I'm done! The coolest 2-channel stereo I've ever owned
nspindel
Posts: 5,343
I've spent the past several months researching/trying/buying/selling/building a 2-channel setup in my own little private listening room in the basement. I know, famous last words, but it's finished! This new system is just so cool. I really think it combines the best of old and new technology, and the results sound fantastic. So here are the details, with plenty of pics:
The Speakers
==========
I've had a long, happy relationship with SDA's. I bought a pair of SDA-CRS+'s in college back in 1989, and they served me well until a few years ago. At the time, I had wanted to buy SDA-2B's (which are really the same speaker in a much smaller cabinet with the passive radiator in the rear), but the 2B's were too big for my dorm room, so I "settled" on the CRS+'s. A few years ago I found a pair of 2B's on eBay from a local seller, and grabbed them for $200. I sold my CRS+'s to a friend at work, so a free upgrade to the speakers I originally wanted. NICE!
Thanks to this forum, I learned all the fine tweaks I could make. I have another whole thread detailing what I did to the 2B's here. To summarize, I rebuilt the crossovers with Sonicap/Mills (including the TL mod), replaced the main inductor, replaced the binding posts, built a custom SDA interconnect, and of course with the TL mod I swapped the SL2000 tweeters for the RD0198-1's. A few highlight pics:
The Amp
======
I can't even recall how I arrived at the decision to use this amplifier, I bought it a few years ago and have no regrets. I'm using an NAD 2200. I recently had it mod'ed here. Besides the $155 mod package they offer, I also had them re-do the internal AC wiring with some nice 10ga cable I picked up from Sonic Craft. I had them rewire the entire AC stage all the way to the transformer, as the original 20-year old wire was all 18ga. Finally, I had them mount an IEC on the back so I could use a power cord of my choice.
The Preamp
=========
I know that down the road I also want to do some headphone listening, once the wallet recoups. So anything I'm going to do would need to include a nice headphone amp. I've spent a good deal of time on head-fi.org, and after doing a lot of research there I decided to use a headphone amp as my pre-amp. Since I only have one source (see below) I don't need any input selections, I'm not interested in a tuner, and I'm not going to fool around with balance or tone controls, the only thing I really need in a preamp is a headphone amp and a good quality pot. I've also done a bit of listening to tubes, and decided I really needed some in this setup. So I purchased a Little Dot MKIV-SE from Little Tube. I am so impressed with this product. Fantastic piece at $399!!! I love the glow of tubes:
The Source
=========
This system is an eclectic mix of old and new - 20 year old speakers, 20 year old amp, and vacuum tubes are certainly the old. For the new, I am using a Squeezebox as my source. If you don't know what a Squeezebox is, I certainly think it's worth you looking into. I personally feel it's the future of digital music - hard drive based storage without having a computer hooked up to your stereo. If you want to read a bit, check this out.
With the Squeezebox, I've got instant access to almost 1000 cd's that I've stored as flac. If you listened to the system, you'd be convinced that music on a hard drive can sound just as good as a cd in a high-end player. And this thing can connect to hundreds of internet radio stations, some with very high bitrate broadcasts.
Reviews have compared the output of the stock $300 Squeezebox to a ~$1000 cd player. However, I've pimped it out a bit. I built this power supply kit for it in black, with the detachable power cord option. Then I sent the Squeezebox for these mods. The internal dac's been replaced and the entire analog output stage has been ripped out and rebuilt with Sonicap Platinums, among some other things. I had the Squeezebox for two years before I had it mod'ed so I'm well used to what it could do. All I can say is that the mods are jawdropping.
Here's what the components all look like:
The Cables
========
Thanks to everyone who've recommended Signal Cable. Frank is great. I'm using the Analog Two interconnects with the stock connectors, 2' between the Squeezebox and the Little Dot, and then 3' between the Little Dot and the NAD:
I'm using the Magic Power Cable for the NAD, and the Magic Power Digital Cable for the Little Dot and the power supply I built for the Squeezebox:
The power cords all plug into the Magic Strip which plugs into a dedicated 20-amp circuit that I ran with 10ga Romex:
Here's it all wired up:
Unfortunately, I didn't discover Signal Cable before I made my own speaker cables, because I would have bought Signals. But the Monster Z2 cables I built sound awesome, so I really can't complain. I've fussed with the speaker cables over and over, and finally am taking F1Nut's advice and I'm using banana plugs. I made two 6' cables terminated with Monster terminators and shrink tube:
Finally there's the custom SDA interconnect that I built, out of the same cable and Monster terminators. However, since the original pin/blade cable for these speakers is single-conductor, the two strands of Z2 are both connected to a single post on both speakers. So I terminated both ends with one spade and one banana. That way, I can tie them both onto the same post easily using the different terminators:
It's an incredibly simple, yet elegant setup:
So how does it sound???????
