Room Size

16x13x8.4

System Overview

Mechanical, optical, and hard-drive based playback through a refined and flexible setup. The sound is as important as the philosophy - old and new school, supporting local craftsmen for sustaining a domestic industry (Bel Canto, Pass Labs, Well Tempered Lab, DeVore Fidelity, and UpTone Audio), truth and soul. No audio gear flavor of the month. Keeping it real with simplicity, getting excellent sound I can listen to in my Carhartts, boots, and hoodie. Tuned for musicality to offset the urban environment. My goal is a system that can play all types of music, since my tastes are very eclectic, and that can bump a party up but can also create a moving experience when played soft.

Music Preferences

American blues-based musics: Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop. Global rhythm-centric musics: Latin, Reggae/dub, world folk and dance, electronic, K-pop. Punk, experimental, metal, rock. Classical. Basically everything except young country and most US pop.

Room Description

Living room has suspended hardwood floors over a garage, in a 1908 bungalow. Plaster and lath walls, good vibes thanks to my beautiful wife's setting up the room. Speakers on long wall, which requires attention to control reflections, but does not limit soundstage depth. The entire house sounds synergistic with the system.

Acoustic Treatment

Rugs, curtains, plants, Jim Smith's Get Better Sound. But most importantly, calibration with live music.

Listening Impressions

Ah, yes! Nice, relaxed, accurate sound that is dynamic, detailed, nuanced, y tiene huevos. Excels at musical flow and connecting with the music. The wife loves it too.

Media Storage

DIY bookshelves for LPs and store-bought CDs. 2TB of tunes served via Airport Extreme. Two trunks of burned CDs (may eventually move away from digital physical media...)

Components

Digital Source

Bel Canto PL1 for SACD, or as a transport playing Redbook via AES/EBU. Late 2012 Mac Mini running Audirvana+ 3 to UpTone USB Regen to iFi Micro iDSD BL, or Bel Canto uLink via ST fiber to Ace Tomato Reference-modded Bel Canto DAC3.

Analog Source

Well-Tempered Amadeus with Benz Micro Ace SL. Shelter 501 mkII or DV20XL pinch hit sometimes. Auditorium 23 thin mat over Herbie's Grungebuster strips.

Other Sources

2TB WD Passport Ultra connected to Airport Extreme Base Station on a closed local network with Mac Mini.

Preamp

Pass Labs Xono

Power Amp

Pass INT-30A

Speakers

DeVore Fidelity Nines

Subwoofer

REL Strata III

Speaker Cable

DIY

Interconnects

DIY solid core palladium/silver for Bel Canto PL1; DIY solid core copper ICs for Ono and DAC3; Nordost Heimdall 2 for WTA; Nordost Heimdall 2 USB between Mac Mini and Regen; Audio Horizons AES/EBU, ST fiber, or Stereovox HDXV BNC to DAC3

Power Cables

Lessloss DFPC Original and Signature, Synergistic Research AC Master Coupler, Audio Horizons Transparency I/II, VDH Mainsstream

Headphones

Sennheiser HD599 SE or Sony MDR-V6 still kickin from my DJ days.

Racking

DIY

Power Cond

Isolation transformer

Tuning and Tweaks

HFT Supreme fuse in DAC3, SR20 in everything else. Herbie's Tenderfeet, Turntable footers, SuperSonic Hardball and IsoCups, HAL-O jr, Dots, dB neutralizer, Gliders, Supersonic record stabilizer, Super Black Hole, Grungebuster. DIY damping.