My 2 Channel Rig

I finally have my 2 channel rig at a point where I am regularly getting goosebumps. So I thought I would write up a little blurb. Plus Drew cried about it elsewhere so gotta appease him :s:p

First, the gear...
Speakers: Silverline Audio Sonatina MKI with Sonicaps (tweeter circuit), ClarityCap PX (mid circuit) capacitors, Jantzen Copper foil/Wax inductors and Alpha Core copper foil inductors, AudioQuest FLX internal wiring. Also installed a set of Soundocity outriggers with hard rubber feet for the laminate flooring or spikes when I had them on carpet.

Amps: VTL Compact 100 tube mono-blocks

Pre: Jolida JD50A passive

Sources: Nativ Vita streaming transport (USB to DAC)
Cambridge Audio DV89 used as a disc transport (Coax to Monarchy Audio DIP Classic reclocker then Coax to DAC)
North Star Designs Incanto DAC
Kenwood KD-550 TT with ClearAudio Concept MM cartridge and Herbie's Way Excellent Mat with an Audio Technica record weight
Cambridge Audio 651P Phono Pre

Cables: Nordost Heimdall bi-wire SCs
Nordost Heimdall Digital Coax (CDP to Reclocker to DAC)
Onix Blue Analog ICs (DAC to Pre, Phono Pre to Pre,Pre to Amps)
WireWorld Ultraviolet 7 USB (Streamer to DAC)
Pangea PCs (AC14XLs for Sources and Pre, AC9SEs for Amps and UPS/Power Conditioner)
AudioQuest Wildcat Tonearm cable
Nordost Blue Heaven Network cable

Headphones: AKG K240 Studio (Austrian built)
Sennheiser HD558
HiFiMan HE400i
(NSD Incanto headphone output used as headphone amp)

Miscellaneous: APC J35 UPS and Power Conditioner (Sources and Pre...amps are plugged directly into the wall)
PS Audio Power Port Outlets (2 dedicated 20 amp circuits/outlets)
Epik Legend dual opposed 12" sub with Dayton Audio SPA250-DSP amp and reveneered in natural cherry to match rack

The rack is DIY out of 5/4 and 10/4 cherry. Modular 3 piece design allows for vertical stacking or horizontal layout. Isolation is provided by Dayton Audio cones.
I also made record, CD and DVD-A case stands so I can display whatever is currently being spun. They are maple slabs with wenge vertical supports.

Here is a picture of the system's current state:
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And some previous iterations:
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Some basic setup notes...
My room is small. It is my office/nerd cave and houses my collectibles, work space and all of my 2 channel gear, records and CDs.
Dimensions overall are 11' 5" x 16' 8" with a slight bump out for the entryway into the office.
I have been playing with some absorption panels but with my rug and stuff at first reflection points creating dispersion, I haven't seen any real improvements with those.
I still have 2 in the front corners acting as bass traps but will most likely be removing those and building some room specific panels with stuff I have on hand.

But in general, the room has enough "stuff" going on to tame rogue reflections.

Speakers are positioned 2' in from the front wall (rear ported), left is 2' 6" in from the side wall while the right is 1'in from the side. The speakers are 5' 6" apart, toed in so the tweeters cross ~2' behind the listening position. Speakers are 6' 6" away from my head when seated. The toe in is based on recommendations from this review: https://www.soundstage.com/revequip/silverline_sonatina.htm

The sub is corner loaded behind the right side speaker and sits 4" from either wall. This provides the most even response throughout the room, although, at my desk, there is a pretty good peak around the 25-30hz mark. Elsewhere in the room is pretty flat with a mild house curve on the sub's DSP. I am still tweaking this as for most stuff it is fine but is a bit peaky on some tracks with heavy use of stand-up bass instruments.

The combination of the tube amps, passive pre and the high quality silk dome tweeter produces a very detailed yet pleasantly warm high end presentation. Detail is amazing to the point that the other night, I was listening to a DSD copy of a live production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite and during the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies was getting annoyed by what I initially thought was background static. So I repeated the passage several times and came to realize that I was not hearing static but the sound of the ballet dancers' toe shoes on the stage. It was quite amazing.

Most of my listening is via my streamer. I took a chance on a very young company with a product that was crowdfunded. I looked into several streamers to replace me existing Sonos Connect (I still have 2 Sonos Connects and a 1 Sonos Connect:Amp in the house) so that I could get DSD and higher bitrate FLAC files to my 2 channel rig.

It is mostly a matter of convenience for me. I still love the tactile interaction of cleaning and playing records and CDs but for the most part, having over 200k tracks of my own audio library at my fingertips and the huge library of Tidal as well, makes the physical media mostly for nostalgia.

Anyway, back to the streamer. I decided to take a chance on this particular streamer because, besides it being simply a neat product, it was offering Roon integration, third party software support along with a pretty responsive sales and support team.
The huge discounts i managed to find also helped sway me as I would have had to spend over twice as much as I did to get into something else with all my boxes checked.

