It's been a journey. I've gone full circle over the last 15 or 20 years. Way back when I built a new mantle with internal wiring provisions and a Sam Maloof inspired walnut stereo cabinet to conceal the gear for a nice, clean look. A Niles IR repeater allows control with out the need for what would be out of place glass doors on the cabinet. Speakers are NHT SuperTwos, SuperCenter & SubOne up front and SuperOnes for the rears. I set up a dedicated room for the main system in my signature in an extra bedroom upstairs and it was wonderful for a couple of years before I had to work in Atlanta for 2 years. I took my Beovox M70's with me and put together a nice system with an Optonica RP 3636 and a Jolida integrated. The first year I was alone for the first time ever. Married at 18 forty years prior, the independence was intoxicating for a while - no TV, no one to accommodate beyond consideration of neighboring apartments. The solitude became unbearable loneliness and after a year I had my wife quit her job and join me for the second year.
We returned home last April and I found I didn't enjoy my music room like I had before. I had had enough solitude in Atlanta to last me for the rest of my life. I did miss the system though. Come July I had a hip replacement and my wife and grandson moved the big system into the living room since I couldn't do the stairs. It was great to have the DQ-10 magic back, but the equipment had dominated our living space. I realized that the gear had even become a distraction to the music. Spending so much time in the living room these past months I was reminded of how much time, effort and money I put into making the room "clean". I could say high WAF, but it's really high HAF, so a couple of weeks ago while my wife was at work I "rescued" our living room from the big system clutter and returned it to what I really want. As it turns out she likes it to.
The SuperTwo's when opened up sound much better driven by a lowly Yamaha AVR than they should. They don't image or have the detail of my B&O's, let alone the DQ's but I'm enjoying them again. Where they lack is in 65-70 dB listening level which is what my wife prefers, kinda flat and lifeless. I don't like the way they look so I will likely move them along in favor of my B&O's or I may re-cabinet them in mahogany in the style of Green & Green as if they had speakers in 1906
. The Mac in the pictures is just a test mule for Volumio or Daphile to see how I like it before I buy an Intel NUC or Mac mini as a headless server which will go in the cabinet along with the Schiit stack leaving just the TD 125 out in the open. After the 30 year wait I thought the DQ-10's were going to be my end game speakers, but now I don't think so. When the upgrade bug bites again, and it surely will, I may seek some Braun LV-1020's which were the other ones that got away back in the day when this journey started. Then again I think I could share my space just fine with some B&W 802 Diamonds as well. Time will tell as the audio journey continues. Thanks for listening. Nobody else I know gets it.
Before:
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Restored:
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