In a word, beautiful. I still have the long task ahead of me of a full break-in. I haven't done an extended break-in longer than 48 continuous hours of any of the components yet, because I keep switching things in and out. Now that it's stable, it's about that time. Wayne at BolderCable recommends burning in the Sonicap Platinums for 550 HOURS CONTINUOUS!!!! Luckily, the rest doesn't need that much. The recommendation in this forum seems to be 350 hours for the Sonicap Gen 1's that I used in the crossovers. Once I get to 350, I can power down the amp and pre-amp when I'm not listening and just let the Squeezebox play while everything else is off.
But even at the level of burn-in I've done so far, this stereo just sounds so beautiful. So much bass slam, but smooth, not boomy or harsh. Liquid mid-range like I've never heard from these speakers before, and I've been listening to SDA's for two decades. And the highs are just so precise and smooth with the new tweeters. Female vocalists go right through you. The imaging just blows you away - the music is coming at you from the entire wall, not just the two speakers. And the tubes just seem to do so much, but yet I can't explain what it is. There's something about them that's just kind of magical....
Some time soon I'm going to get some icing for my cake - the new wifi controller for the Squeezebox. It's not shipping yet though. I also need to do some acoustic dampening for the room. Oh, and a killer listening chair!
Wow, my hands are tired.....
The Speakers
==========
I've had a long, happy relationship with SDA's. I bought a pair of SDA-CRS+'s in college back in 1989, and they served me well until a few years ago. At the time, I had wanted to buy SDA-2B's (which are really the same speaker in a much smaller cabinet with the passive radiator in the rear), but the 2B's were too big for my dorm room, so I "settled" on the CRS+'s. A few years ago I found a pair of 2B's on eBay from a local seller, and grabbed them for $200. I sold my CRS+'s to a friend at work, so a free upgrade to the speakers I originally wanted. NICE!
Thanks to this forum, I learned all the fine tweaks I could make. I have another whole thread detailing what I did to the 2B's here. To summarize, I rebuilt the crossovers with Sonicap/Mills (including the TL mod), replaced the main inductor, replaced the binding posts, built a custom SDA interconnect, and of course with the TL mod I swapped the SL2000 tweeters for the RD0198-1's. A few highlight pics:
The Amp
======
I can't even recall how I arrived at the decision to use this amplifier, I bought it a few years ago and have no regrets. I'm using an NAD 2200. I recently had it mod'ed here. Besides the $155 mod package they offer, I also had them re-do the internal AC wiring with some nice 10ga cable I picked up from Sonic Craft. I had them rewire the entire AC stage all the way to the transformer, as the original 20-year old wire was all 18ga. Finally, I had them mount an IEC on the back so I could use a power cord of my choice.
The Preamp
=========
I know that down the road I also want to do some headphone listening, once the wallet recoups. So anything I'm going to do would need to include a nice headphone amp. I've spent a good deal of time on head-fi.org, and after doing a lot of research there I decided to use a headphone amp as my pre-amp. Since I only have one source (see below) I don't need any input selections, I'm not interested in a tuner, and I'm not going to fool around with balance or tone controls, the only thing I really need in a preamp is a headphone amp and a good quality pot. I've also done a bit of listening to tubes, and decided I really needed some in this setup. So I purchased a Little Dot MKIV-SE from Little Tube. I am so impressed with this product. Fantastic piece at $399!!! I love the glow of tubes:
The Source
=========
This system is an eclectic mix of old and new - 20 year old speakers, 20 year old amp, and vacuum tubes are certainly the old. For the new, I am using a Squeezebox as my source. If you don't know what a Squeezebox is, I certainly think it's worth you looking into. I personally feel it's the future of digital music - hard drive based storage without having a computer hooked up to your stereo. If you want to read a bit, check this out.
With the Squeezebox, I've got instant access to almost 1000 cd's that I've stored as flac. If you listened to the system, you'd be convinced that music on a hard drive can sound just as good as a cd in a high-end player. And this thing can connect to hundreds of internet radio stations, some with very high bitrate broadcasts.
