Steve's Rig

[Steve]

I've listened to many great amplifiers, even lived with the Mark Levinson 33H for a time. The MC2301s are not the biggest, nor are they technically the best money can buy but they are magical and have soul.

[Mike]

The MC2301s are magical and have soul.

Amen!

[Golucid]

Steve, I am captivated by all the gear still. Can you identify the pieces on the rack with the real to real. I'm also super curious about your vinyl cleaning methods. As you know, I have three machines! Oh, yeah, is that a giant magnifying glass next to you AD unit?

Of course, my favourite, your four legged friend! What an awesome room.

[Steve]

HDPLEX Linear PSU powering Foxtel IQ3 Satellite set top box. Huge audio resolution improvement. Cleaner HD video. BD like quality to HD broadcasts and IP streams.

Furutech Flux-50 inline power filter plus PowerFlux powering HDPLEX into Shunyata Hydra Talos.

Not having switch-mode PSUs is also beneficial to a system as a whole.

[Steve]

Trying out the iFi Nano DAC with Opus3 Sampler No.4 DSD128 up sampled. Nice little capable DAC and a great traveller.


Attached to C1000T with Siltech i770 RCA.

[Steve]

iFi Nano passes the litmus test. Look forward to pacing the iFi Micro DAC rig next week.

[Mike]

Beautiful Steve!

[wisnon]

iFi Nano passes the litmus test. Look forward to pacing the iFi Micro DAC rig next week.

Micro is even better!

[a.wayne]

Steve,

What are your thoughts on your Gold finger cartridge ... ?

[Steve]

Duplicate post

[Steve]

Hi A.Wayne,

I have had 3 Clearaudio carts. I loved them all. The pinnacle is the GFS and certainly is an awesome cart with a HUGE dynamic sound like tape. I would best describe it as full bodied that screams live performance in your face. You have to ask yourself though whether it's value is worth the price. I moved up through the Clearudio trade-up programme. It is safe to say, the GFS is a no compromise cart and once you have a Goldfinger Statement there is no going back.

I loathe the day I have to re tip it/replace it because it will be for another GFS.

I kind of wish that I didn't go up past the DaVinci V2. I really did love that cart also, not quite in the same league but up there and the best value cart in their range, IMO. I highly recommend it and would gladly own it again if I had more arms!

Also, the GFS has no problem pushing 1000ohms, smooth as with most material, articulating incredible resolution.

[Geardaddy]

Nice looking system Steve and lovely pics. Like Mike, you need to squeeze more equipment in-between those speakers....

[Joe P]

Nice looking system Steve and lovely pics. Like Mike, you need to squeeze more equipment in-between those speakers....

[a.wayne]

Hi A.Wayne,

I have had 3 Clearaudio carts. I loved them all. The pinnacle is the GFS and certainly is an awesome cart with a HUGE dynamic sound like tape. I would best describe it as full bodied that screams live performance in your face. You have to ask yourself though whether it's value is worth the price. I moved up through the Clearudio trade-up programme. It is safe to say, the GFS is a no compromise cart and once you have a Goldfinger Statement there is no going back.

I loathe the day I have to re tip it/replace it because it will be for another GFS.

I kind of wish that I didn't go up past the DaVinci V2. I really did love that cart also, not quite in the same league but up there and the best value cart in their range, IMO. I highly recommend it and would gladly own it again if I had more arms!

Also, the GFS has no problem pushing 1000ohms, smooth as with most material, articulating incredible resolution.

Thanks for the response Steve , yes they are special....

[Steve]

Nice looking system Steve and lovely pics. Like Mike, you need to squeeze more equipment in-between those speakers....

Thank you. If it's feasible, Why not? The deployment of this hybrid system is very useable given the intended multi-purpose application. IMO, you buy stuff to use and look after not just to look at and covert. It's going to depreciate. Some HiFi is known to have vintage collectability desirability (eg McIntosh), but if you don't use it, what's the fun in that... A good system should be used to it's fullest potential and used often as say watching TV...otherwise it is money not well spent.

I may rack another DAC...

Speaker placement is more forward than the pics taken several years ago. Notwithstanding, the plane of Dali loudspeakers are front-on. Their performance is less susceptible to compromise by the density of equipment "in between".

