upgrading my QNAP as much as possible
I'm very tempted to go full 3-way active on the speakers, which would mean either another DEQX in a master-slave configuration, or alternatively maybe a Minidsp SHD. Pretty much on hold till a cheap used DEQX pops up, or Dirac Bass Management Module is up and running
-either of the above should allow 4 sub management, so 2 more subs. Given the sheer size, this is probably pending on the finished new room
New amps, ideally Hypex NC500s on mids and maybe tweets, maybe a Benchmark AHB2 for tweets. Budget skews distastefully amp heavy in that scenario, though. Probably class D for the rest of the multichannel too
Okto Dac8- currently experiencing difficulties in getting Krell and DEQX to play nice. Could keep the latter at line level as a makeshift HT bypass and...I just realized this is still tricky. Hmm... well, the Okto still saves me a couple boxes and more importantly, power outlets. Sooo many cables back there
New processor with Dirac, ideally digital outputs (unlikely), and probably Atmos. Monoprice HTP-1 looks compelling, pending Dirac Bass Module.
-some mix of MMC2s and MC1s for remaining surround and height channels

Hopefully, someday before I die, my Smyth Realiser A16 preorder will finally be delivered. Fingers crossed
 

Alt-Wrong

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2019
Messages
12
Likes
13
Location
portland, oregon
warm greetings everyone-

became a lurking member here months ago, but only recently began posting (this is my 2nd).
it’s so nice to have a forum where objectivity and analysis is at the core.

been getting my hands dirty in hi-fi since my high school days back in the 70s.
started with a yamaha CR-400 receiver, garrard turntable, and epicure speakers.
later that decade i assembled two heathkits: AA-1800 amp, and AP-1800 pre.
they were fed by a dual turntable and revox B77 r-to-r, and they powered
a pair of speakerlab S30 speaks (with nestorovic bass alignment), built from kits.

got into digital in the 90s via audio alchemy (and dusty vawter’s (channel island) mods),
with their dacs, de-jitterers, power supply upgrades, and I2S connections.
digital pursued further, along with room correction, in the 00s via Tact 2.2x “pre” and S2150 digi amps.

currently using an auralic vega (original) as my digital hub, directly feeding four channels
of a bryston 9B-thx (slid the middle channel out) to bi-amp a pair of gradient helsinki 1.5s.
sources for the vega: apple tv3 toslink, oppo bdp-103 dig-out, kanexpro haecoax de-embedder,
usb, and spdif coming in from MF vlink 192 and audiophilleo usb converters- the vega’s exact
clock mode prefers a long spdif run over a long usb cable run.
all the gear gets its common power from from a cinepro balanced power transformer (i.e., -60 - 0 - +60).

in the future, for hobby fun, i may try to use only the ‘sinki’s bass speakers to provide the
bottom freq’s for some jbl synthesis sam1hf/sam2lf modules (bought off ebay awhile back),
all x-over’d using my minidsp nano-digi/microphone/REW and additional dac/amp channels.
it ain’t gonna be pretty, but curious how that “fast dipole bass” would team up with very
efficient upper bass, mids and tweeters.

have a great 2020, and a big thanks to amir for hosting this party.
cheers
 
Last edited:

OdysseusG

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
60
Likes
81
Welcome, @Alt-Wrong
It seems like one of us is the evil twin of the other; I've been contemplating crossing my more efficient subs higher to my terribly inefficient fast dipole upper bass, mids, and tweeters. Crossovers are fairly difficult. I can't yet say I recommend it, but if you're in this fair that probably shouldn't stop you. It's a while new exciting/terrifying world of tweaking.
 

Alt-Wrong

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2019
Messages
12
Likes
13
Location
portland, oregon
Welcome, @Alt-Wrong
It seems like one of us is the evil twin of the other; I've been contemplating crossing my more efficient subs higher to my terribly inefficient fast dipole upper bass, mids, and tweeters. Crossovers are fairly difficult. I can't yet say I recommend it, but if you're in this fair that probably shouldn't stop you. It's a while new exciting/terrifying world of tweaking.
thanks for the welcome, OG.
the maggies, combined with those 18” sealed subs, should have absolutely no
problem whatsoever reproducing “scale”.
i was just looking at stereophile’s mg-20 review earlier in the day...
https://www.stereophile.com/content/magnepan-mg-20-loudspeaker
...and thought gradient’s nero dipole subs,
a stacked vertical pair on each side (SW-D),
would make a nice dipole-to-dipole pairing with the maggies...
http://www.gradient.fi/en/loudspeakers/11-gradient-xo-amp.html
...the nero’s taking over at 200hz and relieving the 20s from their low-end load.
probably not going to pressurize the room the way the F18s will,
but the result should be deeply articulate.
 

RickSanchez

Major Contributor
Cartographer
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
1,168
Likes
2,491
Location
Austin, TX
This is my vinyl / FM setup. Orders of magnitude more budget than most setups posted here (all in I paid well under $1k) and nowhere near the same SQ. But I enjoy it.

  • Turntable: Rega RP1 (with the perf pack upgrade, which includes the Rega Bias 2 MM cartridge).
  • Integrated Amp: harman/kardon hk670 (circa 1979)
  • Speakers: KLH Model Six (circa 1969). I have the later model where the woofer is attached via screws, not epoxy.
  • Speaker wire: Monoprice 12AWG copper wire

IMG_6447.jpg


IMG_6446.jpg
 

Martin

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
Messages
1,896
Likes
5,536
Location
Cape Coral, FL
IMG-0491.jpg
Opera Consonance LP-2.0 turntable, Mørch UP-4 tonearm & Grado Reference Sonata 2 moving iron cartridge.

IMG-0493.jpg

Topping DX7s DAC, 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 running Volumio, Pro-Ject Phono Box RS phono preamp.

IMG-0488.jpg
Little Bear MC3 2-IN-2-OUT XLR/RCA audio switch (not in use), Yisheng relay based volume controller, YS-Audio Audio Experience Balanced A2 preamp, Squeaky Clean Vinyl MK-III RCM 3D Printed Record Cleaner and my record collection. Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones (not pictured).

IMG-0486.jpg
Von Schweikert VR-4 Gen III HSE speakers, DIY 1000ASP ICEpower monoblocks & Tube Fantasy 300B PSET monoblocks.

Martin
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom