bikeman71
New member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2014
- Messages
- 88
- Thread Author
- #1
I've been waiting for a few key parts to make their way into my system before introducing everything to y'all. For the most part, everything listed here is new to me (in the last few months.) As expected there has been a break-in period and an extended time to get everything situated. I don't pretend to have the colorful language that many possess at describing the wonderful sound of my 2 channel system, but I'll give it a shot.
Below you can see the system in all it's glory.....
I'm going to start with my impressions of the McIntosh MC501 mono blocks. These are by far the easiest to describe because to be quite honest, besides the beautiful looks, I forget that they are there. And, maybe that is the biggest compliment that could be paid to any amplifier. They simply work perfectly and consistently every time they are turned on and help reproduce the recorded sound with great power and sonic neutrality. These amps are beasts, but the footprint doesn't restrict their use to oversized amp stands. They fit perfectly on an 18"x18" amp stand and slide into my rack without any issues. And, I love the big blue meters....this particular amp must be destined to be a classic.
Next up, the PMC IB2i. I purchased these from fellow AS member "Bluemcintosh". Paul might be affectionately called a "speaker whore" and I became the beneficiary of Paul's latest casualty. I thoroughly enjoyed the transaction with Paul and we have become fast friends...it's not unusual for a flurry of late night texts where we talk about music or the latest tweaks to our system. The speakers came via freight from Toronto to Sacramento...I picked them up and brought them home to Lake Tahoe. They arrived in perfect condition (shipping is always a little stressful with big items like this) and not even fully broken in. I was moving from the PMC EB1i which I had fallen in love with...I only decided to change because I had heard about the heavenly midrange from the IB2i. They do not disappoint. When I first plugged them in, it was clear that the mids were more pronounced, but I was debating if they were actually better, or just more forward. Now, without question I can say that both are true. The female voice and acoustic guitars are two of my favorite things to enjoy, and the IB2i are just incredible. I also will sometimes relent to my mid-fi tendencies with my love of bass. Before the EB1i, I have no doubt that I ran a REL subwoofer fairly hot most of the time. Since going with the transmission line style speaker with PMC, I no longer use a subwoofer....I just don't miss it. And, if I decide to go with a little electronic music, I don't feel I'm missing anything in the lower end....the bass goes low (25 hertz) and remains tight with everything I've thrown at them. They are truly a full range speaker. They throw a terrific soundstage and image better than anything I've heard in my room. And, they are not finicky in their placement...I could never get the Sonus Faber Cremona M to match up with my room. These sound fantastic in a variety of placements, but do get better when a little time is spared to get them just right. I love the looks of a boxy English made speaker, so these fit my taste well. As a woodworker, the fit and finish of the exterior is important to me, and these are beautifully finished. The midrange domes are gawk-worthy. It's hard to keep the grills on because of their handsome appearance. I also enjoy the look of the stands. I wish the speakers had some sort of insert that was available...the only option is to place blue-tack (or something similar) as the barrier to the metal stands. I've been messing around with Stillpoints and I would love to have an option of threading them into the bottom of the speaker.
The McIntosh C2300 preamplifier has such high acclaim and has been reviewed by so many (who are way more qualified than me) that I will spare you a big read. I will simply say that the preamplifier is sensitive to tubes and rolling can be worth your time and money. Before even turning on the unit, I changed out the tubes to Gold Lion 12AX7 reissues. I've dealt with a little brightness with some recordings that got on my nerves and found that the 12AX7 was contributing to the problem. I put the stock tubes back in and things got a little better. I've since moved to the PSVANE Treasure II and love how they sound. Allow me to also say, that I'm running a full Wireworld Gold (all solid silver) loom and I think it also partly to blame for the brightness. Regardless, it's safe to say that the C2300 responds positively to tube-rolling depending on your need.
The Oppo 105D (Darbee Edition) Modwright is the latest edition to the stable. I have one of the first editions that was modified by Modwright to hit the streets. The Darbee edition has been touted for the improved picture quality for home theater enthusiasts. I was intrigued because of a lesser known change to the platform....it can now stream DSD directly from a laptop or other music server. Before Darbee, a thumb drive or other acceptable storage device was required and was controlled from the Oppo remote control. Like the C2300, the tubes were changed prior to the unit ever being turned on. Based on my experience with the 12AX7 I decided to go with the Psvane tubes in the unit. In this case the CV181-T were used (Treasure I). I also requested the external power supply be supplied with a hole in the top that was sufficient to fit the massive Emission Labs 5U4G Rectifier tube. This super flexible source is a revelation for me...a true all-in-one box that sounds amazing. First, it bests the MVP881 that it replaced by a significant margin. The soundstage and imaging doesn't sound all that different...but, for the first time I would describe the sound as approaching vinyl. I recently sold my VPI Classic because of the constant disappointment of buying expensive 180/200 gram albums only to find they sounded bad. The only conclusion I was able to come to was that the pressings have become more inconsistent than ever. But, sometimes, I would find a record that bordered on perfect. My MoFi pressing of Beck's Seachange comes to mind. The Oppo Modwright approaches and comes very close to that sound. Because I would fail miserably in describing it properly, I'm going to use a line from one of my favorite children's books.....Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl...
"It's my turn," said Badger, taking the jar and tilting his head well back. The cider gurgled and bubbled down his throat. "It's...it's like melted gold!" he gasped. "Oh, Foxy, it's...like drinking sunbeams and rainbows!"
