My hi-fi.

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:40 pm

I have been focusing on my home system much more than the car lately. I have just started building a simple, yet excellent sounding 2 channel rig. My first buy was a used Onix SP3 (built by Melody of Australia) tube integrated amp. I hooked it up last night and am very impressed considering the rest of the current system.

B&W M-1 speakers, Martin Logan Dynamo sub, and my PC are the only other pieces for now. But this will change quickly.

I am getting ready to order a set of Zu Audio Druid MKIV speakers. I visited their place and had a demo at one of the owners' homes and was amazed at the sound. So those will come soon.

Then my plan is to build a dedicated PC for streaming and playing all my FLAC files. It will be small, simple, and silent...no fans....solid state hard disk, etc....and I will connect it with a USB DAC...likely a Benchmark DAC-1 USB, or a Empirical modded Northstar M192.

Then I will upgrade the amp to something else. Either a SET integrated, or maybe a tube pre/class d amp combo....depends on how the sound is.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:42 pm

I'm going to call you Mr. Deep Pockets from now on!!!

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 7:12 pm

The SP3 is actually a sweet unit. I was surprised by the sound for such a low cost. However, I wasnt too caught off guard seeing as how av123 sells them. Everything that they sell is top notch. Im thinking of getting some rockets soon.

Post by **bdubs767** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 7:57 pm

Audiophiliac my question to you is this....since you do audio for a living why not purchase test equipment and desing your own towers w/ diy speakers?

dcavaudio · Post by **dcavaudio** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:17 pm

Very nice mix of electronics. Be sure to have a power conditioner as well.

444 FED · Post by **444 FED** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:39 pm

ohhhh, tube.

One day I'll own tube components, even if it is just a pre amp.

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:26 pm

bdubs: I could....if I had the time, patience, tools, and desire.....but the fact is that you can get already engineered great performing speakers for as much or much less than it would take to equal or better them....especially since I would be starting from scratch....maybe one day when I have the time and place, I will do something DIY...but for now, the Zu Druid are going to do just fine....

dcavaudio: I will be doing a Richard Gray RGPC400 at the least.

444 FED: I have always wanted to try some tubes, and even with the mediocre setup I am listening on at the time, it is a HUGE improvement over the crappy Sherwood prologic receiver I was using. My next experiment will be using a Sonic Frontiers Line 1SE tube preamp with a Rotel class D 100x2 amp.....the combo, to me, seems like it should be a perfect fit....we will see.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:37 pm

How about a price of all your stuff so far. At some point I would love to do a HT system, so it would be nice to know how much I have to spend.

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:50 pm

Retail? Around $2000 for the above pictured gear.

You can get great HT performance for not much $$$. Anyone who asks me what to get for a starter HT system gets the same general answer. Denon and Paradigm. Great electronics with great sounding, yet inexpensive speakers....great combo. If I were building a HT right now and didnt want to get too crazy, I would do a Rotel processor and Rotel 7 ch. class D amp, Denon DVD player, and Paradigm Reference speakers and the Servo-15 sub. Of course its a bit nice when you can get discounts on all the stuff.

dcavaudio · Post by **dcavaudio** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:51 pm

Richard Gray-wise choice!!! Nice.

444 FED · Post by **444 FED** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:01 pm

I love my Paradigm speakers, though mine are Monitor series V.4s, CC-370 Center and Monitor 5s for my fronts, I'm trying to locate some Monitor ADP V.4s for my surrounds and get rid of the ghetto blaster speakers I'm currently using.

I'd love to use teh Studios, but even at cost I can't afford them.
I haven't been able to audition the denon receivers properly, but I love my Yamaha.

If or when I get a tube pre-amp I'll use it for CD listening only.