Birth of the HiFi room

I really like this photo, but consider the addition of a matching rack on the left side of the sub. Not only do I like symmetry, but you'll have more room for your TT etc and best of all more room for expansion. BTW, really nice panels, including the newest wood one. And your wife is something of a wizard I think.

Another rack is planned as soon as I’m ready to give Audio Adviser another $100.
 
I brought home a pair of NHT ST4s off of Craigs List. Mostly because they have been posted for so long that I got tired of seeing them in my searches. It seemed the only way to make them go away was to buy the damn things. After reading some reviews I began to think that maybe they would be a better fit for my main room than the Martin Logans. How awesome would that be to replace a $3k speaker with a $250 pair. Well that did not work out. The NHT’s are great speakers but not in the same league as the MLs.


The wife said they were great sounding and good looking and if it was ok with me could we put them in the bedroom.













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So I did.



Took the Rotel RA 1062 intergraded from my squatter son and the matching RCD 1072 from the main system and within 10 minutes had an awesome sounding system.


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Really cool to see your evolving setups. I envious of the dedicated rooms to audio and the one for video. The great looking pup pics were a bonus, for sure! :beerchug:
 
Nice work, Cap. That Rotel gear punches well above it's weight. I think so highly of those 1072 CDP I bought two of them.
 
Thanks, uofmitger.


The video room got a big upgrade. Since the wife put a lift kit under the bed the same day I added the NHT speakers into the bedroom. Now the bed is so high now the NHTs are more or less useless.


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So the NHTs was moved into the video room. I also hooked up the Oppo player to the Sony receiver via RCAs so that I could try the 2-channel direct mode. I have always blamed the Sony receiver for the mediocre sound in the room But with the NHTs, the direct mode and a SACD in the Oppo I figured there should be reasonably good sound.


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Our Tech has been out for a few weeks so the Sansui is getting a little help from the M7 in the sun room with a Chromecast and the Overnight Sensations.

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Nice work, Cap. That Rotel gear punches well above it's weight. I think so highly of those 1072 CDP I bought two of them.

I don’t know what it is about the 1072. I bought mine new maybe about 15 years ago. Shinny disk players have come and gone. But the 1072 always ends up back in my main system. Unfortunately mine has been mistaking a lot.
 
Couple of Craig’s List finds


A Yamaha HTR-5750 for the garage. With remote. $50



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Boston HD8. The foam looked good when I picked them up. Blew out the foam on both woofers while cranking out some Drake…………….as in Nick so the woofers were on their death beds. $35


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DCM CX-17. Never heard of DCM. Limited research said that these were one step away from being department store fodder. I thought they looked interesting and they had been listed for a few weeks so….The HF were a bit harsh and the mids were hardly warm and silky but imaging and soundstage was very good. Hopefully new caps and new fluid in the tweeter will smooth things out a bit. A keeper. $75


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NHTs enjoying a Sunday on the main stage.


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Just a few changes:



A Good Will purchase $10 for the garage. The wife snagged this one. Every time I go into GW all they have is $2 DVD players.


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The Yamaha got relocated to the sun room while the Sansui gets an overhaul.



Before I spent $1,500 on a new TT I thought I would give some vintage ones a chance.


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This PL-12D is in good shape although it produces nothing but distorted sound. I ordered a stylus for the Shure 5X that came on it and a New Grado Black to try on it. Not expecting much but wanted to know how it compares to my bottom feeder Music Hall. Also on its way is a Yamaha YP-B4. my oldest son will end up with one. If I don't like either I will just resell the other that my son does not get.






The Large Advents have been stripped nude.


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The wife wants to just build new replica cabinets because theses have a bit of a strange odor to them. Hopefully they will air out a bit. The new caps will not be here until the end of next week and we have not even decided on the veneer.
 
War of the turntables of sorts.


I have used the same turntable for the past 12+ years. A Music Hall MMF 2.1 with a Grado Gold Cartridge.


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Just out of curiosity how an older TT would hold up to a modern entry level I started putting low ball bids on ebay for various 1970’s turntables. After weeks of losing I decided that the next table in excellent condition I found I was going to win. So I ended up with this Pioneer PL-12D for $116. Ordered a belt and a new Grado Black cartridge for it and figured the task was complete. If the PL-12 came close to Music Hall I was going to keep it to use with my soon to be refurbished Sansui QR-4500 receiver. If not, I was going to give it to my oldest son.