So the Vita https://www.nativsound.com/en/music-server is made by a small Hong Kong based company. It is a streamer transport only in that it has no built in DAC. They also make a DAC but I had already bought the Incanto from @DSkip and have been absolutely in love with it. Not to mention, Nativ has had some revisions to their DAC project which has pushed back delivery.
I really also wanted their low noise power supply but they haven't even begun production on it so I put a request in to be notified when they went to production. But I digress.
The Nativ Vita is Roon compatible, has 2 2.5" HD bays that can accept up to 5TB HDs (I populated mine with a pair of 512gb SSDs and configured it to run in RAID 0 for 1TB of local capacity) and can also map network storage.

It took a couple of days to catalog my entire library (local OS catalog database for the Vita, not Roon which was a simple install and sign in to access my Roon library). And then I copied some more commonly listened to files locally even though I have experienced virtually zero issues with network streaming.
There is a catalog of streaming apps you can install on the device which includes all the common players like Pandora, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, etc. Along with some newer options like Qobuz and YouTube Music. You can also do YouTube video and there is an HDMI output to run an external monitor if the 11.6" on board touch screen isn't sufficient.

Cont...




"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
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Comments

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Very nice setup & info...
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,970
    Looks great
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,776
    Meh.... It'll do...
  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    Very nice!!
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
    HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    Is that a Halo poster in Pic 1?
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,314
    Ryan, What a write up! I see the space is Batman approved as well, you're golden :D

    I'd love to have a seat in the Sweet Spot sometime, maybe a little Road Trip one day when it's warms up a bit.

    Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Listening!
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    Is that a Halo poster in Pic 1?

    Negative... While I liked Halo and the story line, I am mostly a comic book nerd.
    Ryan, What a write up! I see the space is Batman approved as well, you're golden :D

    I'd love to have a seat in the Sweet Spot sometime, maybe a little Road Trip one day when it's warms up a bit.

    Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Listening!

    You're welcome any time Mike. And Russ is a semi-frequent visitor too so maybe we can plan a little Polkie GTG...
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,776
    Sounds like a plan to me.
  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,491
    Very nice write up. You covered pretty much everything but the lighting. I’m curious about the lights that flank the turntable. Did you do all the speaker mods or were some factory options?
  • indyhawg
    indyhawg Posts: 1,633
    Nice system. Great write up. Thanks for sharing.
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    Then what is it a poster of? Curious now lol
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Mikey Likesit !
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,862
    Are those the same mono blocks that were at lone star? The ones that drunk russ tried to get me to take home.
    The same amps that we tried to explain to drunk russ that one tube was not showing any glow?
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,776
    marvda1 wrote: »
    Are those the same mono blocks that were at lone star? The ones that drunk russ tried to get me to take home.
    The same amps that we tried to explain to drunk russ that one tube was not showing any glow?

    You missed out on one helluva deal, Marvin.
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    maxward wrote: »
    Very nice write up. You covered pretty much everything but the lighting. I’m curious about the lights that flank the turntable. Did you do all the speaker mods or were some factory options?

    They are former desk lamps from the USDA office I worked at. They remodeled and were going to throw them out so I took them. They are dimmable LEDs and are very adjustable. The bases were lead filled rectangle plates but the lights sat on a post so they could be rotated 360*. I just drilled the same size hole into the rear rack posts and put spring steel rolled pins in the size of the original posts.
    I wish I had taken more but I only grabbed 2 lights and 1 power supply. The power supply can power up to 4 of those lights.
    Then what is it a poster of? Curious now lol

    Which poster are you referring to Dan?
    marvda1 wrote: »
    Are those the same mono blocks that were at lone star? The ones that drunk russ tried to get me to take home.
    The same amps that we tried to explain to drunk russ that one tube was not showing any glow?

    The very same Marv...that one tube that wasn't glowing went thermo-nuclear and did glow for a short time...although more brightly than it should have. LOL.


    Thanks for the compliments guys. It is a very enjoyable way to spend a dreary afternoon. Or evening...or any time really.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • WagnerRC
    WagnerRC Posts: 2,138
    Thanks for sharing. Looks great.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    Very nice Ryan! love the stand very nice, I also love Cherry by far my favorite wood.
  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    Beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to share.
    Beach Audio: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Schiit Yggy * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
    Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
    Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
    Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
    Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
    Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
    Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    This place is full of inspiring ideas. Ryan your setup is truly one that only most of us can aspire to! Someday! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    Very nice! I think one of the coolest things about a system like this, is that it's very likely one of a kind! Enjoy! :)
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    Your system looks great.
  • Great setup sir. Enjoy..
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    Thanks guys.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,908
    edited December 2018
    Great write up and system, congrats Ryan.
    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Clearly you don’t have children :p

    My eldest daughter took my office. It’s now her bedroom :'(

    Sweet setup man!
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • joecoulson
    joecoulson Posts: 4,943
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    Clearly you don’t have children

    I know right. I get one spot to setup and that’s if I’m lucky! o:)
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    I actually have 3 daughters. I am fortunate enough that they are all adults and are out in the world.
    One is an over the road truck driver, one is a CNA and the youngest is a special education TA.

    But none of them live here and only infrequently stay here. And we have a guest bedroom (and soon to be a sofa sleeper) for that.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    ZLTFUL wrote: »
    But none of them live here and only infrequently stay here. And we have a guest bedroom (and soon to be a sofa sleeper) for that.

    Russ gets the sofa sleeper I take it ? Do you have to burn the sucker after every visit ?

    System looks nice, but what's the Dac-it doing in there ?

    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's