I'm with Mike on this one. Buy stuff to enjoy. If it's no longer giving you the satisfaction you desire, get rid of it and do something else. Life is too short to covert stuff for someone else when your dead.

[Geardaddy]

Thank you. If it's feasible, Why not? The deployment of this hybrid system is very useable given the intended multi-purpose application. IMO, you buy stuff to use and look after not just to look at and covert. It's going to depreciate. Some HiFi is known to have vintage collectability desirability (eg McIntosh), but if you don't use it, what's the fun in that... A good system should be used to it's fullest potential and used often as say watching TV...otherwise it is money not well spent.

I may rack another DAC...

Speaker placement is more forward than the pics taken several years ago. Notwithstanding, the plane of Dali loudspeakers are front-on. Their performance is less susceptible to compromise by the density of equipment "in between".

I'm with Mike on this one. Buy stuff to enjoy. If it's no longer giving you the satisfaction you desire, get rid of it and do something else. Life is too short to covert stuff for someone else when your dead.

Hi Steve. I jest of course. I think it's a beautiful system. Visually, Macintosh has a vintage grace to it. I love looking at it. I also covet the tape machine you have. Every time I see one in a system, I covet ...

As for equipment placement vis-à-vis the speakers, it's an interesting discussion. That wasn't really my intention to flag an error in your system. I do have friends who strongly believe that there should be no equipment between the speakers or it should be very low to the ground. As for physics and speaker types, it would be interesting to know what designs are the most impervious to her that phenomena.

All this being said, I think you're listening partner in photograph 3 is not terribly impressed with your system😜

[Steve]

Thank you. The Studer is one of my favorite pieces. It is something very special and sounds incredible.

Difficult to find condition, but if you come across one that has been restored and cared for, then buy it! Tape is arguably one of the best if not still the best sounding medium to this day.

[Steve]

New addition. KORG DS-DAC-10R

1 bit USB ADC-DAC. NATIVE ASIO 2.1/WDM DSD RECORDER.

Vinyl to DSD 5.6448 MHz anyone?

Could be my ticket into digital....

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[Mike]

Steve!! You're on fire of late. Let us know how this goes.

[Steve]

Nice looking system Steve and lovely pics. Like Mike, you need to squeeze more equipment in-between those speakers....

BaHahahahaha. That' exactly what I'm doing. I've had to buy 3 more shelves. Not to worry it will work. These loudspeakers perform best without toe-in, so I'm relatively safe...

[Steve]

Studer A721 and Studer A726 on its way. May take some time to commission more analogue gear with cabling.

[Golucid]

Studer A721 and Studer A726 on its way. May take some time to commission more analogue gear with cabling.

I have seen many photos of these reel to reel and cassette players lately. They look fun! Can you still buy pre-recorded music and all that stuff? I guess what I am trying to ask is what do you do with a cassette and real to real - is it like owning a turn table?

[Steve]

I have seen many photos of these real to real and cassette players lately. They look fun! Can you still buy pre-recorded music and all that stuff? I guess what I am trying to ask is what do you do with a cassette and real to real - is it like owning a turn table?

R2R is better than vinyl!!!! Yes, you can buy pre-recorded music on R2R. Expensive, and as close to the analogue master you can get.

A high quality cassette professional level deck like the Studer A721 or Nakamichi CR-7 is very close to pro R2R. Definitely on par with unmodified prosumer gear. Cassette tape head enthusiasts mainly use the cassette medium for personal recording purposes nowadays.

Tape is THE recording medium for the analogue domain. Our respective C1000 pre-amps were built for the job.

[Golucid]

R2R is better than vinyl!!!! Yes, you can buy pre-recorded music on R2R. Expensive, and as close to the analogue master you can get.

A high quality cassette professional level deck like the Studer A721 or Nakamichi CR-7 is very close to pro R2R. Definitely on par with unmodified prosumer gear. Cassette tape head enthusiasts mainly use the cassette medium for personal recording purposes nowadays.

Tape is THE recording medium for the analogue domain. Our respective C1000 pre-amps were built for the job.