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Of course, two days later I get an email from ebay saying I won one the low-ball bids that I had forgot about. Feeling guilty to back out I ended up with a Yamaha YP-B4 also.




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PL-12 came and it was in very good shape. I also shock that it came with a cartridge. The stylus was completely shot but instead of throwing the cartridge away I ordered a new stylus for it. It is a Radio Shack/Shure 5X. The stylus was $20.


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The YP-4, The Grado Black and the stylus all came a couple of days after the PL-12 so I installed the Grado on one of the new head shells that I order, installed the new stylus in the Rat Shack 5x and it was game on.


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Obviously, this was not some kind of scientific test just my own personal preference. After listening to each table YP-B4/black combo, MMF-2.1/Gold and the PL-12/Shack with the same track from the same record. Hands down the PL-12 was the most detailed on mid and hi fq and had much more low-end punch then the other two. Not what I was expecting. Another record same conclusion. The Pioneer lacked the refined mid-range of the other two but excelled at everything else.

After swapping cartridges between the Pioneer and the Yamaha it became obvious that is was the Shure 5X cart that I preferred over the Grados and had nothing to do with the tables. I did not pull the Gold off of the MMF because it is such a PIA.

After years of listening to the Grado Gold with no reference I never realized just how dark and un-dynamic it is. But unlike the other two it does have some miles on it but the Black has the same sound. Just not as dark and un-dynamic as the Gold.


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That thump you heard was me falling off the Grado wagon.


For now, the Pioneer will be my main table. I just need to work on some dampening because it is not as quite as the Music Hall. I like how easy it is to swap out cartridges on the Pioneer and the Yamaha The Yamaha is as good as Pioneer and is more refined but the automatic mechanism is a bit clunky.

Also the Yamaha came with a Shure Pro 6 which I guess is much better then the 5x so I will be ordering a new stylus for it.


Good thing I did not throw that Radio Shack/Shure cartridge way eh?
 
Few up dates. Bought another rack for the just serviced Sansui QR-4500 unfortunately, it did not fit on the modern rack so the no name Chinese tube preamp was put back in service along with the Music Hall 25.2 CD player, Pioneer PL-12D, little Bear T11 phono stage and the Adcom GFA-5500 on the right. On the Left a Rotel RA 1062 integrated just serviced, Rotel RCD-1075 CD player, Oppo Sonica streamer, Rotel RQ-970bx phono stage, Yamaha YP-B4 and Music Hall MMF2.1 TTs.




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Photo bomb brought to you by the two mutts.


On the Left:


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The RA 1062 has gotten very little respect in the 10+ years that I have owned it. Mostly it has been unused or used as a preamp. With a freshly rebuilt phono stage and the Yamaha YP-B4 the two have made a great sounding combo. If the newly found 1062 has been surprisingly good the new to me YP-B4 has been shockingly good even with the lowly Shure 5X cartridge. This was an ebay purchase for $152 including shipping it is in great shape except for the dust cover. I don’t even mind the wood vinyl too much. The YP-B4 was purchased as a bit of a mistake so I guess it is ironic that the 1062 and this TT being some what orphans made it to the top of my audio food chain.

Digital sources on the left side are the Oppo Sonica for Tidal streaming from a Window 10 tablet and a Rotel 1072 for CDs. These are of course two outstanding sources and will stay put for a long time. Although I’m not sure why I even bother with the ‘perfect sound forever” discs.

The Music Hall 2.1 is there because there was an empty shelf. It is plugged into the RQ-970bx phono stage. Both fine entry level pieces I just prefer the ease of swapping out cartridges on the other two TTs.

Lastly on the left a Woo Audio WA6. Not used much because I just don’t like listening with headphones. And now that my only headphones, HiFiman HE-500 have developed a short in the left channel again. The whole headphone rig might go on Craig’s List.

So other than the Music Hall turntable and the headphone amp I think this is my finished product for my “A” system. Simple to use and great sounding not very sexy but that's ok.. I really don’t think I could improve anything that much with out spending a lot more cash.


On the right.


