Systems

Main System, a Two-channel Audio System by 006.9

DSCF7733 - Copy
Room Size
14' x 15' x 8'
System Overview
This simple system is very satisfying when playing solo piano, solo guitar, small jazz combo, and classical chamber music. It puts a smile on my face when I put on a Harmonia Mundi CD recorded by Peter McGrath or Tony Faulkner. Where it falls short is on big orchestral recordings of Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Holst, and so on, where it doesn't provide a soundstage wide enough or deep enough to be convincing. The amp and speakers can do it in a bigger room when placed farther from the wall, but with my limited space that isn't practicable.
Music Preferences
Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Corelli, Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Clifford Brown, contemporary big band (Gordon Goodwin, Airmen of Note, Bob Florence)
Room Description
The room is a small living area in the front of my home adjacent to the kitchen and dining room. It serves as my main listening space while also providing a cozy, inviting environment for friends who come over and for morning coffee with my wife before work. Lining the walls are book cases with leather-bound classics, CD cases with hundreds of CDs, prints of classic art, and photos of family in Europe and Africa. Seating includes two couches at 90 degrees to each other along with a comfortable leather chair. Other furniture includes lamp tables and a coffee table. My aim was to make good audio blend comfortably with good fellowship, good beverages, good reads, and good recreation (in the old, true sense of the word).
Acoustic Treatment
There is no special acoustic treatment.
Other Comments
The trumpet is an Elkhart Bach 37 in raw brass purchased in the 80s when I had a chance to have five of them in my home for a week and send four back. I won't part with it. From time to time you'll also see a Yanagisawa T991 tenor sax and a Gliga violin lying around.
Components
Digital Source
NAD C 516BEE CD player used as a transport connected to a DAC with optical TOSLINK
Analog Source
Rega RP-1 with stock cartridge running through Cambridge CP1 MM phono preamp (The LP source is rarely used. It's there at all mainly for when I have hipster friends over who don't know what I mean when I say "LP" or "record" but show up with stacks of "vi
Other Sources
Magnum Dynalab FT-101A FM tuner
Signal Processors
Emotiva DC-1 DAC
Preamp
Emotiva DC-1
Power Amp
Electron Kinetics Eagle 2 with power supply capacitors upgraded to 200,000 pF
Speakers
Vandersteen 2C on lead-filled steel stands spiked to the subfloor
Speaker Cable
KnuKonceptz Kord Kable 10 Gauge
Interconnects
Blue Jeans Cable LC-1
Racking
VTI
Tuning and Tweaks
The speakers are positioned based on a mathematical ratio designed to spread out and minimize standing waves as much as possible. I've used test tone generators to confirm that placement is optimal for the room if I'm shooting for flattest bass response.