Thread: Chops' Current System Pics ....

So I was just playing this album Saturday afternoon. It's not the best recording of this piece, but it's not bad either. (BTW, I played this piece back when I was in orchestra, 1st chair bass, and loved it).

Anyway, so I was playing this piece this past Saturday afternoon through my Quad Artera Pre preamp, and was really cranking it by the 4th track.

Track 4: Maestoso - Allegro

Bass from the pipe organ rumbling at full tutti, orchestra at full tilt, brass, winds and percussions blasting, and I was happy and the system was sounding pretty darn good! I had a big ol' smile on my chops!

Well... I just did it again today, literally moments ago, only this time with the Pass XP-20 in the chain. This is the first time I really opened up the taps on the XP-20, all the way up to "68" on the volume!

Let me tell you, it was a totally different experience! A whole lot more visceral, a lot more tactile, a sense of a much larger venue, more air and space and dimension between the instruments. There's more texture and inner detail throughout. Stage width and depth are greater.

And this is with the XP-20 being on for roughly 30 hours straight so far. Anther 20 to 30 hours might improve things a little more. Who knows. It was packed up for around 3 to 4 weeks, so it may have some "waking up" to do again.

Not to sidetrack because this post is about the improvements the Pass XP-20 brings to my system, but I have to say again how impressed I am with this old Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 amp of mine as well. This is three different times now that I have hear this amp scale up with the upgrades I have made upstream.

There's a lot better amps out there, I know. But for what it is and what it's capable of doing is pretty darn amazing. This is a good thing. This will allow me to be happy to hold onto this amp for a while longer and save up at my leisure for an amp or amps that will truly take the system up a few more notches.

More to come, I'm sure. :grin:

Originally Posted by chops

Picked up a new (to me) piece of kit this morning!... Pass Labs XP-20 with upgraded Revelation Audio Labs 'Passage' CryoSilver Dual Conduit Reference umbilical cord.

Very nice!

Here's some updated pics of my system. Within the past month, I have upgraded my Hisense 65" LED TV to a Samsung 75" QN85B Neo QLED TV, upgraded the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 to an Auralic Altair G1, and lastly just last weekend, upgraded the Quad Artera preamp to a Pass Labs XP-20.



All three are vast improvements over the units they replaced, most importantly the Auralic and Pass. Wow!

Nice, looking good. -2 points for no cats in pictures though.

Originally Posted by AJ Soundfield

Nice, looking good. -2 points for no cats in pictures though.

Thank you sir! Though I couldn't help with the cats. I had just got done vacuuming the house and this room, so they were all where I wasn't. LOL


But here's a pic from about 30 minutes later after all the noise was gone...

One of the mains reasons I wanted to get the Pass XP-20... It has an honest "Tape Loop"! I just got the analog side of the system connected to it.

A spicy pair of custom Odyssey Audio Stratos monoblocks for the Maggies!







Even Sir Bentley already approves of them!




And yes, I'm running them through a heavy duty extension cable my father made many many years ago. Stupid ground issues in this room/house (not 60Hz hum, but an annoying buzz). This is just going to put the dedicated 20amp runs to this room to the top of the priority list for this coming fall.

AJ, this time you can't give me negative points for no kitties in the pics. LOL

It amazes me how these amps alone make the Maggies and subwoofers sound larger and stronger. These amps also seem to make the integration between the Maggies and subs that much better as well. Should be even better once I get some dedicated 20amp lines in this room.

I can't believe you gave up a stack of Schiit for Pass and Odyssey
I am not surprised these amps sound good with Maggies. High Current and somehow created with Bass in mind. I like that the internal wiring was done with Groneburg Cabling in my Stratos+. I bought a set of the GB ICs at the same time as the amp but used them to tame a bright system.

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

I can't believe you gave up a stack of Schiit for Pass and Odyssey
I am not surprised these amps sound good with Maggies. High Current and somehow created with Bass in mind. I like that the internal wiring was done with Groneburg Cabling in my Stratos+. I bought a set of the GB ICs at the same time as the amp but used them to tame a bright system.

Yeah, I had a lot of Schiit back in the day. LOL Speaking of that, I had my Khartago Kismet when the very first Schiit Bifrost came out, which I also had at the time.

These amps have certainly "beefed up" the bass and upper bass of the Maggies for sure, which is most likely why they now seem to integrate better with the subs, which I still have crossed over at 37 Hz (the Maggies are playing fullrange). And with that heavy duty damping factor of these amps, the bass the Maggies are putting out now is more detailed and articulate with a healthy bit of punch.

These Stratos amps also have the Groneburg Quattro Reference/TS Premium cabling throughout, as well as many Symphonic Line caps everywhere, tweaked "SE" boards, and a few more goodies including the really nice WBT Topline RCA's and binding posts out back.

Make-shift amp stands utilizing a couple shelves from my old audio rack and those white quartz slabs I had made some years ago. Just something to get them off the floor. I was going to buy a couple of Pangea amp stands to match the two audio racks I already have, but I think I want to go with something better, so these will work for now.











And my little music/audio buddy still approves!

Great pic Charles !!

Thank you, sir!

Haven't used this old gem in a while. 44 years old and still works and looks like new when my father purchased it back in 1979.

Really nice pic..!!! And that turntable is indestructible...

Nice arrangement of gear you have there and a plus with the kitties.

Originally Posted by Fer1000

Really nice pic..!!! And that turntable is indestructible...

Thank you!

I believe my father purchased that turntable in Manhattan (his office was on the 51st floor of the Empire State Building). We lived in East Hartford, CT at the time. That table went from there to Jacksonville, FL, then to Lakeland, FL, then to Niagara Falls, NY, back to Lakeland, then to St Petersburg, FL, back to Lakeland again, and now in Winter Haven.

It has never skipped a beat and the ONLY two repairs done to it was replacing the old auto tonearm return belt about 6 years ago, and about 4 years before that, I replaced/upgraded the stock RCA connectors because one of the channels started an intermittent issue which was in the stock connector.

Originally Posted by Audioseduction

Nice arrangement of gear you have there and a plus with the kitties.

Thank you, George!

I'm very grateful that I have been able to make such significant upgrades to this system in the past year. And of course, the kitties are a necessity for proper music reproduction and relaxation.

One of these days I'm going to make it all the way from Wesley Chapel to Winter Haven if invited.

Hahahaha, pack lunch hell of a trip Dat ..!


Regards

Originally Posted by brad225

One of these days I'm going to make it all the way from Wesley Chapel to Winter Haven if invited.

You're invited! At least my walls won't stab you if you get too close to them. LOL

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Hahahaha, pack lunch hell of a trip Dat ..!


Regards

It's not that bad. Just over 50 miles, about an hour drive or so. I used to do more than that when I lived in St Pete and worked in Lakeland... 60 miles each way, twice a day.