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The most musical system you ever build?

May be there are similar posts before, but could we do it for new comers.

Not the best hi-fi you ever build!
"Musical" means the enjoyment of music for you or your family.
I like jazz/classical vocal, so I list my favorite one for that set up:

SONY XA7ES + P1/P3A DAC
ARC LS-15 + ARC VT-1000-II
Celestion SL600 + REL Strat-III
TMC interconnects + AudioQuest speaker cables
DIY speaker stand + DIY room treatment
Oracle Delphi-II + FR arm + blue point special + ARC PH3SE

Some of them are very old, most used.
But they are very "musical" to me in the things I spin on them.

Try: Ella Fitzerald, Carerras, Jennifer Warnes....
cello is very good also.

LS-15's cap upgrade open up the mid and almost any other brand of tubes improves in the bass area.
Room treatment is very crucial in my small room.
Speaker is tuff to drive, and LS-15's gain is only barely enough for a pretty powerful VT-100.
Will use ProAC 3.8 for chamber music and up, musical too.
Actually, ProAC is easier to drive than the little SL600.
Hear more transpant sound in hi-fi stores, but seldom more musical than this one, IMHO.

Please share your tricks or memory for something you can't forget.
Or something you wish to go back, leaving your state-of-art equipment.
bluefin
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
It's an interesting question, when I was young into this hobby I had a little Denon integrated amp that I replaced with a Heath amp and pre that I got a great deal on as a friend had company ties. The Heath setup clearly was cleaner than the Denon, but I enjoyed the Denon much more, musically.

I am enjoying my current system a lot! Ironically it is based on an integrated amp again.

Levinson 383
Meridian 508.24
Yamaha T2 (tuner)
B&W N803's
Cardas Golden Reference and Microtwin IC's
LAT SS-1000 D Bi-wire
wenterprisesnw
66 posts
 
Sony CDP-XA7ES (compact disc player)
Conrad-Johnson PV10 (tube preamp)
Clayton Audio S40 (class A stereo 45 wpc power amplifier)
Kimber 8AG (bi-wired speaker cables)
Stealth PGS (gold interconnects w/Neutrik Pro-Fi RCAs)
Chang Lightspeed CLS 3200 MkII (A/C line conditioner)
Audience powerChord (x 3)
Merlin TSM-SE (minimonitors in Ruby Heart paint finish)

This system wasn't the deepest in the bass (but very good though!), nor was it the loudest playing system (though good enough for a 13x10 room), but it surrounded me with so much clarity, tonal balance, and utter 3-dimensional sound that if I turned out the lights, it was so real that it was like the performers were right there playing for me.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Brian..."Cleaner" does not mean more musical. Many times it is worse (sterile).
I have copies of interviews with the guys at Conrad Johnson and Blue Circle. In both cases they were asked why this or that component does not lab test with noise and/or distortion as low as many other designs. In both cases, the answer was that they could have very easily reduced the distortion, but at the cost of reducing the musicality as well.

Many audiophiles are looking for something other than "accurate" reproduction. Have you ever been to a live concert that you could describe as being "transparent" or with a dead quiet background? It was probably still a lot more musical than recorded music.

There was a good post a while back where someone asked...."Do you listen to sound or music?"

brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
Sugarbie, that is exactly what I was posting. The Denon was more musical to me, yet the Heath was cleaner. Looking back, I would chose the Denon over the Heath if I were to do it over; heck looking back I would do a lot different.
kenpo
9 posts
 
Quad ESL 988 Loudspeakers
Quad 99 Preamp
Quad 909 Amp
Rega Planet 2000 CD Player.
Audioprism Foundation II
Final Labs Daruma II under the CD and Vibrapods under the rest.
Imperial Sonics Wire all around, inc power cords.
The Quads are the clearest and most musical speakers I have ever owned.
Nothing comes close to them for clarity,soundstage,and depth.
So real it is scary!
The Rega Planet is a great match because of its new chip and musical properties.
The Imperial Wire is a great match for all components and affordable.
This system for me is by far the best I have heard for "music" and not for analytics.
Sure, the CD could be better, but why? And for how much more?
Matched electronics and matched wire really make a difference.
Everyone that has heard it is amazed.
Not cheap, but worth every penny.
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