The changeable systems in the front room(s)

[Ds2000]

Well the amp is here, I'm trying it out before it heads to the sale bin. (Yes it was never intended to be a keeper). This thing is a real curiosity, 4 chassis, one a battery supply, Very specialized silver cabling, really it's the works here. $30 grand worth of amp weighing 315 pounds.
A short listening session shows immediately how well designed it is.
I'll run it for hours this Saturday.

 

[Ds2000]

It's an ultra refined product, and an example of what extraordinary care and imagination can achieve when attached to a talented designer.

 

[insomniac]

Man, there is some serious gear in this thread.

 

[Ds2000]

Adding this little number in. Bought it here on BT broken for a good deal, had it fixed. A lot of stuff had been messed with, all straightened out now as per the SM. It’s a Va 24/96, pretty much the latest of the series. I will be able to stream or play files up to 24/96 (20/96) which will be nice.
I’m really curious to hear it. A transport is on the way.

 

[FOH Engineer]

Here is a pic of the last full setup I had. Still with me is the Denon RG preamp, 950es tape deck, and L-1000t tuner. As I have the bug and excitement back, I'll be switching/adding to the setup, and the whole of it will move to the other end of the room where it'll have breathing room. View attachment 709734View attachment 709735

Very nice silverware.

 

[Ds2000]

I put the Onkyo together with the Polyfusion 940. Wow what a sweet combo. The ASR can take a break for a while.

 

[Ds2000]

This preamp is besting any I’ve had so far. No surprise I suppose, this company had been around for almost 20 years when they dove into the high end. A very smart design too. The whole chassis is aluminum, base plate too. Hot running transistors are mounted in a way that lets the whole case act as a heatsink, and it only gets warm. So those components stay well within temp range.
And the sound, it’s nearly ideal with the Onk. Whatever weaknesses there may be, the pairing is so complimentary, that it’s hard to pick one out. I’m shocked!

 

[nyhifihead]

I put the Onkyo together with the Polyfusion 940. Wow what a sweet combo. The ASR can take a break for a while.
View attachment 1029183 View attachment 1029184

just read about Polyfusion, awesome stuff. It's awesome a firm with great EE tech can design and manufacture high end audio gear

 

[zenarrrow]

Rich !!

 

[Ds2000]

Am I missing something?

 

[Ds2000]

Enjoying Ahmed Jamal on this new to me duo. Of course, FedEx managed to bang them around enough to throw the drawer parameters off on the transport. Once the claim is settled, I’ll send it off for a repair. I can finagle it into working well enough for now.

 

[theophile]

Teac/Esoteric have been at the forefront of transport design for a couple of decades now.

 

[Ds2000]

Inside of one of the ASR power supplies.

 

[Ds2000]

Playing some jazz and college radio today. Running up the Onkyo and the one Stax amp here.

 

[Ds2000]

So the JVC comes in to run things for a little while. Unsurprisingly, this amp gives up little to the 100 pound heavier Onkyo.
Differences I’ve noticed:
1 maybe a little brighter, but it’s not been on for a while yet.
2 it is a little less well defined in the upper bass and midrange. A little congestion is evident.
3 as with the above statement, the dynamics are a little suppressed. Both macro and micro, the picture is a little smaller.
4 bass is nearly equal, but is softer with the JVC. A little wooly and fat. Interestingly the M-L10 is a voltage reducing amp, capping power at 200 watts per at 4 ohms via voltage suppression. But in its operating range, it’s anything but dry and uninvolving. In fact it seems to keep pace with these speakers nicely.
5 that the Onkyo is essentially a step up isn’t a surprise. It cost double the money, has like 5x the transformer rating in the power supply and 28 large outputs to make use of that supply. What’s really neat is how well the JVC stacks up.

I’ll probably let it stay up on the pedestal for a while.

 

[GD70]

Hey Tim,

I just read through this again, it's been a while. Quite the audio gear journey!
So when is the STAX due back and when are you moving? I'm sure you'll be thrilled to have more gear and listening space.

Glenn

 

[Ds2000]

The move may wait til I’m done with college, I’ll likely do an accelerated masters that’s being offered. This will only add one year.
The Stax, well I have eight parts, waiting on 24 more from a member here. They are small transistors, and that’s the end of it. So maybe a month or so.
I’m definitely liking the JVC, Tom is busy at work on the pre, so maybe the two will co-run the front end for a while. Once the Stax returns, I’ll go between them and the JVC.
Tom also worked on the amp some, all of it was preventative.
Moving that Onkyo was a real pain tho. I had to do it alone.

 

[Ds2000]

Onkyo’s final Grand Integra badged components, and from the group behind the 5090, 510, GS-1, Scepter 5001.
Impressive build and heavy! 127 pounds between the two.
The amp has had cap work, new speaker terminals and an IEC socket installed. The CD player has had a major Parts ConneXion clock and output stage mod. Also has a 20amp IEC socket and much improved output jacks. The single pic is all cleaned up.

 

[Ds2000]

Amp pics

 

[theophile]

I can see right up your nose in that photo....