2 channel is back*

quadzilla

*At my place.

Not much right now, but a starter system is in place.

Empire TT w/ Shelter 501
Aural Thrills tube phono stage
Pio Elite DV-47ai
Pio Elite cassette
Old HK receiver that I'm using the pre outs on (pre-digital effect, so it's actually all analog). Hopefully, this will be replaced with a PAS-3 Saturday.
Some amp that I won't mention due to past arguements on this site.
Polk LS50s

I didn't realize how much I missed 2 channel until I got it all hooked up and got the hums fixed. Still like my HT and surround, but a pure 2 channel rig definitely has it's own great vibe. And I like it better than running 2 channel on the HT rig.

mhardy6647

hmmm... which Empire turntable?
:-)

danz1906

Congrats!

thsmith

Have fun ROb !

quadzilla

mhardy6647 wrote: »

hmmm... which Empire turntable?
:-)

The one shown here. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101436

And thanks Tracy. Dave is coming by Saturday for a listen. Why don't you swing by with him?

TNHNDYMAN

beautiful TT enjoy

mhardy6647

TNHNDYMAN wrote: »

beautiful TT enjoy

yeppers, it be, indeed.

quadzilla

So here it is all together, with the addition of the PAS-3 sitting on top of the amp. Ignore the mess. I'm still figuring out how to arrange things. And no crap about the amp. It may or may not get replaced soon. Eventually, I will go tubes on the amp.

I'll likely hang on to this preamp for awhile though. It's already been pretty heavily modified by Audio Dimensions.

It definitely sounds good. Got a little laugh when a couple friends from here came by and gave it a listen, and one remarked that "it sounds better than it should." I couldn't argue, since even I was surprised at how much better the PAS made the rig sound.

Synergy... gotta love it when it works with you. It's ok to hate it the rest of the time

newrival

great TT, I really like the 208/298. Is that a retrofitted rb300 arm? Ive got a 598 that I really love but enjoy the 990 arm well enough not to start cutting into it to mount a new one. looks like a great mod though.

quadzilla

It's a heavily modified 250.

thsmith

quadzilla wrote: »

Got a little laugh when a couple friends from here came by and gave it a listen, and one remarked that "it sounds better than it should." I couldn't argue, since even I was surprised at how much better the PAS made the rig sound.

Synergy... gotta love it when it works with you. It's ok to hate it the rest of the time

Rob, I think I was the one that said that. Your setup does sound sweet.

It was nice to listen to someone else's system for a change.

Thanks for having us over.

quadzilla

Hey Tracy, it was my pleasure. Looking forward to the next time we can get together.

quadzilla

Since we got iced in here today and I was supposed to work from home, I spent the day tube rolling and getting the speakers right. Settled on Telefunkens in the pre and kept the Amperx in the phono stage.

Sounding better now.

doctor r

I consider tube rolling to truly be justifiable work.:biggrin:

quadzilla

I actually got a lot done that was stuff the company pays me to do. But since I have my computer set up in the same room as the 2 channel, I was a multi-tasking monster for the day.

steveinaz

2-Channel is KING.

quadzilla

And now I've got Dave's CRS+'s providing the sound stage. And all I can say is.... OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!11!oneone1!

Well, you get the idea. And now I finally get what people mean by "the SDA effect". Have to tweak the positioning a bit more, but it's pretty friggin' nice just following the SDA set up instructions.

Listening to some Bach piano compositions, and the sound of each note, the hammer strike, the decay of the notes, the position of the accompanying orchestra's individual instruments... it's both detail and imaging like I'd never imagined I'd ever have in my house.

thsmith

Nice, I have a pair in Houston waiting for me to pick them up.

quadzilla

Road trip! Why in the name of all that's good and beautiful in the universe are you waiting?

thsmith

I already have 1Cs highly modded

quadzilla

bah... gimme.

quadzilla

Few more changes in the system.... got some, and I didn't know these existed, hand-made RCA connectors. I reterminated some Audible Illusions cables using these connectors, and the difference is enormous. Those, coupled with the Jantzen speaker cables I got from zingo have really taken this system to an entirely new place. The sound now wraps around me completely on pretty much everything, and the amount of detail I'm hearing is staggering. I've already heard new things on several recordings that I listened to last night after getting everything in place.

Next up is a set of active cables from Aural Thrills. Should be getting those sometime in the next month or so for review. Because, you know, 2 channel... it's a helluva drug

raffi

quadzilla wrote: »

So here it is all together, with the addition of the PAS-3 sitting on top of the amp. Ignore the mess. I'm still figuring out how to arrange things. And no crap about the amp. It may or may not get replaced soon. Eventually, I will go tubes on the amp.

I'll likely hang on to this preamp for awhile though. It's already been pretty heavily modified by Audio Dimensions.

It definitely sounds good. Got a little laugh when a couple friends from here came by and gave it a listen, and one remarked that "it sounds better than it should." I couldn't argue, since even I was surprised at how much better the PAS made the rig sound.

Synergy... gotta love it when it works with you. It's ok to hate it the rest of the time

Now THAT looks like a lab fit for lots of experimenting, excellent!:cool:

zingo

Congrats on the renewed 2 channel and I'm glad you like the speaker cables!

quadzilla

raffi wrote: »

Now THAT looks like a lab fit for lots of experimenting, excellent!:cool:

'Tis a true man cave. My wife won't even vacuum in there

quadzilla

Well this is goofy.... I picked up Dave's NAD C 270 (which I really like) to hold me over until I can get my monoblocks, but got a fairly loud hum in the system. I put my old amp back, and the hum went away. Then I put the NAD back, but ran a wire from the phono ground on the PAS to the old amp which has a chassis ground and plugged it in, but left it turned off. Hum is again gone.

Any ideas on if it's a sane thought to modify either the NAD or the PAS with a chassis ground and IEC connector?