The hunt is over

I wanna know how you got a picture of my girlfriend?

ozzy

@zavato Congrats on finding peace and contentment with your system. I do believe this is what we all aim to achieve. I have a friend that took an online class on happiness and this transfers to our life in all aspects. We are a rare breed of fanatics so it is difficult for sure to find this with our systems. I told a friend a year ago I was on a ’5-year plan’ and was done, only to start up again a few months later haha. I had an integrated after a few years of separates and it simply wasn’t enough power so I am back to separates and won’t ever stray again. I am at a point of happiness where I have never been. I have plans of trying different interconnects and may try another cartridge but do sincerely feel happy with my components. Now go buy some of the new MoFi UD1S releases.  I got my Carole King Tapestry in yesterday and it sounds sooooo good :)

@larry5729 I totally get your comment about where the system resides. My system is set up in my front room which fires across the living and into the dining room. It also is facing the staircase. It is pretty darn cool how the music carries throughout both downstairs and upstairs. I recently got my old speakers and components from the attic and set up a 2nd system in my upstairs spare bedroom where the speakers are facing away from the door. I can hear my downstairs system upstairs much better than this one in the bedroom that is upstairs.

@ozzy Sorry, but a gentleman doesn't tell

@sokogear I disagree- I view stylus and cartridges as consumables that are subject to wear and tear and understand that eventually, need replacement. That said, my last cartridge, a Linn Arkiv B, was something I ran not quite 20 years. Maybe 18? Not sure, but doesn't really matter. 

@arro222 The "why's" are pretty easy- and I will start with the easiest.

1- Marantz 20 Tuner and McIntosh PS112 subwoofer: people gave those to me

2- Pass Labs electronics- After wafting through many brands, ie, Adcom, Bryston, Proceed, Conrad Johnson, Rogue, and others, I listened to Pass gear and for me it resolved every dilemma that pulled me alternately between tubes and solid state

3- McIntosh MR78- Wanted one for 30 plus years; found a clean one at a good price, and learned my mistake from passing up a Marantz 10B for $600

4- Linn LP12: sometime in the mid to late 80's, perhaps 1987 or 88, I heard an LP 12 and said- that's the table for me. Took another 10 years but I found my LP12 and while I know it isn't the very very best, the way to makes music sure works for me. 

5- Revel Studio 2- for a very long time I was a confirmed Magnepan person, I liked the dynamics of box speakers but always felt they lacked a certain quality- a congestion if you will. Then came Revel- the first box speaker to sway me away from Maggies. I've owned Revels since 2000, and these are my 2nd pair. These speakers are full range, don't suffer from dynamic compression at any sane listening level, and gets out of the way of the music. Images well too.

6- Simaudio Neo260D: I used to have a Meridian 508.24, and also a Rega Apollo. and even earlier a California Audio Labs machine. Each did things very well, but I searched for a CD player platform that reminded me tonally of my LP12, and Simaudio did it for me. BTW, the Meridian was the first CD player I owned which I actually could listen to vocals with out running for the hills.

7- Bricasti M1- the first DAC I ever heard that to me didn't merely sound great for digital, it simply sounded great. Still does- 

8- Auralic Aries G1- An impressive mix of capabilities and sound quality. It's not a sonic match for my LP12, but the only sonic match for my LP12 in the streaming world that I have found was a $20,000 Naim streamer (the top Linn did not do it for me) and that wasn't happening. For me streaming is a gateway to musical exploration. If I like the album I discover via streaming there still is a decent chance I will buy it on vinyl. On its own terms, a fine sounding machine with very impressive soundstaging. Plus lets face it- bass is a real strength of digital. 2022 digital is incredibly different than was 1985 digital.

9- Bottlehead headphone amp- I built it (along with other bottlehead gear)- sounds vey good and the cool factor for me is way high particularly as the circuit is not stock. My other bottlehead amp is extremely far from stock

10- Hifiman HE560 headphones; a concession to my continued fondness for planar magnetic transducers.

The gear all had to fit together with what I was trying to accomplish, and I am happy to say it meets my goal.