Almost there.....

ND13

First off, I'd like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way.

Now that Russ A.(Hoosier21) made me an offer I could not and would not refuse for his Dodd MLP, I'm only one or two pieces away from what I consider "my 2-channel reference system". All I have left to get is a better amp, either all tube or hybrid. I may consider a nice ss, but probably not. The other piece will be a tube dac, although, with the mods that Zero did to this AMC, I'm not sure how much, if any, a dac will change things. I wish there was some way of me demoing one. I don't believe that there's a store in my area that would allow for that. :rolleyes:

So, now that I have a new pre coming, that I will never need to replace, and the SRS 2s that Mark so kindly let me take home with me, I have the two, imo, pieces that have the most influence over what I get to hear. I know, the source, the source. Well, I'm very pleased with my source's sound. I do, like I said earlier, want to try out a decent tube dac to see if there will be any difference. The CD8b, from what I've read, is a pretty decent transport and now that the dacs, opamps, and rca jacks have been upgraded, it's an all around great cdp. Would I like to try a Jolida or Ah, of course, but there's the thing about the return on the investment issue. Would I be better off getting one of these and not worry with the dac or just get a decent tubed dac?

The only thing that I can see me playing around with, after I get the final two "permanent" pieces, would be trying out different ICs. I'm very happy with my speaker cables that I got from SCompRacer, Tara Labs Primes, fat pipes!!!
At some point in time, I would like to try the MIT shotgun ICs, but that will have to wait for a while, too salty. I can't believe how many different ICs and speaker cables are being manufactured these days, it's gotten out of hand, imo. :rolleyes: But now that I've actually heard the differences in even my "OKAY" ICs, I do believe that they can make an actual dramatic change in "my system".
There again, there will be a point where that return on the investment issue will arise for me.

Thanks to all the members that I've gotten such great deals and advice from. Maybe someday, ya'll will get to listen to what I've put together. Maybe that might not be a good thing, you might not think it sounds all that good. That really doesn't matter, though, cause it sounds damn good to me.


I've wrote all this and the whole time, I was thinking.....Who am I kidding, this will be a never ending journey. :rolleyes: I can dream, though, right??

TroyD

Well, you should know by now that you are never DONE.

The AMC is a VERY nice player, a giant killer. However, the Jolida, IMHO, is in a WHOLE other league. I would consider, before dropping coin on a tube DAC, a Jolida. Just my .02. In regards to the amp, if you have a tube pre, a good SS amp is where my money is. The majority of the tube magic is already upstream.

BDT

shack

Almost there.....

Not EVEN close. It's like that mirage in the desert...You see it...but you never get there....no matter how far you travel.

beardog03

shack wrote:

Not EVEN close. It's like that mirage in the desert...You see it...but you never get there....no matter how far you travel.

Truer words were never spoken....

ND13,

I have both, the AH! and the jolida...

two different animals...love them both for different reasons....

I agree with the previous statements...a grand to 1200 tops for your CDP

SS amp and tube pre...pure magic...IMHO...

F1nut

You can order a modded Jolida from http://www.soundodyssey.com/Products.html that comes with a 30 day return policy, but double check on that.

I'll echo the tube pre amp/SS amp statements.

ND13

Thanks for the recs and support .

Jesse,
I'm looking into that Stage 1.

Also looking into a high current ss amp. Any suggestions? Will need at least 200 high current wpc, don't you think?

I've been checking out some Parasounds, Rotels, Acurus, MF, Aragon, and ATIs. Any opinions on any of those?

F1nut

What models are you looking at and what's your price cap.

As for the Jolida, look at the mods from Underwood HiFi too. http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm.pl?dgtlplay&1064064024&item&Underwoodwally&4&5&6&http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fs_srch.plQQANYAAAApurlsrchAAEXYAAst26AAAAAAjolida

W WALDECKER

ND13 wrote:

Thanks for the recs and support .

Jesse,
I'm looking into that Stage 1.

Also looking into a high current ss amp. Any suggestions? Will need at least 200 high current wpc, don't you think?

I've been checking out some Parasounds, Rotels, Acurus, MF, Aragon, and ATIs. Any opinions on any of those?

Hey ND13,reeltrouble 1 told me when i was at Marks/doros house for day #2 of Polkfest 2005 that you could run monoblocks with SDAs if they have a pin and blade configuration on thier SDA cables. if your SDAs are compatable i would suggest the same amplifiers that i am running. a pair of Odyssey mono extremes. 300 wpc. 120 amps of current capability. 360.000 uf of capacitance for both channels total. and only 66 lbs each. dbjnh who also belongs to this forum runs a pair of mono extremes with his SDAs and just loves the combination. i have had my pair since may and am very happy with these babys!...thanks....WCW III

ND13

Both of my SDAs are blade/blade. I would need the "EXTRA SPECIAL" ic like the one Raife built for his. It has a jumper on each end that goes to the negative speaker terminals.

W WALDECKER

ND13 wrote:

Both of my SDAs are blade/blade. I would need the "EXTRA SPECIAL" ic like the one Raife built for his. It has a jumper on each end that goes to the negative speaker terminals.

emlyn has an Anthem Amp 2 SE hybrid power amplifier with 200 wpc at 8 ohms $800.00 shipped anywhere in the continental united states for sale in the flea market.

