Room Size

15' x 18.5' x 7.5' (system on external long wall)

System Overview

Desired sound: Warmth, Detail, Dynamics, Bass Articulation and Extension without breaking the bank, no need for Ethernet, Bluetooth, WiFi, USB, etc since I am a largely unconnected person who vastly prefers to seek my entertainment outside the Matrix

Music Preferences

Collection of 5k CDs, 2.5k LPs, and 25k FLAC files includes the full spectrum of modern popular music: everything from Sinatra to Slayer, Black Uhuru to Black Sabbath, Howard Jones to Grace Jones, Iron Maiden to Iron & Wine, Steel Pulse to Steely Dan, Elvis to ELO, Fleet Foxes to Nick Drake, Waylon Jennings to Chris Stapleton, Father John Misty to John Fahey, Railroad Earth to Assembly of Dust, Eva Cassidy to Flora Purim, Shelby Lynne to Southern Culture on the Skids, Mudcrutch to Grinderswitch, Jenny Lewis to Sturgill Simpson, Tom Petty to Thomas Dolby, Jean-Luc Ponty to John Hiatt, Yes to Yaz, Aerosmith to ZZ Top.

Room Description

A "bonus" living room converted to a screen-free listening and reading room, normal wood construction (bedrooms above, full basement below), minimal acoustic treatments (primarily a 10' x 10' wool "Persian style" rug + pad not present in photos above). I got lucky and this room sounds great without any help. Yes, that is an Ikea couch with a corduroy cover!

Acoustic Treatment

10'x10' imported wool "persian" rug with pad (not pictured), heavy drapes on windows, overstuffed couch with corduroy cover (for maximum diffractive effects)

Listening Impressions

Desired sound achieved. Like all home systems, however, this one really comes into its own late at night after being warmed up for a few hours when no one is doing laundry or running the dishwasher, etc elsewhere in the house.

Media Storage

Solid oak shelves and dowel racks nuthin' fancy.

Other Comments

Backup amps include NAD 2600A, Jolida 1701, and a pair of Audiosource AMP-100s running in bridged mono (for whenever I want or need more power or solid state grunt)

Components

Digital Source

Onkyo DV-S555 DVD player (it has an audio section in it that sounds superior to almost every CD player I've owned)

Analog Source

Pro-Ject 2Xperience Classic in olive wood with Denon DL110 HOMC, Pro-Ject Speed Box, Vincent PHO-8 preamp

Other Sources

FiiO X-1 portable hi-rez player, variety of inexpensive drawer-loading CD players

Signal Processors

None (does a good ear-clearing valsalva before every listening session count?)

Power Amp

Response Audio Bella EXtreme 3205 integrated (hot-rodded Jolida 302b with upgraded internal parts running KT88 power tubes)

Speakers

1989 Klipsch Forte II with Crites crossovers and tweeters (full-range); or ELAC Debut B6 on sand-filled, spiked 24" steel stands (for when I'm in a bookshelf kind of mood)

Subwoofer

Are you kidding? You're kidding right?

Speaker Cable

Kimber 8PR 8' runs with Kimber banana terminations

Interconnects

Pangea and Blue Jeans

Power Cables

Pangea AC-14SE on source components, AC-9 on amp

Headphones

Audio Technica ATH-M40x (used with FiiO portable player only)

Racking

Pangea Vulcan (sand-filled)

Power Cond

Adcom ACE-515 AC Enhancer

Tuning and Tweaks

Vibrapods under amp, AQ sorbethane pucks under disc player, CD "greenback", ferrite chokes on non-removable AC cords, Hunt brush, ZeroStat gun

Other Components

early-90s Pioneer dual-well auto-reverse cassette deck (on floor just in case a buddy brings over a suitcase full of righteous tapes), Record Doctor LP cleaning machine