Reviews have compared the output of the stock $300 Squeezebox to a ~$1000 cd player. However, I've pimped it out a bit. I built this power supply kit for it in black, with the detachable power cord option. Then I sent the Squeezebox for these mods. The internal dac's been replaced and the entire analog output stage has been ripped out and rebuilt with Sonicap Platinums, among some other things. I had the Squeezebox for two years before I had it mod'ed so I'm well used to what it could do. All I can say is that the mods are jawdropping.
Here's what the components all look like:
The Cables
========
Thanks to everyone who've recommended Signal Cable. Frank is great. I'm using the Analog Two interconnects with the stock connectors, 2' between the Squeezebox and the Little Dot, and then 3' between the Little Dot and the NAD:
I'm using the Magic Power Cable for the NAD, and the Magic Power Digital Cable for the Little Dot and the power supply I built for the Squeezebox:
The power cords all plug into the Magic Strip which plugs into a dedicated 20-amp circuit that I ran with 10ga Romex:
Here's it all wired up:
Unfortunately, I didn't discover Signal Cable before I made my own speaker cables, because I would have bought Signals. But the Monster Z2 cables I built sound awesome, so I really can't complain. I've fussed with the speaker cables over and over, and finally am taking F1Nut's advice and I'm using banana plugs. I made two 6' cables terminated with Monster terminators and shrink tube:
Finally there's the custom SDA interconnect that I built, out of the same cable and Monster terminators. However, since the original pin/blade cable for these speakers is single-conductor, the two strands of Z2 are both connected to a single post on both speakers. So I terminated both ends with one spade and one banana. That way, I can tie them both onto the same post easily using the different terminators:
It's an incredibly simple, yet elegant setup:
So how does it sound???????
In a word, beautiful. I still have the long task ahead of me of a full break-in. I haven't done an extended break-in longer than 48 continuous hours of any of the components yet, because I keep switching things in and out. Now that it's stable, it's about that time. Wayne at BolderCable recommends burning in the Sonicap Platinums for 550 HOURS CONTINUOUS!!!! Luckily, the rest doesn't need that much. The recommendation in this forum seems to be 350 hours for the Sonicap Gen 1's that I used in the crossovers. Once I get to 350, I can power down the amp and pre-amp when I'm not listening and just let the Squeezebox play while everything else is off.
But even at the level of burn-in I've done so far, this stereo just sounds so beautiful. So much bass slam, but smooth, not boomy or harsh. Liquid mid-range like I've never heard from these speakers before, and I've been listening to SDA's for two decades. And the highs are just so precise and smooth with the new tweeters. Female vocalists go right through you. The imaging just blows you away - the music is coming at you from the entire wall, not just the two speakers. And the tubes just seem to do so much, but yet I can't explain what it is. There's something about them that's just kind of magical....
Some time soon I'm going to get some icing for my cake - the new wifi controller for the Squeezebox. It's not shipping yet though. I also need to do some acoustic dampening for the room. Oh, and a killer listening chair!
Wow, my hands are tired.....
Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
Post edited by nspindel on
Comments
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Nice rig!
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Very nice. I have been following your post and plan to do the same. But why did you
replace the main inductor?SDA 2.3/RDO's... xovers by Ben
SDA 2.3TL/Stock..
SDA 1C/Solens/RDO's [gave to my Uncle]
SDA 2B RDO's
Snell Type CV
SDA 1.2TL's
GFA7700 Adcom
GFP750 Adcom
TFM55X Carver
M90 Pioneer/C90 Pre
M91 x 2 Pioneers/C91 Pre
Yaqin MC10l
DCD-1520/1560/2560 Denon
Marantz DVD-8400
Carver m1.5T
DV-79avi Pioneer
TFM35X x 2 -
The stock inductor is 3.5ohm. The one I replaced it with is 0.5 ohm. Definitely added some extra slam in the bass.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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Gorgeous! the only decoration that room needed.The SL2000wc wow what a predicament!!!!!:D Order one today.......1-800-429-5423 for direct orders with anyone of the elite ee guys that frequent this forum.
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License2ILL wrote: »Gorgeous! the only decoration that room needed.
The important part is.... NO TV!!!!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
yea funny for a second I thought hey a TV could go right above it....but then said nah why ruin it!!! you'll go farther without one....they soak up time...the audio let's you do something else while your listening.