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And then there is the right side. I’m sure how two systems sharing the same room/speakers/sub can sound so different. The left side stack sounds fantastic the right side. Not so much. The only thing I can think of is that the XLR and the RCA inputs on the SVS sub must have different levels because the right-side system has no bass. The Pioneer table sounds ok. The Music Hall CD player sounds harsh and lacks any real bass output. I know the cheap preamp is the weak link but is should not sound this bad. Maybe the SVS does not like both inputs connected at the same time but that still does not explain the harshness. Anyways this was not meant to be the final solution It is supposed to be the “vintage” rack not the “every piece of equipment that is not being used anywhere else” rack

Too bad the QR-4500 did not workout. Guess I go shopping for another receiver.


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Two new to me tables. Don't know where the dust came from on the rack I had just put it together.

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The pooch was even shock at the bad sound coming from the "B' rack.



Before and after





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This thread has been a great read, thanks for sharing your impressions with the various components.
I've had a couple YP-B4 before (also YP-B2, D4, D6, YP-211), they're all good turntables. I also really liked the Pioneer PL-510 I had, very heavy and solid.
It's always interesting to read comparos between different carts, I've always wanted to buy a mid level Grado, but after reading your findings I may just hold off. I LOVE my Shure M95ED, even more so than the M97xe.

I've had my brother's Rotel RA-1062 at my place for a while and included it in a big amp & preamp shoot out. Found that it was extremely bright, with no way of turning down the treble (despite being able to turn it up). However, when used as a pre only, it was not bright and sounded quite good.

Let us know if you find the culprit for the lack of bass / bad sound on the right system. Perhaps just a bad cable somewhere? Dirty contacts?
 
This thread has been a great read, thanks for sharing your impressions with the various components.
I've had a couple YP-B4 before (also YP-B2, D4, D6, YP-211), they're all good turntables. I also really liked the Pioneer PL-510 I had, very heavy and solid.
It's always interesting to read comparos between different carts, I've always wanted to buy a mid level Grado, but after reading your findings I may just hold off. I LOVE my Shure M95ED, even more so than the M97xe.

I've had my brother's Rotel RA-1062 at my place for a while and included it in a big amp & preamp shoot out. Found that it was extremely bright, with no way of turning down the treble (despite being able to turn it up). However, when used as a pre only, it was not bright and sounded quite good.

Let us know if you find the culprit for the lack of bass / bad sound on the right system. Perhaps just a bad cable somewhere? Dirty contacts?


Yup you got that one right. The problem was that I was using two cheap RCA Y connectors to feed the amp and the sub. Once when I removed them everything sounded great.


The Grados just have a very different sound. Not bad at all just very warm and mellow.

Maybe I’m just to old to hear the brightness in the 1062. Or maybe I just tired of the MOSFET Adcom and the Grados and in need of a little brightness.
 
Always happy to see the MLs come back after various experiments ;)
What's the model?

And that SVS sub is a beast. I'll probably end up with something like that (or their giant tall tube thing) to handle the extremely low notes, eventually.
 
The Speakers are the Electromotive ESL. Their lowest model.


The SVS is overkill for the room. I bought it because it was so cheap. It was from SVS’s outlet store and they were phasing out the model line. I still can’t find the blemishes in the finish.

If I had it to do over again, I would have bought one of the lower model cylinders or a sealed box. Their new 3000 series sealed box looks interesting.

Ironically this was supposed to be a minimalist two channel hifi room. Now it has a bunch of electronic boxes and a 155 lb sub.


The Martin Logans and the SVS will eventually go into the “media/home theater” room. That is as soon as I can get the media room sorted and find something to knock the Martin Logans off their throne.


Speaking of being knock off the throne.


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The Rotel 1062 integrated lasted a week until I finally got up in the middle of a record and turned the contour knob down to tame the brightness. As KNR said this is a very bright amp. So the 1062 went from “A” system to Craig’s List. In a house cleaning the 1072 cd player and the Music Hall 2.1 went on Craig’s List also. I really wish the Oppo had a silver face plate and would quit being lazy and do some cable management.



So basically, the two rack two system in one room does not make any since right now I can either use the Oppo as a line stage and use every thing on the left as a source or use the cheap Chinese tube preamp (CCTP) and use everything in the room as a source. Both ways sounds very good and both sounds different enough to make it worthwhile. Also, the two stands with the equipment make for very good diffusers.

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The next logical step would be to build a tube amp to use on the right
 
The next logical step was just ordered $135 free shipping for a cheap Chinese tube amp (CCTA) in kit form. I hope the instructions are good or this could end badly.
 
Two new Craig List Finds

The 7175PE went straight into the main system. Also got a matching NAD CD player with the pair which is going straight to Goodwill.





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