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My 2 channel audio setup. I'm finally totally happy.

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svtcontour

Hi guys, I've always liked music and for me its an important way to just chill and let stress fade away. Over the years I've always been seeking to slowly improve the sound of my stereo so I can enjoy the music more. Being on a budget, its taken me many years and many items being used purchases. I think I'm finally at a point where I can say I'm not searching to change anything (amen).

I'm finding that 2 channel stereo seems to be dying as more and more kids are listening on their computers, MP3 players and in general buying lossy compressed music which IMO is destroying music (another thread I guess) :)

Anyway I wanted to share what I've had set up for a little while and what I paid for stuff and when I got it.

The stereo in a 10' x 12' room. Ignore all the plants. I need to decide where they will go in the house.
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This amplifier was purchased used in 2002 from ebay at a cost of $900 plus shipping. Its a hefty price but I think its worth it. Its a tank and while its rated at only 50W per channel, its silky smooth with zero hint of harshness no matter how loud you turn things up. Its a Threshold SA3 which is from the mid 80's. Its a class A amp so it tends to run hot, use a bit too much electricity and warm up my room if left on for a few days :) The amp runs the main speakers (the small red ones).
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The pre-amp is basically a volume control and input selector for the system as the power amplifiers which by themselves don't really have volume controls or input controls. This is a Soundcraftsmen DX4000 from the early 80's. I paid $200 off a local buy/sell forum. Its in mint shape and IMO sounds more neutral and proper at least in this stereo than stuff I've tried from NAD, Rotel, Bryston and Perreaux (at least their vintage stuff).
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I used to have a Yamaha CD player but I have for a few years been using a Squeezebox network music player and an outboard digital to analog converter. The Squeezebox was purchased new for around $260 and the D/A converter for $150 used from a site called Audiogon. The Squeezebox by itself was great but I found my CD player sounding a tad better. Since adding the D/A converter, the tables have turned greatly. BTW my music is extracted as WAV. I know I could have gone with a lossless codec such as FLAC but I stuck with WAV because I manage my own music and dont need any audio tagging.
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The bottom two pieces are an Audiocontrol bass restoration unit and a crossover (basically filters the sound so only the lowest bass notes can go to the subwoofer). I'm not using any of its digital bass restoration...but as a crossover, its a fairly well regarded piece. I picked this up used for $100. Its also a vintage item purchased about 6 years ago. The amplifier was purchased from Radioshack for $100. It was an end of the line item. Its a cheap amp that boasts a fake 250W rating on it. It at best puts out a clean 150W...but that doesnt matter because its running the two subwoofers which are very efficient. I can cave in the house with about 40W :)
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The main speakers are Usher S-520 which are budget priced bookshelf speakers. I picked them up used for $300 and in my opinion, sound phenomenal. I couldn't find anything south of $1500 that I liked more. They literally vanish meaning there is absolutely no hint of 'box' sound. If you close your eyes, you can honestly swear everything is live and that's important to me. The highs are delicate, the midrange is very natural and the bass is surprising for a small speaker. It wont play too loud but for a small room, its more than enough.
The subwoofers are 10" ones I built using Vifa M26WR-09 woofers. The woofers are about 10 years old and had been sitting around for ever for a subwoofer project I never got around doing back then. Over all I spent $350 building the two subwoofers. That's the woofers, wood, paint, insulation and speaker terminals. The cabinet is made of 3/4" MDF with the front being 1.5" thick. The cabinets are braced internally as well to minimize any vibration. In the smaller room they are in, I get dead flat response to 20Hz and usable bass down to 16Hz. Thank you room gain :)
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RCA cables are ones I built using RG6 coax cable and RCA ends. The cables are cut to be as short as possible. They cost like $20 for the whole stereo (3 pairs) and they are IMO just as good as anything you'd get from an expensive big box brand such as Monster cable (which I think is just a rip off). Speaker wires are 4 conductor 10 guage SOOJ rated electrical cable from Home Depot. No fancy stuff here. Just a heavy guage to ensure low resistance. The cables and ends were like $20. I cut them to 6 feet long per side.
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So there you have it. I considered all this an investment because IMO sound overall has not changed like other technologies so chances are, as long as I can pass 2 channels of music to the equipment, this stuff can last me a life time :) Well they may need some repair or maintenance but no need to end up in the trash. Also the happiness of dimming the light and kicking back with a drink and listening to my favorite songs is immeasurable.
 
