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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
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
If you can do it put all the equipment either to your left or right.
The best imaging and depth to sound you’ll get is to have nothing between your speakers as far back as you can, and to the out side of the speakers.
Put equipment racks in between the speakers so you can gaze at your possessions while listening, and you are killing your sound stage imaging and depth.
Neville Thiele (rip) of Thiele and Small Speaker calculations fame, told me this when he was around, and he was so right, I’ve never looked back.

Cheers George
jond's avatar
jond
5,744 posts
 
Take the preamp off the cd player and get it on something sturdy. Other than that if you're on a budget it's fine. In terms of footers there are plenty of options many quite inexpensive you can even make your own.

I am not sure what you mean by which cables contact which cables? And I would avoid leaving your speaker cables coiled if possible. I would imagine your cabling is pretty simple, a pair of interconnects cd player to preamp, and a pair of interconnects preamp to amp. Speaker cables amp to speakers. That's it.
Congrats btw that's a very nice system for free! What speakers are you using?
n80 OP
2,116 posts
 
George, unfortunately there is no way for me to get the components outboard of the speakers. The speakers are out in front of the components by about a foot.

jond, behind the pre-amp and CD player the RCA and XLR cables are a bit of a rat's nest. I can straighten them out but not sure if it matters.

The speaker cables are 8 feet long each and the speakers are only about 4 feet on either side of the system. Again, no choice in the matter, so there is one loop of cable on each side. Not ideal I'm sure but the only other solution would be to have them hanging from the wall on a hook or something to prevent the loop.

The speaker s are Aerial Acoustics 7Bs.

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