I built the rack and stands with the help of my grandpa during this past summer back in Ohio. The solid walnut came from a tree on his farm and has been sitting in a lumber rack since the 1960s. I can't help but think it is playing a part in making my music sound a little sweeter than it could otherwise.
Thanks for taking the time to share my system with me.
Below you can see the system in all it's glory.....
I'm going to start with my impressions of the McIntosh MC501 mono blocks. These are by far the easiest to describe because to be quite honest, besides the beautiful looks, I forget that they are there. And, maybe that is the biggest compliment that could be paid to any amplifier. They simply work perfectly and consistently every time they are turned on and help reproduce the recorded sound with great power and sonic neutrality. These amps are beasts, but the footprint doesn't restrict their use to oversized amp stands. They fit perfectly on an 18"x18" amp stand and slide into my rack without any issues. And, I love the big blue meters....this particular amp must be destined to be a classic.
Next up, the PMC IB2i. I purchased these from fellow AS member "Bluemcintosh". Paul might be affectionately called a "speaker whore" and I became the beneficiary of Paul's latest casualty. I thoroughly enjoyed the transaction with Paul and we have become fast friends...it's not unusual for a flurry of late night texts where we talk about music or the latest tweaks to our system. The speakers came via freight from Toronto to Sacramento...I picked them up and brought them home to Lake Tahoe. They arrived in perfect condition (shipping is always a little stressful with big items like this) and not even fully broken in. I was moving from the PMC EB1i which I had fallen in love with...I only decided to change because I had heard about the heavenly midrange from the IB2i. They do not disappoint. When I first plugged them in, it was clear that the mids were more pronounced, but I was debating if they were actually better, or just more forward. Now, without question I can say that both are true. The female voice and acoustic guitars are two of my favorite things to enjoy, and the IB2i are just incredible. I also will sometimes relent to my mid-fi tendencies with my love of bass. Before the EB1i, I have no doubt that I ran a REL subwoofer fairly hot most of the time. Since going with the transmission line style speaker with PMC, I no longer use a subwoofer....I just don't miss it. And, if I decide to go with a little electronic music, I don't feel I'm missing anything in the lower end....the bass goes low (25 hertz) and remains tight with everything I've thrown at them. They are truly a full range speaker. They throw a terrific soundstage and image better than anything I've heard in my room. And, they are not finicky in their placement...I could never get the Sonus Faber Cremona M to match up with my room. These sound fantastic in a variety of placements, but do get better when a little time is spared to get them just right. I love the looks of a boxy English made speaker, so these fit my taste well. As a woodworker, the fit and finish of the exterior is important to me, and these are beautifully finished. The midrange domes are gawk-worthy. It's hard to keep the grills on because of their handsome appearance. I also enjoy the look of the stands. I wish the speakers had some sort of insert that was available...the only option is to place blue-tack (or something similar) as the barrier to the metal stands. I've been messing around with Stillpoints and I would love to have an option of threading them into the bottom of the speaker.
The McIntosh C2300 preamplifier has such high acclaim and has been reviewed by so many (who are way more qualified than me) that I will spare you a big read. I will simply say that the preamplifier is sensitive to tubes and rolling can be worth your time and money. Before even turning on the unit, I changed out the tubes to Gold Lion 12AX7 reissues. I've dealt with a little brightness with some recordings that got on my nerves and found that the 12AX7 was contributing to the problem. I put the stock tubes back in and things got a little better. I've since moved to the PSVANE Treasure II and love how they sound. Allow me to also say, that I'm running a full Wireworld Gold (all solid silver) loom and I think it also partly to blame for the brightness. Regardless, it's safe to say that the C2300 responds positively to tube-rolling depending on your need.
The Oppo 105D (Darbee Edition) Modwright is the latest edition to the stable. I have one of the first editions that was modified by Modwright to hit the streets. The Darbee edition has been touted for the improved picture quality for home theater enthusiasts. I was intrigued because of a lesser known change to the platform....it can now stream DSD directly from a laptop or other music server. Before Darbee, a thumb drive or other acceptable storage device was required and was controlled from the Oppo remote control. Like the C2300, the tubes were changed prior to the unit ever being turned on. Based on my experience with the 12AX7 I decided to go with the Psvane tubes in the unit. In this case the CV181-T were used (Treasure I). I also requested the external power supply be supplied with a hole in the top that was sufficient to fit the massive Emission Labs 5U4G Rectifier tube. This super flexible source is a revelation for me...a true all-in-one box that sounds amazing. First, it bests the MVP881 that it replaced by a significant margin. The soundstage and imaging doesn't sound all that different...but, for the first time I would describe the sound as approaching vinyl. I recently sold my VPI Classic because of the constant disappointment of buying expensive 180/200 gram albums only to find they sounded bad. The only conclusion I was able to come to was that the pressings have become more inconsistent than ever. But, sometimes, I would find a record that bordered on perfect. My MoFi pressing of Beck's Seachange comes to mind. The Oppo Modwright approaches and comes very close to that sound. Because I would fail miserably in describing it properly, I'm going to use a line from one of my favorite children's books.....Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl...
"It's my turn," said Badger, taking the jar and tilting his head well back. The cider gurgled and bubbled down his throat. "It's...it's like melted gold!" he gasped. "Oh, Foxy, it's...like drinking sunbeams and rainbows!"
I built the rack and stands with the help of my grandpa during this past summer back in Ohio. The solid walnut came from a tree on his farm and has been sitting in a lumber rack since the 1960s. I can't help but think it is playing a part in making my music sound a little sweeter than it could otherwise.
Thanks for taking the time to share my system with me.
.
