New to this. How do I stack my stuff?


I'm new to hifi. I've asked a lot of questions here and some of you may already know my situation but I got the following by chance and for free: Audio Research LS16 tube pre-amp, Arcam CD92 cd player, Madrigal Proceed HPA2 amp. 

It is all up and running and I'm loving it. Now just trying to maximize the little things that I can. For instance, speakers had spike stands but spikes were missing so I made a set.

Now I read in the CD manual that it recommends sorbothane feet and says sound quality will be better.

I'm now figuring out that placement of components is important and that proper stands, expensive ones, are best. Well, expensive stands are not going to happen. But I can try to make accommodations that are cheap and won't turn the room upside down.

Here is how it is all situated now...let the ridicule flow, but keep in mind that I am space limited to a serious extent. Was not sure I'd get the system in my house at all:

The (very) heavy Proceed amp is sitting on a carpeted floor on strips of wood which raise the bottom of it well above the carpet. It is higher above the carpet than it would be above a hard surface just on its own feet.

The CD player is sitting on a small, simple, wooden, antique side table. It is sturdy. The pre-amp is on top of the CD player. I have no idea what this might mean in terms of SQ but the CD player actually puts out a fair amount to heat which rises up into the pre-amp of course. That concerns me.

So other than getting some sorbothane feet for the CD player, what else would be a priority here?

Finally are there issues with which cables contact which cables, how much speaker cables are looped, etc. (Most of the cabling is Transparent Super Bi-wire.)

Thanks for any assistance.
n80
Nice!!.....and the walnut blocks great. You'd spend "silly money" for those "tweaks" from a vendor. Definitely gonna need to work on your speaker placement and room treats at some point, lots of good info out there for free......All this stuff takes time amigo.........Nobody gets it right....or even close overnight. Enjoy what you have and the way it sounds now and make improvements as time and money allow. It's a hobby, so by definition it's an ongoing thing that gives you pleasure. Take some time to research things, speaker placement, room acoustics, whatever pops into your head. Keep in mind that much of the hobby is subjective and EVERYBODY has an opinion......occasionally some of them might even be useful :).... Best thing I've found is to be patient and experiment until you like the results.
@n80, I love your small footer riser solution. You can relocate both the CD player and preamp to another place in the room if you use a long run (e.g., 15’-40’) of balanced interconnects from the preamp to the power amp.
Looks nice, have you thought about making 4 more feet and putting the pre amp beside the amp unless that little green chair can't be moved. 
djones, the chair can be moved. I had not thought about putting the pre-amp down low, but can do it easily. There is other furniture in the house that I could also use in place of the little table. A simple but very sturdy and heavy oak desk. But it could hold the pre-amp and CD player side by side rather than stacked. PITA getting it downstairs and will require the approval of she-who-must-be-obeyed.

celander, the XLR cable between pre-amp and amp are about six feet long and the RCAs between the CD and pre-amp are about four feet. They are very nice Transparent cables. I don't think I could afford to spend the kind of money to get longer cables of the same quality.

shadow, unfortunately the speakers have nowhere else to go. Even if I could get them on the long wall the listening distance would be too close since the room is 10'x20'. They could be twenty feet apart but listening distance would be less than 8 feet. Fortunately, I think, ceilings are 10' high and the other walls have windows with heavy drapes on them. There is not much echo in the room. I will do some reading but any changes I'll be able to make will be minor.
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