My nostalgia system: Still cranking out the tunes after 32 years.
Sony C222Es SACD player, rugged, great sound. (the newest addition)
Carver TX-11a – still one of the better tuners ever made
Carver C-1 Pre-amp – just cleaned the pots and switches, otherwise working like new.
Carver M1.5t – repaired and recapped by Carver about 12 years ago.
Phase Linear Phase III speakers – everything works, amazingly.
Digital feed via iTunes and Airport Express, and Blu-ray Player. (just in case)
Repeat and corrections to a post from 2004:
I purchased the Phase Linear Phase III (Andromeda III) system in Houston, TX in 1978 after listening to all the best of the day. If I remember correctly, I wheeled and dealed and got about $300 off the $1,295 listed price at Finger’s Furniture because they were going to clear out the model. To this day, this stands as one of my best ever hi-fi purchases. I have had the speakers in five different home living rooms in two states from as small as 12x16 feet to as large as 20x30 feet.
Here are a few thoughts.
1. It takes a lot a perseverance to keep them. My wife wants them gone every time we move. She brought it up again last night when I was cleaning the POTs on the preamp.
2. They need power. I use a Carver M1.5t for nostalgia and am halfway looking into something with a little more current and quality, but still keep the Carver around. I have tried other amps (Crown DC-300a, SAE, Hafler, Dynaco) and power/current and damping factor all add up to better sound.
3. They need room and sound better with a little deadening of the side walls to stop early side reflections. Given room they present a pretty good image.
4. I have never been able to get them to image precisely like speakers such as the Audio Physic Virgo III or Aerial Acoustics 7b speakers, but the have a smooth mid-range, airy highs, deep bass, and wonderful for jazz and guitar, and they paint a really big image with a lot of depth, just not as much precision. My current set-up is sub-optimal due to limitations of our home. All in all, I have never heard anything better, many close, but different, but none better. So as you can see, I will keep them as long as I can keep my wife convinced.
I like many others in the forum, I periodically check to see if I can find a second pair for insurance and/or to build a surround theater system, better than my current system in another room. I have only found a few systems for sale during last ten years, and they were not in good shape. Mine...eat your hearts out, are in great shape, no scratches, original drives, all due to some very serious coaching of movers. No children, no smoking and vigilance against the dust and pet hair.
If you have to move them, here is my advice:
Wrap them in blankets after removing the feet. Discuss placement with the movers so the understand they can have nothing on them. Stand vertically and place where protected by other furniture. Alternatly, box like mattress with lots of padding, and pray. Anyway, if you have a pair, enjoy, if not, keep looking. If you have a pair and want them to go to a loving home, send me a message.
2010 Update:
I thought my Motion Control Module had failed. Fortunately, it was only a dirty pot and all is well. I have not experienced any need for driver repairs. I have noticed that the bass is not a tight as before and have considered getting the drivers repaired. Your experiences and recommendations in this area would be appreciated.
Other systems:
I have a Yamaha 7.2 system in the living room, a small Sony system in my office, a Teac system in the guest room, speakers on the patio and everything is interconnected to a music server using iTunes, which sounds decent and is very convenient. I still play vinyl and have a nice collection of CDs and SACDs. Like many of you I have been through 8-track, vinyl, cassettes, reel-to-reel, CDs, DVD-Audio and SACD. Now I am getting into high resolutions downloads via groups like HD-Tracks and find it a lot of fun. I still wish there was more support for SACDs. They sound competitive with the best of my D2D vinyl and are a lot more convenient. On the road, I carry an iPOD and go back and forth with Senheiser and Sony noise canceling headphones. So I guess you could say I am music enabled at all times. Currently, I have been experimenting with several pre-amps and cartridge combinations with the help of a friend to fully tweak out my vinyl playback system with plans to digitize all the old albums, especially those out of print or never released on CD. I have been using a M-Audio 1816 AD/DA that allows me to record at 192/24 or 96/24 capturing all the good stuff (and the crap) on the vinyl in full fidelity. I have tried some tools like SoundSoap with limited success trying to clean up without killing the highs.
It was nice to see all the recent comments on the Phase III. Keep them coming.