I thought of getting a R2R as a kewl decoration and had no intention of using it other than a conversation piece - it's so old! I love it. What do you listen on R2R - some examples? Any modern music? I do like some old stuff like Bowie, Zep and stuff. But mainly, I like stuff from the late 90s/2000s. Any techno high energy stuff on R2R?

BTW: I did a quick query on eBay. Gasp, the stuff available appears rather ancient!

David

[Steve]

David, Please chime in on the new R2R thread. Would love to have this discussion there. This is something you may want to do. You have the perfect rig for a R2R. Mike is into it too.

Not really those genres though. You can find lots of jazz and blues on R2R tape. It is also a convenient recording medium for when you don't feel like spinning vinyl. Tape is easier to enjoy and certainly the mechanical precision of the medium is a cool conversation piece.

1/4" is the way to go. Forget about eBay. Here is your starting point: http://tapeproject.com/

[Steve]

McIntosh MDA1000 on its way. Soon I will learn what the all the legacy fuss is all about!

I also hope to have the opportunity to compare against another classic with a Philips TDA 1541 DAC.

[Garth]

That looks great a lot of horse power. But most important it looks like the dog likes it.

[Steve]

Maintenance Day! Don't you just hate this fricken job... I do, so time to get The Lady involved in that!

[Mike]

Maintenance Day! Don't you just hate this fricken job... I do, so time to get The Lady involved in that!

Steve - how many hours are you finding you are getting out of the KT88's?

[Steve]

Steve - how many hours are you finding you are getting out of the KT88's?

Mike...This is a VERY interesting question. I'm still testing and comparing to my Jan 2013 readings as the baseline. 2/3rds are 12 months older.

The results so far indicate that on average after approx 8,500 hours of daily use they are less than 10% below spec. The avg is closer to 8% overall. I AM VERY IMPRESSED BY THE RESULTS.

Out of 36, one went supernova a month or so ago and two currently read in the 50's. So I will match and swap a mere 2 tubes out.

I found that if you buy HOT matched sets, they appear that they will last a very long time.

This hot tube here perfectly demonstrates that it has lost nothing since JAN13 and has nearly 8,500 hours on it. It reads exactly the same as 2013.

As for the TFK ECC801S, well they are reading immortal.



They get on average 8 hours a day because of the HT hybrid setup. You know, I fall asleep often in front of the TV doing work, deals and Audioshark...

Maybe it's the clean power that is prolonging their life?

[Mike]

Interesting Steve. The one tube that measures the same as it did in Jan 2013, is it in the same tube slot? I'm wondering if the location of the tube has an affect on its life? Does the #1 slot drive tubes harder than the #4 slot for example?

Good job...interesting research we can all learn from.

[Steve]

Yes that tube was from the rear quad (v1+) centre, but saying that the two duds were also from the rear quads. (v5-) L&R. So maybe, v5- takes the final brunt/shunt?

So, I haven't really discovered a correlation because everything else looks fairly even.

Looks like they need more time!

I might do a rematch shuffle despite the MC2301s auto bias being quite forgiving. ----Probably not, they remain quite well matched.

Another quick look at the numbers and retest of tube v5- would suggest that v5- cops it hard when it gets it.

[Golucid]

@Steve. I keep going back and looking at your gear. Snazzzzzy - my favourite rig photos of all time. Not showing my rig until it looks on par with yours!

[Steve]

Lol. It's McIntosh and you have 10 of everything!

[Golucid]

It's true. I have a bunch of McIntosh. I had custom built iron racks to hold my two MC2301s. Each rack holds two. I worked with Chuck at McIntosh a tiny bit to make certain I had per spec, proper ventilation clearance.

I am designing a rack now that will optionally support two TTs side by side.


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[Golucid]

BTW: I have studied your rig carefully for ideas!


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[Steve]

Dusty tubes do not sound as good as clean ones.

[Steve]

Additional HiFi real estate to make way for more boxes!

[Golucid]

Steve, did you remove the protective tube grill covers from your M2301s and if so, why?

[Steve]

Steve, did you remove the protective tube grill covers from your M2301s and if so, why?

