My current small setup...

[whyaskit]

Close up of Rega and Sprout.

 

[whyaskit]

MacBook and Sprout.

A few photos. In case anyone is interested.

 

[whyaskit]

My youngest daughter, who is now college, had a pretty killer system in her room that included a pair if Cerwin Vega floorstanders, Adcom amp, Optimus DJ style mixer and a Sony CD player or her iPhone/iPod as a source.

She decided she would like a Bluetooth based system. So I have all those items back. I hooked up the CV speakers and realized just how much bass I am missing. The mids and highs were no where as refined but that killer bass.

So, I took out the Jolida tube amp and ran the analog outputs from the Sprout to a PSB Subsonic 5 10" subwoofer. Much better.

 

[whyaskit]

The PSB just before hooking it up. I used the same Kimber PBJ interconnects. I have the crossover set at around the 70Hz mark and volume at the 3:00 position.

I may swap it for either my Velodyne or B&W subwoofer as they are both a little quicker musically. The PSB is a 10" ported sub, the B&W is a sealed design.

Update- I did swap for the B&W ASW-600 subwoofer. Better match yet gets low...

 

[whyaskit]

The B&W subwoofer matches better than the PSB did. More control, the PSB was a little on the boomy side.

Photo

 

[whyaskit]

Okay, more switching of subs. I found an M&K available locally that, size wise, would make my wife happier. So now that sub is in place. It has more boom, but it gets low enough and fills in the bottoms Hz well enough that I am happy with the sound and the size makes it less noticeable.

Model VX 7 Mark II

Horrible pic...

 

[Sasha18]

If you're loading your music onto itunes, look into apple match and an airport. You could serve up things remotely with an iphone or ipad. I do. 12,000 songs in lossless at my fingertips. With volume control. Cool setup. I'd love to hear it. Devore has got it right.

 

[whyaskit]

Recently added Tangospinner upgrades to my Rega Planer 3. And I also added a Ortofon 2M Blue.

Way, way, way better than the Grado. Better clarity, highs. The Grado sounded kinda dead. The Blue has life! I love it.

The Tango Spinner upgrade included a new bearing (it's all ball bearings!) subplatter, brass pulley and silicon belt. Also has oil included. I had heard that these types of upgrades help with speed and bass. It's crazy how much of a difference it made. The speed was not horrible. I noticed it with Scheherazade. Some of the sustain notes would have a slight wobble. Well, more a waver with sustained notes. Not any more. All music benefits. Rock is solid. Tons of bass. Clear highs. This is what good analog should sound like.

 

[whyaskit]

My current setup, as it stands today.

Rega Planar 3
Tango Spinner subplatter, pulley, belt and bearing.
Rega arm with Incognito rewire
Ortofon 2M Blue
Apple MacBook
Audioquest Jitterbug
PS Audio Sprout
Tice Microblock
DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3
Miller & Kreisel VX 7 MkII
Lovan speaker stands

Cables
Oyaide Neo d+ USB cable
Kimber PBJ 3.5 mini to RCA interconnect
Nordost Flatline Gold speaker cable or
Kimber 4VS speaker cable
PS Audio power cable

When you look at all the details, it sure doesn't seem like a very simple system.

 

[whyaskit]

Swapped out the Sprout for my GX10ES. Sounds great running the DeVore Fidelity speakers.

 

[whyaskit]

Current system as of 13 July 2016

Rega Planar 3
Groovetracer acrylic platter and counterweight
Isokinetik subplatter and ruby bearing
Tango Spinner brass pulley and belt
Rega arm with Incognito rewire
Ortofon 2M Blue
Olive Musica
Apple MacBook
Rega DAC
Rega Brio-r
Tice Microblock
Spendor S5e
Mapleshade speaker plinths

Cables
Oyaide Neo d+ USB cable
Kimber PBJ 3.5 mini to RCA interconnect
Signal Cable Analog 2 interconnect with Eichmann bullets
Monster digital cable
Kimber 8TC speaker cable
PS Audio power cable




Oh yeah. Blue LEDs too!

 

[whyaskit]

 

[Nightwisher]

Sweet evolution!

 

[RamblinE]

Love seeing that progression.

Those white Macbooks are alright as long as you don't have to unplug them and rely on the battery. I had to upgrade to something with better battery life but I kept my old one too and would use it for something like that.

 

[ryanward84]

Looks pretty awesome Jason! And I see that Diamond Dave getting spin!

 

[whyaskit]

That little white MacBook has decent battery, up to 3 hours, for its age. It runs El Capitan and works great. I only use it for my download cd's and Spotify.

Yup! Diamond Dave. I forgot how much I liked that album. Thanks Ryan.

This system is supposed to be a small, uncomplicated system in my living room. I have two other systems. A home theater and another two channel. This one has to fit in a small coroner of the living room on a console table. So small components work best. It's sounds really lovely.

 

[asilker]

Love seeing the component swaps. Still running the Kanspea's?

 

[whyaskit]

Love seeing the component swaps. Still running the Kanspea's?

I have the little Fostex speakers in the back bedroom paired with a Musical Fidelity amp and another MacBook.

 

[asilker]

I have the little Fostex speakers in the back bedroom paired with a Musical Fidelity amp and a bother MacBook.

using them in nearfield or as room fillers?

I've been considering trying a pair as desk monitors, but my Tekton Lore's sound good enough off-axis at close range that I'm having trouble deciding to spend any more

 

[whyaskit]

They are near field right now. On a desk. I have used them as room fillers (12'x25' not so much good sound on the far end of the room but listenable.) I've also used them with my television and in both cases they worked great.

Really detailed sound. Lively. No bass... No surprise. What's there sounds great. Plus. Pretty cheap! Hard to find this much sound for this much cash. I doubt they would replace the Lore's. Eric, who owns/designs Tekton, has a number of speakers designed around that Fostex driver. I know he's a fan as I've spoken to him about them before.

I'd say buy them because they are so cheap, but my cheap is another's expensive. I know because it was my expensive in the past.