2. amps-preamps
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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
celander's avatar
celander
1,503 posts
 
@n80, this is one thread in which a pic of your setup would help. Too bad the forum isn’t set up with that functionality.

Having your speakers flanking your other gear is not uncommon.

I recommend moving your preamp off the surface of the CD player. CD players put out both heat and vibration, neither of which is good for a tube preamp.

Your amp appears to be ~15.5” (W) x ~19.5” (D) (width, W, being the footer-footer distance).  I recommend using a set of ceramic floor tiles (11”x11” to 13”x13” squares should work) underneath your amp. That material would improve the air flow under the amp, provide greater safety than using wood, and enable greater choice of color options with respect to matching the carpet, should the WAF come into play.

The wires and cables nest is often unavoidable. I would try to minimize the power cord interactions with the signal interconnects and speaker cables. 
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,316 posts
 
n80

Why not take a picture of your system as currently organized and load that to the Virtual Systems? Won’t be as convenient as embedding something in the thread itself but will accomplish the same purpose as @celander has in mind.
shadowcat2016
132 posts
 
Not sure what all the fuss about wood is......yes, it's flammable, but if your gear gets THAT hot something is seriously wrong. Probably tens of thousands of wooden stands or wooden shelves being used out there for gear. Never heard of it burning anybodies house down...........Anything CAN happen, but come on guys.....................and jello/spam.........the man is looking for actual advice. At least be courteous enough to respect that. Lots of folks here with great gear and setups, help the guy out.
n80 OP
2,125 posts
 
I made these (see picture below) this afternoon. I don't think there is any risk from the heat of the amp since the wood isn't really under the hot parts or heat sinks. It also sits another inch higher over the carpet so it should cool even better.

If I get a rack that will hold that monster I can still use the feet under it. It would still help with cooling and look good too.

https://images.nikonians.org/galleries/data/3564/IMG_10421.JPG
n80 OP
2,125 posts
 
shadow, I was never really worried about the prospect of wood catching on fire. Quite a few heavy duty racks are made of MDF board. This amp has a tremendous heat sink that flows from bottom to top...you can see right through it. The heat sink elements get hot but not so hot you can’t touch them and you do not really feel heat rising off of it at all. It is leaving the amp for sure but it is widely distributed. I wouldn’t want anything flammable touching the heat sink but that would take so real trying to make that happen.

ghost, there is a link to a picture of my system below. Not much to look at. Ignore the crappy TT on the floor and the little speaker on the wall belongs to surround sound system for TV. The distance between the speakers is just under 10’.

Primary goal at this point is getting pre-amp off CD.

Ooops, forgot the link:


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