ND13

W WALDECKER wrote:

emlyn has an Anthem Amp 2 SE hybrid power amplifier with 200 wpc at 8 ohms $800.00 shipped anywhere in the continental united states for sale in the flea market.

I saw that. I'm gonna have to wait a few weeks before i can afford to do anything. I've kinda went overboard these last few months with my gear purchases. I can't seem to sell anything, so I guess I'm stuck with alot of it.
Just to show you how bad I've got it, there's a pair of ADS L520s for sell local for under $100 and I'm contemplating getting them to try out with the ASLs :rolleyes:

madmax

ND13 wrote:

I've wrote all this and the whole time, I was thinking.....Who am I kidding, this will be a never ending journey. :rolleyes: I can dream, though, right??

Funny, I was rolling my eyes while reading it. I saw the "permanent" thing and just laughed to myself. Ha ha. Good one.
madmax

ND13

Jesse,

here's a few that I've seen on AGon:

Parasound HCA 2200II
Parasound A-23 Halo
Parasound HCA 1000

Aragon 4004

Classe CA101

Acurus A-150

Bel Canto EVO 200.2

CJ SA 400
CJ MF200

MF A2.3cr

Odyssey Stratos

B&K ST2140

Audible Illusions S120

Belles 150A

Forte Audio Model 13
Bryston 4B

Whatcha know about those and which one is "THE TICKET"??

These can all be had used for $400-900

Ferres

Parasound HCA 2200II is a sweet amp with 250wpc at 8 ohms. They don't last long on Audiogon listings. Get's picked up fairly quickly.

ND13

I didn't expect Jesse to know about them all. I just want to know of those listed which ones he does know about and which he would suggest. I'm actually going to try and get ahold of Klaus with Odyssey, Monday. I was just informed that they are in Indy. I will see if I can check out his gear in person.

That Forte has alot of balls, 385 wpc at 4 ohms.

LuSh

If your interested in new interconnects check out Oritek. Oritek!?!!? you say. Yes, Oritek. I first heard of these things a few weeks ago, a person I respect from Audiogon suggested them to me to run via my Museatex DAC to SimAudio Intergrated. He replaced a pair of Siltech Compass Lake (well over $1k) with these cables. And he's not the only one I've heard from a few really high enders their dumping their $$$ interconnects in favor of these. Read the forum listing...
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1121444036&read&3&4&

I currently use Harmonic Tech Prosilway mk II's and I'm happy, I wont be upgrading anything till after Christmas, I'm making a big push for Gallo Nucleus Ref 3's and then the final push for my Jeff Rowland Concentra or SimAudio I-7

reeltrouble1

Noel,

A long time ago I posted about the things I would "never" do in audio. As the addiction grew I did all of them. So there you go. Glad to see you snagged an MLP, the LPS it comes with are pretty sweet, but if you can check out the telefunken smooth plates, very nice. Got a quad from Russ, who as it always seems is right on.

Have you tried the MLP with the ASL you picked up? Maybe excellent or maybe so much warmth with the SDA that they could "bloat" dont know but would sure try.

RT1

BTW, it was mentioned earlier how I said you can use mono blocks with pin/blade SDA, please note you MUST use the AI-1 interconnect with this config. This is very important.

ND13

Ted,

I'm in the process of searching for a sweet ss or hybrid to run with the MLP and SRS 2s.
The ASLs are fronted by the ELP and are driving my Monitor 7As at this time. I eventually want to try the monos with my 2Bs, but will need to make a special IC since mine are blade/blade.

SCompRacer

LOL Almost.... :rolleyes:

reeltrouble1

ND13 wrote:

Ted,

The ASLs are fronted by the ELP and are driving my Monitor 7As at this time. I eventually want to try the monos with my 2Bs, but will need to make a special IC since mine are blade/blade.

Sounds nice my man, I have heard all the hoopla about the 7's and they are on my list.

If your going for dymanics/speed/power I would go for the ss with the mlp, my mlp and the b&K at 375 4ohm on the SDA-SRS can send shivers with well recorded tunes. Smooth power with no clipping at levels over 110 SPL, which my old ears cant take. I have heard great things about CJ and Bear likes his Para 3500. Just dont skimp, heck you already broke the bank!!!!

RT1

ND13

WCW,

Just got off the phone with Klaus. We talked for a few and he wants me to call him tonight to discuss further. Really friendly, for a **** J/K. I think he might just be the man to do business with. He's talking about building me a dual mono that can be used with the SDAs :cool: . I'll get back with you as soon as I know a little more. I'm going to go over to his shop later this week for a little one on one q&a session.

Thanks for the info,

Noel

ND13

Yeah, he said they are Symphonic Line amps for 80% less $$$s. Can't complain about that.

W WALDECKER

ND13 wrote:

Yeah, he said they are Symphonic Line amps for 80% less $$$s. Can't complain about that.

Hey ND13, the Odyssey power amplifiers are based on the Symphonic Line RG 11 power amplifier. the main circuit boards come from Germany. the custom made Plitron toroidal transformers are from Canada. the RCAs and binding posts are from WBT in Germany. the chassis and heatsinks are built in the USA. and all of this good stuff is put together in Indianapolis Indiana..thanks..WCW III

beardog03

Noel,

Dual mono design....I really like it..!!

Did ya get a new amp yet..?
How did the shop tour go..?