Let's See Your Stereo Or Home Theater System

[Ceptorman]

Another thread about speakers gave me this idea. I'm sure many of you have some nice sound systems, they go hand in hand with guitars and music.

I've been putting together this Klipsch system. It started out as a 2 channel rig, but recently added a center and a sub. I must say it sounds spectacular.

 

So....let's see some sound rigs....

[SteveFord]

Living room system

 

 

Crappy picture of the upstairs system

[blackdeuce]

Living room system

 

 

Crappy picture of the upstairs system

 

 

Magnapan speakers? I always loved those.

 

I haven't bought any new gear for years. My main speakers are large Von Schweikert VR-4. Main 2 channel power amp is a Coda/Continuum. Tube preamp is a conrad johnson. Music Hall turntable with Parasound phono stage. NAD cd player. Pioneer Elite SuperAudio CD/DVD. Adcom GFA555 power amp for the center channel. Adcom surround amp used to drive the rear B&W speakers. NHT 2X12 powered subwoofer. Von Schweikert center channel speaker. Cambridge Audio DAC for Dolby Digital.

 

If you're an older audiophile, you might recognize some of my stuff. :)

[SteveFord]

Guess that makes me an old audiophile! Which Conrad-johnson?

Nice gear and yep, those are 3.7s and 1.7s.

I set up a little home theater system for the wife with MMGs, MMG-Ws and a CCR-5 center channel. The CCR-5 makes the rest of the system sound kind of shabby.

[blackdeuce]

Guess that makes me an old audiophile! Which Conrad-johnson?

Nice gear and yep, those are 3.7s and 1.7s.

I set up a little home theater system for the wife with MMGs, MMG-Ws and a CCR-5 center channel. The CCR-5 makes the rest of the system sound kind of shabby.

 

 

My conrad johnson is a PV14L. It works well with the solid state amp. Coda/Continuum wasn't a household name, but it's pretty good stuff.

 

I used to read all of the gear reviews (Sterophile, What Hi-FI, etc). There was a small high-end store in KC that treated me well.

 

I also have the stupid expensive interconnects and speaker wires. Non-audiophiles would crap if they knew what those cost. LOL.

 

What are your electronics? You're obviously running large tube amplifiers. I bet it sounds awesome.

[blackdeuce]

Another thread about speakers gave me this idea. I'm sure many of you have some nice sound systems, they go hand in hand with guitars and music.

I've been putting together this Klipsch system. It started out as a 2 channel rig, but recently added a center and a sub. I must say it sounds spectacular.

 

So....let's see some sound rigs....

 

 

I bet it sounds great. Nice looking rig.

 

My surround sound system is also built around a 2 channel setup. Not the easiest way to do it, but my first love was music. Movies were secondary. But.....I have a few concert dvds that sound pretty awesome. James Taylor's "Live at Beacon Theatre" is one of them.

[Ceptorman]

Living room system

 

 

Crappy picture of the upstairs system

 

Very nice, always wanted to hear a pair of those....someday.

[Ceptorman]

I bet it sounds great. Nice looking rig.

 

My surround sound system is also built around a 2 channel setup. Not the easiest way to do it, but my first love was music. Movies were secondary. But.....I have a few concert dvds that sound pretty awesome. James Taylor's "Live at Beacon Theatre" is one of them.

 

Thanks. I use a Niles speaker switch to activate the surround system. I have an Emotive 250x2 amp for the main, the HT runs off a 12 year old Yamaha AVR, which I need to update.

[SteveFord]

There are much nicer systems than mine out there. My house is too small for what I really want.

 

 

Electronics downstairs are VTL 300 DeLuxes, deHavilland UltraVerve 3 preamp, early Well Tempered turntable with an Ortofon 2M cartridge, Jolida JD9 phono preamp, Sherwood tube tuner, a cheapie SVS sub, an Hhb BurnIt CD player with a Pacific Valve tube DAC.

 

Upstairs are VTL MB250 amps, Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 preamp, later Well Tempered turntable with an Ortofon 2M, Jolida JD9, another Sherwood tube tuner, an Hhb BurnIt used as a transport with a cheapie Art DI/O dac, a better SVS passive cylinder sub with a Dayton plate amp, speaker cables for both systems are Kimber, interconnects were made by an electrical engineer buddy, power cords are Supra LoRads I made up.

 

The only advice I can give with Magnepans is that the larger the model the better the electronics have to be as they'll show up inferior components.

 

FWIW, I've found that the REALLY good (professional) guitar players all have pretty cruddy stereo systems! They're like why bother and I can see their point. The sound systems in some of the concert halls are just tremendous.

[blackdeuce]

VTL amps and 3.7 Magnapans? Very few people will have better gear than that.

 

My system isn't the best out there, but when you play a good recording and turn out the lights, it sounds like the musician is sitting in front of you. The VR-4 speakers are quite good. I've listened to some ungodly expensive systems, so I have a decent point of reference.

 

I didn't really have the money at the time, but audio was my one vice. I spent many years assembling the system, buying pieces when I could afford them. Upgrading speakers from Vandersteen 2ci (which were quite good). Main amp from Yamaha, to Adcom, to Coda. etc.

 

My system is good enough that I tweaked it by swapping interconnects and speaker wires. The skeptics will think I'm nuts, but I could hear the difference. Certain cables added brightness, others tamed it a bit. Same with cd players. I could hear the difference. The NAD cd player is pretty good for the money. I've had more expensive cd players that eventually crapped out on me.

 

When I had kids, audio went to the back burner. I'd get frustrated because there was always a lot of noise in the house when I wanted to do some critical listening. I eventually threw in the towel. LOL.