Devore O/96 with Class A Solid State Amps

Bayreuth, I suspected the 30.8 would have the edge over the J2.  It seams like there are always used J2's to be had, which I presume are mostly trade in's for the Pass amps. Charles, thanks for the heads up on Snoblo's experience.  It is going to be awhile before I buy any more gear.  I'm just starting to delve into the world of room treatments, and I am going to be taking my time on this project and getting the room right.  This stuff isn't exactly cheap.  I expect this will be a year long process, possibly more.  I have been doing a lot of listening lately, after a whole year of doing well to get an hour a week in.   Its funny, I'm like a kid in a toy store right next to a candy shop.  There is just so much I want to do.  I wish every day was 48 hours and every week had 14 days.   Life is good! 

Hi Bill,

It's great to hear you're getting some quality listening time. For guys like us (and gals), it's a great thing. Some may think me crazy, but to take advantage of available listening time, all my listening must occur between approximately 11:00 pm-4:00 am, depending on when my wife goes to bed.

Being retired is a godsend, as my listening schedule is something I take advantage of every day of the week. If something upsets this schedule, I feel robbed. I'm fortunate my listening (living) room is separated enough from the master bedroom, and neighbors, that I can listen at any volume I choose, without disturbing anyone. For that I'm grateful. What a gift.

Regards,
Dan 

Brownsfan:  " I'm just starting to delve into the world of room treatments, and I am going to be taking my time on this project and getting the room right.  This stuff isn't exactly cheap."

If you are willing and capable of the DIY track, you can achieve very good room treatment without that much cost.  I took this track, and it made very important and critical improvements in my listening experience.

Hi Bill, 
I'm glad you are finding the time to enjoy your music collection and system once again.  Are you using the Coincident Super Victory or do you resort to the Triumph Extremes more often? I came so close to buying the SV but instead bought the Total Eclipse II. Probably couldn't possibly go wrong with either. 
Charles 

jbrrp, I am thinking about building my own diffusors, but I will probably purchase the bass traps and other absorbers.  I have placed an order for Realtrap corner mondo traps, but they haven't arrived yet.   I have found their website and a couple conversations with Ethan Winer to be most helpful in getting started.
Charles, the TE II's are in my downstairs system.  The SV II's stay upstairs in my main rig.  My bonus room presents some problems with full range speakers like the SVs, that don't manifest themselves with the TE's.  I have been able to improve things substantially by moving the SV's closer to the front wall.  Until I did that, the whole room was buzzing from about 50-120 Hz.  Moving the speakers pretty much eliminated the room buzzing, but I am still faced with major non linearity below 300 Hz due to room nodes, back wall cancelation, etc.  The traps should help with that, and we will go from there.  Also, Ethan encouraged me to try again using a more standard short wall placement, which I initially rejected due to utterly unacceptable room nodes.   If I can manage to make that work with the traps in place, that would allow me to have the listening position out from the rear wall.  I suspect that once I get the room issues addressed, I'm going to find the SV's all I hoped they would be, and they will be as dear to me as the TEs are.  This is the first time in my life I have ever owned a speaker with much of anything to offer below 40 Hz, so I am still learning how to make them work in my listening room.
Dan,  indeed this retirement thing is a great gig!  My time to listen is between 4PM and 10PM, at which point I usually turn into a corpse.  My room is above the MBr, so I won't be doing any early morning listening with my late rising wife in the room below.  I listen while my wife is making dinner or whatever, and she occasionally joins me upstairs for a listen.   I don't listen on days I hike, so that leaves me with 3-4 days a week where I can get some good listening sessions in.  Generally speaking, when I don't listen, it is because I am doing something I really enjoy, not because I have some mundane or annoying distraction to attend to.