Nice set up bud, but where do you plug in your ipod? :lol: only jesting I know what you mean about MP3 and real music, you can touch and be touched by real music
 
Nice rig svtcontour. I have a vintage Marantz 2226 I was considering getting the Usher 520's for, but I think they might ned a little more "umph". Thinking about a pair of diy Fostex for it. I'm a member of Audiogon myself, (sprink). I'm not sure how to post pics here or I'd show my setup. Paradigm Studio 40 v4, B&K Reference 5s2 pre, B&K Reference 200.2 series 2 amp, Marantz cd5001, Cambridge Audio Dacmagic, SVS Subwoofer.
 
very impressive set up. I hear you about sound quality and it's apparent "regression" over the past years. CDs still only have 16bit 44.1 audio and it's been that way since the 80's??? Think about TVs in the 80's compared to now. The technology is certainly there to have music up to par as well. Then MP3s took over and it seems that all hope is lost. A few bands did the whole 24bit audio on DVDs and it was great but haven't heard much more about that lately.

But a nice setup like you have is the way to go to get the most out of music. I'm sure it sounds killer!
 
schism said:
Nice rig svtcontour. I have a vintage Marantz 2226 I was considering getting the Usher 520's for, but I think they might ned a little more "umph". Thinking about a pair of diy Fostex for it. I'm a member of Audiogon myself, (sprink). I'm not sure how to post pics here or I'd show my setup. Paradigm Studio 40 v4, B&K Reference 5s2 pre, B&K Reference 200.2 series 2 amp, Marantz cd5001, Cambridge Audio Dacmagic, SVS Subwoofer.
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Ya the Ushers by themselves are fine but only for a smaller room IMO. Would still have great sound in a larger room but chances are they'd be driven hard to fill the room. If you can find a way to post your pics, that would be awesome. I always liked the old B&K stuff. I also had the same Marantz receiver you've got but I donated it to my sister along with a pair of vintage PSB speakers to sway her away from listening to MP3 on little computer speakers. Once it was set up, she was definitely ok with the slight inconvenience :)
 
Ballzworth said:
very impressive set up. I hear you about sound quality and it's apparent "regression" over the past years. CDs still only have 16bit 44.1 audio and it's been that way since the 80's??? Think about TVs in the 80's compared to now. The technology is certainly there to have music up to par as well. Then MP3s took over and it seems that all hope is lost. A few bands did the whole 24bit audio on DVDs and it was great but haven't heard much more about that lately.

But a nice setup like you have is the way to go to get the most out of music. I'm sure it sounds killer!
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Ya I wish SACD or DVD audio took off but there is no hope I think :( I will hold on to this like its gold. LOL. Honestly though, just for the sake of curiosity, I might pick up a used SACD or DVD audio player and a few pieces of music just to compare and see what its like. I've never heard anything higher than CD. I like my toys what can I say.
 
Very Nice. Here's mine:

Rega P5 (Coming)
Rega Saturn
Manley Jumbo Shrimp
Rotel RB-1080
B&W CDM 9NT
Synergistic Research

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Ahh, I remember the feeling of finally being happy once I finished my setup. at least when i thought I had finished it that is. There always seems to be another piece of gear that I want
Nice gear you all have there.

I don't have any pics of mine, but I'm running a pair of Monitor Audio GS60's, Bi-amped with an Outlaw Audio 5x200watt amp and one of the Outlaw 990 preamps. I got an awesome deal that I just couldn't pass up on the amp section, and it has actually worked out very well with tying the TV and other gear all together. They don't sound anywhere close to what these speakers do at a friends house that has a pair and uses 2 thresholds to push them. Thresholds are amazing. i'm jealous of you.

I was running a REL Q450 sub, but have never been happy with it so I disco'd it. It never would blend in very well.
 
i cant afford a stereo system so i have to settle for these
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ultrasone pro line 2500's recabled
vynil cd and flac for me if i have the choice.
 
Very nice setup Wasatch. Rotel gear is always under rated. I used to have a rotel pre for a long time and loved it so much. I only got rid of it because I wanted a pre with dual pre outs. Those speakers must be killer! Probably no need for a sub for 99% of music with those.

Wasatch said:
New Set-Up

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