I prefer them off for ease of maintenance and aesthetics reasons. I don't believe that performance is compromised at all. However some may argue that the cages perform like a faraday cage and help shield the tubes from external EM and RF influences.

All my cables are shielded, most are braided with Flexo Conductive, carbon filament. The amps are powered with Siltech which have zero emissions.

Sometime ago, I did trial some unshielded power cables in my system. They didn't work in my setup. Furthermore, I firmly believe that all cables need to be shielded and don't subscribe to any pseudo science tripe that advocates that unshielded offers a performance advantage.

[Golucid]

@Steve. More questions:

1. I may have missed it in your posts, but what are the plans for the space beneath your center speaker?
2. MDA1000 delivery ETA?
3. Using stock or 3rd part tubes?

[Steve]

@Steve. More questions:

1. I may have missed it in your posts, but what are the plans for the space beneath your center speaker?
2. MDA1000 delivery ETA?
3. Using stock or 3rd part tubes?

1. Studer A721 cassette deck and A726 Tuner monitor. Possibly one of these on the right rack under the Studer A810. I'm thinking about a Lumin U1, possibly in black. Not sure, need to experiment with placement and then order cables for each.

2. MDA1000 left rack of Mac.

3. 3rd part tubes in all Mac gear. Gold Lion KT88 reissues, Telefunken ECC801S and ECC803S NOS, Tesla E83CC goal label NOS.

[Steve]

Studer A810 MKIII s/n:7979 EPROM 2591, 2mm rec/repro heads, A820 trafoless line stage cards. Mine is a 3-speed, no time-code track, no Dolby and no monitor speaker. This is my preferred "stock audiophile" configuration although I would have been happy with the 30ips upgrade. But as everyone knows, 30ips will wear your heads down real fast. 15ips is where the audiophile is at anyhow and 7.5ips for home recordings is still very fine.

Recently found some beautiful NOS Revox take-up reels, various colours. On it's way is a remote control.

Shelf below is for a Studer A721 on it's way from Switzerland.

[Golucid]

Gorgeous

[Steve]

Studer A726 tuner has landed. Looks brand new. Beautiful. Have it racked and test toned but need to make up a coaxial to outside aerial. I was going to hook this up to the Denon's spare XLR inputs and route to the C1000T via passthru and selective triggering for the 2ch pure direct unity gain but decided against this.

Given that there are another 2 new fully balanced pieces on their way (Studer A721 and McIntosh MDA1000), I've decided to go with a C1000P to drive the additional gear while it is still available. New photos when racked.

[Golucid]

Studer A726 tuner has landed.

Congrats, it looks complicated and pretty.

I don't know that I have ever intentionally listened to radio. I take that back, when I bought both my Mercedes SLS AMG and SL65 AMG, both came with free subscriptions to Sat elite radio. I recall setting it up and plowing through stations quickly within a few minutes. I never used the service and let it expire. I have never tuned either AM or FM. Is radio very popular in Australia? What do you like about radio that I should be aware of. Maybe I might consider it??? LOL...I don't think any of my friends have ever used Radio either. However, when I do marathon runs, there seems to be a radio sponsor at the events but I don't pay much attention because I am all nerves about the run and chatting up my friends

[Steve]

I enjoy listening to classic rock and 80's. Analogue FM has the ability to transmit incredible resolution that surpasses digital radio. Analogue FM can sound amazing with the right equipment provided the broadcast is not compressed.

The Studer A726 is a fully balanced professional studio tuner monitor and one of the best receivers ever made. The station broadcast quality is as good as it gets. It's really going to get down to that and regional content which includes advertising and talkback.

[Steve]

Latest analogue addition racked. Studer A726 Professional Tuner Monitor. For the one little indian that occasionally listens to the r.a.d.i.o.

thread here: Studer A726 Professional Tuner Monitor

[jdandy]

Steve.......Fine looking tuner. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to purchase a Revox tuner. There are a number of different models that are quite nice.

[Steve]

Studer A721 Cassette Recorder landed and racked. Unit is calibrated to specification. It has a wonderful dynamic range and depth of presence. Have a stack of the best NOS sealed TypeIV metal cassettes ever made for casual recording from my other sources.

Father and son below.