Been thinking about sending the cable company to the abyss myself.The SL2000wc wow what a predicament!!!!!:D Order one today.......1-800-429-5423 for direct orders with anyone of the elite ee guys that frequent this forum. -
Nice rig. Well done.
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Very nice. Looks real clean. Congrats.Michael
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60° -
Very, very nice man. Nice job on cable management too.
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Nice setup, very classy
Speakers
Carver Amazing Fronts
CS400i Center
RT800i's Rears
Sub Paradigm Servo 15
Electronics
Conrad Johnson PV-5 pre-amp
Parasound Halo A23
Pioneer 84TXSi AVR
Pioneer 79Avi DVD
Sony CX400 CD changer
Panasonic 42-PX60U Plasma
WMC Win7 32bit HD DVR -
man, you rock! that is one sweet looking set up. Simple, yet elegant.
You did it right bro.
Enjoy!PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin: -
Good Job!
Hope you enjoy it for many a full moon ... -
Wow, that rig has some character. That's really cool man.
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Very niceThe first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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Now I bet you got a whole lot more satisfaction going through the process than just going out and buying a system off the shelf, great post and a very cool system.
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I love it, everything is very simple and looks very clean. Very nice source, I have a RWA Analog modded SB3 and was amazed at how much of a improvement it was over stock. I have used a LD amp before, great for the $.
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Very cool. Very well done. Great write up.
Now you just need a TT:D
ScottI like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D -
It's looks like you put alot of thought and effort into that rig, Damn fine job. Be proud of that. 2 ch,, no tv,,yep,,,looks like you've got that baby dialed in. Congrats and enjoy.:) JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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very, very nice!;) yer killin me!:cool: i think i've read your 2B thread a dozen times:p
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WOW!
I haven't had time to read the thread but I will. I have to go to work.:(
But very very nice! -
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Very nice set-up. You went about building a killer 2-ch system the correct way, with patience, research and trying out some gear. It seems you hit all the key area's and you will enjoy that system every time you sit down and listen.
Enjoy! :cool:
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Thanks for all the kind words. It's really been quite fun and rewarding, and a good learning experience too.
As far as the no tv aspect, I do have a home theater setup as well in my family room, with a 60" screen and a 7.1 sound setup, all Polk as well. As much fun as it is for watching movies, listening to music on it really doesn't do much for me at all. Having a 2-channel stereo completely separate from the home theater is really nice, if for no other reason than it's all mine, I don't need to share ;-)
With regards to the experience of researching, trying, buying, building, re-building, selling, returning, etc., being more rewarding than just buying a system off the shelf, you couldn't be more correct! First of all, I think I'm into a level of sound quality here that I couldn't touch if I just went out and spent the same amount of cash in a store as I have on this project. Particularly with the amp and speakers, I paid $400 for the vintage amp and speakers on ebay, and all-in probably about $800 on the mods on them. If I went to a modern electronics store and dropped $1200 on an amp and speakers, there is no way that I'd be hearing what I'm hearing right now. And last time I checked, Best Buy isn't selling much tube gear!!!
I'm really happy with it - it's simple, neat, and clean, but yet sounds wonderful. If anyone's in the CT area and wants do have a listen, gimme a shout...Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Plus, don't ever underestimate the rewards from upgrading/refreshing the x-over (especially w/Sonic caps) and the RD0's. My 1C's sound phenomenal with the Sonic caps and RD0's.
You are correct, even going to a high end store you'd be hard pressed to put together such a nice sounding system w/o dropping a huge amount of $$$.
Synergy is the key and it sounds like so far you have that in spades with this system.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Actually I lied, I just realized I'm not done. The last mod I need to do here is to re-veneer the 2B's and make them look as gorgeous as they sound....Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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very, very nice!;) yer killin me!:cool: i think i've read your 2B thread a dozen times:p
Well what are you waiting for??? Start modding!!!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Outstanding.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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Looks great !
I may have missed it, what audio rack/stand is that ?Big thanks to "Neskahi" ! -
Ah, the rack is just a cheap jobbie from Costco. I like it because it comes with 5 shelves, but you only need to use as many as you need. I really don't need that middle layer, I could take it down one level further if I wanted, but I think that would put a bit too much bend in the cables.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?Prodid=11228011&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|79|47164&N=4017822&Mo=1&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56711&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Nice, clean set up. Congrats!Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
