- Thread Author
- #1
G'day from the west coast down under and a belated introduction to the Audioshark community.
I've been here a while but haven't until this point contributed much by way of presenting my own system. More so because it's being an ongoing work in progress. Until now that is with my most recent addition being the YG Acoustics Rack 1.4. My dealer has been bugging me for years saying my system is only missing one thing, and that was the rack. Well, I bought it six months ago and finally got around to installing it today. My system has been down all that time whilst undergoing a DIY home renovation.
Anyway, here it is.
The heart of the system is Halcro monoblock powered Magico with Esoteric as the source. It's a dual purpose music and home theater in a dedicated acoustically treated small space for one. The home theater side is capable but only occupies about 10% of the time. Music is my focus. The home theater consists of a 24TB Kaleidescape server and several players throughout the house. The HT processor is a Krell Foundation 7.1. JVC faux-4K video projector to a 92" Stewart Greyhawk RS Electriscreen. It is routed via my Halcro pre-amp HT bypass so the main speakers are used for both music and movies. The center channel speaker is a Magico ACC and the subwoofer is a Magico S-Sub. The ACC speaker stand is a DIY work in progress so I'm just using a table to sit the speaker on for the time being. All the movie content is loaded on the 24TB Kaleidescape server with all BR physical discs stored in the 320 disc vault for playback verification. There is so much content on the system I could never watch it all in a lifetime. I've owned the Kaleidescape for about 15 years, upgrading over time as new models come out. Unfortunately here in Australia we a locked out of the Kaleidescape digital download service, so my video maxes out at 1080P. I did have a Lumagen Radiance Pro video processor for a few years but I sold it to finance other things.
The music system comprises an Esoteric Grandioso SACD/CD transport, Esoteric N-01 streamer/DAC, Esoteric G-02X master clock generator, Halcro dm8 pre-amp and my precious babies Magico M3 speakers. I ordered the M3's on standard M-feet spikes but eventually upgraded to Mpods. I had previous experience with these Magico pod thingies as My Q3's were on S-pods and I also owned two sets of Q-pods. The power amps are Halcro dm88 monoblocks. Power comes via a Shunyata Research Denali and a PS Audio P3 power plant. All cables are Shunyata Sigma and Crystal Cable Ultra Diamond. The home network is all Pakedge router/switches/wifi etc. All the important electronics sit on Critical Mass Center Stage 2 footers.
Prior to buying the Magico M3's I owned Magico Q3 (which I still have), Magico S3, Wilson Sophia v3, Coincident Technology Pure Reference Extreme, and Definitive Technology BP10 (which I also still have). I have also owned a lot of PS Audio gear over the years but all of it broke down sooner or later and I rate it as junk and sold the lot, except for the Power Plant P3 which I eventually hope to upgrade to another Shunyata power conditioner.
All my music CD's are also stored on the Kaleidescape system which can't be beaten for convenience and utility. The Kaleidescape player is also connected to the N-01 so I have the choice of playback from the server or I can spin the physical disc in the Grandioso Transport.
My final upgrade path is Esoteric Grandioso D1X mono DAC's and as I mentioned before another Shunyata power conditioner. I bought two Shunyata Sigma clock-50 cables in anticipation of the D1X coming but I ended up putting that money towards the YG rack as a higher priority. With the D1X and a new Shunyata I'll be complete. I subscribe to Spotify pemium and for sound quality it comes pretty close to playing the CD. If I discover new music on Spotify I like I'll buy the CD, so I've done a lot of A/B'ing between CD and Spotify. If I didn't have the Grandioso spinner I'd be happy just listening to Spotify exclusively. No plans to upgrade the HT, that JVC-DLA projector and the Krell processor just blow me away every time. I don't turn my gear over very often, I buy everything new and tend to keep it for a long time.
Thanks for reading.
I've been here a while but haven't until this point contributed much by way of presenting my own system. More so because it's being an ongoing work in progress. Until now that is with my most recent addition being the YG Acoustics Rack 1.4. My dealer has been bugging me for years saying my system is only missing one thing, and that was the rack. Well, I bought it six months ago and finally got around to installing it today. My system has been down all that time whilst undergoing a DIY home renovation.
Anyway, here it is.
The heart of the system is Halcro monoblock powered Magico with Esoteric as the source. It's a dual purpose music and home theater in a dedicated acoustically treated small space for one. The home theater side is capable but only occupies about 10% of the time. Music is my focus. The home theater consists of a 24TB Kaleidescape server and several players throughout the house. The HT processor is a Krell Foundation 7.1. JVC faux-4K video projector to a 92" Stewart Greyhawk RS Electriscreen. It is routed via my Halcro pre-amp HT bypass so the main speakers are used for both music and movies. The center channel speaker is a Magico ACC and the subwoofer is a Magico S-Sub. The ACC speaker stand is a DIY work in progress so I'm just using a table to sit the speaker on for the time being. All the movie content is loaded on the 24TB Kaleidescape server with all BR physical discs stored in the 320 disc vault for playback verification. There is so much content on the system I could never watch it all in a lifetime. I've owned the Kaleidescape for about 15 years, upgrading over time as new models come out. Unfortunately here in Australia we a locked out of the Kaleidescape digital download service, so my video maxes out at 1080P. I did have a Lumagen Radiance Pro video processor for a few years but I sold it to finance other things.
The music system comprises an Esoteric Grandioso SACD/CD transport, Esoteric N-01 streamer/DAC, Esoteric G-02X master clock generator, Halcro dm8 pre-amp and my precious babies Magico M3 speakers. I ordered the M3's on standard M-feet spikes but eventually upgraded to Mpods. I had previous experience with these Magico pod thingies as My Q3's were on S-pods and I also owned two sets of Q-pods. The power amps are Halcro dm88 monoblocks. Power comes via a Shunyata Research Denali and a PS Audio P3 power plant. All cables are Shunyata Sigma and Crystal Cable Ultra Diamond. The home network is all Pakedge router/switches/wifi etc. All the important electronics sit on Critical Mass Center Stage 2 footers.
Prior to buying the Magico M3's I owned Magico Q3 (which I still have), Magico S3, Wilson Sophia v3, Coincident Technology Pure Reference Extreme, and Definitive Technology BP10 (which I also still have). I have also owned a lot of PS Audio gear over the years but all of it broke down sooner or later and I rate it as junk and sold the lot, except for the Power Plant P3 which I eventually hope to upgrade to another Shunyata power conditioner.
All my music CD's are also stored on the Kaleidescape system which can't be beaten for convenience and utility. The Kaleidescape player is also connected to the N-01 so I have the choice of playback from the server or I can spin the physical disc in the Grandioso Transport.
My final upgrade path is Esoteric Grandioso D1X mono DAC's and as I mentioned before another Shunyata power conditioner. I bought two Shunyata Sigma clock-50 cables in anticipation of the D1X coming but I ended up putting that money towards the YG rack as a higher priority. With the D1X and a new Shunyata I'll be complete. I subscribe to Spotify pemium and for sound quality it comes pretty close to playing the CD. If I discover new music on Spotify I like I'll buy the CD, so I've done a lot of A/B'ing between CD and Spotify. If I didn't have the Grandioso spinner I'd be happy just listening to Spotify exclusively. No plans to upgrade the HT, that JVC-DLA projector and the Krell processor just blow me away every time. I don't turn my gear over very often, I buy everything new and tend to keep it for a long time.
Thanks for reading.
